WAWA/WeAreWideAwake is my Public Service to America as a muckracker who has journeyed seven times to Israel Palestine since June 2005.
WAWA is dedicated to confronting media and governments that shield the whole
truth.
We who Are Wide
Awake are compelled by the "fierce urgency of Now" [Rev MLK, Jr.] to raise
awareness and promote the human dialogue about many of the crucial issues of our
day: the state of our Union and in protection of democracy, what life is like
under military occupation in Palestine, the Christian EXODUS from the Holy Land,
and spirituality-from a Theologically Liberated Christian Anarchist
POV.
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all...and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave...a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils." George Washington's Farewell Address - 1796
"My aim is to agitate & disturb people. I'm not selling bread, I'm selling yeast." Unamuno
"Imagine All the People Sharing All the World." John Lennon
"If enough Christians followed the gospel, they could bring any state to its knees." Father Philip Francis Berrigan
"You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won't back down." Tom Petty
"If I can't dance, it's not my revolution." Emma Goldman
"We have yet to begin to IMAGINE the power and potential of the Internet." Charlie Rose, 2005
Only in Solidarity do "We have it in our power to begin the world again" Tom Paine
"Never doubt that a few, thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
"You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
DO SOMETHING!
Photo of George shown here and in web site banner courtesy of Debbie Hill, 2000.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that, among these, are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. -July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence
January 1, 2010: Message to Israeli SECURITY regarding Mordechai Vanunu from American Citizen Journalist and Back to 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008!
Just days before my first of seven journeys
to Israel and occupied Palestine in June 2005, a Palestinian American friend warned
me, “Don’t visit Vanunu, if you see him; don’t speak to him. He’s not allowed
to speak to foreigners and you could cause him trouble.”
I responded, “OK, I won’t track him down,
but Jerusalem is a small town and if our paths cross, I will speak to him. What
kind of government is that, that will tell a human being who they can and
cannot talk with?”
Not only did I cross paths with Vanunu
during that trip, I have met with him on every trip since, have been streaming
2005, 2006 and 2008 video interviews with him on my site and have reported
since day one on his FREEDOM OF SPEECH TRIAL in the ‘democracy’ of Israel since
it began January 25, 2006.
This American citizen journalist wants to
assure Israeli SECURITY that Vanunu never gave me an order that I have
followed.
[UPDATE March 18, 2010: I am writing my 3rd book, and just caught the need to clarify-the only order Vanunu EVER gave me was to stop writing to and about him. But, as a writer who stumbled into being the only reporter to see the historical import of a FREEDOM OF SPEECH Trial in Israel as it happened, I cannot, will not, and my 3rd book will explain why that is the way it is.]
Nor have I done anything other than follow my conscience and we all know you know about me. I tell the truth at Ben Gurion, I get the strip search and write all about it on the WWW.
I also have written twice to the Mossad agent who
trapped him in 1986 and who lives less than a two hour car drive from my home:
My letters never returned, but I noted visits to my site dramatically increased within two days of my posting.
Dear SECURITY,
You know that all during
Vanunu's captivity in occupied East Jerusalem, since April 21, 2004, he has
spoken with hundreds –if not thousands-of internationals.
You hire Palestinian spies to follow him around.
You monitor his phone and email.
On December 28, 2009, Vanunu was arrested/HARASSED
once again, this time just for meeting with his Norwegian girlfriend, Dr.
Kristin Joachimsen, a scholar and an associate professor of Biblical Studies. They have known each other for two years, and if i knew , you did too.
On You Tube, Russian media reported that a
search of Vanunu’s belongings uncovered a letter from an American causing
Israeli officials to be concerned that “he could be orchestrating something”
and you can view it here:
In June 2009, I mailed a copy of my second
book and a few articles to the Israeli High Court Judge, so she could read the
final chapter; BROTHER V and learn what this American’s interest in Vanunu has
been: his childhood, his stumbling into Christianity, his FREEDOM OF SPEECH
TRIAL and denial of basic human rights by the Jewish State.
In June 2005, Vanunu told me, "When I decided to expose Israel's nuclear
weapons I acted out of conscience and to warn the world to prevent a nuclear
holocaust.”
I too act out of conscience and because corporate
media has failed to do their job; go-seek and report the truth, no matter how
ugly or brutal it is.
In June 2005, Vanunu told me:
"When I became the spy for the world I did it all
for the people of the world. If governments do not report the truth, if media
does not report the truth, all we can do is follow our conscience...Israel is
the only country in the Middle East where America can right now find WMD's.
America can also find where basic human rights have been denied Christians,
right here in Israel.
"My Christian conversion was also considered as treason and led to
me receiving more time in jail than any murderer has ever served. The Israelis
have this very beautiful article about freedom and liberty but they want to
destroy anyone who criticizes them for revealing the truth to the world. The
world must look and see what kind of democracy Israel is when one speaks out
the truth. Israel is not a democracy unless you are a Jew."
Anyone who bothers to speaks with Vanunu for even a few minutes can readily understand
that the 'secret' Vanunu has that can harm Israel is nothing more than bad PR!
This American also believes all people are equal and
equally loved by God and that only THE TRUTH will set US free.
I also have a radical hope that Israeli SECURITY
will WAKE UP and allow Vanunu the
right to leave the Jewish state and fade away into history, instead of keep
making it, for only then will this little one shut up about him.
On the third day of my fifth trip to
occupied east Jerusalem, I crossed paths with Vanunu on July 16, 2007; the 9th
day of Av, the day which commemorates the Jewish Temple’s destruction.
I was on my way back to my hotel on
Nablus Road in occupied east Jerusalem just after attending the Israeli Committee
Against House Demolitions media kick off day regarding that summer’s plan to
rebuild 300 homes out of the now 24,000 Palestinian dwellings that the state of
Israel has destroyed since 1967.
