Aharon Cohen
Encyclopedia
Aharon Cohen was a senior member of Mapam
, a pro-USSR Israeli political party which existed during the first two decades of statehood.
Born, 1910, in Britchany, Bessarabia
in what was the Tsarist empire, now Romania. He came to Palestine in 1929 where he joined kibbutz Sha'ar Ha'amakin
, near Haifa. Four years later he was sent back to Romania as a Zionist youth movement organiser. He returned to Palestine in 1936 where a year later he was elected to the executive committee of Ha-kibbutz Ha'artzi and was involved in organizing political work in Haifa and illegal Jewish immigration. A talented and efficient organizer he was given the task of setting up Hakibbutz Ha'artzi's Arab Department. Party policy advocated an undivided and Socialist Palestine and to this objective he gave lectures and issued bulletins to party members advocating good relations with Arabs. In 1942 he pressed his party into joining the League for Jewish Arab Rapprochement and Cooperation. That year he joined the Histadrut
's Arab Department which had a budget of £P 1,800. He remained sceptical of Histadrut policy of creating its own Arab trade unions rather than working with existing organizations.
In 1948 he became head of Mapam's "Arab Department". He was the author of "Our policy towards Arabs during the War" a Mapam policy statement endorsed by their Political Committee and distributed to all party workers on 15 June 1948. It opposed the expulsion of civilians and advocated a return of refugees after the war. In the 1949 elections
he supervised the Popular Arab Bloc
, Mapam's party for Arabs, which failed to gain any support.
In 1964 he published "Israel and the Arab World". An English translation was published in 1970. He argues that during the 1920s and early 1930s the British administration encouraged local resistance to Zionist activities. He gives accounts of negotiations, some of which he was active in, with senior Arab figures from the second half of the 1930s up to 1945. He claims that these initiatives failed to make progress due to the refusal of the Jewish Agency to commit to any definite proposals. Referring to contacts made in 1943 he writes: "Advocacy of negotiations was ridiculed, even vilified. The Arab negotiators could not fail to note the indifference and even hostility with which the attempt had been received by official Jewish leaders and by the Jewish community."
Mapam
Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented...
, a pro-USSR Israeli political party which existed during the first two decades of statehood.
Born, 1910, in Britchany, Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
in what was the Tsarist empire, now Romania. He came to Palestine in 1929 where he joined kibbutz Sha'ar Ha'amakin
Sha'ar HaAmakim
Sha'ar HaAmakim is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located near Kiryat Tiv'on, it falls under the jurisdiction of Zevulun Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 548.The village was founded in 1935 by immigrants from Romania and Yugoslavia...
, near Haifa. Four years later he was sent back to Romania as a Zionist youth movement organiser. He returned to Palestine in 1936 where a year later he was elected to the executive committee of Ha-kibbutz Ha'artzi and was involved in organizing political work in Haifa and illegal Jewish immigration. A talented and efficient organizer he was given the task of setting up Hakibbutz Ha'artzi's Arab Department. Party policy advocated an undivided and Socialist Palestine and to this objective he gave lectures and issued bulletins to party members advocating good relations with Arabs. In 1942 he pressed his party into joining the League for Jewish Arab Rapprochement and Cooperation. That year he joined the Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
's Arab Department which had a budget of £P 1,800. He remained sceptical of Histadrut policy of creating its own Arab trade unions rather than working with existing organizations.
In 1948 he became head of Mapam's "Arab Department". He was the author of "Our policy towards Arabs during the War" a Mapam policy statement endorsed by their Political Committee and distributed to all party workers on 15 June 1948. It opposed the expulsion of civilians and advocated a return of refugees after the war. In the 1949 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1949
Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset...
he supervised the Popular Arab Bloc
Popular Arab Bloc
The Popular Arab Bloc was an electoral list that contested the 1949 Israeli Constituent Assembly election. The list was launched by Mapam, just three weeks before the election, in order to mobilize Israeli Arab votes. As Mapam did not allow Arabs to be members of the party, it preferred to set up...
, Mapam's party for Arabs, which failed to gain any support.
In 1964 he published "Israel and the Arab World". An English translation was published in 1970. He argues that during the 1920s and early 1930s the British administration encouraged local resistance to Zionist activities. He gives accounts of negotiations, some of which he was active in, with senior Arab figures from the second half of the 1930s up to 1945. He claims that these initiatives failed to make progress due to the refusal of the Jewish Agency to commit to any definite proposals. Referring to contacts made in 1943 he writes: "Advocacy of negotiations was ridiculed, even vilified. The Arab negotiators could not fail to note the indifference and even hostility with which the attempt had been received by official Jewish leaders and by the Jewish community."