Round Round Get Around... 5

Jeeesus, do-they-get-around:

2001

"There is a second piece of evidence that suggests Israeli operatives were spying on al-Qaeda in the United States. It is writ in the peculiar tale of the Israeli 'art students', detailed by this reporter for Salon.com in 2002, following the leaking of an internal memo by the Drug Enforcement Administration's Office of Security Programs. The June 2001 memo, issued 3 months before the 9/11 attacks, reported that more than 120 young Israeli citizens, posing as art students and peddling cheap paintings, had been repeatedly - and seemingly inexplicably - attempting to penetrate DEA offices and other law enforcement and Defense Department offices across the country. The DEA report stated that the Israelis may have been engaged in 'an organized intelligence gathering activity', but to what end, US investigators, in June 2001, could not determine... According to the memo, 'the most activity [was] reported in the state of Florida' during the first half of 2001, where the town of Hollywood appeared to be 'a central point for these individuals with several having addresses in this area'. In retrospect, the fact that a large number of 'art students' operated out of Hollywood is intriguing, to say the least. During 2001, the city, just north of Miami, was a hotbed of al-Qaeda activity and served as one of the chief staging grounds for the hijacking of the World Trade Center planes and the Pennsylvania plane; it was home to 15 of the 19 future hijackers... among the 120 Israeli spies posing as art students, more than 30 lived in the Hollywood area... As noted in the DEA report, many of these young men and women had training as intelligence and electronic intercept officers in the Israeli military - training and experience far beyond the compulsory service mandated by Israeli law." (from High-Fivers & Art Student Spies: What did Israel know in advance of the 9/11 attacks? Christopher Ketcham, counterpunch.org, 7/3/07)

2010

"Sales people working neighborhoods in Northern Utah County have been asking some odd questions that have nothing to do with making the sale. Folks are reporting that they're asking about the new National Security Agency's data center that is being built at Camp Williams. The sales people say they're Israeli art students and are selling their works to raise money for a gallery. Some have even produced what appear to be legitimate Israeli passports. So, why would art students be interested in an NSA data center?... Saratoga Springs residents have complained to their police department about the art students. Officer Matt Schauerhamer tracked down one group at a restaurant. He does not know if they were spies, but they're definitely not artists. 'I told them, 'If you're actually an artist, why don't you draw something?' I gave them a piece of paper and my pen. They produced a picture that was about on par with what my kindergartner could have done'. Officer Schauerhamer cited the group for soliciting without a city business license and then passed along their information to Immigration & Customs Enforcement. He said ICE is investigating." (From Door-t0-door spies in Utah County? Brent Hunsaker, abc4.com, 29/9/10)

"The CIA took an internal poll not long ago about friendly foreign intelligence agencies. The question, mostly directed to employees of the clandestine service branch, was: Which are the best allies among friendly spy services, in terms of liaison with the CIA, and which are the worst? In other words, who acts like, well, friends? 'Israel came in dead last', a recently retired CIA official told me the other day. Not only that, he added, throwing up his hands and rising from his chair, 'the Israelis are number 3, with China number 1 and Russia number 2', in terms of how aggressive they are in their operations on US soil." (SpyTalk: Israeli spies wooing US Muslims, sources say, Jeff Stein, washingtonpost.com, 2/9/10)