Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Haredim, hilltop youth, IDF, Ilan Grapel, LATMA
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:58 AM
0 comments
Here's Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler for Monday, January 2. 1) Grapel writesIn case you were wondering, I clicked through that last link and yes, until now men were selling lingerie to women. I wonder how the modesty squads let that go on until now.
Ilan Grapel wrote an op-ed In Egypt, jailed but not broken for the Washington Post about his experiences in an Egyptian jail.On previous visits, the friendships I developed overpowered the omnipresent anti-Israel propaganda of the Arab world. Some former adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood actually wished me luck when I left to do reserve duty in Israel. Most Egyptians I met and chatted with over coffee ended our conversations by admitting to holding misconceptions about Israelis. This reinforced my hopes for common ground.It's hard to know what to make of the op-ed. It sounds like Grapel is both idealistic and naive. It's clear who Grapel blames:
So during the summer I emphasized my Israeli background, even when I entered Egypt as an American. I identified as a Zionist Israeli to all of my Egyptian friends, taught them Hebrew and showed them Israeli movies. In return, I received lessons in Arabic, Islam and Egyptian culture.People ask, “So what do you think of Egypt and your mission now?” My answer is constantly evolving. As my detention and recent events and repressions in Egypt make clear, the revolution brought only superficial change. The junta’s focus on external actors represents a desperate attempt to avoid culpability and abdication of power.It's also clear whom he absolves:
Hosni Mubarak’s notorious state security forces still arbitrarily arrest Egyptians without real charges or trials (as they did me), denying anything resembling due process. Prosecutors and judges go through the motions of court proceedings, but the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces really calls the shots.My hasbara provided a viewpoint that changed the mentalities of former Muslim Brotherhood members, the prosecutor and my guards, whose last words were “Shalom, we hope you forgive us.” Israelis and Arabs can continue to maintain the status quo of mutual avoidance or they can dare to coexist. To those who wrongly held me, I say simply, I forgive you.2) Airekat's critics write
The Washington Post published two letters to the editor in opposition to Maen Areikat's op-ed last week under the title of Missing Pages from the Palestinian history books. The first letter by Arty Berko was especially effective.In regard to the period surrounding Israel’s establishment as a state in 1948, Mr. Areikat generically wrote that “a conflict began,” as if it came out of nowhere. The “conflict” was a war of aggression launched against the newly formed Jewish state by several Arab neighbors, including Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon. And he then said that the trauma of that war “triggered our characteristic defense mechanism . . . stout perseverance.”3) Badran writes about Blanford
But he conveniently omitted from his story any mention of the repeated use of global terrorism, including suicide bombings and plane hijackings, in the name of the Palestinian cause against innocent Israelis and other victims, including Americans, worldwide.
A few weeks the Wall Street Journal published an essay Hezbollah waits and prepares by Nicholas Blanford. Blanford concluded the essay:The dilemma for Hezbollah is that launching a war against Israel in response to an attack on Iran will reap massive destruction on Lebanon and on Hezbollah's core Shiite constituency—all for the sake of defending the nuclear ambitions of a country lying 650 miles to the east.Blanford has written a book, "Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah's Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel," and Tony Badran has reviewed it for the Washington Post. Badran's conclusion identifies what bothered me about the November essay:
Hezbollah officials remain coy on the organization's likely reaction to an attack on Iran. Much would depend on the scale of the strike and the political situation in the Middle East. Sheikh Nasrallah recently said that neither the U.S. nor Israel is in a position to launch a fresh war in the Middle East, describing media speculation about a possible attack on Iran as "intimidation."
...
"Let them attack Iran. It will be great," said a young, stocky Hezbollah fighter named Khodr. "It will mean that Israel is finished."The book’s primary weakness is that it uncritically reiterates aspects of Hezbollah’s narrative and leaves quotes by its officials to stand on their own, without analytical evaluation. For instance, at one point Blanford reproduces a claim by the group’s chief that he had turned down an attempt by the United States to “buy off Hezbollah with hundreds of millions of dollars in exchange for the party’s renouncing its struggle against Israel and dismantling the Islamic Resistance.” This dubious claim is left to stand on Hezbollah’s authority alone. The only reference to back it up is an interview with the group’s secretary general.4) Hamas are no dummies, but they arrest them
Although “Warriors of God” is likely to be an important source on the subject for years to come, a comprehensive critical history of Hezbollah has yet to be written in English.
