"My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace."-Alfred Nobel
Alfred Bernhard Nobel invented dynamite and when he wrote his last will, in 1895, he left most of his wealth to the establishment of the Nobel Prize to be used to reward human ingenuity and those with moral backbones. Nobel desired to award people whose work benefited humanity in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for those who work for peace.
Nobel clearly supported the anti-militaristic peace movement, such as the one headed by Bertha von Suttner, who in 1876, worked as Nobel's secretary-housekeeper for one week. Suttner became a novelist, radical pacifist, and was the first woman to be a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Although her personal contact with Alfred Nobel was brief, she corresponded with him until his death in 1896, and was a major influence in his decision to include a peace prize, which she won in 1905.
On February 24, 2010, Nobel Institute Director Geir Lundestad announced to the media that for the second year in a row, Mordechai Vanunu declined the honor of being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Vanunu has been nominated over twenty times for telling the world about Israel's clandestine underground weapons of mass destruction facility in 1986.
"The reason he gave was that Simon Peres had received the Nobel Peace Prize, and Peres he alleged was the father of the Israeli atomic bomb and he did not want to be associated with Peres in any way." [1]
Geir Lundestad, also said, "He can write all the letters he wants. He has been proposed by people who are eligible to nominate candidates, so his name will remain on the list" and added he was unlikely to win the award. [2]
Norwegian journalist, Ola Karlsen, wrote Vanunu, "The director of the Nobel Institute, Mr. Geir Lundestad, tells the news broadcaster NRK that they will not remove you from the list, and he also calls you pretentious. Could you comment on the statements and judgment of the Nobel Institutes director?" [3]
Vanunu wrote back:
1.The committee should respect my decision, if one wants not to be nominated that is his right.
2. The Nobel award to Simon Peres, not only that it was Bad judgment, bad choice, but that award legitimized Israel's very cruel, barbaric, hard punishment for me, with 12 years in Isolation, and full sentence 18 years, and continue until now more 6 years preventing me to go, to be free.
3. The Nobel committee in fact was saying by that award "ignore Vanunu, and Israel Nuclear policy is good, keep on cheating the world. Keep on the Nuclear Apartheid in the Middle East. Only Israel can have Nuclear Technology."
4.My target by this letter to send clear message to Norway Gov't and people, that what I want now, I need now, is freedom, passport, no any awards. This can be done by the Govt. FREEDOM NOW.NOW. Thank you, VMJC [Ibid]
In 2007, after Bishop Tutu nominated him, Vanunu told me he didn't want the Nobel Peace Prize if Israel would not allow him the freedom to go and accept it.
Within days of the announcement for 2009's Nobel Peace Prize, Vanunu wrote the Nobel Peace Prize Committee:
"I am asking the committee to remove my name from the nominations"I cannot be part of a list of laureates that includes Simon Peres"Peres established and developed the atomic weapon program in Dimona in Israel"Peres was the man who ordered [my] kidnapping"he continues to oppose my freedom and release"WHAT I WANT IS FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM"FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM I NEED NOW." [4]
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