Israel Matzav

More evidence of UN complicity in 2000 kidnapping

Chaim Avraham, whose son Benny was one of three soldiers kidnapped and murdered by Hezbullah with UN complicity assistance, produced more evidence tonight of the UN's role in the kidnapping.

The film broadcast publicly this week shows how Hizbullah terrorists trained for the kidnapping, and then the abduction itself: the arrival of the unescorted IDF jeep, explosions, terrorists running to the site, gunfire, the actual taking of two soldiers into a dark-colored car, and the car's get-away into Lebanon.

However, Chaim Avraham says, it does not show a white car that he knows took part in the kidnapping - a car that "stars," he told Arutz-7 today, in the original movie he and the other families saw a few years ago. "The car became stuck, and the movie shows how a UN vehicle towed it away. Inside that car were found items with the blood of my son and of Adi Avitan."

More significantly, in terms of the UN's involvement in the kidnapping, the car had two dismantled license plates reading "UNIFIL 2707" in the back. Avraham has long had a photograph of this, and he released it for publication today.

Why today? "Because it wasn't in the film that everyone saw on TV," he told Israel Radio today, and "[UN Middle East envoy] Terje Larsen called me and demanded to know why I was making claims against the UN - so I said I would bring a proof. The car wasn't in the film that everyone saw on TV, I said I would show proof, and here it is."

Avraham says he found, on the internet, a description of UNIFIL vehicle 2707: "The description shows clearly that the vehicle was used by the UN, was always on alert, and was responsible for monitoring Israeli patrols," Avraham said.

But that's not even the bombshell. Here comes the bombshell:

Arutz-7 has found, interestingly, that the site on which Avraham found this information (cached here) is a personal one belonging to a former Norwegian member of the UNIFIL force. The former peacekeeper - who later married a Lebanese woman and considers Lebanon his "second homeland" - uploaded a picture of the original UNIFIL 2707, with this description: "This old vehicle served as the platoon HQ [headquarters] immediate response vehicle. The crew were on a 2 minute state of readiness, and were tasked with tailing GSS and IDF patrols within [the Lebanese area] Blat, as well as reinforcing the CP if necessary."

Speaking with Arutz-7 today, Avraham did not wish to offer a conjecture as to how the UNIFIL plates found their way into the kidnapping car. He would say only that UNIFIL-marked cars were very familiar and unsuspicious to the Israeli forces. However, Avraham has long accused the UN of acting with partiality against Israel throughout the entire affair.

Read it all.

Another interesting thing I found out about this:

Avraham apparently took the picture of the license plates himself while viewing the original UNIFIL film in 2002.

According to reports from UN offices in Jerusalem, the screenings were interrupted when the father of one of the soldiers tried to take still photographs from the television screen. UN officials reportedly stopped the screening until the camera was removed and placed in the keeping of lawyer Haim Cohen, representing Haim Avraham, father of St.-Sgt. Binyamin Avraham.

...

"In the video taken at the time of the kidnapping, you could see smoke coming from the jeep, but the rest was obscured by a hill. In the other video, taken the following day, you could see items in the vehicles," said Avraham, noting the faces of Hizbullah men who were apparently trying to stop UNIFIL troops from removing the vehicles had been obscured. "This has been one of the hardest of days for us. We also saw some 17 items, some with bloodstains, out of 53 items in the hands of the UN," he said.

...

Nevertheless, the families have continued to press the UN to release video tapes, documents, and other information relating to the kidnapping. Last month, they viewed photographs of items found in the vehicles and received DNA results from bloodstains found on items in one the cars. The results showed the blood belonged to Avraham and Avitan. Suwayed was apparently taken in the second vehicle.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:20 AM