Category: Non-EU Countries

Spy movie tussle with Israeli security services by journalist in shoot to kill inquiry

by Mark Weiss in Jerusalem

The Israeli journalist forced into exile in London after the military launched an investigation into leaked documents has said his life now resembles a “spy movie.”

Uri Blau, who acquired 2,000 military documents, including 700 classified as ‘top secret’, claimed in an article for the Haaretz newspaper that he was scared to leave Britain to return home where he faces the threat of arrest.

A Tel Aviv court lifted a gag order on Tuesday over a case against Anat Kam, a 23-year old female soldier who has been charged with national security offences for passing the documents revealing the military targetted assasination policy to Mr Blau.

Mr Blau claimed he was being targeted by the Israeli authorities for doing his job as an investigative journalist.

“When I left Israel I had no reason to believe our planned trip would suddenly turn into a spy movie whose end is not clear,” he wrote. “I certainly didn’t think I’d have to stay in London and wouldn’t be able to return to Tel Aviv as a journalist and a free man, only because I published reports that were inconvenient to the establishment.”

Mr Blau said he decided to stay abroad after hearing that his Tel Aviv apartment had been broken into, and being informed that his telephone and e mails were being monitored. “Experiences I had read about in suspense novels have become my reality in recent months,” he said. “When you’re warned “they know much more than you think,” and are told that your telephone line, e-mail and computer have been monitored for a long time and still are, then someone up there doesn’t really understand what democracy is all about, and the importance of freedom of the press in preserving it.”

The reporter received the classified documents from Anat Kam, who served at the army’s Central Command headquarters, and who has been under house arrest since December.

Talks between Mr Blau and Israeli intelligence, whereby he would hand over all the documents in his procession, broke down last week. Each side has accused the other of reneging on the terms of the agreement.

Mr Blau is now wanted for questioning by both the Israeli police and the security services.

Yuval Diskin , head of the Shin Bet security agency , warned that “the kid gloves will now be taken off” as the intelligence community steps up its efforts to retrieve the sensitive information.

The stolen documents include details of Israeli troop deployments and contingency plans for emergencies. Israeli media reported that the operational plans for Israel’s invasion of Gaza last winter were altered because the original blueprint was amongst the top secret information transferred to Blau.

Miss Kam, who goes on trial next week ,will be charged with espionage, an offense which carries a maximum life sentence. Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu , who was tried on similar charges , served 18 years in prison.

The Telegraph

April 9, 2010
Woman sells home to pay for cancer drug denied by NHS

A cancer sufferer has been forced to sell her home to pay for a potentially life-prolonging drug after being turned down for treatment on the NHS.

Nikki Phelps, 37, suffers from a rare form of cancer, and believes the medication Sunitinib, also known as Sutent, could help.

It is available through the NHS and costs £36,000 a year. Although effective at slowing down the growth of tumours Sutent has not been approved to treat multiple endocrine neoplasis (MEN1), which Mrs Phelps suffers from and which has caused aggressive tumours to form in her endocrine system.

Mrs Phelps, a former primary school teacher, who was first diagnosed with cancer ten years ago, has criticised the NHS for failing to offer her the drug.

Last week David Cameron told his Witney consituents that £200 million from his planned efficiencies savings would be put into a Cancer Drugs Fund for sufferers refused access to treatments by NICE.

Mrs Phelps and her husband Bill, who have two-year-old twins, Jack and Harry, have already spent their £6,000 savings on a two-month supply of Sutent and are now selling their £200,000 family home in Luddesdown, near Gravesend, Kent, to pay for the tablets which cost £100 per day.

Mr Phelps, 45, said he is also prepared to sell his business, The Cat’s Pyjamas cattery, if the money for treatment runs out.

He said: “Her life is now between the bedroom, the bathroom and the sofa.

“Emotionally she’s very strong. She has to be. There are two little boys who can’t have their mum sobbing around them.”

Mrs Phelps was diagnosed in 2000. Her father died from the disease the following year.

She had surgery in 2002 and was given the all clear shortly afterwards. She then gave birth in November 2007 through IVF treatment.

The following year she was re-diagnosed with the disease and in January of last year underwent surgery to remove a tumour weighing 11lbs.

Mrs Phelps says that doctors believe that cancers previously kept at bay by successive courses of chemotherapy ‘ran riot’ during her pregnancy.

She says doctors have also warned her that there is a 50 per cent chance one of her sons could contract the condition in later life.

Meanwhile, the family are receiving donations from friends at the mother-and-baby group which she attended who have set up an online fundraising page.

Mr Phelps added: “It’s a strange situation where you realise that just when you were starting to lose faith in everything, people rally round to help like this.”

NHS West Kent said Sutent is only for licensed for treatment of a form of kidney cancer called renal cell carcinoma and gastro-intestinal stromal tumours.

