Daud Turki
Encyclopedia
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
-Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, living in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, Israel. He was the leader of the Jewish-Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
left-wing group called the Red Front
Red Front
Red Front was a socialist electoral coalition in the United Kingdom which stood candidates in the 1987 general election.Its main component was the Revolutionary Communist Party of Frank Furedi, while it also attracted the support of the tiny Revolutionary Democratic Group, Red Action and a few...
, which was an anti-Zionist group. He was convicted on grounds of treason and spent 17 years in the Israeli jail in what is considered by the Israeli Security Agency as one of its famous historical affairs.
Daud Turki was born in 1927 to a Palestinian Christian
Palestinian Christian
Palestinian Christians are Arabic-speaking Christians descended from the people of the geographical area of Palestine. Within Palestine, there are churches and believers from many Christian denominations, including Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholic , Protestant, and others...
family from the Galilee village of al-Maghar between Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
and the Lake Tiberias. He grew up in the city of Haifa. His father's name is Simaan Daud, who died from being shot by British occupation troops in Haifa in the 1936-1939 uprising, and his mother Sadi'a Khouri is also from al-Maghar in the Galilee. His grandfather Turki belonged to the David (Daud) clan of al-Mughar a traditional Christian Palestinian family group. In 1948 when Israel was established his immediate family fled from Haifa to the Druze village of Beit Jan, which afforded them protection and helped prevent them from becoming refugees. He was married to Khazna Daud and had three daughters Aida, Georget, and Nidal.
He was an Arab Nationalist
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism is a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world...
and a Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
. He was a founding member of the Palestine Communist Party
Palestine Communist Party
The Palestine Communist Party was a political party in British Mandate of Palestine formed in 1923 through the merger of the Palestinian Communist Party and the Communist Party of Palestine...
branch in Haifa during the time of British Mandate Palestine and fought British occupation of his homeland. After the establishment of Israel he joined the Israeli Communist Party Maki. He along with his extended family were expelled from the Israeli Communist Party in 1963 for his pro-China views and because of his insistence on the right of return of Palestinian refugees. His family returned to the Communist Party of Israel after its pro-Zionist members left it and it became known as Rakah
Rakah
Rakah may refer to:* Maki , a communist party in Israel, now renamed Maki* Raka'ah, one unit of Islamic prayer, or Salah...
, which is the main party in the Israeli political coalition called Hadash
Hadash
Hadash is a Jewish and Arab socialist front of organizations that runs for the Israeli parliament. It currently has four members in the 120-seat Knesset.-Background:...
.
He was arrested in December 1972 and sentenced to 17 years in prison in March 1973 on charges of treason. He was released on May 20, 1985 as part of the "Galilee" prisoner exchange deal between Israel and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command is a Palestinian nationalist organization, backed by Syria and Iran...
. After his release, he published a collection of poems he wrote while behind bars called "the Wind of Struggle" (ريح الجهاد) as well as his memoirs "Rebel from the Arab East" (ثائر من الشرق العربي). Daud Turki died at the age of 82 on March 8, 2009.