Current issue of Kingston Peace News
Free at Last, Free at Last
by Rachel Leah Jones 21 April. 2004 (http://oznik.com/news/040421.html - dead link)
After 18 years in Israeli prison, 12 of them spent in solitary confinement,
Mordechai Vaanunu walked out today, proud of having disclosed the secret
of Israel's nuclear arsenal, and calling for nuclear disarmament of the
Middle East. Filmmaker Rachel Jones reports from outside the prison gates
18 years to prepare (well, in my case only 12, as it was in 1992 that
I first learned of Vanunu and his deeds), or even 3 hours (we assembled
at 8:00, I arrived at 8:30, by 11:30 he was released) -- and I was still
caught by surprise. Because we were all crowding and pushing and negotiating
our places in a four-pronged tug of war: supporters vs. opponents vs.
police vs. journalists. Each party vying for his/her privileged spot.
His/her right to be there and act as they please (and arguing between
them: supporters with supporters, opponents with opponents, journalists
with journalists, and cops with cops). The prospect of a stampede was
palpable. And then he emerged: starched white shirt, hands raised high.
V for victory, certainly his to claim if he wants.
Struggling to zoom in and catch a glimpse. As I replay the footage, I
see my little white hands pushing someone's little white arm out of the
frame (Susannah York...). And Gideon Spiro's "Welcome" sign
flapping in the wind, covering Vanunu's face intermittently. What my right
eye saw through the viewfinder, isn't what my left eye saw in front of
me: a tall, brown, healthy, silver-haired man approaching the front gate
with assurance and pride.
No Israeli Prison Service issued sweat-suit for our spy. You've probably
seen it better than me. As seen by the press pool. From behind. But his
approach was just that: he came to us. As though he had been waiting for
us for 18 years, and 3 hours, not we awaiting him. It was suddenly so
clear. Of course he had. Not us, per se, but what lay on our side of the
gate. It was as though he had come to strengthen us, not the other way
around.
He didn't just approach the gate, he jumped up on it, held onto it, and
continued to wave. V. Vanunu will forever be associated with his hands,
first with his kidnapping message, like a stop sign, telling us all to
wake up and act. And now with this banal but triumphant gesture.
And he came to us first. Only then did he go to the press. I could have
joined the pool, the "insiders" view. I have the credentials.
I chose to stay on the outside, and my footage is worthless. But I was
caught by surprise.