- On December 19, over 40 journalists, including seven
T.V. cameras, attended a standing room only press conference in East Jerusalem
to hear Mairead Maguire, Mordechai Vanunu and Issam Makhoul. Below is
the press release issued afterwards by the International Campaign to Free
Vanunu.
-
- PRESS RELEASE
- INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO FREE VANUNU
-
- WHISTLEBLOWER VANUNU NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
BY LAUREATE MAIREAD MAGUIRE
- KNESSET MEMBER CALLS FOR VANUNU'S FREEDOM
-
- In a press conference held in East Jerusalem on December
19, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire (Ireland), announced
that she is nominating Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu for
the prize in 2005. Vanunu has been nominated for the prize every year since
1989. Maguire received the Nobel Prize in 1976, in recognition of her work
for peace in Ireland. "Mordechai Vanunu has paid a heavy price in
order to protect us all from nuclear weapons. We are all indebted to him
for telling the truth to power and I have come to thank him on behalf of
his human family," Maguire said. Explaining that she had arrived in
Israel from a women's peace conference in Jordan, Maguire urged Israelis
and Palestinians to work nonviolently for peace. The Nobel Peace Prize
Laureate urged the Israeli government to free Vanunu from the restrictions
that keep him hostage in Israel and to "let Mordechai come home for
Christmas." Maguire added, that she would continue to nominate Vanunu
for the award "until he gets it."
-
- Issam Makhoul, Member of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset),
who in February 2000 initiated the first parliamentary debate on nuclear
policy ever to be held in Israel, stated: "Only those who struggle
for total disarmament of the Middle East, including Israel, of all weapons
of mass destruction - nuclear, biological and chemical - has the moral
right to condemn Iran for its nuclear project. The countries that equip
Israel with the means to launch nuclear warheads, that supply it with submarines
and enable it to develop its missiles, do not have the moral right to condemn
the Iranian nuclear project. Anyone who opposes the Iranian project must
also oppose the Israeli nuclear arsenal.
-
- "Along with Mordechai Vanunu, I and other Israeli
activists refuse to be silenced. We continue to demand, that our government
reveal the truth about its WMDs, enable a full international inspection
of all WMD sites and dismantle its arsenal. To this end, we are currently
involved in organizing an international conference on a nuclear-free Mediterranean
area, to be held in April 2005. This date marks the first anniversary of
Vanunu's release from prison. This date will hopefully mark the beginning
of an anti-nuclear movement in Israel.
-
- "Mordechai Vanunu is not a traitor, he is an Israeli
hero. The nuclear bomb does not protect Israel, it endangers Israel."
-
- Mordechai Vanunu , recently elected rector of Glasgow
University in Scotland, described the restrictions that were imposed on
him when he was released from 18 years imprisonment, in April 2004, the
subsequent police harassment and threats to which he has been subjected,
and the impact that they have on his ability to rebuild his life. Asked
why he refuses to speak to the Israeli media in Hebrew, Vanunu answered
- in Hebrew: "The government of Israel refuses to recognize my human
rights. I am prohibited from speaking to foreigners. I say to the Israeli
public: I am not your enemy. All I want is for Israel to abolish its nuclear
weapons, to respect the rights of the Palestinian people and to let me
go free." Continuing in English, Vanunu stated, that he has no further
secrets to reveal about Israel's nuclear reactor and that he demands the
right to express his anti-nuclear views, to speak freely to the media and
to write his prison memoirs. All he wants for Christmas, Vanunu said, was
to be free to leave Israel and celebrate with his adoptive family in the
USA.
-
- Contact information:
-
- In Israel: Rayna Moss: Tel. 972-507-368236, email: legalese@netvision.net.il
- In the USA: Felice Cohen-Joppa, Tel/Fax 520-323-8697,
email: freevanunu@mindspring.com
- In Britain: Ernest Rodker, Tel/Fax: +44 20 7378 9324
e-mail: campaign@vanunu.freeserve.co.uk
- In Norway: Fredrik Heffermehl,Tel. +47-2244 8003 Fax:
+47-2244 7616 email: fredpax@online.no
-
- www.vanunu.com www.vanunu.co.uk www.vanunu.org
-
- ==============
- 2) Write to Mordechai
-
- Mordechai would love to hear from his friends and supporters.
You can write to him at:
- Mordechai Vanunu
- c/o Cathedral Church of St. George
- 20 Nablus Road
- PO Box 19018
- Jerusalem 91190
- Israel
-
- and email him at vanunumvjc@hotmail.com
-
- =================
- If you would like to receive these alerts directly,
please subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to free_vanunu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
- -end-
- Felice Cohen-Joppa
- Coordinator
- U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
- POB 43384
- Tucson, AZ 85733
- Phone/Fax 520-323-8697
- freevanunu@mindspring.com
- www.nonviolence.org/vanunu
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