Gaza Strip Blast Kills Three Americans

[drdon326]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=1&u=/ap/20031015/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

An AP reporter saw a gray wire with an on-off switch leading from the scene of the attack to a small concrete room at the side of the road. The blast was about a mile south of the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza.

U.S. diplomatic sources said the people in the targeted car were security guards for the U.S. diplomats traveling in the other vehicles. Palestinian officials said the diplomats were U.S. monitors.Israeli counterterrorism expert said it was the first attack on an official U.S. target in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in recent memory.

Attacks on U.S. targets have taken place in other other Arab countries, including Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and now Iraq. In October last year, an American administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development was gunned down in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in an assassination thought linked to the al-Qaida network.
But in the bloody conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, there has been an unofficial policy of "hands-off" the Americans — though 45 Americans, many with dual citizenship, have been caught in the crossfire in the past three years of fighting.

..................................................................

[bemildred]

1. Now claimed by anon. phone call by new group called

"Palestinian Resistance Committees", assigned as revenge for
Rafah incursions.

GOI says proves need to dismantle terrorist networks.
GOUSA promises to hunt the perps down.

Known groups (Hamas, IJ, etc.) deny having anything to do with it.
PNA and its minions condemn strongly, call it disaster.

I still want to know where the device came from.

[drdon326]

2. New day...New group....New atrocity.

you need a friggin scorecard for these death cults.

[Forkboy]

3. new group,anonymous phone call

and a device most likely beyond the usual suspects.

[Muddleoftheroad]

4. Or they don't want a direct linkage

To Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah, so they made up a new one.

[Forkboy]

9. Possibly

but these groups have never been shy before when accepting responsibility,why start now?

[Aidoneus]

5. actually, even them are denying a part in it now

from--
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/90A36E54-1E2A-4136-9A18-A06029AFDB94.htm

--snip--

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad distanced themselves from the roadside explosion which devastated a diplomatic convoy in Beit Hanun on Wednesday morning.

An armed group calling itself the Popular Resistance Committees denied any responsibility for the deadly attack after AFP said it recieved a call from a member of the group saying it carried it out.

--snip--

:shrug:

[bemildred]

7. Nobody wants it.

I still want to know where the device came from.
Are we going to see more of this?
Why haven't we seem more of this, if the terrorists have access to
these devices? These work much better than AK47s against tanks
and APCs. How many more do they have?
Do they have shoulder launched SAMs now?
I would not want to be flying a helicopter if they do.
Were the Rafah raids done because of INTEL these were coming in?
Apparently the raids may have been too late.
This attack raises a lot of questions.

Of course there is also the "spooks did it" theory.

[LevChernyi]

8. why not Israeli right-wing terrorists?

They are part of the IDF and they have been angry as hell at Bush and his roadmap.

[Muddleoftheroad]

10. LOL

A day without rationalization is like a day without sunshine.

[LevChernyi]

11. like they don't exist?

By the way, for someone who explains away every day, a nation destroyed and a people held under an apartheid system in the West Bank and Gaza you have an enormous amount of nerve trying to play at morality.

[Muddleoftheroad]

15. A nation destroyed is horrible

But Israel manages to survive despite the destruction the Palestinian terrorists and their allies heap upon it.

As for apartheid, it is not in use in Israel.

[LevChernyi]

16. You aren't even serious

either you don't know what apartheid or destruction means or you are making a joke.

[Muddleoftheroad]

18. I know both

I am all too familiar with what they mean.

As an African-American, I am especially familiar with the evils of apartheid and trust me, Israel is NOT apartheid.

As for destruction, that occurs to both sides in a war zone. It is made vastly worse when the terrorists seek to maximize civilian damage and body count and then go back and hide among the Palestinian civilians.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LevChernyi]

42. As a Martian

I also know apartheid.

I've been watching from my telescope onboard the Martian Maggot for thousands of years and quite frankly I'm bored of it all. All I wanted was a clear view of Venus. I am going to donate my Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator and ACME Disintegration Pistol to the Palestinian cause this instant.

[Equinox]

43. LOL....

hehehehehehe

:toast:

[Violet_Crumble]

44. Just curious...

But why does being an African-American make you especially familiar with apartheid? It would seem to me that someone who makes a claim like you did would be sensitive to apartheid no matter where it occurs, and it would be impossible to call what happened in South Africa apartheid without also calling what Israel does in the Occupied Territories apartheid...


