Dear Brother Ken

You made me LOL with your statement regarding me:"I'm sure comment from her is forthcoming."I wouldn't want to ever let you down, so here it is:

Once upon a time, I met a hero of mine named Mordechai Vanunu. The saying goes you should never meet your hero's but I am glad I met one of mine, for he inspired me to put up my website. Not by any encouragement he ever gave me, but because in June 2005, I got to learn about his childhood and his long strange trip into Christianity.

I also learned that he was just a regular guy who did something extra-ordinary by standing up to Big Brother by telling the truth in 1986 that Israel had gone nuclear.

 

Although 'freed' since 2004, he is forbidden to leave Jerusalem, speak to media or foreignors. Israel claims he still has a 'secret' he has yet to tell about the Dimona WMD Plant, but V has NOT been there in over 21 years and International Inspectors NEVER HAVE!!!

 V told me some great stories about what kind of kid he had been, but I only told him two of mine:

 

I told him that when I was a child, my dream was to grow up and become Brenda Starr, the ace investigative journalist of the Sunday Comics. Vanunu had never even heard of Brenda and he looked at me like I was nuts, when I explained who she was and that I was convinced that his story would wake up American Christians about the truth in the Holy Land, and I was going to do all I could to tell them about it, just like Brenda would.

I also told Vanunu how a little boy of Beit Jala, a suburb on the west side of the Little Town of Bethlehem, irrevocably changed my life and how he-Vanunu got caught up in my mind with that little boy of Bethlehem.

If you click onto my site, it is George's face you see on the WAWA Banner. The photo was taken in 2000, by photographer Debbie Hill, the morning after the Israeli army destroyed his bedroom in retaliation for a few hopeless militants who had infiltrated his once peaceful Christian village to snipe across the way into the illegal settlement/colony of Gilo.

The shrapnel that pierced the wall of George's sanctuary read 'Made in USA' and was delivered via American made Apache helicopters.

The second I saw George's eyes, in the photo that was first published by the Florida Catholic, my heart said "DO SOMETHING!"

What could I possibly do I wondered, but I did make a copy of the photo, put it in a frame and placed it upon the altar [a bar high table] in the upper room of my home. Dozens of times a day, I would stop and gaze into the eyes of that little boy of Bethlehem and beg God to end the insane cycle of violence in the Holy Land for the sake of all the children who live there and deliver and release me from the incessant voice that demands:

"DO SOMETHING!"

All these years later, every time I look at George's eyes-or even think about him-the persistent voice continues the incessant refrain:

"DO SOMETHING!"

When I met George for the first time in June 2005, I vowed to him that I would spend the rest of my life doing all I could to help bring about the end of the occupation of Palestine, which has now entered its 40th year.

I have traveled four times and am heading back for a fifth to Israel Palestine on Friday the 13th of July, to learn more and report on the www, to visit George and assist a pediatrician [I am a retired RN] in the refugee camps of the Little Town of Bethlehem: which is Occupied Territory.

But, back to Vanunu:

In April 2005, two months before my first trip to Israel Palestine, I tuned the TV on and the History channel appeared. They were broadcasting a show called, "Sexpionage" all about Russian female spies and one from the Mossad.

The very clip that ran before my eyes was of Vanunu being transported to his closed door trial depicting his inspired move to write upon his palm: "HIJACKED" and the Rome flight number he had been on.

They also showed a black and white photo of a bearded, unkempt and dishelved Vanunu and his eyes looked just like George's of Beit Jala's, and immediately I heard in my heart:

"Do Something!"

It was not until I met Vanunu, did I learn his eyes are NOT at all like George's deep brown eyes, but what I have done is follow Vanunu's historic FREEDOM OF SPEECH TRIAL, which has been completely ignored by the USA Media and I stream video of Vanunu in the spirit of Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Israel agreed to uphold and was contingent upon their statehood:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

A few weeks ago Vanunu emailed me his final email to me to respect his privacy and delete those videos from my site. I emailed him back, that I will respect his privacy and never contact him again, but the videos will remain as they are history and I believe that they are the 'do something', I was called to do.

