Published on July 3rd, 2008 | by Jim Lobe
43Mohammed Omer’s Statement
As you may know, the IPS correspondent in Gaza, Mohammed Omer, was detained last Thursday by Israeli authorities on his return from Europe where he received the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism and went on a brief speaking tour. He is currently in a hospital back in Gaza recovering from the physical wounds incurred during his interrogation. His experience resulted in an official protest by the Dutch government and some attention in the British press, especially The Guardian and The Independent, as well as in the IPS cast itself. The Israeli government’s explanation Mohammed’s wounds, as recounted by IPS correspondent Mel Frykberg, seems somehow unconvincing, although hopefully a thorough investigation, as promised by Israeli’s ambassador to The Hague, will shed some additional light on the matter.
Earlier this week, colleagues sent me a lengthy — but quite eloquent — statement by Mohammed about his experience that, with his permission, I am posting on the blog. I found his thoughts about Shylock’s appeals in the “Merchant of Venice” to his Christian persecutors as Mohammed himself was undergoing what must have been a very traumatic and deeply disillusioning experience at the hands of his fellow human beings to be particularly compelling. You can judge for yourself.
“SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN THE DETENTION, INTEROGATION & TORTURE
OF PRIZE WINNING INTERNATIONAL JOURNALIST, AGE 24, GAZA NATIVE MOHAMMED OMER BY ISRAELI AUTHORITIES, JUNE 26-27, 2008.
Note: This is a compilation of his first hand account of the events of June 26 and June 27, 2008. On June 28th as this is being transcribed Omer is again in transit to a European hospital in Gaza due to chest pains and difficulty breathing and swallowing as a result of the following.
07:00, THURSDAY JUNE 26, 2008:
Mohammed Omer arrives at the Jordanian transit center to catch the bus which will take him across the border to the Israeli transit center at Allenby, just west of Amman Jordan in the Occupied West Bank. Omer was returning from a multi-country speaking tour on the situation in Gaza in Europe in addition to receiving the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Award for Journalism with co-recipient Dahr Jamal. Omer at age 24 is the youngest person in history to receive this prestigious award. He arrived in Amman from France Saturday June 21, 2008, eager to get home for his brother’s wedding next Thursday. Israeli authorities refused him transit forcing him to remain in limbo on a Jordanian transit visa for five days until word arrived he’d be allowed to go home.
Boarding the bus that crosses the border between the Occupied Territories and Jordan, the following transpired.
09:50, THURSDAY JUNE 26, 2008:
Mohammed Omer: “I arrived with others at the Israeli immigration terminal at Allenby around 9:50 AM, entering with the others on my transport, through luggage collection and security screening which leads into the holding area for passport control. As I stood in line to approach the passport agents, I believed everything to be okay and that I’d soon be home in Gaza. At this point a female Israeli soldier approached me and asked, ‘Where are you from?’ I replied, ‘Gaza’. She asked, ‘Where is that?’ and I answered in Hebrew, ‘Azzah’. She nodded, stating ‘Oh yes,’ before pausing and adding, ‘Actually, according to my computer, you don’t have an entry permit.’ Pointing to the rows of chairs facing the Passport agents she motioned me to have a seat and told me someone would call my name.
One hour and a half later , my name still had not been called. I watched as people with American and European passports easily traversed passport control and questioning as well as the VIP club members who simply show passports and pass. I continued to wait.
I was called by a blond haired man with green eyes, a Shin Bet agent, (hereafter referred to by the Israeli acronym Shabak), the internal Israeli intelligence division similar to the FBI or MI-5 in the US or Britain. In Hebrew he asked, ‘Efo Mokhammed?’
In English I replied, ‘Yes, I am Mohammed.’
He asked me to come to him and then asked where my bags were. I pointed to the holding area with my luggage, two pieces: an overnight backpack and a medium size suitcase. He asked if I brought anything illegal with me and responded of course not.
The blond Shabak then asked for my cell phone, telling me to turn it off and remove the battery. I asked if I could make a phone call quickly to let my Dutch Embassy escort, who was waiting on the other side of the terminal know what was happening. The shabak replied forcefully, ‘No! You can’t’.
This was my first indication this delay was not routine. Had it been, there would have been no issue with me informing my diplomatic escort of the situation.
Note: Absent a watch, wall clock or mobile phone, times can only be approximated from this point forward.
APPROXIMATELY 11:00, THURSDAY JUNE 26, 2008
I removed the battery from the cell phone as I have been asked and placed my luggage on the two metal tables as requested. He then asked me to leave my belongings and follow him. I recognized we were entering the Shin Bet offices at Allenby. Upon entering, he motioned for me to sit in a chair within a closed corridor. I could see nothing beyond the walls, only the cameras above my head watching me.
APPROXIMATELY 12:30 , THURSDAY JUNE 26, 2008
After what seemed to be one hour and thirty minutes, both doors at the end of the corridor opened. I watched as one of the Palestinian passengers exited securing his belt to his trousers. A second man followed behind and was struggling to put on his T-shirt. Immediately I realized I was not in a good place. The rooms from which they exited must be used for strip searching. Suddenly, I became nervous, but stayed calm with all the soldiers.
A uniformed shabak officer with police clothes, referred to as Avi by his co-workers told me to come with him. My luggage had been brought and he proceeded to empty each of all contents, manually checking every item from underwear to the gifts of perfume I’d purchased for friends and family. He then tossed the gifts to the other side of the table. Shortly thereafter, a well built muscular blond man in his forties joined Avi while green eyes from earlier entered the room to supervise. Green eyes began what soon became apparent to me to be an interrogation.
‘What is this?’ he says pointing to what is obviously clothing. ‘What is this?’, ‘What is this?’ he continues to pepper in elementary English as each item is removed from my luggage. Avi now moves to my backpack, (overnight bag) containing my documents, letters from readers throughout Europe, copies of e-mails, my articles, my journalist notebooks and the business cards of members of parliament in Greece and Sweden as well as those of members in the House of Commons in England in addition to cards from various business people I met throughout Europe. All of my records, contacts and correspondence of my 3-week trip, not to mention all of my notes for future stories the intelligence orders examined. They then collected all of my documents and dumped them into a blue box adding my cell phone and the memory cards storing all of the photographs from my trip and the presentations I made to the governments of The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Greece and in the United Kingdom.
