Don't forget those 'Israeli art students"
Zak
Some of you may be aware of the Israeli art student scandal, but odds
are against it. There is a reason for that.
Shortly after the infamous attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, FOX News broadcast a four-part series about a massive
espionage ring that had infiltrated the highest levels of government.
It was scrubbed from their website within days, but you can read the
transcripts here (Part 1, 2,3, 4) or search The Memory Hole for the
video.
In the words of Morpheous, “Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of
irony.”
Yes, I actually own a piece of the infamous Israeli art. When I first
heard the story, the picture was hanging next to a bookcase that held
numerous volumes on intelligence, terrorism, and Cold War politics on
its shelves. Just a few feet away from the frame was my copy of “By
Way of Deception: The Secret History of the Mossad.”
As you can see, it is not the prettiest painting, but for a brief –
very brief moment, it had some sort of meaning, which is why I
purchased it back in November of 2000.
On the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving, I was hanging out at a coffee
shop in Scottsdale, Arizona. I had met the owners the prior week while
working a booth for a holiday turkey drive at their store. They
invited me back the next week, promising to teach me how to make a
real cappuccino and get my feet wet behind the bar. The elderly owners
needed a day off from their 7-day a week business and hoped that I
could fill in once a week.
About 9 a.m., a man claiming to be an Israeli art student came in with
some unstretched canvas paintings he did in art school. He was here in
the United States, hoping to sell some art to pay for his trip.
The paintings were mediocre, like the original artwork you can pick up
for $19.99 at some “art expo” held at the Holiday Inn.
I was a little skeptical when he mentioned he was from Israeli,
wondering if he was sympathetic to the Palestinians, whose plight is
worse than Black South Africans under apartheid, according to Desmond
Tutu. I despise Zionism.
He pointed to a painting of two blue elephants with a message of peace
written in Hebrew scrolled around the border. He did a song and dance
routine about peace with the Palestinians and peace with the world.
Maybe it was because he saw the “My karma ran over your dogma” bumper
sticker on my car. The Volvo was one of two cars in an otherwise empty
lot.
It was enough for me. I think I gave him twenty bucks because I liked
the message coming from an Israeli. It gave me hope.
Hope was a fleeting moment.
He offered to put me in touch with a framer who had a store in
Scottsdale and was offering a generous discount on framing, but the
art student could not remember the number and offered to call me with
the information, so out of forced politeness, I gave him my business
card. It only had my mobile number – no address. I wasn’t about to
visit a framer in Scottsdale. I’d just wait for a coupon from
Michaels’, as the frame was worth more than the painting.
I forked over the twenty, ready to get back to the conversation with
the coffee shop owners. Then it got weird. He kept hanging around, so
to fill an awkward moment of silence, I asked him something about a
paint medium and it right then it became obvious that he hadn’t picked
up a paint brush since elementary school. I made a flip comment and he
then admitted that he was traveling with friends who were art students
from Israel. He was helping them to sell their paintings. He had an
accent and his English wasn’t perfect - or perhaps it was and it was
merely a façade, I thought to myself. I shrugged it off, but I was
already uncomfortable.
He spent the next two hours there, nursing one cup of coffee and
talking on his cell phone in Hebrew or Yiddish, which I seem to think
of as one in the same. He tried to engage us in conversation, stating
that he had taken a bus there and was waiting for his friend to pick
him up. He didn’t approach the other customers with his work. It was
kind of odd that he would remain there caught in a lie.
He left shortly after 11 a.m. and the owners and I breathed a sigh of
relief. Still, the painting had the message of peace, though I
wondered if it hadn’t been just a scam. I just shrugged it off.
The next day I received a call from the framer, who it turned out did
not have a store in Scottsdale. He framed out of his car. I politely
told him that I wasn’t ready to frame it. He kept insisting that he
knew the perfect frame for the painting, that he knew the artist who
painted it and what a special paint it was, yada, yada, yada. He then
said that he operated out of the van (first it was car) because it was
best to drive to someone’s home to match the frame with the décor of
the room. I said that I wasn’t about to let some strange man into my
house, and hung up the phone.
