On Friday we had a small but spirited six and a half hour vigil in front of the
Israeli consulate.
We passed out about 200 flyers, held signs, and talked with
passers-by and each other. Two of our signs were big full-color enlargements of
the UK Campaign's postcard of Mordechai Vanunu holding out his palm with the
message.
A camera crew from Beyond Pix helping make a documentary for the
Discovery Channel (the Vanunu story is one segment of the documentary, dealing
with spies and entrapment) was there for six hours, interviewed most of us, and
took pictures of one of Mordechai's heavily censored letters.
Present at the
vigil were Ed Ardzrooni of the Bay Area Campaign and the Episcopal Church Peace,
Justice, and Hunger Commission, Jeanie Shaterian of the Bay Area Campaign, David
Makofsky of the Bay Area Campaign and A Jewish Voice for Peace, Hal Carlstad and
Cynthia Johnson of the Bay Area Campaign and the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian
Universalists, Leuren Moret of Scientists for Indigenous Rights, Bill Rushton of
the Bay Area Campaign, Garry Lambrev, founder of the Bay Area Campaign in 1987,
and Hilda Roberts and Jane Welford, founders of Berkeley Women in Black.
This
was the first time no police showed up, though someone from the consulate
complained to the video producer (but not to us). Reception was overwhelmingly
positive. We took lots of pictures and will send copies (they're still in the
shop) to Felice and Mordechai tomorrow. Anyone else who wants pictures can
contact me, Jeanie, at
jshaterian@earthlink.net.
In addition, we had two other events. At both of them we collected messages for
birthday cards for Mordechai and had flyers, pamphlets, and books available.
Friday the 21st we had a program "Nuclear Weapons, Human Rights, and Mordechai
Vanunu: Voices of Witness from the Bay Area and Israel/Palestine" at the Berkeley
Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, which Hanford radiation survivor June
Casey had decorated with sunflower tablecloths and colorful baskets full of paper
cranes and topped with doves.
We had a yummy Armenian dinner and then three
speakers: Maurice Campbell of Hunters Point Community First Coalition (Hunters
Point, a predominantly African American area of San Francisco, has been suffering
for decades from contamination, both chemical and radioactive, from the Naval
Shipyard, the place where the Hiroshima bomb was loaded and where ships
contaminated by the H-bomb tests were sent to be decontaminated with dishwashing
detergent), Robert Lipton of A Jewish Voice for Peace, and Jeanie Shaterian of
the Bay Area Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu. Incredibly informative. Great
question and answer period followed.
Sunday the 23rd Jeanie spoke at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian
Universalists Sunday service on Mordechai Vanunu as a prophet of peace and how
his life and witness could affect ours as individuals, activists, and communities
of faith.
We're looking forward to tabling at the October 13 observance of the
International Day of Protest against Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.
Will be bringing a birthday cake for Mordechai.