They were looking for something specific but I wouldn’t know what until green eyes demanded, ‘Where is the money, Mohammed?’
What money I thought. Of course I had money on me. I was traveling.
Confused, I replied I had some money from various nations but not much. He commanded I place all currency on the table, which I did. It amounted to the equivalent of about four hundred pounds–roughly $800 USD. For a moment I was relieved, thinking this was just a typical shakedown. I’d lose the cash with me, but that would be about it.
However, my traveling money failed to suffice. Dissatisfied, he pressed, ‘Where is the English pound and how much you have?’
I realized he was after the award stipend for the Martha Gellhorn Prize from the UK and I told him I did not have it with me. I’d arranged for a bank transfer rather than carry it with me. Visibly irritated the intelligence agent continued to press for money.
Around me, its filled with hall room filled with more intelligence officers, bringing the total Israeli personnel, most well armed in the room to eight: eight Israelis and me. At this point I realized this wasn’t a simple shakedown.
Dissatisfied that larger sums of money failed to materialize, green eyes accused me of lying. I again repeated the prize money went to bank draft and I already had shown him all the cash I had on me. Avi interjected, ordering me to empty my pockets, which I already had. Seeing they had tapped out, he escorted me into another room, this one empty.
‘OK take off your clothes’ Avi the intelligence officer ordered.
I asked why. A simple pat-down would have disclosed any money belts or weapons; besides, I had already gone through an x-ray machine before entering the passport holding area.
He repeated the order.
Removing all but my underwear, I stood before Avi. In an increasingly belligerent tone he ordered, ‘take off everything’.
‘I am not taking off my underwear,’ I stated. Again he ordered me to remove my underwear.
At this point I informed him that an escort from the Dutch embassy was currently waiting for me on the other side of the interrogation center and that I was under diplomatic transit.
He replied he knew that thus indicating he didn’t care and again insisted I strip. Again I refused. There was no reason for me to do so.
At this point he placed his hand on his hip revolver and I became quite frightened. Tears welled in my eyes and I began crying, ‘Why are you treating me this way?’ I asked attempting to maintain my composure. ‘I am human being.’
For a moment I flashed on the scene in the Oscar winning film, The Pianist where the Jewish man, being humiliated by a Nazi quoted Shakespeare, invoking his faith in place of written words, ‘Doth a Jew not have eyes?’ the old man queried, attempting to appeal to the humanity buried somewhere in the soul of his oppressor. Finding myself confronting the same racism and disdain I wanted to ask Avi, ‘Doth a Palestinian not have eyes?’
Like the Nazi, would his indoctrination inoculate him from empathy as well? Likely, I reasoned, it would.
Avi smirked, half chuckling as he informed me, ‘This is nothing compared to what you will see now.’
With that the intelligence officer unholstered his weapon, pressing it to my head and with his full body weight pinning me on my side, he forcibly removed my underwear. Completely naked, I stood before him as he proceeded to feel me up one side and down the other. He knew I had nothing on. The x-ray would have shown such and once people pass through the first security check, no one is allowed to leave the area, even to go have a smoke, get food or drink.
Avi then proceeded to demand I do a concocted sort of dance, ordering me to move to the right and the side. When I refused, he forced me under his own power to move side to side. Terrified now, I started to cry. Backing off, he ordered me to get dressed and follow him.
Returning to the room with my luggage, the blond intelligence officer initiated a discreet form of psyops as he proceeded to dissect my belongings. ‘You are a crazy man,’ he said nonchalantly, shaking his head side-to-side signifying disgust.
‘Is there anyone who is Gazan who would go to France, see Paris and then come back to Gaza where there is no food, no fuel, no clean water? Where there is darkness?’
As he spoke his tone dispensed words in slices of condescension.
‘Or do you like to be around the Hamas system in Gaza?” he accused, not looking for an answer or giving me the freedom or ability to respond.
Goading, he continued. ‘Aren’t you ashamed to have your name and reputation associated with such a dirty place as Gaza?’
Finally I responded. ‘Returning home is my choice. I want to be a voice for those who have no voice and get the truth out about Gaza to the world,” I stated forcibly, adding, ‘I have no affiliation with the Hamas. I don’t even think they like me.’
The fact is, politicians rarely have an affinity for those charged with overseeing their actions in the press.
Patronizing, he continued in less than optimal English, ‘You speak well English, where did you study?’
‘Islamic University in Gaza’, I replied. Peripherally I watched as the other agents seemed to be reveling in ransacking my belongings with total disregard for order and fragility. Patiently I requested they repack the items once they finished checking them. Avi barked at me, telling me to shut up and not interfere.
Angered, I replied, ‘I am a journalist and I’m not accustomed to shutting up. I am asking please…’
‘You don’t touch anything,’ he bellowed.
Dropping my arms in a motion of acquiescence, I relented, replying, ‘All right.’
My protests seemed to encourage their zeal for exploit and further invasion of my privacy. I watched helplessly as Avi and another young man proceeded to open the designer perfumes I’d purchased in Europe.
‘Why the perfumes,’ the blond interrogator asked.
‘They are gifts for the people I love,’ I replied.
He retrieved and held up the European chocolates. Motioning to them, I added, ‘And the chocolate is for a pregnant woman in Gaza who has always dreamed of eating European chocolates.’
Superciliously he replied, ‘Oh, do you have love in your culture?’
Back to Shakespeare, ‘Doth a Palestinian not have ears? Are we not human?’ The callous and racist nature of his taunt aggravated. Beginning to lose my patience, realizing his attempts to infuriate me by sliding through insults in the guise of questions, I countered that of course we have love in our culture.
At this moment he spied the visitor’s pass I used to record my segment with BBC World Service Radio. ‘Oh,’ he quipped mockingly. ‘You were also on the BBC World Service as well’.
