I Am Your Spy - Vigils for the Nuclear Whistle Blower and Prisoner of Conscience

by BlackPope Fri Aug 29, 2003 22:48 BlackPope at operamail dot com

Good reporting.

@ Spondeen - I have decided to buy you a pint, as a small reward for all your EXCELLENT comments on the newswire, and to celebrate the fact that you have yet to actually contribute anything (useful) here yourself.

Please mail me with details of the pub behind which we should meet, OK?

Schalom Buddy, BP

by Abe Greenhouse Wed Aug 27, 2003 12:06

Jewish ISMer Experiences, Reacts to Latest Suicide Bombing in Jerusalem

REPORTBACK FROM ABE GREENHOUSE Central Jersey Jews Against the Occupation Occupied East Jerusalem, August 23rd, 2003

This past Tuesday night, I was in East Jerusalem, just outside the Old City, near Damascus Gate, when I heard a two loud sounds ? the first sounded like it could have been an explosion, and the second sounded more like a crash. I found some other ISMers, who confirmed that a bus had been bombed only a few blocks away. Several reporters and photographers who had been socializing with us decided to head over to investigate the scene, and I opted to accompany them.

The bombing took place literally a few blocks away. We arrived in the area about 20 or 30 minutes after the blast, and the authorities were still in the process of securing the scene, erecting barricades and stationing soldiers and police all over the area. I followed an AP photographer who had a good deal of experience getting around such obstacles, and actually managed to get myself admitted into the press area by flashing my student ID card as if it were a press pass.

Although the wounded had already been evacuated when I arrived, and I really didn?t see any blood, it was still a profoundly disturbing scene. I could see the wreckage of the bombed-out bus, with all the windows gone, and another car wreck behind it, which seemed to have rear-ended the bus in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. Most of the damage to the bus itself seemed to be concentrated in the front, but clearly the windows, straight through to the back, had been blown out by the force of the blast. I heard a lot of people on the scene discussing various other details that I wasn?t able to confirm visually: that another bus ahead of this one had also been damaged, that the bomb was packed with a large amount of metal pellets, etc.

The bombing occurred on the right-hand side of a three way intersection, and I spent most of my time on the left-hand side of the intersection, behind a police line. There was a circular median in the middle, about thirty feet in front of me ? and it was here that about a dozen men were arranging the bodies as they were carried out of the wreckage in white bags. Another ten or fifteen feet beyond this was the wreckage of the bus itself.

When I first arrived, there were only about four or five bodies arranged on the median. I was astonished and horrified as the number kept multiplying as more and more bodies were pulled from the wreckage. Some of the bags were very small. I imagine these probably contained body parts. It wasn?t until all twenty bodies had been brought out that the authorities began loading them onto ambulances and carting them away. I noticed one body being taken away that couldn?t have been more than three or four feet tall.

One of the people I was with commented beforehand that he anticipated flashbulbs going off madly as soon as they began moving the bodies. I witnessed many photographers angrily demanding that soldiers and police move aside to provide a clear view of the carnage. The soldiers almost always obliged, and even invited some photographers to cross the police line and take close-up shots of people picking up the smaller chunks of flesh and bone that lay closer to the bus. Earlier, before I?d gotten into the press area, I?d encountered an amateur photographer who told me how excited he was to be at the scene, and how he hoped to snap pictures of the bodies to sell to the media. ?I could make $2000, easy?, he bragged. I was absolutely disgusted, and got away from him as quickly as I could.

There were a lot of different types of workers and security personnel at the scene, including soldiers, police with automatic weapons, the bomb squad and their dogs, and Orthodox Jewish volunteers who go to the scenes of bombings and other such attacks to make sure that every particle of flesh and blood is collected for burial, in accordance with Jewish law. The whole area was illuminated by huge, truck-mounted floodlights that were still being brought in when I arrived. There was also a fire truck parked ahead and to the left of where I was standing, but the fire had already been extinguished when I got there, and I didn?t actually notice any fire department personnel, although I don?t actually know what their uniforms look like.

Surrounding the press and the area in which the police were working, on virtually every side, were large crowds of Orthodox Jews. At times, they were chanting in Hebrew, though I wasn?t able to understand them. At various points, fist-fights broke out in the crowds. Perhaps some people would find this odd, but to me, given the intensity of the emotions I was seeing from nearly everyone on the scene, it seemed almost like a natural reaction. Later, I heard that a group of Orthodox Jews, farther back and to the right of where I had been standing, had begun throwing stones at a passing Palestinian until police or soldiers intervened.

I also found out later that while I was observing the scene of the carnage, just outside Damascus Gate, police and soldiers were rounding up every Palestinian in site. Many were beaten, including an old man who had been pushing a cart of bread that he had been selling, who was knocked to the ground (along with his cart) by soldiers. In the process, he lost his glasses, which an ISMer struggled to help him find later, in the dark. As I understand, most of these men were not arrested, but were detained for some time. Several ISMers attempted to intervene to prevent the beatings, and were themselves rounded up and detained along with the Palestinians.

