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Mordechai Vanunu Demands Revoking of His Israeli Citizenship
Mordechai Vanunu, the man who revealed Israel’s nuclear secrets to the world in 1986, has demanded that Israel rescind his citizenship and allow him to leave the country.
“I request that you set me free of Israel, since Israel does not want me nor do I want Israel,” Vanunu wrote. In a weekend letter to Israeli interior minister Eli Yishai, the nuclear whistleblower cited a new law passed in March under which Israelis convicted of treason automatically lose their right to citizenship.
“I request that you set me free of Israel, since Israel does not want me nor do I want Israel,” he wrote. “I have no interest in Israeli citizenship, I don’t want to go on living here.”
Mr Vanunu, a low-level technician at Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant, first hit the headlines in 1986 when he leaked details with photographs he took surreptitiously to the British Sunday Times .
The revelations marked the first concrete proof that Israel had the capacity to manufacture nuclear bombs. Israel maintains a policy of “nuclear ambiguity”, neither confirming nor denying foreign reports of its nuclear potential.
Partly based on the secrets he revealed, foreign experts concluded that Israel was the world’s sixth-largest nuclear power.
Mr Vanunu, a convert to Christianity, said that although no state had offered him asylum, if released he would take the first flight out of Israel to any country willing to have him. He said he had no more nuclear secrets to reveal that could potentially damage Israeli security.
In 2004 he completed an 18-year sentence, most of which was spent in solitary confinement. Strict conditions were attached to his release, including a ban on leaving the country, a ban on entering the Palestinian territories and a ban on meeting foreign journalists.
Since his release, Mr Vanunu has twice served jail terms after convictions for parole violations.
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74 Comments so far
Show AllRevealing that Israel had secretly built up a nuclear capability during the Cold War to me is nothing more than whistle blowing. As an American who's parent's tax dollars were used to supply aid to Israel at the time Dimona was built and denied by the Israeli government, I consider him a hero for disclosing to the world the deception carried out by Isreal.
Didn't the zionist thugs also use a woman to lure him in?
He's a hero to human race. I wish him the best.
I agree. The world needs more people like him that do not compromise on their integrity.
Not all Christians worship Jews.
Considering that the Christ was and is a Jew. If you're not worshiping one, you're not a Christian.
Lol
I imagine that even if Israel revokes Vanunu's citizenship, it will continue to hold him until he dies.
Why doesn't this guy have a Nobel Peace Prize instead of sociopathic warmongers like Barack Obama?
Obama was given a Mandate and Vanunu has been nominated over 20 times for the Nobel.
On March 1, 2009, Vanunu wrote the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo:
Dear Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo,
I am Vanunu Mordechai, who has been nominated several times to Nobel Peace Prize, also this year’s 2009 award.
I am asking the committee to remove my name from the list for this year’s list of nominations.
My main reason for this is that I cannot be part of a list of laureates that includes Simon Peres. He is the man who was behind all the Israeli atomic policy.
Peres established and developed the atomic weapon program in Dimona in Israel. Exactly like Dr. Khan did in Pakistan, Peres was the man behind the atomic weapon proliferation to South Africa and other states. He was also, for instance, behind the nuclear weapon test in South Africa in 1978.
Peres was the man who ordered the kidnapping of me in Italy Rome, Sept. 30, 1986, and for the secret trial and sentencing of me as a spy and traitor for 18 years in isolation in prison in Israel.
Until now he continues to oppose my freedom and release, in spite of my serving full sentence 18 years.
From all these reasons I don’t want be nominated and will not accept this nomination.
I say No to any nomination as long as I am not free, that is, as long as I am still forced to be in Israel.
WHAT I WANT IS FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM.
Thank you
vmjc
FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM I NEED NOW
Bravo to Mr. Vanunu. Of course, the Scandinavian war capitalists could award him their peace prize anyway, even if he refuses it.
I doubt it. Norway has refused his asylum application several times - for what reason I have not been able to discern. But it could be embarrassing for them were he to win the Nobel peace prize.
Actually, Mr. Vanunu is now a stated atheist.
Just for the sake of facts, although he converted to Christianity years ago, while living in Australia, he has rejected this and is currently an atheist. Am i correct Eileen?
rita
Why does his faith matter? I am thinking anyone that can work in a nuclear plant has to be an atheist, and those that authorize the building of such things and the development of weapons from the technology more so.
EXCERPT from "BEYOND NUCLEAR: Mordechai Vanunu's FREEDOM of SPEECH Trial and My Life as a Muckraker: 2005-2010"
Vanunu told me:
“I really had no clue what I was doing by getting baptized a Christian; I just felt like I had to do it. It was my way to become a new being. It wasn’t until after my trial that I started to read the New Testament. While I was in prison, I would read aloud for a half hour, twice a day. I would read the entire New Testament and begin it again when I finished the Book of Revelation. I did this for myself, as well as for my captors--not so much the prison guards, but the ones who watched me on camera twenty-four hours a day. Once I covered up the camera that spied on me and was punished with one month in solitary, without any books or radio; no contact with anyone anywhere was allowed. It was just them, watching me, constantly watching me.”
I asked, “Who are they?”
“The Shen Beet, you know, like the FBI and the Mossad, like your CIA— they were watching me. They tortured me by keeping a light on in my cell constantly for two years. They told me it was because they were afraid I would commit suicide, and the oppressive camera was for my safety. They recruited the guards and other prisoners to irritate me. They would deprive me of sleep by making loud noises near my cell all night long. I chose to read them 1 Corinthians 13, instead."
[Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with THE TRUTH! It always protects, it always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.-1 Corinthians 13: 4-8]
“For the first five years, twice a day I would loudly pray by reading Bible verses. I would also read the Anglican service from the Book of Common Prayer. I did it twice a day, everyday, for five years. I began to see I had become like a machine. I knew if I continued I would lose my mind. So after that, I only prayed in silence. Although I knew I was driving them nuts with my loud praying, it was driving me nuts, too. I changed my routine. I was allowed outside every day for two hours; I had been jogging around in circles for the two hours, but now I changed my routine. I began to alter that and all my routines so I would not be like a machine. I refused to eat when they brought my food in. I would decide everyday what time I would eat and what I would eat. I chose a different time everyday to do anything. The camera was there to learn my behavior so they could manipulate me. I knew I had to constantly change my routine. I began reading more books about health, nutrition, history, philosophy, and literature, and kept my prayer life quiet.”
Hm, and this was starting over 18 years ago? It sounds exactly like that which Bradley Manning received in Quantico over the last year, and the exact treatment that got Amnesty Int'l, UN official, the UK gov't, Crowley fired, and dozens of well-respected constitutional lawyers concerned about Manning's treatment.
Israel obviously steps to its own drummer. Irregardless, a similar effort needs to be engaged in this case as well, and a strong stand up for Vanunu's human rights should be pushed now.
Amazing man, what intelligence and resilience; he sounds like Daniel the prophet
Exactly, the most morally principled people in the world - Chomsky, the late Zinn, Bertrand Russel, Marx, are well-represented by atheists.
I heard a discussion about atheists on UConn's radio station stating that this group statisticly had among the least number of divorced people, and one of the highest achievement levels.
>> I am thinking anyone that can work in a nuclear plant has to be an atheist.....
I am thinking that you are not thinking, as your comment is one of the most ignorant and offensive posts I have read here for quite some time.
You know, Harry S. Truman was a Southern Baptist. But I'm sure you'll soon be telling us he converted to atheism before he ordered those nukes dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Vanunu had another crisis of faith in Nov. 2009 and "fired" God from his case and life and retreated back to the atheism he embraced in his adolescence.
HOWEVER, very interesting -and out of chronological order- in his letter to Israel he wrote:
"On June 1986 I was baptized to the Anglican Church."
http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2059&Itemid=246
I commend Mr. Vanunu for his bravery in disclosing something the world needed to know. The world needs more people like him. People that have the strength of their convictions.
FAXED to White House 202-456-2461
May 9, 2011
Dear President Obama,
Thus far I have received snail mail acknowledgments from VP Biden, the Knesset Archives, President Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu [see attached] regarding the receipt of their copies of "BEYOND NUCLEAR: Mordechai Vanunu's FREEDOM of SPEECH Trial and My Life as a Muckraker: 2005-2010" but as you and Secretary of State Clinton have ignored me, this FAX has been published on the WWW, because dissent is the only thing that can ensure a healthy democracy.
And by the way, Israel is NOT and NEVER was a Democracy:
"The terms 'democracy' or 'democratic' are totally absent from the Declaration of Independence. This is not an accident. The intention of Zionism was not to bring democracy, needless to say. It was solely motivated by the creation in Eretz-Isrel of a Jewish state belonging to all the Jewish people and to the Jewish people alone. This is why any Jew of the Diaspora has the right to immigrate to Israel and to become a citizen of Israel."- Ariel Sharon, May 28, 1993 edition of Yedioth Ahronoth.
