On the afternoon of my very first day in Jerusalem, after I told Mother Agapia about my dream and what I had seen at the Pool of Bethsaida, she shrugged and smiled, then told me about the Jerusalem Interfaith Peace Conference with satellite link to the world that was happening the Sunday after the Thursday I was scheduled to return to the USA.
I knew immediately that I needed to attend and after saying goodbye to Mother Agapia, I phoned my husband to get his OK, changed my flight plans and on June 26, 2006, I attended the world wide satellite linked Interfaith Peace Conference at Jerusalem's Notre Dame Cathedral.
Dan Rather moderated from Washington DC and the Holy Land interfaith panel were all moderates attempting to reclaim the battlefield of ideas from extremists on both sides.
Dr. Tsvia Walden, Board of Director of the Peres Center and Geneva Initiative said, "There is a need for a third party in the negotiations that could enable both sides to trust each other. There are more people in this region interested in making concessions, they all want peace so desperately."
Rania Kharma, Coordinator of World Bank emergency services to the PA, reminded everyone, "We all need to be the bridges to our leaders that justice, equality, and human rights will bring peace. Give people justice and they will reward you with peace."
Sheik Imad Falouiji warned, "Religions must go back to their origins. God commands us to love each other and live together. This Holy Land was given to all people. This land is on fire. There is an occupation that must be removed. The language of peace cannot succeed without justice for all."
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Riah Abu Assal affirmed, "Peace is an act. Blessed are the peacemakers not the peace talkers. Peace is possible in the Holy Land. The root cause for the lack of peace since 1967 is the occupation. For peace to make progress in the Middle East we need to deal with the root cause...Religion was not meant to bring death. All those involved in searching for peace should commit themselves to work for justice and truth."
Throughout the entire evening, I kept remembering what President Bush promised in his Second Inaugural Address: "In the long run, there is no justice without FREEDOM. There can be no human rights without LIBERTY. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for liberty, we stand with you."
I also wondered what Bush would say to the video message Vanunu taped three days prior as to where WMD's could actually be found in the Middle East:
Click here to view
Vanunu's Video Message on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKTX3vrHQOE
On 24 April 2004, Uri Avnery wrote: (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
"This
week it became clear that the Americans are full partners in the
creation of Israel's "nuclear option". How was this exposed? With the
help of Mordecai Vanunu, of course. ...The Security Establishment has not
stopped harassing him even after he has sat in prison for 18 years, 11
of them in complete solitary confinement a treatment he himself
described on leaving the prison as "cruel and barbaric". After he was
"set free", far-reaching restrictions were imposed on him (e.g. he is
forbidden to leave the country, is restricted to one town, cannot go
near any embassy or consulate, may not talk with foreign citizens). All
this under the colonial British emergency regulations that were
condemned at the time by the leaders of the Jewish community in
Palestine, as "worse then the Nazi laws".
"Everybody understands
that he has no more secrets. What can a technician know after 18 years
in jail, during which technology has advanced with giant steps?...it
becomes clear what the security establishment is really afraid of.
Vanunu is in a position to expose the close partnership with the United
States in the development of Israel's nuclear armaments.
