I've been warning about this for years. There have been two attempted terror attacks in New York City this evening. The first was in Chelsea, on 23rd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, around 8:30 pm.
The following was posted on Facebook earlier this evening. The person who posted it has yet to cite a source (although she is in Israel and may not have seen the requests for one), so please take it with a grain of salt.
So the wedding with the horrible pictures of people dancing and
stabbing the poor Arab child who was murdered in Duma...the dance that
justifiably should be condemned and all who were involved should be
investigated? yes, that one...so here's some information that will help
the police to further investigate:
The family cannot find the
photographer who filmed the dance; the videographer FOR the wedding was
taping somewhere else. So who was the person who videotaped these scenes? How did they know to be at the wedding at precisely this time?
The family has spoken to guests - not one admits to having brought
pictures of the Arab family to the wedding...so who brought the
pictures? How did these people know to bring a picture of a dead child
to a wedding...who does that?
According to the wedding hall,
Shabak came a few hours before the wedding and put in cameras throughout
the wedding hall...then came after and removed it. Hmmm.... that's
strange...does Shabak place cameras in all wedding halls right before a
wedding and then remove them right after?
The family does not
know the people who came and did this...and more, the weapons that
appear in the video were not there before or after this one "dance." The
family brought no guns - the guns disappeared two minutes after the
song.
They spoke to the guard of the wedding hall - there were
hundreds of undercover cops that showed him their police IDs before they
entered - they were not guests...so why were they there in advance?
Neither the groom nor the bride know the people who were dancing with
the picture - and they were not part of the wedding. Seems strange...no?
Something smells in this...something very rotten...
Stranger things have happened in Israel. It would be horrible if Jews actually carried out the terror attack at Duma. But I wouldn't reach the conclusion that they did just yet. Don't forget this.
Confirmed: Suspicious package on Air France flight was a (fake) bomb
A suspicious package on an Air France flight from Port Louis, Mauritius to Paris that forced the plane to land in Nairobi has been confirmed to be a bomb.
BREAKING: Suspicious package found between Air France luggage headed from Kenya to Paris confirmed as a bomb. #AF463pic.twitter.com/k6WTEb3SWS
For those who don't get the connection, Sa'ad Dawabsha was the father of the 18-month old who was burned to death in last week's terror attack in Duma. (KhaledAbuToameh confirmed that to me in a return tweet).
Although there have been claims that the Dawabsha family home was burnt down by 'Jewish terrorists,' to date, no Jew has been arrested in connection with the attack, and there are rumors that the family was involved in a feud between clans for the last 18 years.
And now this. You don't think that the Dawabsha family home was burned down by Fatah supporters because the Dawabsha's were Hamas supporters, do you?
The father of the Arab child who died in a firebomb attack on his home in Duma died himself this morning. Israel has made a lot of noise about arresting 'Jewish terrorists' and yet to date, no one has been charged with the attack in Duma, and rumors continue to swirl about the victimized family being involved in a long-standing feud within the local community.
This is from the second link.
The ZOA issued a statement that says in effect, don't be so fast to blame the Jews. They note several very strong points:
1. The victims' family have been involved in a blood-feud with an opposing clan for the last 18 years;
2. The two homes set on fire were in the center of a hostile Arab
village – an unlikely choice for Israelis entering from outside the
village. It would have been extremely difficult for Israeli Jews to
reach and then to depart from the center of a hostile Arab village
without being detected.
3. Similar graffiti has never been found in radical Jewish "price-tag" attacks.
And, in adding my own doubts, what hit-man has the time to stand
around and compose graffiti on the walls, complete with drawing crowns
and Stars of David? In fact, the Star of David in the above photo looks
very much like the type you'd see in Arab anti-Semitic cartoons.
Israel's secret services are very capable. A professional
graphologist can discern quite a bit from the above two writings on the
walls. Even a novice like me can tell you that the crooked kuf in nekama [above] is indicative of a person with extremely violent
tendencies, one who has probably harmed people before. Without a doubt, a
professional could shed much light on the perpetrator's profile; that
is, if the Israeli Government really wants the truth.
The first two points were both discussed at great length here.
