Simha Flapan (1911–1987) was an Israeli historian and politician. He is known for his book ''The Birth of Israel: Myths And Realities'', published in the year of his death.

Biography

Simha Flapan was born on 27 January 1911 in

Tomaszów Mazowiecki Tomaszów Mazowiecki (, yi, טאָמעשעוו or ''Tomashuv'') is a city in central Poland with 60,529 inhabitants (2021). The fourth most populous city in the Łódź Voivodeship and the second with free public transport. In Tomaszów Mazowi ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. I ...

. In Israel, Flapan was National Secretary of the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

Mapam Mapam ( he, מַפָּ״ם, an acronym for , ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party. History Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the kibbutz-based Hashomer Hatz ...

party, and the director of its

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Affairs department from 1959 to the mid-1970s; he also edited ''New Outlook'' magazine—a non-party monthly that promoted Arab-Jewish rapprochement. He died on 13 April 1987 in Israel.

View on Zionism

In the preface of'' 'Zionism and the Palestinians' ''(1979) Flapan writes:

To dispel misunderstanding, I want to make it clear that my belief in the moral justification and historical necessity of Zionism remains unaffected by my critical reappraisal of the Zionist leadership. The history of Zionism demonstrates the extent to which the urge to create a new society, embodying the universal values of democracy and social justice, was inherent in the Zionist movement and responsible for its progress in adverse conditions. Israel's problem today lies in the disintegration of these values, due largely to the intoxication with military success and the belief that military superiority is a substitute for peace. Unless the liberal and progressive values of Zionism are restored and Palestinian rights to self-determination within a framework of peaceful coexistence are recognised, Israel's search for peace is doomed to failure. I firmly believe that these trends will ultimately become the deciding force in Israel.

Published works

* ''Zionism and the Palestinians'', Croom and Helm, London, 1979. * ''The Birth of Israel: Myths And Realities'', Pantheon Books, New York; (August 1987).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flapan, Simha 1911 births 1987 deaths People from Tomaszów Mazowiecki 20th-century Israeli Jews Jewish Israeli writers Jewish historians Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Mapam politicians New Historians 20th-century Israeli historians

Biography

View on Zionism

Published works

Archives

References