>From: "Yusupha C. Jow" <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: A Crafty Con Gives Israel the Slip, Again - LA TImes >Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 17:59:19 EDT > >May 7 2002 > >JERUSALEM -- As Israel and the rest of the world focused Monday on the 150 >Palestinians and clerics trying to get out of Bethlehem's Church of the >Nativity, a very different escape story was competing for headlines, >generating bemusement, concern and even a modicum of respect among Israelis >for the skills of a Palestinian. > >Early Sunday, while thief extraordinaire and accused terrorist Mahmoud abu >Jamous was being transported inside a special locked cage in a fortified >police bus, pinned down with handcuffs and leg restraints, accompanied by two >other security vehicles and overseen by 10 elite Israeli prison guards, he >managed to escape. > >What's worse, no one in the convoy realized that he had slipped away until a >motorist called police to report that he'd seen sneakers popping out of the >bus' barred window as the vehicle waited for a stoplight in a northern >Israeli town. The motorist said he saw a man drop to the street and disappear >in a flash. It was 20 minutes before police figured out what had happened and >were able to mobilize a search using helicopters, dogs and hundreds of >officers. By that time, Abu Jamous was long gone. > >"What else do we need to make sure prisoner Jamous leaves point A and reaches >point B?" asked a columnist in the daily newspaper Maariv. "Fighter jets?" > >In a nation weary after months of terror and bloodshed, the absurdity of the >Abu Jamous escape was embraced by some for the rare moment of levity it >provided. > >"We've gone through so much. If you can, you have to laugh a bit," said Tamar >Meshulan, a 31-year-old industrial designer. "He's probably a genius. He >certainly knows his business." > >But others wondered how a state with such a sophisticated military, which >prides itself on its vigilant police and security forces, could be so >humiliated by a common criminal being transferred from one prison to another. > >"Our whole society, our mind-set, our political system--everything in this >country is organized around security," said Doran Rosenblum, a social >commentator and columnist with Haaretz newspaper. "Yet here we have an >example of a very dangerous man managing to escape in a country with the >biggest army in the Middle East. It just shows how real security evades us." > >Then again, Abu Jamous is no ordinary thief. According to Israeli press >reports, he has long been known as a champion pilferer, a burglar's burglar >who possessed almost magical power to slip into vehicles and apartments >without notice. He was also known for leaving his business card, plastered >with fingerprints, behind in an apparent taunt to authorities. > >"He's a cat with nine lives, a real devil," said one of his guards, who was >quoted anonymously in Maariv. "He certainly deserves the title as the >Champion of Israeli Escape Artists." > >A year ago, Abu Jamous, 24, was arrested on charges of burglarizing dozens of >Israeli homes. As he was being brought to court, he delivered a swift kick to >a guard, then vanished into the crowded streets. Media reports say that, for >several weeks, he lived in the apartment of an elderly woman, who was unaware >the whole time that she had a roommate. > >Abu Jamous reportedly joined Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's >Fatah group, according to reports in the newspaper Yediot Aharonot. He is >accused of using his skills to help armed Palestinians dodge security sweeps >and slip past roadblocks to enter Israel. > >Abu Jamous had reportedly once burglarized the house of an Israeli navy >colonel named Natan Barak; he is said to have returned in October to plant a >bomb in a fire extinguisher. Barak noticed the device and called police, who >detonated it safely in a nearby field. > >Police set up a special investigative unit to catch Abu Jamous, and he was >finally recaptured in November after being shot in the leg during a chase. >Late last month, he was convicted and sentenced in the Kfar Saba Magistrates >Court to 68 months in prison for the burglaries and car thefts. And he was >due to be tried in a military court for membership in a terrorist >organization and for the attempted murder of the colonel. > >Even with his injured leg, Abu Jamous was declared a "high escape risk," >which meant that his transport was to be handled by the elite Nahshon prison >security unit. > >Oded Leibowitz, the driver who reported the great escape to police, told >Yediot Aharonot that he could barely believe his eyes. "It was so strange >that it took me some time to realize what I'd just seen," he told the >newspaper. "Everything seemed planned, like in a movie." > >As for Abu Jamous, he's apparently already back at work. Three burglaries >were reported Sunday around the area where he escaped, and police believe he >was stocking up on clothes and provisions. > >Commentator Rosenblum said Abu Jamous' bold move against great odds has >turned the tables a bit in Israel, where many Israelis tend to see themselves >as smart and, when required, cleverly mischievous--and to view Palestinians >as largely bereft of such qualities. "With this guy, the Palestinians now >have their own myth in the making," he said. > >"Many young people will look up to him as a hero," agreed Mustafa Barghouti, >a Palestinian and director of the Center for Political and Media Analysis. >"He managed to escape through the whole of the Israeli security system." > >The media and top security officials are calling for heads to roll. The 10 >escorts have been suspended pending an investigation, which could include >polygraph tests and will almost certainly include a look into whether the >guards had fallen asleep during the trip. > >Betty Zaroom, a 29-year-old student, believes the guards are being made >scapegoats, however. "Every occupation makes mistakes," she said. >"Politicians make them all the time, and they don't get blamed. The police >are trying their best, and it's ultimately the government's fault for not >giving them enough resources to do their jobs." > >Like a good mystery story, the case has left many Israelis trying to figure >out how the Palestinian Houdini pulled it off. > >Albert Dahan, a 39-year-old construction worker, thinks Abu Jamous must have >had some inside help in the detention service. "There was probably some >bribery," he said. "Bribery works everywhere." > >Eli Eta, a 42-year-old shop owner, says he believes the guards just did >something stupid, like forgetting to handcuff Abu Jamous, and are making him >look superhuman to hide their mistake. "If we weren't in the middle of the >intifada, it wouldn't be such big news," he added. > >Unnamed defense establishment officials termed the escape a complete disgrace >in the local media. Enormous resources were spent to catch Abu Jamous, they >said, only to have him slip through their hands again. > >"We were sure he would no longer be a danger," one senior security official >told Maariv. "Now we have to start everything from scratch." >If > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~