Israeli Pacifist: The Life of Joseph Abileah

214 Pages·1990·5.515 MB·English

by  Anthony G. Bing

ISRAELI PACIFIST
3
a
Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution
HARRIET HYMAN ALONSO, CHARLES CHATFIELD, AND LOUIS KRIESBERG
Series Editors
Joseph Abileah in his study.
I sr a e l i P a c if is t
THE LIFE OF JOSEPH ABILEAH
Anthony G. Bing
Foreword by Yehudi Menuhin
sly
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1990 fay Syracuse University Press
Syracuse, New York 13244-5160
All Rights Reserved
First Edition 1990
99 98 97 96 95 94 93 92 91 90 6 5 4 3 2 1
Except where otherwise noted, photographs are from the collection of Joseph
Abileah.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of Ameri­
can National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. @T
library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bing, Anthony G., 1935-
Israeli pacifist : the life of Joseph Abileah / Anthony G. Bing,
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8156-2488-3 (alk. paper)
1. Abileah, Joseph. 2. Pacifists—Israel—Haifa—Biography.
3. Jewish-Arab relations. 4. Violinists—Israel—Haifa—Biography.
5. Haifa (Israel)—Biography. I. Title.
JX1962.A35B56 1990
327.1T092—dc20
[B| 89-78278
CIP
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
Illustrations vii
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xi
1. Introduction 1
2. A Return to the Roots, 1915-1936 5
3. Not in the Joshua Way, 1936-1947 27
4. Fanatic for Truth, 1947-1950 49
5. A Task Worthy of Jews, 1950-1967 89
6. Isaiah's Tfeaching, 1967-1972 123
7. Society for Middle East Confederation,
1972-1987 153
8. The Thie Victories 193

Illustrations
Joseph William Abileah frontispiece
Ephraim Abileah 7
Miriam Abileah 7
Joseph (Willi) Abileah and Avshalom (Rudi) Abileah 12
Abileah music business 15
Walking tour of the Dead Sea 20
Joseph Abileah and Dinah Yarmus Abileah 38
The paralytic of Mount Carmel 44
Altered identity card 48
International work camp in Israel 105
Abileah scooter 111
Lecture tour 136
Conversation with a Palestinian 144
Joseph and the occupation 145
Joseph and Dinah 189
Joseph Abileah 191
Vil
Anthony G. Bing has spent considerable periods of time liv­
ing and working in the Middle East for the past twenty years.
He has set up academic programs in Lebanon and Israel. An
active member of the Society of Friends, he has worked with
the American Friends Service Committee and other Quaker
organizations and serves on the executive committee of the
Peace Studies Association. Professor of English and Director
of Peace Studies at Earlham College, he is currently working
on a book concerning the role of the Middle East and the Ameri­
can peace movement.
Foreword
*$j| As one who has repeatedly nominated Joseph Abileah, mu­
sician of Haifa, for various peace awards, I am particularly grate­
ful to Professor Anthony Bing for having singled out this unique,
committed character. Professor Bing's timely biography conveys
the very ancient struggle between the real and practical im­
perative of moral conduct—as deeply understanding of others
as it is determined in its fierce espousal of truth—and the mi­
rage of worldly power and materialistic ambition that have
caused maris overwhelming urge to dominate and humiliate
distinguishable and competitive brethren.
It is a deadly and tragic struggle that has marked for thou­
sands of years the rich history of the Holy Land. Although this
severe and obstinate land has seen the emergence of monothe­
istic faith from the pluralistic pagan idols and gods, ironically
the acceptance of the one binding universal truth by different
tribes has led to the renewed betrayal in human hands of the
one to the many. Each tribe has seized on the exclusive nature
of its own unitary truth and has become intransigent in its op­
position to the truths of others. This intransigence argues that
the "one and only truth* cannot be whole unless all believers
are unanimous.
Ibday we witness the intolerable consequences; a war be­
tween peoples, religions, and states played out on a very small
strategic and hallowed site—the "Holy Land*—and carrying dis­
astrous, worldwide implications.
Joseph Abileah stands modest and unassuming in a long and
revered tradition of spiritual Zionism, as opposed to the na­
tional and political Zionism of Israel today, as every reader can
learn from Professor Bing's admirable and sensitive book. He
ix
X FOREWORD
is a frail figure, unarmed and vulnerable, yet spiritually and in­
tellectually strong, standing, as already quite a number of our
coreligionists have stood, against tanks, poison gas, and gas
ovens.
Can the example of men and women like Joseph Abileah
confront and transform the violent forces at work in our world?
Though I cannot answer that question, I am humbly content
to be a colleague of Joseph Abileah, a fellow violinist.
Yehudi Menuhin