I had just witnessed the pouring of the
foundation of the new home of the Hamdan clan of nine who still had the deeds
to their property that were filled-out during the Ottoman Empire.
My mind was still on them when I noticed in front of me an old man, hunched
over as in the proverbial image of one whose back is breaking under the weight
of the world, walking very slowly and talking to himself.
It was not until I passed him by and he called out to me, "Hi, remember
me?"
Only because I recognized his voice, did I realize, that I had passed by
Mordechai Vanunu.
I had failed to recognize him, for I
had walked with Vanunu on the streets of occupied east Jerusalem before, and he
always had walked as fast as I did, and everyone in my life who takes a walk
with me, always tells me to slow down, for they cannot keep up!
Vanunu’s gait on that day was like many
other old men's on the hot streets of Jerusalem in July and it broke my heart
to see such a change in him.
But, Vanunu smiled when he informed, "This is the very spot where they
stoned to death the first Christian martyr for freedom of speech," as we
had crossed paths in front of St. Stephen's Church.
2,000 years ago, Saint Stephen was the
first follower of Jesus to be stoned to death for speaking truth to power
Vanunu had quit talking to me once again in June 2007, after he emailed me with his command to
delete the "30 Minutes with Vanunu" from my website.
Vanunu
didn’t give
me a reason as to why and I emailed him back that no way would or could
I comply with such a request, for the video was also cross posted on
Goggle News and Information Clearing
House and had become a part of his history.
But now that we were face to face, I
asked him, "Just exactly why did you want that video deleted?"
He responded, "It's not making any money."
I retorted, "Look, I have no control over people's generosity or lack of!"
He smiled as he challenged me, "If you want to keep running my video, you
should pay me $1,000.00 a month."
We both laughed at that!
In March 2006, just prior to the taping
of “30 Minutes with Vanunu” he told me that his brother Meir had the idea that
all the media that caused his FREEDOM OF SPEECH trial -which lead to a six
month jail sentence handed down on July 3, 2007- should donate at least a
thousand dollars to his defense fund.
As all the media who he had spoken with
Vanunu in 2004, had been MIA ever since, we both had hoped the video interview
would raise awareness and some much needed funds, for Vanunu has been living
off the generosity of supporters since he hasn’t had a job since 1986.
I reminded Vanunu that, “I never claimed
to be a fundraiser. I am a writer and the only way I can really help you is to
keep writing your story and running that video. Unless we the people stand up
and claim our liberties and rights, we don't have any!
“It is only right and just that my work remains on my site and I remind you
that Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms-and which
Israel agreed to uphold for their very statehood was contingent upon- affirms
that: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
Vanunu shrugged and replied, “Do what
you want.”
That is always what he has ended up
saying to me, every time we have argued.
I met Vanunu for the first time, in
June 2005, which was only days after he disbanded the US Campaign to free
Vanunu. I hadn’t even known there was a campaign; in fact I had not even heard
his name until I began to research for my first book, KEEP HOPE ALIVE, and he became
one of the stories I told in it.
From the moment I met Vanunu, and perhaps because I am nine months older than
he, I related to him as a sister and never hesitated to speak to him as I do
to my blood brothers and all friends: honestly!
In 2005, I was interested in learning
what kind of kid he had been and how he stumbled into Christianity. After he
filled me in, I was convinced that when America knew what kind of person he had
been; everything would change for him and occupied Palestine.
Vanunu told me I was naïve and I have never disagreed, for that is how I am
wired and also the way it just is.
In July 2007, Vanunu laughed at me when
he said, “You are too naïve. You think you're going to change anything with
your website? Maybe a few hundred people a day read anything you say.”
I replied, “I know I am just one little voice in the wilderness calling out,
but there are more like me all the time and the weapons NONVIOLENT people
have are words!
“And only in solidarity do we have it
in our power to begin the world again.
“And I have a link connected to my site
that tells me the U.S. Government and Military visit me daily, and even if Big
Brother were my only readers, it is worth it to me to speak out and agitate
them with the truth. It is the right and just thing to do.”
I then reminded Vanunu, that when I was a child, my dream had been to grow up
and be like Brenda Starr; the red headed ace investigative journalist of the Sunday
Comics.
Vanunu laughed at me when I said it again in
2007, but when I first told him about my child hood dream in June 2005, he looked
at me like I was crazy and it was the first time he had ever heard of Brenda
Starr.
I suppose it is crazy for me to still
believe that Vanunu’s on going misery will wake up American Christians about
the truth in the Holy Land, but only those deemed crazy by the status quo, ever
make a difference in this world and so, I persist.
I suppose it also is crazy
how Vanunu got caught up in my mind with George; a little boy of Beit Jala, a
suburb on the west side of the Little Town of Occupied Bethlehem, who
irrevocably changed my life, but I ascribe that experience to be a mystical
one.
It is George's three year old face that
adorns the banner of my website and the photo is courtesy of photographer
Debbie Hill, who ‘captured’ George the morning after the Israeli army destroyed
his bedroom in retaliation for a few hopeless militants who had infiltrated his
once peaceful Christian village to snipe across the way into the illegal
settlement/colony of Gilo.
The shrapnel that pierced the wall of George's sanctuary read 'Made in USA'
and was delivered via American made Apache helicopters.
The second I saw George's eyes, in the photo first published in 2000, by The
Florida Catholic, my heart said "DO SOMETHING!"
What could I possibly do I wondered, but I did make a copy of the photo, put it
in a frame and placed it upon the altar [a bar high table] in the upper room of
my home. Dozens of times a day, I still stop and gaze into the eyes of that
little boy of Bethlehem as I beg God to intervene and help us end the insane
cycle of violence in the so called Holy Land for the sake of all the children
who live there.
When I met George for the first time in June 2005, I vowed to him that the rest
of my life would be dedicated to doing something to help bring about the end of
the occupation of Palestine. Of course I was clueless as to what I could do as
well as how an impossible mission I had taken on, but as it is only the
hopeless causes that are worth fighting for, I persist.
