Nadia Hilou

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Nadia Hilou
Faction represented in the Knesset
2006–2009Labor Party
Personal details
Born(1953-07-05)5 July 1953
Jaffa, Israel
Died27 February 2015(2015-02-27) (aged 61)

Nadia Hilou (Arabic: ناديا حلو, Hebrew: נאדיה חילו‎; 5 July 1953 – 27 February 2015) was an Arab-Israeli social worker and politician, who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party between 2006 and 2009. She was the second female Israeli Arab MK after Hussniya Jabara, and also the first female Christian MK.[1]

Biography

Hilou was born in Jaffa, Israel, to Christian Arab parents. She studied at Tel Aviv University where she gained a BA in social work in 1976. She later returned to qualify for an MA in the same subject. In 1997, she became director of the Division for the Status of Women in the Union of local authorities, and in 2002 became deputy chairwoman of the Na'amat Women's Organisation.

Hilou entered politics following the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. She joined the Labour Party and was placed 38th on the party's list for the 1996 Knesset elections.[2] However, the party won 34 seats and Hilou did not enter the Knesset. After being given an unrealistic place on the One Israel list for the 1999 elections Hilou joined the One Nation party and was placed sixth on its list.[3] The party won only two seats.

Hilou returned to the Labor Party and in the run-up to the 2006 elections won 15th place (a slot reserved for women) on its list. The party won 19 seats and Hilou took her place in the Knesset, relinquishing her previous positions. She served as chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. One of her first acts was to co-sponsor a successful bill strengthening laws against cyber sex with minors.[4] She has also initiated legislation on compensating the relatives of murder victims.[5]

In 2007 she complained about the treatment of her children at Ben-Gurion Airport by security staff, saying that their treatment was "humiliating."[6] She lost her seat in the 2009 elections.

In 2013 her autobiography, titled The Pioneer from Ajami, was published in Hebrew by HaKibbutz HaMeuhad Press.

Hilou lived in Jaffa and died in February 2015 from cancer.[7] She was survived by a husband and four daughters, Natali, Cristina, Rola and Rena.[8]

Bibliography

  • Poretzet HaDerekh MiAjami (The Trailblazer from Ajami), HaKibbutz HaMeuhad, 2013 (in Hebrew)

See also

References

  1. Meet the New MK: Nadia Hilou Jerusalem Post, 28 April 2006
  2. "Labor Party list 1996" (PDF). Israel Democracy Institute.
  3. "One Nation list 1999" (PDF). Israel Democracy Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-05-20.
  4. New law to deal tougher with cyber sex with minors Haaretz, 9 January 2007
  5. Ministers okay bill to compensate families of murder victims Haaretz, 17 December 2007
  6. Arab Labor MK says airport security 'humiliated' her children Haaretz, 1 October 2007
  7. Nadia Hilou, first Arab Christian woman to serve in Knesset, dies at 61 Haaretz, 27 February 2015
  8. Pioneering former M.K. dies at 61 Ynetnews, 27 February 2015