I answered affirmative and he continued, ‘I see that you have been everywhere for the past three weeks.’
None of this questioning seemed productive and I wasn’t sure where this was going. The man is fully aware I am a journalist, under escort with embassy personnel from a country Israel considers a good ally. He is fully aware of what I write and where I’ve been. Before him rests the data and I was not afraid of what he would discover because I had nothing to hide from him. However increasingly I felt alarmed. What fed my anxiety originated with the others in the room, armed men looking at me with increasing disdain. I knew enough about the inner workings of Israeli intelligence that each of these men had a specific task. In time each would take his turn; this interrogation would not pass for some time. With so many in the room, I could only guess what each was empowered to deploy. Three had engaged me. That left five to go.
The insolent nature of his questions with their inferences of disrespect escalated. Extracting a trophy presented to me by journalists in Greece as a commendation and acknowledgement of the danger all journalists in war zones face, he pointed to the writing.
‘What is this and what language is that?’
Greek, as ancient as Hebrew and Arabic is quite easy to spot. Either this man was an idiot, and I didn’t think that. Or he was attempting to further rack me.
I responded that the language was Greek and that the trophy was presented to me by the Union of Greek Journalists.
‘Greece?’ He responded arrogantly. ‘Don’t you know that Greece is not a friend of Israel?’
I simply replied, ‘I don’t care,’ which I didn’t, wondering how Grecian government would respond to such an accusation.
Behind me two men proceeded to ridicule and derisively provide an ever expanding lampoon of epitaphs on my belongings and correspondence, each becoming increasingly vile and profane. They seemed to delight most in mocking the letters from readers in England I had not had an opportunity to read. The stress of this coupled with the anxiety of not knowing and the assaults on my psychologically through innuendo and condescension increasingly taxed me physically as well as emotionally. Having been without facilities, food and water for nearly twelve hours, I began to feel faint. As the blond interrogator continued his verbal pummeling, my mind wandered and my consciousness played toward escape. I fought to remain coherent, but my body informed me it had other plans.
Stress had tied my stomach in knots and without warning I began to vomit all over the in the arrival hall. At the same time I felt my legs buckled from the strain of standing and I passed out. For some time my mind vacillated between conscious, semi-conscious and un. I could hear voices and then nothing.
I awoke on the floor to someone screaming, repeating my name over and over, ‘Mohkammed! Mokhammed! Mokhammed!’
As he screamed in my ears I felt his fingernails puncturing my skin, gouging, scraping and clawing at the tender flesh beneath my eyes. This was the intelligence officer’s method for gauging my level of consciousness. No smelling salts as is the civilized manner for reviving a person. Clawing at my eyes and tearing the skin on my face proved his manner of rendering aid.
Realizing I was again conscious thou barely the Israeli broadened his assault, scooping my head and digging his fingers in near the auditory nerves between my head and ear drum. Rather then render first aid, which is the protocol and international law in instances whether prisoners of war or civilians, the soldier broadened his assault. The pain became sharper as he dug is nails, two fingers at a time into my neck, grazing my carotid artery and again challenging my consciousness before pummeling my chest with his full weight and strength.
I estimate I lay on the floor approximately one hour and twenty minutes and I continued to vomit for what seemed like a half hour. Severely dehydrated, focusing took flight and the room became a menagerie of pain, sound and terror. The stench further exasperated and seemed to inflame my captors further. I couldn’t move, speak or shout. I felt tears fall and vomit, but my tongue seemed dislodged. Words would not come. The last thing I remember before losing consciousness again was the choleric incantation of my name in Hebrew, ‘Mohammed ata shome!’ demanding, ‘Mohammed do you hear?’
I could not answer and again my world fades to black.
Revived again I vaguely heard a woman with a Hebron Palestinian accent pleading somewhere out of my sight and my eyes closed.
‘Let this young man alone! Leave him!’ The Israelis ignored her. Frustrated she shouted, ‘May God punish you!’
Her pleas fell without sympathy, met with orders from Israeli soldiers telling her to leave. All around me I heard Israeli voices and then one placed his combat boot on my neck pressing into the hard floor. I remember choking, feeling the outline of his shoe and in my increasing delirium thought for a moment perhaps someone was rendering aid. Reality destroyed that hope. Around me, like men watching a sporting match I heard laughing and goading, a gang rape of verbal and physical violence meted by men entrenched in hatred and rage. As the beating, scratching and assaults continued, I was sure my body and face must look more like a football than a man. I again lost consciousness and awoke to find myself being dragged by my feet on my back through my vomit on the floor, my head bouncing on the pavement and body sweeping to-and-fro like a mop. Humanity or the capacity to be human seemed void within the souls in charge of my body. What causes men to hate so?
After my employment as a human mop, I was transferred to a wheelchair, thou my full faculties had yet to return. I did not realize yet that I had been transferred to a military clinic for Israeli soldiers. Later I would discover on my chest several stickers in Hebrew marking the place where the paddles from the defibulator interacted with my heart as the doctors attempted to revive me. Not getting the response they wanted, they forced my eyes open and still I did not awaken.
It was at the Israeli military clinic I began to awake and heard frantic Hebrew shouted from a number of people and a word I did know, ‘Ambulance’ in English. I felt someone force open my eyes and drop in some liquid into my eyes and nose. I could feel it and began to become aware of my surroundings. Soon I heard a man speaking reassuringly in Arabic, “We are the Palestinian Red Crescent Ambulance,’ he told me.
‘We were called by Israeli soldiers to pick up your body and get you to a hospital.’ He said around 1:30 or so, as I guess.
Behind him an Israeli soldier approached the ambulance insisting the EMT’s (Emergency Medical Technicians) would not be permitted to move me until I signed a paper. First of all, anything signed by a person incapacitated cannot be binding, thou this is a technicality often expunged from Israeli protocol. Fortunately, people were looking out for me. The driver asked the soldier what kind of paper and the soldier explained that it would indemnify the Israelis should anything happen once I was transferred into Palestinian custody. In other words, if I died or was permanently disabled as a result of Israel’s actions, Israel could not be held accountable. One would think I was in a third world dictatorship rather than the ‘only democracy in the Middle East’. One would think.