In April 2005, two months before my
first trip to Israel and occupied Palestine, I turned the TV on which had been
tuned in last to the History Channel.
The very clip that ran before my eyes
was of Vanunu being transported to his closed door trial in 1986 which captured
his inspired move to write upon his palm: "HIJACKED" and the Rome
flight number he had been on.
The show was called,
"Sexpionage" and was all about Russian female spies, one from the
Mossad and also documented Shimon Perez, lying to the world that Israel would
never be the first in the Mid East to introduce nuclear weapons.
Then a black and white photo of a bearded, unkempt and disheveled Vanunu filled
the TV screen, and I immediately thought his eyes looked just like George's of
Beit Jala's. And once again, I heard in my heart: "Do Something!"
Not until I met Vanunu did I learn his eyes are nothing like George's of Beit
Jala, but I have done something; documented some of his history and likened him
to Jeremiah, the prophet of doom.
When Vanunu read my comparison, he
emailed me:
“DON’T CALL ME THAT!”
But in the spirit of freedom of speech and because I listen to my conscience, I
persist!
It should be understood that prophets
do NOT necessarily predict the future-but they do point out impending doom and
at least provoke people to think about God.
In 1986, Vanunu pointed to the Negev
and Israel’s clandestine seven-story underground WMD facility called the
Dimona, which still has never allowed IAEA inspectors into.
Israel has kept Vanunu under house
arrest in occupied east Jerusalem for nearly five years now, claiming he still
has something he hasn’t said about a place he has not set foot into since 1985
and it is ludicrous-perhaps insane- to imagine things haven’t changed since
then.
The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah spent much
of his life under house arrest in Jerusalem, for talking truth to power. We
know more about the personal life and struggles of Jeremiah than any other
Hebrew prophet. Jeremiah, which translates as “The Lord throws”-as in hurling,
had few friends, was intensely introspective, self-critical, timid by nature
but was always honest and open about his feelings.
Jeremiah never married and began
prophesying in Judah from 604-586, a time of storm and stress when the doom of
entire nations-including Judah itself-was being sealed.
Jeremiah had been the king's friend and
confident, but the prophet soon entered a dreary round of persecution and
imprisonment, alternating with only brief periods of freedom and was labeled a
traitor and agitator, for saying things such as:
“I cannot keep silent…Disaster follows disaster; the land
lies in ruins…My people are fools; they do not know me.”-Jeremiah 4:19
In 2005, Vanunu told me:
“I really had no idea what I was doing by getting baptized a
Christian, I just felt like I had to do it. It was my way to be 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 ½ 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 me as well as for
my captors. Not so much the prison guards but the ones who watched me on camera
24 hours a day.
“Once I covered up the camera that spied on
me and was punished for one month in solitary without any books or radio, no
contact with anyone anywhere was allowed.
“The Shen Beet, you know like the FBI and
the Mossad, like your CIA were watching me constantly. 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.
“For the
first five years I was in prison every day, 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, every day 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.”
On my last day in Jerusalem in June 2005, I met
Vanunu at the American Colony, and we walked as fast as any two New Yorkers’ up
the hill to the Mount of Olives. When we reached the spot to view the site of
the tombs of many Jews, Vanunu said, “Those are the Jews expecting to be
resurrected first when the Messiah comes.”
I asked Vanunu:
“Have you heard of the USA
craze of the Left
Behind series of books which leave behind the gospel of peace
and love. These books are bad theology and poor literature. Did you know that
in America there are Christians who actually want Armageddon? They believe they
will escape the nuclear holocaust because they are now the new chosen ones.
They think they will be raptured, they think they will be lifted out of the
world. They believe a theology of escapism and they ignore that the gospel
is: ‘The peacemakers shall be called the children of God’ and that
Jesus is The Prince of Peace.”
Vanunu replied, “The time has come for the
USA to see the truth of Zionism. It began as a secular nationalist movement not
a religious one. Then some Christians believed when Israel became a nation it
was the beginning of the second coming. They are deluded if they believe peace
will come through atomic weapons. Atomic weapons are holocaust weapons.
Christians should be the first people against them…The Christians in America
should be helping the Christians here. America needs to wake up to this fallacy
that Jesus will come back by nuclear war. America needs to wake up that the
Palestinian Christians here have no human rights. Aren’t Christians supposed to
be concerned about other Christians? Aren’t Christians supposed to be concerned
about all the poor and oppressed?”
I responded, “It is non-negotiable all that
stuff Jesus said about doing for the least and the oppressed. It is non-negotiable
for Christians that we must forgive our enemies and we must love those who hate
us, for what ever we do or do not do, we do it unto God!
“Every time I went through a checkpoint, saw the wall or heard a story of
oppression, I wondered how God can stand this situation. I can’t.”
At the summit of the Mount of Olives there
is much pavement, but not many trees. I found one tree cradling a few stone
steps and sat down while Vanunu wandered about. After about ten minutes,
Vanunu reappeared and I
immediately asked him, “How was it being crucified for telling the truth?”
“My human rights have been denied me because
I am a Christian. When I was on trial I was treated just like a Palestinian; no
human rights at all and cruel and unusual punishment, all because I told the
truth. The government spread slander about me, that I was a homosexual, that I
hated Jews, that I wanted fame and money. What I did was sacrifice my life for
the truth. In prison I really began to feel like Jesus and Paul. When Jesus
threw the moneychangers out of the temple, it was like me in Dimona exposing
the Israelis’ dirty secrets. I felt like Paul being thrown in prison for
speaking the truth.
“The only real way to worship is in loving
one’s enemies. It was not easy to love my tormentors, it was only because I
felt so much like Jesus crucified on the cross, and me crucified in prison,
that I could do it. It was not ever easy. I have forgiven but not forgotten
anything and I never will.
