Mr. Hanauer's op-ed articles and letters-to-the-editor appeared over the years in many newspapers and magazines, such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, The International Herald Tribune, and Newsweek. Mr. Hanauer stands in a long line of Jewish critics of Israeli policies from Achad Haam, who believed that one cannot push the native population out of its homeland without resistance, to Martin Buber, who sought reconciliation of Palestinians and Jews, to Rabbi Elmer Berger, Israel Shahak, and many, many others too numerous to mention.
Mr. Hanauer's concern about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict dated back some 50 years. As a pacifist he was committed to bringing about reconciliation between the parties by nonviolent means, something SEARCH consistently advocated. For the last 34 years, SEARCH has carried out its work according to its motto: “SEARCH believes that justice for Palestinians and security for Israeli Jews are not mutually exclusive, but interdependent.”
Edmund Raas Hanauer was born on March 1, 1938, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He earned a B.A. in history from Dartmouth College and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in political science from American University, Washington, D.C. His dissertation with the weighty title An Analysis of Conflicting Jewish Positions Regarding the Nature and Political Role of American Jews, with Particular Emphasis on Political Zionism indicates his abiding preoccupation with the many aspects of the issue. Before forming SEARCH, Mr. Hanauer taught political science at the University of Maryland European Evening Division, a program for the U.S. Armed Forces, and at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
In his spare time, Mr. Hanauer was an avid gardener, hiker and bird watcher. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Renate (Lehmann) Hanauer of Framingham, Massachusetts, his father, Edmund M. Hanauer of Rancho Santa Fe, California, his brother and sister-in-law Peter and Harriet Hanauer of Berkeley, California, his niece, Elly Hanauer of San Francisco, his nephew, Andy Hanauer, of Berkeley, and many like-minded activists who will carry on the work. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 8, 2006, at 4:00 PM at the First Parish in Cambridge, 3 Church Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts.