Kochavi Shemesh

Kochavi Shemesh was born in 1944 in Baghdad

Shemesh was born in Baghdad in 1944. His family moved to Israel in 1950, and he grew up in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem. He left secular school before finishing first grade and studied in ultra-Orthodox schools until 14.

For most of his life he worked as a taxi driver and in restaurants. In the 1960s he ran a community newspaper without a permit and chose to serve a short prison term rather than pay a fine.

In 1971 he joined the Israeli Black Panthers and became its ideologue and the editor of its publications until 1977. With Charlie Biton and Saadia Marciano he led the movement and took part in its protests, including the 1972 Operation Milk. Before the 1977 election he and Biton reached a deal with Rakah that created Hadash.

In 1980 he founded the Mizrahi movement known as the Eastern Front. He co-founded Zoharim village, a drug addiction recovery center. In 1983 he opened the Red Bar in Tel Aviv with a partner.

He studied law and became an attorney in 2003, then joined the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. In 2007 he and Biton started a new social movement. He died in 2019, survived by his wife and three children.