Israel’s embassies throughout the world are secured by the Shin Bet. An Israeli agent (Hebrew) was walking through Brussels with his son when he spied a man of “Eastern-looking features” with what he suspected was a concealed weapon. Since his young son was with him, he did nothing except take a picture of the suspect. He ran to the nearest embassy employee’s residence, reported the incident, raised an alarm that put the entire embassy staff in lockdown, left his son with those in the residence, and returned to seek the suspect. By then, the latter had disappeared.
The pictures were distributed via the Belgian media under the heading “anti-Semitic killer.” The next day, the man, 22 year old Asim Abbasi, reported himself to the police. He was the son of a Pakistani (EU) embassy administrative employee, who’d served there for four years. The “weapon” was a cricket bat which he’d covered with his sweater to protect it from the rain. He had been on the way to a cricket practice when the Shabak agent had spied him:
“I wrapped my bat in my sweatshirt because it was raining and if it is wet I can’t play the ball properly,” he said.
As a result of the incident, Pakistan fired the employee for damaging the country’s reputation in Belgium. Pakistan is also sensitive to Belgian suffering due to last summer’s Jewish museum terror attack. It gave him and his six other family members a week to return to Pakistan:
“We got a call from the embassy saying give us your passports,” said Mr Abassi.
“We’ve lost the privilege of living in Belgium. I’ve lost my education. I’ve lost everything.”
No Israeli apology has been forthcoming. The Belgian police, who trusted the warnings of an overeager Shin Bet agent (BIG mistake), have not apologized. The Pakistani embassy refused to comment.
Israeli media has now reported that the alarm was first raised by Israeli security, though it didn’t report the agent was with the Shin Bet. This adds another black eye to the agency, which has already suffered a bad hit from its altercation with the IDF over the lead-up to Operation Protective Edge.
Those in the U.S. and the rest of the west who wish to tout the enhanced security reputation of Israel in world airports may want to remember this incident and treat it as a warning. The only suspicion that aroused the attention of this agent was the suspect had “eastern” features and seemed to be carrying something under his sweater. On the strength of this racial-profiling the lives of an entire innocent family have been disrupted and the reputation of Israeli intelligence has been damaged.
Add to this that the Shin Bet, which also provides the prime minister security in Israel routinely forces Arab journalists to disrobe before entering press events and parties, and you’ve got a nasty case of Israeli racism rearing its ugly head around the world.
There is nothing to apologize for: Shin Bet’s alarm was no reason the Pakistani employee was deported from the country.
His four years tenure finished in July 2014 and he was expected to leave Belgium couple of month ago.
The Telegraph “story” (and your re-posting) is another example of biased reporting against Israel.
Belgium Ministry for Foreign Affairs statement:
http://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/Newsroom/news/press_releases/foreign_affairs/2014/11/ni_281114_employee_embassy_pakistan.jsp?referer=tcm:312-259958-64
Pakistan Ministry for Foreign Affairs statement:
http://mofa.gov.pk/pr-details.php?prID=2392
nokkor1 and Red Eft.
Do you SERIOUSLY expect clear communications from diplomatic communiques? Both Belgium and Pakistan are keen to not make an issue out of this so they both agreed to a mutually bland statement. Pakistanis often get their tenures extended in foreign countries where they get exceptional benefits and salaries, I know of several such cases.
Now use your brain instead of your blind emotions; The man had obviously been carrying his bat for a while and had obviously, been seen by many people, perhaps even a Belgian Policeman, but nobody had taken the situation to its illogical and paranoid extreme as the Israeli agent had done.
Naturally, the European press is only too eager to take up the chorus after the Israeli embassy screams, “Existential threat to Israel!”, especially since the target was “an Eastern looking features (Muslim)”.
I do agree with you that there is nothing for Israel to apologise for. After all, Israelis routinely execute people, inside Israel, in the OT and overseas and never apologises so, why start now?
@ nikkor1: We’ll let readers who aren’t pro-Israel apologists like you be the judge of whether the Shabak screwed up yet again.
