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Meir Javedanfar

Meir Javedanfar

Posted: March 1, 2010 12:15 PM

Mossad May Be Wrong, But What About Dubai?

What's Your Reaction:

The Dubai affair is still raging on, with no sign of abating. British police are currently in Israel investigating the alleged forging of their country's passport. The Australian government also seems to be up in arms about the affair.

The reaction of these governments is understandable. The Israeli government would also be incensed if it turned that its passports were forged by another government.

However, what the press is not addressing is the role of Hamas and Dubai in this affair.

Why is it that Mohamad Al Mabhouh was not arrested as soon as he entered Dubai? After all, he felt so confident about being there that he traveled under his real identity. The Dubai police, who claim to be so competent at tracking down the alleged Mossad operatives, would have known exactly who he is and what he does for a living.

Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim recently called on Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad to "be a man" and admit that Israel stands behind the killing. Why doesn't Mr Tamim set an example and explain why terrorists are freely coming to seal weapon purchase deals under his jurisdiction? And why has Dubai been used time and again by shady characters such as the Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan, who used this city to illegally sell nuclear equipment to Ayatollah Khamenei's government? Even the Iranians are admitting that agents of the Iranian Ministry of Information are operating in Dubai. This admission was made by Parviz Sorouri, MP for Tehran and a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian parliament. In a recent interview with the Tehran based Khabar online agency he openly admitted that the Jundollah militant Abdolmalek Rigi was tracked by Iranian agents in Dubai, before his flight was stopped by Iranian fighter jets over Iran's airspace.

It seems that Mr Tamim has to provide some explanations himself.

The international community should also not forget who the target of the assassination was. Al Mabhouh was a senior member of a terrorist organization who openly calls for Israel's destruction and has no qualms about killing innocent Israelis. It also uses Palestinian women and children as human shield, while claiming to be their defender.

We are still not sure if Israel was behind the killing, although it is looking more and more likely. If it was the Mossad, eliminating Al Mabhouh in such a surgical operation is better than the other method of launching a missile at the car or residence of a Palestinian terrorist who deliberately surrounds himself with women and children. At least this way, the lives of many innocent bystanders were spared.

The assassination of Al Mabhouh has raised a lot of questions. Israel is not the only country who has to provide the answers. To prevent similar events from happening in the future, questions about other countries and groups have to be addressed as well.

 

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The Dubai affair is still raging on, with no sign of abating. British police are currently in Israel investigating the alleged forging of their country's passport. The Australian government also seems...
The Dubai affair is still raging on, with no sign of abating. British police are currently in Israel investigating the alleged forging of their country's passport. The Australian government also seems...
 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Talossa
Not all liberals are silly.
05:06 PM on 03/02/2010
Thank you, Mr. Javedanfar. A very nice summary of the issues involved. The moral outrage is indeed misplaced when this was a "careful" raid, one which put no civilians in danger, or rather one which took advantage of the fact that Mr. Mabhouh had failed to surround himself with his usual 'security detail' of defenseless women and children.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
JustMeInNY
Live and Learn.
02:26 PM on 03/02/2010
Mr. Javedanfar

Most excellent commentary.

I've been asking the very same questions as you are in your article. I was also wondering for days now, why is it that Dubai is still not presenting evidence to implicate Mossad in this? Is there a question in any reasonable person's mind that had Dubai been in possession of evidence they'd not be on the forefront waving it for all to see?

There seems to be a huge uproar and finger pointing without much evidence, yet when facts are presented about the wrong doing of Dubai & Hamas, strangely most don't have an answer.

It saddened me to read that Dubai is now resorting to Nazi Germany tactics. When the entire world is moving forward it's disheartening to see a country, any country go backwards.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Talossa
Not all liberals are silly.
05:07 PM on 03/02/2010
Plus whatever happened to the report that two of the suspects got out through Iran?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Rolf Ernst
Born and raised in Germany,
12:35 PM on 03/02/2010
I have a big issue with Mossad using forged European/U.S. passports to carry out *whatever* it is that they are doing. They are creating tremendous problems for my travels and anybody else who will now under stricter scrutiny. You can support what they do or oppose it but by operating the way they did they created issues for all of us. I think that is what the whole hoopla is all about. It's not a moral issue for the rest of us - call Mossad or call Hamas terrorists, it really doesn't matter in respect to the harassment we all now face courtesy their forged papers.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
rafstar
02:11 PM on 03/02/2010
When is the last time in all the history of espionage you have ever heard any nation outraged at the use of fake passports? Thank you sir for confirming that it is worst possible scenario for any traveller to be mistaken for a Jew, let alone a clever scheming one. I am sorry you will spend an extra 30 seconds on some line proving you are not.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Rolf Ernst
Born and raised in Germany,
02:53 PM on 03/02/2010
The ones that are outraged are the British, not Dubai.
12:34 PM on 03/02/2010
You are condoning political assassinations? And you are blaming a country for not wanting assassins to commit murders on its soil?

Why didn't UAE arrest Mabhouh? Um ... not every country in the world is at war with the Hamas, just Isreal.

Why doesn't UAE track down alleged arms smugllers as if it's their number one priority? Who knows, but who cares. That's like hiring a sniper to take out your local pot peddler. It's definitely heinous whether or not selling pot is legal or moral.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
runforfun54
05:27 PM on 03/01/2010
Oh boy ... can't wait to see what the Israel-bashing left wing cast of characters on this site will say about this! No doubt they will become the usual terrorist apologists! Thank you Mr. Javedanfar. You have done a service to readers of Huffpo.
overcat
My micro-bio is so full, it's bursting at the seam
07:38 PM on 03/01/2010
Disagreeing with Israel's policies and actions is not a left wing or right wing issue. Speaking of "terrorist apologists", several members of your beloved GOP played that role quite comfortably on the issue of the IRS suicide bomber. Does that make them, in your mind, leftists?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Talossa
Not all liberals are silly.
05:02 PM on 03/02/2010
No, they are not all leftists, and certainly not all leftists are anti-Israel (I offer myself as an example). But there appear to be just as many skinheads on the left as there are on the right.
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califlefty
Fighting back against the lies
02:05 PM on 03/01/2010
While this righteous indignation by Dubai goes for public consumption terrorists are allowed to roam free. Now Dubai has banned all Israeli or "Israeli sounding" names (read Jews) from entering the country. I suspect when the Emirates need expert medical attention the ban will be lifted.
03:47 PM on 03/01/2010
that is why israel should have secure an iternational arrest warrant for the guy. He would not travel in the first place. Had israel done that, UAE would have been compelled to arrest him or at least tell heim that if he comes in he would be interested. But no Isreal wants to apply its own "law" wherever it sees fit. when is israel going to realize that it is subject to the same rule liek everyone else. Here is a tip: solve the underlying political problems instead of trying to silence and oppressed millions of palestinian.

And now that the deed is done, israel does not even the balls to admit, because it knows it will cause its partners a lot of headachess.

by the way, hamas and israel are at war. if you call one a terrorist, then you should call the other the same

hope this made some sense to n
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
TheLonelyGod
The oncoming storm
09:55 PM on 03/01/2010
"by the way, hamas and israel are at war. if you call one a terrorist, then you should call the other the same"

That's not how it works.
01:00 PM on 03/02/2010
This has little to do with the victim of the assassination and is about the leadership of Dubai being angry about feeling dissed by leaders in Israel and Western countries. They are indignant about not being treated as what they would consider peers, and are feeling their way around to discover the true limits of their capabilities.

If Henry Kissinger was murdered by someone from Laos as revenge for his war crimes, would people be talking about how bad a guy he was or would they would be publishing hagiographies?