Mordechai Vanunu on hunger strike

Mordechai Vanunu on hunger strikeMordechai Vanunu, an Israeli sentenced to 18 years' prison in 1986 for publicising the existence of Israel's nuclear weapons industry, began a hunger strike on September 28 in protest against his nine years in solitary confinement. September 30 marks the ninth anniversary of his kidnapping in Rome by Israeli agents. He was tried in secret on charges of spying for a foreign power. Two British doctors were recently refused permission by Israeli authorities on security grounds to check Vanunu's mental and physical health.

There has been an international campaign for Vanunu's release since his trial when he managed to alert a journalist to his plight. A spokesperson for Shalom-Salaam, a Sydney Jewish group for Palestinian independence, said that Vanunu, far from being a traitor, had acted from deep a conviction in what he considered the best interests of the Israeli public and its neighbours.

Israel has always denied having nuclear weapons.|>n

From GLW issue 205