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TechnoratiLet Vanunu Go
Twenty-two years after Mordechai Vanunu told the truth about Israel's nuclear weapons, ordinary people must rally to free him
In 1986, a young Israeli man called Mordechai Vanunu followed his conscience and told the world that Israel had a nuclear weapons programme. He was convicted of espionage and treason and sentenced to 18 years in prison. After serving this (12 years of which were in solitary confinement), Vanunu was released. In April 2004, about 80 people from around the world went to welcome him out of prison. Unbelievably, upon his release Vanunu was made subject to severe restrictions, which forbade him many basic civil liberties (including his right to leave Israel, to speak to foreigners and foreign media) and restricted his travel within Israel.
Each year, around April 21, Vanunu receives a letter from the prime minister renewing these restrictions, and he starts, yet again, the process of appealing against them through the Israeli courts. Most recently, he has been charged with breaking the restrictions by talking to foreign media and sentenced to six months in prison; when he appealed, this was commuted to community service. On July 8, he will appear before an Israeli court regarding this service and his case.
Four years since leaving Ashkelon prison, and 22 years since he told the truth about Israeli nuclear weapons, Mordechai Vanunu lives in modest accommodation in East Jerusalem, unable to earn a living, unaware of what to do to gain his freedom, unable to leave Israel, left wondering if the Israeli security services will ever agree to let him leave the country. They say he is a threat to national security, but everyone knows that it is 22 years since Vanunu worked in the Dimona nuclear plant, and the nuclear industry has moved on. A well-known Israeli nuclear scientist has testified that Vanunu can know nothing about the contemporary industry after such a long period, yet Israeli security insists he is a risk to national security, and the Israeli courts and government refuse to let him go, thereby compounding an injustice, and breaking international laws.
Governments around the world have let Mordechai Vanunu down. They remain silent when they should be demanding that the Israeli government uphold its obligations under the universal declaration of human rights - according to article 13, everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return.
So will Vanunu remain in Israel until he dies, or can anything be done to secure his freedom? I believe his freedom now rests in the hands of the Israeli people themselves. Some years ago I asked a young Israeli friend why she though Israel was holding him. She replied, "because our government does not trust its own people" and she added "if the Israeli people demanded his release, it might be possible he would be free to leave Israel and get on with his life."
I don't know if she is right or wrong: I don't know the Israeli mind or politics well enough to guess. But what I do know is that in the Jewish faith and tradition, there is a great deal of emphasis put on justice and doing what is right. I can now only hope and pray that some Israeli voices will be raised to call for justice for Mordechai Vanunu, who has paid the high price of 22 years of his life for following his conscience. Whether you hate or love Mordechai Vanunu, you have got to admit that he has suffered enough: it's time to let him go.
Mairead Corrigan-Maguire founded the Northern Ireland Peace Movement (later renamed the Community of Peace People) and won the 1976 Nobel peace prize.
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2008
30 Comments so far
Show AllYep, convicted _ A N D _ sentenced for.So executing him, as you suggest above,
would be simple cold blooded murderIt's good that we got that clear, as I was starting to think that you might have some objectivity.
Namaste « Presence »
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world » — Gandhi
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed » — Gandhi
« We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself » — ML King
Read the article veracity, it says what he was convicted of.
… so can you tell us what evil thing he was convicted of, w/o also brushing yourself with that same despicable traitorous conviction ? Can the gov't of Israel actually disclose officially what has happened ?
So he serves what 25, 30 yrs in solitary confinement, and then you get to kill him ( w/o any legal basis ), for not being repentant ?
Oh the law ( and public attention ) is just so inconvenient these days, while some think that they're better than that, or it doesn't apply [ Unbelievable arrogance, perhaps only matched by lack of guilt ].
He's already convicted veracity.
A R I E L _ S H A R O N,
¿ Was it purposely that you left out mention of a trial ?
Your moral compass is POINTING
__ straight down to HELL,
__ Mr trail breaker
Execute this despicable traitor.
Yep, that Zionist conscience is so extreme, that none of us have seen hide nor hair of it for ~ 100 years.
I suspect that that conscience is quite fearful of it's continued existence …
gwb- Zionism has an extreme conscience. Do you have any support for your statement? Can you provide examples of other nations that behave differently or better?
American peasant-
"Jew State?" lovely...
jerome irwin-
first your use of the term Eretz Israel.
Eretz means land... You probably mean Medinat Israel- state of Israel.
On to your contention that Israel does not value human life. What is your support for this statement? I could list numerous counter examples. How is life valued in the Palestinian territories where children are taught to be suicide bombers?
