Gahli Lit, one of my new Israeli friends from the Anat Kamm case, has sent me a truly mysterious photo of Kamm which cries out for an explanation. It pictures Kamm standing in what the caption calls a “Tel Aviv courthouse” on December 29th after a court hearing.
A few truly strange facts about the timing of this photo. On December 29th, Kamm was either in prison or under house arrest. There was a gag order preventing publication of her identity, the reason for her arrest, or even the existence of a gag order altogether. The judge who approved the gag order was Einat Ron. If you examine the nameplate on the wall next to Kamm you’ll see that she’s standing outside Einat Ron’s courtroom (which is actually located in Petah Tikva).
What gives? This woman on that date was radioactive plutonium as far as the Israeli media is concerned. Yet a photographer working for European Pressphoto just happened to be standing by her and snapped this picture? It makes you wonder how the Israeli justice system conducts justice that’s supposed to be conducted in secret. It makes you wonder how the Shin Bet allows such a gagged citizen to be photographed during a hearing on a deeply sensitive case.
Dimi Reider just e mailed me to say that December 29th was the last date on which Kamm’s gag order was renewed. And that would be the purpose of the hearing.
One thing is for sure: the Israeli media have written that they’ve known about this case for a long time. This photo would indicate that either the photographer or the editor who sent him on assignment (or both) knew about the case. This only further illustrates the collusion between the press and the intelligence agencies. The press knows about the gag order, knows it can’t do anything with the picture, but takes it anyway for insurance if and when it can use it. What a country!
My Israeli friend Zvi Solow tells me that the Kamm-Blau case strikes him as much more Chelm than Le Carre. I still don’t know which is more apt.
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Richard, apropos of nothing; you are all probably too young to remember the cover photo on Life Magazine back in 1949 of a beautiful sabra female soldier march in ranks. All of us guys in college at that time used it as a pin up on our dorm walls. From this photo of Anat Kamm, she could easily be taken for the grand-daughter of the girl on the Life cover.
I was thinking, she is beautiful. It comes from within too or as much. I see her strength/seriousness. Great photo.
I’ve actually seen other pictures of her in which she looks totally different. Personally, she strikes me as a bit of a chameleon prepared to be different things to diff. people in diff. situations.
She might just as well be. She’s the daughter of an IDF soldier disabled in 1968 (I presume in battle though I don’t know). She atteneded one of Jerusalem’s most elite high schools. Very bright, take charge type of person.
she is a stupid thief no more no less
Someone is stupid here, but it isn’t her.
Why are you surprised? Don’t you know that in the digital age (and frankly before too FWIW), photographers take pictures of many things and then file them for future use?
Richard,
Because of your central role in transporting the Kamm/Blau Affaire from the Israeli blogosphere to the English speaking mainstream media and then back to Israel, your shouldn’t waste your credit with wasting your time with trivia like how come that Kamm was photographed at the Petakh Tikva Court on December 29th.
It is known that many Israeli journalists were informed about the case and there is no additional need to prove it.
Things like the censored Ha’aretz article on the military operation in Gaza are the real issues. BTW according to several statements from Ha’aretz the said article was at first approved by the censorship and after it was already printed, the censorship changed its might and Ha’aretz suffered losses at it had to withdraw the printed edition.
Now is the time to demand a reprint of this article. This most interesting part is info about the so called phased three, which was obviously an intensification of the operation including e.g. mass expulsion etc.
I don’t believe the statement of the high ranking officer that there was a real change in the plans because of Kamm’s material. The info wasn’t make public so there was no real reason for it. The youngest statement sounds like the Israeli High Command covering its hide just in case it’ll be attacked on this issue.
At the same time we have to consider that Kamm was released from the army a year before the Gaza operation. This means that on the concrete operational level the data couldn’t have been up to date. Such changes took places even without any Kamm’s leak. Circumstances changed and therefore it the paln from 2007 couldn’t have been in all fields up to date.
Nevertheless the paper is important in order to know what were the real aims of the operation as formulated by the Israeli army. This paper can be very relevant to the investigation initiated by the UN.
Assuming that Blau is still in the possession of the documents and/or at least the censored Ha’aretz article he should be asked by the UN to deliver this data and in return should get an asylum and the whole program for defending witnesses.