Ma'an News reports (via memeorandum):Police sources told Ma'an that 142 fortune tellers were forced to sign an agreement at the Ministry of Interior pledging that they would not practice their craft.It would be easy to laugh it off, but Saudi Arabia just executed a woman for practicing "witchcraft and sorcery." CNN reported:
As well as predicting the future, fortune tellers sell amulets for protection and are sometimes called on to solve personal or family problems.
Another campaign targets boutiques displaying lingerie on mannequins. Police officials told Ma'an that security forces inspected clothes shops across the Gaza Strip and warned owners not to display naked mannequins, lingerie or "indecent advertisements."The London-based Saudi newspaper Al-Hayat quoted a source in the country's religious police who said authorities searched Nassar's home and found books on sorcery, a number of talismans and glass bottles filled with liquids supposedly used for the purposes of magic. The source told the paper Nassar was selling spells and bottles of the liquid potions for about $400 dollars each.It sounds like the executed woman was practicing something very similar to "fortune telling."
In somewhat related news, Saudi Arabia is now allowing women to sell lingerie to other women.
Labels: Hamas, Hezbullah, Ilan Grapel, Islam, Maen Areikat, Middle East Media Sampler, Soccer Dad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:28 PM
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American-Israeli anarchist Ilan Grapel, for whose release from an Egyptian jail both Israel and the US paid, writes in the Washington Post that he doesn't regret going to Egypt, and that he would do it all over again. When I went to Egypt to spend the summer working at a nongovernmental organization that provides legal assistance to asylum seekers from Sudan and Iraq, I was no stranger to the Middle East. I had studied Arabic in Cairo and spent more than two years in the Israel Defense Forces. I hoped that my summer would prove that my Zionist ideals could coexist with support for the right of human migration and sanctuary. I also hoped to convince the Arabs I met that my Zionism did not have to be antithetical to their interests and that we could work together for peace.Anyone want to take bets on how many Egyptians he influenced in any kind of meaningful way? I'd bet you can count them on the fingers of one hand.
...
On previous visits, the friendships I developed overpowered the omnipresent anti-Israel propaganda of the Arab world. Some former adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood actually wished me luck when I left to do reserve duty in Israel. Most Egyptians I met and chatted with over coffee ended our conversations by admitting to holding misconceptions about Israelis. This reinforced my hopes for common ground.
So during the summer I emphasized my Israeli background, even when I entered Egypt as an American. I identified as a Zionist Israeli to all of my Egyptian friends, taught them Hebrew and showed them Israeli movies. In return, I received lessons in Arabic, Islam and Egyptian culture.
Some who do not know me considered my actions peculiar or harmful. But that condemnation only underscores a particular abyss into which the Middle East conflict has descended since once-influential Zionists and Egyptians considered cooperation to be beneficial, as did the early Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann and Dawood Barakat, the former editor of the Egyptian daily al-Ahram.
...
Was my trip reckless or “wrong”? No. Despite the peril, the U.S. government sends Peace Corps volunteers to volatile regions because of the benefit of grass-roots diplomacy. Hasbara, the Hebrew term that refers to efforts to explain the Israeli viewpoint, has much to gain from such a strategy, given the pernicious myths about Israel and Jews prevalent in much of the Arab world.
My hasbara provided a viewpoint that changed the mentalities of former Muslim Brotherhood members, the prosecutor and my guards, whose last words were “Shalom, we hope you forgive us.” Israelis and Arabs can continue to maintain the status quo of mutual avoidance or they can dare to coexist. To those who wrongly held me, I say simply, I forgive you.
Labels: Ilan Grapel
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:56 PM
2 comments
After arriving in Israel, Grapel was driven in a van to Jerusalem where he met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and was fed a dinner of a burger and fries.Halachic (correct under Jewish law)? Really?
Ackerman told reporters that Netanyahu efforts to release Grapel were “historic, heroic and halahic” move.
The Egyptians, he said, had acted better than expected in trying circumstances. They arrested someone who they thought was a spy, but was not a spy, said Ackerman.