You want them brought to their knees? What do you mean? How is the world silent when every detail of its actions are promptly brought to world attention?
Vanunu revealed conceivably classified documents and then violated the terms of his release. In any case, Israel has a vibrant Judiciary and legal system. This is obvious to anyone who looks at it objectively, and especially when compared with other national systems. Vanunu continues to get his day in court- when will that happen in Tibet, Darfur, Cuba, Zimbawe, Saudi, Iran...
Vanunu has long dared to speak out against Eretz Isreal uber alles as usual.
Eretz Isreal does not value human life. It is an ideology that knows no boundaries of civilized behavior and will go to any lengths to crush whomever stands in its way. And it has a memory like an elephant or Nazi storm trooper.
But Vanunu has dared to do the impossible at a huge cost to his own life and well-being,which is what all of must do if we follow the convictions of our hearts.
It still doesn't make life any easier for Vanunu. I admire him greatly and pray that somehow Eretz Isreal will be brought to its knees and the world finally wakes up to
its own follies in remaining silent to the atrocities of Zionism.
People keep expecting Israel to do the right thing. That would require integrity, wouldn't it? Any country or state that deliberately abuses will never demonstrate integrity. Look at the way they treat Palestiians. You expect integrity from people like this? They have none.
David B - According to wikipedia -
"Vanunu was born in Marrakech, Morocco to a Jewish family; his father was a rabbi. In 1963, at the age of nine, he emigrated under the Law of Return with his parents and the first 4 of his 11 brothers and sisters to Israel."
has anything changed?
Anyway, Israel as a political entity is an abhorrent disgrace - and the rest of the world also, for not giving it the smack upside its head it deserves.
He must be a self hating Jew if he doesn't understand the divine right of the apartheid entity in occupied Palestine to do what it must to further its devious Zionist agenda.
The irony of it all of course is the rapture rupture Armageddon freaks especially in red neck ameriKa that daren't utter a word against this vicious treatment of "one of their own" by the apartheid monster that they as ameriKan tax cattle willingly finance and empower.
Izrael über alles as usual!
8.8% of Israelis are Christian, and Vanunu is Anglican, which is a mainline denomination, not a fundamentalist one.
I read that a lot of Mr. Vanunu's problem is that he had converted to fundamentalist Christianity. Does anyone know more about that? I suspect that the Zionists would be especially upset with that even though most of their support in the US depends on people like Hagee and the rest of that crowd. According to the story I read, it was Mr. Vanunu's allegiance to what his conscience told him was right that led him to both convert and to expose the Zionist program of WMD build-up.
.
Vanunu is a living breathing Profile in Courage.
A man of Truthful Conscience......who every day is a living witness to the NeoFacist threat to world peace that the State of Israel is..........
He is a prisoner, who daily reminds us, that Israel threatens the lives of every human being on this planet !!!!
The Hero is chained down by the Monsters. Vanunu dared to shed light on the Evil Menace, of a nuclear Israel with its Thousands of bombs and missiles !!!!!
.
The Jew State is a theocracy...well, a pseudo-theocracy anayway, so whatever bullshit notions they dream up to attack a guy who goes against their cult is o.k....just like when the French railroaded Dryfus. Israel is not a government of laws, and to the extent we Americans listen to them, we become more like them...arbitrary, mean-spirited, murdering, torturing sons-of-bitches.
SOCRATES2: You boys miss the boat with that "God of our fathers" style of worship. Try appealing to the Great Mother and see if anything changes.
A damned disgrace. Men are born with many impulses, among them the revenge impulse. It is sad to read that the state of Israel has not just institutionalized revenge in its "justice system" but perverted it beyond redemption. This is "an eye for an eye?" Wasn't the pound of flesh enough?
God of our fathers, why have you forsaken him?
By all that is sacred, holy, and noble in men, I implore the Israeli authorities to let the man, Mordechai, go.
A damned disgrace. Men are born with many impulses, among them the revenge impulse. It is sad to read that the state of Israel has not just institutionalized revenge in its "justice system" but perverted it beyond redemption. This is "an eye for an eye?"
God of our fathers, why have you forsaken him?
Cedar: "God will call American's Christians to Justice"
I'm waiting.
I've been waiting all my life.
My family has benefited from the land my Grandfathers stole from Native Peoples and yet I was educated, got a very good job, and lead a life of relative comfort 150 years later.
Very Long Wait.
