ARAB DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Arab Democratic Party: translation

Apolitical partyformed in 1988 by formerAlignmentmember of theKnesset Abd El-Wahab Darawshethat contested the 1988Knesset election. Its platform called for appropriate and active representation forArabs in Israelin all state institutions. In foreign policy, it called for the recognition of the right of thePalestinianArab people to self-determination. It advocated convening an international peace conference with the participation on an equal basis of all the parties involved, including thePalestine Liberation Organization(PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.The party called for the withdrawal of Israel from all the territories occupied in theSix-Day War(1967) and the establishment of a Palestinian state in theWest Bank, theGaza Strip, and easternJerusalem. It won one seat in the 1988 election, two in 1992, and four in 1996, when it ran on a joint slate with theUnited Arab List(UAL). The joint UAL-Arab Democratic Party, headed by Taleb a-Sanaa, won five seats in the May 1999 election to the 15thKnessetand two seats in the January 2003 election to the 16th Knesset. It won four seats in 2006.

See alsoArab-Israeli Conflict, Arab Political Parties.