<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[WikiLeaks: not &#8216;shielding&#8217; Israel?]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>Published Dec 29, 2010   |  Al Bawaba</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve been reading columns by pro-Arab  commentators pointing a finger at the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks  for not publishing US diplomatic cables that could embarrass Israel.  Some have even gone as far to suggest WikiLeaks is a Zionist-backed  organisation that acted selectively when issuing its revelations.</p>
<p>The  anti-Assange brigade went to great extremes to extrapolate in their  keenness to brand Assange as a Zionist in left-winger/anti-war clothing.  They cited the fact that his firm of London solicitors is also employed  by the Rothschild Waddesdon Trust and that The Economist, in which the  Rothschild Family holds shares, gave Assange a Freedom of Expression  Award in 2008.</p>
<p>In a city that probably has more Jewish lawyers  than Tel Aviv and where most large law firms act for pro-Israel Jewish  companies or individuals, that extrapolation was sheer nonsense. It  should also be noted that the Rothschilds own substantially less than 50  per cent in The Economist.</p>
<p>Most of all they held up Benjamin  Netanyahu&#8217;s glee that leaked diplomatic cables exposed how fearful  Iran&#8217;s neighbours are of that country&#8217;s nuclear programme and would like  something to be done to prevent Tehran obtaining a nuclear weapon  capability.</p>
<p>While I, like so many others, duly noted that there  seemed to be an absence of published cables that could be construed as  being detrimental to Israel&#8217;s interests, I was reluctant to join the  conspiracy theorists. Instead, I put the scarcity of cables on Israel as  being due to the natural hesitancy of US diplomats to write anything  about the Jewish state that would be read as less than flattering by  American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) supporters who throng  the corridors of American power.</p>
<p>Now it appears that the legions of conspiracy theorists will have to eat their words.</p>
<p>On  December 23, in an interview with Al Jazeera, Assange disclosed that  3,700 documents relating to Israel, mostly emanating from the US Embassy  in Tel Aviv, are due to be released over the next six months. He also  said that many Israel-related documents already released were  deliberately not published by the mainstream media.</p>
<p>Sensitivities</p>
<p>&#8220;The  Guardian, El Pais and Le Monde have published only two per cent of the  files related to Israel due to the sensitive relations between Germany,  France and Israel,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Even the New York Times could not publish  more due to the sensitivities related to the Jewish community in the  US.&#8221;</p>
<p>Assange was also adamant that WikiLeaks has had no direct or  indirect talks with the Israeli authorities and no deal has been done.</p>
<p>One  thing is sure. Netanyahu&#8217;s glee is likely to be short-lived. Yet to be  published material marked &#8216;Top Secret&#8217; is said to cover the 2006  Israel-Lebanon War and the Mossad&#8217;s role in the killing of a Lebanese  military leader in Damascus by sniper fire. It will also implicate  Israel in the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, who  was murdered in a Dubai hotel room on January 19 last year.</p>
<p>That  comes as no surprise to Dubai&#8217;s Police Chief Lieutenant General Dahi  Khalfan Tamim who has commented: &#8220;Those documents will surely prove to  those who doubted us&#8230;&#8221;</p>
<p>Until now, Israel has refused to comment  on the Al Mabhouh assassination but, according to the Daily Telegraph,  the incoming head of the Mossad Tamir Pardo is set to apologise to  Britain for forging the British passports that were used by members of  the hit squad and will promise never to use British documents in any  future operation overseas.</p>
<p>One can only wonder whether this  apologetic turnaround, which is tantamount to an admission of guilt, was  devised to preempt the fallout that the eventual publication of US  diplomatic cables would elicit.</p>
<p>If Britain was a true friend and  ally of the UAE, the Cameron-led government should insist that any such  apology should be accompanied by an apology to Dubai for spilling blood  on its soil. The real crime is not that the Mossad is forging or cloning  foreign passports. A far greater crime is that it operates outside  international law by sending squads of killers around the world to  murder Israel&#8217;s enemies. Instead, David Cameron is championing an  amendment to his country&#8217;s Universal Jurisdiction law that will allow  alleged Israeli war criminals to visit Britain without fear of  prosecution.</p>
<p>Assange, who remains under house arrest despite being  charged with nothing at all, fears for his life following what he  claims to be death threats from members of the American military.</p>
<p>He  is also worried that in the event he is extradited from either the UK  or Sweden to the US, he has no chance of receiving a fair trial and, if  jailed there, he says he may be targeted by fellow prisoners or killed  &#8216;Jack Ruby-style&#8217;. His life is in the hands of the British prime  minister, he says.</p>
<p>It seems to me that if David Cameron is so keen  to protect war criminals, then he should extend his protection to a man  who has been bullied, threatened and characterised as a &#8216;traitor&#8217;,  &#8216;spy&#8217; and &#8216;terrorist&#8217; for nothing more than doing what good journalists  are supposed to do — exposing the truth.</p>
<p>&#8211; Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She can be contacted at: lheard@gulfnews.com.<span> </span></p>
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<p><a href="http://www1.albawaba.com/wikileaks-not-shielding-israel">WikiLeaks: not &#8216;shielding&#8217; Israel? | Al Bawaba</a>.</p>
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