The Israeli Co-operative Movement is mourning the loss of Dr Yehuda Paz, long-life co-operator and campaigner for peace and social justice.
Dr Paz, founder and chair of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development, passed away on Thursday, 28 November.
Born in Brooklyn in 1930, Dr Yehuda Paz believed co-operatives were relevant to the peace-making process in communities and societies throughout the world. At 20 years of age he decided to leave the US and settle in Israel, where he became a driving force for co-operative development.
In 1997 he founded NISPED – the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development that proposed a co-operative approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A renowned teacher and academic in the fields of sociology and philosophy, Yehuda Paz spent his life campaigning for peace. He had obtained a BSc in Economics, an MSc in Sociology and a PhD in Social Philosophy; and was a graduate of Columbia University and University of London.
His wife, Ruth Paz, who passed away earlier this year, shared his vision for a better world through co-operation. They both worked at NISPED. Ruth was the Director of Resource Development at NISPED, while Yehuda remained the chair of the Institute until his death. Through NISPED he helped set up co-operative enterprises, providing training and assistance and developing early childhood educational programmes.
His work focused on assessing the contributing factors to conflict and how co-operatives could help to address these, driving peace and sustainability.
From 1980 to 1992 he was Director and Principal of the International Institute for Development, Labour and Co-operative Studies. He was also a member of the Council of the Central Union of Co-operative Societies and an academic director of the Israel Co-operative College.
In acknowledgement of his pioneering work in development, he received the 2005 Blandford prize at UK's annual Co-operative Congress. The money received for the prize went to the ‘Bring together' maternity hospital near the border between Israel and the Palestinian sector. In the same year he was also honoured by the ICA with the Rochdale Pioneers Award for his commitment to growing the co-operative movement. In 2006, Dr Paz was the co-recipient of the Golden Dove of Peace Prize from the President on Italy.
As an ICA member, Yehuda Paz encouraged the Alliance to take initiative in promoting the role of co-operatives in addressing conflict and contributing to peace.
“This is a huge loss for the Israeli Co-operative Movement and for the International Co-operative Alliance, for all of his friends in Israel and around the world. Israel Coop mourns this great loss,” said Ofer Feinstein, CEO of Coop Israel.
