Israel: Bio Arab Bomb Being Prepared by Israelis

[GIV c/o Gerhard Lange]

- _______ ____ ______
/ |/ / /___/ / /_ // M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S
/ /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ Making Sense of the Middle East
/_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\ WWW.MiddleEast.Org

ISRAEL FEVERISHLY WORKING ON
BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS TO ATTACK ARABS
_______________________________________________________________
News, Information, & Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups,
and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know.
_______________________________________________________________
TO RECEIVE MER regularly Email with subject: SEND MER
To stop receiving MER email with subject: Stop MER

BIO ARAB BOMBS BEING PREPARED BY ISRAEL.

ISRAEL PURSUES NAZI AND APARTHEID BIO-GERM RESEARCH

MER - Washington - 15 Nov:
While the U.S./Israeli approach to bombing the Arab Middle East
into submission takes on new dimensions previously unthinkable, the
level of hypocrisy and duplicity continues to rise in tandem.
In recent years credible reports not only about Israel's huge
nuclear weapons program, including neutron people-killer bombs, but
also about major chemical and biological weapons programs, have been
coming into public view.
Now another major development is seeping out. To many it may at
first sound like a hoax, but this shocking story is from today's THE
SUNDAY TIMES, the same newspaper that in the 1980s broke into the
open the details of Israel's nuclear weapons program:

ISRAEL PLANNING 'ETHNIC' BOMB AS SADDAM CAVES IN

by Uzi Mahnaimi and Marie Colvin

ISRAEL is working on a biological weapon that would harm
Arabs but not Jews, according to Israeli military and western
intelligence sources. The weapon, targeting victims by ethnic
origin, is seen as Israel's response to Iraq's threat of
chemical and biological attacks.

Yesterday Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, backed away
from the brink of war and agreed to resume co-operation
with the inspection teams seeking his suspected chemical and
biological weapons plants.

Kofi Annan, the United Nation secretary-general, said he
believed Iraq had met UN requirements. As Britain and
America stood by to bomb Saddam, however, Tony Blair's
office said compliance must be unconditional.

The White House, which is threatening Iraq with the biggest
onslaught since the Gulf war, said President Bill Clinton's
advisers were assessing whether Iraq's offer was adequate.
The Pentagon is ready to bomb within days.

Last week Downing Street warned Labour MPs that Saddam could be
only weeks away from completing the construction of offensive
biological weapons mounted on Scud missiles. Israel was hit by
Scuds during the Gulf war and fears it would be the prime target.

In developing their "ethno-bomb", Israeli scientists are trying
to exploit medical advances by identifying distinctive genes
carried by some Arabs, then create a genetically modified
bacterium or virus.

The intention is to use the ability of viruses and certain
bacteria to alter the DNA inside their host's living cells. The
scientists are trying to engineer deadly micro-organisms that
attack only those bearing the distinctive genes.

The programme is based at the biological institute in Nes
Tziyona, the main research facility for Israel's clandestine
arsenal of chemical and biological weapons.

A scientist there said the task was hugely complicated
because both Arabs and Jews are of semitic origin. But he
added: "They have, however, succeeded in pinpointing a
particular characteristic in the genetic profile of certain
Arab communities, particularly the Iraqi people." The disease
could be spread by spraying the organisms into the air or
putting them in water supplies.

The research mirrors biological studies conducted by South
African scientists during the apartheid era and revealed in
testimony before the truth and reconciliation commission.

The idea of a Jewish state conducting such research has already
provoked outrage in some quarters because of parallels with the
genetic experiments of Dr Josef Mengele, the Nazi scientist at
Auschwitz.

Dedi Zucker, a member of knesset, the Israeli parliament,
denounced the research yesterday. "Morally, based on our
history, and our tradition and our experience, such a weapon
is monstrous and should be denied," he said.

Some experts said that although the concept of an ethnically
targeted weapon was feasible, the practical aspects of
creating one were enormous.

Dr Daan Goosen, head of a South African chemical and
biological warfare plant, said his team was ordered in the
1980s to develop a "pigmentation weapon" to target only
black people. He said the team discussed spreading a disease
in beer, maize or even vaccinations but never managed to
develop one.

However, a confidential Pentagon report warned last year
that biological agents could be genetically engineered to
produce new lethal weapons. William Cohen, the American
defence secretary, revealed that he had received reports of
countries working to create "certain types of pathogens that
would be ethnic-specific". A senior western intelligence
source confirmed last week that Israel was one of the
countries Cohen had in mind.

The "ethno-bomb" claims have been given further credence in
Foreign Report, a Jane's publication that closely monitors
security and defence matters. It reports unnamed South
African sources as saying Israeli scientists have used some of
the South African research in trying to develop an "ethnic
bullet" against Arabs.

It also says Israelis discovered aspects of the Arab genetic
make-up by researching on "Jews of Arab origin, especially
Iraqis".

The British Medical Association has become so concerned
about the lethal potential of genetically based biological
weapons that it has opened an investigation, which is due to
report in January.

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, who organised the research, said:
"With an ethnically targeted weapon, you could even hit
groups within a population. The history of warfare, in which
many conflicts have an ethnic factor, shows us how
dangerous this could be."

Porton Down, Britain's biological defence establishment, said
last week that such weapons were theoretically possible. "We
have reached a point now where there is an obvious need for
an international convention to control biological weapons,"
said a spokesman.

Additional reporting: Matthew Campbell and Hugh McManners

-------------------------------------------------------------------
MID-EAST REALITIES is published a number of times weekly and the
MERTV Program shows weekly on Cable TV.

M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S
(c) Copyright 1998

M...@MiddleEast.Org / Fax: 202 362-6965 / Phone: 202 362-5266

>>>---------------------------------------------------<<<
>> Further Informations about Iraq and Palestine:
>> http://www.germany.net/teilnehmer/101,88843/
>>>---------------------------------------------------<<<

* * * * *