Israeli marxist Meir Vilner/Ber Kovner dies

Sunday June 22, 2003 00:17

by Cleo

Israeli Marxist politician who rejected Zionism and championed Palestinian rights, Meir Vilner has died aged 84. Meir was the youngest and last surviving of the 37 signatories to Israel's 1948, declaration of independence. As the Jewish leader of the Communist party of Israel, Meir eventually rejected zionism, publicised his country's nuclear weapons programme, and was the ONLY member of the Israeli knesset to protest at the official wining and dinning of the then governor of the West German Central bank, a convicted ex-nazi.

In the wake of the 1967 six day war, Vilner was stabbed by a member of Herut(the precursor of todays Likud party)after insisting Israel vacate the newly conquered West bank. As recently as April last year, Meir needed hospital treatment after tussling with police outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv. Meir Vilner was elected to the Israeli Knesset in 1949 and served here untill 1990, a passionate campaigner for Palestinian rights. Meir began his life as a Zionist Ber Kovner in the Polish ruled lithuanian city of Vilna. At the age of 17 he commanded 27 cells of the socialist Zionist Hashomer Hatza'ir. His cousin Abba Kovner latter led the Vilna ghetto uprising against the Nazis. Giving rise to songs praising the Partisans of Vilna. Under the pseudonym Meir Vilner, Ber kovner worked for the banned Polish Communist party untill 1938. He fled to British Mandate Palestine in 1938 after the rise of nazis, most of his Lithuanian family perished in the Holocaust.
Vilner studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he commented 'What we wanted to escape in Vilna, we found here' 'There hatred was directed against Jews, here against Arabs'.
Second to Fascism Vilner hated Britain, whom he accused of encouraging Eqypt and Jordan to launch attacks against the fledgling Israeli state. Vilner signed Israel's declaration of independence on the grounds that he helped eliminate a British colony. After an Israeli army unit massacre of 49 arab villagers from Kufr-Qassem in 1956, Meir interviewed survivors, wrote a report and raised questions in parliment. Thanks to his zeal, 11 Israeli soldiers were convicted of murder, and the Israeli supreme court ruled that soldiers could legitimately disobey 'immoral' military orders.

Meir Vilner (Ber Kovner) born Oct 23 1918, died June 5 2003.