JACK COHEN-JOPPA
FELICE COHEN-JOPPA
They are coordinators of the U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu. Jack Cohen-Joppa said today: “Mordechai Vanunu, a former nuclear technician who revealed Israel’s nuclear capacity to the London Sunday Times in 1986, is scheduled to be released from prison Wednesday. Vanunu has been jailed by Israel for 18 years, most of it in solitary confinement. In 1986, after supplying the Sunday Times with pictures and details of Israel’s nuclear capacity, Vanunu was drugged and smuggled to Israel. Israel has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Both the U.S. and Israeli governments have refused to comment on Israel’s nuclear arsenal, which is widely estimated at 200 warheads. Israel is placing restrictions on Vanunu after his release including not being allowed to leave Israel (Vanunu has indicated he wishes to come to the U.S.) and not being allowed to have contact with foreigners, possibly including his U.S. adoptive parents. Vanunu has been nominated repeatedly for the Nobel Peace Prize and other activists from around the world, including Mairead McGuire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, have gathered to greet him upon his release, but fear that any interaction with him could lead to further penalties by the Israeli government.”
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MARK GAFFNEY
Gaffney is author of the book Dimona — The Third Temple: The Story Behind the Vanunu Revelation about Israel’s nuclear program. He also wrote the recent article “The Case of Mordechai Vanunu: Preeminent Hero of the Nuclear Age.”
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MARK LYNCH
Yesterday the Jordanian King abruptly cancelled a meeting with President Bush that was scheduled for Wednesday. Lynch is assistant professor of political science at Williams College. He wrote the article “Jordan’s King Abdallah in Washington” at the time of the Jordanian King’s visit in 2002. Lynch is available for interviews about Jordanian politics and public opinion. He said today: “After risking much to help the U.S. government in Iraq and Israel, Arab leaders such as King Abdallah feel especially betrayed by Bush. Abdallah faces an outraged Jordanian public….”
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TERRY BOULLATA
Boullata, who will be in the U.S. until May 1, is headmistress of a school in the West Bank. She lives with her husband and two children on the edge of Abu Dis on the West Bank. The wall that the Israeli government is constructing is going up between her neighborhood and her town, leaving her house on the Israeli side. When it’s finished, the barrier will cut her family off from direct access to work, schools and relatives in Abu Dis.
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
