Portside

Leading American Middle East peace activist Libby Frank and member of the Committees of Correspondence passed away in December at age 95.

I knew Libby for decades, as she was one of my parents’ oldest friends, going back to their youth in anti-racism and Left movements in Cleveland, Ohio.

Life of Libby: Chasing Peace & Justice with Humor, Guts, & Passion
By Libby Frank and Heather Shafter
Kate Butler Books; 210 pages
March 12, 2024
Paperback:  $14.99
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1962407292
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1962407298

So I was happy to see the new book, “Life of Libby: Chasing Peace and Justice with Humor, Guts, and Passion”, published just after Libby’s passing. This inspiring memoir was co-written by one of Libby’s  younger co-workers, Heather Shafter.

Jewish activists who support the cause of the Palestinians will take particular interest in Libby’s narrative of her growth from a girl who grew up in a traditional Jewish family, active in the young Zionist movement in the 1940s and 50s, to a fierce fighter for peace in the Middle East and true freedom for the Palestinians.

Part 2 of the book is titled, “Zionist to Peace Delegate”. In it Libby tells of her involvement during the 1940s in various Zionist groups of young people, explaining why she and others were attracted to Zionism at that time.  In 1947 she was involved in planning a conference called the Palestine Youth Conference, which was intended for Jewish youth.  A workshop at the conference was titled, “Arabs Live There Too”. Libby was proud to be promoting this consciousness at a time when Palestine was talked about as a “land without people” by Zionists.

In the 1970s Libby started working full time in the anti-Vietnam war movement.  It was during this period that she was hearing from some activists, “It’s not good what Israel is doing.”

As director of the local Peace Center, Libby immediately said, “Let’s have a public meeting about it.”  The meeting took place with longtime pacifist and anti-war leader Dave Dellinger as the featured speaker. It was controversial and some people walked out.

Later as a longtime activist in the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Libby asked to be on the WILPF Middle East Committee. But there was no such committee, so Libby started one.  In 1974, she organized support for Yasser Arafat’s appearance at the United Nations, amid Jewish organizations’ opposition to him. Shortly thereafter, as she became more involved in the struggle for peace in the Middle East, she met a Palestinian for the first time.

From that point in 1974, for the next 50 years, Libby Frank was a leader in the fight for peace in the Middle East, always focusing on the role of the United States in funding Israel’s policies against  the Palestinians. It was largely through personal contact with Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese, Israelis, and many others through her participation in international delegations that Libby’s positions supporting Palestinian liberation and achieving lasting peace evolved to the same viewpoints we see in groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and the militant student movement now growing on American college campuses.

Other aspects of Libby’s life – her suggesting to Pete Seeger to change the words to “If I Had a Hammer” , raising two children while being a full time activist, gently fighting male supremacy in the movement whenever she came across it, and a marriage based on equality and common commitment with Dr. Mort Frank, who passed away shortly before Libby did – all enrich this book and make it worth buying and reading.