Summary
Catholic notable of Mi’lya whom Bishop Hakim brought back from Lebanon and made a Knesset member in 1951 on a Mapai-affiliated slate, succeeding Amin Jarjura as the Christians’ representative; Manna uses his career to show the bishop’s enduring power inside the ruling party’s Arab lists (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.272, 281).
Details
- Qassis was one of the independent-minded figures in Haifa, Nazareth and the Galilee who saw al-Rabita as a pulpit for independent positions, in the circle around Elias Kusa (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.278).
- Of the two men allowed to return to challenge the communists, al-Hawwari abandoned politics but Hakim continued the fight, and “succeeded in bringing Mas’ad Qassis back from Lebanon to make him a member of the Knesset in 1951” (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.272).
- In the 1951 Knesset, Bishop Hakim’s Catholic supporters were represented by Qassis, who succeeded Amin Jarjura in that capacity (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.272; Jarjura’s replacement is also recorded at PDF p.261).
- In the 1955 elections Qassis was slated for the Democratic list’s third seat; when Jabr Ma’di missed election and Sayf al-Din al-Zu’bi was pressured to give up his seat for Ma’di in March 1956, Qassis refused to step down and did not have to, because of Bishop Hakim’s support — which, Manna writes, clearly showed the bishop’s strong and enduring influence on the Democratic list (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.281).
Related pages
Nakba and Survival, Bishop Hakim, Amin Jarjura, Sayf al-Din al-Zu’bi, Jabr Ma’di