Despite an ironclad gag order within Israel prohibiting publication of even a single detail of the “espionage” case against Sedki al-Maket, Hilal Halabi and several other Golani Druze, word is beginning to circulate in foreign media. Beyond the two posts here, and the original video aired on Syrian state TV, now Press TV has published new pictures showing IDF officers meeting in broad daylight at the Quneitra border-crossing. This further bolsters the claims of al-Maket and my own reporting here.
Given the orientation of the picture, it was clearly taken on the Israeli-occupied side of the ceasefire line. That means it’s likely an IDF soldier took the picture. That could be where Hilal Halabi comes in. He was arrested this week, presumably as part of the same case involving al-Maket. I speculated at the time that Halabi may’ve notified the Golani reporter about the nighttime meeting. It’s possible the soldier took this picture as well. These are educated guesses about how this could’ve played out.
The IDF-al Nusra collaboration is the region’s worst-kept secret: the IDF has made an alliance of convenience with al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra. It’s done this because it believes that Hezbollah, al-Nusra’s enemy, is a more dangerous adversary. Keep in mind, that when Hezbollah was first founded, the Mossad too made common cause with it against Israel’s then enemies, the Palestinians.
If Assad were ever overthrown and the Sunni-affiliated al-Nusra took over Syria or large portions of it, and its agenda transformed them into enemies of Israel, then Israel will be fighting the same conflict with al Nusra it’s now fighting with Hezbollah. God, doesn’t this get old to any Israeli strategists? Don’t they get deja vu regarding crap like this? Apparently not. They’re gluttons for ongoing punishment. Or else they need to have a potent enemy at hand to justify the garrison-perpetual-war state they’ve created.
In breaking this story, I’ve observed an important principle: Israeli intervention in regional affairs is almost always toxic. No matter what short-term interest Israel believes it’s advancing, invariably military alliances like this (and the one with the South Lebanese Army in the 1980s) go all to hell and blow up in everyone’s faces. To the argument pro-Israelists advance–that Israel has no choice since its enemies have their own proxies who intervene in Israel’s affairs–I say: do the deal you know must be made. Get right with your neighbors. Accept the Saudi peace plan. Give back the Golan. Then you will no longer have any powder kegs into which your enemies can throw matches.
For his troubles, Press TV’s Golan reporter received a ‘friendly’ visit from the IDF. They asked where he got the pictures (which means the army already knew they were legitimate). Then they warned him that he was under special observation. Given the IDF’s murder of journalists in Gaza during the summer war, such a warning is not an idle threat. Nor did the reporter take it that way.
UPDATE: Since writing the following, I’ve since identified the location of the photo, as I noted above.
I should also add that we do not know the provenance of these pictures. We don’t know who took them, when they were taken or where (by the way, if anyone reading this knows the Golan and can identify this border crossing, please be in touch).
I thought you said PressTV aren’t reliable even for the weather. LOL.
Apparently they aren’t reliable enough to report about their own government but they are more than enough to smear **** over the Zionist regime they oppose.
@ Ariel: I’d be delighted for you to prove PressTV’s report about this wrong. You go right ahead & we’ll await proof from you.
BTW, if DebkaFiles ever got anything right (it won’t) and I could prove it, I’d report that. I’d hold my nose the entire time, but I’d report it. The same is true about Jerusalem Post. I think it’s a piece of dreck. But once in a while it publishes something right or useful. Just because I think it reeks doesn’t mean once in a blue moon it publishes something worth paying attention to. Once in a very blue moon, that is.
@RS – I was not the one who made the statement that PressTV cannot be trust even about the weather. It was you. https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2015/02/22/trilateral-meeting-of-nsa-gchq-unit-8200-tracked-irans-leadership-spied-on-p51-talks/#comment-641082
@ Ariel: This is a report from Press TV’s Golan correspondent. Further it’s a subject about which I am reporting & can judge the veracity of his claims. Third, this isn’t an issue relating to either Iran or the U.S. (about which PressTV almost always exaggerates).
So under those limited conditions, I’m willing to trust this particular report.
Interesting story. But it also leaves many things unexplained and is predicated on many many assumptions:
1. You assume that this is a meeting on the Golan Heights, but don’t know where. The only official crossing is Quneitra, but it doesn’t look like Quneitra. Furthermore, the houses in the background look Israeli, but there is a green flag there (can you tell what it is?). The presumed IDF soldier are in the foreground, though, which means that the picture is taken from the Israeli side.
2. How do we know these are Al Nusra rebels? They could be other militants (we know that the IDF has had contact with other militants, since the Israelis have admitted as such).
3. Suppose they are Al Nusra rebels, how do you know what they are discussing? If Al Nusra is manning the border station it makes sense that some contact will be had between the two sides (although it’s highly implausible that a Press TV journalist would be privy to this). That’s probably a good thing. But we have no idea what they are discussing and what sort of collaboration this implies (if any).
4. You question the wisdom of the IDF’s dealing with Nusra. Hizballah is the greater threat, you say. Playing one enemy off of the other is an old game, Everybody plays it. Does it get ugly? Of course. But is it obvious that the alternatives are preferable? The Syrian Civil War is ugly. The Israelis have been accused of supporting Assad, of opposing Assad, of being neutral…there is a case to be made for all three possibilities. I imagine the Israelis are partaking in all three at different times.
