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Peace pioneer Abie Nathan, 81 By The Associated Press Abie Nathan, the pilot, entrepreneur, peace activist and founder of the groundbreaking Voice of Peace radio station, died yesterday at Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital, the hospital said in a statement. He was 81. Nathan burst onto the world of Middle East diplomacy in 1966 with a dramatic solo flight to Egypt in a rattletrap single-engine plane, more than a decade before Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty. Advertisement Although he failed in his initial bid to talk peace with the Egyptians, his daredevil escapade won the affection of many Israelis and launched a long and often eccentric one-man crusade to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Over time, he earned a reputation as a maverick peace activist who often took diplomacy into his own hands. He was called a crackpot and a prophet. But many admired the daring of the former Israeli air force fighter pilot as he pounded on Egypt's doors, sailed his pirate radio ship into hostile Middle East waters or risked his life on hunger strikes for peace. Yossi Sarid, a dovish lawmaker, said Nathan paved the way for Israel's peace movement. "He was ahead of his time, and he did everything himself," he said. On hearing of Nathan's death, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a statement: "Abie Nathan loved life, loved mankind and loved peace. He painted Israeli society with a unique shade of humanism and compassion." People power Abraham Jacob Nathan was born April 29, 1927 in Iran, educated in India, and served in the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot, before joining the Jewish immigrant influx into newborn Israel in 1948. Convinced that people power could succeed where the diplomats had failed, he ran for parliament in 1965 on a promise to fly his private plane to Cairo and talk peace with the then-Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser. The voters rejected him, but he flew his private plane Shalom One to Port Said anyway. This was the first of several flights he would make to Egypt. Nathan changed his tactics in 1973, buying a 188-foot, 570-ton freighter that was partially funded by John Lennon. He anchored it off the coast of Tel Aviv and turned it into a pirate radio station, The Voice of Peace, with a mix of pop songs and peace messages. Over the next 20 years, The Voice of Peace became especially popular among youth. It was the only radio station in the Middle East that broadcast music from the world's Top 40 charts and used English as its primary language, yet offered both Israeli and Arabic news. Apart from his peace efforts, Nathan flew or shipped emergency supplies to victims of war, earthquakes and famine around the world, including to Biafra, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Lebanon and the former Zaire. Following strokes in 1996 and 1998, Nathan was left paralyzed on his left side and without speech. In recent years he had been confined to a retirement home. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Three years in captivity Aviva Shalit accuses politicians of being too busy with their own affairs to free her son. Hezbollah in Venezuela Western gov'ts fear the group is establishing cells in the South American country.

Read & React Judea Pearl: U.S. media suffer from 'Down with Israel' syndrome Responses: 119 Israeli peace pioneer Abie Nathan dies aged 81 Responses: 58 Abbas: All Palestinians should be given right to return home Responses: 52 Aluf Benn: The first American military base on Israeli territory Responses: 34 More Headlines 23:22 Aviva Shalit: Politicians too busy with their own affairs to free my son 23:34 2 Israeli Arabs arrested over suspected Jihad plot to kill pilots, scientists 22:48 Abbas: All Palestinians should be given right to return home 01:10 Democrats to celebrate Obama's 'landmark' nomination with grand spectacle 23:45 Did Hezbollah shoot down Lebanese military helicopter? 23:18 Nigerian militants: We know where abducted Israeli is held 14:58 Record yeshiva enrollment predicted to cost economy NIS 5 billion 23:10 Chief justice lambasts media for reducing public trust in judiciary 16:27 Report: West fears Hezbollah setting up cells in Venezuela 20:44 Ex-Shin Bet man suspected of selling stolen gas to Gazans 20:07 400 Druze cross into Syria through Golan for annual pilgrimage 21:12 Blockade-busting boats leave Gaza Strip for Cyprus 18:14 Talansky to be questioned in U.S. over role in suspected Olmert graft 15:58 Shin Bet chief: Hebrew Univ. rector slandered my agency 01:40 Holocaust welfare fund leaves Hungarian survivors in the lurch Previous Editions Select Day 28 aug 27 aug 26 aug 25 aug 24 aug 22 aug 21 aug 20 aug 19 aug 18 aug 17 aug 15 aug

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