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Internationals Abducted by Israeli Security Forces

Justice for Palestine!!!! | 17.06.2005 12:05 | Repression

On Tuesday 14 June, three internationals were
abducted by two Undercover Israeli agents on the streets of west Jerusalem in broad daylight.



At approximately one PM local time, the three
internationals, who have chosen to keep their
identities anonymous, walked downstairs from the flat they had stayed in the night before and into the arms of the officers, who promptly surrounded them.

The agents demanded passports and cell phones, and told the
internationals that they were needed at the nearby Russian Compound police station and jail for questioning. All three
internationals refused, asking for warrants or any materials that could prove beyond reasonable doubt that any Israeli agents might have legitimate reason for detaining or arresting them. No reason was given.


Instead, the agents told the internationals that they were only
going to be detained, and that if they did not get into the
unmarked car they would be arrested and dragged to the compound against their will.

After a pointless argument about the nature of democracy and police action, the three internationals agreed to go with the
agents.

Upon arriving at the compound---a place notorious for torture and the bloody screams that emanate from its basement---the
internationals were, after a series of more pointless arguments with other Israeli agents, shuffled into a storage closet to await
further direction. At this point, approximately 1:30, the internationals had not received any answers about why they were being detained, or who had issued the order for their capture. It should be noted that it is extremely rare for internationals to be arrested in the Israeli half of Jerusalem.

The internationals were left to sit in the storage closet until some of their friends arrived with their baggage and food.
They were then allowed to sit outside and eat lunch. Finally, after being moved back into the storage closet, passports and cell phones still out of reach, the internationals were called, one by one, into an office with who they suspect were members of Israel's General Security Services (GSS),
the Israeli equivalent of the American FBI. While two of the
internationals had overstayed their visas, the third had only been in the country for two weeks on a three month visa and
was completely 'legal'. It should also be noted that for the entire duration of their stay at the compound, amounting to four hours, the internationals persistently requested to call their lawyers and were completely ignored.

The 'legal' international was summoned to the office first. One of the plainclothes agents that had abducted the three was in
the room, along with two other people not yet seen by the
internationals. One of them had a digital camera, and though the international in question refused to have her picture taken at first, the agents made a (false) threat of arrest if she did not comply. They took perhaps 30 pictures of her.

Finally, the other hitherto unknown character put a piece of paper in front of her, asking her to sign it. The paper said
that she would be required to go to the immigration police office the next morning, Wednesday, at 9 am. Signing the paper was the condition for her release from the Russian Compound. Though she initially refused, the officers told her that if she did not sign she would be kept in the jail overnight and driven to the office by the police the next morning. She signed.

The other two internationals were brought into the office, their
pictures were taken and they were processed as arrested. They were then moved to the jail adjacent to the police station
and kept overnight.

On Wednesday morning, the third, 'legal' international appeared at the immigration police station with her lawyer. The
immigration police had no idea why she had been summoned, and said they had nothing to do with it. After laughing for a few minutes with the Israeli lawyer,
they said goodbye to the international and her lawyer and the
international was free to go about her business as usual.

The two other internationals are awaiting deportation. One is in the process of being moved to Ramle prison, the other to Hadera prison. They have been told that they will stay perhaps one or two days in these prisons before being deported to their
respective countries, the UK and the US.

The entire affair is difficult to analyze due to the nature of Israeli secrecy related to these matters. What we can be sure
of is that it seems that the Israeli police were in some way
collaborating with the GSS. who were monitering the internationals According to Israeli law, the police must have a court order to tap phones, whereas the GSS does not. There seeme to be no other conceivable explanation for the presence of the two undercover agents outside the flat in west Jerusalem. They had been waiting and knew exactly where the
internationals were. The 'legal' international has been working and living in East Jerusalem, doing research for the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA) through a grant provided by the Human Rights Project at her college in the United States. She had never been arrested or detained by any Israeli 'security' forces before yesterday. Though her lawyer urged her to sue the state for detainment without cause and personal damages, she has declined due to lack of funds.

Justice for Palestine!!!!
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Comments

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Visas

18.06.2005 14:16

"The agents demanded passports and cell phones, and told the
internationals that they were needed at the nearby Russian Compound police station and jail for questioning. All three internationals refused, asking for warrants or any materials that could prove beyond reasonable doubt that any Israeli agents might have legitimate reason for detaining or arresting them. No reason was given. "

Ummm, maybe the fact you overstayed your Visa as you admitted was their reason? Given your admission of it, there's not a lot of reasonable doubt left is there?

It's pretty obvious from the very beginning how biased you are but "abducted"? Give me a break. You were arrested. You weren't beaten, tortured and indeed got out on bail (you know the evil notorious form they forced you to sign in your own blood?) What's the problem? Your references to torture, screams etc. are all attempts to give the illusion of something quite normal - that is, a spolit brat who overstays a Visa and then gets upset at being busted for it.

"At this point, approximately 1:30, the internationals had not received any answers about why they were being detained, or who had issued the order for their capture"

OH MY GOD!!!!! After HALF an HOUR they didn't tell you? Ring Amnesty International!

GSS? FBI? Please get over yourselves. You're hardly victims of a global spyhunt. If you were in Sydney you'd go to a detention centre, if you were in Syria they'd just lock you up forever. You are completely caught up in your own conspiracy theories to even know the difference between right (legal due process as applied by the Israelis you so loath) and wrong (overstaying a Visa they shouldn't have given you in the first place).

"The entire affair is difficult to analyze due to the nature of Israeli secrecy related to these matters"

Sorry the Israeli police don't run a blog giving details of every person they arrest. Looking at the limited facts you've provided, it doesn't strike me as one of the great crime-thrillers of the decade...

Malkas


"Bullshit" indeed!!!!

19.06.2005 07:56

Israeli sez:

"You refer to the Russian Compound as "a place notorious for torture and the bloody screams that emanate from its basement".

What bullshit. The only thing the (historically named) Russian Compound in Jerusalem is known for, is bars, nightclubs and restaurants. ANyone who's had a beer in Mike's Place or Glasnost knows this all too well. So how much more of your article is bullshit?"

Using pro-Israel sources lets see whose doing the bullshtting, eh?

From Ynet (03/01/05)  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3052427,00.html

"State Department publishes human rights report; says Israel using force on foreign workers; not enough beds and torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners"

"Russian Compound still unsanitary and overcrowded

The brunt of the criticism relates to the investigation facility at the Russian Compound, where the report says "conditions have remained cruel.”

Released prisoners had reported they were regularly held with their hands tied behind their backs for hours on end and said new prisoners undergo medical examinations to determine whether they are able to withstand the violent treatment.

In 2004, the report stated, 498 Palestinian minors were brought to the Russian Compound, the youngest of whom was 13-years-old. These minors were physically and mentally tortured and prevented visits by family members, held in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions.

However, despite the criticism, “in the past three years no official Israeli source had been put on trial for torture,” the report said. "

Seems like Yediot Ahoronot and the US state department show that the bullshitter is you.

propaganda watch