Grapel, a law student at Emory, is expected to fly back to his family’s home in Queens, New York on Friday.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Egypt, Gary Ackerman, Ilan Grapel, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:38 AM
2 comments
American-Israeli anarchist Ilan Grapel is on a plane from Cairo to Tel Aviv (about an hour's flight) as I am writing this post. When he arrives in Israel, he will be brought to Jerusalem to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu (according to Israel Radio and the JPost) or to be debriefed by Defense Ministry officials (according to YNet). Grapel's mother is waiting for him at Ben Gurion and will take him back to the States when he is done with his 'meeting.' Somehow, I suspect we won't be seeing him again here for quite some time, unless he goes to another Arab or Muslim country and we are asked to ransom him again.The United States, which provides the army that now runs Egypt with billions of dollars in military aid, had called for Grapel's release. Analysts said the exchange provided a cover for Egypt to resolve diplomatic strains with Israel.YNet has some interesting coverage of the released Egyptians.
"I consider it a cover for returning this spy with pressure from the United States," said political analyst Hassan Nafaa.
"The release of those 25 represents a cover that has no meaning in fact. It does not harm Israel and it does not significantly benefit Egyptians," he added. Many of those detained by Israel were convicted of smuggling offenses.
The Egyptian prisoners were given a warm welcome upon their arrival and were greeted by family members and an Egyptian TV crew, which broadcast the handover live. The first three to be transferred were minors. Upon crossing the Taba border they kissed the ground. The three told an Egyptian reporter they were treated well in Israel but have no intention to return in the future.I guess the kids haven't learned to lie yet.
Upon their arrival in Egypt, some of the prisoners told local TV about their confinement conditions. "It was hard to be in prison, we were separated," one inmate, who spent six years in jail, said. "I was told I'm getting out on Tuesday." Another prisoner charged with drug trafficking claimed they were all treated "very badly."
Labels: anarchists, Cairo, F-16, Ilan Grapel, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:59 PM
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If this report turns out to be correct, I take back everything I said about the US not negotiating with terrorists and not paying ransom for its citizens who are being held hostage. As much as I think that it's absurd that Israel is turning over terrorists to bring anarchist Ilan Grapel back to the US, this is downright shocking.The United States is set to give Egypt an F-16 fighter jet as part of the deal to release dual US-Israeli citizen Ilan Grapel, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported Thursday.There are ongoing negotiations to free Tarabin, whose family lives in Israel, and who has been held without charges for eleven years.
Ma'an quoted Egyptian military expert General Sameh Sayf al-Yazal saying that the United States was called into the negotiations to help Egypt exact the best possible deal for Grapel's release.
According to the report, Israel refused to release all 81 Egyptian prisoners in Israel for a deal that included both Grapel and Ouda Tarabin, an Israeli Bedouin who, like Grapel, is being held in Egypt on spying charges.
Labels: Egypt, F-16, Ilan Grapel, kidnapping, Mossad, spying
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:47 AM
2 comments
Israel's Supreme Court has turned down appeals against the release of 25 Egyptian terrorists from Israeli jails, and the 25 will be exchanged on Thursday morning for American-Israeli anarchist Ilan Grapel.The two Israelis who negotiated Grapel's release with the Egyptians – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's envoy Yitzhak Molcho and Kadima MK and former deputy Shin Bet head Yisrael Hasson – are scheduled to fly Thursday afternoon to Cairo with Grapel's mother to retrieve him.Most of these people are accused of drug or weapons running. How weapons running is not a 'security-related offense' is beyond comprehension. And drug running is the way that terror is financed.
Grapel is expected to land at Ben-Gurion Airport at about 5 p.m., and then drive to Jerusalem for a brief meeting with Netanyahu.
A spokesman for the Israel Prisons Service said that the Egyptian prisoners, who were gathered together at the Beersheba prison on Wednesday, will be taken to the Taba border crossing with Egypt most likely Thursday afternoon.
All of the Egyptian prisoners, according to information supplied by the Israel Prisons Service, are serving time for criminal – rather than terrorist-related – offenses. The group of prisoners also includes three minors.
Labels: anarchists, Arab terrorism, Egypt, Ilan Grapel, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:40 PM
3 comments
On Monday, we were told that the number of Egyptians we are to free in 'exchange' for American-Israeli anarchist Ilan Grapel had been reduced to 25. On Tuesday, we found out why: Half of them are 'security prisoners.' That's a nice way of saying terrorists. In a statement, Almagor [the terror victims' rights organization. CiJ] claimed that half the prisoners had provided weapons to terrorists, while the other half were involved in smuggling drugs.In fact, the Egyptians themselves have admitted that there is nothing behind the charges.
