Peretz Kidron was an Israeli pacifist, writer, journalist, and translator.

Biography

Born in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, his family moved to Great Britain following the annexation of Austria

Anschluss

The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....

 into Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

. After completing his secondary education he emigrated to Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, where he lived for 20 years in Kibbutz Zikim

Zikim

Zikim is a kibbutz in the southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In 2006, it had a population of 385....

 close to the Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip

thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

. From the late 1960s he became active in the Israeli peace movement. In 1975 he was a founder member of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and served on the steering committee of the human rights group B'Tselem

B'Tselem

B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...

.

In 1976 he co-authored the memoirs of the Palestinian activist Raymonda Tawil, My Home, My Prison. His translations from Hebrew to English include the memoirs of Yitzak Rabin and Ezer Weizman

Ezer Weizman

' was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Air Force and Minister of Defense.-Biography:...

, and a biography of David Ben Gurion. His translation of Rabin's autobiography was censored by Israel's military censor. The passages removed were Rabin's account of the 1948 departure of 50,000 civilians from Ramle and Lydda

Lod

Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...

, particularly Ben Gurion

Ben Gurion

Ben Gurion can refer to the following persons:* Nicodemus ben Gurion, a Biblical figure, probably a rich Jewish member of the Sanhedrin that felt sympathetic to Jesus Christ...

's gesture, which Rabin understood to mean "Drive them out!" The missing passages were printed in the New York Times on 23 October 1977.

Kidron was a longtime Israel correspondent for the London-based Middle East International. Kidron refused to serve as a reservist in the Occupied Territories

Israeli-occupied territories

The Israeli-occupied territories are the territories which have been designated as occupied territory by the United Nations and other international organizations, governments and others to refer to the territory seized by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria...

 and handled international contacts for the peace group Yesh Gvul

Yesh Gvul

Yesh Gvul is a movement founded in 1982, by combat veterans, at the outbreak of the Lebanon War, who refused to serve in Lebanon and has expanded its opposition to the war in Lebanon to the negation of service in the occupied territories, reflected in the current Yesh Gvul...

. He compiled and edited a collection of writings of those who refuse to serve in the Israeli army

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

, Refusenik! Israel's Soldiers of Conscience.