So you think a man being described as an “anti Semitic killer” on Belgian TV isn’t something the Shabak should apologize for? You think it should get away with crap like this with impunity? I guess we have different standards then (thank God).
False accusation? Not at all.
The embassy employee reported a suspicious looking individual.
If the media or the governments of Belgium and Pakistan over reacted, than what’s that Israel’s fault.
@ Red Eft: The individual wasn’t suspicious in the least, except in the eyes of a paranoid Shabak agent. The only reason everyone else overreacted was the paranoia of the Israel agent.
” The Belgian police, who trusted the warnings of an overeager Shin Bet agent (BIG mistake), have not apologized.”
What warnings? Shabak shared the photos with the Belgian police, who judged that it might be a concealed weapon. Why? Because it does look like a rifle’s barrel and stock, covered.
Can’t the anti-Israel ‘amen corner’ give Israel a ‘pass’, just this once?
@ Red Eft: A concealed cricket bat looks like a rifle stock? In what universe? Eft-world? Give it a rest yourself.
“A concealed cricket bat looks like a rifle stock? In what universe?”
In the universe of Belgian law enforcement?
Belgians know a lot about guns. They produce the Herstal FN, probably the world’s best assault rifle.
……..NO ! There is far too much pandering to global Israeli pressure tactics…..
“Pakistan is also sensitive to Belgian suffering due to last summer’s Jewish museum terror attack”
You made that up. Show your source or retract this silly statement.
@ Cool Dude: Here are the rules here: my blog, I write what I think or believe to be true. You read it and agree or disagree. But you don’t get to make demands of me or tell me what to do. That’s grounds for moderation, which you will henceforth experience.
It’s common sense that in a nation that just suffered a devastating terror attack as Belgium did, that Pakistan would be extremely sensitive to the issue of other potential terror suspects, especially if they might be Pakistani. Don’t like it? Tough.
This was not a “suspicious” individual at all. It was a man with a cricket racket. The rest — all the rest — is racism. These people are all nuts, the Belgians, the Israeli “security” pros, the press, the Pakistanis, all driven crazy by the Zionists and their ridiculous state and its absurdities, including the cant about “anti-semitism,” an archaic term with very limited meaning, if any at all. Disgusting behavior all around, save the victim. (At the UN, lined up against the world was Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and United States (essentially just US and Israel!) Zionism has made Americans/Canadians ridiculous as well.)
“Cool Dude: Here are the rules here: my blog, I write what I think or believe to be true.”
Your statement above is in contradiction to your own rules. You require others to bring a source or authority and you just spew out what your decide!
Very objective!
The fact that Pakistan would be extremely sensitive to the sensibilities of a country which suffered a terror attack is self-evident. The fact that you & the Dude wish to doubt it means you deny what is self-evident to all the rest of us. Not my problem.
When a statement I make merits support, I offer it as tens of thousands of links to credible sources in my posts show. In this case, it didn’t.
Your comment is off-topic. Stick to the topic of the post. When I need help with my editorial decisions I’ll let you know. Till then, stay on-topic.
The Shin Bet agent was doing his job. The object was concealed. He could not know what it was. Whilst the ultimate explanation was reasonable, the agent was right to assume that the concealed objjct may have been a weapon.
In this instance, I think that you are clutching at straws in order to find something to publish that denigrates Shin Bet, who seem to be one of your favourite targets.
That comment is totally insane!
I have walked around with a loaf of French bread wrapped in a sweater like that to keep ity dry. And you think it would have been reasonable if had been denounced as a terrorist too by some hysterical Shit Bet agent?
@ Reggie Baby: People are allowed to cover coveted objects when it’s raining. It’s not illegal yet in most democratic countries, though Israel may wish to set a new & different standard. But it’s not yet able to subvert the rules & laws of foreign countries. The agent was wrong to cause a national incident. That’s the media in Belgium & Israel brought the story forward as a scandal. Your defense & apologia is not only not persuasive, it’s puerile. Thanks for giving it the old hasbara/college try.
The Shabak is not a “favorite” target. Just one that offers itself up & begs for exposure as an emblem of the national security state.
Well if the causes and reactions to this absurd “anti-Semitic killer” episode were OK, then there is no “problem” with reporting every Israeli Jew abroad carrying a bigger bag or a undefined bundle under their arm to the police and media. If Pakistanis or Indians (of whom many are Muslims) are not allowed by Jews to carry their cricket bats in Europe so let them limit Israeli Jews ability to carry their “high tech weapons” like baseball or softball bats. Every “Jewish looking” is a potential JDL or JSIL (Jewish State of Israel and the Levant) assassin and terrorist for Muslims – or are they? Paranoia and targeted propaganda making works in both directions.
It is 100 % certain that if some Muslim country’s embassy worker would take pictures of a “Jewish looking” mystery man with a larger bundle under his arm standing on a tram station and then giving the photos to the media as proof of a “Semitic killer lurking for Muslim prey”, Israel and Jewish communities would furiously and loudly demand “compensation” and would demand everybody even remotely connected to be fired.
Correction: Shin Bet. That wasn’t intentional.
But it was funny :-))
‘Bet’ – or ‘beit/bayt’ means ‘house’ in Arabic (in Hebrew too) like in Bayt Lahm/Bethlehem so “Shit House” is really perfect.
Shit House agent it is, then!
The Bet in Shin Bet is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. No relation to house. It’s an acronym for Sherut HaBitachon Haklali – General Security Service. In any case, it’s a bit odd that Pakistan would be so concerned about Israeli sensibilities given that it’s pretty much the only country in the world whose passports state that they are valid for travel everywhere in the world, except for Israel. Even odder still is that Israel allows Pakistanis to enter the country despite this printed admonition. It’s a strange world we live in.
Pea, I think Deir Yassin knows that it is a coincidental similarity.
Exactly. And your Shit House agent is really a perfect description. It could also mean that they keep back from nothing, following people even to the toilets to spy on them, which is pretty much true.
@ Pea: If you used a bit of thought before commenting you’d figure out that until Itamar Eichner wrote his story Pakistan likely didn’t know Israel was the source of the false report. No one knew the Shabak was the specific source till I wrote this post. So Pakistan acted out of sensitivity to Belgian interests, not Israeli.
Sorry Richard, but it was well reported in Belgium nearly a week before Itamar Eichner got around to reporting it in Hebrew and you reported it in English on November 30. LeVif/L’Express on November 24th reported as follows: “Le 24 août 2014, Assim Abassi se baladait Avenue Louise avec sa batte de cricket sous le bras, emballée dans un pull pour la protéger de la pluie. Non loin de là, un membre du service de sécurité de la résidence de l’ambassadeur israélien le repère et le prend en photo.” I’ll translate for you – “On August 24, Assim Abassi was walking on Avenue Louise with his cricket bat under his arm. The bat was wrapped in his sweater in order to protect it from the rain. Not far from there, a member of the security service at the residence of the Israeli Ambassador, took note of and photographed him.”
The article goes on and mentions that the Belgian authorities investigated for 2 months and had no success identifying Abassi (because he had no police record). Finally in November they released his photo to the media and the day after Abassi explained himself. As far as the authorities were concerned, that was the end of it. Certainly by Nov. 24th at the latest, the Pakistani embassy would have known that the source of the photo was Israeli because by then anyone who read LeVif knew. Or any of the readers of La Dernière Heure who, also on the 24th of November, reported that “Cet avis de recherche – signalant un suspect potentiellement armé qui trois mois auparavant avait soi-disant observé, avant de se volatiliser, des habitations de l’avenue Louise à Bruxelles – a en réalité été émis – et nous le tenons de multiples sources sûres – sur base des photos prises par le service de sécurité de l’ambassadeur d’Israël en Belgique, Jacques Revah. Sa résidence se trouvant non loin de l’arrêt où Assim Abbasi, 22 ans, attendait son tram en vue de se rendre à son match de cricket, lui qui avait juste recouvert sa batte de cricket avec son pull pour la protéger de la pluie.”
Pretty much everyone who cared about or was involved with the story in Belgium knew that the Israelis were the source of the photos before Itamar Eichner’s article.
