The Israeli Art Student Papers

Antiwar.com ^ | March 21, 2002 | Introduction by Justin Raimondo

[H.R. Gross]

The ‘Israeli Art Student’ Papers
March 21, 2002

Secret Government Report on Israel’s Spy Operation in the US Thanks to John Sugg of Creative Loafing (Atlanta) and WeeklyPlanet (Tampa) – Read his updated report here.

Read the leaked DEA Report here. Also available as a .zip file

Introduction by Justin Raimondo The story of Israel’s underground apparatus in the US, and the secret war conducted against the US on our own soil, has been covered here on Antiwar.com since late November, 2001. At that time, I noted a story in the Washington Post reporting the arrest of some 60 Israelis immediately after 9/11. As government officials explained to the immigration judges, they were being held because they were "of special interest" to the feds – putting them in the same category as hundreds of mostly Arab men rounded up since the attacks. As I wrote at the time: "As long as 60 Israeli citizens are being held – under conditions of great secrecy – in connection with the 9/11 investigation, it is no longer tenable to dismiss the possibility of an Israeli angle in this story." On December 11, the story broke into the "mainstream" media. Carl Cameron of Fox News presented the first of a four-part series detailing an extensive Israeli spy operation in the US, citing a senior law enforcement official off-the-record as claiming that, while "’There is no indication the Israelis were involved in the Sept. 11 attacks,’ we are told, ‘investigators suspect that they may have gathered intelligence about the attacks in advance and not shared it." Bits and pieces of the story, gleaned from government documents leaked to Fox News and unattributed remarks of government officials, added up to this: a large number of Israeli citizens had been arrested, and detained, in the weeks prior to and immediately after 9/11. Many had tried to enter government offices on the pretext of being Israeli "art students," and they gave differing accounts of their mission: to sell their paintings, to "promote" their artwork, to "promote" Israel. Concentrated in Florida – within a stone’s throw of Hollywood, where Mohammed Atta and his fellow hijackers had their abode – and Texas, these Israeli "art students" were organized in teams as they systematically sought to penetrate government offices, military facilities. The majority were "ex’-members of intelligence, communications interception and explosive ordnance units of the Israeli army. At least 120 were arrested prior to 9/11, in what appeared to be a major Israeli covert operation aimed at sensitive US government targets. Cameron also exposed the intimate links between AMDOCS, an Israeli company that has the contract for billing virtually all the phone calls made in this country, Comverse Infosys, which contracts to record and store US government wiretaps, and this underground Israeli apparatus. Cameron’s explosive report generated a yowl of protest from Israel’s apologists in the US, and there was a concerted campaign to spike the story: the story was pulled from Fox’s website. For months, there was not a word about this story written anywhere – except right here on Antiwar.com. In my "Behind the Headlines" column I gathered up the evidence, gleaned from a number of scattered local news sources, expanded on the story, and you can check it out as it unfolds here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Suddenly, at the beginning of March, after months of silence, the story began to break. In a column dated 11/28/01, I asked in regard to the post-9/11 round-up of Israelis: "What, exactly, is the meaning of this?" Today, I am relieved to note, the rest of the media is finally catching up to Antiwar.com and asking the same question. According to Fox News, when Carl Cameron asked his government source for more details on Israel’s 9/11 connection, here’s what happened,: "But when asked for details, he flatly refused to describe them, saying, – quote – ‘evidence linking these Israelis to 9-11 is classified.’" Well, it may be classified, but the documentary evidence that Israel did indeed launch a major spy operation in the US, utilizing an extensive underground apparatus and hundreds of agents, is revealed here on Antiwar.com in what we call "The ‘Israeli Art Student’ Papers": a compilation, by an inter-agency federal task force, of the hundreds of incidents reported by government offices, the arrests, the names and background of Israeli agents, the activities of their front organizations, their geographical reach and interconnections – it’s all here. Read it, and see for yourself. Thanks to John Sugg of Creative Loafing (Atlanta) and WeeklyPlanet (Tampa) – Read his updated report here. This document is available as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file. You may already have Adobe Acrobat on your computer. If you click on the file and it doesn't load, you may obtain a Free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

[LarryLied]

John Sugg won an award from an Arab group for "proving" the book "Islamic Jihad" by Steven Emerson is a fraud (NPR is not a fan of Emerson either).Suggs is also connected to Jeff Cohen of FAIR. He is not a source I would quote for anything.

[AshleyMontagu]

Sounds like there's some government folks who are tired of this story being covered-up. Loose lips sink ships.

[BrooklynGOP]

So where are the facts supporting these allegations? This is the same recycled bull that was posted 20x before.

[AshleyMontagu]

It does sound as though he is biased about Israel. But does that make this whole interesting story wrong? It's not like he's the first to report it. And a hot potato issue like this is bound to only be reported by outsider types at first. Except of course for the Jewish Forward, Jane's Defense Weekly and Carl Cameron of Fox News.

