Monday, October 19, 2009

U.S. arrests ex-NASA scientist over bid to spy for Israel

By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press

A former scientist at the United States' space agency has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to spy for Israel, the U.S. department of Justice announced on Monday.

According to a statement by the department, the suspect, Stewart David Nozette, is a Maryland scientist who once worked in varying capacities for the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The department said Nozette, 52, was contacted via telephone by an individual purporting to be an Israeli intelligence officer, but who was in fact an undercover employee of the FBI (UCE).

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1122206.html

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Israel rumored behind Honduras coup!

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A Jewish civil rights organization is expressing alarm over conspiracy theories claiming Jews and Israel aided the ouster of the Honduran president and attempts to dislodge him from his refuge in the Brazilian Embassy.

The U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League cited statements made by ousted President Manuel Zelaya as well as the news director of a radio station that was closed by the interim government in Honduras and by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, among others.

Most of the comments repeat widely circulated rumors that Israeli soldiers – or in some versions, mercenaries – worked with the troops backing interim President Roberto Micheletti, allegedly supplying some form of tear gas used at the embassy and providing other assistance.

The interim government, which came to power after the military arrested Zelaya and flew him to exile in Costa Rico on June 28, has denied receiving any Israeli help or using any tear gas at the embassy. Journalists who have covered the political crisis say they have not seen any sign of Israeli involvement.

The Jewish group also criticized Chavez for claiming at the United Nations that Israel is the only country to recognize the coup-installed government, something Micheletti's administration has denied.

The ADL also cited an interview with The Miami Herald in which Zelaya said that "Israeli mercenaries are torturing him with high-frequency radiation."

"We know from history that at times of turmoil and unrest, Jews are a convenient scapegoat," ADL national director Abraham H. Foxman, said in a statement released Sunday. "And that is happening now in Honduras, a country that has only a small Jewish minority."

The group estimates the Central American country is home to less than 100 families in a population of about 8 million.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/04/antijewish-statements-rai_n_309225.html
Palestinian sources tell Haaretz that Abbas request to halt vote on Gaza war probe was result of U.S. pressure.

The decision by the United Nations Human Rights Council to delay the vote on the findings of its report into the Gaza conflict - in line with a request by the Palestinian Authority - has shocked the Palestinian public.

Click here for more on the Goldstone commission report on the Gaza conflict

Palestinian sources told Haaretz that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made the decision to delay the vote immediately after meeting with the U.S. Consul General last Thursday, without the knowledge of the PLO leadership or the government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and without any consultation.

The commission which produced the report, headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone, charged both Israel and Hamas with committing war crimes during the three-week operation launched by the Israel Defense Forces in December, in an effort to halt rocket fire from Gaza on its southern communities. Israel has rejected the report and accused Goldstone of having a political agenda.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1118691.html