(photo: JOINT ARAB LIST)
By Lahav Harkov - June 3, 2015
Originally appeared here in The Jerusalem Post
Israeli Arabs have been Supreme Court justices and government ministers, but on Wednesday they reached a new position in the legislative branch, when MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Joint List) became the first Arab party lawmaker to head a permanent Knesset committee.
Touma-Sliman took the helm of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women.
The new MK founded the Arab feminist organization Women Against Violence; was one of the founders of the International Women’s Commission for Just Palestinian- Israeli Peace; was the editor- in-chief of Al-Ittihad, the only Arabic-language daily newspaper in Israel; and was the first woman on the High Follow-Up Committee on the Arab Population of Israel.
“I hope to successfully lead processes that will affect all of society, policy and laws,” she said after being elected to the position unanimously, as most committee heads are. Read More