Simha Flapan

Simha Flapan was born in 1911 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki

Flapan was born in 1911 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. His father, Israel Aharon Flapan, was a merchant, and his mother was Dvora née Baumgart. He later moved to Bydgoszcz, where he finished his studies.

In 1930 he moved to the Land of Israel and joined Kibbutz Ein Shemer. He later moved to Kibbutz Gan Shmuel.

Flapan served as general secretary of the Mapam party and headed its Arab affairs department. In 1957 he was among the founders of New Outlook, an English-language magazine, and later edited it for many years. He was a visiting lecturer at Harvard University and at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.

He is counted among the New Historians. His book Zionism and the Palestinians appeared in 1979. The Birth of Israel: Myths and Realities, published in 1987, examines 7 myths from the early years of the state. In 1981 he received the Bruno Kreisky Award for his work toward Jewish-Palestinian reconciliation. He died in 1987, and his archive is kept at Yad Yaari in Givat Haviva.