Brit Shalom ( he, ברית שלום, lit. "covenant of peace"; ar, تحالف ألسلام, ''Tahalof Essalam''; also ''Jewish–Palestinian Peace Alliance'') was a group of Jewish Zionist intellectuals in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, founded in 1925.

History

Brit Shalom sought peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews, to be achieved by renunciation of the Zionist aim of creating a Jewish state. The alternative vision of Zionism was to create a centre for Jewish cultural life in Palestine, echoing the earlier ideas of

Ahad Ha'am Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg (18 August 1856 – 2 January 1927), primarily known by his Hebrew name and pen name Ahad Ha'am ( he, אחד העם, lit. 'one of the people', Genesis 26:10), was a Hebrew essayist, and one of the foremost pre-state Zi ...

. At the time, Brit Shalom supported the establishment of a bi-national state where Jews and Arabs would have equal rights. Brit Shalom supporters and founders included economist and sociologist

Arthur Ruppin Arthur Ruppin (1 March 1876 – 1 January 1943) was a German Zionist proponent of pseudoscientific race theory and one of the founders of the city of Tel Aviv.Todd Samuel Presner, ’German Jewish Studies in the Digital Age:Remarks on Discipline ...

, philosopher

Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism c ...

Hugo Bergmann Hugo Bergmann (Hebrew: שמואל הוגו ברגמן; December 25, 1883 – June 18, 1975) was an Israeli philosopher, born in Prague. Biography Hugo Samuel Bergmann was born and raised in Prague, Austria-Hungary. He was a member of the Pragu ...

, historian

Hans Kohn Hans Kohn ( he, הַנְס כֹּהן, or קוהן, September 15, 1891 – March 16, 1971) was an American philosopher and historian. He pioneered the academic study of nationalism, and is considered an authority on the subject. Life Kohn was b ...

Gershom Scholem Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Mystici ...

Henrietta Szold Henrietta Szold ( , ; December 21, 1860 – February 13, 1945) was a U.S. Jewish Zionist leader and founder of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandatory Palestine dedic ...

and

Israel Jacob Kligler Israel Jacob Kligler (24 April 1888 – 23 September 1944) was a microbiologist. A Zionist and humanist, he was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, educated in the United States and spent most of his career in Mandatory Palestine, but died b ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

also voiced support.

Judah Leon Magnes Judah Leon Magnes ( he, יהודה לייב מאגנס; July 5, 1877 – October 27, 1948) was a prominent Reform rabbi in both the United States and Mandatory Palestine. He is best remembered as a leader in the pacifist movement of the World War ...

, one of the authors of the program, never joined the organization. A letter from Arthur Ruppin to Hans Kohn in May 1930 states: Ruppin held a senior position within the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

as Director of the

Palestine Land Development Company Israel Land Development Company (ILDC) ( he, הכשרת הישוב, Hachsharat HaYishuv) is one of Israel's largest conglomerates, with fields including real estate, construction, energy and hotels. It was acquired in 1987 by Yaakov Nimrodi. Hist ...

. Most Palestinian Jews and Arabs rejected the proposed binational solution, and Ruppin himself eventually became convinced it was unrealistic. The group disintegrated by the early 1930s.Flapan p 173 In 1942, Magnes and supporters of Brit Shalom formed the political party

Ihud Ihud ( he, איחוד, 'Unity') was a small binationalist Zionist political party founded by Judah Leon Magnes, Martin Buber, Ernst Simon and Henrietta Szold, former supporters of Brit Shalom, in 1942 Arab–Israeli peace projects Arab–Israeli peace projects are projects to promote peace and understanding between the Arab League and Israel in different spheres. These are part of a broader attempt at a Israeli–Palestinian peace process, peace process between Palestinians ...

Peace process in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine The intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine was the civil, political and armed struggle between Palestinian Arabs and Jewish Yishuv during the British rule in Mandatory Palestine, beginning from the violent spillover of the Franco-Syrian ...

Cultural Zionism Cultural Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת רוּחָנִית, Romanization of Hebrew, translit. ''Tsiyonut ruchanit'', trans. 'Spiritual Zionism') is a strain in the concept of Zionism that valued creating a centre in historic Palestine with it ...

One-state solution The one-state solution, sometimes also called a bi-national state, is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, according to which one state must be established between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. Proponen ...

References

External links

Official Brit Shalom / Tahalof Essalam web site
{{Authority control Politics of Mandatory Palestine Middle East peace efforts Jewish organizations in Mandatory Palestine Organizations established in 1925 1925 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Organizations disestablished in the 1930s 1930s disestablishments in Mandatory Palestine