Abdulmalik Dehamshe

Abdulmalik Dehamshe was born in 1943 in Israel

Dehamshe was born in Kafr Kanna and finished high school in Nazareth. He studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and received his degree in 1968. He was licensed as a lawyer in 1969.

In July 1971 he was arrested on suspicion of involvement with a cell that planted explosives in Israel. He admitted contact with the cell but said he did not take part in its actions. In May 1972 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 3 of them suspended, for recruiting members to the cell.

After prison he was suspended from the bar, a period the Supreme Court cut to 5 years. In 1980 he founded a branch of the Islamic Movement in Kafr Kanna. He later represented defendants in security cases, including Ahmed Yassin, and was legal adviser to the Islamic Movement.

He was elected to the Knesset in 1996 for the United Arab List and was reelected in 1999 and 2003. He served as a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. In 2003 the Or Commission found that he had inflamed tensions during the October 2000 events, but it recommended no steps against him because he was an elected official.

He lost his seat in the 2006 elections. He lives in Kafr Kanna, is married and has 5 children.