Shulamit Aloni (; 27 December 1927 – 24 January 2014) was an Israeli politician. She founded the Ratz party, was leader of the Meretz party,

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

from 1988 to 1990, and served as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

from 1992 to 1993. In 2000, she won the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

Biography

Early life

Shulamit Adler was born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Her mother was a

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Notable d ...

and her father was a carpenter, both descended from Polish rabbinical families. The family migrated to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

when she was a child, and Aloni grew up in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. She was sent to

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

while her parents served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. As a youth she was a member of the socialist Zionist

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...

youth movement and the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

. During the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, she was involved in military struggles for the Old City of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and was captured by

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian forces. Following the establishment of the state of Israel, she worked with child refugees and helped establish a school for immigrant children. She taught in a school while studying law. After her marriage in 1952 to Reuven Aloni, the founder of Israel Lands Administration, she moved to Kfar Shmaryahu. Aloni joined

Mapai Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...

in 1959. She also worked as an attorney, hosted a radio show called ''After Working Hours'' giving legal advice to ordinary Israelis and wrote columns for the newspaper ''Yediot Ahronoth'' and the weekly '' LaIsha''.

Political career

In 1965, Aloni was elected to the Knesset on the list of the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Struc ...

, an alliance of Mapai and

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda () was the name used by a series of List of political parties in Israel, political parties in Israel. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period of Mandatory Pales ...

, and subsequently founded the Israel Consumers Council, which she chaired for four years. She left the Alignment in 1973 and established the Citizens Rights Movement, which became known as Ratz. The party advocated

electoral reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems that alters how public desires, usually expressed by cast votes, produce election results. Description Reforms can include changes to: * Voting systems, such as adoption of proportional represen ...

, separation of religion and state and human rights and won three seats in the 1973 Knesset elections. Ratz initially joined the Alignment-led government with Aloni as

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

but she resigned immediately in protest at the appointment of Yitzhak Rafael as Minister of Religions. Ratz briefly became

Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement (, ''Ya'ad – Tenoa'a LaZkhuyot HaEzrah''), commonly known as just Ya'ad, was a short-lived political party in Israel. It is not related to the other party by the name of Ya'ad, which existed during the ninth Kne ...

when independent MK Aryeh Eliav joined the party, but returned to its original status soon after. Throughout the 1970s Aloni attempted to initiate an ongoing dialogue with

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

in hopes of achieving a lasting peace settlement. During the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, also called the Second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. The invasion followed a series of attacks and counter-attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization ...

she established the International Center for Peace in the Middle East. In the run-up to the 1984 elections, Ratz aligned with Peace Now and the Left Camp of Israel to increase its size in the Knesset to five seats. In 1992, she led Ratz into an alliance with

Shinui Shinui () was a Zionist, secular, and anti-clerical free market Liberalism worldwide, liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third-largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collaps ...

and

Mapam File:Pre-State_Zionist_Workers'_Parties_chart.png, chart of zionist workers parties, 360px, right rect 167 83 445 250 Hapoel Hatzair rect 450 88 717 265 The non-partisans (pre-state Zionist political movement), Non Partisans rect 721 86 995 243 ...

to form the new Meretz party, which won 12 seats under her leadership in the elections that year. Aloni became

under

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

but was forced to resign after a year due to her outspoken statements on matters of religion. As Education Minister, she also criticized organized tours by Israeli high school pupils to

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s on grounds that such visits were turning Israeli youth into aggressive, nationalistic xenophobes, claiming that students "march with unfurled flags, as if they've come to conquer Poland". She was reappointed Minister of Communications and Science and Culture. After the signing of the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the st ...

in 1993, Aloni expressed her sentiments that the agreements were a positive turning point on an historic scale: "I feel like on the 29th of November he date of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine">United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine">he date of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine we did not know then what we were heading for, but we knew we were heading for great days." After the massacre of 29 Muslims in Hebron">Cave of the Patriarchs massacre">massacre of 29 Muslims in Hebron, West Bank">Hebron.html" ;"title="Cave of the Patriarchs massacre">massacre of 29 Muslims in Hebron">Cave of the Patriarchs massacre">massacre of 29 Muslims in Hebron, West Bank on February 25, 1994, perpetrated by Baruch Goldstein, Aloni called for the expulsion of Israeli settlement, Jewish settlers from Hebron. After the 1996 Knesset election, in which Meretz lost three of its seats, Aloni was ousted from Meretz leadership, with Yossi Sarid being elected to succeed her as leader of Meretz. She then retired from politics.

Last years

In a 2002 interview on

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

, American journalist Amy Goodman asked Aloni, "Often when there is dissent expressed in the United States against policies of the Israeli government, people here are called anti-Semitic. What is your response to that?" Aloni responded, opining that, "It is a trick we use. When from Europe somebody is criticizing Israel, then we bring up the Holocaust. When in this country he USApeople are criticizing Israel, then they are anti-Semitic... some Israelis attitude is “Israel, my country right or wrong,” identification. And they are not ready to hear criticism." Aloni was a board member of Yesh Din, an organisation founded in 2005 which focuses on human rights in the occupied

Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

Personal life

With her husband, Reuven Aloni, she had three sons: * Dror Aloni – later mayor of Kfar Shmaryahu and head of Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium * – an education philosopher * Udi Aloni – a film director, writer and artist Reuven Aloni died in 1988. File:Shulamit Aloni as a young girl.jpeg, Young Shulamit in the 1940s. File:Shulamit Aloni with her mother.jpg, Shulamit Aloni as a young woman with her mother. File:Shulamit Aloni with Reuven Aloni.jpeg, Shulamit and Reuven Aloni in the 1980s. File:Shulamit Aloni with 3 of her grandchildren.jpg, Aloni with grandchildren in the 2000s. She was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

Shulamit Aloni Prize

In 2018, the Shulamit Aloni Prize was established. The prize is awarded by the Shulamit Aloni Foundation, a non-profit organization created by a group of Aloni's family members and leading media and cultural professionals for this purpose. The prize, which bears a monetary award, is bestowed to its recipients each year in the Jaffa Theater (aka The Arab-Hebrew Theater), to creators of cultural works (theater, film, poetry and prose) in both

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

whose work promotes

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. Inaugural prize recipients included Rana Abu Fraihah (Arabic Culture Prize), Renana Raz (Hebrew Culture Prize) and

Sami Michael Sami Michael (, ; 15 August 1926 – 1 April 2024) was an Israeli Iraqi author, having migrated from Iraq to Israel at the age of 23. From 2001, Michael was the President of The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). Michael was among ...

(Lifetime Achievement Prize). Additional prize recipients include Ayat Abou Shmeiss for Arabic Culture, and

Achinoam Nini Achinoam Nini (; born ), known professionally as Noa (), is an Israeli singer-songwriter, percussionist, poet, composer, and human rights activist working internationally. She is accompanied by guitarist Gil Dor and often plays the conga drums a ...

for Lifetime Achievement.

Awards and recognition

*In 1994, received an honorary PhD in Humanities from

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

. *In 1994, received an honorary PhD of Law from Kon-Kuk University. *In 1998, Aloni received a special lifetime award of the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. *In 1999, received an honorary PhD of Philosophy from the Weitzman Institute of Science. *In 2000, she received the

, for her lifetime achievements and special contribution to society and the State of Israel.

Published works

* ''The Citizen and His Country'', 1958 *''Children's Rights in Israel'',1964 (Hebrew) *''The Arrangement - From a State of Law to a State of Religion, on Relations Between State and Religion'', 1970 (Hebrew) *''Women as Human Beings'', 1976 (Hebrew) *"Up the down escalator" in '' Sisterhood Is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology'', ed.

Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key Radical feminism, radical feminist member of the American Feminist movement, Wom ...

, 1984. *''Democracy in Shackles'' (''Demokratia be'azikim''), ''Am Oved'' *''Israel: Democracy or Ethnocracy?'' published in 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aloni, Shulamit 1928 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Israeli lawyers 20th-century Israeli women politicians Alignment (Israel) politicians Asian democratic socialists Hashomer Hatzair members Israel Prize for lifetime achievement & special contribution to society recipients Israel Prize women recipients Israeli activists Israeli female military personnel Israeli Labor Party politicians Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli prisoners of war Israeli schoolteachers Israeli women activists Israeli women's rights activists Jewish Israeli politicians Jewish military personnel Jewish socialists Jewish women politicians Leaders of the opposition (Israel) Members of the 6th Knesset (1965–1969) Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977) Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981) Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996) Meretz leaders Ministers of communications of Israel Ministers of culture of Israel Ministers of education of Israel Ministers of science of Israel Palmach members Politicians from Tel Aviv Ratz (political party) politicians Women government ministers of Israel Women members of the Knesset Ya'ad – Civil Rights Movement politicians Jewish women activists Jewish Israeli atheists Israeli atheists Israeli Ashkenazi Jews 20th-century Israeli women lawyers Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Israeli LGBTQ rights activists Ministers without Portfolio of Israel