Thou I could not see him; I recognized the voice of the soldier as Avi.
The EMT replied, ‘He’s unconscious. You can’t make him sign something he cannot read and we don’t know yet what you did to him during the interrogation.”
Avi asserted again that I sign this waiver before they’d allow me to be transferred and treated, something directly in contravention with international humanitarian law. The driver again intervened stating, ‘He can’t wake up. Let us call the Dutch embassy since they are waiting for him outside.’
Alarmed soldier shot back, ‘Don’t call the Dutch embassy! This is none of your business.’
Flustered by the thought of disclosure the soldier continued to insist. My guardian angel EMT informed me later that that the soldier insisted, ‘It’s not allowed for you to call anyone about his case or ask for accompaniment until he gets the medical treatment in the hospital.’
In other words, my tormentors wanted to make sure nobody knew what they had done to me. Nor did they want anyone with diplomatic caché to witness what happened to me. The Israelis needed plausible deniability and they were willing to extort and skirt international law if necessary.
I learn later my guardian on the ambulance was EMT Mahmoud Tarairah who accompanied me in the back of the bus (ambulance) to the hospital, rendering aid as needed. Mahmoud confided in me that he thought it was strange that the soldiers were insisting that I should not inform the Dutch Embassy, my escorts, that I was in hospital and why. His healthy skepticism saved me.
SOME HOURS LATER:
When I fully awoke and opened my eyes I found myself in a quiet cool place.
Pain seemed everywhere. I attempted to move my arm but the pain and IV prevented it. My vitals must have signaled the nurse’s station because a nurse quickly appeared at my bedside and soothingly reassured me, ‘You are here with us; we are Palestinian doctors.’
Groggy I asked, ‘Where am I?’
“Jericho hospital,” a doctor who joined him replied.
I mused quietly to myself that I had always wanted to visit Jericho. Until now I had been denied by the Occupation Forces for the all-encompassing ‘security reasons’. I had hoped my travel to be by car or bus rather than a gurney with a saline drip. I couldn’t help but chuckle internally at the irony. Chuckling audibly still was too painful. I then asked about my belongings: passport, phone and luggage.
The ambulance drivers were taking care of them for me I was told. Upon which I asked about the Dutch Embassy, insisting that I needed to call Wim and other Dutch friend as soon as possible, believing they had no idea what had happened to me.
A member of the hospital staff retrieved my bags and I riffled through realizing all of my careful packing had been reordered into chaos. I found my cell phone on one side and the battery on the other. When I tried to use it, my mobile acted strangely, dialing numbers on its own. I immediately shut it down and asked to borrow a phone. One of the EMT’s offered his, first calling Katja Shury-Zweers at the Dutch Embassy and informing her of my situation, prognosis and location. He then offered his phone to me so could contact others in Europe and the States.
As I dialed friends and colleagues the doctor came in to check my vitals and I informed him I was having difficulty breathing and that my chest, stomach and neck, especially the area where the Israeli intelligence officer dug his fingers into me; this region throbbed in pain.
The hospital is small and no enough rooms for me as doctor Diaa Al Husieni suggest empty rooms for more critical cases and all I wanted was to get home to my family and back to Gaza. As Dorothy stated in the Wizard of Oz, no matter what, there really is no place like home. Besides I knew the hospital was short on beds and now that I was stabilized, (or at least in my male mind believed so) it seemed selfish to occupy one that could be needed by others.
My treating physician Dr. Diaa Al Hussieni explained to me that the combination of high pressure, stress and exhaustion were the reasons my body gave out and what I experienced was a nervous breakdown. This is what caused the vomiting. Rest was required and I should seek medical attention in Gaza in addition to getting medication for the chest, stomach and neck pain. Given the shortages in Gaza of all medical supplies, I wasn’t sure if this would be possible. It turned out to be irrelevant. Due to the damage to my neck, I had difficulty swallowing anything. I wouldn’t be able to take medication even if I had it.
After a few more hours I got into fresh clothing and tried to walk out into the corridor and toilet. I found my legs didn’t always cooperate with my will. They seemed to have a mind of their own. It would be several days before they would cooperate with the upper half of my body. Nearly around 4 o’clock Lisa from The Netherlands Representative Office met me and accompanied me to a checkpoint in Jericho where we obtained a permit for me to travel through the Eretz crossing and for the first time in over a day, traveling in the Dutch diplomatic car, I began to feel safe. Mr. Robert van Embden and Mr. John van der Zande were waiting for me to assure my traversing of the Eretz checkpoint remains uneventful.”
About the Author
Jim Lobe is best known for his coverage of U.S. foreign policy, particularly the neo-conservative influence in the Bush administration. The Washington Bureau Chief of the international news agency Inter Press Service (IPS), Lobe has also written for Al Jazeera English, Foreign Policy In Focus, Alternet, Tompaine.com, and was featured in BBC and ABC television documentaries about motivations for the US invasion of Iraq. Read his complete biography here.
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I am stunned and outraged, but not surprised, to learn of your experience at the Allenby Bridge. And so sorry for the pain and suffering you endured. No doubt this happens dozens of times every day, to men such as those you saw leaving the interrogation room before you entered. Sadly, men like them have no voice to speak out, as you do so eloquently.
Mohammed, thank God you are safely home in Gaza. It’s probably good that you fainted, because even though the Shabak’s treatment of you was terrible, they probably preferred that you not die, and your fainting probably unnerved them a bit. I have personally experienced the actions of these Israeli gestapo agents, though not nearly to the same extent you did, since they did not harm me physically.
All of your friends in Los Angeles are tremendously proud of you, and we send our love and good wishes for a complete recovery.
We hope to see you in a few short weeks.
Mary
Here’s an article on the incident from Le Monde Diplomatique by his fellow Martha Gellhorn Prize recipient Dahr Jamail.
Mary:
You are right, it does not come as a surprise considering the fact that even young children, and in one case an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor, have also been subjected to similar treatment. See this report on the strip searching of small children at Israeli checkpoints.
