top of page
1985 Interviews with Rongelap Islanders in "Operation Exodus" with Greenpeace during their re-location to Mejato in Kwajalein Atoll aboard the ill-fated "Rainbow Warrior"
U P D A T E
One of the former French DGS&E [CIA] agents who bombed the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior" in 1985 - Jean-Luc Kister - has apologized for his role in the sabotage. "I have the blood of an innocent man on my conscience," said Kister. Go here for the article in The Atlantic
These two videos capture the 2015 apology by the French spy who bombed the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior" in 1985. The video on the left is 23-minutes long and the video on the right is 5-minutes in length.
Sen. Jeton Anjain's 2-Part Interview in English is on the List Below:
See Below for Featured Transcribed Interviews in English
Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior" in Rongelap lagoon during the 1985 "Operation Exodus" Rongelap evacation to Mejato Island in Kwajalein Atoll. Weeks after the Rongelap evacuation the "Rainbow Warrior" would be mined, sabotaged and destroyed in Auckland, New Zealand by the French equivalent agency DGSE to the U.S. CIA. Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira died in the French attack on the Greenpeace ship en route to head an anti-nuclear regatta of 40 ships to protest French nuclear testing at Moruroa and Fangataufa in French Polynesia. Ironically, the French mining a Greenpeace ship - and killing a crew member - brought 100 times the publicity to French nuclear testing in the 1980s than would have been otherwise.
Mejato Island in the northern portion of Kwajalein Atoll and home of the newly exiled Rongelap Islanders who abandoned their home atoll [in 1985 with the help of Green- peace] due to fears of lingering radiation from the 67 atomic and hydrogen bomb tests in their islands between 1946-58.
Senator Jeton Anjain [above and below] aboard the [ill-fated] Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior" during the historic 1985 evac- uation of the Rongelap islanders and re-location to Mejato Island in Kwajalein Atoll. Sen. Anjain was a key figure in the decision to move the people of Rongelap, citing U.S. DOE data that showed [inhabited] Rongelap having some radiation levels equalling [uninhabited] Bikini.
You can listen to the 2-part SoundCloud audio version of Sen. Jeton Anjain [above on SoundCloud] or read the English transcription by clicking here
​
​
​
Schoolteacher Aisen Tima saying goodbye to his home of Rongelap Atoll during the 1985 historic "Operation Exodus" by the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior."
Carol Bolkein in her new home of Mejato
Island after the 1985 "Operation Exodus" evacuation of Rongelap Atoll with the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior" shortly before it was bombed in New Zealand. Carol was born to two Rongelap exposed parents, and died shortly after this photograph was taken. Women on Rongelap said they never witnessed babies like Carole before the nuclear testing in their islands.
Carole Bolkein held by her grandfather
on new home island of Mejato in May 1985during the Rongelap evacuation. Carole's parents were both exposed to high levels of fallout from Bravo in 1954. Rongelap chose to move away because of too many children born like Carole. [Photo by Fernando Pereira]
Featured Interviews in English - PDF Format
Kiosang Kios
This interview in English was conducted aboard the "Rainbow Warrior," July 1985. Click here
Aisen Tima
School teacher in Rongelap, during "Operation Exodus" aboard the "Rainbow Warrior," July 1985. Click here for the English transcribed version
Fernando Pereira, the Portuguese videographer and photographer who was killed aboard the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior" in Auckland, New Zealand on July 10, 1985. The "Rainbow Warrior" was blown up with two limpet mines attached to the underside of the hull by two DGS&E [France's CIA] scuba divers to prevent an upcoming anti-nuclear protest in French Polynesia. Some years later one of the scuba divers who planted the limpet mines underneath the "Rainbow Warrior" apologized: Go here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-3416
R.I.P. Steve Sawyer, former Director of Greenpeace Intl.
Longtime activist and campaigner against nuclear weapons [and for social justice] Steve Sawyer
succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 63. Steve was former Director of Greenpeace International, and helped organize "Operation Exodus" during the Rongelap Islanders' evacuation in 1985. Go here for Steve's obituary in the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/steve-sawyer-greenpeace-leader-who-escaped-1985-sabotage-bombing-dies-at-63/2019/08/08/dfbe7a96-b9e7-11e9-a091-6a96e67d9cce_story.html?noredirect=on
And go here for Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior Educational Resources:
https://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/about/our-history/bombing-of-the-rainbow-warrior/the-bombing-of-the-rainbow-warrior-fact-file/
Bunny McDiarmid [R] during the 1985 Rongelap evacuation ["Operation Exodus"] with the Greenpeace ship "Rainbopw Warrior." Bunny is Director of Greenpeace International
Go here: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/bios/bunny-mcdiarmid/
Dennis O' Rourke-NPR-Half LifeArtist Name
00:00 / 06:09
Listen to this POWERFUL 1986 NPR interview with filmmaker Dennis O'Rourke re: "Half Life"
bottom of page