"The Israeli government is turning herself into a Mediterranean bazaar for her kidnapped citizens, making them a living commodity for terrorists and governments," the group said.
Almagor called on Israeli citizens to avoid traveling in Muslim countries, to avoid the possibility of being kidnapped or arrested for political purposes. "Israelis traveling in Turkey and Jordan may find themselves in a similar situation as Grapel, and consider these events as a travel warning."
Egyptian media had reported that the three of the prisoners are minors who had been acquitted of illegally crossing into Israel to sell cigarettes, but remained imprisoned after prosecutors appealed the ruling.
Israel, with the help of the United States, reached a deal with Egypt for the young man’s freedom, in exchange for the release of 25 Egyptian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Grapel, whose family lives in Queens, is a student at Emory Law School in Atlanta and has served in the Israeli army.
He had gone to Cairo to work in a legal aid organization.
Egypt accused Grapel of being an Israeli spy and inciting protesters against Egypt’s military. Israel and the Grapel family have denied the charges.
On Monday, conflicting reports emerged over whether a second Israeli citizen would be included in the deal: Ouda Tarabin – a Beduin shepherd held for over a decade on spying charges after illegally entering Egypt.On Tuesday afternoon, Tarabin's brother told Israel Radio that he is not being released. He has been imprisoned in Egypt for 11 years without trial.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel is “doing its best” to ensure Tarabin’s release.
Labels: Almagor, Egypt, Ilan Grapel, kidnapping, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:56 PM
3 comments
Sorry for taking the last couple of hours off. I have a lot of work (thank God) and a bad cold. I'd like to get rid of the cold so that I can do the work, so I laid down for a while.The Prime Minister's Office clarified that the jailed Egyptians were not security prisoners and that the deal between Israel and Egypt still needed the approval of the security cabinet.If the rationale for paying the price for Shalit was that we sent him into battle, and that we have a universal draft so that he had no choice but to go, what is the rationale for trading anything for this guy? The Americans aren't giving anything for him and he spent about a year in Israel in total. Why should we be paying the price? This is a very bad precedent.
Egyptian media revealed Saturday that Israel and Egypt were putting the “finishing touches” on a list of prisoners to be freed in exchange for the American-Israeli charged with spying.
Al-Youm al-Sabeh newspaper reported that Yasser Reda – Cairo’s ambassador to Israel who has been serving as an intermediary between the two countries on the issue – provided the prisoner list to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry this weekend.
Grapel, a law student from Queens, New York, has been charged with sedition and inciting Egyptians to violence during the revolution that unseated president Hosni Mubarak. The 27-year-old’s release was reportedly worked out as part of the deal that brought home IDF soldier Gilad Schalit last week after five years in Hamas captivity.
Labels: anarchists, Egypt, Ilan Grapel, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:25 PM
4 comments
MK Michael Ben Ari (National Union) has sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu demanding that Israel not pay any price for the release of American-Israeli anarchist Ilan Grapel, who is being held by Egypt as a 'spy.' Ben Ari noted that according to reports in the press, Grapel is to be freed in exchange for over 80 criminal prisoners, including drug smugglers and others whose names and circumstances of arrest have not been published.Indeed. Why are we paying for this nutjob's release?
"Grapel associates himself to an anarchist group… with an agenda of breaking up governmental systems wherever they exist," he wrote "He does not see himself as a Jew or belonging to the Jewish people, but as a citizen of the world."
"As part of his anarchist activity, he took part in violent protests against IDF soldiers at Naalin and Bilin, and at Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood in Jerusalem," added Ben Ari. "His activity in Egypt against the regime during the revolution was without doubt provocative... Egypt's claim that Grapel was trying to inflame internal conflicts is not without merit."
Labels: anarchists, Egypt, Ilan Grapel, Mossad, spying
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:47 PM
1 comments
Israel Hayom is reporting that US-Israeli dual citizen Ilan Grapel is also on the verge of being released. In exchange for some more terrorists. Ilan Grapel, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen arrested in Egypt in June on espionage charges, is expected to be released from Egyptian custody just days after Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, who has been held in Gaza for more than five years, returns home, Israeli officials confirmed on Monday, according to Israel Radio.Great. So any time a foreign national is arrested in Israel, all their country has to do is kidnap an Israeli, charge him with spying if it's at all relevant, and sure as night follows day, an 'exchange' will be made for the foreign national's release.
