Israel is about to hold its fourth parliamentary election in the past two years. The last time Israelis went to the polls, in March 2020, the Joint List — a coalition of four Arab Palestinian political parties — won an unprecedented 15 seats in the Knesset. But since then, the Joint List has fractured. Why? And what does this mean for the future of Palestinian politics?

Producer Max Freedman speaks with Anan Maalouf, former chief of staff and policy advisor to Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List and leader of its largest party, Hadash-al Jabhah.

CREDITS

Unsettled is produced by Emily Bell, Asaf Calderon, Max Freedman, and Ilana Levinson. Original music by Nat Rosenzweig. Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to Amjad Iraqi.

Photo: Makbula Nassar; election night in Nazareth, March 2015.

BIO

Anan A. Maalouf is an Urban Planner and a Ph.D. student of Urban and Public Policy at Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment (The New School). He earned his M.Sc. of Urban and Regional Planning from the Technion IIT (2018), his thesis focused on the relationship between urban forms and technological alterations. Before moving to New York, Maalouf served as Nazareth Mayor’s Assistant (2012-2013), and as MP Ayman Odeh Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor (2015-2018). Anan works currently at The Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP) and is a teaching assistant at The New School and at Barnard College.

RESOURCES

• “The Only Left That Is Left” (Joshua Leifer, Jewish Currents, 3/5/2020)
• “The Beginning of Breakdown” (Joshua Leifer, Jewish Currents, 3/31/2020)
• Arabs in Israel Split over Homosexuality (Dima Abumaria, The Media Line, 7/24/2020)
• How Israel’s Netanyahu helped break apart the Joint List (Jonathan Cook, Middle East Eye, 2/9/2021)
• As Arab consensus splinters, wangling for community’s vote sparks hard questions (Haviv Rettig Gur, Times of Israel, 2/12/2021)
• Israel’s Islamists Side with Netanyahu (Joshua Leifer, Jewish Currents, 2/16/2021)