On Hiroshima Day - KM Urges Pardon for Vanunu

from Rayna Moss

Marking the 56th anniversary of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Knesset Member Issam Makhoul (Hadash) appealed to Israeli President Moshe Katzav to pardon nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu and release him from prison, where he has spent the last 14 years.

In his letter to President Katzav, KM Makhoul wrote:

The memory of the hundreds of thousands of Japanese victims of the atom bomb must continue to be engraved on the conscience of all humanity, as inspiration to halt the manufacture, proliferation and stockpiling of nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction... and for creating nuclear-free zones and zones free of all weapons of mass destruction, including in the Middle East.

This is an opportunity for the President of the State of Israel to raise awareness in Israel to the terrible significance of the generations-long suffering in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to raise awareness to the importance of the humane, conscientious and moral struggle against the crime of manufacturing and stockpiling nuclear weapons, including by Israel.

Mr. President, From this historic viewpoint, and in this humanitarian context, I appeal to Your Excellency, and propose to sieze the opportunity of this 56th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the President of the State of Israel to take a historic step, and announce a pardon for prisoner of conscience and prisoner for humanity, Mordechai Vanunu. This step would send forth a meaningful humane, democratic and moral message.

Respectfully,

KM Issam Makhoul
August 8, 2001

Issam Makhoul is a member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) from the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash).