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Israeli journalist and peace activist Uri Avnery dies at 94

A journalist and peace activist who was one of the first to advocate talks with the PLO passed away at the age of 94.

By: AP

Uri Avnery, a trailblazing Israeli journalist and peace activist and one of the first to openly advocate for a Palestinian state, has died. He was 94.

Avnery passed away on Monday at a Tel Aviv hospital after suffering a stroke.

For decades, he was a symbol of the Israeli peace camp, easily recognized by his thick white beard and white hair. A member of Israel’s founding generation, he fought in its War of Independence before becoming a publisher, member of parliament, author and activist.

In the 1982 Lebanon War, he famously sneaked into besieged Beirut to interview Israel’s then-nemesis, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat.

Avnery challenged successive Israeli governments in arguing that a Palestinian state was the only way to secure peace for a democratic Israel with a Jewish majority.