On 13 October, Mordechai Vanunu will be 61. He was imprisoned for 18 years in 1986 for telling the world that Israel had secretly developed a large nuclear arsenal. Released in 2004 after having served his full sentence, he was put under severe restrictions on his freedom of movement, speech and association. In particular, he was refused the right to leave Israel as he wished and has wished for ever since. These restrictions have continued until now and his latest appeal against them was turned down by the Israeli high court on 21 September.
The campaign for Mordechai’s freedom will hold a vigil outside the Israeli embassy in London on Saturday 10 October, noon to 2pm, to celebrate his birthday and to share a birthday cake in his honour, and also to call for his 29 years of captivity in Israel to be ended so he can leave Israel with his Norwegian wife whom he married earlier this year.
Bruce Kent Vice-president, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, David Polden Secretary, London Region CND, Adeline O’Keeffe and Ernest Rodker
• Polly Toynbee seems confused, her world turned upside down (Britain isn’t quite ready for pacifism, 2 October). Rejection of nuclear weapons does not make one a pacifist. Without Trident, Britain could still be a proud, independent nation, reliable partner to our European neighbours, and, as in 1940, a damned hard nut to crack.
Howard Hilton
Audlem, Cheshire
