From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: June 23, 2007 7:50:23 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Big Bucks in the "Antiterrorism" Military-Industrial
Complex / Becoming USrael
Political chaos means Israel's economy is booming like it's 1999 --
and the boom is in defence exports, field-tested on Palestinians
by Naomi Klein; The Guardian
http://www.just-international.org/article.cfm?newsid=20002319
Gaza in the hands of Hamas, with masked militants sitting in the
president's chair;
the West Bank on the edge; Israeli army camps hastily assembled in
the Golan Heights;
a spy satellite over Iran and Syria; war with Hizbullah a hair
trigger away;
a scandal-plagued political class facing a total loss of public
faith. At a glance,
things aren't going well for Israel.
But here's a puzzle: why, in the midst of such chaos and carnage,
is the Israeli
economy booming like it's 1999, with a roaring stock market and
growth rates nearing China's?
Thomas Friedman recently offered his theory in the New York Times.
Israel
"nurtures and rewards individual imagination", and so its people
are constantly
spawning ingenious hi-tech start-ups, no matter what messes their
politicians are
making. After perusing class projects by students in engineering
and computer science
at Ben-Gurion University, Friedman made one of his famous fake-
sense pronouncements.
Israel "had discovered oil". This oil, apparently, is located in
the minds of
Israel's "young innovators and venture capitalists", who are too
busy making
megadeals with Google to be held back by politics.
Here's another theory. Israel's economy isn't booming despite the
political chaos
that devours the headlines but because of it. This phase of
development dates back
to the mid-90s, when the country was in the vanguard of the
information revolution
- the most tech-dependent economy in the world. After the dotcom
bubble burst in 2000,
Israel's economy was devastated, facing its worst year since 1953.
Then came 9/11, and suddenly new profit vistas opened up for any
company that claimed
it could spot terrorists in crowds, seal borders from attack, and
extract confessions
from closed-mouthed prisoners.
Within three years, large parts of Israel's tech economy had been
radically repurposed.
Put in Friedmanesque terms, Israel went from inventing the
networking tools of the
"flat world" to selling fences to an apartheid planet. Many of the
country's most
successful entrepreneurs are using Israel's status as a fortressed
state, surrounded
by furious enemies, as a kind of 24-hour-a-day showroom, a living
example of how to
enjoy relative safety amid constant war. And the reason Israel is
now enjoying
supergrowth is that those companies are busily exporting that model
to the world.
Discussions of Israel's military trade usually focus on the flow of
weapons into
the country -- US-made Caterpillar bulldozers used to destroy homes
in the West Bank,
and British companies supplying parts for F-16s. Overlooked is
Israel's huge and
expanding EXPORT business. Israel now sends $1.2bn in "defence"
products to the
United States -- up dramatically from $270m in 1999. In 2006,
Israel exported $3.4bn
in defence products -- a billion more than it received in American
military aid.
That makes Israel the fourth largest arms dealer in the world,
overtaking Britain.
Much of this growth has been in the so-called "homeland security"
sector.
Before 9/11 homeland security barely existed as an industry. By the
end of this year,
Israeli exports in the sector will reach $1.2bn, an increase of
20%. The key products
and services are hi-tech fences, unmanned drones, biometric IDs,
video and audio
surveillance gear, air passenger profiling and prisoner
interrogation systems --
precisely the tools and technologies Israel has used to lock in the
occupied territories.
And that is why the chaos in Gaza and the rest of the region
doesn't threaten the
bottom line in Tel Aviv -- it will boost it. Israel has learned to
turn endless
war into a brand asset, pitching its uprooting, occupation and
containment of the
Palestinian people as a half-century head start in the "global war
on terror".
It's no coincidence that the class projects at Ben-Gurion that so
impressed Friedman
have names like Innovative Covariance Matrix for Point Target
Detection in Hyperspectral
Images, and Algorithms for Obstacle Detection and Avoidance. Thirty
homeland security
companies have been launched in Israel during the past six months
alone, thanks in
large part to lavish government subsidies that have transformed the
Israeli army
and the country's universities into incubators for security and
weapons start-ups -
something to keep in mind in the debates about the academic boycott.
Next week, the most established of these companies will travel to
Europe for the
Paris Air Show, the arms industry's equivalent of Fashion Week. One
of the Israeli
companies exhibiting is Suspect Detection Systems (SDS), which will
be showcasing
its Cogito1002, a white, sci-fi-looking security kiosk that asks
air travellers to
answer a series of computer-generated questions, tailored to their
country of origin,
while they hold their hand on a "biofeedback" sensor. The device
reads the body's
reactions to the questions, and certain responses flag the
passenger as "suspect".
Like hundreds of other Israeli security start-ups, SDS boasts that
it was founded
by veterans of Israel's secret police and that its products were
road-tested on
Palestinians. Not only has the company tried out the biofeedback
terminals at a West
Bank checkpoint, it claims the "concept is supported and enhanced
by knowledge
acquired and assimilated from the analysis of thousands of case
studies related
to suicide bombers in Israel".
Another star of the Paris Air Show will be Israeli defence giant
Elbit, which
plans to showcase its Hermes 450 and 900 unmanned air vehicles. As
recently as last month,
according to press reports, Israel used the drones on bombing
missions in Gaza.
Once tested in the territories, they are exported abroad: the
Hermes has already
been used at the Arizona-Mexico border; Cogito1002 terminals are
being auditioned at an unnamed American airport; and Elbit -- also
one of the companies behind Israel's "security barrier" -- has set
up a deal with Boeing to construct the Department of Homeland
Security's $2.5bn "virtual" border fence around the US.
Since Israel began its policy of sealing off the occupied
territories with checkpoints
and walls, human rights activists have often compared Gaza and the
West Bank to open-air
prisons. But in researching the explosion of Israel's homeland
security sector, a topic
explored in greater detail in my forthcoming book, it strikes me
that they are something
else too: laboratories where the terrifying tools of our security
states are being
field-tested. Palestinians -- whether living in the West Bank or
what the Israeli
politicians call Hamastan - are no longer just targets. They are
guinea pigs.
So in a way Friedman is right, Israel has struck oil. The oil is
the war on terror,
the state of constant fear that creates a bottomless global demand
for "security"
devices that watch, listen, contain and target "suspects". And
fear, it turns out,
is the ultimate renewable resource.
· Naomi Klein's new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster
Capitalism, will
be published later this year by Picador; a version of this article
appears in
the Nation, www.thenation.com and www.nologo.org.
------------------------
Major General Doron Almog,
Founder of Athlone Global Security,
Honoured By Israel for His Work
Investigating Lebanon/Israel Conflict
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/
story/06-22-2007/0004613591&EDATE=
WASHINGTON, June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Athlone Global Security
Inc., a
unique investment group that invests in Israeli homeland security
companies
helping them establish new markets for their products in the U.S. and
Europe, announced today that Israel has named its founder and co-
chairman
-- Major- General Doron Almog (Res.) -- a "Knight of Quality
Government
2007." The title, bestowed on General Almog in the military and
security
category, is one of Israel's highest honours.
Major-General Almog received this award for his life of work for
Israel, including recently heading the Israeli investigation
committee of
the Hezbollah kidnapping of two reserve unit soldiers which ignited
the
Israeli/ Lebanon conflict last July, 2006. The Lebanese Shiite
Muslim group
Hezbollah infiltrated the Israeli border in capturing two Israeli
soldiers,
in what Prime Minister Olmert called an "act of war." Almog's
report was
highly critical of senior officials including the former military
chief of
staff, who resigned in the aftermath of the report.
The Israeli government bestowed the prestigious award to Major
General
Almog "in recognition and gratitude for his unique contribution,
both in
his military service and his civil life, to the defense of the weak
and the
hopeless and to the strength of Israel's quality of government and
society"
saying he "demonstrated courage, decisiveness and integrity and did
not
evade tough personal conclusions towards those responsible. He
courageously
stated his opinions in total honesty, and Israel has graciously
valued the
General's view." This award is also in acknowledgement of the
General's
great success in preventing terrorists infiltrating Israel from
Gaza during
his command.
Major-General (Res.) Almog served 35 active years (1969-2004)
in the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He served in all command roles from
platoon
commander to brigade commander in the prestigious Para brigade, and
participated in numerous combat and special clandestine operations. In
1976, he participated in the Entebbe rescue operation as a
commander of the
Para-Commander unit. In 1983-1985, General Almog participated in
operations that brought approximately 6,000 Jews from Ethiopia to
Israel,
their new home. In 1996, General Almog was appointed head of the IDF's
Doctrine and Training Division, where he pioneered strategy-defining
doctrinal seminars and a simulation system. In 2000-2003, he served
as head
of the IDF's Southern Command, which succeeded in preventing all
attempts
to breach the security barrier surrounding the Gaza Strip, and was
also
honoured by the International Organization for Standardization for
exceptional management.
General Almog founded Athlone Global Security in Israel in
2005, and
has assembled a world renowned team of security technology experts. He
played an integral role in bringing Athlone to the U.S. market. He was
instrumental in the development of a strategic partnership with the
Chesapeake Innovation Center, a Washington, D.C. area homeland
security
company incubator co- sponsored by the National Security
Association and
some large U.S. security technology integrators.
Since Athlone's inception, General Almog and his team have
successfully
secured Athlone's first six portfolio investments in unique,
promising Israeli
HLS technology-product companies including market leading names
such as
DefenSoft Planning Systems, EMZA Visual Systems, Icaros, and PerSay
Voice Biometrics.
Besides General Almog, Athlone's Israel based team includes:
-- Arik Nir, also served in the Israeli military and Israeli
security
agency then in upper management of private sector security
and defence
businesses in Israel;
-- Moshe Horev, who headed the Israel Ministry of Defense R&D
Division,
headed the Avionics and Armament Division and the Guided
Weapon system
program office of the Israeli Air force. He is currently the
CEO of
Oracle Systems Israel Ltd.
-- Ephraim Halevy, former director of Mossad and Chairman of
the National
Security Council of Israel and special advisor to the Prime
Minister on
National security.
