PHONEGATE – Die Mission des Dr. Marc Arazi / The mission of Dr Marc Arazi
https://kompetenzinitiative.com/gesellschaft/phonegate-die-mission-des-dr-marc-arazi-the-mission-of-dr-marc-arazi/
Published: June, 2022
In: Kompetenzinitiative
By: Klaus Scheidsteger
Kompetenzinitiative Team:
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Mario Babilon
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Klaus Buchner
Gabriele Didier
Barbara Dohmen
Dipl. Ing. Joachim Gertenbach
Dr. med. Monika Krout
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wilfried Kühling
Dr. phil. Peter Ludwig
Joe Marty
Dr. med. Joachim Mutter
Klaus Scheidsteger
Dr. rer. nat. Ulrich Warnke
© [2022] Kompetenzinitiative.com / The following text is the English part of the German/English article published by Kompetenzinitiative.
Marc Arazi is well known in France for his initiative PHONEGATE. Klaus Scheidsteger reports on his activities and his new book.
When in 2016 the French physician Marc Arazi had his first look at the official numbers of the regulatory compliance reports regarding smartphones / cell phones and exposure limits, which are overseen by the French government agency ANFR (Agence Nationale des Fréquences) tasked with consumer protection and wireless communication technologies, he couldn’t believe his eyes. There it was in black and white: of more than four hundred tested models, the exposure limits were exceeded in nearly 90% of the cases! These are 9 out of 10 models! And what irritated the physician the most was the fact that nobody seemed to care much about these test reports.
The agency provided the information to Marc Arazi only after repeated requests; and what is more, the agency had not even deemed it necessary to hold the manufacturers accountable or to properly inform the public about this scandal.
Well, the physician from Paris got the job done.
Since the tide of the diesel scandal had been rising at the time, he gave his campaign the name “Phonegate,” initiated contact with the media and, through his commitment, caused an appropriate, solid response in France. It actually took two years and tireless interventions by Marc Arazi until in 2018 the first models were finally removed from the market.
After his first successes, Marc Arazi launched an international campaign that in the coming years would cause big waves both in Europe, but also in the US. In the end, all big manufactures — including Apple, Samsung or Huawei — were found to have some models whose emissions exceeded the permissible exposure limits in official tests by as much as three times.
Like many other committed citizens before him, Marc Arazi experienced the impact of industry. Lobbyists, scientists, the media — too many of them are on the payroll of the big players. The real big money of the telecom industry flows into advertising — and this is why the freedom of the press is at the most an illusion of naive minds.
Dr. Marc Arazi, however, could not be stopped; he established his organization “Alert Phonegate” in cooperation with courageous attorneys, medical experts, politicians and scientists who are dedicated to expose the truth.
At the end of 2020, his book “Phonegate” was released; initially only in French, but with a strong German connection.
In October 2019, as the final presenter, Marc Arazi could for the first time introduce his campaign to a first-rate international audience at the Mainz Conference of the Kompetenzinitiative.
In his book, he dedicates an entire chapter to this event. He describes the exceptional atmosphere of the conference at the Electoral Palace of Mainz and looking back raves about it:
My message is received clearly by the audience. I conclude with the call to the German organizer to help stop this global scandal. The audience gets up and for endless five minutes I receive standing ovations — this is a first for me in this way. I leave the stage captured by emotions, and then I feel tears running down my cheeks …
His presentation at the Mainz Conference was certainly a milestone for the work of Dr. Arazi and a balm for his soul.
The book is a chronological summary of his information campaign. And the perseverance of Dr. Arazi pays off. By now his book has caused big waves in France, just like the scandal. Despite all opposition, Dr. Arazi is increasingly listened to and, because of his book, he is now more often a guest on radio or television shows — he has even received a letter of appreciation for his book from the president of the Republic.
The frequency with which the media report on this issue has increased as never before; after all, it concerns everyone. According to statistics, the country has more cell phones and smartphones than inhabitants … globally the number of cell phone and smartphone contracts is approaching the number of the total world population (about 7.5 billion each!). An incomparable phenomenon.
From the perspective of an all-powerful industry, it is almost understandable if scandals or image-damaging facts are swept under the rug as usual.
The debate around exposure limits, of course, is an extremely delicate matter. Hiding behind consumer protection limits (SAR values) — which have been created by industry after all — is the traditional triad of industry, government agencies, and the WHO. As the official saying goes: ‘Within the range of permissible exposure limits, cell phones do not pose any health issues to users based on the evidence of known cell phone studies.’
That this bold lie can still hover in the minds of consumers, courageous citizens like Marc Arazi try to change. We owe him our respect.
