Members of the public, academia and the media paid tribute to Charlie Beaton, former Knesset member and founder of the "Black Panthers" movement, who passed away yesterday (Saturday).
"He was a panther in a world of hypocrites - as he himself defined it and it accompanied him all his life," says Prof. Yuval Albashan of the Ono Academic Kirya, who knew Charlie Beaton for 30 years, and was also a partner in the initiative of the fiftieth anniversary conference of the Black Panthers protest , which took place in 2021 near the panther barracks in the Mosrara neighborhood of Jerusalem.
"Therefore, he could not tolerate the Panthers going after the radical anti-Zionist left such as Matzapan and others, where he saw that they 'don't really want to worry about the Mizrahim, but only the Arabs,' as he put it, that's how he told me. The same He had an affair with the Likud and Begin, who he saw that they only wanted the electorate of the Mizrahim and that's how he was in the social protest of 2011 with Stav Shapir and Daphne Leaf.
"It is important to note that in the end he also had the same thing with Shalom Cohen and the Black Panthers under his leadership.
It's not easy being a panther in a world of hypocrites, but he hasn't changed his values all along.
He did recognize the change in reality - he is not one of those in the public eye who are fixated on something and you always know what they will say.
Charlie was the exact opposite of that.
When he discovered that the anti-Zionists were not talking about the Mizrahim, he moved away and went his own way.
Not so with the Likud either.
When he realized that they are not really with the Mizrahi people but only need them for their voice.
For David Levy, who was not given the place he deserved, it took much longer.
Charlie was right too.
Charlie saw things for her.
Unfortunately, the feeling that he was a panther in a world of hypocrites made him eventually abandon the fight.
He was a hard man whose path made him even harder, even with himself."
Charlie Beaton/official website, Miri Tzachi
The veteran journalist, winner of the Israel Prize for Communication, Yaakov Achimair, who covered political issues, remembers Charlie Beaton well, although he admits that he never had a close acquaintance with him.
"He was unusual in the social political scene," he said.
"Even the late Menachem Begin could not ignore him and on the stage of the Knesset even called him with doubt-affection-doubt-irony 'Charles', as if he was a prince of the royal house.
"Also the whole phenomenon of the panthers he brought with him was an anomaly in the Israeli public landscape, including in their actions, for example stealing milk and distributing it to the poor.
Today, when you say demonstration, you see tens of thousands taking to the streets.
They, on the other hand, were 'individuals sneaking into Israeli politics'.
They looked at her in amazement.
They acted in complete opposition to all the rules of political propriety that prevailed in those years, and today we look at this seriously because they miraculously brought the whole issue of the socio-economic distress to the headlines.
They set off alarm bells for the Israeli-based company that still ring today.
If someone were to write a socio-economic history of the State of Israel, they would in no way be able to skip over this genesis phenomenon of Charlie Beaton and the Black Panthers."
"The most important struggle of the Mizrahim in the seventies".
Charlie Beaton/Government Press Office
"My father was a participant in the Black Panther struggle, and he greatly appreciated Charlie Beaton," says attorney Sharit Golan, who is running for mayor of Haifa, who represents suspects and defendants on behalf of the public defender's office and is active in the array of lawyers for protest detainees. She is the daughter of Zeev Golan (Jumaa) who grew up in Katamon, a partner in the road of Charlie Beaton and one of the leaders of the Black Panthers, and she is very proud of that. "At home, father used to talk about him a lot.
This was the most important struggle of the Mizrahim in the seventies.
My father avoided their illegal actions but it was clear to him and clear to me today that this was the most important protest in the history of the State of Israel.
"My father really appreciated that Charlie knew how to make a protest, and he knew how to achieve achievements that today can't be achieved. Charlie Beaton was a deceptive character. Anyone who saw him for the first time would say here is the stereotypical figure of the uneducated Moroccan, the rattler, the bully - but in reality it is A very smart man, very sensitive, very concerned about his society and his environment.
"He was a defender of human rights and civil rights more than many learned jurists of those years.
There were university professors who talked about rights and Charlie Beaton fought for those rights in practice." She adds, "It had a great impact on me as a child, and on my path as an adult.
I am always proud to say that I am a descendant of those who took part in the Black Panthers.
I believe that you can achieve achievements and social change only through activism, and the Black Panthers knew how to do it effectively."
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Charlie Beaton