As for Israeli investigations shedding light on such abuses, I wouldn’t advise holding your breath. I am reminded of the case of the Israeli soldier who shot the 13-year-old school girl, Iman, walked up to her and empited his magazine into her head to confirm the ‘kill’ and declared “I would have done the same thing, even if she were 3″. The Israelis ‘investigated’ after it became a big embarassment, since the whole episode had been caught on camera and broadcast on Israeli TV. The man was put behind bars, only to be released shortly afterwards and paid $17,000 for the distress caused him.
It was horrifying to read all that how Israeli forces are treating those who are voice of the people. I am a journalist working in Pakistan, although, there is dictatorship here but it is not as brutal as you are facing in the occupied territory.
Shocked, outraged and appalled. It is not surprising that our U.S corporate
media will never publicise this incident. And so the great American public lives on in complete ignorance of what the Occupation, with all its various gross human rights violations, really means, in the “only democracy in the middle east”. We are all so proud of you, and praying for your complete recovery. You are young and strong. May God grant you many, many years to continue being a voice for the voiceless.
Devasting.
Agree with SC above, the US MSM is broken.
An ill-informed populace is not well placed to face the challenges the US is grappling with, be it foreign policy in ME, global warming or the credit crisis.
Happy Independence Day. Hope you don’t take the rest of us down with you.
What a shame! Israel gets away with murder ecause the western world allows it to continue it’s dirty crusade war in the heart of the Arab World! No wonder so many Americans are boycotting every thing that is Israeli!
This is what happens when a society considers the presence of group of people with the legal right to initiate the use of force (government) acceptable.
Hopefully, after a few generations, this collective disease (government) will be looked back on as a very dark period in human existence.
Independence Day doesn’t mean anything to me any more, I’m on strike for I was sobbing and in tears reading about Mohammed Omer’s ordeal and the cruel and savage treatemnt by the Israeli forces to our country fellowmen. He deserves a global award for his courage and indurance. I salute him and wish him a quick recovery.
Independence and freedom of expression does not mean to me as a journalist along the Indo-Myanmar frontier region.When I heard about Mohammed Omer’s cruel and savage treatment by the Isreali force in their country;Since I have been living in exsceal in India with treaten and harressed by the Burmese army.Althought I did not get a global award for this indurance.He is fet to get the award and I salute him.
I read Mohammed’s story. I am not aware of the circumstances, nor am I convinced how its substance can be independently confirmed. It may or may not be true.
As a practical matter, clearly Mohammed was portrayed as an alleged victim. There is no information why he may have been abused. Let me suggest that every coin has two sides. The readers clearly view him as an innocent victim. He may or may not have been. These sympathizers conveniently ignore the terrorist actions of Hamas, Hizbullah and their ilk. They even enlist mentally retarded people to act as suicide bombers, killing innocent Israelis. Don’t expect my sympathies to Mohammed to be overextended.
The first time I heard about this person was when he was interviewed on Antiwar Radio, have since been following his webside. Like Michelle Obama this is one of the times that I am proud to be a Dutch citizen, although I have not lived there for 42 years, I still travel on a Dutch passport. At
least the Dutch are trying to do something. I hope that in time Mohammed, can get over his ordeal. My thoughts are with you Mohammed, I admire you very much. Israelis know they can get away with anything they do, because Americza is 100% behind them. Cheers for Charles Goyette, for having you on his Radio Show. Totally unrelated I saw on
CNN today Condoleeza Rice saying how proud she was of the invasion of Iraq, well the mind boggles and the Nile is a river in Egypt. Bravo Mohammed and please know there are people all over the world supporting you
What a sad and tragic story, though not suprising.
This is just the sort of thing one expects from the Israelis; how long will this country and its agencies be allowed to consider itself above all international laws and norms ?
I hope this brutality will only serve to sustain Mohammed in keeping on with his sterling work.
I wish Mr Omer knows that here far away from Gaza and among many who believe in the “values and democracy” in Israel there are people who know of the unspeakable history of the palestinian people, of the daily suffering, the humilliation and the hypocresy of the “civilized” western world that allow all this to continue with little sign of changes. I wish Mr Omer and to the palestinian i am with your sufferings which cause my suffering and feeling of impotency to act, I am very sorry I just keep hope that this can not continue as everything turn around in circle., and palestine will be liberated. You will be free soon
I embrace you
The whole world knows what Israel is doing to a defenceless and prisoned population robbed of its land and kill and torture and starving the whole population.
Every EU states knows it US government knows it
Why These so called democracy are protecting such an apartheid racist criminal aggressive and thief Zionist state is mind boggling and it has been going on since 1947. no state can say we didn’t know.
This episode of humiliation, bullying, and brutality is just one of many that Palestinians can tell. But it is a story that few North American news outlets care (or dare?) to bring to the attention of their public. Many thanks to Jim Lobe for doing so.
This example is little more than high jinx compared to the Biblical events in the refuge town of Jericho. Killing all their hosts, men, women and children–it’s amazing how when you are exceptional, chosen or above the dirty people who live under your boot you fail to see their humanity. Truly, the Bible celebrates attrocity while also advocating the Golden Rule.
Which part of the Bible do people cite? That is a question of personal humanity and morality. Religion, nationalism, and fear are all used to justify inhumanity. Do you believe in the Golden Rule, or Exceptionalism this is the test–religion doesn’t innoculate us from this test, nothing does except empathy and treating others with the dignity we’d ask for ourselves.
(I know you don’t like the religion topic Jim but both camps indeed find refuge in the texts of the Bible. It’s high time we parse the texts and rather than blaming the texts put the onus on those reading it. We must point out that there are indeed many passages that condone what we’d find totally immoral today.)
All this issues out of the one thing that kept bubbling up in my mind; that’s Ehud Barak’s quote, “If I were a Palestinian, I’d be a terrorist too.” I think I would have lost my patience and tried to attack these men, if only with a hail of headbutts. That probably would’ve gotten me shot.
