The Dubai police have announced that they plan to introduce in the coming days new evidence in the Mossad assassination of Hamas’ Mahmoud al-Mabouh that traces the crime directly to the agency and its Herziliya headquarters. When that happens, the police chief indicated he would ask Interpol to file arrest warrants for Mossad chief Meir Dagan and Bibi Netanyahu:
An insider close to the case confirmed that Mr Dagan and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, are top of the Gulf state’s wanted list.
Gordon Thomas, in his otherwise hagiographic, simpering article spouting Mossad’s praises makes crystal clear that all assassinations are formally approved by the prime minister himself. So the chance that he can duck culpability are nonexistent. Thomas also reveals that the Mossad has only 48 personnel assigned to its assassinations team. 11 have now been publicly exposed and will never be able to play any public role in future. That would leave a fairly large hole in the program for some time unless they have recruits and trainees waiting in the wings to step in for the next hit. One wonders what will be the disguise of choice next time around. Tennis has definitely jumped the shark.
Another factor that widens the net in this crime is that the killers possessed five American-issued credit cards which they used to buy airline tickets to Dubai. It would seem that someone in the Mossad actually wanted to widen the band of nation’s implicated in the crime, thus hoping that the more countries involved the less any one of them would wish to delve too deeply into the matter. If the Obama administration was as concerned about this as it would be say, if Hamas or Hezbollah used an American credit card in the process of assassinating an Israeli, then it would allow the FBI to become involved in the case in a robust way, which would only make it more likely that we would get to the bottom of this mess of a matter. But the chances that this president has any desire to stick his hand into this hornet’s nest and stir up the Israel lobby are nil.
That rumination above about hypocrisy in our treatment of political assassins and their victims is highlighted via this interesting comment from Geoffrey Wheatcroft, who:
…Highlights a blatant double standard between the treatment of terrorists of different nationalities and hues. The word “racist” is overused, but in this context it applies all too accurately.
In other words, the nations of the world are able and willing to nod and wink at an Israeli assassination of a Hamas leader, but if the shoe were on the other foot they would be after Hamas hammer and tong. If this were an Iranian assassination we might be at war presently. What puts Israel is a separate category? And isn’t it time we treat every such assassination with the same outrage and determination to see justice done?
Two former Gazans who are affiliated with Fatah and apparently knew al-Mabouh when he lived there may have lured him to Dubai for the fatal meeting. It appears that the Palestinians were turned by the Mossad and became the catalysts for the operation. Such a development will further diminish Fatah as a viable political force since it will be seen as the source of those who betray their fellow Palestinians for a price or whatever blandishment persuaded them to become an agent of the Israelis. These suspects are probably spilling their guts to the Dubai authorities as we speak, which is likely why they speak with such authority about the new information further implicating the Mossad to come out in coming days.
The circus continues. This entire episode makes you long for the days when British-born Ephraim Halevy ran Mossad and it could be counted on to have some semblance of constraint, caution, and compunction. All that has flown to the winds by the imperious Dagan who was advised by the Israeli PM who appointed him to perform the job with a “knife in his teeth.” Sounds like he’d read too many pirate stories.
One can only hope that the perspective of this report from the Guardian turns out to be true:
The Dubai assassination…may yet turn out to be far more damaging – not least because the political and diplomatic context has changed in the last decade. Israel’s reputation has suffered an unprecedented battering, reaching a new low during last year’s Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. “In the current climate, the traces left behind in Dubai are likely to lead to very serious harm to Israel’s international standing,” the former diplomat Alon Liel commented yesterday.
One indication of such a development is this story, which can’t make the Israeli government happy. Bernard Kouchner, France’s foreign ministry is using the killing as proof positive of the immediate need for an independent Palestinian state. I hear an echo of a recently shelved EU initiative which would have done precisely that. Reopening this plan would be a most welcome result of the botched Dubai murder.
I’m thinking of establishing an award for most sycophantic pro-Mossad media puff piece of the day. Today’s award definitely goes to this one from Haaretz which is puerile in every possible way. Not only that, it strives to find a silver lining in every cloud including this one which bizarrely claims the photographs of the Mossad agents revealed by the Dubai police might not be those of the real agents:
…There is no guarantee that those photographs actually show their real faces.
Wha? Did they all have plastic surgery before the operation or will they all have plastic surgery now? Whose faces are they? And what are Issacharoff and Harel talking about? It makes the whole caper into even more of a bad Hollywood spy thriller than it already is. And to think that I once admired Ami Issacharoff because he stood next to a Palestinian home during a settler melee to ensure the family inside wouldn’t be incinerated by the pogromists. His new Haaretz blog, by the way, is aptly entitled the MESS Report.
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Don’t put your faith in Bernard Kouchner. He’s about as pro-Palestinian as Elie the weasel.
Oh, I don’t. But his comment is useful and instructive for where the political winds are now blowing.
Some background on Mossad murders in Europe.
Has been going on for nearly 40 years.
