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Sunday, November 27, 2011

UN official: Israel kidnapped Palestinian engineer from Ukraine

  • Published 19:50 10.03.11
  • Latest update 19:50 10.03.11
 Wife of Dirar Abu Sisi, deputy director of Gaza's power plant, alleges Mossad abducted her husband in the Ukraine in order to sabotage the Strip's electrical grid.

By The Associated Press


Israel security forces may have abducted a Palestinian engineer and suspected Hamas official in the Ukraine, a UN official told the Associated Press on Thursday, adding he suspected Ukrainian security aided the operation.

Dirar Abu Sisi, 42, went missing "under unknown circumstances" in the early hours of Feb. 19 after boarding a train in the eastern city of Kharkiv bound for the capital Kiev, according to Viktoria Kushnir, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry. He was in Ukraine applying for citizenship.

Dirar Abu Sisi - AP - 8.3.2011 In this photo taken on Tuesday, March 8, 2011, Palestinian Maria, 3, holds a photo of her father Dirar Abu Sisi at the family house in Beit Lahiya, northern of Gaza Strip
Photo by: AP


Speaking with AP on Thursday, Maksim Butkevych, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ukraine, said Abu Sisi has been in custody in Israel since shortly after his disappearance.

The UN agency said it believed Abu Sisi was abducted and illegally transported by Israeli security forces, perhaps with the aid of Ukrainian counterparts.

"We don't know details of his trip from Ukraine to Israel — let's put it this way," said Butkevych. "But unfortunately, what happened looks like a violent abduction and not a legal extradition or any other legal action on the part of authorities."

Abu Sisi's Ukrainian wife, Veronika, 32, alleges the Israeli secret service Mossad carried out the abduction in order to sabotage a key electric power plant in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip where he worked as a senior manager.

"I don't suspect it, I am sure of it," Abu Sisi told the AP in a telephone interview. "My husband was the heart of the only electric station in Gaza, or rather its brain. It's a strategic object and they wanted to disable it."

She denied speculation that her husband may be wanted by Israel as a known Hamas sympathizer, saying he had never engaged in politics or any violent groups.

In Gaza, fellow engineers and neighbors described Abu Sisi as a Hamas supporter, pointing to his senior position. He served as the deputy head of the electric power station and posts are traditionally staffed by Hamas loyalists.

Abu Sisi, a Jordan native and father of six, was in Ukraine trying to apply for citizenship after spending 12 years in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli group HaMoked, which defends the rights of Palestinians, says Abu Sisi has been held in an Israeli prison since Feb 19. He is being kept in the Shikma detention center outside the coastal city of Ashkelon, the group said.

Israel's prison service said it had no information on the case. The internal security service, the Shin Bet, declined comment, citing a gag order.

Veronika Abu Sisi said her husband told her over the phone about a week after his alleged kidnapping that he was in Israel. His lawyer later told her that he was in custody in an Israeli prison and that he had been kidnapped from Ukraine. Reached by the Associated Press, the lawyer declined comment, citing the gag order.

Veronika Abu Sisi said the family decided to return to Ukraine after life in the Gaza Strip became unsafe for their three daughters and three sons and her husband flew to Ukraine to apply for citizenship in January.

In mid-February, after submitting all the paperwork, he was told by Ukrainian authorities to report to a government agency in Kharkiv, which was processing his case. After he turned up, government workers briefly seized his passport, then gave it back to him, saying it was a routine check, Abu Sisi said.

Relieved, the engineer on Feb. 18 boarded a 10:55 p.m. overnight train to Kiev to meet his brother who was flying in from Amsterdam, but the reunion never took place.

Veronika Abu Sisi said she was told by Ukrainian police officials that two unknown men boarded her husband's train car near the central Ukrainian city of Poltava several hours after departure and escorted him out.

"I am in shock," said Abu Sisi, a violin teacher, who converted to Islam to marry her husband, who had come to Ukraine to study as part of an exchange program. "I don't know what to tell my kids about where their father is — he wasn't killed by a bomb, he disappeared from a train in a democratic country!"

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-official-israel-kidnapped-palestinian-engineer-from-ukraine-1.348413

Israel admits to arrest and detention of Gaza engineer

  • Published 19:21 20.03.11
  • Latest update 19:21 20.03.11
 Dirar Abu Sisi, an engineer at Gaza's power plant went missing from the Ukraine nearly two weeks ago; his wife alleged that he was kidnapped by the Mossad.

By Yossi Melman


Israel admitted that they indeed arrested the Gazan engineer, Dirar Abu Sisi, who was reported to have gone missing from the Ukraine almost two weeks ago, the partial lifting of a gag order revealed.

Dirar Abu Sisi, 42, went missing in the early hours of February 19 after boarding a train in Kharkiv bound for Kiev. His wife alleged that Dirar had been kidnapped by the Mossad.

A gag order on the case was partially lifted on Thursday by Petah Tikva court judge Leah Lev-On and was only allowed to be published on Sunday. Abu Sisi was arrested as part of investigation and is currently being held by Israel, the lifting of the gag order revealed. Much of the rest of the details remain under gag order.

Lev-On wrote that publication of "details of the investigation and the circumstances surrounding the arrest" will remain under a gag order for the next 30 days.

Abu Sisi's wife Veronika hired lawyer Smadar Ben Natan to represent Dirar. Ben Natan told Haaretz that she met with his client in prison and reported that Ben Sisi is doing fine physically although he suffers from previous medical conditions.

