Reuven Abergel

Reuven Abergel was born in 1943 in Rabat

Reuven Abergel was born in Rabat, Morocco. He was the fourth of 8 children. He came to Israel with his family in 1950, and they lived first in the immigrant tent camp in Pardes Hana and later in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem.

As a youth he was educated in the youth group of Kibbutz Mishmar HaNegev. After the Wadi Salib riots in Haifa, he began handing out leaflets in his neighborhood.

In 1971 he co-founded the Black Panthers and became one of its leaders. His apartment served as a meeting place for the movement, and in April 1971 he took part in the meeting of its leaders with Prime Minister Golda Meir. In 1973 he left the movement with a group led by Shalom Cohen.

In 1972 he studied in a sports coordinators course at the Wingate Institute, and from 1973 to 1976 he ran a physical education center for boys in Musrara. In 1976 he was arrested and tried together with family members, and he was acquitted due to doubt. From 1990 to 1993 he ran a drug treatment center in Jerusalem.

He has stayed active in social justice and peace groups, including the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition and Tarabut. He also leads tours of Musrara. He lives in Jerusalem and Ashdod and is a father of 3.