[E-rundbrief] Info 104 - Nuclear Whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu (Israel) released 21.4.2004
Matthias Reichl
mareichl at ping.at
So Apr 25 11:37:42 CEST 2004
E-Rundbrief - Info 104 - Nuclear Whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu (Israel)
released 21.4.2004
Bad Ischl, 25.4.2004
Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
www.begegnungszentrum.at
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Nuclear Whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu Seeks Help From Norway
Recently-released Israeli nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu wants
Norway to help him leave Israel now that he is out of prison, a leading
Norwegian peace activist has said.
Vanunu, a Christian (Anglican) convert and former technician at Israel's
nuclear reactor in Dimona, was released on Wednesday, April 21, 2004, after
18 years in prison for revealing his country's nuclear secrets.
Upon his release from Ashkelon prison, Vanunu was greeted by the Anglican
Bishop of Jersualem and went to the Cathedral Church of St George, where he
partook of the Holy Communion with bishops and clergy from England, the USA
and Australia as well as local Christians.
Israel has imposed strict controls on Vanunu, including a ban on his
leaving the country and speaking to foreigners.
One of the foreigners allowed to meet Vanunu, Norwegian peace activist and
lawyer Fredrik S Heffermehl, said the former prisoner asked for Norway's help.
To do so, Norway would have to give him a passport or another travel
document, plus a visa on humanitarian grounds, Heffermehl said.
Although many Israelis regard Vanunu as a traitor, his exposing Israel's
nuclear weapons program has gained him respect and support in many
countries. He has featured in Nobel Peace Prize nominations. (Source:
Ekklesia, Catholic Information Service, Nairobi)
(E-mail-Aussendung von "Der Pazifist"
<der.pazifist at dialog-international.org> v. 23.4.2004)
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Israelische Zeitung "Ma'ariv" suggeriert "Kill Vanunu"!
Ma'ariv Online's English edition is running a poll "What should be done
with Vanunu?" - in which one of the options is "be killed".
At the bottom of the page there is an option for contacting the editors.
Please express your disgust and protest at this dangerous and offensive
"opinion poll".
You should know, that an official complaint against Ma'ariv has been served
by Gideon Spiro of the Israeli Committee for Mordechai Vanunu for a
previous death threat that the paper carried in a column by Dan Margalit.
Please respond quickly.
Rayna Moss
sample letter, to be used as it is, or as inspiration for your own text:
To the editor of Maariv
I hereby urge you to immediately remove the disgusting Vanunu opinion poll.
A respectable newspaper does not publish a questionnaire in which killing a
person after he was released from prison is a legitimate option.
You can be accused of incitement to murder.
If you don't stop this immediately and I don't receive from you an apology
then I will from now on boycott your paper, the printed as well as the
electronic versions.
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This is a continuation of the earlier message. But the letter to Mazuz is
also self-explanatory. Please, send a fax, or if you can't, send us your
personalized letter to Mazuz, and we will fax it to him - our e-mail:
otherisr at actcom.co.il
To
Mr. Menny Mazuz
Attorney General
Jerusalem
Fax : +972-2-6708727, +972-2-6288065, +972-2-6466731
Dear Sir
I call upon you to open urgently an investigation on suspicion of
incitement to murder against the editor of Ma'ariv newspaper, Mr. Amnon
Dankner, as well as against the editor of the paper's internet edition.
I refer to a "readers' poll" published on the Ma'ariv English-languague
website today (April 23) on the question "what to do with Vanunu" to which
one of the answers the readers can choose is "kill him" (see site at the
address www.maarivintl.com). In my view, when a mass-ciruclation paper
publishes such a "poll", in which the idea of murdering in cold blood a
person whom large parts of the public regard with hatred is presented as a
legitimate oprtion among the spectrum of activities condoned by the paper
(and indeed, a large number of Ma'ariv readers did choose the option of
murder, and the paper published this) then there is a clear and present
danger that one or more readers will draw from this "poll" legitimation to
take up arms and actually implement what the paper considers a legitimate act.
This is precisely the point at which freedom of speech ends and naked
incitement to murder begins. It is you duty, as being in charge of
enforcing the laws of the state of Israel, to take appropriate steps.
Sincerely Yours
Copy : Ma'ariv editorial office fax 972-3-5610624
(E-Mail-Aussendung von "The Other Israel", e-mail: otherisr at actcom.co.il,
v. 23.4.2004)
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Free Mordechai Vanunu - Info & Action Alert #9, April 21, 2004
Jack Cohen-Joppa, U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
e-mail: freevanunu at mindspring.com
"I am Mordechai Vanunu. I'm proud and happy to do what i did!"
With these words to the world, Israel's captive declared his freedom today,
after 18 years of "cruel and barbaric" treatment in prison for telling the
truth about Israel's secret nuclear arsenal
At 11 am, Vanunu walked out the door into Shikma prison's entry yard. A
roar erupted from hundreds of demonstrators outside the locked main
gate. Supporters at the gate were jostled by detractors behind, some
shouting "Kill Vanunu!"
Moving deliberately past the press, surrounded and trailed by assorted
officials and guards, Vanunu walked to the gate. Holding both hands high
with the signs of victory and peace, he stepped up, onto the bars to see
and acknowledge his supporters.
His brothers Asher and Meir, and Meir's young son Luca, had accompanied
Vanunu out the door, and rejoined him as he returned to the forest of
cameras and microphones.
Vanunu made a statement in English: "I have no more secrets to tell; I want
to leave Israel but they are restricting me. My treatment was cruel and
barbaric; I was punished hard because I am became a Christian. I am a
symbol of survival of the human spirit of freedom. I don't want to harm
Israel. Open the Dimona reactor for inspection. I want to go to the United
States and marry and have a life."
Vanunu then responded to questions for several minutes as Meir nudged him
to quit repeatedly. Given the extreme restrictions placed on Vanunu's
actions, Meir looked concerned that his brother might talk himself back
into prison.
Asked about being a hero, Vanunu replied, "All those who stood behind me
and who supported me for 18 years are the heroes."
Vanunu made a point to speak of his kidnapping in Italy, and to say that a
photo of the woman reported to be "Cindy" was not the female Mossad agent
who lured him to Rome in September 1986.
And he told the press, "I want President Bush, and Tony Blair, Gerhardt
Schroeder, and Putin to [work] for my release from Israel."
Before getting into a car, Mordechai Vanunu said he was going to St.
George's Anglican Church in Jerusalem to give thanks to God.
Weitere Infos:
http://nonviolence.org/vanunu
www.vanunu.com
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Matthias Reichl
Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Wolfgangerstr.26
A-4820 Bad Ischl
Tel. +43-6132-24590
e-mail: mareichl at ping.at
http://www.begegnungszentrum.at
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