The confirmation follows a report in the Egyptian state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, which said Israel has agreed to release 81 Egyptian citizens currently held in Israeli prisons in exchange for Grapel's freedom.
"All reports suggest that the Shalit deal will not be the only one concluded between Arabs and Israel in the coming days," Al-Ahram reported. The Shalit deal, the article said, will "soon be followed by another deal, between Egypt and Israel, in which the spy Ilan Grapel ... will be released in return for all Egyptians held in Israeli prisons."
Labels: Egyptian Revolution, Ilan Grapel, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:34 PM
0 comments
Israel Radio reports that Egypt is seeking to 'widen' the Shalit exchange to include trading 79 Egyptians held in Israeli jails in exchange for American-Israeli Ilan Grapel, who is being held in Egypt on charges of spying and - after last week's attempt to enforce the same exchange did not work - charges of inciting rioters to attack Egyptian government installations.Labels: Ahmet Davutoglu, Gaza blockade, Gilad Shalit, Ilan Grapel, UNRWA
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:33 AM
3 comments
Labels: Christian Copts, Egyptian army, Ilan Grapel, running of the bulls
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:28 PM
1 comments
You will all recall that Egypt is holding 'American Israeli' Ilan Grapel, whom they allege is a Mossad spy. You will also recall that the evidence against Mr. Grapel is... uh... flimsy.... So Egypt is looking to cut a deal to free Mr. Grapel, because the Americans want him freed (Mr. Grapel is a law student from Emory University in Atlanta, and aside from a brief stint with the IDF as an overseas volunteer in 2005-06 apparently has very little connection to Israel). So why is Israel apparently willing to release 81(!) Egyptians being held in Israeli jails in exchange for this moron? And what kind of precedent are we setting with respect to - for example - Gilad Shalit, who is an Israeli resident and was an active IDF soldier at the time of his kidnapping? Egypt wants Israel to free 78 Egyptian prisoners in exchange for Ilan Grapel, an Israeli-American national accused of spying and held by Cairo since June.The other demands are said to be American weapons systems, and presumably Israel's consent to the Americans providing them.
The demand was presented during US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's visit to Cairo, according to al-Ahram, a newspaper associated with the Egyptian government. In addition, Egypt wants Israel to release three Egyptian minors currently held at the Beersheba prison.
The Egyptian paper reported that Cairo made other demands that are currently being examined by Jerusalem and Washington. If the conditions are accepted, Israel and Egypt are expected to launch direct talks aimed at closing the deal.
Labels: Ilan Grapel, Mossad, prisoner exchange, spying
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:18 AM
1 comments
If, as has been claimed all along, Ilan Grapel is not a spy and has no connection to Israel, I don't understand why we are reportedly going to be paying a price for his release.According to the Israeli Ma’ariv newspaper, Israel has agreed to release 25 Egyptian security prisoners currently serving sentences in Israeli jails in exchange for Grapel.I suppose we should look at the bright side: Without knowing what weapons the Americans are agreeing to provide to Egypt, the price for Grapel is much lower than was the price for the last Israeli civilian moron who got himself imprisoned in an Arab country.
The report, which is based on comments made by a senior Egyptian television commentator, the United States will also release prisoners. Among the prisoners to be released are also ones classified by Egypt as “high profile”.
The commentator added that the main part of the deal that was reached includes an American agreement to sell advanced weapons to the Egyptian Army, which until now the U.S. has refrained from doing due to Israeli pressure.
Labels: Egypt, Elhanan Tanenbaum, Ilan Grapel, Mossad, spying
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:23 PM
0 comments
Israel Radio reports that the London-based pan-Arabic daily al-Hayat reports that US-Israeli dual citizen Ilan Grapel will be released by Egypt on Tuesday. Grapel has been held by the Egyptians since June on charges of spying, but according to the report, the Egyptians now admit that he is not a spy.According to a report by MENA news agency, Cairo authorities are considering releasing the 27-year-old in exchange for "greater US political and financial support."How was this guy ever accepted into an IDF combat unit with a genetic disease? Hmmm.
MENA also reported that Grapel suffers from a genetic chronic disease, and his mother, who also suffers from the condition, confirmed the report.
The senior Egyptian official told al-Hayat that US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is scheduled to arrive in Egypt on Tuesday and will "take Grapel back with him at the end of the visit."
The source noted that "what Grapel did during the revolution did not amount to spying and by this logic he can be released in exchange for financial benefits."
