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The Campaign is Pleased to Announce that on April 21 2004 Mordechai Vanunu Was Released From Prison. (Sort of.) |
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| PLEASE DONATE NOW TO HELP MORDECHAI REBUILD HIS LIFE.... | |
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The Campaign is Pleased to Announce that on April 21 2004 Mordechai Vanunu Was Released From Prison. (Sort of.) |
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| PLEASE DONATE NOW TO HELP MORDECHAI REBUILD HIS LIFE.... | |
The ticking time bomb in the Negev Desert is still ticking,  marking
danger for the people of Israel and all neighboring countries. The
calls for international inspection of the Dimona nuclear facility are
growing louder, particularly from Israel's near neighbors. Even
Dimona workers are now drawing attention to unsafe working conditions
that are causing cancers and other illnesses. If an Iraqi nuclear technician in the last decade had come forward to reveal previously unknown information about a secret Iraqi nuclear arsenal, that person would be hailed as a courageous hero. Mordechai Vanunu's act was courageous and heroic. Now we see that Iraq's nuclear threat was never rebuilt, Libya has publicly abandoned nuclear ambitions, and Iran has opened up to nuclear inspections. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, has recently urged Israel to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. In the new global war climate, and with escalating conflict in the Middle East, Mordechai Vanunu's message of nuclear abolition resonates ever more loudly.
"Well you can
put there my thanks greeting to all those who wrote. If they want to
receive my letters they can write me." | April 21, 2004. If you can believe the word of the state of Israel, that is the day that Mordechai Vanunu will be released from prison for the crime of telling the world the truth about his government's secret nuclear weapons program. The date is just five months short of his full 18-year sentence. In January, it was reported that Israeli officials were considering various conditions and restrictions once Vanunu is released. On February 24, Prime Minister Sharon and other Israeli officials had a meeting to discuss their options. They reportedly decided that keeping Mordechai in administrative detention would likely not pass a High Court review, but they do plan to impose restrictions, including not allowing him to leave Israel. But this is absurd. Mordechai Vanunu has been locked away from the world for almost 18 years. He has no more secrets to reveal and is not a threat to the security of the state of Israel. There are of course many unknowns, but the international campaign is moving forward with plans for Mordechai's release, while carefully considering the different possibilities that might occur. We expect Israel to do the right thing and release him at the end of his sentence without any restrictions. Public pressure has brought important changes over the years. In 1998, pressure from his supporters around the world pried open the lock on Mordechai's isolation cell after his first eleven and one half years in solitary confinement. Israel once claimed that the transcript of Vanunu's closed door trial was so sensitive it could never be made public. But several years ago, bending to public pressure, it released most of the trial record and permitted the Knesset's first open debate on nuclear secrecy. And although Israel still officially denies that it has a nuclear arsenal, government censors are allowing increased coverage of the once taboo topic in Israel's mainstream media. If the Israeli government doesn't unconditionally release Mordechai
Vanunu, we will need your help to apply maximum pressure and demand
that they do so.
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Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu flashes a sign as he speaks to journalists outside Shikma Prison following his release in the coastal city of Ashkelon, Israel Wednesday, April 21, 2004. Vanunu was released from prison 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. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
“One
of my great encouragement and happiness in the first year [in prison] was to
know that all
London was covered by all those [censored]; the very secret place underground
had become papers for covering dead fish and meat in the markets and so on;
the most secrets that no one hear or saw, now they are equal to wrapping or
just garbage papers. The secret of the building and the [nuclear weapons] secrets
collapsed without any bombs, without killing anyone. That was the great power
of a nonviolent act.”
Selected articles from the Spring 2004 newsletter: 'I Won' - Vanunu Selected articles from the Winter 2003/04 newsletter: Activity Builds, Interest Grows As Release Date Nears Selected articles from the Fall 2003 newsletter: Countdown
to Freedom A Letter from Mordechai's adoptive American parents, Nick and Mary Eoloff 'The Weapons Inspector Who Found Nuclear Weapons' 15
Dec 03: from the US Campaign: 13
Dec 03: from the Washington Times: 12
Dec 03: from Al-Jazeera: 27
Nov 03: from Al-Ahram Weekly: 11
Nov 03: from Reuters:
Mordechai Vanunu |
16
Apr 04: from the International Campaign: 15
Apr 04: from Yediot Ahronot: 15
Apr 04: from the Int'l Campaign: 14
Apr 04: from Ha'aretz: 12
Apr 04: from the Star-Tribune: 3
Apr 04: from the Guardian: 9
Mar 04: from Daniel Ellsberg: April
04: from Americans for Middle East Understanding: March 26
2004: from the Independent: 26
February 2004:
from the Jerusalem Post: 15
March 2004: from Ha'aretz: 15
March 2004: from Ma'ariv: 10
March 2004: from Ha'aretz: 9 March
2004: from Ha'aretz: 7 March
2004: from Ha'aretz: 3
March 2004: from the US Campaign: written
August 2001, published Feb 2004: 25
Feb 04: from the New York Times: 24
Feb 04: from Ha'aretz: 24
Feb 04: from Reuters: 24
Feb 04: from the AP: 10
Feb 04: from Ha'aretz: 9 Feb 04:
from the Australian: 9
Feb 05: from the Philadelphia Inquirer: 5
Feb 04: from Reuters: 1 Feb 04:
from Yediot Ahronoth: 19
Jan 04: from the St. Petersburg Times: 11
Jan 04: from Newsweek: 9
Jan 04: from the IPS: 9 Jan 04:
from Yedioth Ahronoth: 4 Jan 04:
from Reuters: 22
Dec 03: from the Guardian: People around the world will hold vigils on April 21 to celebrate the release of Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu. Please join us! Washington,
D.C. There are
more vigils happening in the UK -
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The U.S. Campaign to Free
Mordechai Vanunu |
last
updated April 23 2004.
