18 Facts About Abie Nathan

Abie Nathan is the man who dedicated his life for other people and for a better humanity.

Abie Nathan was born to a Jewish family in Abadan, Persia, on 29 April 1927 and spent his adolescent years in Bombay, India.

Abie Nathan became a pilot in the Royal Air Force in 1944.

Abie Nathan worked for El Al airlines and later opened a restaurant in Tel Aviv.

Abie Nathan landed in Port Said on 28 February 1966, where he was arrested.

Abie Nathan asked to meet Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser to deliver a petition calling for peace between Israel and Egypt.

Abie Nathan was refused and deported back to Israel, where he was arrested again for leaving the country by an illegal route.

In 1978, Abie Nathan began his second hunger strike to protest against the construction of Israeli settlements.

In 1991, Abie Nathan went on another hunger strike for 40 days to protest against that law, which prevented meetings with alleged terrorist organizations.

Abie Nathan stopped his hunger strike after President Chaim Herzog intervened.

Abie Nathan continued to meet with PLO head Yasser Arafat and on 18 September 1991 he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Herzog cut 12 months from the sentence, and Abie Nathan was released after serving less than 6 months.

Funds appeared and Abie Nathan sailed to become the only non-partisan broadcaster in the Middle East.

In 1973, Abie Nathan founded the Voice of Peace radio station.

Abie Nathan bought a ship with the help of John Lennon, named it the "Peace Ship", and sailed it outside Israeli territorial waters.

One of the reasons for closing was that, with the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords, Abie Nathan felt that his message for peace and dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians had been spread.

In 1997, Abie Nathan suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed.

Abie Nathan died in Tel Aviv on 27 August 2008 at age 81.