-- Yaron Rosenboim, former Managing Partner of Concord Funds, a
leading
Israel based Venture Capital firm.
ABOUT ATHLONE GLOBAL SECURITY, INC.
A pioneer in the homeland security venture marketplace, Athlone
Global
Security Inc. (Athlone) invests in emerging growth companies
specializing
in imperative homeland security solutions. The company seeks early
stage
homeland security companies, currently located in Israel, because
of the
breadth and sophistication of the homeland security expertise in that
country. Athlone has a team and infrastructure established in Tel
Aviv. It
also is located at the Chesapeake Innovation Centre in Annapolis,
MD and
Toronto, Canada.
For more information, http://www.athloneglobalsecurity.com
For more information, please contact:
Gordon Hawke
Athlone Global Security, Inc.
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
---------------------
ROCKLAND [New York] ANTI-TERROR
POLICE UNIT IS TRAINING IN ISRAEL
By Steve Lieberman
The Journal News, June 23, 2007)
http://www.nynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070623/
NEWS03/706230367
NEW CITY - Five Rockland police officers flew off to Israel
yesterday to learn
about anti-terrorism planning.
When it comes to fighting terrorism, the officers figured they were
about
to learn from the best.
"This is an outstanding opportunity to train with people who have a
lot more
concern about terrorism on a daily basis than we do," South Nyack-
Grand View
Police Officer Brent Newbury said.
"Israelis live 24/7 under high security."
And the Rockland officers will share what they learn during the
next two
weeks with about two dozen other members of the county's anti-
terrorism response
team. Chosen for the training in Israel with Newbury, 39, were
Sheriff's Officer
John Murphy, 33; Haverstraw Officer John Smith, 49; Orangetown
Officer Chris
Strattner, 37; and Sheriff's Lt. Andrew Esposito, 42, a unit
commander.
Yesterday morning in front of the county office building, the
officers got
a send-off from more than a dozen elected and police officials.
The officers are members of the Regional Entry and Counter-
Terrorism team,
a SWAT team of 31 officers from seven departments - Orangetown, the
Sheriff's
Department, Haverstraw town, Stony Point, Suffern, Piermont and
South Nyack-Grand View.
The Rockland Police Chiefs Association created the unit in 2003 so
those
departments could share a response team.
The Clarkstown and Spring Valley Police departments have their own
units.
REACT also came in response to the growing concern about terrorism
striking
the New York City suburbs after the attacks on the World Trade
Center on
Sept. 11, 2001. Rockland is considered a secondary target for
terrorism,
giving the county's proximity to New York City, its diverse
population,
power plants and the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Training and vigilance remain important, police and elected
officials said yesterday.
A REACT team went to Israel in 2003, said Orangetown Police Chief
Kevin Nulty,
who advocated the countywide unit.
"When it comes to securing malls and other places, they take
nothing for granted,"
Nulty said of the Israelis. "We're far more vulnerable. We're
always hearing
people give doomsday scenarios, but we have to become a little more
proactive."
Esposito said the REACT team received a historical lecture on
Israel's perspective
on life in the Middle East from Shimon Pepper of the Rockland
Jewish Federation.
Israeli police, military and security forces have been involved in
anti-terrorism
efforts for nearly six decades. Part of the Rockland officers'
training will
involve visiting sites hit by suicide bombers and viewing security
at malls,
historic sites and government buildings.
"We're looking for training on how to deter terrorism," Esposito
said. "They deal
with terrorists every day. We can learn a lot and fit what we learn
into our needs."
The cost of the trip, which ends July 1, totals $18,500, said
county Legislator
David Fried, D-Spring Valley. Fried is going with the team but is
paying his own way.
The officers were chosen based on their roles as unit team leaders
and other skills.
Strattner, 37, is a paramedic as well as a police officer. He has
been with
Orangetown for six years after five years with the Westchester
County police.
"There is no better teacher than experience," he said. "We're going
to see how
Israel handles homeland security. My mission is to be able to
provide high level
of medical care in a hostile area."
And the officers also will see how Israeli citizens respond to the
strict
security measures.
Several years ago, an Israeli security official visiting Rockland
outlined security
devices and armed guards at malls and how other businesses also
employed armed
security officers.
"I am interested in seeing the cultural differences with respect to
how people
react to the security measures there, compared to here," Newbury said.
Esposito said the REACT goal is to be prepared.
"We will learn a lot and hopefully never have to use any of it
here," Esposito said.
Another advantage of sending officers to Israel for anti-terrorism
training is
that the issue will be ingrained in them, Nulty said.
"A lot of our REACT guys are our young leaders for tomorrow," Nulty
said. "They
will be sergeants and lieutenants and higher. And it will be good
to have them
thinking along these lines. Terrorism wasn't my focus when I was a
sergeant
and lieutenant. Times have changed."
Pepper, who gave the officers the briefing on Israel's history,
said he gave
each officer a dollar bill as part of a tradition for safe travel.
"You shall go in peace, and you should return in peace," Pepper
told the officers.
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