Hashem al’Sayyed, Israeli Bedouin imprisoned in Gaza
UPDATE: I also broke another major story today. Until now, Israeli media reported that two IDF soldiers were killed during a Hannibal Directive, in which the army kills one of its own troops to prevent capture by Palestinian militants. Now, I report that a third IDF solider, Amit Yeori, was also murdered by his own during last summer’s war. Thanks to Mint Press News for publishing both stories and recognizing their importance.
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Yesterday, an Israeli judge approved the removal of the gag order preventing the media from reporting anything about the imprisonment of Avera Mengistu. This was a story I first reported here back in October and followed up on last month in a Mint Press News story. In that piece, I first identified Mengistu by name and excoriated the government for turning its back on him in large part because he was black. As his brother told the Israeli press yesterday: “This wasn’t just racism, it was blackism.”
Avera Mengistu (R.) at an Ethiopian wedding
I’m delighted that despite the fact that it took the Israeli media eleven months to say a word about his case, that now they are making up for it. All the major outlets ran stories and informed the Israeli public about a story that had been withheld from them for almost a year. But some media did better than others. NRG (formerly Maariv), a hard-right outlet, reported fully not just about Mengistu, but credited my own original reporting and contribution. Ynet and 972 Magazine also referred briefly to my role. Only the erstwhile “liberal” Haaretz excised me completely from the story. To believe their reporting, the only conversation about Mengistu happened among Israeli-Ethiopians on Facebook. The reporter couldn’t even be bothered to discover that for the past month I’ve been sending Facebook messages to every Israeli Ethiopian NGO and individual on the social media platform that I could find.
Despite e mails to the reporter and Aluf Benn, the managing editor, asking for a correction to their story, no response has been forthcoming. I’ll let you be the judge of what that says about Haaraetz’s journalistic principles. I should add that I regularly cover and credit Haaretz reporting here, while also criticizing it when warranted. It’s that part that rankles people like publisher Amos Schocken and Benn.
I’ve written about this in my new Mint Press article following up on the Mengistu saga. Please read it and distribute it on social media.
Yesterday, Haggai Matar reported at Mekomit that there is a second Israeli citizen held captive in Gaza. Matar did not identify him. I will now. An Israeli source has confirmed he is an Israeli Bedouin, Hashem Sha’aban al-Sayyed (age 27), from one of the Bedouin hamlets in Hura area. I do not know how he came to cross the border. This element of the story is under the same draconian gag order that prevented the identification of Mengistu till yesterday. Let’s hope that Haaretz can appeal the gag order on this case as well and get it removed. Let’s hope as well that Haaretz’s churlishness doesn’t prevent it from offering journalistic credit.
Haaretz interviewed al-Sayyed’s father, who told the reporter that despite claims by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon to the contrary, no Israeli official had had any contact with him and that he didn’t even know his son was being held in Gaza. Yaalon also warned Hamas that he held it responsible for the two captives’ safety. When you and your government has abandoned them for months–to announce that you hold the other guy responsible is a breathtaking bit of bluffery. We always knew Yaalon was a liar, but this performance is truly breathtaking. Most politicians would at least be embarrassed to be shown up by a mourning father. But for Yaalon, there is no shame.
Hashem had disappeared on April 20th. His father said Hashem is mentally-troubled and had twice previously cross the border and was returned. My hope is that just as the story on Mengistu led to the lifting of his gag order a month later, so the same may happen in the case of this poor Bedouin man.
There’s another element of embarrassment for the Israeli government in this case. The IDF monitors the Gaza-Israel border closely with surveillance cameras and regular patrols. Though the IDF refused to have any contact with Mengistu’s family for weeks after the incident, eventually they brought the family video evidence of Mengistu on the beach before he crossed into Gaza. The evidence, according to yesterday’s reports, showed him sitting on the beach reading a Bible, then approaching the fence and climbing over it. It shows his approaching several Gazans on the other side of the fence as well.
