A Ukrainian news source reported in late February that the Mossad kidnapped the chief engineer of Gaza’s only power plant in Ukraine:
The wife of a Palestinian engineer has accused the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad of abducting her husband. Derar Abu Sisi went missing five days ago while visiting his Ukrainian wife in her home country.
The Ukraine-based Al Raed Press said that Mr. Abu Sisi is the head of operations at the only power station in the Gaza Strip and was on a visit to Ukraine when he disappeared during a train journey on 18 February. Mrs. Abu Sisi accused Mossad of kidnapping her husband…She stressed that her husband is a governmental employee in Gaza but is not involved in any political activities and is not a member of any political party or movement.
“My husband didn’t have any enmity against any person or entity in Palestine or Ukraine, and he is not a prominent business owner or rich enough to be kidnapped by a gang,” she added.
…Railway staff on duty on the night of the disappearance had claimed in an early statement that two people in plain clothes boarded the train at a station and kidnapped the Palestinian engineer after they showed him identity cards claiming that they were security personnel. The railway employees then changed their statements, claiming that everything was fine and that no one was kidnapped from the train. The media reports claim that the officials changed their story under pressure from the Ukrainian police.
According to Irenynko Mykola, a lawyer and president of a Ukraine human rights organization, there are no mutual cooperation agreements between Ukraine’s intelligence service and the Mossad. If it is proven that the Israeli agency did carry out the kidnap it will raise many questions about Mossad activity in the former soviet republic.
Now an Israeli source confirms that Dirar Abu Seesi (note correct spelling) is being held incommunicado in an Israeli prison where he’s being interrogated.
My source does not yet tell me what he’s charged with, but one can presume if a detainee is being interrogated it’s on an intelligence-security related issue. Usually when they arrest a Palestinian outside Israel or who’s recently been outside Israel they accuse him of contact with a forbidden organization (which usually means Hezbollah or Hamas). It’s possible they’ve cooked up such charges in this case.
But Abu Seesi may be a different case. As the chief engineer of Gaza’s power plant he may know a good deal of technical information Israel would like to have about the plant, how it operates, how it can be shut down. In fact, given the success of Stuxnet in penetrating Iran’s nuclear facilities, Israel would have a definite interest in being able to penetrate the Gaza plant with a remote program and shut it down during hostilities without having to destroy it as it did during Operation Cast Lead.
Or they may be concocting a story by which he’s engaged in some terror plot which would exploit his skills as a civil engineer.
If these reports are true, then the Mossad is continuing its violation of the sovereignty of other nations and kidnapping foreign nationals on foreign soil. This is a massive violation not only of Ukrainian sovereignty, but of international law for which Israel and the Mossad should be held accountable. It also shows since the al-Mabouh disaster Mossad has learned nothing and changed nothing. It operates with impunity and flagrantly disregards the norms of civilized discourse. Once again showing why Israel has placed itself squarely outside the realm of western democratic nations.
Israeli intelligence services must account for Abu Seesi’s whereabouts and provide information about the charges against him. He must be allowed to consult with an attorney. He must not be tortured or abused (though that no doubt has already happened). This man is a professional, a civil engineer, not a terrorist.
This is most disturbing. Thanks for bringing it out. I plan to write about it on my sajepress blog also.
Oh, and thanks for the great work you are doing. I admire you.
Regards.
Zafar Khan
I hope they kill him anyway. One less arab in the world.
Mazel tov, bud. You’re toast. A typical Rotternut.
RE: “Once again showing why Israel has placed itself squarely outside the realm of western democratic nations.” – R.S.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_All_Persons_from_Enforced_Disappearance
P.S. Israel: “A blight unto the nations!”
this article only brings one side of the story
sure, the wife believes her husband when he tells her the 100,000$ he brought home cash is from his work in the plant.
you’re either naive, or just anti-israeli.
Hey, this “proud Israeli” taxi driver has a direct line to Shabak headquarters and knows what’s going on in Abu Seesi’s cell. BTW, this is precisely the charge they brought against Azmi Bishara. Lots of money passing through his accounts that he couldn’t explain. Money clearly going to bring about an Israeli revolution & topple the Jewish state. Abu Seesi no doubt got his money in return for bringing home Ukrainian weapons for Hamas. Great story.
BTW, there’s only one side of the story because of an Israeli gag order. Care to lift the gag so we can report on both sides of the story? Rotter even censored my post about the story, no doubt at the direction of their Shabak friends.
Once again, another great piece of investigative reporting, Richard. Thanks. Can you somehow bring these stories to the attention of the mainstream media, like the BBC?
Just this morning the BBC World Service radio reported this story about an ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared 4 years ago in Kish, Iran: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12641909 The story maid it into the headlines for the whole world to hear.
So I guess your stories of abducted Palestinians also deserve to be heard by broader audiences.
A BBC reporter subscribes to my blog. I’ll e mail him about this one. I’ve sent e mails to a number of Israeli and foreign journalists who report out of Israel. But usually they don’t go for my stuff unless the moon is in the Seventh House.
Richard,
Thanks for another important scoop. It becomes more and more evident that Israel’s government resembles Mubarak’s more than a democratic one.
btw, also a good idea to let a couple of the vile racist comments you are getting from regime backers. It is this ideology, often diluted and obscured but nonetheless always present, that drives the regime’s logicl