Posted on 03/05/2002 2:27:35 PM PST by jmp702
U.S. Deports Israelis Amid Warnings of Espionage Activities
By Ted Bridis Associated Press Writer
Published: Mar 5, 2002
WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities have arrested and deported dozens of young Israelis since early last year who represented themselves as art students in efforts to gain access to sensitive federal office buildings and the homes of government employees, U.S. officials said.
A draft report from the Drug Enforcement Administration - which first characterized the activities as suspicious - said the youths' actions "may well be an organized intelligence-gathering activity."
Immigration officials deported them for visa violations; no criminal espionage charges were filed.
The arrests, made in an unspecified number of major U.S. cities from California to Florida, came amid public warnings from U.S. intelligence agencies about suspicious behavior by people posing as Israeli art students and "attempting to bypass facility security and enter federal buildings."
The Israelis were arrested and deported on charges of working in the United States without authorization or overstaying visits on tourist visas, said Russ Bergeron, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Washington. He described dozens of arrests since early 2001 but gave no exact figures.
The DEA report said a majority of the students questioned by U.S. investigators acknowledged having served in military intelligence, electronic signals interception or explosive ordnance units in the Israeli military. The DEA said one person questioned was the son of a two-star Israeli general, one had served as the bodyguard to the head of the Israeli Army and another served in a Patriot missile unit.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Yaffa Ben-Ari said it was "nonsense" that the students were spying on the United States.
Another Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Irit Stopper, confirmed that a few Israelis posing as art students were expelled from the United States for working without permits. However they were not accused of espionage, she said. She did not say how many Israelis were expelled and did not give any additional details.
The DEA report was first obtained by a French Web site that specializes in intelligence news, Intelligenceonline.com, and confirmed Tuesday as authentic by DEA spokeswoman Rogene Waite in Washington. The Web site said 120 Israelis had been arrested.
"That these people are now traveling in the U.S. selling art seems not to fit their background," the report said.
An FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted there were no espionage charges filed against any of the individuals and that they had been deported. Asked whether any spying activity occurred, the official repeated that no charges had been filed.
A Justice Department official, also asking not to be publicly identified, said investigators have been aware of some "alleged linkage" between the students and alleged espionage activities in the United States since early 2001, and said authorities have made arrests in Dallas, Chicago, San Diego and in south Florida. INS spokesman Rodney Germain in Miami said five or six people were arrested in that area at least six months ago on immigration counts.
Although security experts at the DEA first characterized the youths' behavior as suspicious, and INS authorities later arrested them, the FBI typically investigates espionage cases in the United States.
The DEA report said that among U.S. sites apparently targeted was Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, home to the military's AWACS surveillance planes and the place where many of the nation's B-1 bombers are repaired. Investigators also said that one female art student went to the home of a worker for the Environmental Protection Agency in Denver to sell paintings and returned later to photograph the house, according to the report.
No one within the Justice Department has expressed concerns about the Israeli students possibly committing espionage, Justice spokesman Bryan Sierra said. The deputy U.S. attorney general, Larry Thompson, declined to discuss the arrests when asked about them during a news conference Tuesday.
The U.S. Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, a federal agency, circulated a public warning in March 2001 urging employees to report contact with people describing themselves as Israeli art students.
"These individuals have been described as aggressive," the warning said. "They attempt to engage employees in conversation rather than giving a sales pitch."
Cooperation with Israel, a longtime key ally, is increasingly important in the U.S. war on terrorism.
AP-ES-03-05-02 1658EST
There are no Isrelie Jews who would have any sensibiltiy to rejoice at a site of a tragedy --- even if it is inflicted on the enemy. Just ask yourself, when was the last time you saw videotapes of crowds of Israeli Jews cheering at bloodshed?
Needless to say, they would not do that when a wound is inflicted on the friend, the U.S.
The implications you make are far reaching; it appears that this is the picture you WANT to see: that Israli Jews have somehow rejoiced in our tragedy. THere are crazy peiople who, following the Arab propaganda, insist that Mosad did it. If you are one of them, I do not want to waste my time.
