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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Emile Vidrine who wrote (1658)	9/11/2003 11:31:35 AM
From: Emile Vidrine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22250

IS ISRAEL BLACKMAILING AMERICA? PART IV Stories About Israeli Spies and Politics Part 4 of 4 TONY SNOW, HOST: This week, senior correspondent Carl Cameron has reported on a longstanding government espionage investigation. Federal officials this year have arrested or detained nearly 200 Israeli citizens suspected of belonging to an "organized intelligence-gathering operation." The Bush administration has deported most of those arrested after Sept. 11, although some are in custody under the new anti-terrorism law. Cameron also investigates the possibility that an Israeli firm generated billing data that could be used for intelligence purpose, and describes concerns that the federal government's own wiretapping system may be vulnerable. Tonight, in part four of the series, we'll learn about the probable roots of the probe: a drug case that went bad four years ago in L.A. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CARL CAMERON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Los Angeles, 1997, a major local, state and federal drug investigating sours. The suspects: Israeli organized crime with operations in New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Canada, Israel and Egypt. The allegations: cocaine and ecstasy trafficking, and sophisticated white-collar credit card and computer fraud. The problem: according to classified law enforcement documents obtained by Fox News, the bad guys had the cops’ beepers, cell phones, even home phones under surveillance. Some who did get caught admitted to having hundreds of numbers and using them to avoid arrest. "This compromised law enforcement communications between LAPD detectives and other assigned law enforcement officers working various aspects of the case. The organization discovered communications between organized crime intelligence division detectives, the FBI and the Secret Service." Shock spread from the DEA to the FBI in Washington, and then the CIA. An investigation of the problem, according to law enforcement documents, concluded, "The organization has apparent extensive access to database systems to identify pertinent personal and biographical information." When investigators tried to find out where the information might have come from, they looked at Amdocs, a publicly traded firm based in Israel. Amdocs generates billing data for virtually every call in America, and they do credit checks. The company denies any leaks, but investigators still fear that the firm's data is getting into the wrong hands. When investigators checked their own wiretapping system for leaks, they grew concerned about potential vulnerabilities in the computers that intercept, record and store the wiretapped calls. A main contractor is Comverse Infosys, which works closely with the Israeli government, and under a special grant program, is reimbursed for up to 50 percent of its research and development costs by Israel's Ministry of Industry and Trade. Asked this week about another sprawling investigation and the detention of 60 Israeli since Sept. 11, the Bush administration treated the questions like hot potatoes. ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I would just refer you to the Department of Justice with that. I'm not familiar with the report. COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm aware that some Israeli citizens have been detained. With respect to why they're being detained and the other aspects of your question – whether it's because they're in intelligence services, or what they were doing – I will defer to the Department of Justice and the FBI to answer that. (END VIDEOTAPE) CAMERON: Beyond the 60 apprehended or detained, and many deported since Sept. 11, another group of 140 Israeli individuals have been arrested and detained in this year in what government documents describe as "an organized intelligence gathering operation," designed to "penetrate government facilities." Most of those individuals said they had served in the Israeli military, which is compulsory there. But they also had, most of them, intelligence expertise, and either worked for Amdocs or other companies in Israel that specialize in wiretapping. Earlier this week, the Israeli embassy in Washington denied any spying against or in the United States – Tony. SNOW: Carl, we've heard the comments from Ari Fleischer and Colin Powell. What are officials saying behind the scenes? CAMERON: Well, there's real pandemonium described at the FBI, the DEA and the INS. A lot of these problems have been well known to some investigators, many of who have contributed to the reporting on this story. And what they say is happening is supervisors and management are now going back and collecting much of the information, because there's tremendous pressure from the top levels of all of those agencies to find out exactly what's going on. At the DEA and the FBI already a variety of administration reviews are under way, in addition to the investigation of the phenomenon. They want to find out how it is all this has come out, as well as be very careful because of the explosive nature and very political ramifications of the story itself – Tony. SNOW: All right, Carl, thanks.

