Photo by Lydia Aisenberg

Left to right: The Rt. Hon Lord Clinton-Davis, Danielle Alexandra, Board Trustee of the Center Point charity, Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Ron Prosor, Rt. Hon. Lord Foulkes of Cumnock, Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale, Labor Friends of Israel Chair in the House of Lords, Rt. Hon. Denis MacShane MP and Luciana Berger MP. 

A photographic exhibition depicting the development of kibbutzim over the last century was on display in the House of Commons for a five-day period last week.

The exhibition, prepared by Givat Haviva’s Yuval Danieli, Director of the Kibbutz Movement Art Archives, Artists & Exhibitions, has been displayed in a dozen different countries over the last six months, where celebrations honoring 100 years since the first kibbutz was founded have been organized by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs working in tandem with the Kibbutz Programs Center in Tel Aviv.

The black and white photographs showed up vividly against the backdrop of the priceless paintings, stone engravings and high arched ceilings of the illustrious House of Commons. As Members of Parliament, MPs’ assistants and visitors to the House of Commons passed by, many stopped to look at the 14 easels displaying the rich and powerful past of the kibbutz movement and to read the informative texts, originally penned in Hebrew by kibbutz movement historian Muki Tzur and translated into English by former Dubliner and member of Kibbutz Hazorea, Maurice Herman.

I, a member of Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek for over 40 years, spoke with a large number of people who asked me questions about the unique kibbutz lifestyle and the drastic changes introduced into many of the kibbutzim in recent years. It was a marvelous opportunity to share aspects of both my own experience of kibbutz life and the movement in general, and also the work of Givat Haviva, an educational institute belonging to the Kibbutz H’Artzi Federation of Kibbutzim, with British politicians, their assistants and their guests of the day, and I am honored that the Labor Friends of Israel invited me to do just that.

At the end of the day, I chatted with a young man who was deeply engrossed in the texts. He had been a volunteer at Kibbutz Gat before he began working in maintenance at the House of Commons ten years ago! 

Outgoing Israeli Ambassador, Ron Prosor, who will shortly be taking up his new position in the United Nations, paid tribute to the late David Cairns, a Labor MP and chairman of the Labor Friends of Israel, who recently died at the age of 44 following a short illness. 

Commenting on the exhibition, Ambassador Prosor said: “Even the most imaginative kibbutzniks would not have believed that their achievements would be celebrated in this fantastic setting of the House of Commons. It really shows what the kibbutz meant, not only to Israeli society but also to those who share our values in Britain and many other countries around the world.”

Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale, Labor Friends of Israel Chair in the House of Lords, bade farewell to Ambassador Prosor, telling him she was delighted that he had managed to visit the exhibition. She went on to say: “David Cairns sponsored this exhibition because he really believed the kibbutz movement was something unique in Israel that expressed the very best of the cooperative movement and the labor movement, and so we are very proud that this exhibition is here today,”.