Nuclear whistleblower meets with Christians upon release from Israeli prison
-21/4/04
Mordechai Vanunu, a Christian convert, anti-nuclear campaigner and the worldís most famous whistleblower, has been released after 18 years in prison having lifted the lid on Israel's nuclear capability.
Upon his release from Ashkelon prison he was greeted by the Bishop of Jersualem.
As an Anglican Christian, Mordechai Vanunu expressed his desire to offer thanks to God for his release from prison as his first act as a free man, said a statement from the Bishop's office.
ìI suffered here because I was a Christian ... only because I was a Christian,î he said on his release.
He took communion in the Cathedral Church of St. George, Jerusalem at midday, in the presence of fellow Christians,
including bishops and clergy from England, the USA and Australia as well as local Christians.
Vanunu, reviled as a traitor by most Israelis and disowned by his own parents after converting to Christianity, also showed his determination to carry on his anti-nuclear campaign by calling for the Jewish state to rid itself of nuclear weapons.
The raw emotions that the one-time technician at the Dimona nuclear plant still engenders were clear to see as a group of ultra-nationalist Israelis called for his death while his supporters released doves of peace into the air.
Vanunu almost refused to walk free from prison after declining until the very last moment to agree to supply authorities with the exact address of where he was going to live.
And far from showing contrition when he did exit the gates, he told a scrum of reporters that he was ìproud and happy that I did what I did.î
ìI have no choice. I am a little guy, a citizen, an ordinary fellow, but I will do my duty. I have heard the voice of my conscience. And thereís nowhere to run,î wrote Vanunu from his prison in the southern town of Ashkelon.
Kidnapped by the secret services and then sentenced in 1986 for îespionageî for having leaked top-secret information on the Dimona nuclear plant in the southern Negev desert to Britainís Sunday Times newspaper, he remains a traitor in the eyes of many Israelis.
After three years of national service, Vanunu signed up to work as a nuclear technician in Dimona.
Often working nightshifts at the plant, he also found time to study philosophy and geography at the nearby university of Beersheva where he became increasingly active against Israelís ill-fated 1982 war in Lebanon. He then became a Christian.
Vananu now signs his letters with the initials J.C. after his new name John Crossman which he chose in reference to the cross of Christ.
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