Israel’s Black Diplomacy: The Afro-Asian Institute, the “Big Six” in Israel, and Kibbutzim in the Deep South, 1964–69

In the late 1960s, at a time when some vocal African American organizations began to strongly criticize Israel and Zionism, Israel and its allies (especially within the labor movement) in the U.S. sought out influential black leaders who might serve as goodwill ambassadors for Israel. Based on archival research in both Israel and the U.S., “Israel’s Black Diplomacy” recounts these African American leaders’ experiences during Israeli government- and labor union-sponsored tours of Israel and the West Bank. It examines how several prominent African American leaders—James Farmer, Bayard Rustin, A. Philip Randolph, among others—both figuratively and literally navigated the Arab-Israeli conflict during the late 1960s.

Many aspects of Israel’s economic development and social organizations presented an attractive model to these black civil rights and labor leaders. They were particularly interested in Israel’s Afro-Asian Institute and development projects in Africa. James Farmer, Bayard Rustin, and other leaders were also attracted to Israel's cooperative agricultural models. They saw Israeli forms of farming as an answer to inequality in the Deep South—with some even touting it is a model for “Black Power”—and they partnered with the Israeli government and its labor movement to bring these models to America. At the same time, Israel’s African American visitors inquired about and tried to conscientiously navigate the issue of Palestinian refugees and non-Jewish Arabs living in Israel. This paper will examine how they viewed the topic and what their hosts sought to show and convey to them about how the Israeli government and labor movement were handling this delicate political issue. Tying together state diplomacy, transnational labor, and international civil rights adds an unexamined facet to “the other color line" and helps explain why many black leaders worked fervently to defend Israel's reputation in the late 1960s.