Ayman Odeh Archives - The Jerusalem Fund

Seeds of Peace

February 15, 2016January 27, 2016 by Tom Lonner

What is required of a saint is a radiant reflection of the holy and a capacity for miracles. What is required of a political saint is an intimate familiarity with the interrogation room. Ayman Odeh, the foremost leader of Israel’s Palestinian citizens, has read deeply in the lives of the political saints—Martin Luther King, Jr., especially—and he is not shy about suggesting comparisons, if only as a matter of aspiration. The Shin Bet, the Israeli internal intelligence agency, first pulled him in for questioning when he was a kaffiyeh-wearing teen-ager in the thick of an uprising. He is now a middle-aged politician in a suit, a legislator preaching the coexistence of Arab and Jew in a time of dashed hopes, almost daily acts of terror, and regional chaos.

Ayman Odeh, a top Palestinian Israeli leader, is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

February 15, 2016December 14, 2015 by Lucian Dieterman

The new prominence of Ayman Odeh, the dynamic and popular Palestinian Israeli political leader, means that the apologists for Israel can no longer even pretend that there are no significant non-violent movements for justice there. Odeh is the 40-year-old head of the Joint List, the coalition of Arab parties which won 13 seats in last March’s elections, making it the third-largest political group in the Knesset. He is on a busy 2-week tour of the United States, and he made a point of visiting the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s home congregation, where he was introduced from the pulpit to a standing ovation.

Palestinian Citizens of Israel Lead Toward Justice, Freedom, and Equality with MK Ayman Odeh

March 28, 2016December 2, 2015 by Samirah Alkassim

MK Ayman Odeh has served as Secretary General of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) political party since 2006. As leader of the Joint List—an alliance of four predominantly Palestinian parties—he represents Israel’s Arab Palestinian citizens. He currently serves on the Knesset House Committee and the Knesset Committee on Labor, Welfare, and Health, and is chairman of the Cultural Affairs Caucus.