Jerusalem Terror Cell Just Tip of the Iceberg of Arab Terrorism
by DEBKAfile
21 August 2002
Israels security and police authorities are keeping their aces well covered even after publicizing their coup on Wednesday, August 21. Saturday night, August 16, they captured a six- man cell of Jerusalemite Arabs, all bearing Israeli identity cards, who admit to complicity in executing 8 of the most devastating terrorist attacks in the last three months, in which 35 Israelis died and dozens were gravely wounded in different parts of the country.
Their feats included the remote control bombing at the Hebrew Universitys
Frank Sinatra cafeteria on Mount Scopus that killed nine, including five American
citizens (An Israeli newspaper was laid atop the bomb bag and it was drenched
in perfume to throw sniffer dogs off the scent); the suicide blast that destroyed
the stylish Jerusalem Moment café, leaving 11 Israelis dead; the suicide
attack at a Rishon Lezion club which murdered 15 Israelis, as well as twice
planting explosive devices on railway lines and two attempts to sabotage fuel
trucks.
The cell leader is Waal Kasem, 31, from Ras el Amud. The Mount Scopus bomber,
Muhammed Oda, from Silwan village, knew exactly where and when to strike,
having worked at the Hebrew University for years as a house painter. He went
in to work as usual the day after the massacre. Muhammed Arman from Hirba, near
Ramallah, was the cells go-between with the high operations command in
Ramallah, which sent down orders and laid on the explosives. The group included
a glazier employed in Rishon Lezion and an air conditioning technician working
in Tel Aviv.
Without detracting from Israels success in rounding up the ring, DEBKAfiles
counter-terror experts note the word admitted used instead of committed
in the official communiqué - denoting reservations about the capability
of this six-man unit to carry out this many operations over such a large area
in so short a time roughly five months.
One theory is that they owned up to divert attention from their masters who
are working hard on a horrendous cycle of fresh terror attacks after several
weeks of being frustrated in their efforts by the presence of IDF forces in
all the main West Bank Palestinian towns. Another possibility is that the high
command in Ramallah, where Yasser Arafat has his headquarters, is trying out
Jerusalemite Palestinians as its new instruments of terror, because of the difficulties
in deploying West Bankers.
Until now, Jerusalem Arabs stayed clear of Arafats Intifada and prospered
in comparison with their brethren in Palestinian-controlled areas. However,
their usefulness clearly tempts, especially in view of Jerusalems proximity
to Ramalah. The Arabs of Jerusalem enjoy the freedom to move around Israel with
Israeli identity cards and Israeli number plates on the cars; they do not need
permits to work in Israel and many do. The cells commanders were
therefore able to activate the six over an area of operation covering all of
central Israel - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Holon, Rishon Lezion, Rehovot and Lod
- in surveillance and as planners, liaison, field operatives and handlers of
suicide killers, while avoiding the practice themselves.
Saturday night, August 10, the first two captive terrorists were taken in after
a firefight a stones throw from the Bukharan Quarter synagogue where Rabbi
Ovadia Yosef was delivering a sermon. They soon led to the other four. Before
closing in on their quarry, Shin Bet and special police (The Gideons)
agents roped off the streets in this religious neighborhood and told people
to stay indoors. After the arrests were made, bloodstains were found on the
street attesting to a fight.
Israeli defense minister Binyamin Ben Eliezers plan to induce a truce
by the Israeli armys experimental handover to Palestinian security of
responsibility for terror prevention in the Gaza Strip, Bethlehem and possibly
Hebron, is probably doomed to a (not very) quiet death even after the
capture of the dangerous terror ring in Jerusalem. That is far from putting
paid to the menace. DEBKAfiles counter-terror sources report that the
two bomb-cars apprehended near Jenin Saturday night by Israeli troops were just
the beginning. Five suicide killers are known to be on their way to mass-casualty
targets in Israel. The Palestinians are also trying to plant a truck loaded
with chemical fertilizers converted into explosives in a large Israeli city
center. Three more major strikes are planned for Jerusalem. Following their
effective attack at the Mount Scopus campus, Palestinian terror masters are
preparing further assaults on Israeli universities, now eyeing Haifa. There
are also reports of potential terrorist landings by sea.
Perhaps the most curious feature of the official Israeli communiqué is
the way it fails to attach the captured cell to any Palestinian group or organization,
beyond the vague mention of Ramallah.
Some sources have tried attributing the ring to Hamas, maybe because its leaders
declared they wanted no part of Ben Eliezers understanding with the Palestinian
Authority.
But if the cells trail leads to Ramallah, it cannot be Hamas, where the
Islamic extremist group has no real standing. This West Bank hub town just north
of Jerusalem is the fief of one man Yasser Arafat. The Ramallah reference
is therefore nothing but a veiled hint at the man who rules the roost there.