“In Israel, a life sentence is 25 years.
Even murderers go free after 17. They imposed the same restrictions on me that
Palestinians receive; no human rights at all. No phone, no visitors except
family and only through an iron grill. No vacation, no holidays, no gifts. Even
murderers get out for vacations! I was locked up for 18 years and still cannot
go on vacation, I cannot leave and that is all I am asking, just to leave here.
“For 18 years in prison they even attempted
to control my thoughts on paper. I would write exactly what I wanted and they
would censor words like ‘kidnapped’ and ‘atomic bomb.’ They would show me how
they chopped up my letters, but I continued to write exactly what I wanted.
They held my body, but never my spirit or mind.
“The only way to peace is peace; the only way
is non-violence. The only answer to Israeli nuclear weapons, their aggression,
occupation and oppression, the wall and refugee camps is to answer them with
truth and a peace-full voice. When I became the spy for the world I did it all
for the people of the world.
“If governments do not report the truth, if
media does not report the truth, all we can do is follow our conscience. Daniel
Ellsberg did, the woman from Enron did, and I did.
“The USA needs to wake up and see the truth
that Israel is not a democracy unless you are a Jew. Israel is the only country
in the Middle East where America can right now find WMD’s. America can also
find where basic human rights have been denied Christians, right here in
Israel.”
I told Vanunu, “In America we understand
about inalienable rights. That means they are God given rights that governments
cannot take away. The right to worship where and how we choose. When I read
that you were not allowed to go the few miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve 2004, to
celebrate mass at the Church of the Nativity, I wondered, what kind of
democracy is that?
“I cannot understand how a democracy can
haul anyone into jail just because they wanted to go to a church in the next
town.
“American democracy ensures her citizens the
right to think and to speak out the truth as we see it.
“American democracy understands everyone has
the right to a life, to liberty-which means freedom from captivity and any
arbitrary controls.
“Last night I attended an Interfaith Peace
Conference at Notre Dame Cathedral and I kept thinking about what President George
W. Bush promised at his second inaugural and wondered if he had even one thought
about Palestinians when he delivered it.”
‘There is no justice without freedom. There can be no human
rights without liberty. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the
United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When
you stand for liberty we will stand with you.’-George W. Bush
Perhaps I am crazy to believe that all
things will work for the good for those that love God and are called to his/her
purpose and that every one of US was created for a purpose.
My comfort is in knowing that
my conscience is clear that at least I did something.
And my hope, wish and prayer is that America will WAKE UP in 2010 and we all will do something to help FREE
Vanunu, FREE Gaza and Palestine and THE WALL will fall!
PS: Just weeks after his FREEDOM OF SPEECH TRIAL began the
whistle blower of Israel's underground WMD Facility sent this message to
Senator Clinton and USA Christians:
-- Only in Solidarity do "we have it in our power to begin the world again."-Tom Paine
Eileen Fleming,
Founder of WeAreWideAwake.org
A Feature Correspondent for Arabisto.com
Author of "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"
Click here for Vanunu's message to USA Christiansfilmed on 6/23/05
Everyone
has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.-UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, Article 19.
On
September 6, 2006, Mordechai Vanunu was once more inside of the Israeli
Supreme Court. He returned this time, regarding an appeal against the
renewing of the restrictions against him which have forbidden him to
leave Israel and to speak to media or foreigners, ever since he was
released from 18 years in jail on April 21, 2004.
The
restrictions have been imposed in the name of Security, for the Israeli
government has maintained Vanunu could still have a secret he has not
yet told about the underground nuclear weapons facility in the Dimona.
Vanunu has not been there in 20 years, and International Inspectors never have.
On
9/30/86, Mordechai Vanunu was kidnapped by the Mossad and sentenced on
3/27/88 to eighteen years in jail, most of it in solitary. Vanunu was
charged with treason because he broke down the wall that proved Israel
had gone nuclear when he shared photos and his story with the London
Sunday Times in 1986.
Released
from Ashkelon Prison on 4/21/04, Vanunu has lived under the draconian
restrictions of the British Emergency Defense Regulations that forbid
him to leave Israel, to speak to media or foreigners. He is currently
on trial for the interviews he gave the media after his release in 2004.
The
media has been a no show for his current trials, but Vanunu will soon
be posting what transpired in Supreme Court on September 6, 2006 on his
site http://www.serve.com/vanunu/
When Israel became a state in 1948, it was contingent on upholding The UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS.
Article 19 affirms:
Everyone
has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.
Lennon Connection
On
9/18/04 in London, Yoko Ono awarded Mordechai Vanunu a peace prize
founded in memory of and in the spirit of John Lennon's "Give Me Some
Truth" released in 1971. The award is given biennially, and was
instituted in 2002, when Israeli Zvi Goldstein and Palestinian Khalil
Rabah each won for artistic contributions to peace in their homeland.
In
2004, Yoko Ono also awarded $50,000 to New Yorker magazine
correspondent and author Seymour Hersh, whom she described as "a
staunch seeker of truth" for his investigative journalism.
In
2004, Ono was quoted by Reuters that Hirsh and Vanunu were honored as
"people who have spoken out for the benefit of the human race by
overcoming extreme personal difficulties and, in doing so, have allowed
the truth to prevail…Hopefully [Vanunu] can come and receive the award
himself. He did complete his sentence, it's not as though he's a
criminal…the point is that it's another statement, a statement that the
whole world can share and think about…People power is stronger than the
power of institutions."
Long time friend and supporter of Vanunu, the Anglican Father Dave from Sydney, Australia wrote in 2004:
"Good news and not-so-good news this month regarding our brother Morde Vanunu. The
good news: Morde has been awarded a Yoko Ono Peace Prize…The
not-so-good news is that Morde seems to be flouting the ban placed upon
him, preventing him from communicating with foreign media…The danger is
that the Israeli authorities will re-arrest Morde for making contact
with foreign media. Having spoken to Morde though, he is confident, and
is sick of being told who he is not allowed to talk to. Indeed, he has
asked me whether I will set up a community web cast for him, where he
can talk to you, his online supporters, via webcam. He has asked me to
organize this for his birthday, October 13 th."
