Adopting Mordechai

National Catholic Reporter, Nov 24, 2000 by Claire Schaeffer-Duffy

Couple thought they could help Israel's most notorious political prisoner, so now he's their son

Nick and Mary Eoloff, ages 71 and 68 respectively, have a family history similar to many Catholic couples of their generation. The soft-spoken couple from St. Paul, who met on a blind date, courted and got married 45 years ago. Six children arrived in 11 quick, exhausting years. He edited legal documents. She taught English at a public school and Our Lady of Peace Catholic High. Together, they relished their retirement and the grandchildren that kept coming and coming -- 16 at last count.

Recently, the Eoloffs added a new member to their family. On Oct. 27 they marked their third anniversary as adoptive parents of Israel's most notorious political prisoner, the nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, 46. In the summer of 1986, Vanunu, a former technician at Dimona, Israel's secret nuclear facility, provided photographs to The Sunday Times of London confirming that Israel, a purportedly non-nuclear state, possessed 100 to 200 nuclear warheads of advanced design. Kidnapped by Israeli agents on Sept. 30, 1986, he has spent almost 12 years of his 18-year sentence in solitary confinement in Israel's Ashkelon prison.

A prophet to some, a spy and traitor to others, Vanunu is, to Nick and Mary, their eldest child, the first on the list in Mary's litany for her children, prayed a "thousand times" throughout the unclaimed moments of the day. "Lord Jesus," she asks, "Son of the Living God, have mercy on Mordechai."

Aside from a small circle of family members, lawyers and priests, the Eoloffs are the only people ever to visit the incarcerated Vanunu, described by some as the most isolated prisoner in the history of Israeli prisons.

Nick and Mary first learned of Vanunu's case through a 1995 article in The Progressive magazine. They immediately began writing to him. He wrote back, and they forged a friendship through letters. Their sympathy for Vanunu was more than personal.

Veteran members of Pax Christi, the couple has a long history of working for nuclear disarmament and human rights. In 1980, the Eoloffs wrote a textbook on conscientious objection for Catholic educators. They opposed U.S. military intervention in Central America in the early 1980s, spoke out against the death penalty and torture, and protested the manufacture of nuclear weapon parts in their home state. Mary risked arrest six times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience.

Vanunu's case, the Eoloffs believed, needed more political support, so they wrote to their senators and congressman, two of whom asked U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to inquire into claims about the harsh conditions of his confinement. Albright replied that the Vanunu case was an internal issue for the Israelis and the U.S. government would not intervene on his behalf.

Meanwhile, Vanunu, who by this time had spent 10 years in isolation, began to show signs of mental deterioration. Deciphering his rambling, repetitious paragraphs of paranoia exhausted Mary, and she often delayed reading his letters. In early 1997, the Eoloffs "started to get worried." They wondered if Vanunu could retain his sanity during the remaining seven years of his sentence.

Israeli authorities maintained that Vanunu required isolation to protect him from other prisoners who might attack him, and to prohibit him from divulging classified information. Specifically, they feared he might give information on Israel's nuclear weapons program (Vanunu has said he has told all he knows) or speak about his abduction, which is considered to be a state secret by Israeli authorities but was a violation of Italian and international law. Vanunu has not agreed to remain silent about his kidnapping.

Drugged and bound

Immediately after his abduction in 1986, Vanunu was drugged, bound to a shipping crate "like an African slave," he told his brother, and brought to Israel. Israel did not acknowledge detaining Vanunu until Nov. 9, five weeks after his abduction. Author Mark Gaffney documents the early days of Vanunu's incarceration in his book Dimona the Third Temple? The Story Behind the Vanunu Revelation: "For the first month he was kept in solitary confinement in total darkness in a tiny room -- with only a mattress on the floor. During these first weeks, the authorities attempted to conceal his identity. They forced him to grow a beard, to wear a kind of hat usually worn by mental patients, and -- further mocking him -- they even tried to change his name to David Enosh, that is, David, `human being.'" Amnesty International reports that during his "secret detention he was apparently interrogated and made a confession."

Vanunu was charged on two main counts: assistance to an enemy and aggravated espionage. His trial began on Aug. 30, 1987, under what Gaffney describes as "exceptional security measures." A concrete and canvas tunnel was constructed to conceal his entry into the court. "Those who did catch a glimpse," Gaffney writes, "reported that Vanunu was taken in handcuffs, with his head concealed by a motorist's helmet. A police siren wailed as he was led in, apparently to prevent the prisoner from being heard if he tried to call out to newsmen." In every subsequent court appearance following his trial, Vanunu has been prevented from speaking, according to Amnesty International, "sometimes by being physically gagged."