I am sory to say, it is ridiculous to assume that, all of a sudden, in this particular isntance, Israeli Jews would behave so out of character. It well may be that, among other Arabs in New Jewsey, there were those visiting them from Israel.
The "facts" you cite were from this report, which sounds less and less significant the more actual reporting is done about it - as distinguished from Le Monde anti-Israel agitprop.
Sorry, but you haven't got the smoking gun on the Jews yet. The wings is flappin' but the bird is still on the ground. Don't be sad - surely the Elders will slip up someday.
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"DEA spokesman Thomas Hinojosa said that multiple reports of suspicious activity on the part of young Israelis had come into the agency's Washington headquarters from agents in the field. The reports were summarized in a draft memo last year, but Hinojosa said he did not have a copy and could not vouch for the accuracy of media reports describing its contents."
Well, never mind the media reports, here's an official Office of the National CounterIntelligence Executive government memo from March, 2001:
http://www.ncix.gov/news/2001/mar01.html#a1
Suspicious Visitors to Federal Facilities
In the past six weeks, employees in federal office buildings located throughout the United States have reported suspicious activities connected with individuals representing themselves as foreign students selling or delivering artwork. Employees have observed both males and females attempting to bypass facility security and enter federal buildings.
If challenged, the individuals state that they are delivering artwork from a studio in Miami, Florida, called Universal Art, Inc, or that they are art students and are looking for opinions regarding their work. These individuals have been described as aggressive. They attempt to engage employees in conversation rather than giving a sales pitch.
Federal police officers have arrested two of these individuals for trespassing and discovered that the suspects possessed counterfeit work visas and green cards. These individuals have also gone to the private residences of senior federal officials under the guise of selling art.
Other reporting indicates that there may be two groups involved, and they refer to themselves as "Israeli art students." One group has an apparently legitimate money- making goal while the second, perhaps a non-Israeli group, may have ties to a Middle Eastern Islamic fundamentalist group.
Federal employees observing any activity similar to that described above should report their observations to appropriate security officials.
No, I was shocked to read these initial reports, not in the Arab press but our own small-town newspapers.
So have I. Now, the reason PROMIS was once powerful would be that no one looked into it. The moment you actually look at an attack like this, it falls apart - or you're not doing your job. PROMIS was outed years ago, and was in everyone's hands years ago. In fact, I could very probably grab a copy if I really went looking - and grab it legally, at that.
If it still had any significance it would mean that people were still using it knowing it represented an open door, and doing that is squarely your own responsibility.
Anyway, you seem to be saying that this book's cite of the HP project as a "time portal" is correct, but that the whole thing may be a lie from the feds. I have a much more probable theory for you: this author is a fraud - if it wasn't for the fact that he seems to also have published this book under the heading of "fiction". Which makes citing it as "documentation" something a bit less than truthful.
G'd day.
Ah. The Hawaiians are routinely beating up non-Hawaians and organizing "kill the whites days"? Anyone here who can verify this story?
You didn't answer me, "doctor". Are you one of the critters who sit around Polinco or OD bleating about the white man's burden(s)? One of the little spitballs regurgitated by SamFran for fear of that boards potential legal problems?
first hit:
Well, I'll be darned. This is obviously a serious problem, and it's good to see the Hawaiians taking it seriously:
Rep. Jim Rath (R, Kona) questioned advocates of the bill (Senate Bill 605, SD1) about a provision that would allow lawsuits for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or harassment based on race and other factors.
Now just let's get the same kind of legislation - or stronger - and apply vigorously against the swastika corner, the mohammedan pit and other dens of iniquity :). Ah, the squeals of imprisoned nazis in the morning... :)).
After all, it's a shame to let spare capacity at gitmo unused.
"Well, I'll be darned. This is obviously a serious problem, and it's good to see the Hawaiians taking it seriously:"
Don't be all in a rush to apologize anytime soon. BTW, I no longer live in Hawaii. I now live in California, but I'm sure I will have to move soon as the demographics spiral out of control and our pathetic government allows Mexico to reclaim Aztlan.
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