(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
There were strong experiences when Ole Koppreitan in No to Nuclear Weapons was in Israel and witnessed the release of Mordechai Vanunu on Wednesday this week.
On the one hand, furious Israelis who see Vanunu as a traitor after he revealed Israel's secret nuclear weapons almost 18 years ago. On the other hand, hundreds of peace activists from around the world who had met outside the prison to welcome the nuclear weapons opponents, as well as a horde of pressmen.
- The millstone of hatred paints in Israel. We were met with ovulation, saliva and death threats. The Israelis are in a collective paranoid situation. They think everyone is against them, except the United States. Israel's life lie is that they believe that nuclear weapons give them protection. It is this life lie Vanunu has attacked. For an atomic bomb is enough to destroy all of Israel, Koppreitan says on the phone right after he is back in Norway.
The plans were for Vanunu's friends, including 150 peace activists from abroad, to hold a welcome dinner for the released Jaffa prisoner just after the release on Wednesday. But when you saw the aggression that was going on outside the prison, the plans changed. Instead, the dinner was instead moved to the Palestinian congregation's pilgrimage in Jerusalem.
- Actually, Vanunu has been banned from talking to foreigners. We were therefore very excited about whether we could greet him and how he felt after 18 years in prison, of which 11 in total isolation. But suddenly he stood there in the doorway, walking around and embracing everyone. It was very special to experience this political martyr who should have been dead. He seemed incredibly vital and said he was ready to continue the work for democracy and nuclear disarmament. But he did not see himself as a hero, he said that it was everyone who had helped him who were the heroes, says Koppreitan.
Vanunu's relationship with the State of Israel is at zero. He has applied for cancellation of his Israeli citizenship, without getting any response from the authorities.
- He calls Israel an apartheid state. He simply does not see the purpose of Israel. At present, he believes that a Palestinian state should be established where Palestinians and Jews live as equal citizens, says Koppreitan.
No to the nuclear weapons veteran, it is difficult to say how much restrictions will be placed on Vanunu in practice.
- Actually, he should not have been allowed to talk to us. But the authorities obviously made a small retreat; they well understood that it was impossible to refuse him to talk to foreigners when so many had come to the country to welcome him out into the open. The hope is that he will proceed cautiously now. He is seen as a quisling. If he does not get out of Israel, I'm afraid he's going to be tormented and teased in his inner exile. Then one day he may crack and be put behind lock and key again, Koppreitan concludes.
