I am a resident of Mashad, a town with archeological evidence of Bronze Age, Persian, Roman and Byzantine settlements. Muslim and Jewish tradition holds that the tomb of the prophet Jonah is located in Mashad.
In 1948, my village was caught in the fighting between IDF forces and the Arab Salvation Army, an army of volunteers from Arab countries against the UN partition plan. With the IDF advance to Nazareth, my village was conquered and remains under Israeli control until today.
I hold an M.A. in Political Science from Haifa University (my MA thesis focuses on declining Arab participation in national elections), was a candidate for local council and am an active member of the “All its Citizens” Israeli political party.