On 5 May 2011, Israel’s Moroccan born Nuclear Whistle Blower, Mordechai Vanunu petitioned the State of Israel regarding another racist law passed by the Knesset on 28 March 2011, which allows for the revocation of citizenship of anyone convicted of espionage or treason. Vanunu wrote, "I am asking and expecting the enforcement of this law to its letter to revoke my Israeli citizenship."
In 1987, Vanunu was convicted of "Aggravated Espionage, High Treason and Assisting the Enemy."
Vanunu served nearly all of his 18 years in prison in solitary, he has been subjected to 24/7 surveillance ever since he emerged from a windowless tomb sized cell on 21 April 2004, and he has been denied the right to leave the ‘only democracy in the Middle East’.
The establishment of Israel’s statehood was contingent upon upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
On 6 May 2011, Professor of international law, Francis A. Boyle emailed me:
"Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Mordechai has the perfect right to renounce his Israeli citizenship: Article 15(2): No one shall be denied the right to change his nationality. Article 13(2): Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."
Because America is a Member State of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the USA is responsible to hold ALL Member States accountable and this Citizen of Conscience is beseeching you to honor that commitment and give US some change we can really believe in!
Most sincerely and very flamingly yours,
Eileen Fleming, A Citizen of Conscience for House of Representatives
Founder of WeAreWideAwake.org
Staff Member of Salem-news.com
A Feature Correspondent for Arabisto.com
Producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
Author of "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" and "BEYOND NUCLEAR: Mordechai Vanunu's FREEDOM of SPEECH Trial and My Life as a Muckraker: 2005-2010"
THE REST @ http://wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2061&Itemid=246
Heartfelt thanks Eilleen Flemming, for valiant Vanunu's sake
Mr. Vanunu said: “I have no interest in Israeli citizenship, I don’t want to go on living here.”
The Israeli Government has a simple answer for him: A knock on the door by an agent of the Mossad.
Vanunu has been under 24/7 surveillance by Israeli SECURITY for the last 25 years!
His emails and phone calls are monitored and when I walked in the streets of east Jerusalem with him- Palestinian 'spies' followed along!
Eileen
Why did Palestinian spies follow an Israeli "traitor" ? I'm a bit confused....
The Palestinian Authority's only real job is to provide security for Israel.
corvo
I get it (light goes on) that's why the people voted for Hamas, thanks!
Actually, that's true in part. More correct is to say that a majority of voting Palestinians voted for Hamas because Hamas, unlike the Palestinian Authority, actually provides a modicum of social services, and has (or at least had) less of a reputation for corruption.
Vanunu's every move, phone call, email is monitored by Israeli SECURITY and they employ hard up Palestinians to assist.
But NOW that V has relocated from occupied east Jerusalem to Tel Aviv they are most likely out of the picture.
LEARN LOTS @ http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=21&Itemid=26
Israel's equivalent to Brad Manning. His life is a testament to the challenge of living with integrity. Mr. Vanunu has demonstrated that choosing to live principles may have serious consequences, and it humbles my to admit that my actions don't measure up to his.
We really misuse the word courage in our society and I don't often use it but Mordechai IS my hero.
BEFORE Manning and Assange:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1997&Itemid=244
mine too.... mordechai vanunu is the apotheosis of every intelligent humanitarian's strivings against this fuliginous 'theatre-of-the-rapacious-absurd' which is regnant thru the entire malevolent script of global corpdom's domination of western political purlieux, particularly the US/UK/zionist-israeli abominations who subreptitiously describe themselves as 'democracies'. what a crock of poppycock, piffle and balderdash. where are the atheists when we need them? only atheists, many of whom were/are compelled to remain closeted, like thomas jefferson and benjamin franklin, have the moral, unbiased brain-eidetics to apperceive "thru the glass darkly" toward a more equitable and equiponderent future for, not only palestinians, but for all the planet's beleaguered life forms as well. please... bring on all fellow atheists. turn your voices to decibel levels wherein you can be heard.
Vanunu is a hero. Revealing that Israel had nuclear weapons is like revealing Pam Anderson had fake tits. Everyone already knew it.
With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil — that takes religion.
