16. FRIEDENSPLÄNE (Vereinbarungen usw.)
admin1 (31. Mai 2004, 16:01)
HAARETZ
Last Update: 29/05/2004 08:32
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's four-stage disengagement plan May 28, 2004
Appendix A - Four-stage disengagement plan - Key principles
I. Background - Diplomatic and security significance
The State of Israel is committed to the peace process and endeavors to reach an agreed arrangement based on the vision presented by U.S. President George W. Bush.
The State of Israel believes it must take action to improve the current situation. The State of Israel has reached the conclusion that there is currently no partner on the Palestinian side with whom progress can be made on a bilateral process. Given this, a four-stage disengagement plan has been drawn up, based on the following considerations:
A. The stalemate embodied in the current situation is damaging; in order to break the stalemate, the State of Israel must initiate a process that is not dependent on cooperation with the Palestinians.
B. The aim of the plan is to bring about a better security, diplomatic economic and demographic reality.
C. In any future permanent arrangement, there will be no Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, it is clear that some parts of Judea and Samaria (including key concentrations of Jewish settlements, civilian communities, security zones and areas in which Israel has a vested interest) will remain part of the State of Israel.
D. The State of Israel supports the efforts of the United States, which is working along with the international community, to promote the process of reform, the establishment of institutions and improving the economic and welfare conditions of the Palestinian people, so that a new Palestinian leadership can arise, capable of proving it can fulfill its obligations under the road map.
E. The withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and from the northern part of Samaria will reduce interaction with the Palestinian population.
F. Completion of the four-stage disengagement plan will negate any claims on Israel regarding its responsibility for the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip.
G. The process of graduated disengagement does not detract from existing agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. The relevant security arrangements will remain in force.
H. International support for the four-stage disengagement plan is widespread and important. This support is vital in ensuring that the Palestinians fulfill their obligations in terms of fighting terror and implementing reforms, in accordance with the road map. Only then will the sides be able to resume negotiations.
II. Key points of the plan
A. The Gaza Strip
1. The State of Israel will withdraw from the Gaza Strip, including all Israeli settlements, and will redeploy outside the area of the Strip. The method of the withdrawal, with the exception of a military presence in the area adjacent to the border between Gaza and Egypt (the Philadelphi route), will be detailed below.
2. Once the move has been completed, there will be no permanent Israeli military presence in the evacuated territorial area of the Gaza Strip.
3. As a result of this, there will be no basis to the claim that the Strip is occupied land.
B. Judea and Samaria
1. The State of Israel will withdraw from northern Samaria (four settlements: Ganim, Kadim, Sa-Nur and Homesh) as well as all permanent military installations in the area, and will redeploy outside the evacuated area.
2. Once the move has been completed, there will be no permanent Israeli military presence in the area.
3. The move will provide Palestinian territorial contiguity in the northern parts of Samaria.
4. The State of Israel, along with the international community, will help improve the transportation infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, with the goal of providing continuous transport for Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.
5. The move will make it easier for Palestinians to live a normal life in Judea and Samaria, and will facilitate economic and commercial activity.
C. The Process
The withdrawal process is slated to end by the end of 2005.
The settlements will be split into the following four groups:
1. Group A - Morag, Netzarim, Kfar Darom
2. Group B - The four settlements in northern Samaria (Ganim, Kadim, Sa-Nur and Homesh).
3. Group C - The Gush Katif bloc of settlements.
4. Group D - The settlements in the northern Gaza Strip (Alei Sinai, Dugit and Nissanit)
The necessary preparations will be undertaken in order to implement the four-stage disengagement plan (including administrative work to set relevant criteria, definitions and preparation of the necessary legislation.)
The government will discuss and decide separately on the evacuation of each of the above-mentioned groups.
D. The security fence
The State of Israel will continue to construct the security fence, in accordance with the relevant cabinet decisions. In deciding on the route of the fence, humanitarian considerations will be taken into account.
III. The security reality after the evacuation
A. The Gaza Strip
1. The State of Israel will monitor and supervise the outer envelope on land, will have exclusive control of the Gaza airspace, and will continue its military activity along the Gaza Strip's coastline.
2. The Gaza Strip will be completely demilitarized of arms banned by current agreements between the sides.
3. The State of Israel reserves the basic right to self defense, which includes taking preventive measures as well as the use of force against threats originating in the Gaza Strip.
B. The West Bank
1. After the evacuation of the northern Samaria settlements, there will be no permanent military presence in that area.
2. The State of Israel reserves the basic right to self defense, which includes taking preventive measures as well as the use of force against threats originating in the area.
3. Military activity will remain in its current framework in the rest of the West Bank. The State of Israel will, if circumstances allow, consider reducing its activity in Palestinian cities.
4. The State of Israel will work to reduce the number of checkpoints throughout the West Bank.
IV. Military infrastructure and installations in the Gaza Strip and the northern Samaria region
All will be dismantled and evacuated, except for those that the State of Israel decides to transfer to an authorized body.
V. The nature of the security assistance to the Palestinians
The State of Israel agrees that in coordination with it, consulting, assistance and training will be provided to Palestinian security forces for the purpose of fighting terror and maintaining the public order. The assistance will be provided by American, British, Egyptian, Jordanian or other experts, as will be agreed upon with Israel.
The State of Israel stresses that it will not agree to any foreign security presence in Gaza or the West Bank without its consent.
VI. The border area between the Strip and Egypt (the Philadelphi route)
The State of Israel will continue to maintain military presence along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt (the Philadelphi route.) This presence is an essential security requirement. The physical widening of the route where the military activity will take place, may be necessary in certain areas.
The possibility of evacuating the area will be considered later on. This evacuation would be conditioned, among other factors, on the security reality and on the level of cooperation by Egypt in creating an alternative credible arrangement.
If and when the conditions are met enabling the evacuation of the area, the State of Israel will be willing to consider the possibility of setting up an airport and a seaport in the Gaza Strip, subject to arrangements agreed upon with the State of Israel.
VII. Real estate
In general, houses belonging to the settlers, and other sensitive structures such as synagogues will not be left behind. The State of Israel will aspire to transfer other structures, such as industrial and agricultural facilities, to an international third party that will use them for the benefit of the Palestinian population.
