Letters

Vanunu: I am a Spy for Humanity

In your letter you mentioned the views of Israelis whom you know. To them I reply this: Israel is a Jewish state with nuclear weapons belonging to themselves and not the Arabs, though Arabs make up 20% of the population. These nuclear weapons protect and defend Israel, an apartheid state much like Iran but founded on the Jewish religion. It is a modern state which can use propaganda to hide the truth. The real question, then, is what these weapons are here to protect. Israel is not like the democracies of England, the United States or France. Instead, it is like the old dictatorship of Communist Russia. If Israel were a real democracy it would have given equal rights to Palestinians and accepted all native Palestinian refugees into Israel. Then nuclear weapons would not be needed.

To those Jews who criticize me and call me a traitor, I say I am proud to betray the Jewish state that threatens the world by trying to keep nuclear weapons in secret. I am a spy for humanity, not a spy that works for a dictatorship or for a specific ideology. The Jews in Israel must demand the truth from their government.

What was Israel prevented from doing when I revealed my secrets to the world? My revelation may have saved millions of lives but only Israeli spies and CIA and MI6 agents will know. They may claim that the secret I revealed affected world politics beyond Israel.

In the nuclear age citizens have a right to know what weaponry is being built and what preparations are being made for war. The nuclear weapons revolution gave more power to citizens. It took away from government the power to start war. The catastrophic results of nuclear weapons on cities mean that the citizens would be the victims, as nuclear frontiers moved to cities like New York, Washington, London, Moscow, Paris, Berlin.

The Jewish people should not condemn me as a traitor but instead should condemn their government and Shimon Peres, who withheld the truth from them. The Jews of the 1950s betrayed their own heritage by supporting the creation of weapons of mass destruction capable of the same atrocities of the Holocaust. Indeed, the Jewish people have forgotten why they came to Israel-Palestine. Some of them have become fascist, sacrificing everything for a piece of land and flags. They were ready to use nuclear weapons to defend this flag.

Without the help of France, Israel could not have nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons come from the superpowers, who also have the power to take them away. Even if nuclear weapons are in Israel, they are under the authority of such countries as England, France and the United States.

The success of what I have done proves that Israel's nuclear weapons policy was wrong. If such small, simple acts destroyed Israeli policy, then changing these policies is feasible. Most Israeli citizens are against nuclear weapons in Israel and the secrecy the government imposes on its citizens. If the creation of nuclear weapons were determined through open policy they would not have been created. The Jews in Israel must now deal with more basic problems, such as democracy and human rights. After 50 years Israel has more important problems to solve concerning religious laws and the rights of Arabs.

When I brought one small camera into the weapons plant to show the world what was going on, armies weren't sent to start war. Armies around the world were grateful to me for revealing Israel's nuclear secrets and saving them. My "photographic attack" marked the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons. So no matter what the Israelis say, nuclear weapons will end. Nuclear weapons are weapons of genocide.

Please write me more of your work and your life and forget Israel; it is not my country anymore. I hope to be free soon.

Mordechai Vanunu
Ashkelon Prison, Israel

Why Louise Arbour?

Why on earth would Peace Magazine want to interview Louise Arbour? This woman is justifying war crimes committed in our names and doing great harm to international law in the process.

Stephen Kerr
Toronto

Canadian Peace Award

The Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace will be hosting the First Annual Canadian Peace Awards, November 11, 2000. Awards will be presented for Canadian achievements in building a Culture of Peace and Non-violence. The presentations will also include inductions into the Canadian Peace Hall of Fame to be housed at the Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace and its web site at http://www.peace.ca .

Robert Stewart
Director

Peace Magazine Jul-Sep 2000

Peace Magazine Jul-Sep 2000, page 5. Some rights reserved.

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