Emile HabibyImil (Emile) Shukri Habibi (28 January 1922 - 2 May 1996) was a Palestinian writer and politician. Born in Haifa to a Protestant Palestinian Arab family (his family had originally been Arab Orthodox but converted to Protestantism due to disputes withn the Orthodox church), he became one of the leaders of the Palestine Communist Party during the Mandate era. He supported the 1947 UN Partition Plan and chose to remain in Haifa until his death, despite it coming under Israeli control following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He served in the Knesset between 1951 and 1959, and again from 1961 until 1972, first as a member of Maki, before breaking away from the party with Tawfik Toubi to found Rakah. He left Rakah in 1989. Read More Read Less