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The Spies Who Came In From the Art Sale
CL obtains report detailing alleged Israeli spying in the US
By John Sugg
- John Sugg Editor's note: Portions of the report mentioned in this article can be found at http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/2002-03-20/news_dea.pdf
- Sources with Israeli connections suggest that advance information about the September 11 attacks might have been relayed to US agencies, but could have been ignored or overlooked.
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Despite the highly suspect behavior of the Israelis, the media hadn't picked up on the story.
Then came September 11. While America was mesmerized by the "War on Terrorism," the media went out to a four-martini lunch when it came to skeptical reporting.
With a few commendable exceptions. One of those is Carl Cameron, a gutsy reporter for Fox News. On December 12, Cameron broke the blockbuster spy story. He said at the time: "Since September 11, more than 60 Israelis have been arrested or detained, either under the new PATRIOT anti-terrorism law, or for immigration violations. A handful of active Israeli military were among those detained, according to investigators, who say some of the detainees also failed polygraph questions when asked about alleged surveillance activities against and in the United States."
Fox also reported the Israeli "students" "targeted" US military bases -- which is bolstered by the report obtained by CL.
In the rest of the world -- Europe, Arab countries and Israel, especially -- the story made headlines. Even the official Chinese news agency perked up. Not in our well-defended (against disturbing news) homeland, however.
Cameron, in an interview, said he doesn't believe the conspiracy theories about why the story was ignored here. An honest scribe, he points to a shortcoming in his own work -- one hammered on by Israeli critics at the time -- conceding "there were no (on the record) interviews. I didn't tell other reporters where to find the documents. They couldn't do instant journalism."
Others at Fox confirm there was intense pressure on the network by pro-Israeli lobbying groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League and the misnamed Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting (CAMERA).
"These charges are arrant nonsense unworthy of the usually reliable Fox News," CAMERA huffed in a December 12 release.
Cameron reported December 13 that federal agents were afraid to criticize Israel. "Investigators within the DEA, INS and FBI have all told Fox News that to pursue or even suggest Israeli spying ... is considered career suicide."
Cameron told me in similar language that's what journalists also can face. And, what's clear is that Fox quickly removed the story from its Web site. (It was reposted this month by Fox after other media began showing interest in the story.)
After Cameron's initial reports, the story pretty much evaporated in the United States before Christmas. Then, all hell broke loose in the last few weeks. Intelligence Online in France obtained the same 60-page June 2001 federal report that CL has. The French Web site reported that 120 Israelis had by now been detained or deported by US authorities.
Let's repeat that: 120 potential spies. This isn't worth press curiosity?
Few papers have given the story significant space. Many, like the Observer, haven't uttered a peep.
Bush administration shills were quick to try to spin the story -- perhaps to minimize damage should it turn out the government did have information in advance about the people or activities that led to the September 11 attack. A Justice Department spokesperson, Susan Dryden, called the spy report an "urban myth," and other federal flacks trumpeted that no Israeli had been charged with or deported for spying. Of course, in the Great Game, "friendly" spies are seldom embarrassed by being called by their true colors. The Israelis who have been deported have been given the boot because of supposed visa expirations and other minor violations.
Predictably, Israeli Embassy spokesman Mark Reguev derided the Intelligence Online report as "nonsense."
And, pro-Israel apologists such as anti-Arab ideologue Daniel Pipes quickly took the field with strident polemics. Pipes, who makes no claim of having seen the 60-page document, nonetheless claimed in a March 11 column that the story was a "dangerous falsehood" and that "US journalists found not a shred of evidence to support" it. The fact that reporters were beginning to piece together real shreds was blithely ignored by Pipes.
Historically, Israel has denied wrongdoing until long after the truth was obvious. Israel claimed Jonathan Pollard -- a super spy who did horrendous, deadly damage to the United States until arrested in 1985 - wasn't an agent. And, Israel has stubbornly contended its 1967 attack on the USS Liberty, in which 35 American sailors were slaughtered, was an accident -- a lie exposed in recent reports including one last fall on the History Channel. A recent authoritative book, Body of Secrets, by James Bamford, concludes that National Security Agency officials "were virtually unanimous in their belief that the attack was deliberate."
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