Cliff and Mike Kidron

Nina Kidron has sent the following recollections:

In the early days of setting up IS, the organization and the journal, Mike’s long, daily, phone calls with Tony Cliff were conducted entirely in Hebrew. Since I don’t speak Hebrew, I can’t tell you more. Mike had joined his family in Palestine when he was 16.  His schooling was in Hebrew and he was an undergraduate at Jerusalem University. He and Cliff spoke the fine Hebrew of their generation and class.  There was no concern about phone tapping – it was just that Cliff barely spoke English and Mike was fluent in Hebrew.

Mike’s despair in leaving the organization on the formation of the SWP was extreme.  Some thought he should have stayed and would have rallied support.  Others, like Dave Widgery, agreed with Mike’s position but said he didn’t feel able to leave his political home. I have wondered since whether the fact that Chanie and Glick were family was an added complication for Mike.  The Kidrons (including Rosenbergs and Glucksteins) are quite tribal.