The army claims it immediately dispatched troops to investigate and prevent Mengistu from crossing. This doesn’t pass the smell test. If a terrorist was crossing into Israel from the same location, they would activate every force possible in order to meet the threat. In this case, they saw someone crossing in the “wrong” direction and did nothing to prevent it. Because they just didn’t care.
Yossi Melman offered a savage critique (the English version at the Jerusalem Post is considerably more toned down) of the Israeli security apparatus in his story for Maariv. He said it “spat in the face” of the Ethiopian community in Israel. “If the color of his skin had been different, the government’s attitude would’ve been as well.” Of course, he’s right.
He further reveals secret briefings offered to journalists about the case while it was still under gag in which they were told the government had met with the family and was doing all in its power to free him. Nothing of the sort happened. The prime minister refused to meet the family until an Israeli Ethiopian MK pressured him to do so. The meeting took place exactly one day before the judge ended the gag order.
The government pressured the family to remain silent. That’s why when I contacted Avera’s brother he refused to speak with me, as did a well-known Ethiopian journalist I contacted. Only his father, who is divorced and largely out of contact with the family, was willing to talk.
For all reading this, especially Israelis, let’s break the gag on reporting al-Sayyed’s name and predicament as we did Mengistu’s. They deserve no less from all of us.
Silverstein has published Tikun Olam since 2003, It exposes the secrets of the Israeli national security state. He lives in Seattle, but his heart is in the east. He publishes regularly at Middle East Eye and Jacobin Magazine. His work has also appeared in Al Jazeera English, The Nation, Truthout and other outlets.
“In this case, they saw someone crossing in the “wrong” direction and did nothing to prevent it. Because they just didn’t care.”
Maybe they slipped up on their surveillance, and are not as efficient as they claim. During the 2006 war in Lebanon, there were some awful blunders.
This case is very strange, and surely more details will come out. I notice that HAMAS, also, said nothing about their captive, and are now saying that he left Gaza through Egypt. I don’t trust any of this information.
@ LittleBat: If Mengistu “left” Gaza he was “escorted” by his captors who no doubt still control him and know his whereabouts. I have little doubt when Israel finally gets around to negotiating seriously for the release of the 2 Ashkenazi IDF soldiers’ remains, which it genuinely wants, Hamas or whoever holds Mengistu will manage to “find” and produce him.
” If a terrorist was crossing into Israel from the same location..”
You’ve adopted Israel’s flawed terminology– based on who he is, not what he does.
Otherwise, good job with your reporting, i saw all the trolls who attacked you. LOL
“Gilad Shalit was Ashkenazi and white. Mengistu is Ethiopian and black”
You forgot to mention that Gilad Shalit was kidnaped and he was sent there by the state. Avera Mengistu voluntarily crossed the border and neither the state or anyone else sent him there.
Please have more respect for your readers, they are not stupid to think that the only difference between the two is their skin color.
@ David: You forgot that soldiers aren’t “kidnapped,” they’re “captured” because they’re not civilians.
Mengistu no more voluntarily crossed the border than your schizophrenic brother decided he was the Prince of Egypt or your mother decided she was the Queen of Sheba. Ascribing to mentally troubled people free will and volition is a pretty dicey proposition.
As for “respecting my readers,” you mean “agree with me.” I don’t have to agree with you in order to respect my readers, thankfully. As for who’s being stupid, I’ll let other readers be the judge of that.
“You forgot to mention that Gilad Shalit was kidnaped”
A squad of soldiers is on active duty on the front line.
That squad comes under fire and all are killed except one, who puts his hands in the air.
The attackers then take that one survivor with them when they withdraw back to their own side.
Q: Is that a “kidnapping”?
A: No.
Q: Then what is it?
A: He has “surrendered”, which makes him their “captive” and makes them his “captors”.
Q: So, not a kidnapping then?
A: No, he is a “prisoner of war”.
Q: And all the negotiations that followed?
A: That’s a “prisoner swap”, and is perfectly legitimate under the Rules Of War.
“.. I first identified Mengistu by name and excoriated the government for turning its back on him ..”
I believe that the gag order was a silly idea.
That said, nowhere do you criticize Hamas for it’s horrendous role in the affair. Hamas hasn’t acknowledged that Mengistu is a captive, or even if he’s alive. They say that Mengistu has he left Gaza through a tunnel and disappeared. At least Israel has kept the Mengistu family informed and not spun fairy tells.
Hamas is the villain today. Not Israel.
@ Mitchell: Hamas’ “horrendous role?” What are you smoking? Mengistu entered Gaza where Hamas rules. Did you expect he’d be put up at the Gaza Hilton. Oh wait, no, even if there was one it would’ve been destroyed by Israel years ago. Hamas says Mengistu “left Gaza?” Where do they say that?
Israel has not kept the Mengistu family informed. Government officials had to be shamed into contacting them & Bibi only met with them 2 days ago when he discovered the cat would be out of the bag and the gag rescinded.
No, Israel is the villain today. Hamas may be a villain another day. But not today. The day of shame belongs to Israel entirely. If you read Hebrew read Melman’s Hebrew piece, not the English.
What is Hamas today? A social worker?
You can say whatever you want about Israel handling the case but since you believe Hamas still hold Mengistu (a reasonable assumption) but won’t disclose it, to simply dismiss Hamas role is nonsense.
@Richard
“Hamas says Mengistu “left Gaza?” Where do they say that? ”
‘Hamas sources told [Gershon] Baskin that they did not keep track of Mengistu and they believe he went to Sinai via a tunnel and have no knowledge of his whereabouts.’
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Baskin-Mengistu-refused-to-go-back-to-Israel-and-was-released-in-Gaza-408498
Hamas admits that Mangisto was in their hands and was interrogated, but released him once convinced that he was not an IDF soldier.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4678131,00.html
So if Hamas cannot find Mangisto, how do you expect Israel to find him within or without Gaza?
Gershon Baskin & J Post are as credible & reliable as the kid’s game Telephone.
Why don’t you branch out to more credible sources?
Haaretz seem to think that Gershon Baskin has excellent contacts within Hamas.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/the-israeli-academic-who-played-a-critical-role-in-the-shalit-deal-1.389789
Gershon Baskin is a lib Zio poseur who hates Hamas & knows as much about Gaza as I can put in a thimble.
‘Officer tried to save Hadar Goldin by entering smuggling tunnel’
Well. Apparently this brave officer didn’t read the Hannibal Directive, “..in which the army kills one of its own troops to prevent capture by Palestinian militants”.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4555449,00.html
@ Mitchell Blood: Mitchell, Mitchell: hasbarists always come along here thinking they’re invented the hasbara wheel that will finally outsmart me. You apparently neglected the fact that the “rescuers” tossed grenades and various other explosvies into the tunnel before they entered. Were they trying to save Goldin’s life or…?
Richard, it’s a tunnel, what’s the point of kidnapping an Israeli soldier if you stay put with him right near the entrance? Were the IDF troops supposed to give up and just go away?
Odds are that within seconds they were long gone with the soldier or with his body, so any hot pursuit didn’t risk hurting Goldin with a few grenades. Is it however likely that someone could have been left behind to ambush the entrance, that’s what the grenades were for.
At the end of the day, it was a tactical decision, you don’t need an approval from the chief of staff to throw a grenade. It may have been reckless, but under the circumstances it was probably correct.
Here is a link to a request by police for information about Hashem Sha’aban al-Sayyed a few moth ago.
http://m.alarab.net/Article/681313
@James: Every time I read a common from the hasbara brigade quoting Arabic sources it raises interesting questions about who you are, who you work for & why you’re here.
I don’t speak Arabic but there is something called Google and you can search an image (the one from your blog) and google translate will do the rest. You should defiantly check this out.
@ Richard
I think your first photo in the Mintpressnews is of Gilad Shalit and not Goldin. Here’s Shalit wearing the same shirt just after his liberation.http://www.lepoint.fr/images/2011/10/18/nic-417408-jpg_276610_660x281.JPG
I’ve been trying to get the production folks to correct that. I don’t control photos. They do. I hope they’ve corrected it.