Faras Hamdan

Faras Hamdan was born in 1910 in Baqa al-Gharbiyye

Hamdan was born in 1910 in Baqa al-Gharbiyye, during the Ottoman era. He went to primary school in his village and then to the National High School in Nablus.

In 1944 he was elected head of the local council of Baqa al-Gharbiyye. He owned a citrus processing factory in the village and was considered a wealthy man. Research by Hillel Cohen states that he was involved in cattle smuggling.

In 1951 he entered the Knesset as head of the Agriculture and Development list, which was linked to Mapai. The party joined David Ben-Gurion's government, but he did not become a minister. He was reelected in 1955 and served on the Labor Committee and later the Education and Culture Committee.

He and his party supported the military government over Arab areas. After the Sinai War he became the guardian of a girl found in Sinai beside her dead mother. In the 1959 elections the party was led by Mahmud A-Nashaf, and Hamdan lost his seat. He died on 29 November 1966.