Katrina came and went and I was told this was punishment from God. It seemed to primarily target an oppressed minority. Pretty blunt instrument for such an all-knowing and all-powerful being methinks.
I'm still waiting.....
Not really God's work you might say?
I guess I will wait a while longer then.
Who's that yonder dressed in red?
Let Vanunu go!
Must be the children that Moses led.
Let Vanunu go!
Who's that yonder dressed in red?
Must be the children that Moses led.
Go tell it on the mountain, to let Vanunu go!
Who's that yonder dressed in white?
Let Vanunu go!
Must be the children of the Israelites.
Let Vanunu go!
Who's that yonder dressed in white?
Must be the children of the Israelites.
Go tell it on the mountain, to let Vanunu go!
Who's that yonder dressed in black?
Let Vanunu go!
Must be the Shin Bet turning back.
Let Vanunu go!
Who's that yonder dressed in black?
Must be the Shin Bet turning back.
Go tell it on the mountain, to let Vanunu go!
Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere!
Go tell it on the mountain, to let Vanunu go!
Its time to let the man go where he wants. Its enough. He's paid the price. enough is enough.
Pax
C I T I Z E N B L O G,
… I thought the reason for perpetual incarceration was OBVIOUSVanunu is a self-hating Jew
so he needs to be protected from himselfLikely they'd preferred he take his own life to acknowledge his treasonous fruits, as for some unfathomable reason -- assassinations are OK, but not so for the PUBLIC Israeli death penalty ?
On July 8, 2008 Vanunu emailed his friends and supporters:
Dear Friends,
Today July 8 Th'.the district court of East Jerusalem ,heard my
Appeal against the 6 months prison sentence.
The 3 judges heard it with some opens,and with some sympathy to my lawyers arguments.
But only when we see their sentence in sep' ,then we will see if they really agree with my lawyers criticizing all these orders not to speak to foreigners.
The court hearing was attended by many supporters and Friends,from isreal,Norway,peace activists ,CPT,My priest from the Redeemer church,and journalists.
My lawyers,were,Avigdor Feldman,Michael Sfard,and Tomer,
Next we will be in the Supreme court again,to challenge the renew of these restrictions for the 5 years,the supreme court will hear this case next months,
Thank you for your support,
I hope this case will be totally closed this year 2008,and I will start see the free world after 22 years ,
All the best,
vmjc
--
http:/www.vanunu.com
VANUNU MORDECHAI J C.
KIDNAPPED IN ROME SEP' 30 TH'-1986.
AFTER 18 YEARS IN ISRAEL PRISON.
Waiting In East Jerusalem.To Be Free,To Leave.
P.O.Box 20102. Salah Adin St'.
post office. East Jerusalem. 91384..
Mobile ( 9 7 2 ) 0 5 2 3 7 4 4 5 6 9.
In today's Haaretz was published:
LET MORDECHAI GO FREE! TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, STOP THE HARASSMENT OF MORDECHAI VANUNU
LET HIM GO FREE
"Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country".
Article 13.2 – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
SIGNED BY:
Nobel Peace Laureates:
Mary Ellen McNish On behalf of AFSC (1947)
Mairead Maguire (1976 )
Betty Williams (1976)
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (1980)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1984)
Rigoberta Menchu (1992)
Jody Williams (1997)
Shirin Ebadi (2003)
Wangari Maathai (2004)
Nobel Literature Laureate:
Harold Pinter (2005)
LEARN MUCH More about Vanunu:
SEE and HEAR him speak in our 2005, 2006 and 2008 video interviews freely streaming on WAWA under VANUNU ARCHIVES
Read about him on WAWA Blog June 18, 2008:
16 Days in Israel Palestine
WAWA Blog July 1, 2008:
Vanunu on Faith before Final Court Date of 2 ½ Year Long Freedom of Speech Trial
Eileen Fleming, Reporter and Editor WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
It is hard to know what Israel is gaining from continuing to hold Vanunu as a prisoner in his own country. Not very good Public Relations that's for sure!
I think they are continuing to punish Vanunu to show that:
1) The government never forgives or forgets.
2) You can't go against the government and win
3) Don't speak against their evils otherwise we'll do this to you too.
Vanunu is, as Chomsky sez, the threat of a good example.
Vanunu is suffering by America's inhuman support of Israel's inhumanity. God will call America's Christians to justice.
Vanunu put his finger on the problem in this interview:
Israel has a big problem: it is a country that does not respect human beings.
Zionism hates to death anyone or anything that demonstrates conscience. Vanunu will be free when God calls him home or the illegal state of Israel is forced to face justice.