The megaphone software is working again? I was wondering where the valiant defenders of every atrocity were lately. I suppose it would be pointless to say that your post is delusional.
It might have escaped your notice, but the state of Israel isn't the population that's being threatened with extermination lately.
Not only are you delusional, but you're raving mad. The Arab states in the region don't have, and never did have the arms or the training to conquer Israel. As for the future, you and Vanunu have made the world aware of the potential arsenal of Israel. (he's stuck in the nation for doing that, why aren't you being arrested?) Those 600 nukes mean that if any one of them try to launch another war than they'll be utterly destroyed and the rest of the world would have to deal with yet more radioactive contamination from the aftermath of the destruction of the various Arab states.
Ummm, I don't know if you've noticed, but the US government has bent over backwards to justify every act of Israel, including an attack on a US Warship. If any other nation were to sink a USN vessel you can be sure that that nation wouldn't be getting 3 billion dollars in aid a year.
Israel has no intention of making peace, nor do they wish to make friends. They support the worst of the Arab dictators and then claim that the Arabs all hate them. Does that not make you wonder if that might not be a very good idea? You are delusional, as is the State of Israel, in thinking that the best way to deal with your neighbors is to keep on kicking them in the nuts.
The thing is, it's not going to be the Arabs or the Yanks who destroy Israel. They'll do it to themselves. No one needs to kill anyone to do it either. All they need do is let the state continue to spend everything it can on arms and ammo.
Poor poor Israel, being forced against its will to accept $3 billion annually in American weaponry!
Here's where you get in trouble talking to people you don't know. I'm not a patriot of any nation; I think the idea of nationalism is an evil that should have been eradicated 90 years ago. No good has ever come from any of the nation states.
USN means a United States Navy ship. Call the thing what you will, but no one other than Israel would have gotten away with attacking one of them. Vietnam was accused of doing that (they didn't) and the USA killed between 2-5 million Vietnamese as a result. Speculation about what that ship was doing is not relevant, nor is what you claim likely.
I do note you're not disagreeing with the argument that Israel has no intention of making peace with its neighbours, nor with my point that Israel supports the worst of the Arab dictators. If you really want to end hatred, then you must realize that the gov't of Israel is going about it in the wrong way.
LNFTT
Oldy,
What are your life experiences that propel you to be such a staunch defender of Israel ?
You are clearly passionate, why?
this makes me think that there is another valid point of view about the Rosembergs: that with their actions they prevented the US from having the nuclear monopoly; but then, why should Israel have the nuclear monopoly in the Middle East?
i can only imagine mr. vanunu's predicament as being akin to a nightmare, that from which you cannot wake up...................
Just a few weeks after his FREEDOM of SPEECH Trial began in the so called 'only democracy in the Middle East' this interview with Vanunu was taped to TRY and Wake Up America:
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwdz6dLbfok&feature=channel_video_title
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncQ-mheucoI&feature=channel_video_title
Wish we had more on the planet, like him
Vanunu...heart goes out to you completely.
True hero.
FACEBOOK:
Free Mordechai Vanunu -
http://www.causes.com/causes/523841-free-mordechai-vanunu
Velkommen skal du være Mordechai Vanunu (The group of us who would welcome Vanunu to Norway!) - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10521844315
What would children of Abraham need with the Nuclear Bomb anyways? Abe would not have destroyed Sodom had it been up to him. Those were then, now and forever the deeds of Abraham his children would be doing today.
http://youtu.be/935dB3ZjXhY
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Evolution-Number-Nine-by-Michael-Dewey-110215-430.html
What an inspiration! That's what happens when someone refuses to compromise against one's conscience. I think those who are into praying should say a prayer for Mr. Vanunu's freedom, and others should send out positive wishes towards him. At the very least, I mean.
All for positive thinking, but prayer without action is BS!
IF you really care to help FREE VANUNU email/FAX/phone your political reps and MEDIA to:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=21&Itemid=26
That's why I added "at the very least". I had to write what came to my mind at that moment, instead of trying to make it all logical and politically correct. Thanks for that link, though. Contacting the media and using all the social media is really important, in addition to contacting the reps, I agree.
Could you tell me what could I do in Mexico to help mr. Vanunu? the media here very rarely writes about him and our poiltical reps, well writing to them would plainly be a waste of time and effort all of them are too busy raping the country...
He is a hero and an inspiration, fighting against one of the most powerful political entities in the world (not a country in my book) is extremely courageous.
Some day he will be free and justice will prevail.