Toma Sik
Encyclopedia
Yeshaayahu Toma Ŝik (Schück Tamás, Schuck Tamas) (17 August 1939 - 13 July 2004) was a Hungarian-Israeli peace activist
, anarchist, libertarian socialist, vegan, world citizen
, and pioneer of the Israeli-Palestinian search for peace
.
Since he was a teenager and as a survivor of the Holocaust, Toma Sik actively opposed Israel
i militarism
. He refused military service
and counselled conscientious objectors for 30 years, and played a central role in the War Resisters International chapter in Israel, as well as in Gush Shalom
(Peace Bloc).
He was an active secular humanist struggler for human
and civil rights
for both Arabs and Hebrews
of any religious denomination
, e.g. the Negev
Bedouins. He worked as a columnist and translator at Al-Fajr
English-language Palestinian
weekly, and as a photographer for the Arab Studies Society in East Jerusalem
. Since 1974 he devoted himself merely to public activity, developing a simple living
style. He was a familiar sight at demonstrations in central Israel for many years, where he used to take down bundles of leaflets, written in his peculiar style.
He also worked at the War Resisters International’s headquarters in London
, was the central activist in Amnesty International
Israel Branch and helped Alba Kör (Hungarian
nonviolent movement for Peace) become a War Resisters International Member.
For many years Toma Sik supported the international language Esperanto
. He also taught it to his children. He occasionally hosted Esperanto meetings in his Tel Aviv
home and hosted foreign Esperantists there.
He left Israel in the late 1990s and ultimately settled down again in his country of birth, Hungary, where he died in 2004, overrun by a tractor during a nightly walk home through the fields to his newly-bought old farm where he was trying to establish an egalitarian agricultural commune
of organic
, humanist
and vegan "new peasants".
Toma’s passing was deeply regretted by Israeli and Palestinian progressives. In his obituary his comrades stated: "in the words of Joe Hill
, Don't mourn, organise!".
The International Institute of Social History
keeps a vast collection of papers from Toma Sik in several languages, such as Hebrew, Hungarian
, and English
. The papers include documentation on the peace movement
in Israel and especially Gush Shalom
, periodicals and leaflets about sustainable and organic agriculture, the environment
(e.g. in Eastern Europe
), vegetarianism
and veganism, and documentation about European unification
, including newsletters from the European Anti-Maastricht Alliance.
Peace activist
This list of peace activists includes people who proactively advocate diplomatic, non-military resolution of political disputes, usually through nonviolent means.A peace activist is an activist of the peace movement.*Jane Addams*Martti Ahtisaari...
, anarchist, libertarian socialist, vegan, world citizen
World citizen
World citizen has a variety of similar meanings, often referring to a person who disapproves of traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship....
, and pioneer of the Israeli-Palestinian search for peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
.
Since he was a teenager and as a survivor of the Holocaust, Toma Sik actively opposed Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
. He refused military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
and counselled conscientious objectors for 30 years, and played a central role in the War Resisters International chapter in Israel, as well as in Gush Shalom
Gush Shalom
Gush Shalom is an Israeli peace activism group founded and led by former Irgun and Knesset Member and journalist, Uri Avnery, in 1993...
(Peace Bloc).
He was an active secular humanist struggler for human
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
for both Arabs and Hebrews
Hebrews
Hebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...
of any religious denomination
Religious denomination
A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity.The term describes various Christian denominations...
, e.g. the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
Bedouins. He worked as a columnist and translator at Al-Fajr
Al-Fajr
Al-Fajr may refer to:*Al-Fajr , the 89th sura of the Qur'an*Fajr, the first of the five salat prayers*Al-Fajr , the now-defunct newspaper of the banned Tunisian Islamist opposition movement Al-Nahda...
English-language Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
weekly, and as a photographer for the Arab Studies Society in East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
. Since 1974 he devoted himself merely to public activity, developing a simple living
Simple living
Simple living encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one's lifestyle. These may include reducing one's possessions or increasing self-sufficiency, for example. Simple living may be characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they need rather than want...
style. He was a familiar sight at demonstrations in central Israel for many years, where he used to take down bundles of leaflets, written in his peculiar style.
He also worked at the War Resisters International’s headquarters in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, was the central activist in Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
Israel Branch and helped Alba Kör (Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
nonviolent movement for Peace) become a War Resisters International Member.
For many years Toma Sik supported the international language Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
. He also taught it to his children. He occasionally hosted Esperanto meetings in his Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
home and hosted foreign Esperantists there.
He left Israel in the late 1990s and ultimately settled down again in his country of birth, Hungary, where he died in 2004, overrun by a tractor during a nightly walk home through the fields to his newly-bought old farm where he was trying to establish an egalitarian agricultural commune
Agricultural commune
-Karl Marx:In his 1881 letter to Vera Zasulich, Karl Marx wrote that historically the "agricultural commune" is the most recent type of archaic forms of societies...
of organic
Organic movement
The organic movement broadly refers to the organizations and individuals involved worldwide in the promotion of organic farming, which is a more sustainable mode of agriculture...
, humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
and vegan "new peasants".
Toma’s passing was deeply regretted by Israeli and Palestinian progressives. In his obituary his comrades stated: "in the words of Joe Hill
Joe Hill
Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle , and also known as Joseph Hillström was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World...
, Don't mourn, organise!".
The International Institute of Social History
International Institute of Social History
The International Institute of Social History is a historical research institute in Amsterdam. It was founded in 1935 by Nicolaas Posthumus. The IISG is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences....
keeps a vast collection of papers from Toma Sik in several languages, such as Hebrew, Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. The papers include documentation on the peace movement
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
in Israel and especially Gush Shalom
Gush Shalom
Gush Shalom is an Israeli peace activism group founded and led by former Irgun and Knesset Member and journalist, Uri Avnery, in 1993...
, periodicals and leaflets about sustainable and organic agriculture, the environment
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
(e.g. in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
), vegetarianism
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
and veganism, and documentation about European unification
United States of Europe
Since the 1950s, European integration has seen the development of a supranational system of governance, as its institutions move further from the concept of simple intergovernmentalism. However, with the Maastricht Treaty of 1993, new intergovernmental elements have been introduced alongside the...
, including newsletters from the European Anti-Maastricht Alliance.
External links
- Toma Sik's text "Puzzles of a Lifetime" at the War Resisters International's site
- A short biography at Libcom's site
- About Toma's papers at the International Institute of Social HistoryInternational Institute of Social HistoryThe International Institute of Social History is a historical research institute in Amsterdam. It was founded in 1935 by Nicolaas Posthumus. The IISG is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences....
- Obituary for Toma Ŝik by Uri DavisUri DavisUriel "Uri" Davis is an academic and activist who works on civil rights in Israel, Palestinian National Authority and the Middle East. Davis has served as Vice-Chairman of the Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights and as lecturer in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford...
- A different drummer, a eulogy by Dalia Karpel
- Community about Toma Sik at LiveJournalLiveJournalLiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....