Violet...

[bluesoul]

46. Apartheid

One could ask also Nelson Mandela about what he thinks about Israel's policy as one that personally witnessed and experienced apartheid. You would be surprised what he would have to say about it and the comparisons...

[bemildred]

12. Indeed why not.

Haaretz had a story about a IRWT bomb making factory yesterday, I think.
OTOH it might be dicy for them getting in to plant this device?
I mean, it was in Gaza.

[LevChernyi]

13. They prefer to serve as Border Police

but they are also well represented in the IDF.

[bemildred]

14. Yeh, I know.

But the place is densely populated. I'm not saying it isn't
so, but some explaining is required, and there are other ideas
that work just as well.

There have been several of these attacks showing unusual "competence".
Taking out a Merkava, the checkpoint attack, a couple of the more
spectacular suicide bombings, this one.

The amount, immediacy, and content of the spin coming out on this
makes me think it is "official" if its a spook op. They were ready.

What I've seen of the Israeli fundy right doesn't look very sharp,
although I am willing to be instructed about that.

I suppose you could spin the fact it was near the border.

[LevChernyi]

6. Black Ops

This is nothing but detrimental to any Palestinian, the description of the bomb is an exact replica of ones used by the Mossad in Beirut, and no one wants to take credit for it.

Rogue Settlers, Rogue IDF, the Pat Robertson Martyrs Brigade or someone else hit this.

[kalian]

17. You're probably right....

But then again, the state-controlled media is pointing an accusing finger at the wrong party.
Let's face it: Sharon needed a distraction. These Americans were there to assist the Palestinians...WHY would ANY terrorist group attack somebody on "their side" or at least looking into their grievances.

Its obvious who did it...

[Gimel]

23. So they were going to give an award

Does this mean the Palestinians love them? Look at the facts. The Palestinian police had to beat back kids who were throwing rocks.

American security officials investigating the attack yesterday left the scene abruptly after Palestinian youths threw stones and rocks at them.

The investigators were taking pictures of the bloodied, twisted remains of the van when half a dozen children threw stones and rocks at them as about 200 Palestinians looked on.

Palestinian police fired in the air to chase away the stone throwers, and US officials rushed into their cars and sped off.

Palestinian police beat some people in the crowd, while pushing the spectators back.

AP, AFP, Reuters

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/15/1065917481063.html

[tinnypriv]

20. Hey, maybe it was sold by the Jewish "engineer"

[drdon326]

21. hmmmmm

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/031015/481/jrl13410151755

want to try again??

[tinnypriv]

22. Doesn't mean it wasn't sold to that Palestinian

Maybe you don't know about the Jewish "engineer" story. It only broke today in the Hebrew newspapers.

I suggest finding out about it before attempting to comment. :)

[bemildred]

24. That's the one.

Strictly an enterpreneur.

[Equinox]

25. I'd like to know if someone would tell me?

:-)

[bemildred]

26. Here

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/349886.html

[tinnypriv]

27. Thanks for the link

I checked Ha'aretz but it doesn't seem to be in the print edition. :thumbsup:

Front page on the Hebs BTW.

[tinnypriv]

29. Additional details not in that Ha'aretz report

According to his mother-in-law, his children travel by bus, and he knew that. :grr:

Also, Yediot says his age is 28, not 30.

All of the reports are misleading by saying that the bomb lab was in Jerusalem. It was actually in the illegally established settlement of Pisqat Ze'ev, a so-called "suburb" of Jerusalem.

The police are investigating a recent car-bomb incident in Gilo to determine whether it was one of his.

And apparently, he'll be looking at 20 years hard time.

[Darranar]

28. Amazing...

now will one of the pro-Israel people explain to me exactly how the blatantly racist marriage law will stop this?

[Gimel]

41. No one law

will stop all terror. Not one type of defensive measure will stop terror. That is abundantly clear.

This immigrant from the former Soviet Union of 13 years, put eaarning a lucrative trade above his own security. He sold to an undercover police who was an Arab.

