Norman Rothfield (26 January 1912 – 4 June 2010) was an English-born Australian peace and labour activist. Rothfield was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. In 1934, aged 22, he was elected to Marylbone Borough Council, representing the Labour Party. In 1934 he married Evelyn Dell, and in 1939 migrated to Australia. He joined the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

in 1941 and the Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism, of which he became an executive member in 1942. He worked as a women's garments manufacturer and a builder, and promoted the establishment of the

State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In 1947 he became president of the council of the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies. He ran for election several times on the Labor platform, and campaigned against nuclear weapons and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. Although he had promoted the establishment of Israel, Rothfield also campaigned vigorously for a separate

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

an state, and established the ''Paths for Peace'' journal in 1974 which supported a negotiated settlement. He established the Australian Jewish Democratic Society in 1984 in response to lack of progressivism in the Jewish community. He and his wife Evelyn were awarded Medals of the Order of Australia in 1998, shortly after Rothfield's memoir, ''Many Paths to Peace'' (1997), was published. He published another book, ''The Trial of God'', in 1998. Evelyn died in 2006, but Rothfield remained physically active throughout his nineties. He died in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothfield, Norman 1912 births 2010 deaths Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia British emigrants to Australia British Jews Australian Jews Jewish British activists