The Erez industrial zone will be transferred to an agreed-upon Palestinian or international body.
The State of Israel along with Egypt will examine the possibility of setting up a joint industrial zone on the border between Israel, Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
VIII. Infrastructure and civilian arrangements
The water, electricity, sewage and communications infrastructures will be left in place.
As a rule, Israel will enable the continued supply of electricity, water, gas and fuel to the Palestinians, under the existing arrangements and full compensation.
The existing arrangements, including the arrangements with regard to water and the electromagnetic area, will remain valid.
IX. The activity of the international civilian organizations
The State of Israel views very favorably continued activity of the international humanitarian organizations and those that deal will civil development, which aid the Palestinian population.
The State of Israel will coordinate with the international organizations the arrangements that will make this activity easier.
The State of Israel suggests that an international mechanism (such as the AHLC) be set up, in coordination with Israel and international bodies, that will work to develop the Palestinian economy.
X. Economic arrangements
In general, the economic arrangements that are currently in effect between Israel and the Palestinians will remain valid. These arrangements include, among other things:
A. The movement of goods between the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, Israel and foreign countries.
B. The monetary regime.
C. The taxation arrangements and the customs envelope.
D. Postal and communications arrangements.
H. The entry of workers into Israel in accordance with the existing criteria.
In the long run, and in accordance with the Israeli interest in encouraging Palestinian economic independence, The State of Israel aspires to reduce the number of Palestinian workers entering Israel, and eventually to completely stop their entrance. The State of Israel will support the development of employment sources in the Gaza Strip and in the Palestinian areas in the West Bank, by international bodies.
XI. The international crossing points
A. The international crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Egypt
1. The existing arrangements will remain in force.
2. Israel is interested in transferring the crossing point to the "border triangle," south of its current location. This will be done in coordination with the Egyptian government. This will allow the expansion of the hours of activity at the crossing point.
B. The international crossing points between Judea and Samaria, and Jordan.
The existing arrangements will remain in force.
XII. The Erez crossing point
The Erez crossing point will be moved into the territory of the State of Israel according to a timetable that will be determined separately.
XIII. Summary
The implementation of the four-stage disengagement plan will bring about an improvement in the situation and a break from the current stagnation. If and when the Palestinian side shows a willingness, an ability and an implementation of actions to fight terrorism, a full cessation of terror and violence and the carrying out of reforms according to the roadmap, it will be possible to return to the track of discussions and negotiations.
Vanunu meldet sich erneut...
admin1 (31. Mai 2004, 15:52)
HAARETZ
Last Update: 31/05/2004 12:09
Vanunu: Exposing Israel's nuclear secrets was not betrayal
By Haaretz Service
In his first interview since his release last month after 18 years in jail for revealing Israel's nuclear secrets to a British newspaper, Mordechai Vanunu told the BBC in an interview aired Sunday night that he did not feel he was a traitor to the country.
"I felt it was not about betraying; it was about reporting. It was about saving Israel from a new holocaust," he said.
Speaking to the BBC's This World program, Vanunu said he had "no regrets despite the fact I have paid a heavy punishment, a large price."
"What I did was to inform the world what is going on in secret," he said. "I didn't come and say, we should destroy Israel, we should destroy Dimona. I said, look what they have and make your judgement."
The interview sparked controversy in Israel ahead of its airing, when the British journalist making the program, Peter Hounam, was arrested by the Shin Bet security service last week, on suspicion of violating Vanunu's terms of release, which include a ban on meetings with foreigners.
The interview was facilitated by an Israeli, Yael Lotan, thereby bypassing the ban.
In the interview, Vanunu reiterated his desire to leave Israel, which was also banned.
"I want to leave Israel, I'm not interested in living in Israel," he said. "I want to start my new life in the United States, or somewhere in Europe, and to start living as a human being."
Days before his 1986 expose of Israel's nuclear capability appeared in the Sunday Times, Vanunu was seized by Israeli agents from an apartment in Italy, where he had been lured by a female agent nicknamed "Cindy."
Vanunu described to the BBC how she brought him from London to Rome and distracted him en route.
"We sat in the back [of the car]. She used the time for kissing me, to divert my attention by a lot of kissing," he said.
The BBC program also included comments by Justice Minister Yosef Lapid, who argued that Vanunu still posed a threat to Israel's security.
"We think he still knows secrets and we don't want him to sell them again," he told This World.
Anglikanischer Bischof wird vom Shin Beth einvernommen....
admin1 (30. Mai 2004, 09:14)
HAARETZ
Last Update: 30/05/2004 08:45
Shin Bet interrogates Anglican Bishop over Vanunu ties
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent
Shin Bet security service interrogators conducted a body and property search of the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, the Right Reverend Riah Abu El-Assal, in connection with the controversies surrounding freed nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu.
The bishop said interrogators hinted that Vanunu should vacate the St. George Church in Jerusalem, where he has stayed since his release from prison on April 18.
"Although they did not act in a vulgar manner, and offered me coffee, which I declined, it was humiliating," the bishop told Haaretz on Saturday night. He said he has written a report on the incident and will protest to President Moshe Katsav.
The interrogators wanted to know if Bishop El-Assal was involved in the interview initiated by British journalist Peter Hounam and facilitated by Israeli journalist and translator Yael Lotan.
The bishop said he was questioned at noon on Friday when he returned from a trip to Jordan. "First, they searched my body," he said, "then they photographed me and I was taken to a side room, where I was questioned."
The questioning lasted about an hour and a half - he told Haaretz it was the first time he has been interrogated since he was appointed in 1996.
Bishop El-Assal gave the following account of some of the questioning:
Q. We know that Vanunu is with you.
A. "True, since April 21 he has received sanctuary in the church. I believe that Vanunu has the right to be free, and I have a duty toward him, like to other members of the community."
Q. What did you do in Jordan?
A. "I took part in the Hashemite Kingdom's Independence Day celebrations, and I dedicated a church school."
Q. Have you heard of Peter Hounam? Do you meet with journalists?
A. "Yes. Often."
Q. Have you met recently [with Hounam]?
A. "No."
Q. What about the recording [of the interview given by Vanunu]?
A. "I don't know anything about it. I was in Jordan..."
The Bishop told Haaretz that after he returned from Jordan, there was an envelope on his desk addressed to "Alexander."
He told his secretary to wait for this person to come and pick up the envelope, which apparently contained the tape of the interview.
"I receive hundreds of letters and envelopes from visitors to the church, and it isn't my business to check their contents, if they are not addressed to me. I don't check them."
The "Alexander" in question came a few days later, and picked up the envelope, the bishop said.
Asked if Vanunu's presence in the church has caused it any problems, El-Assal replied: "He doesn't cause any difficulty. You [Israelis] are turning him into a hero."
On Wednesday, the Shin Bet arrested Hounam on suspicion that he was involved in interviewing Vanunu, in contravention of the limitations placed on the former nuclear technician upon his release from jail.
Hounam, who left the country Friday, said that Israel should be ashamed for arresting him.
Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, right, with Mordechai Vanunu and Peter Hounam on the day of Vanunu's release last month. (AP)
Related Links
* Hounam: Israel should be ashamed for arresting me
* Foreign Ministry furious at BBC over Vanunu interview
Vanunu spricht von Vermeidung eines neuen Holocausts....
admin1 (29. Mai 2004, 22:44)
JERUSALEM POST
May. 29, 2004 10:47 | Updated May. 29, 2004 22:00
Vanunu to BBC: I tried to prevent a second Holocaust
By DAN IZENBERG AND ARIEH O'SULLIVAN
Mordechai Vanunu told the BBC's This World program on Saturday that he divulged the details of Israel's nuclear program to the Sunday Times in order to "save Israel from a new Holocaust."
It marked the first time Vanunu has spoken to the foreign press since the Sunday Times published photos and detailed information about the Dimona nuclear plant which Vanunu, a former technician at the plant, provided the newspaper in 1986.
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The taped interview, apparently smuggled out of Israel, triggered last week's arrest, interrogation and expulsion of British journalist Peter Hounam. Hounam organized the interview in violation of restrictions imposed on Vanunu that forbid him from speaking to foreigners.
In the segments of the interview released yesterday, Vanunu said about his actions, "I felt it was not about betraying. It was about reporting What I did was to inform the world what is going on in secret. I didn't come and say, 'We should destroy Israel, we should destroy Dimona.' I said, 'Look at what they have and make your judgment.'"
Vanunu said he had no regrets over his actions, "in spite of the fact that I have paid a heavy punishment, a large price. I think it was worth it. I don't think I deserved this punishment, but it is not only I that should do it. Everyone should do it."
Vanunu also told the BBC he was "not interested in living in Israel. I want to start my new life in the United States or somewhere in Europe and to start living as a human being."
The full interview with Vanunu, entitled "Israel's Nuclear Whistleblower" is due to be broadcast on Sunday on BBC Two.
The BBC aired on Saturday at 12 midday Israel time, clips from the interview , in which the Israeli said he does not regret his deeds and he does not perceive himself as a traitor although he paid a "heavy price" for his actions.
Vanunu was convicted by the Jerusalem District Court on February 27, 1988, and sentenced to 18 years in jail from the day of his arrest.
The radio report did not reveal who conducted the interview with Vanunu but mentioned that it was accomplished with the aid of an Israeli journalist.
Defense officials: Vanunu revealed more state secrets
The defense establishment claimed Mordechai Vanunu revealed state more secrets regarding Israel's nuclear capabilities in an unauthorized interview orchestrated by British journalist Peter Hounam, who was released Thursday after 24 hours of questioning by Shin Bet agents.
Hounam, the Sunday Times reporter who broke the story on nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu 18 years ago, was released Thursday evening after Attorney General Menahem Mazuz earlier instructed police to conclude their interrogation of the journalist, cancel the gag-order and release the man barring any unexpected developments.
At an agreement reached with his attorney, Israel waived intentions to deport the reporter on condition he leaves Jerusalem Thursday night and Israel on Friday.
Talking to reporters outside the Jerusalem lockup, Hounam said Israel should be ashamed for arresting him, complaining of being confined in a "dungeon with excrement on the walls" and limited to "two hours of sleep."
"Israel accused me of being a spy," Hounam said following his release. "The Israeli security forces made a terrible mistake last night."
"They placed me in isolation overnight and interrogated me for four and a half hours with a degree of contempt. They thought I'd come to spy on their nuclear secrets and they accused me of aggravated espionage," he continued. " I think the authorities have come to their senses... All the information that Mordechai Vanunu knew about in 1986 was published at the time," Hounam said. "He has no more secrets, and it's time the authorities here realized that."
Hounam said that the only person really important in the whole story is Vanun. "I was in isolation for one night, but he was in there for 4000 nights," he said. "It only shows to what extent they're obsessed with the subject of Vanunu."
At an agreement reached with his attorney, Israel waived intentions to deport the reporter on condition he leaves Jerusalem Thursday night and Israel on Friday.
Security officials trying to assess the damage
According to the security sources, a secret videotaped interview with Vanunu passed through the hands of various foreigners as well as a bishop in the St.George Anglican church in Jerusalem where Vanunu has sought refuge since his release from prison last month.
Security officials were still reviewing the hours of tapes Thursday night to determine possible damage to state security. They said that Vanunu recounted his life and repeatedly spoke of his work at the Dimona nuclear plant. Security officials declined to reveal whether Vanunu would be arrested again. Vanunu is still bound by the state secrecy act he signed when he was fired from the Negev Nuclear Research Center in 1985.
Shin Bet agents said they were able to obtain at least two copies of the video tapes, but Channel 10 reported that the BBC in London had already managed to get a copy of the interview, thus foiling Shin Bet attempts to stop it.
According to Shin Bet officials, Hounam knew the restrictions on Vanunu, but had been working since his release to obtain an exclusive interview in exchange for "large amounts" of money. This included the BBC funding of the luxurious apartment at Jaffa's Andromeda complex. They claimed to have a copy of a contract between the BBC and Vanunu, but declined to show reporters.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Yael Lotan, an Israeli activist for Vanunu, was paid 1,000 pounds to interview Vanunu according to questions provided by Hounam. But an examination of confiscated videotapes shows Hounam in the room and occasionally directing the interview.