Labels: Ilan Grapel, Mossad, spying
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:36 AM
0 comments
Neither Israel nor the US seems to care much about Ilan Grapel. The US has not been putting pressure on Egypt to release the accused Israeli spy, Ilan Grapel, Egyptian semi-official Al-Ahram quoted an "Egyptian security official" as saying on Tuesday.Something tells me he's not a spy - or not a very valuable one. He's just a foolish kid.
On Monday, Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm said that the US had threatened to reduce aid to Egypt unless Cairo released the alleged Israeli spy, a dual US-Israeli citizen who was arrested in Egypt in June on charges of espionage for the Mossad.
Al-Ahram also said that Cairo and Jerusalem never discussed formulating a prisoner-swap deal for securing Grapel's release, which the report claimed would involve freeing a number of Egyptian Beduin from Sinai serving "long sentences in Israeli prisons."
According to the source Cairo informed both Washington and Jerusalem that "Grapel is in the hands of the Egyptian judiciary."
Labels: Egypt, Ilan Grapel, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:43 PM
0 comments
The Egyptian government newspaper al-Ahram has accused the Mossad of attempting to harm Egyptian fertility. Israeli citizen Ofir Harrari, recently accused by Egypt of spying for Israel, was allegedly involved in a complicated scheme intended to harm Egyptian reproduction abilities, Egypt's official state paper Al-Ahram has claimed.Let them name the product. Of course, they can't.
Harrari, accused by Egypt of being an agent of the Mossad, is set be tried in absentia on charges of "spying for a foreign country with the purpose of harming Egyptian national interest," news agency MENA reported on Sunday.
Jordanian Ibrahim abu-Zaid, a telecoms engineer reportedly involved in the affair as well, was arrested in Egypt.
"According to the public prosecutor's office's investigation, 'Mossad agent Ofir Harrari' instructed Jordanian Ibrahim abu-Zaid to set up a company in Egypt which would exclusively import an Israeli hair product, for both men and women, which causes infertility. This in order to completely destroy Egyptian reproduction abilities," Al-Ahram states.
The report also asserted that the Mossad supposedly required that abu-Zaid open communications companies in Sudan and Libya, so as to enable Israel to follow communication traffic in both countries.
Labels: Egyptian blood libels, Ibrahim abu-Zaid, Ilan Grapel, Mossad, Ofer Harrari
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:21 PM
0 comments
Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm is reporting that Israel has offered to exchange three Egyptians for alleged American-Israeli spy Ilan Grapel (Hat Tip: Blake Hounshell via Twitter). Egyptian news reports on Sunday said that Israeli authorities requested Egypt to extradite Ilan Grapel, an Israeli citizen who was recently arrested by Egyptian authorities claiming he spied for Mossad.I don't buy this. I can't believe this guy is a spy and if that's the case, why should Israel offer to make an exchange for him (unless the US 'asked' us to make an offer).
The Egyptian state-run newspaper Al-Akhbar said it was informed that the alleged spy would be returned for three Egyptians arrested in Israel.
The newspaper added that the offer is currently being considered and there will be a response in few days.
Labels: Egypt, Ilan Grapel, Mossad, spying
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:32 PM
3 comments
It turns out that Ilan Grapel, the American-Israeli law student who is accused by Egypt of spying for the Mossad, served as an intern for Congressman Gary Ackerman (D-NY) in 2002. Ackerman has called for the release of his former intern. The Congressman described his former intern as “very liberal” and someone who “wants to help people in Egypt.” He said he was in the country to help refugees from nearby African countries who had fled to Egypt.I guarantee you that if he is released, he will be forced to sign some sort of 'confession' that makes Israel look bad.
“This is like no good deed goes unpunished,” he said. “He did some things that are frankly foolish … but a spy – give me a break!”
Ackerman is urging the Egyptians to finish their investigation and procedures as quickly as possible so the case can be resolved and Grapel doesn’t become a political pawn.
“We’re working very hard. His parents love him very much and are very concerned,” he said. “They and I want him back in Queens as quickly as possible.”
Despite the current situation, Ackerman said he remains hopeful about Grapel’s fate.
“I have to be optimistic because he’s not a spy. He’s not involved in espionage,” he said. “He’s the most unlikely spy anybody could ever imagine.”
Labels: Egypt, Gary Ackerman, Ilan Grapel, Mossad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:51 AM
0 comments
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
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