[LarryLied]

So where are the facts supporting these allegations?

Insight Magazine:

: Investigative Report - Intelligence Agents Or Art Students?

Jane's Intelligence Review:

Allies and Espionage

The Jewish publication, The Forward:

Spy Rumors Fly on Gusts of Truth

A lot of people are putting their reputation on the line. They know the smears which will come if they are wrong (or if they are right, doesn't matter, does it?)

[The Great Satan]

The ‘Israeli Art Student’ Papers? History repeats itself as farce, with Justin Raimondo in a starring role.

[LarryLied]

It does sound as though he (John Sugg) is biased about Israel. But does that make this whole interesting story wrong?

Nope. Sugg is interesting though. What is he doing hanging around with Jeff Cohen? Why do FAIR and NPR hate Steven Emerson and his book "Islamic Jihad?"

[DWPittelli]

Even IF these Israelis were spies, how could their entering government office buildings, etc. in Texas and Florida have given them the head's up on 9/11? According to Osama, most of the hijackers didn't even know the nature of their mission. And why would Israel go to all this trouble to learn of sabotage in the U.S., if Israel wasn't going to do anything with that information?

All nations spy on those nations which potentially impact them, and of course Israel and the U.S. spy on each other regularly. But naturally, Israeli spying is done to benefit Israel. We expect Israel to spy on us to get our technology and military plans; isn’t this more likely than their picking up 9/11 plans?

While Israeli spying would generally be intended to benefit Israel directly, it could also be done for indirect benefit. Possibly Israel would spy on Arabs here in order to help out the U.S., presumably in return for some other intelligence (or weapons and financial support, which we give them in droves). Given the legal difficulties imposed on the CIA and other federal agencies’ activities within the U.S., isn't it at least as possible that the Israeli art students, if they were spies, were actually spying with the knowledge of, and on behalf of, the CIA? Wouldn’t this explain why they were allowed to stay for so long? And wouldn't the U.S. government want to keep the arrangement secret, and to get them out of the country post 9/11, while denying their spy status?

So even if the shadyness can be assumed, one cannot assume evil intent on the part of the Israelis or the U.S. federal government or CIA.

[LarryLied]

The ‘Israeli Art Student’ Papers? History repeats itself as farce, with Justin Raimondo in a starring role.

Forget Raimondo. If I wanted this story debunked, I would give it to him to report as truth. What about Paul M. Rodriguez?

[Pay now bill Clinton]

Your attempts at smearing critcs of Israel are a deliberate ploy to undermine the differences between Judaism and Zionism.

[mv1]

Didn't Rodriguez in Insight also do a story on Mossad and Clinton? I think I read something about that on Free Republic.

[LarryLied]

isn't it at least as possible that the Israeli art students, if they were spies, were actually spying with the knowledge of, and on behalf of, the CIA?

Maybe. But maybe they had agents in the US government protecting them too. And when the spies got caught up in the post 9/11 dragnet, they couldn't cover for them anymore.

[Tarakotchi]

"Where are the facts?"

The point is you can read the original 60-page DEA report. I doubt most of you would be interested.

[dennisw]

Right dude. You love Jews and hate Israel. That is one worn out tune!

[dennisw]

 

 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A45802-2002Mar6&notFound=true


Reports of Israeli Spy Ring Dismissed

 

By John Mintz and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, March 6, 2002; Page A06

A wide array of U.S. officials yesterday dismissed reports that the U.S. government had broken up an Israeli espionage ring that consisted of young Israelis attempting to penetrate U.S. agencies by selling artwork in federal buildings.

"This seems to be an urban myth that has been circulating for months," said Justice Department spokeswoman Susan Dryden. "The department has no information at this time to substantiate these widespread reports about Israeli art students involved in espionage."..................................

Several officials said the allegations -- first reported by a French online publication and later by other news organizations -- of a massive U.S. probe of Israeli spies appear to have been circulated by a single employee of the Drug Enforcement Administration who is angry that his theories have not gained currency.......................

But two law enforcement officials said the disgruntled DEA agent, who disagreed with the conclusion of FBI and CIA intelligence experts that no spying was taking place, appears to be leaking a memo that he himself wrote.......................

 

[hangin' chad]

We expect Israel to spy on us to get our technology and military plans

We do?...Is this before or after we send them the check for $3 billion plus each year?

[anatolfz]

Yes, I've read that several times. It's the most hyped, rambling document I've ever seen, making JFK conspiracy twaddle look like a model of clarity and logic. It's a big list of suspicious Israelis caught with secret plans, oops, crappy art, over a two-year period.

One even had the temerity to set up outside a mall! The chutzpah of these guys.

"My name is Bond," one of them says, "Shimon Bond."

[Pay now bill Clinton]

I AM Jewish, but I would never in a million years choose to live over there.