"Hounam is a central dangerous source for leaking state secrets," a Shin Bet official said.
Security officials said they took efforts to prevent the interview from taking place, but when these were ignored they acted to prevent classified information from being revealed.
According to security officials, the Shin Bet warned Meir Vanunu three times to prevent his brother from giving the interview, including one time as the interview was taking place inside the St. George Cathedral.
Security sources said that Vanunu was barred not only from having indirect contact with foreigners, but also from engaging in Internet "chats."
Besides Hounam, another British journalist identified, as Chris Mitchell was also present during the interview, security sources said. On Sunday, Mitchell was questioned at Ben Gurion Airport as he departed the country. Agents discovered a copy of the videotaped interview and confiscated it, security sources said. Mitchell was allowed to return to Britain.
BBC ignored censor
On Monday, the military censor's office contacted the BBC, which was giving logistical and technical support for the documentary. It urged them to submit the interview to censorship. They did not, security sources said.
On Tuesday, a British citizen of Iranian descent identified as Kiyari Sadi, arrived in the country. He was a freelancer working for the BBC.
Acting on an intelligence tip, a search was made of Sadi's hotel room in Jerusalem. A copy of video of the interview with Vanunu was found and Sadi consented to give them to the agents. Sadi said he received the tapes from Bishop Riyah's secretary at the St. George Cathedral.
Sadi said the original videotape was locked in Riyah's safe, security officials said.
Sadi was released without restrictions.
"In spite of the open efforts made by the Shin Bet to prevent the interview, Hounam carried it out. This obligated the defense establishment to bring him in for questioning to prevent further damage to Israel's security," a security official said.
Israeli journalist: Shin Bet shooting itself in the foot
Yael Lotan told the Jerusalem Post that Hounam was definitely not in the room during the interview and if he appeared on the video in preliminary shots it was before Vanunu entered.
"We spoke outside in the garden and discussed the fact that he was barred and he wished me good luck,"
Asked if she was paid for the interview she said: "I haven't seen a penny."
"The Shin Bet keep shooting themselves in the foot and the Israelis are so disciplined that they accept their version of events," Lotan said.
As for the charges that Vanunu revealed more state secrets in his interview with her, Lotan said: "That's crap. Everything he knew he published in 1986."
"Mordechai Vanunu is not paranoid. He is very calm and lucid and dignified. He is waiting to be allowed to leave the country."
Kaddoumi: PLO charter was never changed
admin1 (28. Mai 2004, 09:21)
Khaled Abu Toameh The Jerusalem Post Apr. 22, 2004
Quelle: www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1082606041893&p=1078027574121
[IMRA: Shimon Peres considered the changing of the Charter to be the most important event in modern history. Then PM Netanyahu, fresh from Wye, asserted that a ceremony in Gaza in the presence of President Clinton of a grouping of Palestinians changed the Charter and argued with detractors that this was proof he was getting reciprocity from the Palestinians and could
make withdrawals - Netanyahu continued to ignore Palestinian violations at the time but the withdrawal juggernaut was stopped at the last minute by his foreign minister, Ariel Sharon, who suddenly rememembered at the last minute that the Palestinians were armed to the teeth with illegal weapons and should get rid of some of them before a withdrawal.]
Farouk Kaddoumi, the PLO's hard-line "foreign minister," said Thursday that when Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat talks about the need to pursue the struggle against Israel, he is referring to the armed struggle. Kaddoumi said the armed struggle was the only way to force Israel to accept the demands of the Palestinians.
Kaddoumi's remarks were made in an interview with the Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab. He admitted that the PLO charter, which denies Israel's right to exist, was never changed.
(weiter)
13. Israel Boykott
admin1 (28. Mai 2004, 09:17)
In these days of International calls für boycotts of Israel, I think the following is particularly relevant:
The wonderful comic, Sam Levinson, had a great answer to anti-Semites.
"It's a free world and you don't have to like Jews, but if you DONT, I suggest you boycott certain Jewish products like ...
The Wassermann Test für syphilis,
Digitalis, discovered by Doctor Nuslin,
Insulin, discovered by Doctor Minofsky,
Chloral Hydrate, discovered by Doctor Lifreich,
The Schick Test für Dipheria,
Vitamins, discovered by Doctor Funk,
Strepto.mycin, discovered by Doctor Woronan,
The Polio Pill by Doctor Sabin, and the Polio
Vacine by Doctor Jonas Salk.
Go on, boycott!
Humanitarian consistency requires that my people
Otter all these gifts to
All people of the world.
Fanatic consistency requires that all bigots accept Syphilis, Diabetes, Convulsions, Malnutrition, Infantile Para lysis and Tuberculosis as a matter of principal. You want to bed mad at us? Be mad at us!
But I'm telling you you ain't going to feel so good!
Pass it on - let the world know what they'lI be missing
best regards
taube
Ende Mai, Vanunus erste Interviews nach Entlassung
admin1 (28. Mai 2004, 09:03)
HAARETZ, 28. Mai 2004
Sunday Times gets first interview with Vanunu since release from jail
"I suspected she was an agent for the Mossad," Mordechai Vanunu says of the woman who lured him into captivity, in an interview that will be published in the Sunday Times on Sunday.
He was interviewed by journalist and author Yael Lotan, an activist for nuclear disarmament in the Middle East and a member of the Movement for the Liberation of Mordechai Vanunu. The interview was made on Saturday on behalf of the British journalist Peter Hounam and a BBC production crew working on a documentary of the Vanunu story. The interview was what led the Israeli secret service, the Shin Bet, to arrest Hounam.
Lotan told Haaretz the story in the Sunday Times, the first since Vanunu was released after 18 years in jail for revealing Israel's nuclear secrets to the same British newspaper, will appear under her name. "To a certain extent we bypassed in a legal way the limitations imposed on Vanunu," she said.
Among limitations set by the Shin Bet and the courts is that Vanunu is not permitted to meet foreign nationals without the approval of the authorities. Consequently, the interview was not held by a foreigner but an Israeli, bypassing the restriction.
Before the interview, Lotan met Hounam in the compound of the St. George Anglican church, where Vanunu has been staying since his release, and with Chris Mitchell, the producer of Magnetic North, the company producing the BBC documentary. She admits to consulting the two but stresses "I did not receive any guidance or questions from them. I know the subject very well."
