Quote: The Foreign Office denied claims that it had been tipped off about the use of British passports before the hit, insisting: “We only received details of the British passports a few hours before the [February 15] press conference held by the police in Dubai.”
But the Irish foreign ministry has confirmed that it knew Irish passports had been used by the hit squad as early as February 4 – and it would seem surprising if Britain did not know at least that soon too. The use of “European” passports in the hit was being claimed by the Dubai authorities as early as January 29. Not for the first time, the British government may not be being wholly frank about what it knew and when it knew it.

Quote:The New York-based American Jewish Committee blasted the BBC on Sunday for airing an accusation that Jews around the world assist in supposed Mossad assassinations.

The AJC said in a statement that it was “dismayed that a guest on BBC Radio 4 was allowed to state unchallenged” that the Mossad relies on Jews for assassination plots.

“This baseless accusation crosses every red line between legitimate public discussion and bigoted fear-mongering,” said AJC executive director David Harris. “In less than a minute, the BBC has cast a shadow on the lives of Jews worldwide.”

BBC Radio 4’s PM program interviewed Gordon Thomas, author of Gideon’s Spies, a book about the Mossad, about the January 20 assassination of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

Local authorities and many international media outlets believe that the killing of Mabhouh, who bought rockets for Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip, was carried out by the Mossad.

In explaining the Mossad’s operating methods outside Israel, Thomas told PM host Eddie Mair, “They have a whole backup system called ‘asylum.’ These are people, local residents, Jewish people, who help the Mossad . It is estimated to be in the world about half a million; some people say a million; I tend to say it’s about half a million, all of them Mossad people.”

“Of course, Mr. Thomas is irresponsible in making such unfounded assertions on a radio program heard around the world,” said Harris, “but even more shocking is BBC, a premier public broadcaster with a far-reaching global network. How can the interviewer allow such aspersions to be cast on a community without the reporter calling the so-called expert to order?”

The comments also drew condemnation from observers of the BBC.

“Unfortunately, such ugly and nonsensical statements on the BBC come as no surprise. The BBC often handpicks interviewees who are likely to say such things as part of a wider pattern to demonize the State of Israel,” said Tom Gross, a former Middle East correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph and a Middle East analyst who has long been critical of BBC coverage of the region.

The AJC called on the BBC “to examine this disgraceful transmission, apologize to Jews around the world and remove from its archive the slanderous words.”


Reached for comment, the BBC press office in London said, “This interview was part of a wider piece about the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh which involved contributions from a number of people including Gordon Thomas, an author of a book about [the] Mossad.

“The sentiments expressed by Gordon Thomas were clearly his own opinions. They came at the end of the interview when it was being wrapped up and there was no time to come back on them.”

David Guyatt Wrote:It is an extremely odd statement, and one aided at further de-balling the Beeb, I suspect.

To my knowledge Thomas's book Gideon's Spies has been rubbished before this. I've read it and found it highly informative and credible. And he is regarded as a highly credible researcher and writer and his book on Dr. Ewen Cameron, "A Journey Into Madness", is required reading for anyone who has an interest in mind control.

Quote:In 1933 in Wales, Gordon Thomas was born in a cemetery keeper’s cottage where his grandmother lived. He wrote and had his first story published at nine years old in a Boys Own Paper competition on why he wanted to grow older and listen to adult conversations. With his father in the RAF, he travelled widely and was educated at the Cairo High School, the Maritz Brothers in Port Elizabeth and, finally, at Bedford Modern from where he was expected to go on to university. His first book was completed at the age of seventeen. It was the story of a British spy in Russia during World War Two, titled Descent Into Danger. This was his initial encounter with spying. He turned down the offer of a place at university in order to accompany a travelling fair for a year. Those experiences became Bed of Nails. Since then, Gordon has written forty-one books published worldwide. He has been a foreign correspondent beginning with the Suez Crisis and ending with the First Gulf War. He was a BBC writer/producer for three flagship BBC programmes: Man Alive, Tomorrow’s World and Horizon. He is a regular contributor to Facta, the respected monthly Japanese news magazine, and he lectures widely on the secret world of Intelligence. He also provides expert analysis on Intelligence for US and European television and radio shows. Gordon’s awards include a Monte-Carlo International Television Award; an Edgar Allen Poe Award; and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Investigative Journalism from the Citizens Commission for Human Rights. He divides his time between his homes in Ireland and England.


FROM THE AUTHOR:

Writing about myself is not easy. There is much I do not wish to share, which explains why I have turned down several offers to publish my memoirs. Perhaps one day.

I have few close friends. One was Bill Buckley, a near perfect spy who died too soon for all the wrong reasons (read: Secrets & Lies). Essentially, I am fortunate to be a writer who has come to be trusted by the men and women of the secret world of Intelligence. Rafi Eitan of the Mossad opened doors for me to the most covert of all the secret services. Meir Amit, a living legend in the global intelligence community, was another guide. Last, but far from least, was my late father-in-law, a Cold War spy. They are all part of the pantheon of spies to whom I owe my career.

Quote:The AJC said in a statement that it was “dismayed that a guest on BBC Radio 4 was allowed to state unchallenged” that the Mossad relies on Jews for assassination plots.

“This baseless accusation crosses every red line between legitimate public discussion and bigoted fear-mongering,” said AJC executive director David Harris

Peter Presland Wrote:The real point of my posting that Jerusalem Post piece was the demeanour - the faux outrage - of those eternal victims.

Austin Kelley Wrote:.... Gordon Thomas handed the Israeli propagandists a rationale for their faux indignation on a silver platter by asserting that there were half a million to a million sayanim in the exterior.

This is based on what? I don't know of any substantiation for such assertions- and there's the rub...

Quote:“They have a whole backup system called ‘asylum.’ These are people, local residents, Jewish people, who help the Mossad. It is estimated to be in the world about half a million; some people say a million; I tend to say it’s about half a million, all of them Mossad people.”

Austin Kelley Wrote:.....I'd say that's a problematic statement based on the fact that I don't know of any way for Thomas to back up his claim.