'Settler' goes along on Leftist condolence visit to Arab village
A revenant in his 20's named Yonadav Tapuchi went along on a Leftist-sponsored visit to the site of the two arson attacks in the village of Duma last week. (You can see a post about a similar visit here). Tapuchi said that he went along on the trip to show that not everyone on the Right agrees with last week's actions (which are still presumed to have been carried out by a Jew from the Right), and that although he is a supporter of Jewish settlement of the entire land in Israel, some actions are simply beyond the pale.
For those of you who read Hebrew, you can find his original thoughts here (it's accessible). For those who do not, Hillel Fendel has translated most of them into English.
"I had difficult feelings after my trip," Yonadav wrote, "which can
be divided into three groups. First, there is no doubt that this was
a shocking crime. It is simply terrible to wake up in the middle of the
night to find your house and family going up in flames, to escape by the
skin of your teeth, and then to find that you have lost a son.
...My condolences to the family; may they know no more pain."
"The second area concerns the anthropological experience I had on the
bus filled with veteran left-wing activists from Tel Aviv – a
horrific scene of hatred-filled talk: hatred of settlers, hatred of the
religious, and especially of haredim; hatred of the State of
Israel; and explanations why it was a moral imperative to leave and move
to another country.
"When we arrived at the village, we were surrounded by Arab
photographers. We were informed that the original plan had been
changed, and that before visiting the actual mourning family, we would
first see the burnt houses. Thus, a bunch of Jews with their heads held
low were photographed near and in the burnt houses and the Hebrew
graffiti there. A representative of the family and the village then gave
a short speech ('the settlers should expect the worst!,' he warned). We
were then told that actually, the village is quite up in arms, and that
it would not be convenient for us to actually comfort the mourning
family, and that we had better leave fast.
"I and others felt that this whole thing was a media trick to get the
'Yahud' [Arabic for 'the Jews' – ed.] to take part in humiliating set
of photos near the buildings, and that they had never planned to allow
us to come in actual contact with the family."
The third set of impressions that Yonadav Tapuchi came away with
concerned the suspicious nature of the alleged arson. He did not
mention that there have been reports of an ongoing, 18-year feud between
two clans in Duma that might be related to the murderous arson. In
addition, one of the two graffiti messages – the single word nekamah,
meaning "revenge" – has calligraphic elements that raise the suspicion
that it was actually sprayed by an Arab.
There was actually a report up in Hebrew on rotter.net yesterday that claimed that suspects had been arrested in connection with the arson, and that they were Arabs. But when I clicked on the link from Twitter, the post had been removed. It is not unheard of in this country for a report like that to be censored by the military censor for some period of time. In other words, the report could still be true.
And that's not the only thing that's suspicious.
"According to the Duma version, the attackers burnt one house, then
saw that it was empty, and so they went to set fire to the next
house. The second house is enclosed by a fence, and the windows are
covered by a dense lattice; a firebomb cannot be hurled through the
windows, and in any event it is very hard to reach the windows behind
the fence. The arsonists had to go around the house, enter the yard, and
place the firebombs through the lattice. According to the Duma version,
the attackers entered the house, stood over the parents and did not let
them leave until the flames engulfed the house. Only then did the
arsonists run away from the village.
"I can only say that when the arsonists are ultimately caught, we
will get to hear a fascinating story of why they chose to navigate their
way all the way into the middle of the village, and how they had time
to set a house on fire, wait to find that it was empty, then walk
around and enter another house and set it on fire, wait with the
parents, spray graffiti in two places – including with a little design
of a crown! – and then run away through the middle of the village with
all the townspeople surely already up and on their feet seeing
the flames and hearing the family's cries. Something here is very
fishy…"
For those who have been hiding in a cave all day, thus far unidentified assailants burned down a home in the Arab village of Duma next to Nablus (Shchem) during the night. A baby died and his parents and brother were injured. I am going to post the reactions I posted on Twitter this morning, and then an update.