She then met with Vanunu, and an Israeli cameraman and aide, and carried out the interview inside the church. Meir Vanunu, one of Mordechai's brothers, was also present and photographed the scene. Lotan insists neither Hounam or Mitchell were present during the interview. The Shin Bet disagrees, saying that both foreigners were in the hall and could hear and see the interview.
The interview lasted two hours, in English, according to Lotan. The synopsis of the interview told to Haaretz by Lotan suggests that nothing new was revealed. The only detail that Vanunu mentioned was that he suspected "Cindy," the woman that entrapped him and led to his capture by Israeli agents, of being an agent for the Mossad.
Vanunu said he confronted her with a question on her connection with the Mossad. But, he says, Cindy pretended she did not understand a thing and maintained her role as an American tourist.
To a different question, Vanunu says he felt the gravest danger for him was in London, because he knew that Israeli intelligence was aware of his presence in the British capital. He therefore left, for Rome, with Cindy. "I did not think they would follow me there," he says.
In the interview he answers questions about his background, as a native of Morocco, his childhood and university days. "I did not ask him about nuclear weapons and about the production processes in Dimona," Lotan says, "because I knew that on the basis of the restrictions, he should not be asked about this, and also because I know this subject very well."
Lotan says Vanunu spoke in detail about two subjects, his experiences when he left Israel, and his feelings of being 11 out of his 18 years of imprisonment in solitary confinement. Vanunu said he felt he was losing his sanity in solitary and set as his goal "to survive and remain sane."
Describing the first time he was released from confinement and was allowed to walk in the courtyard of the prison, Vanunu says "I could walk and see for the first time plants, flowers and humans and then I felt that I was free."
Lotan says she was impressed by "Vanunu's display of amazing peace, quiet, self control and sense of humor."
HAARETZ, 28. Mai 2004
Shin Bet releases British journalist Peter Hounam
By Yuval Yoaz and Sharon Sadeh
British journalist Peter Hounam was released yesterday after 24 hours in detention. According to an agreement between his lawyers and the defense establishment, Hounam will fly back to England this morning.
Hounam's detention caused an uproar, with both the British government and senior elements in the British media, including the editors of the Sunday Times, demanding that the Israeli authorities release him. Prior to his release, in response to a question from the floor of the House of Commons, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Peter Hayne said that Britain had demanded that Hounam have access to consular assistance.
Hounam, who in the 1980s published Mordechai Vanunu's account of Israel's Dimona nuclear program in the Sunday Times, was arrested on Wednesday by the Shin Bet security service, which had him under surveillance. The Shin Bet apparently did not ask the State Prosecutor's Office for permission to arrest Hounam, although sources said that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz knew of the intention to detain him. Legal sources noted that the Shin Bet had acted within its authority in detaining Hounam.
Shin Bet officials have also asked the State Prosecutor's Office to allow them to obtain a videotape of an interview that Vanunu granted to leftist activist Yael Lotan on Saturday, saying that they need to learn its contents in order to avoid "irreparable damage to state security." The interview, in which Hounam was allegedly involved, was the reason for his detention.
The Justice Ministry said that the tapes confiscated from Hounam, together with other material, would be examined, and that Hounam's attempt to interview Vanunu through Lotan, in contravention of the conditions of Vanunu's release, was an attempt to see how far boundaries could be stretched.
Earlier yesterday, a gag order was issued on Hounam's detention, along with another order prohibiting him from meeting with his attorneys for four days. Hounam's lawyers, Avigdor Feldman and Michael Sefarad, appealed both orders, and Haaretz attorneys Mibi Moser and Itamar Glick also submitted a request that the gag order be lifted. But before the
court could hear the case, Mazuz ordered that a remand not be requested for Hounam, and that he be allowed to see his lawyers, "if there are no dramatic developments" in the investigation. Hounam's attorneys were subsequently allowed to meet with him at 4 P.M. Britain's ambassador to Israel, Simon McDonald, also met Justice Minister Yosef Lapid to press for the journalist's release.
At this point, negotiations began on the conditions for Hounam's release. The Shin Bet, while not demanding Hounam's continued detention, did demand that he leave the country immediately, and that he not give interviews with regard to his detention, a condition that Hounam refused.
Sean Ryan, foreign news editor for the Sunday Times, in which the interview with Vanunu was to have been published, said that the paper had tried to communicate with Hounam to ascertain his condition. The British National Union of Journalists sent an urgent letter to the acting Israeli ambassador to the UK, Zvi Ravner, protesting Hounam's detention and demanding his immediate release.
"The circumstances of Peter Hounam's arrest are reminiscent of a kidnapping," attorney Avner Pinchuk, of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), wrote yesterday in an urgent letter to Mazuz, before it was decided to release Hounam. The letter called the detention "an attack on freedom of the press."
12. Mordechai V a n u n u - Affäre
admin1 (28. Mai 2004, 08:56)
Vanunu kommt nach 18 Jahren frei
22/04/2004 11:16
Nach 18 Jahren Haft, davon 11 in Isolation, ist Mordeachai Vanunu, der Mann, der Israels Nuklearprogramm preisgab, ein freier Mann. Die israelischen Zeitungen berichten bereits seit Tagen darüber.
Von Z.S. Kuhar, NahostFocus
siehe dazu auch "Das Vanunu Lexikon" in den Hintergründen
„Ich habe 18 Jahre unter einer grausamen, barbarischen Behandlung von Seiten des Mossad und des Schin-Beth (Inlandsgeheimdienst, Anm.d.Red.) gelitten weil ich Christ bin“, sagte der zum Christentum konvertierte Vanunu gegenüber Journalisten auf Englisch. Vanunu lehnt es ab, auf Hebräisch zu sprechen, um somit gegen die einjährige Beschränkung zu protestieren, nicht mit ausländischen Korrespondenten sprechen zu dürfen.