Dr James Thallon, Medical Director for NHS West Kent said: “NHS West Kent routinely funds Sunitinib for conditions approved by NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) .

“However, for certain types of tumour the drug is not licensed, or approved by NICE, and it is vitally important that we consider all the clinical evidence in deciding to fund a drug in these circumstances.

“We have to prioritise treatments that we have clear evidence will work over those where we can?t be certain, to get the best from our limited resources and to not endanger patients with unproven treatments.”

The Telegraph

April 9, 2010
Muslim outrage as Army uses ‘mosques’ on firing range

The Ministry of Defence apologised yesterday after a Muslim group complained that structures used on an Army firing range resembled mosques.

Bradford Council for Mosques said the structures at Bellerby firing range at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire should be taken down immediately.

The Army said it was vital soldiers trained in an environment which replicated where they were deployed.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said the structures were ”generic Eastern buildings” and were not used as target practice.

The spokesman added: ”We apologise for any offence that we may have caused. It was never our intention for these generic structures to look like or replicate mosques, only to provide a setting similar to operational environments in which our personnel could train.

”We are seeking a meeting with representatives from the Muslim community to hear their concerns in order to discuss the way forward.”

Mohammed Saleem Khan, chief executive of the Bradford Council for Mosques, said the shape and colour of the structures – a green dome – symbolised an Islamic place of worship.

”It is so obvious. Even a non-Muslim recognised the significance. The first person who raised the issue with us was a non-Muslim,” he said.

”We are trying to achieve unity and cohesion and encourage British Muslims to participate in the Army and we accommodate visits from the Army.

”It is clearly very offensive. We feel there should be an apology and they should be removed straight away. If it was a mistake it should be removed straight away.”

The Telegraph

April 9, 2010
Leeds head call for justice on 10th anniversary of Istanbul killings
• Elland Road protest marked 10 years since death of fans
• MP demands action from foreign secretary
- Press Association
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 April 2010 15.42 BST
Floral tributes were laid by Leeds fans at Elland Road to mark the 10th anniversary of the killing of two supporters in Turkey. Illustration: Dave Higgens/PA

Hundreds of football fans gathered today to mark the 10th anniversary of the killing of two Leeds United supporters in Turkey and called for “justice” in their case.

Christopher Loftus, 35, and Kevin Speight, 40, were stabbed to death in Taksim Square on the night before the club’s Uefa Cup semi-final against Galatasaray on 5 April 2000.

About 300 Leeds United fans gathered outside Elland Road in Leeds today. They laid dozens of bunches of flowers, team shirts, scarves and other tributes around the statute of Billy Bremner and also at the brass plaque a few metres away which commemorates the deaths.

Chris Loftus’s brother, Andy, stood alongside the Leeds North East MP, Fabian Hamilton, who told the crowd Turkey needed to do more to bring those responsible to justice. Hamilton said he had also written to the foreign secretary, David Miliband, to ask him to put pressure on the Turkish authorities.

A number of people were arrested following the deaths in 2000 and four men were found guilty of involvement in the murders by the Turkish courts but all still remain free as they pursue an apparently interminable appeal process.

“There’s a very, very strong feeling, especially amongst the families, that justice has not been done and nor has it seen to be done in Istanbul,” said Hamilton.

“The people arrested and convicted of these dreadful murders have never actually served any time in jail – they’ve been released on bail pending appeal for the last few years. No trial date has been given for that appeal hearing.

“This is absolutely appalling and I’ve been putting pressure on the foreign secretary and on the chief constable of West Yorkshire to take some action to pressurise the Turks to actually so something.”

Asked what influence the UK can bring on Turkey, the Labour MP said: “Turkey has ambitions to join the European Union and I think this could be part of that pressure on the Turks to put their judicial system in order, to see that justice has to be seen to be done especially for the families here who are very angry that nothing’s happened and that the people who are guilty of these crimes have never actually served any time in jail.

“That’s appalling and that’s the pressure we can put on the Turkish government. They want to join the EU. They’d better get their judicial system in order and they’d better ensure that the families here are satisfied that justice has been done.”

After Hamilton addressed the crowd, those who gathered, including many children, observed a two-minute silence.

A one-minute silence was also observed before Leeds United’s 2-1 victory over Yeovil at Huish Park. Both teams wore black armbands in memory of the killed supporters and Leeds fans, in an echo of what happened before the Uefa Cup match against Galatasaray took place on 6 April 2000, turned their backs on the match for the first minute in protest at the lack of justice for the Loftus and Speight families.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/apr/05/leeds-kevin-speight-chris-loftus, 5 April 2010
April 5, 2010
MP: Israel’s tentacles will steal the election

Pro-Palestinian politician gives ‘election warning’

By Martin Bright and Robyn Rosen, March 29, 2010

Martin Linton, chair of Labour Friends of Palestine

The election campaign took a distinctly unpleasant turn last week as pro-Palestinian MPs suggested the “Israel lobby” would play a behind-the-scenes role in key constituencies.

Martin Linton, chair of Labour Friends of Palestine, told a meeting at the House of Commons held by the Palestine Solidarity

Campaign and Friends of al-Aqsa: “There are long tentacles of Israel in this country who are funding election campaigns and putting money into the British political system for their own ends.

“You must consider over the next few weeks, when you make decisions about how you vote and how you advise constituents to vote, you must make them aware of the attempt by Israelis and by pro-Israelis to influence the election.”

Mr Linton sits on a tiny 163-vote majority in the London seat of Battersea and is unlikely to survive the election.

The veteran Jewish anti-Zionist MP Sir Gerald Kaufman suggested wealthy members of the community would play a role similar to that of Tory “non-dom” peer Michael Ashcroft. “Just as Lord Ashcroft owns most of the Conservative Party, right-wing Jewish millionaires own the rest,” he said.

Community Security Trust spokesman Mark Gardner said: “Anybody who understands antisemitism will recognise just how ugly and objectionable these quotes are, with their imagery of Jewish control and money power. Ask the average voter who had made these comments, and they would most likely answer that it was the BNP, not a pair of Labour MPs.”

A main concern for the Jewish community will be the threat of the BNP.

The two key target constituencies for the BNP are Barking, where the party’s leader Nick Griffin will stand against Jewish culture minister Margaret Hodge, and East Renfrewshire in Glasgow, where the Scottish BNP leader Gary Raikes will take on Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy. East Renfrewshire contains Scotland’s largest Jewish community.

Where the BNP is strongest, in parts of the north of England and in east London, the Jewish vote itself will make little difference. However, there are a handful of marginal constituencies where the size of the Jewish communities could make all the difference.

It is very unlikely that Labour can hold on to Margaret Thatcher’s old seat of Finchley and Golders Green, where the incumbent Rudi Vis is standing down and Tory leader of Barnet Council Mike Freer is confident of victory.

In neighbouring Hendon, Andrew Dismore has been a consistent champion of the concerns of the local Jewish community. But after a series of allegations about his expenses, he faces a tough fight with the Tories’ Matthew Offord and Matthew Harris, secretary of Lib Dem Friends of Israel.

One of the most intriguing battles will be for the Bury South seat of Middle East minister Ivan Lewis, a former chair of Manchester Jewish Federation. Although Mr Lewis sits on a substantial majority, he faces a formidable opponent in Michelle Wiseman, Chief Executive of Manchester Jewish Care.

, March 29, 2010

March 30, 2010
David Miliband’s regrettable expulsion of Israeli diplomat

Telegraph View: Expelled Israeli understood to be the Mossad head of station.

Whenever the British Government feels compelled to order a diplomatic expulsion, it is normally because a hostile foreign power, such as Russia, has been caught indulging in activity that threatens our national interests. It is, therefore, deeply regrettable that David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, yesterday ordered the withdrawal of a senior diplomat serving at the Israeli Embassy in London.

The decision to expel the Israeli – understood to be the Mossad head of station – was taken following an investigation by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency into allegations that the Israeli secret service had used forged British passports for its operation to assassinate Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas commander, in his Dubai hotel room in January. Although the investigation could not prove unequivocally that Mossad was responsible, there was sufficient evidence to conclude that the passports had been forged by Israel, which was culpable, in the words of Mr Miliband, of a “profound disregard for the sovereignty of the UK”. This was compounded by the fact that the offence was committed by a country that is supposed to be our ally.

While few will mourn the death of al-Mabhouh, who was wanted in Israel for the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers, there are many reasons to be concerned about a diplomatic rift between Britain and Israel. The two countries have co-operated closely on a number of important global security issues, particularly the potential threat posed by Iran’s illicit nuclear programme. Good relations between Israel and the West are essential if any significant progress is to be made in negotiating a lasting peace deal with the Palestinians. Israel should acknowledge Britain’s justifiable anger and reflect on its priorities.

But the prospects for the resumption of normal diplomatic discourse appear remote so long as Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, is intent on adopting a confrontational attitude towards his allies. During his visit to Washington this week Mr Netanyahu has been unrepentant about his government’s decision to press ahead with building more settler homes in Jerusalem, even though the announcement provoked an angry response from the Obama administration. Mr Netanyahu’s critics in Israel, moreover, claim he has deliberately embarked on this course of action because he has no intention of making peace with the Palestinians. If that is the case, then Israel risks isolating itself even further – and that is not in the interests of the West and can only diminish the prospects of a lasting settlement.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/7507392/David-Milibands-regrettable-expulsion-of-Israeli-diplomat.html, 23 Mar 2010

March 27, 2010