That web cast still has not happened and Fr.Dave's
words proved accuarate, as Vanunu is now on trial for speaking to the
media in 2004 and that trial resumes on 9/21/06.
[UPDATE Jan. 6, 2009: This site has been streaming 2005, 2006, 2008 video interviews with Vanunu @ VANUNU ARCHIVES and so, until he is FREE to leave Israel, that maybe as close as he gets to being allowed to speak to the world for himself-as the Media remains MIA.]
Vanunu is a hero to Palestinians and many Internationals, but is surrounded by many who despise him as a traitor.
Vanunu
has consistently maintained that he spoke out twenty years ago and
continues to do so under threat of more jail time, because he only
wants to save Israel from a "New Holocaust."
Israel claims
that they must detain Vanunu for security reasons, but they have failed
to secure the safety of the citizens that work and live near the
leaking dinosaur that is the Dimona.
In March 2006, Vanunu told me, "When I decided to expose Israel's
nuclear weapons I acted out of conscience and to warn the world to
prevent a nuclear holocaust…The Dimona is 46 years old; reactors last
25 to 30 years. The Dimona has never been inspected and Israel has
never signed the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty; but all the Arab states
have...Twenty years ago when I worked there they only produced when the
air was blowing towards Jordan ten miles away. No one knows what is
happening now.”
In
Ray Coleman's biography of John Lennon, he quotes the artist circa
1969, "I'd like to be like Christ, [he described himself as a
Christian communist] in a pure sense, not in the way Russia or Italy
think of Christianity or communism…Every body's uptight [fearful] and
they're always building these walls around themselves. All you can do
is try to break down the walls and show them that there's nothing there
but people… I only know that peace can exist, and the first thing is
for the world to disarm…I think I'll win because I believe in what
Jesus said."-LENNON , McGraw-Hill, 1984. pgs -374-381.
Vanunu has always insisted, "My Christian conversion was
also considered as treason and led to me receiving more time in jail
than any murderer has ever served. The Israelis have this very
beautiful article about freedom and liberty but they want to destroy
anyone who criticizes them for revealing the truth to the world. The
world must look and see what kind of democracy Israel is when one
speaks out the truth."
Article
18 of the UDHR affirms that: Everyone has the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change
one’s religion. Love him, or loathe him, one thing remains certain: Vanunu will continue to give us some truth, if we have ears to hear him.
"If
you shut up the truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow,
and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts
through it will blow up everything in its way."- Emile Zola
Photo of Vanunu copyright Meir Vanunu, November 2007
And so this was Christmas in the USA and Israel UPDATE: From a Dec. 27 email from Vanunu:
"...they
were very harsh to the young German girl, they were questioning here
like by the KGB,or Stasi, she was in a separate room. She was still
there after i left at 24:00. I did not go to Bethlehem, because I knew
they were waiting for me. So do what ever you can ,you are in a free
country. Next court hearing Jan. 8."
UPDATE:
In an email from Vanunu received on Dec. 26, 2007 AM he wrote:
Bad
news, Dec. 25 th. The police come to the American Colony to arrest me.
I was meeting a young German girl who wanted to know more about my
story. They took us to the
police questioning me, hold me until midnight 24:00. Not so impressive
all this again arrest. I think the police was waiting for my arrest in
Beet Lehem, since I did come to B L. they found new reason to arrest
me. Any way life will continue as I am doing all the Time. vmjc
On
Christmas Eve evening I picked up my mail and opened up a card from
Jerusalem sent to me by Mordechai Vanunu. He made me laugh out loud,
for he addressed it to: "Eileen Flaming" not Fleming, which is my
actual name.
But, upon reflection, I think Vanunu has renamed me well; for I am flaming over the hypocrisy and
injustice of empire and apathy and ignorance of good Christians who
have no eyes to see, ears to hear, or hearts that bleed for the poor
and oppressed in the Holy land and the entire Middle East.
I picked my Christmas Eve mail up three years to the very hour to when I had first read an article by Jerry
Levin about Vanunu's 2004 Christmas Eve arrest for attempting to travel
the less than two hour walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Levin was a former CNN Mid East Bureau Chief of the 1980's who had been a secular Jew held hostage by the Lebanese
Hezbollah. Levin escaped his captivity unharmed shortly after a
mystical Christmas Eve experience of Jesus and had become a full time
volunteer with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron. Levin's article
about Vanunu's Christmas Eve arrest got my Irish temper flaming about
the injustices Israel is allowed to perpetuate; and three Christmas'
later, my flaming Irish temper persists.
In
2004, Vanunu had attempted to celebrate his first Christmas Eve Mass as
a Christian in the Little Town of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity,
which is in Occupied Territory.
Instead of mass, Israel arrested him
and Vanunu spent Christmas Eve night in prison for Israel claimed
Vanunu was "attempting to leave the county" which they have not allowed.
Israel
claims they cannot let Vanunu leave Isreal for they believe he still
has another secret to tell about their WMD Program in the Negev, which
has never allowed international inspectors into and which Vanunu has
not set into in over 21 years. Leaving Israel is all Vanunu has desired
since his April 21, 2004 release from 18 years in prison for telling
the world the truth that Israel was already nuclear in 1986.
When
I read Jerry Levin's article about Vanunu's Christmas Eve arrest, I
became flaming mad for I could not comprehend how a democracy could
deny anyone from worshipping any where and any how they desired.
