Dr. Meir Margalit is a researcher of the history of the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine and a founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
Meir Margalit was born in Argentina and moved to Israel with a right-wing Zionist youth group in 1972. During his military service he founded a Jewish settlement in Gaza and he fought and was injured in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. During his recovery he changed his views, and gradually went for redical left. He was a member of the Jerusalem City Council, representing Meretz Party between 1998 and 2002. Elected again for Meretz in 2008, he is currently a member of the city council, officially in charge of East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) affairs. He is known for his staunch criticism of Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat's nationalist and discriminative views towards the palestinian residents of the city.
Famous quotes containing the word meir:
“Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.”
—Golda Meir (1898–1978)