Ben Sisi was in the Ukraine applying for citizenship when he went missing. His wife, Veronika, is Ukrainian. Veronika alleged that Israel's Mossad had abducted her husband in order to sabotage a key electric power plant in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip where he worked as a senior manager.

In Gaza, fellow engineers and neighbors described Abu Sisi as a Hamas supporter, pointing to his senior position. He served as the deputy head of the electric power station and posts are traditionally staffed by Hamas loyalists.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov recently visited Israel, where he said about the rumor that Sisi was arrested on Ukrainian soil "I don't want to imagine that such things are carried out on the soil of a friendly state."

Dirar Abu Sisi - AP - 8.3.2011 In this photo taken on Tuesday, March 8, 2011, Palestinian Maria, 3, holds a photo of her father Dirar Abu Sisi at the family house in Beit Lahiya, northern of Gaza Strip
Photo by: AP  

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-admits-to-arrest-and-detention-of-gaza-engineer-1.350631

'Price tag' suspect emailed death threats from house arrest, police says

Published 20:45 27.11.11 Latest update 20:45 27.11.11

 Man indicted for incitement for racism, vandalism wrote to leading Peace Now activists: 'Today you die,' and 'I'll kill you. The end is near.'

By Oz Rosenberg

 A man believe to be linked to a series of "price tag" attacks against Israeli peace activists has been continuously emailing death threats to leading Peace Now activists, just a week after being released to house arrest.

The man, 21, was indicted less than two weeks ago for incitement for racism and vandalism of property, after had admitted to spraying graffiti in several locations in and around Jerusalem, reading "price tag" and "death to the Arabs."

Price tag graffiti outside hagit ofran's home - Tomer Appelbaum The 'price tag' graffiti outside Peace Now official Hagit Ofran’s door reads 'Ofran, Rabin is waiting for you.'
Photo by: Tomer Appelbaum  


"Price Tag," is the name given by extremists to activities against Palestinians, peace activists or security forces in response to what are considered to be actions against the settlements or illegal outposts in the West Bank.

He was subsequently released to house arrest and forced to wear an electronic bracelet.

However, police officials have indicated that the man had continued his "price tag" activities from within his Jerusalem home, sending death threats to Peace Now management, without even bothering to conceal his name.

Peace Now chief Yaniv Oppenheimer said that "at about 3:30 I suddenly received a threatening email." That message, the Peace Now activist said, was "'Today you die.' Then I spoke with the others and found out that I was only the last to receive such an email. Hagit [Ofran] got one and others too."
The suspect sent death threats to all of the Peace Now activists, only differently phrased. To Ofran, the group's head of settlement tracking, he wrote "Hagit Ofran, R.I.P.," while to the head of Jerusalem activities Danielle Blumenstyk he wrote "I'll kill you. The end is near."

The man, the name of whom is still under gag order, is linked to an attack on Ofran's home earlier this month, in which swastikas graffiti slogans were prayed on her Jerusalem home.

The graffiti warned: "Hagit Ogran, Rabin is waiting for you", referring to the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, by a right wing-activist.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/price-tag-suspect-emailed-death-threats-from-house-arrest-police-says-1.398087

Palestina Amore

 Some Italians have made it their mission to mobilise support on behalf of the Palestinian cause.
 
Last Modified: 27 Nov 2011 06:54
 
 On May 31, 2010, an Israeli military raid on an aid flotilla sailing to the blockaded Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of nine unarmed peace activists, prompting international condemnation over what was perceived as a brutal and unjustified use of force.

Five of those on board of one of the ships were Italian nationals who were part of the humanitarian mission attempting to break the blockade by delivering goods and construction materials to the occupied Palestinian territory. Israeli sanctions on Gaza since 2001 have led to widespread poverty and rampant unemployment there.

But the deadly attack on the flotilla has only served to further motivate Italian supporters of the Palestinian cause. The Palestine Forum, a network of Italian committees and associations, is pushing for greater political support for the Palestinians, while the Rome Palestinian Solidarity Network is continuing to organise a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli products.

"If I speak of Zionism as a colonialist ideology supported by imperialist countries, then the struggle against Zionism is not only a Palestinian struggle. It is mine, yours and ours."
Mila Pernice, a journalist and member of the Palestine Forum
Mila Pernice, a journalist and presenter with Citta Apera, a radio channel in Rome, and a member of the Palestine Forum, says the network is gaining public support.

"We offer political support more than just humanitarian or cultural support. In the past few years we've succeeded in getting more people to be part of our activities. The Forum has helped raise awareness and mobilise people," she explains.

"Why do we support the Palestinian cause? Because it's an obvious injustice happening before the entire world. And because we are against imperialists and colonialists. If I speak of Zionism as a colonialist ideology supported by imperialist countries, then the struggle against Zionism is not only a Palestinian struggle. It is mine, yours and ours."

Rossana Platone, a retired teacher, witnessed the events that led to the birth of Israel and, along with her left-leaning family, initially supported the Israeli government. But her stance changed during the 1967 war.

"The occupation of Palestinian land and the successive colonisation of this land were the reasons why I changed my point of view," she explains.

She is now part of a group called Stop Agrexco in Rome which encourages a boycott of Israeli agricultural products, particularly those from the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Agrexco is the company that exports most of Israel's food products to Italy.

She says the pro-Palestinian movement has received a "positive response from many people," but that she is also aware of the limits of their actions: "We don't think we can change the world by distributing leaflets. But small things can make a difference. We are not in the government. We don't have the power to change things. Each helps in their own way. But we are realistic about what we can achieve."

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2011/10/2011102014202207205.html