On
Christmas Eve 2004, I spent hours at my computer emailing Mr. Bill
O'Reilly-the champion of the "war on Christmas" and my local paper; the
Orlando Sentinel, the New York Times
and dozens of other MSM outlets, in the naïve belief that the Fourth
Estate reported the truth and had the best interests of America and
democracy at heart.
How little I knew about how deluded I was back then.
In
the olden days of 2004, I had not yet taken my first of five journeys
into Israel Palestine. In 2004, I naively/ignorantly believed that the
USA Fourth Estate reported the truth and cared about the best interests
of America. I
once thought the USA MSM would be enraged that a Christian from
Jerusalem would be denied the right to enter the Little Town of
Bethlehem and celebrate the birth of a little child named Jesus who was
born, lived and died under Military occupation. But I am not as naïve or uninformed as I had once been.
In
2007, the USA Fourth Estate has also ignored that Israel "blocked
clergy from reaching their churches and Christmas celebrations in
Bethlehem and elsewhere in the Holy Land…The
Israeli authorities are arbitrarily denying entry to clergy and
volunteers belonging to or working for Christian institutions and
service providers. The clergy being harassed and denied entry to Israel
and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) join tens of thousands of
ordinary foreign passport holders of Palestinian and non-Palestinian
origin who wish to be with their families, work or study, as well as
tourists and pilgrims…In addition, there appears to be a new policy by
Israel to refuse entry or visa extension for foreign, primarily
Western, Christian volunteers working with various Christian
organizations here. This is affecting the viability of these
organizations and the normal connection with their supporters and
fellow Christians in the countries that contribute to the presence of
these Christian workers. They represent mainstream Christian and
faith-based groups, such as the World Council of Churches and the
American Friend's Service Committee that advocate non- violence and
brotherhood and are in no way a threat to the security of Israel…Israel
has continued to pursue both policies and practices that fail to comply
with International Humanitarian Law."-Press Release Dec. 24, 2007, from
www.RightToEnter.
The
USA MSM totally ignored this abomination as it has also ignored one of
the most historic stories of the 21st Century: Vanunu's Freedom of
Speech Trial in the 'democracy' of Israel; which is no democracy at
all, unless you are a Jew.
I
contend that Vanunu is a prophet, and prophets do not necessarily
predict the future, but point out the disaster ahead, provoke people to
think about God and shine a brighter light onto what has already been
revealed. The
ancient Hebrew prophets were always ignored, ridiculed or demonized in
their life times and so, I also contend, that Vanunu qualifies as one.
The
last time I crossed paths with Vanunu, was in July of this year
directly in front of Saint Stephen's Church in East Jerusalem and he
told me, "This is the very spot where they stoned to death the first
Christian martyr for freedom of speech."
Prophets
and martyrs have always agitated empire and empire has always sought to
render a society subservient by dividing and thus conquer a people.
Big
Brother and the MSM in the USA label indigenous people throughout the
Middle East who have risen up and are fighting for control of their own
lives and homeland as terrorists and negates the terror America, the
Industrial Military Complex and the inhumanity of military occupation
has done unto them.
The
neo-con philosophy infused with the heretical Christian Zionist
theology has cut off American Christians from the very root of what the
Prince of Peace/Jesus was all about. Jesus never demanded he be
worshipped, but he promised that it is the peacemakers who are the
children of God; and NOT those who bomb, torture of occupy others.
No
Way did Jesus ever say that "SECURITY" –the blanket excuse of empire
builders to justify and deny basic human rights and international
law-is OK!
The
term 'Christian' was not even coined until the days of Paul, about 3
decades after Jesus walked the earth a man. Jesus was never a
Christian, but he was a social justice, radical revolutionary
Palestinian devout Jewish road warrior who rose up and challenged the
job security of the Temple authorities by teaching the people they did
NOT need to pay the priests for ritual baths or sacrificing livestock
to be OK with God; for God already LOVED them just as they were:
sinners, poor, diseased, outcasts, widows, orphans, refugees and
prisoners all living under Roman Military Occupation.
What
got Jesus crucified was disturbing the status quo of the Roman
Occupying Forces of his time, by teaching the subversive concept that
Caesar only had power because God allowed it and that God preferred the
humble sinner, the poor, diseased, outcasts, widows, orphans, refugees
and prisoners all living under Roman Occupation above the elite and
arrogant military occupiers.
The
early followers and lovers of Jesus were called members of THE
WAY-being THE WAY he taught one should be; Nonviolent, a Peacemaker and
one who did the will of the Father. And, "What does God require? He has
told you o'man! Be just, be merciful, and walk humbly with your Lord."
-Micah 6:8
2,000
years ago The Cross had NO symbolic religious meaning. When Jesus said:
"Pick up your cross and follow me," He was issuing a POLITICAL
statement, for the main roads in Jerusalem were lined with crucified
agitators, rebels, dissidents and any others who disturbed the status
quo of the Roman Occupying Forces.
Israel
claims they cannot let Vanunu leave Israel because he still has a
'secret' he has yet to tell about their underground WMD Program in the
Dimona, which Vanunu has NOT sent foot into in over 21 years-and
international inspectors never have been allowed to tread upon.
Yet
Israel claims SECURITY as their rational and ignores and denies the
risks to their own citizens.
"In
mid-November, London's Sunday Times reported that Israel put defenses
around its Dimona nuclear reactor on "red alert" 30 times… given the
threat of radioactive releases, does the plant's continued operation
outweigh the risks? Dimona...is the region's largest nuclear plant and
sole producer of atomic weapons materials…Dimona is no Chernobyl. It
generates only about 5 percent of that failed Soviet reactor's power.
