(source: VOCfm Online)

The Media Review Network (MRN) has expressed grave concerns about the security at OR Tambo airport, following claims that the Johannesburg airport was used as an escape route for Mossad assassins who on January 20 were responsible for the murder of Hamas member, Mahmoud Mabhouh in the UAE. Speaking to VOC on Monday morning, chairman of MRN, Iqbal Jassat, said its biggest concern was the way in which South African authorities have been deceived and security at a central entry point to the country was being manipulated by the Israeli secret service, Shin Bet, operating under the guise of El Al security personnel.

Security manipulation

"We are gravely concerned about this issue which emanates from the fact that El Al has been deceiving South African authorities in as much as they have been able to manipulate security at OR Tambo. A few months ago it was uncovered that El Al's security operatives are directly connected to Shin Bet. In fact, they are Shin Bet and they abuse the facility provided by the host country to airlines. They have deceived our authorities to the point that these operatives have been given diplomatic passports and immunity and may carry licenses fire arms," Jassat told VOC's Breakfast Beat.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is implementing changes to British Law aimed at protecting Israeli war criminals implicated in atrocities carried out by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip from arrest and prosecution.This step follows on from a pledge made by Brown to Tzipi Livni after a warrant for her arrest was issued by a British judge should she step foot in the UK [in December 2009].

That the British judiciary should be so flagrantly compromised to satisfy Brown's Israeli friends -whose hands are stained with the blood of Palestinian women, children, and innocent people whose bodies were torn part by Israeli rockets and phosphorus bombs - is a historical disgrace which casts shame on British democracy, the principle of separation of authorities, and the value of championing the downtrodden and victims of crime.

By Bianca Capazorio

Claims that OR Tambo International Airport was used as an escape route for Mossad assassins could reignite old tensions between the South African security establishment and Israeli airline El Al, which has close links to the Israeli government.

The airline had already missed a February 28 deadline to clean up its act at South African airports when it became known that at least two of the alleged killers of a Palestinian arms smuggler in Dubai last month had left the Arab emirate on a flight for Joburg. Once there, they caught an El Al aircraft for Tel Aviv.

All 26 suspects left Dubai within 12 hours of the killing of Mahmoud Mabhouh on January 20. Mabhouh, believed to be running guns into Gaza for Hamas, was found dead in the five-star Al Bustan Rotana Hotel. It is believed that he was stunned before being suffocated.

These are the conclusions of the Jury pertaining to the Barcelona session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. However, the contents are subject to the normal processes of editing and corrections before a definitive edition is made public.

1.    Meeting in Barclona from 1 to 3 March 2010, the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (hereinafter “the RTP”), composed of the following members:

•    Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace laureate 1976, Northern Ireland
•    Gisèle Halimi, lawyer, former Ambassador to UNESCO, France
•    Ronald Kasrils writer and activist, South Africa
•    Michael Mansfield, barrister, President of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, United Kingdom
•    José Antonio Martin Pallin, emeritus judge, Chamber II, Supreme Court, Spain
•    Cynthia McKinney, former member of the US Congress and 2008 presidential candidate, Green Party, USA
•    Alberto San Juan, actor, Spain
•    Aminata Traoré, author and former Minister of Culture of Mali
adopted these conclusions, which cover the following points:

-    Establishment of the Tribunal (I.)
-    Mandate of the RTP (II.)
-    Procedure (III.)
-    Admissibility (IV.)
-    Merits (V.)
-    Continuation of the proceedings (VI.)

 (source: Palestine Return Centre)

UK members of the parliamentary delegation to Gaza , organised by the European Campaign and the Palestinian Return Centre presented ‘Eyewitness Gaza’ in Westminster on Monday evening.

 In a packed Select Committee Room, British Parliamentarians, including Sir Gerald Kaufman, Bob Marshall Andrews, Baroness Jenny Tonge, Lord Nazir Ahmed, Martin Linton, Jeremy Corbyn, and Richard Howitt MEP spoke about what they had seen when they broke the siege on Gaza in January.

Joining the esteemed panellists were Lord Steel, who is going to Gaza this week, Majed Al Zeer Director of the Palestinian Return Centre and Arafat Shoukri, chair of the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza .