Ihud

Ihud (Hebrew: 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[1] following the Biltmore Conference.[2] The party was dedicated to Arab–Jewish reconciliation, and advocated an Arab–Jewish state that would be part of a broader Arab Federation. The party was also supported by Martin Buber.[3]

The Ihud party presented its ideas to the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry in 1946 and then to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947. The Anglo-American Committee voted largely in favour of the proposals of Ihud, recommending an Economic Union in Palestine.[1]

Ihud proposed the creation of joint organs of government, and a division of the country into districts based on a communal basis.[1]

According to Sasson Sofer, writing in Zionism and the Foundations of Israeli Diplomacy (1998): "Ihud constituted the first instance in the history of Israel's politics of what happens when intellectuals seek to propose a compromise solution in the course of a violent national conflict. It demonstrated their organisational weakness and the fact that their political influence was marginal. Ihud presages the fate which was to befall Israel's intelligentsia whenever it approached the white-hot heart of the Israel-Arab conflict and sought to join in the political fray."[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The History of the original Brit Shalom, founded 1925" britshalom.org
  2. ↑ William M. Brinner, Moses Rischin (1987) Like All the Nations?: The Life and Legacy of Judah L. Magnes SUNY Press, ISBN 0-88706-507-4 p 150
  3. ↑ "Ihud." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 12 Jul. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/282488/Ihud>.
  4. ↑ Zionism and the Foundations of Israeli Diplomacy, 18 - Magnes, Buber and Ihud (Unity) pp. 337-356
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