Literatureמיכאל ורשבסקי

Michel Warschawski

Michel Warschawski is an Israeli anti-Zionist activist, writer and journalist who founded the Alternative Information Center in 1984.

born 1949Founding the Alternative Information CenterCo-founding Yesh GvulAnti-Zionist political activism

Born: 25 July 1949, Strasbourg
Occupation: writer, political activist, journalist
Party: Balad
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mercaz HaRav Kook
Founded: Alternative Information Center (1984)

Michel Warschawski was born in 1949 in Strasbourg

Michel Warschawski was born in 1949 in Strasbourg, France, and grew up in an Orthodox family. His father, Max Warschawski, was the rabbi of Strasbourg.

At 16 he came to Jerusalem to study Talmud at the Hebron Yeshiva and at Mercaz HaRav. He later studied philosophy and political science at the Hebrew University. He joined Matzpen and was active in it until 1972.

He led the Revolutionary Communist League and was among the founders of Yesh Gvul. During and after the First Lebanon War he was jailed 3 times for refusing to serve in Lebanon. In 1984 he founded the Alternative Information Center, a joint Israeli and Palestinian organization.

In 1987 security forces raided the center and he was arrested. He was convicted of providing services to illegal organizations, and the Supreme Court reduced his sentence to 20 months, 8 of them in prison. He returned to the center in January 1991.

He writes for publications such as Le Monde diplomatique and Monthly Review. He ran for the Knesset with Balad in 2006 and with the Joint List in 2015. He is married to attorney Lea Tsemel and has 2 sons and a daughter.