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Dial-a-Cab driver Sid Nathan (K88) has
never been afraid to grab the microphone at any DaC AGM over
many years and Call Sign recently discovered why. Sid’s cousin, Abie Nathan, was the founder of the former Israeli pirate radio ship, the Voice of Peace. The Peace ship became famous for Abie’s many attempts at bringing about a peace settlement between Israel and its Arab neighbours, not just through its programming, but by sailing and anchoring in places where few others would have even dreamt of going with such high tensions in the area. In 1977 it sailed down the Suez Canal to Egypt with music blaring out! It was also famous for going beyond the Gulf of Eilat into Jordanian waters before being threatened by bombing. Now there is peace with both countries. Yet whilst far from stable, peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours seems more likely now than ever and at Abie’s recent 80th birthday celebration in Tel Aviv, that was the message that was being passed around. One of those guests was indeed Abie’s DaC cousin Sid Nathan and among the many dignitaries at the bash was Shimon Peres, the Israeli Vice Premier who in 1994 won the Nobel Peace Prize along with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat. Sid told Call Sign: "I remember many of Abie’s broadcasts and some of the almost-crazy things he did in order to try and bring peace to the middle east. In 1966, he flew his private plane to Egypt and became the first Israeli to visit the country outside of hostilities. The peace deal between the two countries was still 13 years away. In 1974 when he saw how dangerous things were becoming, rather than do the sensible thing and sail off into the distance, he attempted to sail the Peace ship through the Suez Canal for the |
SID NATHAN AT ‘VOICE OF PEACE’ BIRTHDAY
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 Sid Nathan with Israel deputy PM Shimon Peres. Inset: The Voice of Peace Ship |
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first time! Even during the 1991Gulf War, the MV Peace moored off the Tel Aviv coast within easy reach of any enemy planes." Sid ended by telling us: "All those famous people that came to see him on his birthday, no one deserved it more than Abie." During its height of popularity in the 1970’s with its top 40 play list, the Voice of Peace boasted a listenership of over 20million covering the complete middle east and much of Europe. But in 1976, the Israel Broadcasting Authority did what the Harold Wilson Labour government did in 1967 when it banished Radio Caroline into illegality to see the formation of Radio 1, so the IBA brought in Israel’s first ever pop radio station - Reshet gimmel (Network Three) - to compete directly with the Voice of Peace. The end came for the Voice of Peace when Abie Nathan saw that the Israeli government and PLO were having dialogue so he maintained that there was no need for the Peace ship anymore. Unlike its UK counterpart, Caroline, the Voice of Peace was always held in deep regard and it was the-then mayor of Tel Aviv, Shlomo Lahat, who went out to the ship and took part in the final |
broadcast. Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger’s
We shall Overcome was the station’s final record.
Strangely, Radio Caroline often played the Joan Baez version. On November 28, 1993, following the signing of the Oslo Peace Accord, which he assumed was validation of the station's mission, Abie Nathan deliberately sunk the Peace ship in International waters. Abie Nathan was imprisoned on several occasions for violating Israeli laws forbidding contact with enemy countries and the PLO in particular. But he always claimed that he would continue until peace arrived and in a protest against Israeli policy towards Palestinians, he wore nothing but black for 20 years. In 1996, during a visit to Washington, Abie Nathan suffered a stroke which left him partially paralysed and from which he has never fully recovered. At the party, Shimon Peres told Abie: "We owe you a major debt of gratitude. You showed us what one man can do alone. You made us something different, something more important. I am convinced your dream will come true. It is a dream that has no alternative, not among us, and not among our neighbours." |
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