Once again the FBI suspects an analyst, with close ties to top officials in the Pentagon and advisors to the US Defense Secretary, gave Israel access to secret material regarding US policy. An anonymous security official, interviewed by the Associated Press, appears to confirm the claim that the alleged spy is thought to have passed on the classified information to the pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). According to the BBC “the investigation into the alleged spy apparently involved the use of electronic surveillance devices, including wiretaps.”
Hard evidence has to be available, for if an American dares to falsely accuse the US’s closest ally of espionage without such evidence, it would be the end of ones Political career as the wrath of the pro-Israel lobby would be unleashed.
Incidents in the past that lacked hard evidence or were presented to pro-Israeli American officials had gotten away with deceit and treason. Cases, such as Stephan D. Bryen, 1978 Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer, offering “Pentagon documents on the bases” to officials of the Israeli government, were quickly closed without anyone being formally charged. Other cases, like the US Navy ship that was bombed by Israel in the Mediterranean or the Levon affair in which an Israeli spy had planned to blow up the US embassy in Alexandria but was caught by an Egyptian, seem to have gone by without even tainting the image of the so-called American ally.
On March 5th 2002, Le Monde, a French leading paper reported that “in June 2001, an investigative report detailed the activities of more than one-hundred Israeli agents, some presenting themselves as fine arts students, others tied to Israeli high-tech companies. All were challenged by the authorities, were questioned, and a dozen of them are still imprisoned.” Further the Le Monde article explained that after the 9-11 attacks “very little detailed information had come out about the arrests of some sixty Israelis.” From December 11th to the 14th, a Fox news channel broadcast, “Carl Cameron investigates”, referrenced the incident, this provoked the Israeli embassy to respond by denouncing the report, along with American Jewish organizations such as JINSA and AIPAC. Fox withdrew the report and other related material from its internet website a day and a half after it had been published. Le Monde requested on three different occasions from Fox news to provide a tape of the broadcast; It was never provided.
Yehuda Abraham, an Israeli citizen, laundered 500,000$ on behalf of Lakhani, a convicted terrorist, in order to place a down-payment on 50 missiles which were smuggled to the US in 2003. Lakhani was sentenced while Abraham still awaits his fate.
Another Israeli spy caught and, for once, sentenced for his crimes is Jonathan Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the Navy. He was arrested by FBI agents in Novemeber 1985 after he and his wife were rebuffed at the Israeli embassy in Washington in their attempt to seek asylum. Israel initially said Pollard was a rogue spy, but later Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledged that he was an Israeli agent, and granted him citizenship in 1995. President Clinton considered releasing the Israeli spy in 1998 at Netanyahu’s request during the Wye River peace conference, only to pull back after then CIA Director Tenet threatened to resign if Pollard was pardoned or had his sentence changed. “Pollard is a traitor to the US as far as I’m concerned, and would have compromised the Israelis in a heartbeat, too, if it had struck him as something he wanted to do, because that’s the history of Pollard when you look at it,” said Richard Haver, a one-time Navy intelligence officer who worked on the case. “He has now re-invented himself as a great Jewish patriot and tried to present that to the people” Haver added.
The US is not the only victim of the Israeli boundless intelligence. Just in the past two months New Zealand imposed sanctions on Israel over a Mossad operation in which Israeli agents were involved in passport fraud.
Violating relationships and deceiving even the closest of friends Israel seems to be more important than the US to the American officials who lobby to empower the occupying state and international law violating state. While Israel continues not to only embarrass the US through foreign affairs, such as violating the ‘roadmap,’ but also on the domestic level through spying and stealing information from an ally that lends it unprecedented monetary and political support.
Does America consider Israel its 51st state, or does Israel consider America as the “big, powerful and dumb?” as Israel continues to bite the hand that is feeding it over and over again.
American politicians should ask themselves what interest they are serving. Where does their loyalty rest, Israel or the US? When push comes to shove it is obvious what stance the Israeli officials and non-officials will take and what side they will support, but is this clear and obvious for US lawmakers and officials?
Believing in Jerusalem
Date posted: May 27, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Last week, Israel barred a UNESCO fact-finding mission from entering the country, charging that the Palestinians had ‘politicized’ the mission before it had even arrived. The mission was tasked with looking into conditions of historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, something Israel apparently found to be very threatening.
Looking at the state of Jerusalem’s eastern sector today, it is understandable why Israel would not want UNESCO or anyone else walking around the Old City, especially the Palestinian-populated parts of it. Because anyone who does, will see the devastation that Israel and its settlers have wreaked on one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.
Excavation works are being conducted in and around the Aqsa Mosque to make way for more Jewish construction at the place where Waqf authorities say Ottoman and Abbasid artifacts have long been tucked away. A Muslim graveyard is being dug up just outside the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, to build – ironically – a museum of tolerance. Today, two stores were forcefully taken over by Jewish settlers in Al Hakari, one of the neighborhoods in the Muslim quarter and every day, it seems that more and more homes are either being demolished by Israeli municipality authorities or being taken over by Jewish settlers.
The “Judiazation” of Jerusalem is a term many Palestinians and Arabs use for what Israel is doing in the city. In a nutshell, it is the long-term plan Israel is gradually carrying out to change the Arab Palestinian character of Jerusalem. This means demolishing old and historical structures, displacing Palestinians, handing over their homes to settlers and trying to erase the Palestinian or Arab history of the city.