For most of the time that I was at the scene, I was surrounded by reporters and photographers competing for the best shots. CNN and FOX were broadcasting from only a few feet away from me, and a lot of other international and Israeli correspondents were also present. Former Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert arrived in a bullet-proof vest, and was heckled by the crowds of Orthodox Jews, addressing him (as it was translated for me) as ?Pussy Olmert?. Police and other officials were giving interviews all around me.

It wasn?t long before I realized I had a very interesting perspective - being Jewish, being pro-Palestinian, and having just travelled and volunteered in the Occupied West Bank, I had now seen ever side of this conflict. I thought, because of this perspective, that I should call media outlets back in the US and see if any of them wanted to hear my eyewitness account. I ended up giving several interviews , including one to a reporter who requested a photograph of myself at the scene, which I obtained from one of the media professionals I was with. I had really mixed feelings about this, as I thought that such a photograph would make ME the focus of the story ? rather than the innocent people who died.

I think the worst thing I saw that night was the expression on the face of a young boy, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, in the crowd of Orthodox Jews. The expression is really hard to describe; he just looked like his entire world had been shattered. I?d seen similar looks on the faces of Palestinian children, but these were all long after the horrific incidents that they were reacting to, and of a different sort. They had the same kind of looks on their faces that I imagined this young boy?s would eventually turn into. But this, a reaction to something horrifying in the here and now, was considerably more intense ? and profoundly upsetting.

I?ve talked to reporters about how horrible it was to experience this, and how I was viewing it in the context of so many fucked up things that I had seen in the past few weeks, most of which I haven?t been able to write about yet. One reporter didn?t seem to understand how I could witness such a horrific act committed by Palestinians and still criticize Israel for its crimes against them. ?There is never any justification for the deliberate killing of civilians?, I tried to explain. I tried to convey the horror and intensity of what I was seeing, while trying to make the point that I feared such attacks would continue until Israel took concrete steps towards a just and lasting peace. In my opinion, the critical first step to achieving that is ending the occupation that began in 1967. Until then, the very measures that Israel ostensibly takes AGAINST such attacks ends up intensifying the conditions that MOTIVATE the attacks in the first place.

I haven?t read all the articles I?ve been quoted in yet, but I?m worried about coming across as somehow taking advantage of this tragedy to get up on a political soapbox and talk about ending the occupation. Also, I?m disturbed by the fact that one of the articles I have yet to read focuses on ME specifically. I never wanted my experience as a witness to this tragedy to be the focus of an entire article. I merely hoped to be one voice out of many, quoted in the context of other people reacting at the scene, yet most likely providing a slightly different perspective. In my opinion, the story isn?t about ME. It?s about the innocent people who died, the latest victims in a cycle of violence that has claimed too many lives on both sides. I?m afraid that focusing on my own experience detracts from the story, and perhaps even disrespects the memory of those who died.

I spoke to a Palestinian merchant today, and although I didn?t bring it up, the topic eventually turned to politics. He asked me what I thought of the roadmap, and I told him I thought it was unfair and imbalanced, as it didn?t really require many concrete steps from the Israelis, nor did it address the crucial issues of Palestinian refugees forced to leave their homes in 1948, or the status of Jerusalem. I described a bit about my background, what I was doing in Palestine, and why. He told me that he?d never before met a Jew who would even use the word ?Palestine?, let alone express any reservations about Israeli policy. He told me that he was totally opposed to the attacks carried out by groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but that it seemed like Israel was deliberately provoking them by repeatedly violating ceasefire agreements and making life miserable for ordinary Palestinians. He said he longed for the day when Palestinians and Israelis could live side by side in peace, but that he was doubtful that such peace would come in his lifetime. He gave me his business card, and invited me to come visit him for tea and conversation the next time I was in Palestine.

That about wraps up my experience with regard to the bombing, truly a terrible experience that I?ll never be able to forget, though emotionally, having seen so much devastation and misery in the past few weeks, I?m feeling kind of numb, and as though the full horror of what I saw has yet to sink in. I?ve experienced worse things, albeit indirectly, when my girlfriend of many years, with whom I was living at the time, escaped the collapsing wreckage of the World Trade Center, but with emotional scars that will probably never heal. She described a lot of her experience to me, and it was one of the worst things I?d ever heard ? but nothing compares with the feeling of actually BEING THERE and experiencing such horrors firsthand.

I spent part of yesterday in Tel Aviv, attending a deportation hearing for two ISMers arrested while trying to prevent another Palestinian home from being demolished in the Nablus region one week ago. The two men, Andrew and Andreas, had been held at the illegal West Bank settlement of Ariel since their arrest (the same place I was held after being arrested at Ma?sha). The entire hearing was conducted in Hebrew, and neither the defendants, nor myself and the other ISMers with me, had any access to a translator. The judge seemed to have made up his mind well before the proceeding began, and seemed to be paying scant attention to the defense put forward by the ISM lawyers. Once the prosecutor had spoken, he delivered a long editorial tirade against ISM, accusing us of aiding terrorists, and other equally unfounded and outright offensive allegations. Andrew and Andreas are set to be deported to Scotland and Sweden, respectively ? but for up-to-date information about their status, you should probably check the ISM website at www.palsolidarity.org, or call the ISM media office.

I?m leaving the country soon, but I expect to submit at least one more reportback before departing, and then at least one more once I?m back in the States. Thanks to everyone who?s toughed out my long-winded missives, and to my support team for editing and forwarding them around. Back in the States, I plan on speaking about my experiences (as well as presenting photographs) in as many venues as possible. I imagine that information about my speaking schedule will eventually be posted to this list.

Abe Greenhouse Occupied East Jerusalem August 23rd, 2003

by Eoin Dubsky Tue Aug 26, 2003 18:29

Whereas Israel's WMD development may be going under water with the help of German submarines, US and French nuke developments are going digital... With the help of HP/Compaq in Galway.

Read at the link below the Irish Examiner article which blew HP's cover.

by kokomero Tue Aug 26, 2003 13:14

It is ironic that Israeli securocrats are prepared to go to any lengths including to risk contaminating the promised land with nuclear waste in order to continue their arms race against themselves!

Monday, February 07, 2000 13:24
Sunday Times: Close Dimona nuclear facility
(IsraelWire-2/7) According to a Sunday Times report, quoting Professor Uzi Eben, a former senior official in Israel’s nuclear program, Eben is calling for the immediate closure of the facility which poses serious dangers and is not safe, and may lead to another Chernobyl. Eben is calling for a start of the process which would lead to the shutting of the facility at the very least.

The Times quotes Israeli scientists calling for the shutting of the facility which they deem unsafe, to prevent “A second Chernobyl.”

The daily Yediot Ahronot reports that experts have pointed out the Dimona facility began operating in 1960, and the nuclear plant is now approaching 40 years of operation. Yediot adds that experts report that facilities as old as Dimona are being shut around the world due to the dangers they pose to the area residents and environment.

Eben, quoted by Yediot, stated that the operations at the facility have contributed to its “aging process”, adding that although it is not comparable with the Chernobyl facility prior to the meltdown, it does pose a significant threat to the area and must be shut to avert a catastrophe.

Among problems, which may be encountered according to Eben, is leakage of radioactive water used to cool the facility, difficulty in controlling the facility. The Times adds that in addition to Eben, another prominent member of the scientific community who remains anonymous added his name to those calling for the shutting of the facility, explaining that the prolonged exposure of the structure to the radiation has rendered it prone to a disaster and has compromised it integrity.

Atomic Energy Commission officials responded, stating the facility is maintained in accordance with the highest standards, and remains under the watchful eye of experts and is supervised by the public commission responsible for the security of Israel’s nuclear program.

by kokomero Tue Aug 26, 2003 13:11

Israels WMD hjas moved up a gear since 1998 when they acquired 3 large submarines from the Germans.

In 2000 they conducted their first sea-launched missile test, successfully hitting a target 900 miles away with a sea-launched cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

http://www.fas.org/news/israel/e20000619israelmakes.htm

by kokomero Tue Aug 26, 2003 12:48

Dick cheese has obviously made Seanin go soft in the head.

Vanunu is a prisoner of conscience and his incarceration has been debated at length on this site over the past few weeks.

Dr. David Kelly's treatment in the UK pales into insignificance when compared with the Israeli state's abuse of power, incarcerating Vanunu for much longer than would be necessary to protect state secrets, and smacks of pure vindictiveness and double-standards where the Israelis attempt to claim the moral high ground compared to their neighbours.

He is being held in order to discourage other Israeli scientists and engineers from revealing the full extent of Israels WMD programmes which have yielded an estimated 200-400 nukes, intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking the eastern seaboard of the US (10000km range).

It all begs the question ... with peace treaties in place and at least de-facto peace with all of their neighbours why do the Israelis need such a massive stock of WMD and to be able to hit most of the major population centres worldwide with them?

Surely this is an example of a state which while apparently democratic, is being run by it's security apparatus, and not vice-versa?

It is time for Israeli citizens to take back control of their own lives and the machinery of their state.

by Precision Man Tue Aug 26, 2003 09:39

Don't expect any sense from seainin, he's not quite the full 6.35 cents.

by Torque Wench Tue Aug 26, 2003 03:45

Seainin, if you want to call Vanunu a traitor to his country that's fine, but what he did, he did for his people not for a country or a government. If a nazi officer had aided the allied forces during the Second World War would you be so ready to condemn him? Or if an Iraqi official did the same? Loyalty to one's country can be a good thing, but only if that loyalty is deserved and the truth is, it's a matter of opinion as whether Israel is deserving.
Indeed his actions HAVE served as a warning to others and if anyone out there has seen the BCC documentary listed in this article, you'll have seen the pressure exerted by the Israeli authorities on the former Dimona workers who were too scared to speak to journalists because they were told they would "end up like Vanunu". This, in a supposed democracy.
I didn't realise when writing the above article that other people had already posted about it, but I'm amazed how few people know of Vanunu and that in a time when America is locked in a "Holy War" in the name of ridding the Middle East of WMD that a man is languishing in prison for doing just that.

by Seáinín Tue Aug 26, 2003 02:48

This traitor betrayed his country at the height of the Cold War. Let his fate be a warning to others.