This is the first time an Arab woman is running for the position.
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
MK Haneen Zoabi (Balad) announced Wednesday that she would run for mayor of Nazareth in the upcoming municipal elections on October 22, marking the first time that an Arab woman has run for the position.Speaking at a press conference, she vowed to struggle against racism.Zoabi, who will run as an independent candidate and not as part of Balad, will be following in the footsteps of her relative Saif al-Din Zoabi, a former MK and mayor of Nazareth in the 1980s. Zoabi lives and grew up in the city.Several lawmakers have tried to propose bills to ban her from the Knesset, but the controversy-prone legislator has decided to leave of her own volition.She has little time to campaign for the mayoral race, but she has the advantage being a recognized name.Zoabi said Nazareth served as the capital for the Arab public and that she wanted to develop it into a modern city that offered its residents the best services.Four thousand homes in the city are not connected to electricity, a situation she said was intolerable. She added that transportation was not adequate, and overcrowding in the classrooms demanded change.She also complained that the city does not have an industrial park, while in Upper Nazareth there are five. Nazareth has great potential, but the current situation is difficult, she said, adding that improving the city would require a lot of work.Lahav Harkov and Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.