TT @dandayan (frmr head of Yesha Council) Must tell truth: Almost happened in past in Huwara & in Bat Ayin taxi 1/2 https://t.co/yjCaTEnLuE
Hamas said Friday that every Israeli is now a legitimate target
following the deadly terror attack in the village of Duma in which a
Palestinian toddler was killed, Israel Radio reported. In an official
message to the public, Hamas also called for a "day of rage" to protest
the deadly terror attack and "in order to protect al-Aksa mosque."
Israeli and Palestinian security forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank were placed on high alert following the attack.
As noted above, the difference between Israel and the 'Palestinians' is that the condemnation of this attack is across the board. Of course, it could still turn out that the attack was not carried out by Jews. But it should be condemned in any case.
There have been terror incidents in Judea and Samaria all afternoon, culminating in an Israeli driver coming under fire - and responding - near Kochav HaShachar, which is just a few minutes from the Hizme crossing (the crossing between Jerusalem and Samaria).
A suspected Palestinian terrorist carried out a drive-by shooting attack
on an Israeli vehicle on Friday in the Binyamin region of the West Bank
near Kochav Hashahar. The Israeli driver in the vehicle told the army
he fired back at the gunman. There were no injuries in the incident. The
army found three bullet holes in the Israeli vehicle that came under
fire.
A couple of hours later, Palestinian rioters clashed with
IDF soldiers in Hebron. The incident occurred near the al-Rasoul Mosque,
when Palestinians on a march hurled rocks and burning tires at
security forces in the area.
Soldiers responded with riot
dispersal means, and fired Roger low intensity rounds at the legs of a
suspect, an army spokeswoman said. He sustained a light injury, the
spokeswoman added.
There's enough terrorism in this country without vigilantism. Whoever murdered that child should be sent to jail for a long, long time.
The Sunni states in the Persian Gulf are extremely critical of the Iran nuclear sellout. But less because of the nuclear issue than because of the release of sanctions and the lack of restrictions on Iran's terror support. You know, the things Obama-Kerry decided were 'less important.' This is from the first link and it's from Jonathan Spyer.
“Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states can only welcome the nuclear deal,
which in itself is supposed to close the gates of evil that Iran had
opened in the region. However, the real concern is that the deal will
open other gates of evil, gates which Iran mastered knocking at for
years even while Western sanctions were still in place.”
From this perspective a particularly notable and dismaying aspect of
the deal is its removal of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and
its Quds Force commander, Maj.-Gen. Qasem Soleimani, from the list of
those subject to sanctions by the West.
The ending of sanctions on the IRGC, and more broadly the likely
imminent freeing of up to $150 billion in frozen revenue, will enable
Iran to massively increase its aid to its long list of regional clients
and proxies. Iran today is heavily engaged in at least five conflict
arenas in the region.
...
In Syria, beleaguered dictator and Iranian client Assad remains in
control in the west and south largely because of Iranian support and
assistance – up to $1b. per month, according to some estimates. For as
long as Assad remains, the war remains, allowing such monstrous entities
as Islamic State and al-Qaida to flourish.
...
In Iraq, the Iranian-supported Shi’ite militias of the Hashd
al-Shaabi are playing the key role in defending Baghdad from the advance
of Islamic State. These militias are trained and financed by the
Revolutionary Guards and organized by Soleimani and his Iraqi right-hand
man, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, also thought to be an IRGC member.
In Yemen, the Iranians are offering arms and support to the Ansar
Allah, or Houthi rebels, who are engaged in a bloody insurgency against
the government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Among the Palestinians, Tehran operates Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a
client/proxy organization, and is in the process of rebuilding
relations with the Izzadin Kassam, the powerful military wing of Hamas.
All this costs money. In a pattern familiar to the experience of
totalitarian regimes under sanctions in the past, Iran has preferred to
safeguard monies for use in service of its regional ambitions, while
allowing its population – other than those connected to the regime – to
suffer the consequent shortages.
Still, in recent months, things weren’t going so well. Assad has been
losing ground to the Sunni rebels. Hezbollah has been hemorrhaging men
in Syria. The Shi’ite militias were holding Islamic State in Iraq but
not advancing. Saudi intervention was holding back further advances by
the Houthis in Yemen. Hamas was looking poverty-stricken and beleaguered
in its Gaza redoubt.