5. You make some serious allegations about the IDF ‘murdering’ journalists, but you provide no links. Are you referring to something in particular?
@ Puzzled: It is indeed Quneitra as I noted in an update to the post. And the flags are al Nusra Islamist flags. That’s how we know the fighters in the picture are al Nusra. Further, if the IDF soldiers and al Nusra fighters were getting together to discuss soccer scores the IDF wouldn’t have threatened the reporter after he published the pictures. The combined weight of my own reporting along with this new report only confirms my own claims about collaboration. I note you’ve deliberately neglected all the other independent media reports which also confirm such collaboration. WOuld you care to comment on the Syrian rebel camp built on Israeli occupied Golan? Or the weapons UN inspectors saw the IDF delivering the rebels in boxes?
I definitely did NOT say Hezbollah is the greater threat. I did say Israeli “strategists” believe that to be so. In fact, I believe that al Nusra are at least as dangerous as Hezbollah & that Israel is deliberately ignoring this fact. Further, I said that none of them would be threats at all if Israel signed peace deals with its enemies. Do NOT mischaracterize my views & do not summarize them. Your characterizations cannot be trusted.
There is NO case to be made for Israel doing anything other than wholeheartedly opposing Assad. None.
Israel has murdered many journalists in Gaza. THe charges and stories are well known & documented. The IDF deliberately targeted them. It’s also been noted in international free press rankings to explore Israel’s low score.
@RS
” .. I believe that al Nusra are at least as dangerous as Hezbollah & that Israel is deliberately ignoring this fact.”
When al Nusra has the patronage of a regional superpower, like Iran, and when al Nusra has 100,000 misssiles at it’s disposal, than, and only than, does it become as dangerous as Hezbollah.
@ Hefe: Al Nusra has the support of Saudi Arabia, Qatar & even Turkey. So it has as much or more regional support than Assad.
Israel has far more missiles at its disposal, and far more lethal than anything Hezbollah can offer. Plus it’s shown itself far more willing to unleash them on its neighbors. Those neighbors have every reason to treat Israel the way Hezbollah treats it, as a mortal enemy.
When Israel proves willing to put those missiles back in their silos & sign a peace agreement that’s been offered many times by many of those frontline states, then it won’t be that mortal enemy to peace & the region as a whole.
Pretty pictures of Quneitra crossing on the Syrian side under control of the UN forces (July 2013). That crossing has been destroyed, the UN has pulled out and Jablat al-Nusra terrorist organization has full control.
○ Islamist rebels occupy the border between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in the area of the city of Quneitra – Aug. 27, 2014
○ Quneitra checkpoint in Golan Heights declared closed | PressTV |
Israeli commandos seen returning from a mission inside Syria.
○ Israel prepares for war in the Golan heigts (17.05.2013) – Foxnews
@ Oui: Don’t you realize that they were on a harmless daily constitutional to have a daily cup of Arab coffee with their al Nusra brothers in arms?? Nothing to see here, move on. To paraphrase my hasbara friends here in this thread.
While I have do doubt this in indeed the crossing, the fact 2 of the Islamists and one IDF soldier are standing with their weapons ready to be shot within a second shows this isn’t a ‘social visit’ but rather a meeting two rivals are attending. If anyone thinks those didn’t happen, when the U.S. was in Iraq, with Iran, he is dilutional.
More Likud election chatter …
○ Netanyahu says Israel won’t cede land to Palestinians due to Iran fears!
Ariel. Instead of rejecting Richards claim that this is the Quneoitra crossing, why don’t you check out Oui’s link “Quneitra checkpoint in Golan Heights declared closed | PressTV |”?
In the picture the Israeli guard looks completely relaxed and his lead soldier looks like he is greeting friends. The Arabs are completely at ease, one has his hands in his pocket while the others are standing so openly that they could not stand a chance if hostilities started and these are pretty seasoned fighters! This does NOT look like a formal meeting between two adversaries across their borders.
Oh that’s easy. It’s the Quneitra border crossing. Where UNDOF forces are deployed and where Druze who need to cross into Syria for family or schooling purposes cross. It’s a rather public place for such a highly clandestine meeting – I mean it’s right under the noses of all the UN guys stationed there. But don’t take my word for it. Wikipedia has a photo dated 2012. The flags are those of Syria but now they are the green I assume Al-Nusra flags because they control that border. See the following article and accompanying photo.
Haaretz has a pic from 2013 here http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.535919 if you don’t have an account you can see just the photo here.
Same place as the Press TV pic ie a very public UN controlled border crossing.
Look. The guy on the right is even wearing a UN flack jacket. And the cement barriers are white and say UN.
It just shows there is nothing clandestine about this meeting and it’s not part of any covert alliance. Al-nusra militants now control the other side of the corossing so obviously there would be some interaction between the two sides
Why did they remove the gates? It looks much more primitive now, if it is the same place.
I don’t know why that second pic didn’t link. Here it is from Haaretz and here’s another one, also from Haaretz. Sorry for the bad HTML…