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2021-08-27 -Obits-
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Ra’am MK Said al-Harumi, a champion of Negev Bedouin, dies at 49
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[IsraelTimes] al-Harumi made history when Ra’am became 1st Arab faction to play integral role in coalition; he abstained in vital vote, to protest home demolitions in Bedouin communities.
Ra’am
...the party of the Islamic Movement - Southern Branch, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Israel, which is currently allied with Naftali Bennett’s goverment. It’s estimated 10% of Israeli Arabs are affiliated with the Islamic Movement, whether the soft jihad of the political Southern Branch or the hard jihad of the sword wielded by the militant Northern Branch... MK Said al-Harumi died early Wednesday after being rushed to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba after suffering a heart attack, the party announced. He was 49.
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According to the Arab Israeli news site Panet, al-Harumi was driving through Beersheba when he suddenly had a heart attack. His car veered out of control and crashed. He was rushed to the hospital, but to no avail; he passed away before dawn on Wednesday.
Al-Harumi, along with his fellow politicians from the Islamist Ra’am party, made history this year when they became the first Arab party in decades to join a governing coalition, and the first-ever to play an integral role in Israel’s governance.
Al-Harumi abstained in June’s confidence vote, while his other three Ra’am colleagues voted in favor, giving the eight-party coalition a wafer-thin majority to oust the government led by Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu. In July, al-Harumi was appointed chairman of the Knesset Interior Committee.
"May God have mercy on our Said and accompany him in peace," Ra’am said in a statement announcing his death. "Condolences to his family and the people of the Negev."
Party chief Mansour Abbas said al-Harumi was a "young, smart, energetic politician."
"He always believed in his path as a son of the Negev Arabs. The loss is great," Abbas said.
With his death, the Knesset is expected to see the return of Iman Khatib-Yasin, a self-described feminist and Israel’s first hijab-wearing MK, who was elected to parliament in 2020 but failed to retain her seat in the 2021 vote.
Al-Harumi hailed from the Bedouin heartland in the Negev Desert, where tens of thousands of people live in unrecognized villages that are largely cut off from basic services and where homes and other structures have been built without legal permits, putting them at risk of demolition by Israeli authorities.
Al-Harumi spent years negotiating with the government to recognize some of the Bedouin villages and had hoped that Ra’am’s controversial decision to enter the government would advance their cause.
The MK surprised observers in June when he refused to vote with the rest of his party on a confidence motion that installed the new government, replacing Netanyahu after a 12-year stint in power. His abstention in the vote came in response to the planned demolition of Bedouin homes in the Negev. The coalition was approved by the narrowest possible margin — 60-59 votes.
Ra’am chief Abbas later said al-Harumi’s protest vote was coordinated in advance and that coalition leaders Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid had been aware of it. al-Harumi had been ready to back the government if there had been any chance it would not pass the vote, Abbas said.
In recent years, Israel has sought to relocate the Bedouin to established towns, saying it would allow the state to provide modern services and improve their quality of life. The Bedouin view such efforts as a way of uprooting them from their ancestral lands, disrupting their traditional way of life and confining them to impoverished, crime-ridden communities.
"I want the Arab Bedouin of the Negev to choose their way of life," he said in a recent interview. "Those who want to live a traditional, agricultural life as Bedouin should have the opportunity to do so on their own land. What’s the problem?"
Al-Harumi said he hoped to benefit his people by engaging with wider Israeli society and joining the government.
"It’s an experiment," al-Harumi said. "Can we influence the government to benefit our society and exploit the political conditions that exist, or do we keep to ourselves? The easiest thing is to stay back and say I won’t get involved."
On Tuesday Lapid sent condolences to the family and credited al-Harumi with helping the wildly diverse government come to fruition. 
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Posted by trailing wife 2021-08-27 00:00||
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