The true horror exposed by this dramatic feat of journalistic courage is the level of personal and collective guilt being accumulated by Israeli participants in the occupation; for, like the Nazi soldiers Goldhagen studied, these will undergo the power of guilt to force more and more extreme attempts to legitimate their acts, more and more intractable grounds of enmity and hatred. “How can men hate so”, Mokhammed asks? By the power of what they have done, God answers. In judgment.
The story wil probably appear along side one on suicide bombers from GAZA
Imagine what the Israeli gestapo does every day to people who are not protected by a certain level of popularity.
The US “mainstream” media becomes more irrelevant each day. The Internet allows the truth to be recorded for all to see for all time. Truth will hopefully be the downfall of the US policies of occupation in the middle east. Mohammed please continue to write for us all. Compassionate human beings will stronger due to your truth telling.
I have no way of knowing if this story is true; there is a psychological war going on between Israelis and Palestinians, and propaganda is an important part of this war for both parties, since they are both very dependent on outside forces.
But let’s say the story is completely accurate and not shaded by omissions or distortions. Its seems reasonable to me to assume that a journalist is a perfect cover for a terrorist. They travel a lot and carry things in and out of various territories. Given this fact, it is not unreasonable to use what ever means are necessary to find out if this person is a danger to Israeli society.
Journalists were used by the US during the Cold War for this purpose, which the Israelis are aware of. Also, Palestinians encourage all members of their society to be enemies of Israelis and many delight in the murder of Israelis (men, women, children) under any circumstances. Therefore, it seems hypocritical to espouse war and death of all citizens of a country, on one hand, then talk about civilized norms on the other hand.
My guess is that this gentleman is an innocent journalist but I cannot fault a society that seeks to protect itself from those who wish to kill its citizens. In this war, I feel bad that innocent people have to suffer; but the interrogation of potentially dangerous people does not seem irrational or evil.
Mashallah, Mohammed I am happy you are OK, and you are in my prayers. Thank you for sharing the story of your ordeal. Unfortunately, it is not unique, nor will it be the last until the Zionist Israelis are held to account for their actions. Every voice that tells the truth of this brutal regime counts and should be heard by the world. For those who doubt the veracity of your words, I invite them to visit Gaza and the West Bank and see for themselves.
Joe Dokes ,
You have no way of knowing if this story is true, and Mohammed may have been really a terrorist, that sort of thing happens all the time, so you can’t blame the IOF for doing this.
I suggest you need to know that Mohammed was travelling under diplomatic immunity from the Dutch. He had just been to several European capitals to address their governments. If what you say is even feasible in ANY given situation, then it should be open season on ALL journalists. Maybe American journalists from the very country that invaded Iraq should be treated this way by Iraqi border authorities. How would that suit you?
Up above is Mary Thompson Hughes telling Mohammed all his FRIENDS in Los Angles sending him their love. Count me in since I am also from LA.
Joe, there are people who actually know Mohammed, MANY people, and they can tell you, he has been in the hospital in tremendous pain from this beating he received. This is against INTERNATIONAL LAW Joe Dokes, I suggest you realize that Israel is NOT above that.
Here is a link to Mohammed in a radio interview, he comes on at about 12 minutes.
http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=27095
Mohammed, you are a hero of all Paelstinians everywhere. Gaza and Palestine will be Free. The Apartheid state of Israel will end sooner or later just like Apartheid South Africa did. Injustice can not stay forever. The crime Israel had committed against The Palestinian People can not go without punishment, and history taught us that. Israel broke all International Laws and conventions throughout its history. Israel’s democracy is a hypocracy and it is only for Jews, and that is Not a democracy. The world is changing and The US has to change its policy towards the ME and the Palestinian- Israeli conflict if it desires peace and stability in the region. Only a just peace for the Palestinian issue will be the solution. Keep up your spirit high Mohammed. We all love here in Los Angeles and very proud of you. Long live Palestine.
I doubt we’ll be seeing much coverage of this on FOX News here in the states. Or any mainstream news for that matter. It will be shot right into the “memory hole” slot.
Equally as important in this expose, is the tireless work of JIM LOBE. And in my case, his column is linked from Raimondo’s most significant–antiwar.com.
Joe Dokes Says:
“My guess is that this gentleman is an innocent journalist but I cannot fault a society that seeks to protect itself from those who wish to kill its citizens. In this war, I feel bad that innocent people have to suffer; but the interrogation of potentially dangerous people does not seem irrational or evil.”
Really? Well then, I think I will have the Jewish members of my country club expelled and blackballed throughout my city on the grounds they could be spies for Israel, like the Israeli spies we have had before, and are dangerous to my country.
We will treat them exactly as Israel is treating the Palestines, that’s fair isn’t it.
Naturally they will have to be strip searched when they enter resturants and hotels…we don’t want them dressing up like Arabs and do any King David Hotel bombings here do we?
Of course I will feel bad for the innocent ones who aren’t spies and terrorist.
The comments by Joe Dokes are so typical of one who cannot, and will not, allow his support for Israeli terrorism to be diminished no matter what the situation. This sort of reaction is helping no one, least of all the Palestinian people.
If Mohammed is a possible “terrorist” and a threat to Israel, what is the reason, according to Joe Dokes, for the murder of over 1,000 Palestinian children from September 2000 to the present? Infants, toddlers, it matters not. We saw where the 13 year old was gunned down, a magazine emptied into her body at close range, and the world knew about it. The killer gets compensation and a promotion. Had a Palestinian carried out such a cowardly despicable act to an Israeli, he wouldn’t be alive long enough to know what happened. As if any other human life means nothing. You wish.
Upon reading the reports of the brutal assault on Mr. Amer, it does not surprise me at all that excuses are being made by Israel and its supporters as it attempts to blame Mr. Amer and/or discredit him. Next we’ll be told that he carried out the assaults on himself.
However, regardless of what happened, we can rest assured, tragically, that no one will ever be brought to a Court of law with respect to this crime; and, if by some fluke someone is, you can bet that no one will ever be convicted.
That’s the Israeli way in its make believe “democracy”.