More importantly, the family has not in fact been deported yet and if anyone wants to help or show their support, they can visit and like the relevant Facebook page created by supporters of the Abassi family.
@ pea: If anyone doubted that this blog is the target of a concerted Israeli hasbara counter-operation, pea’s activities here are concrete proof of it. She’s a pro-Israel native English speaker using University of Western Australia IP address, who follows Belgian French publications, including the publication dates of specific articles she compares to the pub dates of Hebrew language articles, is fluent in French, & also just happens to know there’s a French-language FB page supporting the Abbasi family.
Instead of wasting time in the counter-hasbara wars, you might want to have your pals in the MFA lobby for the family not to be deported because of the fashla of an overzealous Shabak agent.
You always knew I spoke French. And I know how to use Google. I am not on any government payroll. Also, regardless of the timing and who reported what first, this is still not a story that makes the Shabak look good!
How’s this for Hasbara? Netanyahu is a terrible PM, who loves to distract Israelis from their real problems (corruption, economic disparity, unsafe roads etc) by focusing on perceived external existential threats. Avigdor Lieberman is a totalitarian, Naftali Bennett is not much different and both scare the shit out of me. Finally, what government employee would be “working” at 4:28 am?
Pea does not represent a single individual, no matter how motivated. The range and depth of resources, the speed of response, etc. is inconsistent with an individual’s resources generally. That cover is blown through hubris, imho. The disinformation Pea provides is neither compelling nor convincing.
David? You’re hilarious! All I did was Google Assim Abassi and Israélien. It took me all of 5 minutes to find out that at least a week before Itamar and Richard reported it, everyone in Belgium already knew that the photos were taken by Israeli security. How that qualifies as Hasbarah is beyond me. I don’t have friends in the MFA, Avigdor Lieberman is creepy and this manifestation of paranoia is probably the funniest thing I have ever read in a long, long time. But do feel free to like the Facebook page of the Abassi family. If one good thing came out of this nonsense, it is that I was able to publicize the link here and allow people who want to help or lend support, the opportunity to do so.
Wait, what? University of Western Australia IP address?? My current IP address at home is 109.64.xxx.xx (Richard has the exact number) which is what I always use (Bezeq is my internet provider) unless I am surfing on my phone or iPad outside my home in which case the IP address is whatever Golan Telecom gives me. The only thing I use to change my ip is Hola unblocker, a Chrome extension that allows me to watch my friend’s Netflix account in the US. But even then, I never have it set to Australia because what would be the point? Please Richard, feel free to share this University of Western Australia IP address so that I may get to the bottom of this.
@ pea: Some of this looks to be my own error. One of your IPs resolves to Bezeqint in Israel while another is a Google proxy. I may’ve accidentally inserted another commenter’s IP instead of yours when I got the Australian result.
Good to hear! And again, for the record, I don’t work for or volunteer with or have any association with any entity, governmental or non-governmental, that has anything to do with Hasbarah or the promotion of Israel. I hope that was sufficiently unequivocal. If I am pro-Israel, it’s the same kind of pro-Israel that the author of this blog is. We may not see eye to eye on everything, but what can you do? I live in Israel, maybe that makes me more biased, who knows. But in every other respect, I am as forthcoming as personal safety allows, being a single female and all.
RS — I don’t think any of us ever doubted this targeting. I take it as an endorsement of your work. It is obvious with whom you are coping. Just keep a-going!
I believe I have heard of this kind of staged, targeting happening before, so it is completely credible to me.
Thanks Richard
How long did this guy walk around carring his wrqapped package without being “noticwed” by police? One doen’t knowq but for quite a while I’d suppose. And Mr. Shin Bet was not even seeing him “near” S-B headquarters or qany other Israeli “target”, just walking i the street, and nevertheless identified hin as a “suspect” (or worse!) with sufficient power or emphasis or whatever to persuade the Brussels police to seek him out and accuse him of anti-semitism. That last (the anti-semitism) was a Belgian fault, springing from the acusation by the S-B accuser. Mr. S-B says I think I saw a suspieious guy with a hidden gun, and Belgian police come up with anti-semitic.
They owe Pakisatan and everybody else an apolocy at least for that!