Round Round Get Around... 7

They get around:

"On 7 April, Freda Guttman, a 76-year-old Jewish Montrealer, received a visit from agents of the Canadian Security & Intelligence Service (CSIS). She slammed the door on them so it's not clear if the visit was related to her role in Tadamon!, a Middle East solidarity collective, or her friendship with Canadian activist... Stefan Christoff. A tall, mild-mannered 29-year-old, Christoff has been one of Montreal's most effective grassroots activists for the past decade. Involved with various issues, recently he's devoted himself to Palestinian solidarity work, including the highly successful Artists Against Apartheid (AAA)... In the past 8 months at least 7 of Christoff's friends have been visited by CSIS agents. These unannounced visits usually take place early in the morning. The agents ask questions about Christoff's trips to the Middle East or AAA and in some cases they've feigned concern for the Palestinian cause, implying Christoff's radical activist roots might hurt it... The Conservatives have also strengthened Canadian intelligence cooperation with Israel. In early 2008 Ottawa signed a wide-ranging 'border management and security' agreement with Israel, even though the two countries do not share a border." (Is Canada passing information on its citizens to Israel? Yves Engler, electronicintifada.net, 17/8/10)

"A claim that Israel is using wiretapping equipment it sold Ankara to listen in on Turkish citizens is making headlines in that country. According to the pro-government newspaper Taraf, the Turkish army's deputy chief of staff, Aslan Guner, purchased sophisticated wiretapping equipment in Israel in 2007 to aid Turkey in fighting the Kurdish PKK, which is considered a terror group by Turkey. However, the newspaper claims the Israel Defense Forces communications branch has allegedly used the equipment to listen in on 2,000 Turkish citizens, including political activists, members of opposition parties and academics. According to information Taraf received from a senior army officer, Turkey gave Israel technical details of the GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications, used in Turkish cell phones, so it could conform the equipment to it. This information, according to the officer, allows Israel to listen in on the cell phone conversations of any Turkish citizen..." ('Israel uses wiretapping equipment it sold to Turkey on Turkish citizens', Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz, 2/9/10)

"The Iranians to the east, beyond the mountain, fire mortars at them, while the Turks to the west attack them with fighter-bombers and drones, with Israeli help... But no one can subdue these mountain people. As far as the PKK is concerned, its only major defeat was the capture of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who is now in a Turkish prison. That operation, too, involved assistance from Israeli intelligence, and I was still debating over whether it would be a good idea to tell the Kurdish commanders whom I was about to meet where I come from and where I live, or whether I should simply identify myself by my foreign passport. I had asked the go-betweens who guided me on the 5-hour trip to these mountains that I be given as much access as possible - namely an interview with the current leader of the PKK, Murat Karayilan. They told me they didn't know, and it seemed unlikely to them, but I might be able to talk to one of his deputies. They were vague on that, too. No one outside these mountains is supposed to know what any of the senior commanders is planning to do at any given moment. And obviously no such information should be given to journalists - especially not a journalist from Israel, which has been screwing them over for years." (PKK leader: Israel is helping Turkey to destroy us, Itai Anghel, Haaretz, 22/9/10)

"[Ecuador President Rafael] Correa's financial policies, as well as his foreign policy that saw him order out the American base at Manta and establish close ties with Venezuela, Iran, and other countries inimical to American and Israeli hegemony, placed a huge CIA and Mossad target on Correa's back. In June, Ecuador sponsored a resolution at the Organization of American States (OAS) summit in Lima condemning Israel's attack on the Turkish aid flotilla transporting humanitarian aid to Gaza. Ten nations voted with Ecuador in support of the resolution. The uprising among Ecuadorean Air Force ranks, with Air Force personnel taking over and shutting down Quito's international airport, will have Ecuadorian counter-intelligence personnel looking closely at the possible role of Israeli technicians and trainers who support the Air Force's 26 Israeli-made Kfir combat planes. Israel also reportedly sold Python-3 air-to-air missiles to the Ecuadorian Air Force in 1997. Mossad also has its hooks into the Ecuadorian National Police, where the main coup plotters received support. Mossad is chiefly tasked with spying on Ecuador's large Ecuadorian-Arab community. The activities of the Mossad station at the Israeli embassy in Quito before and during the coup attempt will also draw the attention of counter-intelligence officers. Last year, Tel Aviv-based On Track Innovations received a contract to provide an electronic biometric-based electronic identification card system to Ecuador's Central registry office." (Obama administration fingerprints on Ecuador coup attempt, Wayne Madsen, voltairenet.org, 3/10/10)

"An Israeli man was arrested Thursday after he allegedly threatened to kill himself and all the passengers on board a Qantas flight from Australia to Hong Kong, according to various media sources. The 23-year-old Israeli allegedly started shouting that he would open the emergency doors and kill everyone, in what was described by witnesses as a nervous breakdown. The man apparently complained about the food and the service before the episode. Passengers on board the plane said the man was restrained by the the aircraft crew after he allegedly prayed in Hebrew and then went off on a tirade threatening to open the doors saying it was 'God's will'. Hong Kong police arrested the man after the aircraft landed." (Israeli arrested after threatening to kill passengers on Qantas flight, Haaretz, 7/10/10)