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Jewish-Arab Topic in Yad Yaari Archive
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Many are the organizations dealing today with issues of relations between the two peoples and those struggling for peace. But whoever wants to learn about the roots of the struggles for peace, the basis on which the various frameworks striving for closeness and cooperation are built, is strongly advised to turn to Yad Yaari Archive at Givat Haviva and search its files (see the detailed introduction and the details following).
Central Sources on the Jewish-Arab Topic in the HaShomer HaTzair – Yad Yaari Archive and their Designations:
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Introduction
Jewish-Arab solidarity is one of the subjects that accompanied HaShomer HaTzair Movement almost from its beginnings and during the course of its almost a century of existence. The subject spread and changed forms in parallel with the ideological changes the movement underwent and the processes in the political reality which took place around it. While still in the Diaspora the relations between Jews and Arabs were considered as the acid test in the humanistic positions of the members of the movement. These relations were presented as arising from the essence of the youth belonging to the movement. In arguments within the movement and between it and outside factors, the question arose as one of the subjects of debate of great importance. After the immigration of members of HaShomer to then Palestine the principle and the means of its fulfillment were determined: a social revolution in the country will occur as the fruit of cooperation between workers of the two nations and the Arab worker will be trained in the framework of a body within the Histadrut Labor Federation – “The Joint Organization.” At the beginning of the 1940’s the settlement organization of HaShomer HaTzair – the Kibbutz Artzi – developed cooperative relations with “The League for Arab-Jewish Closeness.” A central figure in the Kibbutz Artzi, Mordehai Bentov, was appointed the secretary of the League and in that framework crystallized the idea of a bi-national state. In 1942 the bi-national state became one of the ideological principles of the Kibbutz Artzi. Only on the eve of the establishment of the State of Israel did the movement forego the idea of a bi-national state. After the establishment of the State most of the Arab citizens of the State found themselves in the framework of the Military Government, which became over the years the instrument of the establishment to control the Arab public and of the ruling party for its political needs. The struggle against the military government took place on three levels: in the Knesset while seeking parliamentary allies, on the streets – in order to mobilize public opinion, and in the field, in order to struggle against the harshest manifestation of the military government – the robbing of land. A year after the cancellation of the military government the Six Day War broke out, and the topic at the top of the national agenda is that of peace and control of the territories. The heads of the political arm of the Kibbutz Artzi, Mapam, crystallized a number of plans for peace between us and our neighbors, and over the course of time the struggle against the settlements turned into the central aspect of the Kibbutz Artzi and Mapam struggle in this field.
This continuous activity lefts its mark in tens of newspapers, publications and documents which are concentrated in the central archive of HaShomer HaTzair at Givat Haviva. In fact, the struggle for Jewish-Arab peace cannot be studied without turning to the archive. The archive includes documentation covering the issues from every aspect and at all levels. The struggle for Jewish public opinion is found in the section documenting the political activity of the Kibbutz Artzi and its divisions, designation 90. This section also holds documentation on the parliamentary struggles under a sub-section entitled "The Mapam Faction." The Arab Departments were active both in the kibbutzim of the Kibbutz Artzi and in the party; their activity created contacts on the ground with the Arab villages and acted to bringing the two national publics closer together. The central figures active in the Arab Department, Aharon Cohen and Yosef Vashitz, left behind them large personal collections. The personal archives of Gabriel Stern and of Mordehai Bentov document the activity of
the League for Arab-Jewish Closeness. The archive of veteran peace activist Simha Flapan is also deposited with Yad Yaari. In the recent generation, Givat Haviva and especially The Jewish-Arab Center for Peace deal with activity intend to bring Jews and Arabs together. The archives of both of these bodies are also to be found at Yad Yaari. One of the important sources to learn about this topic is the press, which in a variety of languages can also be found in the collections of the central archive. In recent years the archive has also absorbed the documentation of extra-parliamentary bodies which dealt and deal with the topics of peace, such as "Peace Now."
Sample Documents from the Archive Collections
 | 5. Analysis of the situation in Haifa under "Hagana" conquest – April 1948 ((4)9.10-95): |
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For other unique collections/archives on the Jewish-Arab topic in the framework of Givat Haviva,
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