Toma Sik

Who was Toma Sik?

Yeshaayahu Toma Ŝik 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 Israeli 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.

He was an active secular humanist proponent for human and civil rights for both Jews and Arabs. 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 would distribute 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 become a War Resisters International Member.