WORLD : Israeli Convicted for Meeting Arafat
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JERUSALEM — Flamboyant Israeli peace activist Abie Natan was convicted today of violating a law banning contacts with “terrorist organizations” for meeting with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat last year.
Natan faces up to three years in prison, and a Magistrate’s Court in Ramle postponed sentencing until Oct. 3, a court spokesman said. In court, Natan said he met with Arafat because he believed it was correct to speak to “the enemy” in order to achieve peace, Israel Radio reported.
The Arafat meeting was the latest in Natan’s personal peace missions, including his ownership of the 16-year-old Voice of Peace radio station based off the Israeli coast in the Mediterranean.
Natan, a bomber pilot in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, flew his private 1927 vintage biplane to Port Said, Egypt, only weeks after the 1967 Israeli-Arab War. Israel jailed him then for 40 days for his unauthorized diplomacy.
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