The sanctions, plus these many commitments, were bringing the Iranian
regime close to an economic crisis that would have confronted the
regime with the hard choice of lessening its regional interference or
facing the consequences.
No longer. The deal over the nuclear program is set to enable Tehran
to shore up its investments, providing more money and guns to all its
friends across the Middle East, who will as a result grow stronger,
bolder and more ambitious. This, from the point of view of the main
powers in the Sunni Arab world, is the key fallout (so to speak) from
the deal concluded in Vienna. IRGC “outreach” to Shi’ite minorities in
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and to the Shi’ite majority in Bahrain, is also
likely to increase as a result of the windfall.
...
Similarly, in Lebanon the West is supporting and equipping the Lebanese
Armed Forces, without understanding that the Lebanese state is largely a
shell, within which Hezbollah is the living and directing force. In
Syria, the US is pursuing a half-hearted campaign against Islamic State,
while leaving the rest of the country to its internal dynamics.
The BDS terrorists have been spreading the image above around the internet. The Algemeiner reports:
The picture,
posted by a page named “I Acknowledge Apartheid Exists”, shows skeletal
survivors holding up signs that read “Israel Assassins,” “Break the
Silence on Gaza,” “Stop the Holocaust in Gaza” and “Stop US Aid to
Israel.” A sign in the far back of the image says Gaza is “the world’s
biggest concentration camp,” while another poster shows a Palestinian
flag along with the words “Free Palestine.”
A slogan at the bottom of the offensive image reads, “Whatever happened to ‘never again?’”
The Facebook page, which boasts over 91,000 members, captioned the
post “Viva Palestine.” At the time of publication, the picture has been
“liked” by 307 users and “shared” on the social media site by 110 users,
including the Central NY Committee for Justice in Palestine.
Many Facebook users expressed disgust over the image, calling it
“inappropriate,” “shameful” and asking for the picture to be taken down.
One user said, “I find this really disturbing. It’s not a case of ‘not
getting it’. How can exploiting and image of other people’s suffering be
an acceptable thing to do? Is that not what we’re supposed to be
against??”
Don't bother to write to Facebook about this. They won't take the page down anyway.
I suppose that anyone who has been to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam cannot be too surprised by Holocaust images being used to induce people to hate Israel. (That was already going on in 1980 when I was there).
New details released in Arab teen murder investigation
The Jerusalem District Court has cleared for publication more details of the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khadr.
IDF Radio reports Wednesday night that three of the suspects
were involved in other serious crimes before the murder; the remaining
three were less involved in burning the teen alive.
Some of the suspects have been sent for psychiatric
observation, the statement continued, adding that investigators were
also determining whether the suspects had links to terror, criminal, or
racist organizations.
The Israel Security Agency (ISA) confirmed that three suspects
have finally been allowed to meet with legal representation, although
three have still been barred from legal counsel.
I am guessing that the three suspects who have been allowed to meet with their lawyers are those who have not been involved in serious crimes in the past, and were less involved in burning Abu Khadr alive. But I have to wonder which group was sent for psychiatric observation.
Three of six suspects have confessed to Abu Khadr murder
Three of the six Israeli Jews who were arrested have reportedly confessed to the kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khadr, and have reenacted the attack for police.
Police Monday morning have said that three of the six suspects
arrested over the murder of Arab teen Mohammed Abu-Khder have admitted
to the crime, and have even reenacted it for police.
The development came after one of the suspects admitted to the murder
soon after being arrested on Sunday. After confessing he also
apparently implicated several others, which seems to have led to the
latest confessions.
It comes as more information emerges about the circumstances of
Mohammed Abu-Khder's death. An initial pathologist's report indicates
that the teen was burned alive, with his body suffering 90% burns. He
was murdered soon after being abducted on Tuesday night, hours after the
funeral of three Israeli teens murdered by Hamas terrorists in similar
circumstances and fueling speculation he was the victim of a "revenge"
attack.
Israel's legal system for criminals is very different than the American system. These boys (and men?) have not had the opportunity to meet an attorney (that was explicitly reported yesterday), they are given no Miranda warnings and are subject to intense questioning, despite the fact that it is likely debatable now whether they are 'ticking time bombs' who have accomplices who are likely to generate further attacks (the usual justification for questioning suspects without allowing them to see an attorney). The confessions are admissible in court, and suspects often get more lenient treatment for cooperating.
My guess is that we'll see confessions from the other three soon as well.
Six suspects were in custody Sunday night on suspicion of being involved in the murder of Mohammed Abu Khder. The six were arrested earlier Sunday.
According to Channel Ten news, police were granted a request Sunday afternoon to extend the remand of five of the six for
eight days. The sixth one will remain in custody for five days. Earlier
reports said that three of the six had been released. Reports also said
that the six are mostly members of an extended family, and live in
Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, and the town of Adam in the Binyamin region.
Police sources have also said that the six “connected themselves” to the incident. Channel Two said that one of the six confessed to the crime and implicated the others.
Honenu has agreed to represent them. Honenu usually represents persons involved in pro-'settler' activity. I hope this doesn't mean that there are 'settlers' involved in this (although Adam is located in Samaria just north of Jerusalem).
I am shocked that a Jew may have done something like this. That's not how we behave.
The Shabak - General Security Service (now known as the Israel Security Authority to the outside world) is now confirming that Jews are being held in connection with the kidnap and murder of Mohammed Abu Khadr.
From: GpoNews <GpoNews@Press.pmo.gov.il> Date: July 6, 2014 at 10:47:16 AM EDT To: GpoNews <GpoNews@Press.pmo.gov.il> Subject:ISA Statement Regarding the Abduction and Murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir
ISA Statement Regarding the Abduction and Murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir (Communicated by the ISA)
In the wake of intelligence and operational information, the Israel Police and the ISA, this morning (Sunday, 6 July 2014), arrested several Jewish suspects regarding the 2 July abduction and murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir from Shuafat.
The
suspects are being questioned at an ISA facility. All other details
regarding the investigation are under a judicial gag order.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the
Palestinian Authority (PA) must locate the terrorists who abducted and
murdered three Jewish teens on June 12, just as Israel located the
murderers of Arab teen Mohammed Khder of Shuafat in a few days' time.
Netanyahu was visiting the Frenkel family in Nof Ayalon. Their son,
Naftali, 16, was murdered by Hamas terrorists along with Eyal Yifrah,
19, and Gilad Sha'ar, 16, by Hamas terrorists who are on the run.
"We will carry out the full extent of punishment with the murderers
who carried out this shocking crime, which deserves every denunciation
and condemnation,” he said about the murderers of Abu Khder. “These
murderers do not belong in Israeli society.”
"We do not distinguish between [Arab] terror and [Jewish] terror,” he added.
Don't hold your breath. And even if the 'Palestinian Authority' happens to arrest the kidnappers and murderers of Frenkel, Yifrach and Shaar, don't bet on them beingpunished.
Jerusalem police confirm that Jews murdered Mohammed al-Khadr
Jerusalem police are confirming that they believe that Jews perpetrated the murder of 16-year old 'Palestinian' Mohammed al-Khadr. No, they weren't 'settlers' as the 'Palestinians' hoped. No, they weren't Haredim gone off track as the rumors circulating over the weekend were saying. They were apparently from La Familia, a racist group that roots for the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team. This is from the second link.
Police have arrested six suspects in the murder of 16-year-old Arab teen Mohammed Abu-Khder.
The suspects, among them several minors, are believed to be
Jewish, appearing to back suggestions earlier today that police had made
significant headway in their investigation, and that they were almost
certain the motive was "nationalistic".
"Apparently the people arrested in relation to the case belong to an extremist Jewish group," an official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We have begun to put together the pieces of the puzzle, and 70-80%
of the background information indicates [the crime is] nationalistic," a
police source claiming to be part of the central investigation told Walla News.
"But research has failed to understand what happened during critical
moments," he added, referring to the two-hour window between the boy's
alleged abduction in Shuafat and his body being found in the Jerusalem
Forest.
Almost immediately prior to the arrests, a police source told Channel 2 that arrests in the case were "imminent" and could be carried out later in the day.
If this turns out to be true, it's despicable. Absolutely despicable.
Random acts of violence based on identity are terrorism - no matter who the perpertrators are
A long time ago, I attempted to come up with a definition of terrorism. This is what I proposed.
A "Terrorist" is someone who intentionally
perpetrates, or causes or directs someone else to perpetrate, a violent
attack against others with the intention of killing or maiming random
non-combatants or destroying their property.
Note what's missing here: It doesn't matter what the goal is.
For the record, a person is considered "Random" if they are not a specific, designated target of the attack and they are a "Non-Combatant" if they are not either (i) a uniformed soldier in a combat field or (ii) a Terrorist.
Reports coming out of Israel indicate that 'our side' may have perpetrated a terror attack. And if that turns out to be the case, I condemn it.This is from the first link in this paragraph.
Several suspects have been arrested and interrogated in connection with
the murder of 16-year-old Muhammed Abu Khdeir, whose burned body was
found in the Jerusalem forest on Wednesday morning, officials said
Sunday.
Police on Sunday said only that a “dramatic
development” in the investigation has led them to believe that the act
was most likely carried out by Jewish extremists in revenge for the
killing of three Israeli teenagers earlier in June.
A number of Israeli news sites reported that six people had been arrested in connection with the killing.
“Apparently the people arrested in relation to
the case belong to an extremist Jewish group,” an unnamed official was
quoted by AFP as saying.
An official speaking on the condition of
anonymity told the Associated Press that authorities believe the killing
was “nationalistic” in nature.
The gag order on details was still in place but is expected to be lifted soon.
The rumors I have heard is that those arrested are from a group that shouts 'death to the Arabs' at Beitar Jerusalem soccer matches, and that they are currently being arraigned at the serious crimes unit in Petach Tikva. Well, they sure don't represent me or anyone I know. Disgusting. And a desecration of God's name.
The silver lining in the cloud, is this tweet:
http://t.co/0u0CHKufHf
Take note J Aiken, no arrests murder of the 3 Israelis, but Israel has arrested suspects for 1 Palestinian killed!
— Tom Hewitt-Browne (@HewittBrowne) July 6, 2014
Hopefully someone will notice that most of our country has some basic sense of morality and justice.
If it's proven that these Jews actually did it, they should be locked up for life. And you can bet that they won't be freed in any 'Gilad for terrorists' type trades.
Malaysia Airlines' captain's friend says he was in no state to fly and could have taken plane for final 'joyride'
The New Zealand Herald interviews a friend of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 captain Zaharie Ahmed Shah, who says that his friend was in no state to fly, and could have taken the plane on a final 'joyride' to the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's world was crumbling, said the long-time
associate. He had been facing serious family problems, including
separation from his wife and relationship problems with another woman he
was seeing.
The man, who spoke to the Herald on condition
of anonymity, said Captain Zaharie was "terribly upset" when his wife
told him she was leaving and believed he may have decided to take the
Malaysia Airlines plane to a part of the world he had never flown in.
...
However the fellow pilot raised questions about the captain's state of mind.
He
guessed that Captain Zaharie may have considered the flight a "last
joyride" - the chance to do things in a plane he had previously been
able to do only on a simulator.
The friend said Captain Zaharie, who he chatted to when they met
several times a year through work, was a fanatic for "the three Fs" -
food, family and flying.
When he wasn't working he spent hours
cooking or using his home-made flight simulator for a variety of
situations he wouldn't experience at the controls of a commercial
airline, such as flying at the highest and lowest possible altitudes.
The simulator was seized last week and is being analysed by the FBI.
Investigations
so far found that, up to the point when the co-pilot said "all right,
good night" to Malaysian traffic controllers, the plane had been flying
normally. Military radar tracking showed the aircraft made a sharp turn
soon after and started flying at altitudes as high as 45,000ft (13,716m)
and as low as 12,000ft before it disappeared.
The associate believed the co-pilot must have been incapacitated and the other flight crew kept out of the cockpit.
"It is very possible that neither the passengers nor the other crew on-board knew what was happening until it was too late."
The friend said the disappearance of the Boeing 777 happened as Captain Zaharie's world was crumbling.
