International African Friends of Abyssinia International African Friends of Abyssinia The International African Friends of Abyssinia (IAFA), also known as the International African Friends of Ethiopia, was an organisation established in London, England, in 1935 to protest against Italian aggression against Abyssinia (see Second Italo-Ethiopian War). Its membership was composed of many important Pan-African figures, several of whom later formed the International African Service Bureau. IAFA's first public meeting was held on 23 July 1935, with another public meeting taking place on Sunday, 28 July at Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street, London, and was widely reported in newspapers. Throughout the summer of 1935, the IAFA
SS Abyssinia SS Abyssinia Abyssinia (1870) was a British mail liner originally operated by the Cunard Line on the Liverpool–New York route. She later served the Guion Line on the same route and the Canadian Pacific Line in the Pacific. In December 1891, "Abyssinia" was destroyed mid-Atlantic without loss of life by a fire that started in her cargo of cotton, further highlighting the danger in carrying both cotton and passengers on the same ship. With the success of , Cunard ordered a new fleet of iron express liners for the New York mail route. "Abyssinia" was the fourth of the five