I forgot to mention it before but Mohammed’s website is Rafahtoday,org. Also thank you Mr. Lobe for bringing this sad tale to people’s attention.
The book ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ jolted America, made her sit up and take notice of the plight of the slaves. Will accounts like the above true story make the Americans sit up and make them help the Palestinians?
I think it is unrealistic to hope so.
Unfortunately the American Administration today is not controlled by ordinary folks, but by lobbies and money-power.
Still I will keep hoping that justice will prevail one day, as long as people like Mr. Lobe are around.
Joe Dokes is probably a Dispensationalist Christian supporter of Israel. Any thing Israel does can be explained away and excused by this man. Pro Israel Preacher John Hagee would be most proud. We have a Joe Dokes in the White House and that is why America is so fouled up!
ED!
renfro,
No one can really improve on that reply. Both sides have had their share of terrorism. And that does not include the State sanctioned terrorism that no one wants to explore such as extra judicial executions and the use of human shields by the Israelis. No side has a lock on “morality”.
As disgusting and inexcusable as it is, most Americans won’t know or care because it was done to an Arab.
What we must remember is that the US and Israel security services are joined at the hip. As such, it’s a likely preview of what we Americans will suffer under the Department of Homeland Stupidity when we step out of line. I’m crossing my fingers that President Obama will take steps to repudicate this kind of police-state nonsense, but considering his recent kow-towing to American and Israeli right-wingers, I’m not so sure.
And to Mr. Dokes – torture (and if the journalist’s story is true, he _was_ tortured) is never justified, just as suicide bombings are never justified. Ever.
Let me point out that economically this country is finished. We have $53 Trillion in committments and debts. All this without a defense budget.
We are borrowing $2 billion a day for our current gov’t. We have a defense budget that exceeds $700 Billion a year including Nuke activities in the Dept. of Energy and other off list military expenditures. Gee, the math would suggest that we’d have to cut the entire military budget to balance our daily borrowing.
We have baby boomers getting old, and I don’t know if you looked recently, but a million bucks ain’t the nest egg it one was. In fact, the average 401k for people over 50 is under 100K. These assets sure have been hit by a depreciating dollar, a shaky and falling stock market, and their homes aren’t likely worth what they were.
So, very soon something will happen. If Europe raises interest rates, it could further tank the dollar. Perhaps they’d bail us out, in exchange for domestic political reforms. Will China and Saudi Arabia continue buying our debt? Will we have to raise interest rates to attract their largess? Will that further contract our economy?
Will the defense industry pack up their bags and go home? Will they scare us into thinking they are indespensible? They kill for a living, so conspiracy theories aren’t irrational.
The saddest part of all of this is that the Mainstream Media is not talking seriously or honestly about our debt, and economic instability. The politicians certainly aren’t broaching these issues. We are totally at the mercy of those who’ve betrayed us for so long to correct their mistakes.
I know that on the eve of our implosion this will not be covered on the news. Those who have access to our venerable leaders dare not talk irreverently, earnestly nor honestly as I do. They resent people like me who find phony decorum far more disturbing than the truth. This American empire IS BANKRUPT. When will the collectors come due? Perhaps if we are well enough armed no one will fuss with us.
Does anyone else accept the notion that we are essentially holed-up in the Middle East, our Jewish neighbors have colluded with us against the Arab neighbors. We have a lot of guns, good media exposure, but the Sheriff is due to come calling sooner or later.
Bravo Mohammed! Shame on you Israel. Sometimes it is really a shame to be a human!
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As several people have attacked my response, I feel obligated to respond.
First of all, some background. I came to this site through http://www.antiwar.com, which I read daily because of the pathetic state of US media. They had a link to this site, which I knew nothing about. I posted some comments because I thought it was possible to have a dialogue with people here, but my impression is that this is a site for people who have already made up their minds, and anyone who wishes to discuss these views is ganged up on. But allow me to respond to individual comments.
My first point was that in the fog of war, it’s hard to know what is truth and what is propaganda. There are many accounts in this conflict that latter turn out to be distortions or outright falsehoods designed to sway world opinion. This is why I try to read as many different sources as possible, so I can make up my own mind.
First of all, I saw nothing in the information provided that said the journalist was traveling under diplomatic immunity, as Robin claims; it says he was traveling with a Dutch diplomat, and that the Netherlands filed a “protest” about the treatment of a journalist. Her analogy about open season on American journalists is not logical, because the government in Iraq was put in power by the US invasion. Her statement would make more sense if she said the Iraqi insurgents would be justified attacking American journalists. I wouldn’t support this action but I stand by my point – which is that a country has a fundamental right to protect itself, whether you agree or not. I’m sure whatever country you live in supports this fundamental principle.
Again, telling me that his friends tell you that he is in pain is not a convincing argument. This may or may not be true, and, any injuries he may have, may or may not have been caused by Israelis. I don’t dispute that this is possible – I am not a rabid Israel supporter – only that it is not evidence, and that in a war, injuries can be manufacturered or blame can be shifted.
As for “Renfro”, his logic is pathetic. He states that “I think I will have the Jewish members of my country club expelled and blackballed throughout my city on the grounds they could be spies for Israel, like the Israeli spies we have had before, and are dangerous to my country.” First of all, we are not at war with Israel; in fact, we share a lot of military, industrial, medical, and scientific information with them. Maybe in his mind we are at war with “the Jews”; but then he must think we are at war with the Catholics, as well, after the huge damage done by CIA Aldrich Ames – much more than caused by Pollard, if that is the “Israeli” spy he was referring to.
But I suppose “Renfro” is free to discriminate against people at his country club based on religion if he chooses; many clubs do this already. I wonder how many blacks, American Indians, Asians, gays, Muslims and other minorities are allowed in his country club. Sounds like a great guy – I noticed no one challenged his statement of overt bigotry – in fact, he receives praise from Carol White for his expression of discriminating against Americans because of their faith. Only my comments resulted in expressions of opposition. Yes, this site is truly a beacon of justice!
