Thoughts From Israel
by Phil Lloyd
The City of Haifa, Israel, became our next stop after a lovely sail from Egypt.
A tug boat bigger than us, wrestled us into position, near the ferry terminal.
I managed to get ashore latter that evening. Caught a ride to the top of the hill and found a pub called "The Bear". I drank a beer or two and listened to some "Salmonella Dub" a band from New Zealand. My mind wandered to thoughts of home.
We had an open ship and got the chance to work with some locals, hear their opinions and discuss local issues. The idea that because Israel has nukes is what has "stopped our neighbours breaking down our doors..." is absurd. Not everyone share this opinion that is for sure. But we all know that nuclear weapons are a false sense of security. It has in fact made the region less stable. Since we began this tour all of the countries in the region have nuclear facilities on the table for discussion. Many citing Israel and Iran as the reason.
My feeling is that as a result of New Zealand being nuclear free we have become the safest country in the world. The New Zealander who split the atom all those years ago, Sir Ernest Rutherford, died a frustrated man. He did not know that his work would lead to such prolific and dirty technology. That we would dare to use it on other human beings. That there would be so much waste with no way of disposing of it.
Yet the nuclear industry is gathering momentum. From having faded into near obscurity with no new plants ordered in the US for 30 years without being cancelled, to setting up a kiosk at the COP 3, Kyoto Protocol meeting in 1997. The stand and the material they distributed talked of how their industry was safer now with new generation reactors and no CO2 emissions. Of course they didn’t mention that the new generation "Pebble-Bed" reactor they built in Germany in 86 leaked radiation and was shut down permanently.
Now Uranium shares have risen 1000% since 1999. Its considered the hot commodity. The two largest Uranium mining companies just merged their efforts. Looks like we might have enough of it to last for 40 or 50 years.
The carbon intensity of uranium ore mining and milling, steel and concrete in power station construction, and transportation of fuel and waste means it is far from carbon neutral.
Anyhow......I digress. We sailed to Tel Aviv and anchored close to the shore. I drove the "Avon" into the old fishing harbour and the campaign went ashore to a press conference. Greenpeace released a map showing where all the nuclear facilities are located in Israel. The voice of ambiguity as to whether Israel has nuclear can no longer be heard.
I got to spend alot of quality time with Israelis and found them more aware of the regions problems than I gave them credit for. I’m still in touch with several of them. That day while doing one of the boat runs the gear change cable broke and I had to remove it and change gear manually to get back to the ship.
We launched the smaller inflatable and ran a rescue mission in the dark. The boat that we had chartered to bring people out to the Rainbow Warrior, got rope caught in its propellor. Mission accomplished the chartered boat then proceeded to make it known why "seamanship" is so important. A worse display of "seamanship" I have not seen as they failed to come alongside the RW.
The crew stepped in and had to run the two small boats, many trips, to bring the people from shore to the Warrior. I thought that they were all very brave and made for a wonderful evening with wonderful people.
That night we set sail back to Haifa for another open boat, live music and more great people. Looking over to port from the bridge deck while talking about the nuclear issue is warship after warship. A US destroyer docked with a submarine as escort. The British just announced they will upgrade their nuclear missiles..........seems like we still have some work to do.
Comments
The Middle East is an extremely sensitive area and its inhabitants' sense of security is fragile and constantly put to the test. Nuclear energy in general and nuclear weapons in particular, especially the ambiguity surrounding those issues, are without a doubt extremely dangerous and deadly both to our planet and the human race. There is no question that nuclear energy is NOT a legitimate path to undertake and that it has no place in the world, including the Middle East and of course Israel.
The only question we must ask ourselves is what is the most efficient way to get to a "Nuclear Free Middle East"? What is the way to get to peoples' hearts and minds?
Yes, the sense of security nuclear weapons seem to generate within people is obviously fake; yet it is like a warm blanket on a cold winter night- It makes us feel worm and safe, even when we know the rest of the world is freezing. It is also like a drug- you know that good feeling of high is artificial, you know the down is gonna come and you know it's gonna be terrible- but you can't stop. It's a scary world outside and there's nothing else to make you feel quite as good. So how do you get someone off drugs? Well, it's a process, long and hard. And a part of that process is Methadone- a substitute.
The point is, Israel's nuclear ambiguity is the "stable" ground many Israelis think they stand on in an ocean of local political and ideological loneliness and never knowing what's gonna come next. If you remove the ground from underneath someones feet, or moreover- if you want someone to willingly relinquish that ground, you must give them another ground to stand on: An ongoing peace process with substantial chances for at least minimal succuss, evident cooperation from Iran and/or the USA (i.e. the Kyoto protocol...), anything to say they are not alone and exposed in front of a firing squad. If you take the drug away and offer no methadone, they won't stop using. If you get rid of the symptom and leave the problem unsolved- it's only a matter of time before the symptom will resurface yet again.
I could not agree more with the conclusions the author makes, but I do believe there is room to be more sensitive and understanding, to take things slowly step by step. When attacked with accusations, peoples' minds shut the information out, and what we want them to do, what we all hope and pray for them to do, is to open up!
People in this area are afraid. Perhaps they're not afraid enough of what they should be afraid of the most;
We need a Nuclear Free Middle East! First of all, however, we need a FREE Middle East!
Hopefully, when that day comes it won't be too late...
Posted by: Tamara Pearlman | April 9, 2007 4:47 PM
Dear Phil,
I do hope that you crew get safe to their homes safely, in the end of your important trip.
It was an awsome exprience - staying on the ship, talking with the global crew, staying with the other Israeli volunters, hearing lectures from GP officials, watching the great concerts, and most of all, for me, guiding the local Israelis on the ship, explaining them what is Greenpeace, what it has been doing since its existance, and what it was able to achieve in Israel.
Alot of people were prejduice, and had negative image of Greenpeace in their minds.
I think that alot of work has to be done in Israel.
The successes Greenpeace had in Israel were great, Solar energy is great, and the Solar power plan is the first step toward a Solar Israel, a step that will remove at least dozens of Israelis from the death statistics every year.
The Toxic campigan had some serval tactic victories - stoping the polution of the Seas and Rivers in Israel, but it must be part of a constant, ongoing effort, to make sure that the premission to destroy this countries seas and rivers is banned for good.
Regarding the nuclear issue -
1)Israel MUST NOT use nuclear energy as a source for cheap electricity. We all remember what happened in Chernobyl.
Israel is too small, if it's leaking, we all will be dead.
Posted by: Tomer Keret | April 13, 2007 5:57 PM