Photo Credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90
Arab Israeli MK Basel Ghattas (Balad) wears a keffiyeh around his neck as he addresses the Israeli Knesset on November 12, 2014.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said that if he (Yuli) can wear a Kipa, then surely Ghattas can wear a keffiyeh in the Knesset.
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Of course the difference is that keffiyeh has since taken on political connotations, while the kipa remains primarily a religious/social symbol.
Ghattas, a Christian Arab, holds a PhD in environmental engineering from the Technion University in Haifa, and was the founder of the Balad party along with his cousin, Azmi Bishara.
Bishara fled Israel in 2007 after security forces accused him of passing information to the enemy (Hezbollah) during war.
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