Angie tells me what I am thinking – a pretty remarkable acheivement – reading my mind from a distance. I never said I approved of harsh treatment; I object to it; but I don’t want to be manipulated by war propaganda. I don’t want to be a “useful idiot” for either side. I want the facts, and then I will make up my own opinion.
I know that many of the inflammatory stories that have come out of the Intifada later turn out to be fake. If you truly want the truth – and are not doing what you accuse me of doing (ignoring facts to support a preconceived opinion), then you should look into this. This does not mean I can’t accept that a foreign country – Israel – is capable of using its authority inappropriately. It just means that I don’t reflexively assume that a country’s enemies are incapable of telling lies.
I also disagree with Nissar Ahmed A. Naik’s analogy about “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and the Palestinians. The Palestinians are not slaves, and it is offensive to African Americans to say their plight is analogous. I don’t think that Muslims living in Israel can be bought and sold or flogged at will. Also, African Americans were not at war with the white population, did not practice terror bombings of buses, weddings, and pizza parlors, and did not preach killing men, women, and children in their media and schools. I sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians, but I don’t see how they have the moral high ground, just a poor strategic capapcity. After all, they supported Hitler in WWII, Russia in the Cold War, Sadam Hussein in the Gulf War…but don’t tell this to Renfro, since he knows who the REAL enemy is!
Then there is ED!, who can also read minds. Rather than engage me in a discussion, he dismisses my comments because I’m a Dispensationalist Christian. I’ll have to look that up but sounds like someone who believes the Bible. Actually, I am a Diest, like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. But a person’s belief system should not be the basis for assessing the validity of their views. Or so I believe – you appear to think otherwise, or you wouldn’t have made your comment. Obviously, people on this site know they are right, aren’t concerned about facts, and are sure that anyone who disagrees with their beliefs is a religious crackpot. Sorry, my views are not colored by any religious texts, as you claim, because I do not follow any religious texts. I certainly don’t believe in Biblical prophecy, if that is why you are suggesting, and my comments were not to free Israel of any blame, only to suggest a balanced view of two people locked in a viscous war that has lasted countless centuries.
Vaughn Treude says that torture and terrorism are never justified. I can at least respect this comment as ethically consistent, and not a personal attack. I must admit that I find torture repugnant; but would I oppose torturing Bin Laden if I thought it would save hundreds of thousands of the lives? Or, if it would save my own family? I honestly don’t know; I think it is a valid issue to discuss, for a civil debate.
Joe Dokes, a simple American in search of truth.
Morality is the issue. When Israel does this “some Israeli” will get it back. It’s stupid. Indoctrination & “supremecisim” is the reason this happens (and stealing). Clearly âIsraelâ (& it’s utterly mad & brainwashed extremist supporters) have been methodically killing, torturing, & harassing Palestinians (& others) for 60yrs in order to steal their land acre by acre. And, âwestern mediaâ lies in always casting Israel as the “victims” (& not the aggressors). We hear these outrageous claims of anti-Semitism when the real issue is the âIsraeli Govtâ behaving like murders, gangsters & thieves. There must be a settlement now because the whole world knows about Israelâs crimes and sadly, they can NEVER live them down now.
Where does Israel Govts military aggression end ? (& the preying on US & western blood & treasure too)? This is no way for a better & happy Israel & world.
As I know that Tangpua Siamchinthang,a journalist along the Indo-Burma frontier region are exciled from Myanmar military junta’s,since he have been fighting for freedom of expression in Myanmar country,Mohammed Omer’s can get International Journalism Award,althought Tangpua Siamchinthang not get the award
Can Mohammed Omer’s and Tangpua Siamchinthang can get International journalist award,since they both of him are fighting for freedom of expression in their region
Both of them can get the award for their fighting to get freedom of expression for the Media persons, and in general for there people of the
the region.ie Mhammed Omer and Tangpua Siamchinthang’s.
Joe Dokes and other doubters
Mohammed is well known in the journalism community. He is not an anonymous Palestinian. He had just returned from Europe on a speaking tour accompanied by Dutch diplomats.He had been x rayed,strip searched. What reason was he treated so brutally if this was JUST about security? Because he is well known and respected in the journalism community as a journalist he got a well publicized award for credible work as a journalist. He is not known to be a liar. He is a credible witness to his own torture and abuse. The Israelis all knew where he just came from. They knew he had the Dutch escorts with him. If poor Daniel Pearl, another journalist, an American journalist had survived his torture by those who captured him and he told about it would not Americans be outraged If he was not believed?
Tell me Joe Dokes how do you dare call yourself someone who is searching for the truth? Many writing here know Mohammed and he is Internationally known;not as a terrorist but as a journalist like Daniel was. I’m an American too;I know Mohammed. I was able to go to Gaza. Truth cannot be denied there when one is faced with it.
Israel threatened to blow a boat I was in out of the water.The boat was filled with peace activists. It had a member of the Greek Parliament and ordinary folks not famous like our friend Mohammed. But Israel threatened us until they decided it might look bad to blow up a boat with citizens from 17 countries bringing hearing aids and medicines to Gaza.
Some of us have stayed and go out with fishing boats and Israelis going into Gaza’s territorial waters have been shooting live rounds at our friends and the fisherman…we have videos..seeing is believing. The boats are not in Israel and they are catching fish in Gaza waters no where near Israel. The Israelis use high powered hoses and spray the fisherman. They rush them as if they’ll ram them and have rammed them Our friends are witnesses with cameras.
Mohammed is credible and his wounds are part of his story and his injuries require more medical care. The Dutch have witnessed his injuries which they saw after his encounter with the Israelis. Use your head Joe. Stop being an apologist for unspeakable and illegal behavior. If someone was treated by our TSA as Mohammed was there would be hell to pay for such abuse. A Palestinian woman witnessed it and Mohammed heard her crying out..Leave him alone. The Dutch saw the results. It happened. It is illegal and he deserves his day in court and Israel’s behavior toward Arabs must be examined……btw an America Black man with the Alain Hailey dance troupe was harrased in Israel recently because he had an Arabic sounding name. Israeli “security” made him show them some dance steps and ridiculed his name and said he should change it.