Shulamit Aloni, 1928-2014

Shulamit Aloni (Wikipedia)

It's been a busy weekend in the Mideast and I have some catching up to do.On Friday, Shulamit Aloni died in Tel Aviv at the age of 85. Her passing will get a lot less attention than the death two weeks earlier of Ariel Sharon, and that is, in my definitely biased opinion, too bad.  The inveterate warrior for peace will be less remembered than the warrior with arms. May her name be a blessing.

This veteran political leader of the Israeli Left and advocate of peace with the Palesinitans had good Zionist credentials: in 1948 she served with the Palmach in the battle for Jerusalem and was taken prisoner by the Jordanians. Elected to the Knesset as a Labor MK in 1965, she left Labor in 1973 to form the Citizens' Rights Movement (Ratz). She opened dialogue with the Palestinians and in 1992 Ratz joined with  Mapam and Shinui to form a new Left/Peace Bloc known as Meretz, and held several ministerial posts in governments in the 1990s, including Education and Communications. In 1996 she was replaced as leader of Meretz by Yossi Sarid. She retired from the Knesset but remained an active advocate for peace.