@@ September 11 riddles remain @@

Times Herald
August 29, 2005


September 11 riddles remain


By Keith Phucas
kphucas [AT] timesherald


Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania -- Accusations that the 9/11 Commission
ignored information about a defense intelligence operation "Able Danger"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Danger) that targeted al-Qaida in 2000 has renewed
criticism that the panel may have passed up other intriguing leads gathered in the
months before the September 11 terrorist attacks.

A memorandum sent to the 9/11 Commission, and Senate and House intelligence
committees in September 2004, suggests that young Israelis who canvassed dozens of
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_art_students) offices in 2000 and 2001 trying
to sell paintings to federal workers, may have been spying not only on the DEA, but
also on Arab extremists in the United States - including the September 11 hijackers
who were living in Florida and New Jersey.

The Israeli "art students" story (http://antiwar.com/israeli-files.php), which first
surfaced in 2001 in news reports, has yet to be explained by U.S. authorities.

Curiously, the 9/11 Commission did not venture to connect the myriad of dots to solve
the mystery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_Commission).

Did you get the memo?

The 53-page memorandum
(http://www.antiwar.com/rep2/MemorandumtotheCommissionandSelectCommitteesbold.pdf),
compiled by former corporate attorney Gerald Shea
(http://alumni.yale.edu/classes/yc1964/photogallery/shea.htm) cites a lengthy report
from the DEA's Office of Security that describe groups of Israeli men and women.
Nearly all were in their 20s, who peddled artwork at DEA, and other federal
government offices, in the months leading up to the terrorist attacks.

Many reports describe incidents of government employees spotting individuals in
office hallways or elevators carrying large art portfolio cases. The art sellers
would typically make a pitch to sell paintings, but if they were told that soliciting
in government offices was prohibited, some replied that the art wasn't actually for
sale but was promoting a future art show, the DEA report said.

During the first five months of 2001, according to Gerald Shea's memorandum, the
"Israeli DEA Groups" visited a total of 57 DEA locations - 28 offices and 29 private
residences.

Other individuals that Gerald Shea calls the "Israeli New Jersey Group" were based in
Bergen and Hudson counties, in New Jersey, according to the well-annotated memorandum
that also cites the 9/11 Commission report, the 2002 congressional intelligence
committees' joint inquiry into the terrorist attacks, newspaper and magazine reports,
Fox News telecasts, 9/11 hijacker timelines, FBI suspect lists, and an East
Rutherford (New Jersey) Police Department report.

According to the June 2001 DEA report headed "Suspicious Activities Involving Israeli
Art Students at DEA Facilities" the art-selling activities occurred in many U.S.
cities, with "most activity reported in the state of Florida".

The individuals peddling art work, many of whom claimed they were art students, were
observed at DEA division offices in Montgomery, Alabam, Dallas and Houston; Los
Angeles and San Diego; Oklahoma City; Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers and Miami,
Florida, among other cities.

The Israeli art sellers also showed up on the doorsteps of federal workers.

Dozens of the more than 100 Israelis were stopped and questioned by DEA agents, and
other federal government authorities. The individuals were vague about why they were
in the U.S. or what their purpose was for being here.

Dozens were arrested for visa violations and deported, according to the memorandum.

Many in the groups had served in the military, which is compulsory for Israeli
citizens, and group leaders had been in intelligence and electronic communications
units. With such expertise, it strikes many as odd that the Israelis would be hawking
inexpensive artwork!

In the report, the DEA concluded that the agency was being spied on by the Israelis.

In 2001, a Fox News report by Carl Cameron laid out the Israeli spy scenario
(http://100777.com/node/180?PHPSESSID=c5332b5413965803d806bc4d2e6b2efe), however, the
story was short-lived, and Shea was told by a representative at the news organization
that there was outside pressure to kill the story.

Several publications, including The Forward, Insight and the French newspaper, Le
Monde, picked up the story in 2002. All indicated there was extreme reluctance by
U.S. officials - and practically anyone else - to discuss the matter publicly.

The DEA did acknowledged the internal reports describing the Israelis activity at the
agency's offices to The Times Herald, but refused to elaborate.

"There were some reporting documents that were referred to the appropriate
authorities," said DEA spokeswoman, Rogene Waite. "Nothing came out of it".

Rogene Waite declined to identify specifically what federal agencies or individuals
were the "appropriate authorities".

Hot on the trail?

One of the memorandum's most fascinating revelations puts the Israelis and would-be
9/11 hijackers in close proximity geographically in the months prior to the terrorist
attacks in Florida, Oklahoma and New Jersey.

As the DEA was compiling its report in June 2001, 15 or the 19 plotters of the
September 11 attacks were living in the Hollywood, Florida, area, according to Gerald
Shea's research, and more than 30 of the young Israelis also lived in the same area
during this time period.

According to the memorandum, some of the Israelis and hijackers in Florida lived
"within hundreds of yards" of each other. Besides Hollywood, the Israelis and
hijacker lived within about five miles of one another in other southern Florida
towns, including Coral Springs, Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Coral Gables.

Hijackers Mohamed Atta and Marwan al Shehhi, who entered the U.S. in 2000, attended
several flight schools in Florida, but also toured the Airman Flight Training School
in Norman, Oklahoma., according to "Annotated Timeline of the 9/11 Hijackers for
Researchers (http://www.freerepublic.com).

In February 2001, suspected terrorist, Zacarias Moussaoui, moved to Norman, Oklahoma,
to begin flight lessons at Airman Flight Training School. Five other suspected
terrorists who appeared on the May 2002 FBI Suspect List also lived in Norman,
according to the memorandum.

On April 1, 2001, Nawaq al Hazmi, a 9/11 hijacker aboard American Airlines Flight 77
that crashed into the Pentagon, got a ticket for speeding on Interstate 40 west of
Oklahoma City, according to the 9/11 hijacker timeline. He was believed to be on his
way to meet Moussaoui.

The Israeli DEA Groups were also active in Oklahoma City during the spring of 2001.
On April 30, 2001, Tinker Air Force Base, in Oklahoma City, issued an alert about "a
possible intelligence collection effort being conducted by Israeli art students,"
according to the DEA report.

Three Israelis questioned by U.S. authorities in St. Louis on April 4, 2001, had
visited Oklahoma City a few days before, according to the DEA report.

Many of the Israelis questioned about their suspicious activities had Florida
driver's licenses and addresses in south Florida.

Yet Gerald Shea found only two references to Hollywood, Florida, in the 9/11 report,
and those were in footnotes. The conspicuous absence of any discussion in the
commission's report of a possible links between the Israelis and September 11
plotters is odd, he said.

"It seems like they were clearly trying to avoid the issue", Gerald Shea said.

He concludes that some in the Israeli group were indeed spying on the terrorists
while they were in Florida. If the commission had been aware of the surveillance by
the Israelis, he said, the revelations should have come to light during the panel's
inquiry.

Did the 9/11 panel, which included 80 staffers, gloss over this information because
it was too controversial or perhaps classified? The jury is still out, Gerald Shea
said.

"I would have focused on the fact that the hijackers were based in Hollywood", he
said. "Whether they were downplaying the Israelis would be a matter for a future
public inquiry".

On September 11, 2001, five Israeli men in a van marked "Urban Moving Systems", were
detained after East Rutherford police were told that the men were "smiling and
exchanging high-fives" when they saw the Trade Center burning across the Hudson
River, according to the memorandum.

An arresting officer, Sergeant Dennis Rivelli, now a lieutenant with the East
Rutherford police, reported that one of the suspects said "We're Israelis" when
police stopped them on September 11.

According to the memorandum, the men - Sivan Kurzberg, Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel,
Oded Ellner and Omer Marmari - were questioned by the FBI and detained for several
weeks. Eventually, they were deported on visa violations.

According to Gerald Shea, Dominik Suter, listed as the owner of the "Urban Moving
Systems", was questioned by the FBI, but then fled the country. Eventually, Dominik
Suter's name appeared on the May 2002 FBI Suspect List, along with the September 11
hijackers and other suspected Muslim extremists.

In October 2001, the Plymouth Township Police Department detained three Israelis -
Moshe Elmakias, Ron Katar and Ayelet Reisler - who were suspected of dumping
furniture behind Pizzeria Uno on Ridge Pike, according to an October 17, 2001,
article in The Times Herald.

The suspects were riding in a tractor-trailer truck bearing the name "Moving Systems
Incorporated". The vehicle was loaded with furniture. The company name is oddly
similar to one used by the New Jersey men arrested on September 11. Police also
discovered a videotape that had footage of the Sears Tower in Chicago.

The FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service took custody of Moshe Elmakias and
Ron Katar and they were taken to a federal facility, the article reported.

There are still many troubling unanswered questions about the September 11 plot,
Gerald Shea said, and the American people should demand that Congress get to the
truth about the suspicious activities of the Israeli groups.

"We're talking about the security of the United States, and people should be
concerned about it", he said.

http://www.timesherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15114089&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=6


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