"He's
one of the finest pilots around and I'm no medical expert, but with all
that was happening in his life Zaharie was probably in no state of mind
to be flying."
...
New Zealand aviation expert Peter Clark said he believed Captain Zaharie may have been responsible.
...
He said Mr Fariq was "too inexperienced" to carry out the takeover -
it was his first flight as co-pilot without a third pilot in the cockpit
overseeing him.
Mr Clark said it would have been very simple for the pilot to reprogramme the flight management computer to fly a new course.
"All
you need to do is fly it to high altitude, de-pressurise the aircraft,
you kill everybody on-board including yourself and you have the flight
management programmed in and it just continues to fly to the South
Indian Ocean until it runs out of fuel."
But Mr Clark said it would be very hard to prove it was pilot suicide even if the data recorders were found.
The voice recorder would have been overwritten every two hours and the
flight recorder would most likely record that the plane was operating
normally and crashed because it ran out of fuel.
The only positive thing that can be said here is that at least he planned the flight so that it was unlikely to encounter other planes and so that it would crash in an area where it would be unlikely to hurt those not on board. Still, if this is true, he took 239 lives because he wanted to kill himself. And it sounds like we may never know the full story.
As someone who flies frequently, this makes me wonder what, if anything, the airlines can do to examine the mental state of pilots before they fly.
Breaking: Malaysia Airlines 370 found in Indian Ocean, all passengers dead
Israel Radio reports that Malaysia's President just announced that Malaysia Airlines flight 370 has been found in the Indian Ocean. All the passengers are dead.
The captain of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 received a two-minute call shortly before take-off from a mystery woman using a mobile phone number obtained under a false identity.
It was one of the last calls made to or from the mobile of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah in the hours before his Boeing 777 left Kuala Lumpur 16 days ago.
Investigators are treating it as potentially significant because anyone buying a pay-as-you-go SIM card in Malaysia has to fill out a form giving their identity card or passport number.
Introduced as an anti-terrorism measure following 9/11, this ensures that every number is registered to a traceable person.
But in this case police traced the number to a shop selling SIM cards in Kuala Lumpur.
They found that it had been bought ‘very recently’ by someone who gave a woman’s name – but was using a false identity.
The discovery raises fears of a possible link between Captain Zaharie, 53, and terror groups whose members routinely use untraceable SIM cards.
Everyone else who spoke to the pilot on his phone in the hours before the flight took off has already been interviewed.
...
In a separate development, The Mail on Sunday has learned that investigators are now poised to question Captain Shah’s estranged wife in detail.
They have waited two weeks out of respect, but will now begin formally interviewing Faizah Khan following pressure from FBI agents assisting the inquiry.
Although the couple – who have three children – were separated, they had been living under the same roof.
A source said: ‘Faizah has been spoken to gently by officers but she has not been questioned in detail to establish her husband’s behaviour and state of mind in the days leading to the incident.
‘This is partly for cultural reasons. It is not considered appropriate in Malaysia to subject people in situations of terrible bereavement to the stress of intensive questioning.’
The softly-softly approach has been challenged by the team of FBI agents working with Malaysian police. They have pointed out that she may hold ‘vital clues and information’ to Zaharie’s mental state.
‘The whole world is looking for this missing plane and the person who arguably knows most about the state of mind of the man who captained the plane is being left alone,’ said a source close to the FBI team.
The source added: ‘If we want to eliminate the chief pilot from the inquiry, we must interview her in detail to find out what his state of mind was.’
The mystery caller emerged when Malaysian investigators examined the phone records of both Zaharie and his co-pilot, 27-year-old Fariq Abdul Hamid.
Investigators were keen to trace the caller and interview them, although they have stressed that the fact the SIM card was registered to a non-existent ID card does not necessarily indicate a criminal or terrorist connection.
Political activists in Malaysia sometimes use SIM cards bought with bogus identity cards if they fear that their phones may be bugged by the country’s authoritarian ruling party.
The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that Zaharie is an avid supporter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, a distant relative, and may have attended a controversial court hearing where Anwar was jailed for five years. It took place only a few hours before the flight.
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
