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| 21 April 2004 |
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News,
Views, & Analysis Governments,
Lobbies, & the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know
If you don't get MER, you just don't get it! - click here MER is free www.MiddleEast.Org (202) 362-5266 MER@MiddleEast.Org |
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"The
most honest, most comprehensive, and most mobilizing news
and analysis on the Middle East always comes from MER. It is indispensable!" - Robert Silverman - Salamanca, Spain
Israel Frees Nuclear
Whistleblower Vanunu
By PETER ENAV ASHKELON, Israel (AP - 21 April) - A defiant Mordechai Vanunu walked out of prison on Wednesday after serving 18 years for spilling Israel's nuclear secrets, saying he was proud of his actions and complaining he was treated cruelly by his jailers. Vanunu, dressed in a checkered shirt and black tie, flashed victory signs and waved to hundreds of cheering supporters as he walked into the sun-splashed courtyard of Shikma Prison in the coastal town of Ashkelon. Dozens of counter-demonstrators booed and shouted epithets. In the courtyard, Vanunu, 50, held an impromptu news conference, his brother Meir by his side. Vanunu said he was given ``very cruel and barbaric treatment'' by Israel's security services.
``To all those who are calling me traitor, I am saying I am
proud, I am proud and happy to do what I did,'' Vanunu said in
accented English. He refused to answer questions in Hebrew because
of restrictions Israel has imposed, including a ban on speaking to
foreigners.
Vanunu, who converted to
Christianity in the 1980s, said he was
mistreated because of his religion. He also said there is no need
for a Jewish state and demanded that Israel open its nuclear
reactor in Dimona to international inspection.
``I said, Israel don't need
nuclear arms, especially now that
all the Middle East is free from nuclear weapons,'' he said.
Vanunu said his first stop would
be St. George, an Anglican
church in Jerusalem's Old City. He left the prison in a white sedan
as police dispersed a large crowd. More than a dozen cars and
motorcycles followed Vanunu's lead vehicle to Jerusalem, and a
helicopter flew low overhead.
Israeli authorities have imposed a
series of travel restrictions
and other constraints on Vanunu, saying he still possesses state
secrets. But Vanunu said he has no more secrets to reveal. ``I am
now ready to start my life,'' he said.
In 1986, Vanunu leaked details and
pictures of Israel's alleged
nuclear weapons program to The Sunday Times of London. Based on his
account, experts said at the time that Israel had the world's
sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.
The revelations undercut Israel's
long-standing policy of
neither confirming nor denying its nuclear capability. He was
abducted by Israeli secret agents before the article was printed
and subsequently convicted of treason in a closed trial.
Vanunu said Israel's Mossad spy
agency and the Shin Bet security
services tried to rob him of his sanity by keeping him in solitary
confinement for nearly 12 years. ``I said to the Shabak (Shin Bet),
the Mossad, you didn't succeed to break me, you didn't succeed to
make me crazy.''
Asked if he was a hero, he said
``all those who are standing
behind me, supporting me ... all are heroes.''
``I am a symbol of the will of
freedom,'' he said. ``You cannot
break the human spirit.''
Hundreds of supporters and
opponents squared off in shouting
matches outside the prison ahead of his release. Supporters chanted
``Mordechai is free,'' while counterdemonstrators held signs
calling him a traitor and shouted curses.
``He won't get out of here
alive,'' opponents screamed as
Vanunu's adopted parents, Minnesota couple Nick and Mary Eoloff,
arrived at the prison. Vanunu said he hopes to settle in the United
States and study history.
While the crowds were vocal, there
was no violence.
Anti-nuclear weapons activists
from around the world had
gathered at Shikma in recent days. Among his supporters, was
British actress Susannah York and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland.
But Vanunu is widely detested in
Israel.
``He's hell-bent to do as much
harm as he can,'' Justice
Minister Tommy Lapid told The Associated Press. ``We will keep an
eye on him, we will watch him ... We want to know where he is and
we want to know whom he may or may not divulge state secrets.''
Vanunu will not be allowed to
travel abroad for at least a year,
speak with foreigners or approach Israeli ports or borders. He also
is barred from discussing his work at Israel's nuclear reactor.