The sad truth is that, on the surface, Israel has succeeded in this to a large extent. Pockets of Jewish settlers now live in the heart of Muslim quarters and aim to take over more and more. Sheikh Jarrah, one of the more affluent Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, is now pierced with Jewish flags waving from homes that have been wrestled from their Palestinian owners, and Israel’s light rail train cuts right down through Palestinian neighborhoods outside of the city center. The train, of course, is not meant to service the Palestinian population but rather to connect Jewish neighborhoods and settlements in the city, but the area confiscated from Shufat and Beit Hanina for its construction simply fell into the plan.
What the UNESCO mission would not have seen even if they made it into the Old City is the overall humiliation that the Palestinian population of Jerusalem must endure on a daily basis because of Israel’s military occupation. Trips to the Israeli ministry of interior must be made just to prove that one lives in the city for fear that their residency rights may be revoked; young Palestinian men are stopped randomly by Israeli soldiers to check their ID cards or just to harass them, and settlers are always given the luxury of maximum security whenever they walk the streets. If settlers want to march through the city, the Palestinians are told to close their shops, are barred for hours from reaching their homes if they run along the path of the march and are always the ones blamed if any kind of confrontation between the two sides breaks out.
Jerusalem is being squeezed by these measures more and more each day. But there is always that glimmer of hope, that strength that shines through proving that all is not lost. On Shavuot, Israeli settlers and extremists poured into the Old City, singing loudly, banging on the shop doors and waving huge Israeli flags. The sight was disconcerting to say the least. However, the afternoon of that same day, at Damascus Gate, passersby were met with a completely different scene. Palestinian flags waved in determined Palestinian hands under the threatening eye of heavily armed Israeli police and soldiers. The youths were fearless, demanding freedom, with strong, unrelenting voices.
The sight of the Palestinian flag waving at the entrance to Damascus Gate was a breath of fresh air. All is not lost and never will be because hope is eternal and determination and strength come from a never-ending spring.
That day at Damascus Gate is what all Palestinians must keep in their minds’ eye in spite of the daily oppression of the occupation. No matter how many missions Israel bars from entering or how many houses it takes over, there will always be those brave souls who, despite the risks, will always raise Palestine’s flag.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Let Mohammed rest in peace
Date posted: May 20, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
There is no point falling into the pit of countering the claims being made about the death of Mohammed Al Durra, the 12-year old boy from Gaza whose videotaped killing was seen around the world. The boy, crouching in fear behind is equally afraid father as bullets whizzed around them, was killed admittedly by the Israeli army. Later, the army recanted after investigating the tape, saying Durra was killed by Palestinian fire instead. Well now, Israel is changing its story altogether, saying he was not killed at all. In fact, he was probably not even wounded and the French channel that broadcast the footage and brought some pretty bad rap to Israel, had most likely filmed a charade.
The reason why I will not waste my time countering this claim is that even with the great lengths the Israeli government went to to prove that the boy was never killed, it could not provide any irrefutable proof that Mohammed Al Durra – who would be 25 now – is still alive. No pictures, no testimonies, no hospital or morgue officials giving statements to refute his death, have been provided. Only sketchy information about ‘poor quality footage’ and the fact that it seems as though the boy moved his arm after he had slumped over his father following the explosion.
My point is this: indeed, Mohammed Durra’s death was at least one of the catalysts that fueled the second Intifada, and thus, was an important event in the history of the Palestinians. However, more importantly – most importantly to me –is the fact that this is about a boy who died in sheer terror, with his distraught father futilely trying to shelter him from the barrage of bullets coming their way.
Mohammed Al Durra was a boy, with a life, a family and friends. He died a horrible death and now he is being made to die a second one. I did not know Mohammed or his family, but I can only imagine how awful it must be for them to read these claims now and feel the pain of losing their child all over again. If nothing else, this is disrespect for human life of the worst kind.
Some may postulate that the rehashing of the Durra case is a personal jab at the French cameraman who shot the footage, Charles Enderlin. Perhaps. But as a Palestinian who has seen the pain endured by numerous families who receive the horrible news that their sons or daughters have been killed by the Israeli army, my concern is for his family and for his memory. He should be left to rest in peace. If Israel has axes to grind with French journalists or with the international community for holding it accountable for its actions, then so be it. Israel is not lacking in the public relations department.
That being said, there is just one decent thing left to do. Leave Mohammed Al Durra and his memory alone.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Recognition and justice is our demand
Date posted: May 13, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
This week Palestinians will commemorate Al Nakba, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people when Israel was founded. Every year, Palestinians hang placards pointing to the right of return, they carry keys symbolizing the homes they were forced to leave and could not return to and remember the Palestine that was lost to them 65 years ago.
This year will be no different. Every May 15, Palestinian recall their catastrophe and demand justice. They demand that they are granted the right of return for those who were made refugees virtually overnight and were then relegate to a life they did not choose. But more than anything, they demand recognition of the tragedy that befell them rather than a denial that it ever happened, or worse, that it was of their own making.
It has been 65 years since Israel was established in 1948, which means those who were cast into exile are either very old or have long passed. Those who experienced the Nakba are now few and far between, clinging to those few precious memories of a small garden in front of their house in Jaffa or of the salty smell of the sea in their neighborhood in Haifa. The rest of us are either descendants of these refugees or ordinary Palestinians who feel their cause is our cause because we are one people.
But the Palestinians have made one thing clear. The refugee issue will not die with the last refugee. It is felt nationwide, the loss, the injustice and the fact that those who were forced from their homes have mostly passed, longing for their beloved homes.
We cannot turn back time. What was lost has been altered, destroyed, changed or taken over by Israel’s newcomers. What we can do is hold on to the right to be recognized, for the injustice to be rectified in word and deed and for Palestine to never be lost in our minds or hearts.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
