Shulamit Aloni Editorial Image

Shulamit Aloni as a panelist at the First International Jewish Feminist Conference in Jerusalem, Israel on December 1, 1988. Aloni was a tireless and sometimes controversial advocate for women’s rights, human rights, and separation of religion and state. She was advocate from the 1970s for dialogue between the Israeli government and Palestinians in the occupied territories. In that capacity she was a Board Member of Yesh Din, an activist organization focusing on this problem. A longtime Member of the Knesset (Parliament), she was founder of the Ratz (Citizens’ Rights) Party, leader of the Meretz Party and Minister of Education and later, Minister of Communications and Science and Culture. In 2000, she was awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement and special contributions to society and the State of Israel. Aloni was born in British-mandated Palestine in 1928 and died at age 85 on January 24, 2014.