Yehoshua Porath

Yehoshua Porath was born in 1938 in Tel Aviv

Yehoshua Porath was born in Tel Aviv in 1938 and grew up there. His father was Baruch Freud, a pioneer from the town of Kovel in Volhynia.

He began studying at the Hebrew University in 1958, in Middle East studies and Arabic language and literature. He completed his doctorate in 1969 on the growth of the Palestinian Arab national movement from 1918 to 1929, under Professor Gabriel Baer. The thesis was later published as a book.

He started teaching at the Hebrew University in 1965 and became a full professor in 1983. His research covered Palestinian nationalism, the Maronite peasants' revolt in Lebanon, and communist activity among Arabs in the country. He won the Landau Prize and the Ben-Zvi Prize for his book on the poet Yonatan Ratosh.

He was active in groups opposing religious coercion and joined the Shinui party council in 1978. In 1992 he ran as Shinui's representative on the Meretz list. He later opposed the Oslo Accords and took part in the Likud campaign in 1996.

After retiring he lectured in public forums and wrote reviews for the journal Tchelet. He lived in Jerusalem with his wife Penina, and they had two children. He died in Jerusalem in 2019 and was buried at Kibbutz Nahshon.