Page 13 - Issue 22

The change in Habonim has been a deep one; one
that has stirred the depths of our movement, but
the ripples have not yet reached the shore. The
ideology we have developed has, I believe, been
an internal one, unfettered by any dictation from
above. That Habonim came in practice to accept
the challenge of Israel and its needs was the
product of an internal struggle and not the
dictation of any senior political body, such as
those which have created various youth sections
for the purpose of self-perpetuation.

The purpose of my paper is to analyse critically,
the nature of Habonim’s ideology.

The first ideological principle is Atzmaut or
independence. By this is meant organizational and
political independence from any senior political
party. The basis of an honest youth movement
must be regarded as embedded in this principle.
We must see youth not merely as a stepping stone
towards achievements in adulthood, but as an
innately creative period in itself. As such any
organization of youth which accepts without
reservations and suspicion, the doctrines of
adulthood, begins to prostitute itself. All decisions,
all ideological orientations must be an internal
affair of the youth movement. Its inner dynamics
must be the motive force for change and action.

…All this does not mean that a youth movement
cannot have its own orientation but it does mean
that it should reserve its precious right to identify
itself on its own accord, with any cause. Today it