Mossad Agents with Fake Pass in Malta
http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=m63418&hd=&size=1&l=e
[Videos etc in original article]
>>The assassination of Mohammed Mabhouh in Dubai was not the first International crime which Mossad death squads committed by using the fake or stolen European passports. There is a long record full of assassinations which were carried out by the Israeli death squads in Europe and in many other countries. The latest crime, the assassination of Mohammad Al-Mabhouh in Dubai and the full details which the police of Dubai exposed, raises once again the question about the relationship between the European countries and Israel, especially those countries in which the Mossad has carried out crimes in the past.
* Are the European countries involved in the crimes of the Israeli Mossad?
* Are there any secret agreements between various European countries and Israel which puts the international terrorism and assassinations of Israel above the law?
* Is Israel a legitimate state, or is it in fact just a zionist terrorist organization which is responsible for more crimes than anybody could recall, including many murders, the trafficking of human being organs, drugs, theft on an industrial scale, weapons smuggling, genocide etc. in many parts of the world?
It is in the interest of European countries to explain to their people what is legitimate or illegitimate in their relationship with Israel. It is important that the EU clarifies to the people the reasons for the special exceptions which their countries grant to the zionist organization and the Israeli mossad death squads, exceptions which are contrary to written laws of all countries.
It is not reasonable that people wake up suddenly to learn that their documents and identities have been stolen in order to commit crimes of international terror in another State, and that the states of Austria, Britain, France, Germany and Ireland seem to be involved in the atrocity, judging by their muted reactions, which bely any interest in solving the crime.
An important question which arises is: Why did the Israeli mossad chose Austria and not another EU country as a center in the management of its latest terrorist assassination carried in Dubai?
Was this mere coincidence, or are there “exceptions” accorded to the mossad, for example in a secret agreement or protocol signed between Austria and Israel?
Which are the reasons for the psychological comfort of the mossad death squad, which made him feel that Austria was a best place for coordinating their international terrorism crimes?
The Israeli mossad has long history of desecrating the laws of many European countries, where they have committed many assassinations using fake passports and sometimes real ones. About 350.000 Israelis hold double citizenship and have EU and Israeli passports at the same time. The zionists of Israel have received logistical support form all the European countries in which the mossad death squads have committed their crime, in the current case as well as in past cases. This support was very clear when one observes the security which the governments of the EU provided to the coordination team, covering up their crimes and allowing them to move freely in their territories. At the very least, it is very difficult to believe that the various intelligence agencies did not know what was going on in their respective territories, and it is also very difficult to believe that it was not possible until now to identify people involved when pictures and phone numbers of the murder team have been published.
Let us open once again the mossad death squad assassination of Dr. Fathi al-Shikaki, founder of the Islamic Jihad Movement, on October 26 1995 in Malta. There is no significant difference between the assassination of al-Shikaki 15 years ago and the assassinations of Mohammed Mabhouh in Dubai on January 20 2010. In both terrorist strikes the mossad used fake passports.
Dr. al-Shikaki, who resided in Damascus, traveled to Malta in October 1995, on his way to Libia. The Israeli death squad followed him to Malta holding while using faked passports. They waited a long time for him at airport. The death squad members were moving freely around the airport of Malta, speaking on their mobile phones and asking about reasons for the delay of the flight. Al-Shikaki arrived at the Malta airport using a wig and a different name (“Ibrahim Shawish”). The mossad agents were not able to identify him easily. Finally one of them spotted him sitting alone. Al-Shikaki was sitting alone and waiting for his airplane to Libya. After one hour he left.
On October 26 1995, al-Shikaki returned to Malta where he had to stay one night. At 11:30 he went out for shopping. He entered Marks & Spencer and bought some things, got out and continued walking. The death squads were following him on motorcycle, and al-Shikaki did not realize it. The motorcycle approached al-Shikaki, the person behind the driver took a silenced pistol from his pocket and shot Shikaki three times in the head, they then left the stolen motorcycle and Malta. The cell which assassinated al-Shikaki was called “Kisaria”, and the general who issued the assassination was Yitshaq Rabin. The unit “Kisaria” was dismantled after their failure in Jordan on September 25 1997 to assassinate Khaled Mishal, the Hamas leader.
Here is a list of assassinations by Mossad death Squad in Europe
Wael Adel Zuaiter was assassinated in Rome on Oct. 17 1972.
Hussein Ali Abu al-Khmer was assassinated in Cyprus on April 6 1973.
Bassel Rauf al-Kais was assassinated in Paris on April 6 1973.
Mahmoud Abu Daieh was assassinated in Paris on June 28 1973.
Mahmoud Walad Saleh was assassinated in Paris on Feb. 2 1977.
Said Hamami was assassinated in London on Feb. 2 1978.
Ezz al-Din al-Kalak was assassinated in Paris on Aug. 3 1978.
Ibrahim Abed al-Aziz was assassinated in Paris on Dec. 15 1979.
Samir Tokan was assassinated in Cyprus on Dec. 15 1979.
Zuheir Mohsen was assassinated in France on July. 26 1979.
Josef Mubarak was assassinated in Paris on Feb. 18 1980.
