On June 30, Israel’s “Change Coalition” government dissolved, plunging the country into a fifth elections in less than four years. This diverse coalition broke new ground in Jewish-Arab political cooperation with the inclusion of Ra’am, an Arab party led by Mansour Abbas. How did Ra’am’s inclusion affect Arab citizens’ aspirations for greater political influence? What are the outlooks for Jewish-Arab political cooperation? Will Arab voters make their voice heard?
Watch this video for an in-depth discussion with Dr. Ameer Fakhoury, political sociologist and researcher on shared society, nationalism and partnership, and partnership-based peace. He shared his insights into political trends and discourse within Arab society and perspectives on cooperation going forward.
Born in Acre, Israel, and a resident of Haifa, Ameer received his LL.B. degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, followed by an M.A. in Political Science from the Haifa University Peace and Conflict Management Program, focusing on theories of ethnic and national groups and ethnic and national conflicts. Ameer has completed his doctorate in the Sociology Department at Haifa University, focusing on political and cultural sociology. He is the former Director of the Wahat al Salam-Neve Shalom School for Peace Research Unit, and the co-director of the thinking groups “Partnership-Based Peace” and “Nationalism and Partnership” at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. Ameer is a consultant to civil society organization on Shared Society and the Incoming Co-Director of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute ‘Nisan’ project, aimed at the research of Shared Society in Israel. In the fall semester of 2022, Ameer will begin a post-doctoral fellowship at the Polansky Academy at the Van-Leer Research Institute.