Isaiah L. Kenen
Isaiah Leo "Si" Kenen (1905–1988) was the founder of the "American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs" (AZCPA), the forerunner of the modern American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).[1]
Kenen was born in Canada, on March 7, 1905. His father, born in Kiev, was an insurance agent. His family was active in the Zionist movement and his father established the first Bnei Zion club in Toronto and attended the first meetings of the World Zionist Congress. Kenen studied at the University of Toronto and majored in philosophy. He married Beatrice Bain, who was also a student at the University of Toronto. They had one son, Peter.
Kenen started working as a journalist at the Toronto Star and moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1926.[2] He studied law and was admitted to the Ohio Bar association in 1933. He became active in the Zionist movement and in 1941 became president of the Cleveland Zionist District. In the 1940s, he served as the information director of the Jewish Agency and following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, he served on the Israeli delegation to the United Nations. Regarding this period he wrote in his book Israel's Defense Line
" Our Jewish community faced a challenge in 1942. Numbed and helpless bystanders as Adolf Hitler waged his demoniacal war against the Jewish people, embittered by our failure to rouse the democracies to deter Hitler, to rescue and open doors to those who might be saved, American Jews assumed their responsibility during World War II. Despite the opposition of the Department of State, they made a commitment to establish an independent Jewish state where Jews could live in freedom and security.
Regarding the establishment of AIPAC he wrote:
"The lobby for Israel, known as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) since 1959, came into existence in 1951. It was established at that time because Israel needed American economic assistance to enable her to absorb the huge influx of refugees who poured into the country soon after statehood."
[edit] References
- ^ "The Israeli and Arab Lobbies", Mitchell Bard, Jewish Virtual Library, published 2006, accessed August 26, 2006.
- ^ How Important Is the Israel Lobby? by David Verbeeten, Middle East Quarterly, Fall 2006, pp. 37-44.
[edit] bibliography
- Isaiah L Kenen, Israel's Defense Line: Her Friends and Foes in Washington, Prometheus Books, 1981.
- Isaiah L Kenen, All my causes: An 80-year life span in many lands and for many causes, some we won and some we lost but we never gave up, Near East Research, 1985.
 |
This biographical article related to politics in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
