In April 2023, Reuven Abergel gave a speech at one of the Jerusalem protests that have been held weekly to resist the right-wing government’s planned judicial overhaul. While the protests claim to fight for democracy by protecting Israel’s courts, Reuven reminded us of the courts’ many injustices, past and present. He reminded us what true democracy is.

Reuven Abergel’s life is one of continuous struggle. It tells the story of oppressed people of all backgrounds in Israel/Palestine, of the racialized, the colonized, the poor, the dispossessed. Reuven is a historian of the people, a philosopher of the revolution, an activist on the front lines.

Reuven is an Israeli Black Panther, a leader in the social/political movement (inspired by its African-American counterpart) that took to the streets in the early 1970s to end systemic discrimination against Mizrahim (Jews from Arab and Muslim countries) and went on from there to challenge the very nature of the regime. Reuven has maintained this revolutionary fervor to this day, fighting in solidarity with Palestinians, asylum seekers, LGBTQ, and countless others.

Reuven is a father, a grandfather, and a great-grandfather who has and continues to teach us the people’s version of history, rejecting hateful assumptions about who we were, are, and can or should be. In so doing, he avenges or collective memory.

While Reuven has paid a heavy personal price for dedicating his life to the community, he has made it possible for many of us to keep fighting for a better society.

​

Join the people!

Support the People’s Award to Reuven Abergel.