Moshe Levin Explained

Moshe Levin
Office:Leader of the Palestinian Communist Party
Term Start:1922
Term End:1928
Birth Date:1897
Death Date:1943
Nationality:Jewish
Party:Jewish Communist Party (Poalei Zion), Socialist Workers Party, Palestinian Communist Party
Alias:Batlan, Elisha, L. Elisha
Residence:Soviet Union (during World War II)

Moshe Levin (1897–1943), alias 'Batlan' and 'Elisha', was a Russian Jewish socialist. He was a member of the Jewish Communist Party (Poalei Zion) in Russia, before arriving in Palestine in 1919, where he joined the Socialist Workers Party.

Levin ran in the 1920 Histadrut election on the list of the party, under the alias 'L. Elisha'. When the party was divided in 1922, he became a leader of the Palestinian Communist Party, along with Menachem 'Oskar' Finkelstein.

After the reunification of the party into the Palestine Communist Party, he voiced opposition towards the 'Arabization' efforts inside the party. In 1928 he was deported to Poland. During the Second World War, he shifted his residence to the Soviet Union.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Offenberg, Mario. Kommunismus in Palästina: Nation u. Klasse in d. antikolonialen Revolution. Marburger Abhandlungen zur politischen Wissenschaft, Bd. 29. Meisenheim am Glan: Hain, 1975. p. 181