Majed Abu Sharar was assassinated in Rome on Oct. 9 1981.
Naim Khader was assassinated in Brussels on Dec. 7 1981.
Mohammad Taha was assassinated in Germany in 1982.
Kmal Hasan abu Dalo and Nazeh Matar were assassinated in Rome on June 26 1982.
Fadel Sad Anani was assassinated in Paris on July 23 1982.
Ma’amon Imresh al-Sghaier was assassinated on Aug. 20 1983 in Athens.
Jamel Abed al-Khader Abu al-Rob was assassinated on Dec. 22 1983 in Athens.
Hnna Meqbel was assassinated in May 13 1984 in Nicosia.
Khaled Ahmad Nazzal was assassinated on June 9 1986 in Rome.
Monther Jode abu Ghazale was assassinated on Oct. 21 1986 in Athens.
Mohammad Hasan Behias and Mohammad Basem Hamdi were assassinated on Feb. 14 1988 in Limassol.
Marwan al- Kayali was assassinated on Feb. 14 1988 in Limassol.<<
There is definitely a double standard at work, no doubt about it. While Jewish “progressives” are in a tirade about Israel’s unproven responsibility for this action, the Syrians, certainly operating under orders of Assad carried out a whole series of assassinations of Lebanese political figures and journalists who opposed Syrian influence in the county….Rafik Hariri, Pierre Gemayel (a Lebanese MP), a journalist named Tueni (IIRC) and numerous others. Yet I don’t see any international outcry, and only a tired UN investigation of Hariri’s murder that is going no where. Hariris son, the new Prime Minister, was forced to crawl on his knees and visit Assad recently. Yet Kouchner is not calling for Lebanon to be truly independent and the Jewish “progressives” not only are silent, but would love nothing more than to see Israel grovel to the Syrians and give up the Golan for a bunch of empty promises.
Also there is the US policy of carrying out assassination of Taliban and al-Qaida, but again, no “progressive” outrage about them (why should there be? The messiah Obama is doing them!).
Definitely a double standard.
Bless us for the hasbarist non sequitur. BK wishes Israel to be compared favorably w. Syria. Last I checked Israel called itself a liberal democracy. Syria–not so much. DO you still want to be judged in comparison w. Syria? I always thought Israelis wanted to be in the company of Europe, the U.S., etc. But if you want to argue that yr. standards are slightly better than those of the Syrians, I’ll let you make that argument. But I won’t let you forget that Bashar Assad has made clear that he really wants peace with Israel. It’s yr own gov’t which has spat in his face.
This is a genuinely stupid comment that is patently false. I don’t support such assassinations nor do many progressives. In fact, I think we should leave Iraq and Afghanistan post haste.
I seriously wonder though if asking for the arrest of Netanyahu is a clever thing to do. We can push these things too far, overplaying one’s hand and all that… No arrests or indictments will ever be issued; I think we should simply be happy with the continued drip-drip effect of negative publicity for Israel and its ‘most moral army’. Israeli hubris seems to have reached its zenith now and pride comes before a fall…
I couldn’t disagree more strongly. Why should Israel get a pass, AGAIN?
Cluster bombs on Lebanon — no, don’t say no to Israel, you’ll hurt its feelings.
Phosphorus, dead civilians, deliberately destroyed civilian infrastructure in Gaza? Just be quiet; Israel might get upset.
Fifteen years of lying about Iran, strangling Iran economically, threatening Iran, in violation of UN Charter against genocide? Shhh — don’t “push things too far”…
Assassinations?
Kidnapping Palestinian civilians?
Bulldozing houses?
Extrajudicial evictions?
Murder by bulldozer?
“don’t push things too far…overplaying one’s hand and all that…”
What in the world are you thinking, Gert? Is the rule of law designed to sanction criminal behavior and to be applied equally, or are only patsies and non-nuclear armed and hyper-militarized states subject to “democratic” rule of law?
” are only patsies and non-nuclear armed and hyper-militarized states subject to “democratic” rule of law?”
Yes. This has been another edition of simple answers to easy questions.
Seriously, the rule of law doesn’t apply to the powerful. Not that it should be that way, of course. But look at the Bush Administration–so far, there’s every indication that Obama intends to let them get away with everything. In fact, the worst crime, the unjustified war on Iraq, isn’t even investigated here and as for torture, Bush and Cheney are pretty unlikely to stand trial. If any high-ranking Bush Administration official is ever arrested overseas, you can bet all you own that the Obama Administration will do everything it can to see that the person is released.
Israeli leaders benefit because they are seen as “Western” members of the club–it’s hard to imagine what they’d have to do in order to be brought to trial. At best maybe the agents themselves will be thrown to the wolves.
Bessan:
Donald sums it up for me. When Belgium tried to indict Sharon for war crimes it seriously backfired and they changed the law following intense US pressure: you just don’t try the victors and Israel is definitely a victor. Justice at that level will have to wait until Israel has been brought to her knees, hopefully by BDS.
Until then, exposing her injustices is all we can do (and actively support the boycott, of course)…
Ha’artz is quoting from this article
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7034933.ece