Joseph Abileah

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Joseph Abileah ( Hebrew יוסף אבילאה, * April 25, 1915 in Mödling , Lower Austria , died January 29, 1994 in Freudenstadt ; original name Wilhelm Niswiszki ) was an Israeli musician ( violinist ) and peace activist . Abileah, an avowed pacifist, was the first convicted conscientious objector in Israel in August 1948 .

origin

Abileah's parents, who came from an old Russian-Polish-Jewish family of musicians, immigrated to British-ruled Palestine in the 1920s and settled in Haifa , where they set up a music business. The brother of Abileah's father, Ephraim, was Arie Abileah (1885–1985), one of the most famous pioneers of classical music in Israel before the state was founded. As Arie Niezwicski, he founded the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg. Both Ephraim and Arie changed their family names from Niswiszki to Abileah. Another brother Baruch immigrated to the USA where he changed his name to Barnett Russotto and became a well-known representative of Jewish folk music.

activist

Abileah was a member of the American Society of Friends ( Quakers ) and founded and directed the Israeli section of War Resisters' International , the governing body of organizations that support conscientious objection .

Like Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt , founders of the Hebrew University Judah Magnes , Abileah propagated a Jewish-Arab confederation in Palestine. On June 27, 1947, he submitted specific confederation plans to a UN commission.

On August 30, 1948, Abileah was sentenced in Haifa for conscientious objection, then a relatively mild fine. Nevertheless, with this spectacular action he achieved a very high level of awareness in Israel at the time. Most Israelis thought he was a “nut”, but there was relatively little hatred or hostility towards him. Larger movements towards conscientious objection, which today is severely punished in Israel in contrast to 1948 and which is criminally regarded as desertion or insubordination , did not emerge in Israel until after 1967, when more and more Israeli soldiers refused military service in the occupied territories ( Shministim ), and before especially during the Lebanon War 1982–1985, when even numerous officers refused military service in Lebanon ( Yesh Gvul ) and this action was even supported by a former deputy chief of staff, Matti Peled . However, these movements are usually not fundamentally pacifist, as was the case with Abileah, but basically affirm the need for national defense for Israel.

In May 1971 Abileah and numerous friends, including the violinist Yehudi Menuhin , founded the Society for a Middle East Confederation, which advocates a political union between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Abileah died in 1994 while taking a spa stay in Freudenstadt.

swell

  1. ↑ Entry in the Hebrew Wikipedia: אריה אבילאה
  2. ^ Jewish Virtual Library: Society for Jewish Folk Music ( link )
  3. ↑ http://ilania-ivil.tripod.com/family/id4.html
  4. ↑ New York Times, June 27th, 1947 ( http://www.abileah.com/A&WFriends&Family/FamilyInTheNews/Joseph/Joseph%20Abileah%20-%201947%20-%20UN%20hearing%20No%201.pdf ); New York Times, June 30th, 1947 ( http://www.abileah.com/A&WFriends&Family/FamilyInTheNews/Joseph/Joseph%20Abileah%20-%201947%20-%20UN%20hearing%20No%202.pdf )
  5. ↑ http://www.abileah.com/A&WFriends&Family/FamilyInTheNews/Joseph/Joseph%20Abileah%20-%201980s%20interview.pdf
personal data
SURNAME Abileah, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Niswiszki, Wilhelm; יוסף אבילאה (Hebrew)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli violinist and peace activist
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Mödling , Lower Austria
DATE OF DEATH January 29, 1994
Place of death Freudenstadt