Later that evening, the art student poseur called, asking if I had
gotten in touch with his friend. I explained to him the lie, and that
I didn’t need or want the “art” framed. He became aggressive,
suggesting that I had to use his friend’s services. I started yelling
at the guy, telling him to stop calling me.
The following day – Turkey Day!, I received yet another phone call
from the “framer”, insisting he come over and frame the painting. He
said he needed money. I was screaming into the phone, asking him with
a tone of incredulous facetiousness why he would be calling on
Thanksgiving morning (around 11) demanding to come over right then to
frame a cheap piece of art! My voice was getting a little shaky
because it’s not in my nature to scream at people, at least not out
loud. I told him that I would not let a stranger in my house and to
stop calling me. I only wish that I could have slammed the phone down
for him to feel my anger. My husband said he would answer the phone if
the guy tried to call back, but the psycho got the message. No more
calls.
Flash forward to early October 2001. Fox News aired the story of the
Israeli spy ring, claiming that agents were approaching DEA personnel
in hopes of gaining access to federal buildings. Phoenix was not
listed as a target city, though there was a kiosk selling toy airplane
doodad things at the mall nearest my house. Also, the story said the
art students were seen in the spring, though a couple of these guys
had been in Phoenix back in 2000, as was evidenced by my painting, now
appropriately hanging next to the military strategy and intelligence
books.
I thought back to my conversations with these men, wondering why they
would have been so vociferous about entering my home. Would there have
been a transmitter in the frame? My husband and I had security
clearances, but that was over a decade ago. I called the local FBI
office, but no one returned my call. Of course not, because no Mossad
agent would ever conspire against America.
Was I targeted? Perhaps, or maybe it is just another in a weird
occurrence in a long stream of coincidences. Who knows? I had to laugh
when I discovered that the company that provides billing and directory
assistance for 90% of the phone companies in the United States is
owned by an Israeli company, and not only that, their main computer
billing center is in Israel. Here I was happy they didn't have my
address,and yet they could have had so much more. This is the ultimate
intelligence collection tool, allowing Israelis better access than
even the NSA.
And the Israelis do have access. All wiretaps in the United States are
made and installed by an Israeli company, Comverse Infosys.
“Comverse Infosys is an Israeli telecom company, which subcontracts
the installation of the automatic tapping equipment now built into
every phone system in America. Comverse maintains its own connections
to all this phone tapping equipment, insisting that it is for
maintenance purposes only. However, Converse has been named as the
most likely source for leaked information regarding telephone calls by
law enforcement that derailed several investigations into not only
espionage, but drug running as well. Yet another Israeli telecom
company is Odigo, which provides the core message passing system for
all the "Instant Message" services. Two hours before the attacks on
the World Trade Towers, Odigo employees received a warning. Odigo has
an office 2 blocks from the former location of the World Trade
Towers.’
Are the Israelis spying on us? The Starr report indicated that
President Clinton told Monica Lewisnky that their calls were probably
recorded. Shortyly thereafter, he called off the FBI investigation of
the Israeli mole, “Mega”, who had penetrated the highest office in the
United States.
With all this access to phone conversations, it is quite easy for a
foreign power to blackmail just about any official. Having an affair?
Calling a bookie? Talking with the enemy? No wonder why Israel has
become the spoiled golden child!
After giving this serious consideration, serious as a maragrita might
provide, I have decided to transform my symbol of Israeli intelligence
into something better. The two elephants with their trunks interlocked
will serve as my campaign symbol in my write-in campaign for
Presidency of the United States. I am up to ten committed votes, and
possibly eleven provided I get off my butt and e-mail my platform to
my campaign manager in Arizona. The people need answers and I can
provide them, albeit in a tangential fashion. You can vote for the
lesser of two evils, or you can use your voice to let people know you
want something better. There is no knight in shining armor ready to
swoop us away to fantasyland. A better future starts with following
your conscience, even if you stand alone in the crowd.