Press bla-bla continues on the putative assassination of Hamas thug Mahmoud al-Mahbouh by the Mossad in Dubai last January. I don’t have much more to say on the subject, but couldn’t resist the title above. In fact, it may be more accurate than I intended because what the emirate seems to be embarked upon is a publicity campaign and, hey, their hotels aren’t as busy as they used to be (whose are? well, maybe Washington’s).
The latest jab from Dubai authorities seems to be an attempt to keep dual citizenship Israelis out of their country. (Normal Israelis weren’t welcome in the first place.) From the CSM: Dubai’s decision Monday to ban Israeli dual citizens in response to the assassination here last month of a senior Hamas figure is one part security, many parts politics. Gag me with a spoon, as Moon Unit Zappa would say.
But further down the piece we learn that even emirates don’t like being accused of racial profiling: “In announcing the sanction against Israeli citizens traveling to Dubai on second passports, Tamim raised hackles about racial stereotyping when he said that security personnel would be trained to identify Israelis by their accents and their faces.” But not to worry. High tech Dubai knows how to handle this: “Rather than relying on appearances and accents to identify Israeli citizens, says Dr. Karasik, Dubai authorities will likely improve their system for checking passports, including using biometric data.
Police can also identify dual nationals after they enter the country by tracking where they congregate and where their businesses have tended to be located, he adds.”
I didn’t know there were any delis in Dubai. (The Vegas analogy only goes so far.) Meanwhile, the Dubai police are calling for reinforcements in the form of the Federal Bureau of Investigation no less: Dubai police have called on the FBI to probe links between the suspects in the assassination of a Hamas commander and their U.S.-issued payment cards, the National reported on Tuesday, citing a source at the federal intelligence agency.
Hmmm…. interesting. Why this grandstanding? I’m not sure this is particularly good publicity for Dubai, though it is good publicity (sort of) for the police chief, etc. Nevertheless, the longer this story stays in the news the longer the biggest of all lingering questions stays there: What the Hell was Dubai doing being the transit for Hamas weapons for all these years that it would necessitate this Mossad action? It’s unlikely the Israelis want to send six, sixty or six hundred (whatever the number proves to be) agents into their country. Well, the answer is a four-letter word and it begins with I….
“Dubai police have called on the FBI to probe links between the suspects in the assassination of a Hamas commander and their U.S.-issued payment cards, the National reported on Tuesday, citing a source at the federal intelligence agency.”
Not that this Administration would ever do it, but the correct response is to stop direct flights between Dubai and the US until the Government of Dubai can explain:
1) How a senior Hamas operative was able to enter Dubai on a false passport,
2) And, what steps the Government of Dubai is going to take to keep senior Hamas operatives from entering Dubai in the future.
As long as senior Hamas operatives can freely operate in Dubai, it is a significant security risk to allow direct flights between Dubai and the United States.
“he said that security personnel would be trained to identify Israelis by their accents and their faces.”
Yup, that sure will work. The Jews are the sneaky looking ones. A short fifteen-minute class should do it. I am reminded of the scene in the movie “Exodus” when the Paul Newman character tricks the British officer played by Peter Lawford to help remove the non-existent piece of dust from his eye.
According to Elder of Ziyon, the Police Chief’s animus was directed at Israelis and Jews:
“English-language media still silent on Dubai anti-semitism”
The Arabic American paper Al Watan tells it like it is in its headline:
Dubai announces prevent the entry of Israelis and Jews, holders of foreign passports after the assassination of Mabhouh
Arab anti-Israeli hate is not distinguished in their press from anti-Semitism.
I can see the profile close-up being a big part of the biometrics.
The plot thickens! (Where did that expression ever come from anyway?)
From an ICEJ newsletter yesterday:
‘Arabs may have targeted Mabhouh’
The closest aide to slain Hamas arms dealer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh claimed on Tuesday that moderate Arab countries may have been involved in his assassination in a Dubai luxury hotel in January. Hamas operative Mahmoud Nasser told the London daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi that Jordanian and Egyptian intelligence agencies may have been tracking Mabhouh before he was killed. Nasser is aware of evidence that allegedly proves the hit on Mabhouh was carried out earlier than first planned because some Arab countries knew Mabhouh was in possession of sensitive information about Hamas and other Islamist groups. In an interview with Hamas’s Al Aksa radio station, Nasser also confirmed IDF claims that Mabhouh was deeply involved in weapons smuggling operations from Iran to Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. Nasser worked directly for Mabhouh and is the lead Hamas liaison with Iran.