Five Israelis Still Held In New York -

IsraelNationalNews.com | 10-26-1 | Arutz Sheva News Service

[mcurb]

Five Israelis Still Held In New York - Arrested On 9-11

Arutz Sheva News Service

IsraelNationalNews.com

Five young Israelis are "on the verge of collapse," according to family members, as their incarceration in New York on charges relating to the Bin Laden attacks continues. They were arrested on Sept. 11, only hours after the World Trade Center attack, on charges of "plotting to blow up" a New York bridge.

Katie Shmuel of the Galilee town of Yokne'am, southeast of Haifa, says that her son Yaron is in "a very critical psychological situation," given that they are not allowed to have visitors and the difficult conditions in which they are being held. "Even the Israeli Consul-General in New York was allowed to visit only after asking several times and receiving a special permit," Katie told Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson today. "He was allowed to talk to them only in English, and only from behind a glass partition. The Consul told me that the boys are in a bad state and that they are being held under difficult conditions."

When asked why the five youths, aged 22-26, are being held, Katie replied with despair: "It's ludicrous. They were on the George Washington Bridge [between upper Manhattan and New Jersey] at the time of the bombing, and the FBI had warnings of a terrorist plot, of guys in a white van, to blow up the bridge. So when the FBI saw this van, with my son and his four friends - one of them had a large sum of money, there were two razor knives in the van, and one of the boys is named Omer, which the FBI guys thought was Omar - they put one and one together and got three, and immediately arrested them... For the first few days, the boys were held in an FBI dungeon, tied up, with no clothes and no food." She said that original reports that they had been arrested while boisterously watching the disaster from a rooftop "are totally fabricated. For one thing, they weren't even on a roof, they were in a van..."

When asked how she explains her son's continued incarceration and that of his friends, she said, "I truly have no explanation for this incredible story - except this: The Americans are using them as pawns to pressure the Israeli government. Am I being clear enough?" She said that President Moshe Katzav and others had attempted to intervene, but there have been no results so far. The youths are being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Consulate in New York told Arutz-7 that in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, "the Americans now have different procedures for dealing with the detention of anyone arrested in connection with the attacks. Every single request of ours must go through the FBI and the State Department's legal team." She said, "We are doing as much as we possibly can on their behalf," including, she said, getting local Jewish leaders involved in the cause of the imprisoned young Israelis.

[Rubber Duckie]

Anyone care to take bets on how long it is before the tinfoil hat crowd starts pointing to this story as "proof" of a Jewish plot?

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

Gee, it's just "ludicrous" to suspect these dudes merely because they were middle-Eastern with a vehicle that fit the description, a bunch of boxcutters, a large sum of money, etc...Pardon my ignorance, but what does "tinfoil hat" mean?

[Mike4Freedom]

It may have been reasonable to stop and question them but within the hour, it was known that there was nothing illegal in the truck or on their persons. They should have been released right then-not spent one night in jail.

This is what Congress just passed. Seven days (and growing) of detention without charges for non-citizens. No charges, no articulated reason at all that you might challenge in court. This is not arrest, this is kidnapping or political imprisonment, whatever you like to call it.

[WoofDog123]

My understanding from another article somewhere on FR is that these 5 boys were on a roof taking pictures of the wtc with themselves posing, smiling etc....I assume some israeli media will not cover this, the way 'our' own media wont cover the background of the incarceration/crimes of americans abroad at times.

[Keith in Iowa]

According to this article, they are being held on immigration violations. Deport them now.

[Keith in Iowa]

Here's the quote from the article: "...held on relatively minor immigration violations, including overstaying a tourist visa by nine days and working illegally on a tourist visa..." - they should have been deported a long time ago.

[WoofDog123]

That same article describes the photo allegations.

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

Sometimes it takes more than "an hour" to do background checks and thoroughly question suspects...especially in this unprecedented time of attacks on our own homeland, I am GLAD they are holding suspected terrorists for 7 days. Much better than letting them go prematurely, and regretting it later, as has already been done too many times.

[WoofDog123]

It crosses my mind that if the photo allegations are true it would be why the israeli govt has basicly said nothing about this. They can only harm the far more valuable public support in the u.s. that war/attacks have gained them

[MindBender26]

Deport all immigration violations! How any rational person believes that an immigration violator should be put back on the streets, after they have illegaly syated once is beyond me.

As far as the "pawns" remark, I think this mother has a very inflated sense of her and her son's importance. Anything for 15 seconds on the nightly news!

Ask the WTC 6000 if there are anything such as "minor" immigration violations?

[Tarakotchi]

Check out stuff I posted at:Mystery Solved... The Five Jewish Kids In the White Van

I'm getting some serious tinfoil vibes here, time for me to go to bed. :)