„Ich bin stolz und glücklich über das, was ich getan habe“, so Vanunu kurz nach seiner Freilassung. Auf die Frage hin, ob er sich als Held ansehe erwiderte der gebürtige Israeli: „Alle die, die hinter mir stehen, mich unterstützen… sind alle Helden.“
„Ich bin ein Symbol für den Willen nach Freiheit“, sagte Vanunu weiter. „Man kann den menschlichen Willen nicht brechen.“
Vanunu soll nach Angaben des Magazins IsraelInsider die kommenden 3 Monate in einer Luxuswohnung nahe der anglikanischen Kirche in Jaffa wohnen. Das Wirtschaftsmagazin Globes berichtet, die Wohnung sei vom britischen Sender BBC für Vanunu angemietet und bezahlt worden. Globes spekuliert, dass Vanunu dem Sender dafür ein zukünftiges Exklusivinterview versprochen habe, was zur Zeit noch durch die strengen Auflagen seiner Freilassung nicht möglich ist.
Neben internationalen Atomgegnern wird Vanunu auch von der britischen Schauspielerin Susannah York unterstützt. „Er hat Mut gezeigt, und uns trotz der Versuche, ihn zu brechen, in Erinnerung gerufen, was Humanität bedeutet“, sagte York. Die Unterstützer Vanunus waren vor dem Gefängnis in Aschkelon allerdings mit wütende Gegner konfrontiert, die Vanunu als Verräter beschimpften und ihm vorwarfen, mit seinen Handlungen zur Zerstörung des Staates Israel beizutragen.
Vanunus Brüder Asher und Meir, die als einzige Familienmitglieder Kontakt mit dem meistgehassten Häftling Israels haben, holten ihn vom Gefängnis ab und transportierten 87 Kisten mit persönlichen Gegenständen und Materialien, die er während seiner Haft angesammelt hatte.
Vanunus Sicherheitsauflagen verbieten ihm das Verlassen des Landes und das Gewähren von Interviews für die Dauer eines Jahres. Zudem ist es ihm in diesem Zeitraum untersagt, sich einer ausländischen Botschaft zu nähern. Vanunu kündigte bereits eine Klage gegen diese Aufflagen an. „Mordechai Vanunu hat Staatsgeheimnisse über das nukleare Forschungszentrum in Dimona preisgegeben. Er hat immer noch Kenntnis von Staatsgeheimnissen, inklusive einiger, die er nicht verraten hat“, hieß es aus dem israelischen Verteidigungsministerium in Jerusalem dazu. „Die Veröffentlichung dieser Staatsgeheimnisse könnte die Sicherheit des Staates erheblich schädigen.“
Haaretz vom 25.4.2004 weiss folgendes über Vanunu zu berichten, der sich gegenwärtig im Gästehaus der Ostjerusalemer Anglikanischen Kirche befindet (Dany Schürch):
Last Update: 25/04/2004 07:26
Anglicans suggest Vanunu move to Nazareth church
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent
St. George's Church in East Jerusalem, where nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu is staying, has suggested he move to a larger Anglican church in Nazareth.
Apparently, the media and security ruckus around the released prisoner is causing discomfort to church officials and members of the community members in East Jerusalem.
A decision about his move may well be made Monday, with the return of Anglican Bishop Abu Al Assal from a visit to Jordan and Lebanon.
Vanunu is expected to take part in Sunday mass at St. George's, where is currently staying at the guest house.
Since his arrival last Wednesday, Vanunu has remained indoors and spent his time reading, writing and meeting his supporters. His brother Meir is with him all the time.
Outside the church the police and chief security officer of the Defense Ministry, Yehiel Horev, check everyone who enters its gates. This, too, adds to the church people's unease.
Everyone who wants to meet Vanunu must present a request in advance, via the family, to the Defense Ministry's security chief. Most of the requests have been approved, except for two.
British journalist Peter Hounam, the journalist who wrote Vanunu's story in 1986 for the Sunday Times and triggered the whole affair, is making a film for the BBC about it. Hounam asked to meet Vanunu last Thursday, but was refused.
His wife, Hilarie Burnett, was also not permitted to see Vanunu yesterday. Burnet has already met Vanunu twice since his release, but apparently when Horev discovered she was Hounam's wife, he decided to reject her request.
"Horev is continuing his vendetta against Vanunu, which has been going on for seventeen and a half years," Hounam commented. "These attempts to harass Vanunu damage Israel's image as a state that prides itself for its democratic values."
Hounam added that he had asked to see "Mordi," as he calls Vanunu, as a friend, after they had corresponded with each other throughout Vanunu's prison sentence.
So far Vanunu has not given an interview to any news medium, despite requests from numerous Israeli and foreign journalists and television networks.
JERUSALEM POST vom 26.4.2004:
Apr. 25, 2004 22:43 | Updated Apr. 26, 2004 0:24
Vanunu in dispute with Church leaders over stay
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was in a
standoff Sunday with officials at an Anglican Church in Jerusalem where he has taken refuge since his release from prison last week over his future stay a the church, officials said Sunday.
The 50-year-old former nuclear technician, who
converted to Christianity in the 1980s, has been
closeted inside St. George's Cathedral in east
Jerusalem since Wednesday when he was freed from jail after serving a 18 year prison sentence for revealing Israel's secret nuclear program.
Church officials said Sunday that Vanunu rejected a church suggestion that he move to an Anglican church in the north, either in Nazareth or in Haifa, and that he was refusing to leave the Jerusalem church, which is now under 24 hour surveillance by both police and a team of photographers, following his every move.
A final decision on the matter will be taken Monday by the chief pastor of the Anglican community in Israel, Bishop Riah Abu el-Assal, who returned to Jerusalem late Sunday from a trip to Jordan and Lebanon.
The Bishop's previous public support of the nuclear whistleblower has drawn criticism from other church officials.
Vanunu's brother Meir said Sunday night that the
nuclear whistleblower was staying put at the Jerusalem church and had "no plans" to leave. He voiced surprise at press reports suggesting that church officials were upset with the family for extending their stay beyond a few days.
Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said that the family had not informed police of any new address as of Sunday night.
It remained unclear why Vanunu did not want to move to a luxury apartment complex in Jaffa, where a flat has been rented on his behalf, reportedly by The Sunday Times of London which broke Vanunu's disclosures of Israel's nuclear facility in 1986.