"They believe that since he was willing to sell a bomb to an
undercover officer who was an Arab, he might
have supplied explosives to terrorists. The
explosives found in his lab were of the type
generally used by the underworld and detonated
by remote control. "

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/349886.html

Although this sounds similar to the type that exploded in Gaza yesterday, the article is dated the 15th and mentions that he was remanded in custody last week. More than one such source is available, no doubt. This is a very serious crime, however.
He's not in cahouts with Israeli military or any underground malitia as was the Palestinian "Engineer". Apparently he operated on his own.

[Equinox]

45. Thanks for the link...

The investigation will be looking for any
connection between his explosives and incidents
in Jerusalem and elsewhere, whether criminal or
terrorist, police say. Yadgarov is said to have
admitted making bombs but refused to say where
he obtained the raw materials.

I wonder why the GOI didn't use helicoptor gunships and just destroy Yadgorov's entire neighborhood?

:shrug:

[veganwitch]

30. i truly doubt that palestinians did this

the envoy was headed to congradulate palestian scholars, for once paying attention to the palestians other than by supporting israel.

why would they do anything to jepardise that??

and then a "new" group pops up doing this??

nope, sorry, i dont believe it.

[Gimel]

31. You don't?

They honestly don't care for Fulbright scholar awards.

why would they do anything to jepardise that??

The majority of Palestinian terroists, or Islamic terrorists. They prefer awards to study with bin Laden.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Gimel]

33. Valid claim

Many top ranking Palestinian officials sent their sons to train in al Qaeda camps. It's a fact.

[bluesoul]

34. Yeah right

Just as Saddam was friends with Bin Laden, and Iraq was a heaven for terrorists before the war, right? Oh wait, they were actually enemies!

[Gimel]

36. Established connections

This has been documented.

http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/publications/dispatch/betweenthelines/Article-5.html

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/01/49807.html

Saddam and Al Qaeda may not have been bosom pals, but they shared common goals and ambitions, as well as strategy and warfare techniques:

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s intelligence sources add that, after borrowing al Qaeda’s raiding tactics, Uday took a leaf out of Yasser Arafat’s suicide terror strategy. They report that while US intelligence officers were taking notes of the large-scale battles Israel conducted in Palestinian towns from April to September 2002 – especially in Nablus and Jenin, Iraqi intelligence agents studied Palestinian combat tactics and sent in their reports to Uday by couriers passing through Jordan or Syria.

http://www.debka.com/article_print.php?aid=453

A study of a former Fatah commander:
http://www.meib.org/articles/0307_pald.htm

Connection to a 9/11 mastermind. The elder brother became a Hamas political bureau head:

Mohammed's oldest brother, Zahed Shaikh, attended Kuwait University in the 1980s and was a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood -- a militant pan-Arab organization that functioned as an underground opposition throughout the region. A man who knew the family said a group called the Islamic Assn. of Palestinian Students was also formed on campus then; one of its leaders went on to become head of the political bureau of the militant Islamic group Hamas. This was the initial politicization of Mohammed, the friend said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ksm22dec22.story


http://www.debka.org/article.php?size=big&aid=491

More exact admissions of palestinian youth sent to Afghanistan were available at one time. Haven't found the same sources as they are 2 yers old already.

[bluesoul]

37. Aha right

Now I am waiting to hear that the Palestinians were responsible for 9/11 as well...

[Rhiannon12866]

35. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have denied responsibility

They are now looking at the minor players in this. If the major players were responsible, you know that they wouldn't hesitate to say so. Whoever it is, this is a dangerous and frightening precedent.

[Gimel]

38. PA officials have arrested

Former Fatah members and ex-PA security officials.
A splinter group of the central PA organizations.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/350191.html

[Aidoneus]

39. debka?

maybe Elvis had a hand in it also.. collaborating with Saddam & Usamah.

[Gimel]

40. Sorry. Pasted wrong link

It's corrected now.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/350191.html

[Rhiannon12866]

47. Thank you for the link, Gimel!

"But Israel rejected the claim, the radio said, maintaining that the arrests were an imaginary measure designed to placate the U.S., and that there was no evidence to link the three to the attack."

Do you think we will ever know the truth of this? Until the next time, that is? How can anyone determine the truth of anything amid such chaos?:shrug: