Ouch... Israeli terrorists brought to Justice:
Tuesday, November 13, 2001 Cheshvan 27, 5762
12:02 13/11/2001
Last update - 12:01 13/11/2001
Hearing in Ohio for 11 Israelis arrested after Sept. 11 attacks
By Yam Yehoshua, Ha'aretz Correspondent
Eleven Israelis being held in Ohio for illegally working in the United States will appear before a federal immigration judge on Tuesday. The Israelis were arrested shortly after the September 11 terror attacks.
According to Israel's Foreign Ministry, some 100 Israelis have been arrested throughout the U.S. as part of a crackdown on illegal foreign workers following the terror attacks. Other Israelis are being held in Saint Louis, Sacramento and Philadelphia. In ten days, five Israelis who were arrested in New York immediately after the attacks, are to return to Israel after their deportation orders have been signed.
The Israelis held in Ohio are: Rachel Sabag, Uri Ben-Tur, Shulamit Amram, Liron Diamant, Shahar Barkai, Liron Arbus, Benny Cohen, Yaniv Hani, Asaf Mansour, Itay Hashay and Oren Bar. They arrived in the United States separately and worked
-probably without valid work visas- for an Israeli employer selling toys in a Cleveland
mall.
According to the families, on October 31 FBI agents broke into the homes of ten of the
Israelis and transferred them to an FBI installation where they were interrogated for
three days. Another Israeli, Oren Bar, was arrested in a similar manner on November
1.
After three days the men were transferred to a jail in south Cleveland and the women
were transferred to a municipal jail in Ohio.
Although relatives of the Israelis understand the predicament faced by the U.S. in the
wake of the terror attacks, they expressed frustration at the arrests.
Ziona Mansour, Asaf's mother, told Ha'aretz: "At the previous hearing on Friday the
judge wanted to deport them, but the FBI had arguments about fake passports and that
they worked for the Mossad. I know the Americans are under pressure, but we are not
a hostile country and we are not dealing with murder. We contacted the Foreign
Ministry but they said they will not get involved in legal procedures."
Bat Chen Sabag, Rachel's sister said, "The situation is so absurd that they asked my
sister whether she knew how to prepare or neutralize bombs. One of the girls called
and said they were handcuffed to chairs and that they were encouraged not to hire
lawyers because that would delay their release.
The Israelis' attorney, David Leopold said, "The detained were not charged with
working for the Mossad. They may have been asked about it in the investigation. This
is a special case because they all have valid visas, but not work visas. Similar trials
are usually held against people with invalid visas."
"I believe that in this hearing they will be offered 'voluntary deportation' orders,
because until now the FBI arguments were vague," he said. "There is a chance that
the state would appeal the decision, and this chance is increased because of the
atmosphere since the September 11 attacks."
Foreign Ministry's Irit Shtoper, who is handling the affair, warned that Israelis should
be aware of the risk they take if they choose to work illegally in the United States.
"Everyone should know that people arrested nowadays in the United States are
immediately investigated by the FBI," she said. "A person who decides to risk working
illegally should take into consideration the fact that after September 11 the United
States reinforces the law at any stake."
"Our Foreign Ministry does not get involved, just as we would not like someone to be
involved in our legal procedures," she added. "Our only involvement is to try and check the jail conditions and to give recommendations to the families."
haaretzdaily.com
America, the land of the free, the home of the brave --and no longer the dupe of Israel... |
