All times are based on US EDT - 12 Noon = 7:00 PM in Palestine.
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Join us for a conversation about the life of the late Mathhar Yousef Abdo, Nakba survivor, and his family.
Mathhar Yousef Abdo was born in Jaffa, Palestine in 1929. His father was a builder and the family also owned orange groves. In 1948 during the Nakba he was forced to flee Palestine with his parents and four siblings, taking refuge in Jordan. Mathhar went to study in the United States where he met and married fellow Berkeley student, Nan Withington in 1954. They raised their four children in Kent, Ohio where Mathhar was employed as a tool designer. He was a skilled chess player and enjoyed spending time with his six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Mathhar passed away in 2020, a year after the celebration of his 90th birthday.
Nan Withington
Nan Withington, a life-long advocate for justice for the Palestinians.
Nan Withington grew up in Rocky River, Ohio, one of four sisters. In 1954, while a graduate student at Berkeley, she met her husband, fellow student, Mathhar (Matt) Abdo, a Palestinian refugee from Jaffa. They raised their four children in Kent, Ohio where Nan attended Kent State University earning a second master’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies, with a focus on Palestine. In 1968, she traveled to Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria to do field research for her thesis, “Zionism and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.”
Nan has been a relentless and passionate proponent of justice and autonomy for the Palestinian people. She has advocated for their right to self-determination in speeches and debates on television, radio, and to audiences across the globe. She has authored numerous articles and letters to the editor, has corresponded with foremost Palestinian scholars, and has hosted eminent speakers on Palestine (such as Fayez Sayegh, former Palestinian representative to the UN, Dr. Israel Shahak, former President of the Israeli League for Human Rights, and Rabbi Elmer Berger, former Executive Director of the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism) on the Kent State University campus. She has participated in many marches and demonstrations across the United States in response to injustices inflicted on the Palestinian people.
In her 80s, Nan traveled to Cairo, Egypt to join others attempting to break the siege of Gaza by providing humanitarian medical supplies via sea flotilla. In her 90s, she has continued her advocacy for the Palestinians via Zoom sessions and through online commentary and action.