04504
November 11, 2004

Jerusalem bishop appeals to Christian leaders after Vanunu held 

by Ecumenical News International

GENEVA  — The Anglican bishop in Jerusalem condemned the detention on Thursday of nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, a Christian convert, in the grounds of the city’s Anglican cathedral, where the former technician had been holed up since his release from prison earlier this year. 

      Vanunu was reportedly detained on suspicion of disclosing more state secrets after he had completed an 18-year prison term for treason after divulging classified information about Israel’s nuclear programme to London’s Sunday Times newspaper. 

      “The Israeli special police force entered St George’s Cathedral Close today without permission and took Mordechai Vanunu into custody,” said Anglican Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal from Jerusalem.

      “This type of entry into a sacred space must not be tolerated by the churches throughout the world, and it must not be accepted those who respect the rights and dignity of every person,” the bishop said in a letter to Christian leaders, including the worldwide Anglican head, the archbishop of Canterbury, and World Council of Churches’ general secretary Samuel Kobia. 

      The letter was made available to Ecumenical News International in Geneva.

      “In the 100 years of the cathedral’s history, such an event has never taken place,” the bishop said, adding that it had been a traumatic incident that had terrorized many tourists, pilgrims and staff at the cathedral. 

      Vanunu had been staying at a guesthouse inside the compound of the St George’s Cathedral, at the invitation of the bishop, after his release from prison in April this year. Israel had placed a number of strict restrictions on Vanunu, including a ban on him talking to foreign media and traveling abroad. 

      In July, Israeli police said they were investigating whether the former technician at Israel’s secret Dimona nuclear facility had violated the terms of his release from prison. 

      Bishop El-Assal said about 30 police officers, many with firearms, entered the cathedral grounds early on Thursday. But the armed officers later withdrew after remonstrations from the bishop. “However, it came to my attention later that at least one of the officers still carried a concealed weapon. This was after I had been reassured that all weapons had been removed from the church grounds,” the bishop said. 

      “It is inconceivable why such force is mandated for procedures like today’s,” the bishop said. 

      Vanunu’s disclosures to the Sunday Times in 1986 followed his conversion to Christianity while living in Sydney, Australia, where he came under the guidance of an Anglican priest.