Still, the plant - along with its spent nuclear fuel, extracted
plutonium, and nuclear reprocessing waste - poses significant
radiological hazards that a military strike [against it] could disperse
into the environment…during
the June 1967 war Israel shot down one of its own Mirage jet fighters
when it strayed over the facility. In 1973, Dimona's defenders downed a
wayward Libyan civilian airliner heading for the reactor, killing 108
people. But the 1991 Gulf War upset whatever solace Israel could take
from the past. Iraqi Scud missiles hit Tel Aviv, and one came close to
hitting Dimona. Hizbullah's bombardment of northern Israel in 2006
further demonstrated the country's vulnerability to missile
attack…Dimona has produced all the plutonium that Israel reasonably
needs, and the reactor - one of the worlds oldest - has suffered minor
mishaps and evident deterioration, raising the specter of more serious
accidents." http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=87599#
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center Jerusalem Statement of December 18, 2007 states:
"For
Caesar, peace is imposed by the might of empire.
"Peace comes when the
sovereignty of God is acknowledged rather than Caesar’s. For people
living under occupation or oppression, Caesar has become a symbol of
the evil that crushes and enslaves.
"In the kingdom of God, glory and
sovereignty belong to God and not to Caesar. God’s peace is not
achieved by crushing and eliminating others but by embracing them.
Caesar’s empire is built on violence and military might, God’s empire
is built on justice and mercy. Caesar’s peace enslaves and humiliates,
God’s peace liberates and restores dignity to the oppressed. Caesar
builds walls to separate people, God tears down the walls of separation
to join, unify, and reconcile them one with the other.
"Caesar’s peace
is exclusive for a chosen few, God’s peace is inclusive for all
regardless of their race or ethnicity.
"Ultimately, peace will come not from the Caesars and all those who
trust in their military might and in the arrogance of their power but
from the meek that put their trust in God. It is the meek who will
inherit the earth.
"Peace will come from the labor, toil, and hard work
of all those who do not glory in their riches or in their power but
glory in their love and service of God and in their love and acceptance
of others.
"God’s message of peace still rings true, not from Annapolis
that represents empire, but from the small town of Bethlehem, Palestine
that still suffers under occupation.
"The peace that the Caesars of the
world give is largely false and deceptive, and it cannot last. Only
the peace that God gives, the peace that is based on justice and truth
will survive and prosper."
We
are living George Orwell's nightmare in the 21st century; for war is
claimed to be the way to peace and nuclear weapons are promised as the
way to provide security.
"In
Orwell’s 1984…a state or alleged state of war is used to maintain total
control over everyone. Lies have replaced truth, and the media serves
as propagandist for the Ministry of Truth. The meaning of words, such
as 'freedom' has been perverted. The attitude of 1984’s all-powerful
government is 'you are with us or against us.' - Paul Craig Roberts
"It's not dark yet, but it’s getting there."-Bob Dylan
Yet,
hope prevails in this season of reflection and comprehends that all
things are possible for "we have it in our power to begin the world
again."- Tom Paine.
Hope
is not an optimistic wish; hope is what fuels persistence and "Nothing
in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. ...
Genius will not. ... Education will not. Persistence and determination
alone are omnipotent."- Calvin Coolidge
This
civilian journalist has no hope in the USA Government or MSM to effect
change, but I have a flaming hope in the New Fourth Estate who report
truth on the World Wide Web and who are the muckrakers of the 21st
century but "we have yet to begin to IMAGINE the power and potential of
the Internet."-Charlie Rose, 2005
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."-John 1:5
Nor will it; as long as there is Net Neutrality and truth, justice and peace seekers.
Everyone
has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.-UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, Article 19
Send Vanunu a message of support through his website:
In
1976, at the height of "The Troubles", [which extended from 1969 to
1998] the "Peace People" movement organized the largest nonviolent
demonstrations in the history of Northern Ireland. The following year
Betty and Mairead Corrigan Maguire were awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace
Prize for their leadership and vision.
The
war raged on but Mairead persisted in speaking and promoting
nonviolence. Since 1976, Mairead has 'insisted "that a peaceful and
just society can be achieved only through nonviolent means and that the
path to peace lies in each of our hearts. I believe that hope for the
future depends on each of us taking nonviolence into our hearts and
minds and developing new and imaginative structures which are
nonviolent and life-giving for all. Some people will argue that this is
too idealistic. I believe it is very realistic. I am convinced that
humanity is fast evolving to this higher consciousness. For those who
say it cannot be done, let us remember that humanity learned to abolish
slavery. Our task now is no less than the abolition of violence and
war. We can rejoice and celebrate today because we are living in a
miraculous time. Everything is changing and everything is possible."
In April 2006, after spending 10 days in Israel-Palestine Mairead Corrigan Maguire stated:
"During
my visit I have travelled to Jenin Refugee Camp, Hebron, and Bethlehem
in the Israeli Occupied Terrorities. I have witnessed the daily
suffering of the Palestinian people living under an increasing and
worsening oppressive Israeli occupation.
"I
believe there is a great desire for peace amongst all the people, but
in order to move into serious dialogue and negotiations urgent steps,
and the political will, particularly from the Israeli Government, need
to be taken.
"I
believe it is sad and shameful that the Israeli Government continues to
detain Mordechai Vanunu for this the 20th year of his internal exile
within Israel. He has no secrets. He is no threat to Israeli security.
I therefore call upon the Israel Government to uphold Mordechai
Vanunu's human rights to freedom of speech and freedom of movement and
let him go."
Maried returned to Jerusalem in August 2006 and wrote:
"On
7th September, 2006 that upon hearing of her unanimous appointment as
the next Israeli Supreme Court President, Justice Dorit Beinisch said
"she would preserve the Supreme Court's culture of values'. She went on
to say 'As for the talk of eroding public confidence in the court
system, everyone from all walks of life comes to court to ask for its
help.' She said the Supreme Court had no political agenda and protected
basic values.
"I
found these interesting comments from Justice Beinisch, who just the
day before sat in the Israeli Court (together with Justices Chesine and
Brunis) hearing this the 3rd Appeal of Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli
Nuclear Whistleblower, against his restrictions.
"In
l986 Mordechai Vanunu, acting out of conscience, revealed to the world
that Israel had a nuclear weapons programme. Sentenced to 18 years in
prison, he spent the first 12, in solitary confinement in a tiny cell,
and eventually was released in April, 2004 having completed the entire
18 years. Upon his release the Israeli Government imposed draconian
restrictions on his freedom. He is forbidden to speak to foreigners,
foreign press or leave Israel. Each year for the past 2 years on 2lst
April, these restrictions are renewed and Vanunu remains a virtual
prisoner living within a couple of square miles within East Jerusalem,
and under constant security surveillance everywhere he goes.
"On
this my 4th visit to support Mordechai Vanunu (whom I have nominated
many times for the Nobel Peace Prize) I attended the Israeli Supreme
Court hearings on Vanunu restrictions on 6th September, 2006. Vanunu
defense Lawyer, Avigdor Feldman, argued that in all the interviews
Mordechai gave to the International Media since his release, in April
2004, there was no new secrets revealed and nothing he said was
endangering the security of the State.
"He said that the
Supreme Court stated in its judgment last year, that 'the no breaches
of restrictions together with the "Passing of time" factor are the base
in deciding the continuing or ending of the restrictions", and now
after two and a half years and in the light of the fact that Mordechai
did not breach the restrictions for eight months, Feldman argued, the
court should consider the ending of the restrictions. Mr. Feldman said
that the ban on Mordechai to leave the country is a serious breach of
his fundamental constitutional human rights. The attorney for the State
came to the court with four or five men, secret expert witnesses, from
the Secret Services and from the secret Israeli Nuclear Committee, to
give the three judges a testimony behind closed doors, without
Mordechai and his lawyers present, as they have done in the previous
discussions in the Supreme Court. Their aim would be to convince the
court that Vanunu still has more information to reveal and he is a
serious danger to the security of the State.
"The
President of the Supreme Court Dorit Beinish, said that there is no
need to hear these secret testimonies as their position was well
accepted by the previous bench of the court and 'it is accepted on this
bench too'. The Attorney for the State disputed Feldman's statements
'Vanunu is still a danger to the State Security, he has more
unpublished information and he wanted to make it public". He also said
that it is not true that Vanunu did not breach the restrictions in the
past eight months and that he has material on that but he wants it to
be heard in closed door. Mr. Feldman said only if the state has a
proper order to make it closed doors evidence. In the end the court
asked the Sate to obtain the certificate for secrecy and make a new
date to continue the hearing of the appeal.
"One
thing was clear from both the State attorney and from the Judges
statements in the court, that with our without Vanunu breaching the
restrictions, eight months or a years time (since the previous decision
of the court) is not enough time to end restrictions. The President of
the Court said that 'the court in its decision left the term 'time'
undefined' and asked the State what is their position to how long more
the restrictions could continue but there was no clear answer, from the
State Prosecutor how long was long enough!
"As
I sat in the Israeli Court I was surprised at one of the comments by
President Beinisch to the effect that two year's restrictions do not
seem too long!
"I though to myself, that it is, two and a half
years restrictions, plus 18 years in prison (12 solitary) and every day
that goes by now, as Mordechai Vanunu is a virtual prisoner, whose life
is constantly in danger, being repunished again and again (itself an
action forbidden by law). How long is it going to be before it is
finally long enough! Vanunu has no secrets; Israel and the world know
it. His situation is now worse than a prison term, when at least he
could look forward to getting out at a given time.
"Now he
knows the Israel Gov. directed by the Security Services of Israel, can
keep him in Israel forever if they like, and no one outside Israeli, or
inside, apart from the Israeli Supreme Court if they really are a Court
of justice, can do anything about it! Vanunu has gone (yet again as
this is the 3rd appeal!) to the Israeli Court to ask for its help, and
the question is, will they help give him Justice NOW, and if not now,
WHEN? or must he live out the rest of his life incarcerated within
Israel, a victim of secret court hearings, and securocrats, and an
victim of an allegedly democractic country with a sham justice system,
offering no hope to Vanunu or any of its citizens who come looking
justice from their Courts of Justice.
"Both
inside Israeli and many in the International community, wait and watch,
to see if President Beinisch and her 2 Justice colleagues, will have
the courage to uphold International Laws and basic common decency and
justice, and restore Mordechai Vanunu's right to his basic freedom of
speech and movement. The result of this Appeal will indeed give us an
indication of the future strength of Israeli justice for those who go
to ask for its help. We wait in hope that we may yet see JUSTICE IN
JERUSALEM."-
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate and Hon.President, Peace People, N.Ireland.
"HOPE has two children.The first is ANGER at the way things are. The second is COURAGE to DO SOMETHING about it."-St. Augustine
"He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust." - Aquinas
Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
" In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."-Mother Teresa
“You cannot talk like sane men around a peace table while the atomic bomb itself is ticking beneath it. Do not treat the atomic bomb as a weapon of offense; do not treat it as an instrument of the police. Treat the bomb for what it is: the visible insanity of a civilization that has ceased...to obey the laws of life.”- Lewis Mumford, 1946
The age of warrior kings and of warrior presidents has passed. The nuclear age calls for a different kind of leadership....a leadership of intellect, judgment, tolerance and rationality, a leadership committed to human values, to world peace, and to the improvement of the human condition. The attributes upon which we must draw are the human attributes of compassion and common sense, of intellect and creative imagination, and of empathy and understanding between cultures." - William Fulbright
“Any nation that year after year continues to raise the Defense budget while cutting social programs to the neediest is a nation approaching spiritual death.” - Rev. MLK
Establishment of Israel
"On the day of the termination of the British mandate and on the strength of the United Nations General Assembly declare The State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel: it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion it will guarantee freedom of religion [and] conscience and will be faithful to the Charter of the United Nations." - May 14, 1948. The Declaration of the Establishment of Israel