Holocaust Survivors and Grown-Up Green Leaf Party

Holocaust Survivors and Grown-Up Green Leaf Party
ניצולי השואה עם בוגרי עלה ירוק
PresidentOhad Shem-Tov
ChairmanYa'akov Kfir
Founded2009
Merger ofHolocaust Survivors' New Zionism - Movement (in Hebrew) and former members of Ale Yarok
HeadquartersJerusalem
IdeologyHolocaust Survivors (Sh'erit ha-Pletah) issues
Cannabis legalization
Zionism
Green liberalism
Environmentalism
Human rights
Harm reduction
Anti-fascism
Most MKs0
Current MKs0
Election symbol
יק

The Holocaust Survivors & Grown-Up Green Leaf Party (Hebrew: ניצולי השואה עם בוגרי עלה ירוק) was a political party in Israel, formed as an alliance of some members of Ale Yarok ("Green Leaf" in Hebrew) - a liberal political party known for its ideology of legalizing cannabis, and members of the "New Zionism" party, whose head was a Holocaust survivor and an activist for this cause.[1][2] The party ran in the 2009 Knesset elections.

The party's chairman and first person on the list was Ohad Shem-Tov, former chairman of the Green Leaf party. On the second spot was Yaakov Peri, a Holocaust survivor and activist, who had founded the "New Zionism - The People's Party" in 2006 (which did not win any seats in the government in that year's general election). The alliance between the two came as a result of disagreements within the Green Leaf party, and discussions between Shem-Tov and Peri.

The unusual alliance between these parties, one focused on Holocaust issues and the other on the legalization of recreational drugs, sparked some public controversy in Israel - critics said that this pairing was inappropriate as it was disrespecting the cause of the Holocaust.

The party's platform included improving government treatment of the rights of Holocaust survivors, better health care system, environmental protection, reforms in mandatory education, animal experimentations and other social economic-related issues.

It won 2,346 votes (0.07%), well below the 2% electoral threshold.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Holocaust survivors team up with marijuana activists in odd coalition". 3 News. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  2. ^ "The pro-marijuana Holocaust survivors party is the hottest match-up". haaretz.com. 8 February 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2018.