To: Emile Vidrine who wrote (1658)	9/12/2003 7:10:48 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 22250

Israelis Need A Change Of Attitude ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Bush's efforts will fail miserably unless he can use American leverage to induce a change of attitude in Israel: a genuine recognition of Arab humanity and of the inalienable rights of the indigenous Palestinians to live in freedom and dignity. They need to confront the massive injustices they have meted out to the Palestinians with impunity .." By VICTOR LAMA Nothing changes if nothing changes. So goes an old adage of particular prevalence in the world of 12-step programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous. The point is that a degenerative - and oftentimes self-destructive - dynamic will continue inexorably as long as the underlying conditions that have caused it, and continue to perpetuate it, are not addressed. Sounds simple enough, but oh how difficult for such a logical approach to be implemented when one is blinded by a debilitating sense of denial and obstinacy. And, as in Israel’s case, when its people are intoxicated by an extremist brand of religious nationalism and a warped sense of victim’s privilege. Much has been speculated about the possible success of President Bush’s so-called road map to peace in the Middle East. Unfortunately, pundits and politicians alike have too often focused on staged media events, like Israel dismantling an empty settler trailer or two, or releasing prisoners who were never charged with anything in the first place, to measure progress. Overlooked and under analyzed are those damning little details, like, say, the huge swaths of Arab farmland Israel is confiscating with its “security” (wink, wink) wall, or the fact that settlement activity and land confiscations have continued unabated and undeterred by US complaints. Mr. Bush’s toothless efforts will fail miserably, as all others have, unless he can use American leverage to induce a change of attitude in Israel toward the humane: a genuine recognition of Arab humanity and of the inalienable rights of the indigenous Palestinians to live in freedom and dignity on the land of their ancestors. Israelis need to confront the massive injustices they have meted out to the Palestinians with impunity for more than 5 decades, their dispossession, expulsion, the destruction of their society, and continued oppression under a horrendous military occupation, all of it meticulously documented by the United Nations and human rights organizations. Lip service is worthless. A truth and reconciliation commission, along the lines of post-Apartheid South Africa, would do wonders toward fostering peaceful coexistence. Meanwhile, Palestinian good will has been met with a calculated and bloody escalation in Israeli violence and provocation, prompting the kind of ugly response we saw in West Jerusalem. The Israelis openly scorned the road map’s call for “an immediate end to violence against Palestinians everywhere” and the unilateral Palestinian cease-fire of June 29. During the cease-fire and up until August 18, a day before the Jerusalem bus-bombing, Israeli soldiers and settlers killed 17 people (including 7 children), wounded 437, arrested 593, confiscated 4,457 acres of land for Jewish settlements, bulldozed 987 acres of farmland, destroyed 12,462 trees and destroyed or damaged 253 houses, according to the International Solidarity Movement and official Palestinian sources. Positive change is also needed on the part of American Jewish organizations. The ADL (anti-Defamation League), whose historic purpose was ironically to ensure fair housing policies for Jews, must immediately stop its hypocritical support for Israel’s overtly racist Jews-only settlements. The phenomenal power of intimidation it wields should be used toward egalitarian ends, like ensuring equality between Arabs and Jews, not toward promoting anti-Arab bigotry and silencing Israel’s critics with the morally repugnant tactic of labeling them "anti-Semites" because they dare to speak out. AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), which wields a veritable veto over American Middle East policy, should stop using its congressional buying power to bully congressman into rubber-stamping Israel’s atrocious behavior. Instead of widely disseminating its notorious list of historically-challenged talking points all over college campuses, the American Jewish Committee should live up to its "American" moniker and help advance policies that work toward freedom from oppression for Palestinians, not vilify brutalized children who throw stones, and then pooh-pooh their cold-blooded killing by Israeli soldiers in tanks. Unfortunately, all this is but a fantasy because Israel has no incentive to relent. President Bush is obviously too cowed by the ability to subvert his presidency wielded by the Zionist cabal that is running our foreign policy. Only weeks after congress approved a whopping $14 billion in “loan” guarantees to Israel, Ariel Sharon slapped Mr. Bush’s face by announcing the construction of 24 new illegal settlement units in occupied Gaza, also contrary to the road map. Unlike South Africa’s apartheid government that was sanctioned and isolated from the international community, our government continues to reward Israel’s apartheid with 5 billion of our tax dollars annually. Influential Christian Zionists and neo-conservatives in Bush’s own party are frantically trying to sabotage the road map by out rightly encouraging Israelis to ignore it. So, how can we help Israelis get sober when we act as their enablers?