Vanunu was given a map of Israel marking the areas off-limits to
him, the Defense Ministry said.
Defense Ministry spokeswoman
Rachel Niedak-Ashkenazi said the
security services have confiscated several tapes and notebooks with
Vanunu's writings. In Hebrew and English, Vanunu wrote a detailed
account of places, processes and areas of the nuclear reactor, she
said, adding that he has an ``excellent memory.''
``It was a lot more than a
personal diary. To us this showed an
intention and ability to make future use of it,'' Niedak-Ashkenazi
said.
Vanunu said the papers were
personal and had been written in
1991.
Vanunu's family and Yoav Loeff, of
the Association for Civil
Rights in Israel, which is representing the nuclear spy have said
they are concerned about his safety.
But Lapid said no precautions or
special security measures are
planned. ``He's surrounded by at least 100 radicals who are
worshipping him so I'm sure they'll take care of his safety,'' he
said.
Vanunu will live in a luxury
apartment complex in Jaffa, an old
seaport and today part of Tel Aviv. Jaffa has both Arab and Jewish
residents, and Vanunu's apartment will be near several churches.
Vanunu, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew, converted to
Christianity in the mid-1980s.
The Andromeda Hill complex has 170 apartments, and tenants
include both wealthy foreigners and local residents. It was unclear
who is paying for Vanunu's apartment. Vanunu speaks: Key quotes
Israeli nuclear technician
Mordechai Vanunu was
sentenced to 18 years in jail for revealing the country's nuclear secrets. BBC News - 21 April: During his imprisonment he became a hero for the peace movement, though Israel still says it fears he could compromise the country's security. Upon his release on Wednesday, he spoke to the journalists, supporters and opponents thronged outside the jail. Here are excerpts:
I'm not speaking in Hebrew. If Israel doesn't let me speak to foreigners I am not speaking in Hebrew. [From prepared statement] I am Mordechai Vanunu, the man behind the Sunday Times article from 5 October 1986. The article about Israel's nuclear weapons. I was kidnapped in Rome, Italy by Israel's spy on 13 September and I was brought to Israel, arrived at... prison on 7 October. I was here in the prison from 7 October 1986 until today, 17-and-a-half years in very cruel, barbaric treatment by Israel's spy [agency] Mossad.
I am not
harming Israel. I am not interested in Israel
This prison is guided and controlled by Mossad.
The guards are only
obeying orders of Mossad. In this prison you have a Section 7 [run] by
the Mossad.
To all those who are calling me a traitor I am saying I am proud and happy to do what I did. I am very glad that I succeeded to do what I did... I don't have any secrets. All this bullshit, blah blah blah, about secrets, is dead. My case is dead. The article was published. There are no more secrets. All the secrets were published and is in the hand of the whole world. All the world, every state, 180 states received these secrets. I am now ready to start my life. I am not harming Israel. I am not interested in Israel. I want to tell you something very important. I suffered here 18 years because I am a Christian, because I was baptised into Christianity. If I was a Jew I wouldn't have all this suffering here in isolation for 18 years. Only because I was a Christian man. I didn't say Israel should not exist. But Vanunu Mordechai says we don't need a Jewish state. Vanunu Mordechai doesn't want to live in Israel and doesn't need a Jewish state. It's for Jewish people to solve the problems with the Palestinians... I said to the Shabak [Shin Bet - internal security services], the Mossad, you didn't succeed to break me, you didn't succeed to make me crazy...
Israel doesn't need nuclear arms, especially
now that all the Middle East is free from nuclear arms I want the president of the United States, George
Bush, and Tony Blair
and Gerhard Schroeder, Vladimir Putin, all the leaders to do for my
release from Israel, to leave Israel and now this day all those leaders
should deal and speak about Israel's nuclear secrets.
The time has come to end this silence and secret cooperation by the West, the United States, Canada and all Europe helping Israel and co-operating with Israel's secrets... Israel doesn't need nuclear arms, especially now that all the Middle East is free from nuclear arms... My message today to all the world is open the Dimona reactor for inspections... All those standing behind me, who supported me, who continued to be my friend for 18 years - all are heroes... I am a symbol of the will of freedom. You cannot break the
human spirit. To
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