The Assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
At a rally in Gaza, Hamas fighters stand in
front of a portrait of Mahmoud Mabhouh
Photo Credit: LA Times
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, 50, a Hamas thug wanted for the capture and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 and for smuggling weapons to Hamas in Gaza, was killed (1) on 19 Jan 2010 in a luxury Dubai hotel room allegedly by Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel (2).
There are two kinds of Jews. There are those who want fellow Jews to remain quiet and do nothing for fear of offending non-Jews. Then there are those that feel Jews should do what is necessary to protect themselves and the world be damned. Amir Oren is the first kind.
What some have called a daring operation, Mr. Oren, a defense analyst for Israel's Haaretz daily, instead writes is a diplomatic mess (3). In his commentary Oren has called for the ouster of Mossad director Meir Dagan.
Some leftist newspapers in the US called the killing a bungled operation. The LA Times complained that images were released showing "the alleged operatives in shorts and baseball caps traipsing around the corridors of the hotel where Mabhouh stayed, fumbling with their bags and looking straight at surveillance cameras" (4). All of a sudden the idiots at the LA Times are experts in espionage. What were these operatives supposed to do, look furtive and suspicious keeping their heads down as if they were on a mission to kill someone?
Here's a more realistic view of the operation from a UK paper: "Dressed in tennis gear and carrying racquets and balls, the guests who wandered through the lobby of Dubai’s al-Bustan Rotana hotel on Jan 19 couldn’t have looked less threatening" (5).
Reading the two accounts, one would conclude that these were two separate operations and that the first one described by the LA Times failed in its mission. That leftists hate Israel is no surprise. What is surprising is that so many Jews are stupid enough to support Liberals and the Democratic party.
But I digress.
Some have criticized the use of real people's names on the passports. But think about it: Israel designs the most advanced airport and hotel security systems in the world, if they know anything it is that Dubai would check the passport data and that bogus names and addresses would easily have been detected.
Now let's discuss the second type of Jew (as opposed to cowardly defeatists). Here is an example of one, a reader in reply to an article at Vos iz Neias (What's News in Yiddish) left this comment:
The "tough guy" restored the reverence for the name Mosaad. Let the world stand in awe. Let the bloodthirsty Muslim terrorists shiver in fright. Let every Jew walk with pride. Let every enemy of Israel (as well as of Jews all over the world) know that Jewish blood is precious. Let them know that their every attack against Israel will be met with uncompromising justice. Let them know that G-d rules the world and that the 10 plagues visited upon Egypt of old is to be unleashed upon every enemy of Israel Thank Heaven that we have a dedicated patriot by the name of Meir Dagan, may his name be renowned around the world. AMEN !!
That's how Jews should be. Offensive in protecting their homeland. No one, not Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, should be taking any crap from Muslim terrorists. Let them cringe in their hotel rooms, in their tents, in their caves.
ENDNOTES
(1):
Daily News, Hit squad hunted in Hamas chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's assassination in Dubai
Officials are on the hunt for a band of assassins suspected of killing a top Hamas chief in Dubai.
The hit squad - which is believed to consist of 11 people, including one woman - reportedly used foreign passports to aid in the targeted murder.
...
Hamas has accused Mossad of carrying out the execution, and officials suspect the group was sponsored by a foreign government.
"We do not rule out the involvement of Mossad," Khalfan said, "but when we arrest those suspects we will know who masterminded it."
Interpol has been given information about the crime, he said, and arrest warrants for the 11 suspects are expected.
...
Members of the suspected hit squad were captured on surveillance footage using wigs and beards to disguise themselves.
Mabhouh's body was discovered in his hotel room, after he was reportedly suffocated and electrocuted.
(2):
Philadelphia Inquirer, In Israel, Mossad allegations grow
JERUSALEM - Israeli security officials said yesterday that they were convinced the Mossad was behind the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai and harshly criticized the spy agency for allegedly stealing its own citizens' identities to carry out the hit.
Names released by Dubai matched those of seven people living in Israel, raising questions about why the agency would endanger its own people by using their passport data as cover for a secret death squad.
At the same time, some Israeli experts said the Dubai evidence pointed to a setup to falsely blame Israel.
A comment from Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman only added to the spy-novel-like mystery surrounding the slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was found dead Jan. 20 at a luxury Dubai hotel.
"Israel never responds, never confirms, and never denies," Lieberman said in Israel's first official comment on the affair, then added: "I don't know why we are assuming that Israel, or the Mossad, used those passports."
It should be noted that Hamas claims the rival Fatah organization was involved in the assassination while Fatah says Hamas members were the ones who collaborated with the killers:
MSNBC, Hamas links Fatah members to Dubai killing
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Hamas claimed Friday that two ex-officers from the rival Fatah organization were involved in the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai, and Fatah shot back by insinuating Hamas members were the ones who collaborated with the killers.
The slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury Dubai hotel room last month has widely been blamed on Israel's Mossad spy agency but it also has sparked bitter recriminations among the rival Palestinian factions, which have long competed for influence in the Palestinian territories.
(3):
Haaretz, Following alleged Dubai mess, the Mossad chief must go
Once again, an assassination of a senior Hamas leader in a friendly Arab country; once again, an operation designed to kill someone quietly and inconspicuously; once again, a diplomatic mess; and once again, it is all happening on Netanyahu's watch. In 1997, it was Khaled Meshal in Jordan. This time, it's Mabhouh in Dubai.
The anticipated diplomatic crisis is not, so far, with Dubai, but with the countries whose passports were used by the assassins. The United Kingdom and Ireland were used once again, and this time, a French connection topped it off.
...
What is needed now is a swift decision to terminate Dagan's contract and to appoint a new Mossad chief.
(4):
LA Times, A bumbling Mossad hand suspected in Dubai assassination
To its planners, the assassination of senior Hamas figure Mahmoud Mabhouh must have first seemed like the perfect spy operation.
They slipped into Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, on fraudulent travel papers. They quietly killed the militant leader long wanted by Israel, reportedly smothering him with a pillow, and discreetly left the country.
But now the entire episode appears to have gone terribly out of control, more Coen brothers than John le Carre, with police releasing images of the alleged operatives in shorts and baseball caps traipsing around the corridors of the hotel where Mabhouh stayed, fumbling with their bags and looking straight at surveillance cameras.
(5):
Telegraph, Dubai Hamas assassination: how it was planned
But within hours they and nine accomplices had carried out the ruthlessly efficient assassination of the Hamas military Commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who had just a few seconds’ warning of his fate as the killers overpowered him in his room.
The murder bears the hallmarks of a meticulously-planned operation by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, though Israel has so far refused to say whether it was involved.
What is beyond doubt, however, is that the alleged hit team, travelling on forged British, Irish, German and French passports, spent no more than 19 hours in the Gulf state, killing Mr Mabhouh just five hours after he had flown in from Syria.
