Arthur G. Gish was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 peace activist

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...

, preacher

Preacher

Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...

, writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 and public speaker. He was known for his opposition to a number of conflicts, ranging from the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 to the Iraq War.

Activism

Gish was born in 1939 and raised in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010 the population was 519,445. Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the...

. Gish was born into the Brethren

Brethren

Brethren is a name adopted by several Protestant Christian bodies which do not necessarily share historical roots. As classified in The Pilgrim Church by EH Broadbent, the earliest primitive churches to Paulician Brethren, to Bogomil Brethren, to Anabaptist and to Moravian Brethren were historical...

 community. He left his family's farm as a teenager and declared himself a conscientious objector

Conscientious objector

A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....

. Gish joined the Brethren Volunteer Service, which is part of the Church of the Brethren

Church of the Brethren

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination originating from the Schwarzenau Brethren organized in 1708 by eight persons led by Alexander Mack, in Schwarzenau, Bad Berleburg, Germany. The Brethren movement began as a melding of Radical Pietist and Anabaptist ideas during the...

, and worked in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 from 1958 until 1960. During the 1960s, Gish protested the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 and supported the Civil Rights Movement

Civil rights movement

The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...

.

Much of Gish's activism since 1995 focused in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 through the Church of the Brethren's Christian Peacemaker Team program . Gish spent much of his time working in Hebron

Hebron

Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...

 or At-tuwani

At-tuwani

At-Tuwani is a small Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills. Many of the village’s residents live in caves. The village is located south-west of the village of Yatta. Approximately one kilometer away lies Tel Tuwani, near the Israeli settlement Ma’on...

 in the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

. A 2003 photograph by the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

depicted Gish standing in front of an Israeli

Israel

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

 tank

Tank

A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

 in Hebron. Gish and his wife, activist Peggy Gish, also opposed the 2003 Iraq War.

Personal life

Gish and his wife settled on an organic farm in Amesville, Ohio

Amesville, Ohio

Amesville is a village in Athens County, Ohio, United States, located on Federal Creek. The population was 184 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Amesville is located at ....

, near Athens

Athens, Ohio

Athens is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Athens County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Hocking River in the southeastern part of Ohio. A historic college town, Athens is home to Ohio University and is the principal city of the Athens, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, where they grew and sold organic produce and other related products.

Arthur Gish was killed on his farm in Amesville, Ohio, on July 28, 2010, when his tractor

Tractor

A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...

 overturned and caught fire. Gish was 70 years old and was survived by his wife, Peggy Gish, who was in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

at the time of the accident.

Works authored

Gish authored numerous books, including

• The New Left and Christian Radicalism (1970)
• Beyond the Rat Race (1972)
• Living in Christian Community (1979)
• Hebron Journal: Stories of Nonviolent Peacemaking (2001)
• At-Tuwani Journal: Hope and Nonviolent Action in a Palestinian Village (2008)