Widely despised by Israelis as a traitor, Vanunu's
revelation and imprisonment made him a hero to
international anti-nuclear activists and the darling of the far-left.
Vanunu has said that he hopes to emigrate to the
United States of Europe as soon as possible.
Gibt es ein kommendes Ende der Aera Sharon?
admin1 (28. Mai 2004, 08:49)
HAARETZ, 28. Mai 2004
Analysis / The end of Sharon
By Aluf Benn
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's leadership effectively came to an end yesterday. He may have another trick that will enable him to retain his position for a few more months, but from a political point of view, it will be devoid of meaning.
From a position of leadership, Sharon yesterday became a prisoner of his ministers, who undermined his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank.
The rebellion of four ministers - Benjamin Netanyahu, Limor Livnat, Silvan Shalom and Danny Naveh - who rejected even Sharon's watered-down version of the plan left him lonely at the top. Sharon lacks political support for his preferred policy, and any attempt to present a mini-disengagement will lose him the support of the American administration. President George Bush offered extensive promises in advance to Sharon, who is now unable to fulfill his part of the bargain.
The depth of the political crisis became clear yesterday in a meeting that was meant to result in the final formulation of the proposal to the cabinet. The previous evening, his aides had assumed that they could get a majority in the cabinet vote and recommended that Sharon put the whole plan up for approval in principle by the cabinet. By morning, they had discovered that they have no one to lean on.
Uri Shani, a Sharon confidant, warned of a split in the Likud and offered a compromise: The government will "note" the whole disengagement plan, but approve only the evacuation of Netzarim, Morag and Rafiah Yam. By noon, it had become clear that even that was too much for Netanyahu, and Sharon put the plan on hold.
In private discussions, Livnat said that Sharon tried to pressure his ministers once too often. The last time was when he traveled to Washington without a mandate from his cabinet, and on his return squeezed declarations of support for the disengagement plan out of Netanyahu, Livnat and Shalom. Then came the referendum in the Likud, whose results everyone, including Sharon, had said they would honor. Still, despite his loss in the referendum, Sharon continued to push the plan forward. "Enough, no more," Livnat said.
Sharon's decision to pull back surprised his supporters. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz held a meeting yesterday to discuss security after the withdrawal. Then, at the end of the meeting, he heard from the Prime Minister's Office that the whole plan is on hold, with perhaps something very partial in the offing.
Since the referendum, Sharon's ruling circle has been reminiscent of the final days of Ehud Barak's government: a growing number of trial balloons, contradictory announcements and empty threats of dismissing ministers. The unity that characterized the Sharon government has now escaped the building. Discord among the inner circle is no longer kept indoors.
A mini-disengagement makes no sense. The IDF opposes it, particularly if it is done in stages; its effect on security will be minimal; and the Americans will withdraw their support. Still, Sharon did break the taboo of talking about dismantling settlements, a move that many of his predecessors feared no less. Yet Barak also broke taboos, on Jerusalem and the Golan, and in the end brought no results. It seems that in order to take another step, it will be necessary to stake the whole pot and call elections.
The demographics point to a binational state
admin1 (27. Mai 2004, 22:15)
HAARETZ vom 27. Mai 2004:
By Yair Sheleg
At the end of the War of Independence, after the expulsion and flight of some 700,000 Arabs, the population of Israel consisted of 82 percent Jews and 18 percent Arabs. In 2003, 54 years and almost 3 million immigrants later, the Central Bureau of Statistics' official figures indicated a similar Jewish-Arab ratio (81 percent Jews, 19 percent Arabs), with the figure for Jews including non-Jewish immigrants.
In other words, the great immigration effort, including the dramatic influxes of immigrants in the early fifties and in the 1990s, served only to "balance out" the growth of the Arab population (most of it due to natural increase, and the rest achieved through family unification, the marriage of Arab citizens to foreign nationals and the annexation of East Jerusalem). The result was that the Jewish-Arab ratio remained the same. (weiter)
Kritische Rückschau auf Rafah-Operation....
admin1 (27. Mai 2004, 21:23)
Haaretz vom 26.5.2004
Focus / Gaza Rainbow of marginal worth
By Ze'ev Schiff
With the Israel Defense Forces' Operation Rainbow in Rafah drawing to a close, it's clear that the army's accomplishments were minimal. This was a large-scale operation in which Israel deployed massive force against an unknown number of armed Palestinian militants, and also against civilians. The decision to undertake the operation "came from the gut, not the head," as army idiom puts it; and its goal was to show the Palestinians what will happen in the future if they continue to resort to violence after Israel pulls out of the Gaza Strip.
The stated objective of the operation was to demolish smuggling tunnels used to bring in weapons from the Sinai Peninsula. Yet, as a warning to the Palestinians, the operation had a clear political goal, even though the Prime Minister's Office mostly kept mum about the army's work in Rafah.
This was an operation undertaken by an angry army. The blowing up of two IDF armored personnel carriers in the Gaza Strip infuriated the IDF General Staff. This response aggravated lingering anger about the photographed execution of children from the Hatuel family, after the car which their mother drove swerved off the Kissufim road. The IDF deployed three combat brigades; each was accompanied by tank units, and helicopters hovered above as added support. This level of force was excessive, and it increased the chances of lethal blunders - not surprisingly, one incident of errant fire at demonstrators cost human life. The operation came to a close without a real battle of the sort waged at the Jenin refugee camp.
The liberty which was taken in the destruction of civilian property in Rafah had no precedent in the Gaza Strip. In the past, the IDF conducted "smarter" actions there, involving fewer troops; these more limited actions produced better results.
The smuggling town of Rafah has sustained a tough blow, and many of its residents are incensed with the arms smugglers. Yet it is doubtful that this angry population will have the leverage to pressure either Hamas or the arms smugglers, who appear to make a good living from their trade.
The operation's major achievement was the success that field commanders had limiting the number of casualties among their own troops.
Once a large number of troops amassed around Rafah, the arms smugglers vanished from the scene. The chances of apprehending them are much better in a small operation conducted on the basis of precise intelligence. Tunnels between Rafah and Sinai were uncovered during Operation Rainbow; but many tunnels remain undiscovered, and it is only a matter of time before the weapons smuggling starts up anew.
The operation caused serious public relations headaches for Israel. Most of the problem was overseas, though many in Israel criticized the damage to civilian property, the house demolition and the killings. Officials in the Prime Minister's Office, or from the political leadership generally, made little effort to explain the objectives of the operation. The Prime Minister's Office has apparently devoted its efforts to rallying support for Ariel Sharon's revised disengagement plan. All in all, Operation Rainbow engaged the IDF far more than it taxed the political leadership.
In the foreign press, reports on the operation and photos of Israeli tanks and frightened Palestinian civilians often made the front page. Meantime, the killing of Iraqis by errant U.S. air force fire was covered on the inside pages. Whoever believed that harm done to civilians in Iraq would automatically provide some leeway to Israel for its operation in Rafah was mistaken.
The operation included telling scenes of United Nations Relief and and Works Agency (UNRWA) ambulances ferrying armed Palestinian militants. The UN agency was thus exposed as a force hostile to Israel; some go as far as to say that the agency assists terror organizations. The photos of the UNRWA's actions were taken by Reuters; five days went by before this news agency released the photos for publication. The delay apparently involved some sort of apprehension about Palestinian reactions - after the lynch of two IDF reservists in Ramallah, an Italian reporter-photographer faced Palestinian pressure not to release his work. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has sent a strong letter of protest to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, but there is little expectation that the UN Relief and Works Agency will do anything to change its ways.
Operation Rainbow was another segment of the war of attrition being fought between Israel and the Palestinians. The marginal profit gained from the operation will be short-lived. And this is typically the fate of efforts undertaken in wars of attrition. The operation will not bring an end to weapons smuggling
ARMY OF ROSES - Inside the World of Palestinian Women
admin1 (25. Mai 2004, 09:00)
Auf englisch ist (2003) bei der Rodale Press, New York das 300 Seite
starke Buch "ARMY OF ROSES - inside the world of Palestinian Women
Suicide Bombers" erschienen.
Tessa Szyskowitz geht in der NZZ am Sonntag vom 23. Mai 2004 auf dieses Buch ein:
"Die erste palästininensiche Selbstmordbomberin war von ihrem Mann wegen Unfruchtbarkeit geschieden und zu ihrer Familie nach Bethlehem zurückgeschickt worden. (weiter)
HAARETZ Kmmentar...
admin1 (24. Mai 2004, 12:21)
HAARETZ vom 24. Mai 2004
Sharon, Arafat and Bush must go
By Akiva Eldar
Abba Eban used to say that Israeli leaders make the right decisions only after they have exhausted all other possibilities. Henry Kissinger noted that Israel has no foreign policy, only domestic policy. Ariel Sharon's decision to get out of Netzarim, the apple of his eye, and his attempt to stitch together a "disengagement plan" that will circumnavigate what the Likud membership referendum, reconfirms the evaluations of these eminent men of foreign affairs.
The two would surely agree that without a little help from friends in the White House, domestic considerations would have extended the agony-strewn road to a number of correct Israeli decisions.
Luckily, those friends did not believe that "help" meant blind support of the most extreme government ever to rule from Jerusalem. Who knows, if George Bush had been in the White House during the "reevaluation" of Israel-U.S. policy that pushed Yitzhak Rabin into signing the 1975 separation of forces agreement in Sinai, Sharon might today be laying the cornerstone for Upper Yamit 6. If Bush had been in charge of Camp David 1 in September 1978, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat might today be ordering his chief of staff to send armed forces to Rafah, instead of the head of Egyptian intelligence being dispatched to restrain the Palestinians.
American presidents who contributed to correct Israeli decisions would not be announcing, at the end of a week during which Israel killed 42 Palestinians, among them eight children, and made 1,560 Palestinians homeless, that events would not influence friendship with Israel. Administrations that were willing to invest international political resources in peace initiatives did not shred presidential plans, one after the other, as if they had never existed. American leaders, among them the father of the present president, who believed that deepening the occupation was harmful to U.S. (and Israeli) interests did not ignore the "thickening" of the settlements.
Bush is not the first president whose positions on the Israeli-Arab conflict are tainted by domestic political considerations. It is not unusual for support for Israel by presidential candidates to reach unprecedented new heights during an election year. But the problem of all who support reconciliation in Israel and the occupied territories is that there is no sign that if Bush wins another term, in which he will be free of concerns for his political future, his blind backing for the Sharon-Lieberman government will make way for more practical support even for his own "vision of peace."
It is not surprising that Bush was welcomed at the annual AIPAC convention with cries of "four more years." At the previous convention, those same Jews cheered the right-wing preacher Gary Bauer when he declared passionately that God had given the Jews the Promised Land and no Israeli government has the right to give up parts of it to the Arabs. These same religious-messianic elements feed Bush's Middle Eastern policy (as well as his campaign coffers).
For their sake he has already surrendered the appearance of an "honest broker": When the president said he "admired" Sharon and viewed him as a "warrior" who would fight for the disengagement plan, he meant every word. A number of recent reports from Washington reveal that Bush believes Sharon is his staunchest partner in the holy war that the U.S. is waging against Islamic terror.
The experience of recent years has shown that the Bush-Sharon-Arafat trinity is a surefire formula for the perpetuation of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Until the Israelis and the Palestinians learn to get along with each other by themselves, the U.S. president has enough power all by himself to extend the agonies of war. Changing the failed governments in Jerusalem and Ramallah is therefore a sufficient, if not essential, condition for the revival of the peace process. In order, perhaps, for the world - that is for the U.S. - to come to the aid of the peoples of the region, the failed government in Washington must also change.
Bedrückende Zerrissenheit
admin1 (23. Mai 2004, 16:13)
Essays von David Grossman
«Diesen Krieg kann keiner gewinnen» betitelt der Autor und Publizist David Grossman seine Sammlung von Essays zum Dauerkonflikt in Israel und den Palästinensergebieten. (weiter)
Handbook for how to be an activist according to CNN / BBC / LA TIMES
admin1 (23. Mai 2004, 15:48)
A satirical piece by Prof. Steven Plaut, of Haifa University in Israel, March 30, 2004
1. Murdering people makes you a killer or a terrorist. But if those murdered are Jews then you are an activist. You might also be a militant.
(weiter)