Fri Mar 29 23:54:38 2002
68.3.132.0

ISRAEL GOES ON NUCLEAR STRIKE STANDBY

Gordon Thomas (EXCLUSIVE)

by Gordon Thomas

Two Israeli fighter-bomber squadrons equipped with
battlefield tactical nuclear weapons have been placed on
"cock-pit standby."

They are based at an airfield in Galilee ? minutes only
flying time from Syria.

The Golan Heights which borders Syria has also been sown
with neutron-type bombs. Designed at Israel’s nuclear
facility in the Negev desert, the bombs are designed to
“kill soldiers and leave the infrastructure intact,” was how

one Israeli Defence Forces source described the weapons.

This escalation of military preparations follows an urgent
report from Mossad chief Efraim Halevy to prime minister,
Ariel Sharon, of “credible intelligence” that both Syria and

Iraq ? who have held lengthy private talks at the Beirut
“summit” this weekend ? may be preparing to intervene in the

dangerously-out-of-control situation in the West Bank and
Gaza.

At the summit both counties were the strongest voices to
pledge all-out support for the PLO. Syria, with its massive
army of 300,000 ground troops and state of the art aircraft
supplied by both Russia and China, has always presented a
credible threat to Israel.

The hard-liners who run Syria make no secret it is only a
matter of time before the day of reckoning will come between

Israel and Syria.

Of equal concern to Israel is Mossad’s intelligence that
Saddam has some 100 kamikaze pilots within a few minutes
flying time from Israeli cities ? and Dimona.

The kamikazes are under the command of Saddam’s son, Qusay.

Mossad believe their aircraft are fitted with bio-chemical
weapons.

In the meantime, Mossad has also established Yasser Arafat's

"Academy of Atrocity" -- from where the fifteen-year old
suicide bomber graduated -- is financed by Iraq. The money
is laundered through the Central Bank in Damascus to Athens.

>From there it is electronically transferred to an account
held by the Islamic Red Crescent ? the equivalent of the Red

Cross ? in Gaza City. It is then hand carried to the cells
of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs ? the deadliest and most secret of
extreme Islamic organisations in the Middle East.

It operates as a series of “martyrdom cells.” Each cell
consists of a leader and two or three young men and women ?
suicide bombers.

After months of intensive religious study ? similar to that
used by cults in the West to indoctrinate their members ?
each student is given the title shaded al hay ? the living
martyr.

Each student is aged from 18 to 32 years. Until recently
they were all male. But since the escalation of the suicide
bombings, women are admitted. And children as young as eight

years are being prepared for death.

More certain, all are deeply religious. The mother of the
Academy’s first woman graduate, Wafa Ali Idris, who killed
and wounded over 100 in Jerusalem has said: “My daughter
always was well-informed about the political situation.”

Part of the money that Iraq provides is to ensure that her
family, like those of every successful suicide bomber, is
financially secure for all their life. All the family’s
debts are paid off ? including those of extended family
members. Each immediate family member is given a “pension”
for the rest of their lives.

This varies, but is generally said to be twice the income
they received before the suicide bomber struck.

After each successful mission, money is used to distribute
copies of the martyr’s tapes to the media and to a number of

Islamic organisations throughout the world. A substantial
sum is spent on the post-mission party. Hundred of guests
congregate at the home of the bomber to offer their
congratulations ? much as at a wedding.

"The hosts serve juices and food that the bomber specified
in his will. Often the mother will ululate in joy over the
honour Allah has bestowed on her family," said Professor
Ariel Meran, a world-ranking authority on the mentality of
suicide bombers. He is among those who believe that
outsiders find it hard to understand martyrdom.

Sheik Ahmed Yassim, the spiritual leader of Hamas whom I
interviewed after his release from an Israeli prison in 1997

(a decision designed to ease tension in the region) told me:

“Love of martyrdom is something you have in your heart. You
know, just know, this is what Allah wants from you. That
Allah wants you to do for him. So Allah selects the
martyrs.”

The bulk of the money that Iraq provides is used to finance
the suicide bomber instructors. They are reputed to receive
salaries equal to that of Arafat’s top aides. The money is
thought to be held in secure banks. Mossad and other
intelligence agencies are trying to follow the money trail
in the hope it can bring them to capture the bombers.

Efraim Halevy has assigned over fifty of his top agents to
do this. In all over 100 operatives, drawn from the other
Israeli intelligence forces, are hunting the instructors at
the Academy of Atrocity.

In the wake of the Passover Massacre, the first detailed
picture has emerged of how the bombers are selected.

The selection process is lengthy ? sometimes months. For
everyone accepted ? there are a hundred volunteers. Turned
away is anyone who is the sole wage earner in his family,
who is married. If two brothers volunteer, only one is
chosen.

A lengthy interview with one of the Immams ? priests ?
attached to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs is the next step.

During the preparations, each suicide bomber is repeatedly
assured that on the Day of Judgement he will be allowed, on
entering Paradise to choose 70 of his relatives to join him
there. The first sign a bomber is close to graduation ?
during which he or she has spent up to nine hours a day in
prayers, on long fasts and studying the Koran ? is when the
bomber is joined by two “assistants.” Older men steeped in
religious dogma, their job is to ensure in those last days
the bomber does not waver in his readiness to die. His or
her mind is focused on “the glory” awaiting him in Paradise.

Of being finally in the presence of Allah. Of being allowed
to meet the Prophet Mohammed.

As the time grows closer to his mission, the “assistants”
move the bomber to a specially prepared room. Its walls are
inscribed with verses from the Koran. Between the verses are

painted green birds flying in a purple sky ? a reminder they

carry the soul of martyrs to Allah.

For hours the “assistants” and bombers pray together.

Then the time has finally come. The bomber places a copy of
the Koran in his left breast pocket above his heart. He
straps the explosives around his body. The detonator button
is taped to his right hand palm.

Close to the target he leaves his “assistants.” He is now
alone, primed to die ? to take as many others with him as
possible.

At the moment before he presses the button, he reminds
himself: “Allah akbar. Allah is great. All praise to Allah.”

The mother of Wafa Ali Idris, the first woman suicide
bomber, has said: “She died for what she believed in. That
is what Allah wanted.”

And the mother of an earlier suicide bomber, Ribbi Kahlout,
had this requiem for his dead son: “If I had known what he
would do, I would have taken a knife and cut open my heart
and stuffed him deep inside. Then I would have sewn it up
right to keep him safe.”

There are many mothers in Israel ? Jewish and Arab ? who no
doubt feel the same today.