Abie Nathan

Avraham "Abie" Nathan ( _he. אברהם "אייבי" נתן, 29 April 1927 - 27 August 2008) was an Israeli humanitarian and peace activist, perhaps best known as the founder of the Voice of Peace radio station.

Early years

Abie Nathan was born in Abadan, Persia on 29 April 1927. He spent his adolescent years in the city of Bombay (now Mumbai) in India. He became a pilot in the Royal Air Force in 1944. In 1948 he volunteered as a pilot in the Machal (volunteers in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War) and stayed in Israel thereafter.cite web
url = http://www.abie-nathan.com/main-en.html
title = Abie Nathan
accessdate = 2007-05-02
month = July | year = 2005
work = abie-nathan.com
publisher = Noam Tal] He worked with El Al airlines and later opened a restaurant in Tel Aviv.

Flight for Peace

Nathan led a party called Nes (lit. "Miracle") in the 1965 Knesset elections but missed the electoral threshold by 2,000 votes. After the results were published he declared he would fly to Egypt, carrying a message of peace. Flying in his plane, which he named "Shalom 1" ("Peace 1"), he landed in the Egyptian city of Port Said on 28 February 1966. Arrested upon landing, he asked to meet Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, and to deliver a petition calling for peace between Israel and Egypt. He was denied, and was deported back to Israel, where he was arrested again for leaving the country by an illegal route. [cite news|title=Israeli 'Peace Pilot' Again Tries to See Nasser; Abie Nathan Is Sent Home After Landing at Port Said --Arrested on Return|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20610FC355E137A93CBAB178CD85F438685F9
date=1967-07-29|publisher=The New York Times|page=6|accessdate=2007-04-29]

Meetings with PLO

In 1978, Nathan began his first hunger strike to protest the construction of Israeli settlements. In the early 1980s, Nathan began meeting officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). These meetings were later outlawed by the Knesset. In 1991, Nathan went again on a hunger strike for 40 days to protest that Israeli law which prevented meetings with terrorist organizations. He stopped his hunger strike following the intervention of President Chaim Herzog. [ cite news|title= Israeli Peace Advocate Ends Hunger Strike|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7D6113DF934A35755C0A967958260|date=1991-06-07| publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2007-05-01]

Nathan, however, continued to meet with PLO head Yasser Arafat, and on 18 September 1991 he was condemned to 18 months in prison. [cite news| title= Israel Frees Abie Nathan
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE4D71F30F932A05750C0A964958260
date=1992-03-31| accessdate=2007-04-29|publisher=The New York Times] President Herzog cut 12 months from his sentence, and he was released after serving less than 6 months. [cite news| title= Abie Nathan's Jail Term Cut Sharply by Israeli President
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5DB1E38F933A05750C0A964958260
date=1992-03-30| accessdate=2007-04-29|publisher=The New York Times]

Voice of Peace and humanitarian activities

In 1973, Nathan founded the Voice of Peace radio station. He bought a ship with the help of John Lennon, [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1015844.html Israeli peace pioneer Abie Nathan dies aged 81] Haaretz, 28 August 2008] named it "The Peace Ship", and sailed it outside Israeli territorial waters. The station broadcast 24 hours a day, mostly English-language programs that mainly included popular music, while promoting Nathan's political activities. While spreading his ideas to his audience, Nathan was also involved with disaster relief in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Biafra, Colombia, and Ethiopia. [cite news|title=Racing to Save the Hungry
url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946351,00.html|publisher=Time| date=1979-11-12|accessdate=2007-04-30] [cite news|title=Israel Arrives in Ethiopia on Relief Mission|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F15F9385C0C7B8DDDAB0994DC484D81|first=Clifford D|last=May|publisher=The New York Times|date=1984-12-18|accessdate=2007-05-01] In another anti-war protest, he presided over the burial of smashed military toys. [cite news|title=Abie Nathan Mounts 'Protest for Peace'|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60A1EFA345F167493C1A81783D85F438785F9|date=1977-08-13|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2007-05-01]

On 1 October 1993, Nathan had to close the Voice of Peace station due to economic and legal difficulties. Part of the reason for closing was that with the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords, he felt his message for peace and dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians has been spread. [cite news|title=Abie Nathan pulls up anchor| url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/99750459.html?dids=99750459:99750459&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+1%2C+1993&author=Allison+Kaplan+Sommer&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=09&desc=ABIE+NATHAN+PULLS+UP+ANCHOR| publisher=The Jerusalem Post|date=1993-10-01|last=Kaplan Sommer|first=Allison|accessdate=2007-04-30] The ship was scuttled on 28 November 1993. [cite news|title=Nathan to sink peace ship today|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/99763028.html?dids=99763028:99763028&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+28%2C+1993&author=&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=02&desc=NATHAN+TO+SINK+PEACE+SHIP+TODAY
date=1993-11-28|publisher=The Jerusalem Post|accessdate=2007-04-30]

In 1997, he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. He died in Tel Aviv on 27 August 2008, aged 81. [Kershner, Isabel. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/world/middleeast/29nathan.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin "Abie Nathan, Israeli Peace Champion, Dies at 81"] "New York Times". Accessed August 29, 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://www.abie-nathan.com/pages-eng/main.html Abie Nathan website]
* [http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/VOP/vop01.shtml Who's Abie Nathan?] Soundscapes
* [http://www.observercyprus.com/observer/NewsDetails.aspx?id=3089 Peres: Woe to us had Nathan listened to consensus, Cyprus Observer]
* [http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1220736636/ "Lonely Rider" by Uri Avnery]

Persondata
NAME= Nathan, Abie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Israeli peace activist, humanist, pilot
DATE OF BIRTH= 29 April 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH= Abadan, Persia
DATE OF DEATH= 27 August 2008
PLACE OF DEATH=