"30 Minutes With Vanunu" and V's message to USA Christians is FREELY STREAMING on WAWA:

http://www.wearewideawake.org/

 

PS-V was convicted of interviews he gave in 2004, my 'unprofessional' civilian journalist videos were taped in 2005 and 2006.

 

 

 

by Eileen Fleming (146 articles, 51 quicklinks, 266 diaries, 579 comments) on Monday, July 2, 2007 at 8:24:30 PM
 

I'm honored

Eileen:

I'm honored that you consider me your brother. I will try to live up to that.

Ken

by Kenneth Barr (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 77 comments) on Monday, July 2, 2007 at 8:40:48 PM
 

brother, it goes both ways

I have been told I take after my Polish Jewish Grandfather, [who married my Irish not-so good Catholic Grandmother], but he died before I learned how many of our relatives were gassed and fried because good people did nothing for too very long,

 

And because I love and have learned much from Micah, Jeremiah and Rabbi Hillel,

 

I 'feel' Jewish, even though I am not 'legal' and you are a kindred spirit and truth teller, justice and peace seeker, so I am blessed to have 'met' you in cyber space, my brother in Christ with Jewish roots.

 

e

 

 

 

by Eileen Fleming (146 articles, 51 quicklinks, 266 diaries, 579 comments) on Monday, July 2, 2007 at 9:22:01 PM
 

!938, Israel, and today

Vanunu gave away what is Israel's defense against what was terribly uneven odds in a very dangerous neighborhood. He is on a par with Klaus Fuchs and other traitors who gave the Rusians atomic secrets.Those bash Israel blogers who hate the very existence of Israel will cheer. (This may not be you Ken, but your short piece supports their position) Israel's atomic power acts as a deterent to the 22 Arab states who spout genocide.Their press, media, school textbooks, and whole educational system press for destruction of the Jewish state. This is the core of the conflict-Arab unacceptance of the presence of n independent  Jewish presence.

by philip rosen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 93 comments) on Tuesday, July 3, 2007 at 8:24:23 PM
 

Your Take on Vanunu

First, I take it you meant 1938 in your title.  Hey, typos happen to us all.

As far as Vanunu goes, Israel wanted to keep its nuclear capability a secret from everyone, including its "very close ally and good friend," the United States.  Add to that Pollard's reason for contacting me, which I can't divulge unless I want to spend at least 20 years in Super Max, and you will understand my position on this better.  As I have stated in other places, Israel is a political entity.  I don't deny its right to exist, indeed, I understand the necessity for a Jewish Homeland.  However, there is a difference between a Homeland and a State.  The biggest one is that Israel has established Judaism as the State Religion, which Herzl felt would create more problems than it would solve.  Unfortunately, I think Herzl has been proven right.

Are there hardliners in the Arab World who still want to eradicate anything that is Jewish in the Middle East?  Of course.  Are there reasonable forces within the Arab World that would like nothing better than to peacefully coexist with Israel?  The same answer applies.  However, as long as Israel pursues policies that treat Arabs as less than equal within its zone of control, peaceful coexistence will remain elusive.  The murder of Yitzak Rabin has been a grevious blow to the cause of peace.

One more thing, criticism of Israel is not tantamount to advancing the radical Arab cause or anti-Semetism (which you, to your credit, did not raise).  If that were so, 48% of those polled recently by Haaretz would be considered either supporters of radical Arabism or anti-Semetic.  Kind of ridiculous, don't you think?  The argument that I am saying what they say is circular; it's like Bush claiming that any criticism of his Iraq policy is advancing al-Qaeda's agenda.

The State of Israel cannot be the central theme of Judaism.  The religion is about far more than land ownership.  Let's not devalue it for it has survived so much and has influenced so many for the cause of good.

by Kenneth Barr (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 77 comments) on Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 8:17:17 PM