Bastuni was born in
Haifa to a family originally from
al-Tira. He attended the
Technion, graduating with a degree in
architecture, going on to become a teacher. Bastuni joined the Arab branch of
Mapam in 1951. He rose through the party ranks, and although not elected, he served as the party's secretary in the
first Knesset. He also edited the
Arabic edition of Mapam's weekly magazine,
Al-Fajar. For the
1951 elections he was placed high enough on their list to win a place in the Knesset, thus becoming the first Israeli Arab to represent a Zionist party (three Arab MKs had served in the first Knesset, but none of them for Zionist parties - one had been a member of the communist
Maki and the other two were members of an Arab party, the
Democratic List of Nazareth). During his first Knesset term, internal divisions over the
Slánský trial led to Mapam splitting. On 20 February 1951, Bastuni left the party and set up the
Left Faction with
Adolf Berman and
Moshe Sneh. However, whilst Berman and Sneh went on to join Maki, Bastuni returned to Mapam on 1 November 1954. Bastuni lost his seat in the
1955 elections and did not return to the Knesset. In 1963 his nephew
Hassan Boustouni became the first Arab to play in the top tier of Israeli football when he debuted for
Liga Leumit club
Maccabi Haifa F.C. Bastuni later served as an advisor on issues pertaining to Arab settlements in the
Ministry of Housing. He was also dedicated to furthering
Jewish-Arab harmony and in 1966 he founded the
Actions Committee of Israeli Arabs for Israel. In 1969 he emigrated to the
United States where he became an advocate for the
one-state solution, publishing his views in
the New York Times in 1972. He later taught
Middle Eastern history at the
State University of New York and became the chief architect of the
New York City College of Technology. He died in 1994 at the age of 71. ==References==