Shomeric Beacon of Light: Hillel Schenker

I have been the Co-Editor of Palestine-Israel Journal, the Jerusalem-based only joint Israeli-Palestinian publication for over 20 years (www.pij.org). I consider this a natural result of my Hashomer Hatzair education, given that in 1947 the movement advocated for a bi-national state to replace the British Mandate over Palestine. Since it was not accepted by the Arabs and only a minority of the Jews in Israel supported it - the result was UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (The Partition Plan) which called for the establishment of a Jewish and an Arab state in Palestine/The Land of Israel. That was the original two-state solution, an approach that I and my colleagues continue to support and believe is still the only realistic solution. 

Hashomer Hatzair’s belief in Jewish-Arab partnership and peace is what has guided my activity. It led me to become one of the editors of New Outlook magazine, the unofficial voice of the Israeli peace movement between 1977-1990 in the spirit of Prof. Martin Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, “I and Thou”. Buber was a major influence on Hashomer Hatzair’s approach to education and was a great admirer of the kibbutz which he called “an experiment that has not failed.” 

The movement’s values also led me to become involved in the founding of the Peace Now movement in 1978 following Egyptian President Sadat’s historic visit to Israel that made the possibility of peace between Arabs and Jews a tangible reality. Although I only lived on a kibbutz, Barkai for 13 years, in Tel Aviv I continue to live the values of the movement. I will add that my ongoing connection with many generations of graduates of the movement has created a sense of community that reinforces my ability to continue “the good fight” for the values that we believe in. Much of the above will appear in the activist/memoir that I am in the process of completing whose working title is “From Utopia to Dystopia? Eye-Witness in Israel-Palestine.”

Chazak V’Amatz, Hillel.