275 Italian Bishop blames Jewish lobby for attacks on Pope - Times Online

Italian Bishop blames Jewish lobby for attacks on Pope - Times Online

(1) Italian Bishop blames Jewish lobby for attacks on Pope - Times Online
(2) IDF order will enable mass deportation from West Bank
(3) Passbook rule in West Bank as in apartheid South Africa - Arab News editorial
(4) Syrian President Assad denounces new rules as "ethnic cleansing"
(5) Israel's army denies that it plans mass expulsions of Palestinians in West Bank
(6) Israeli-Arab singer cancels Independence Day appearance
(7) Netanyahu pulls out of Nuclear conference to avoid attention on Israel's nukes
(8) Britain expels Mossad agent over forged passports in Dubai assassination
(9) Gag order on Haaretz journalist who exposed targeted killings
(10) Israeli journalist held under House Arrest for exposing secret documents

(1) Italian Bishop blames Jewish lobby for attacks on Pope - Times Online

From: Josef Schwanzer <donauschwob@optusnet.com.au>  Date: 13.04.2010 04:23 AM

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7095471.ece

April 12, 2010

Bishop Giacomo Babini blames Jews for attacks on Pope

A retired Italian bishop has provoked fury by reportedly suggesting that "Zionists" are behind the current storm of accusations over clerical sex abuse shaking the Vatican and the Catholic Church.

Monsignor Giacomo Babini, the Bishop Emeritus of Grossetto, was quoted by the Italian Roman Catholic website Pontifex as saying he believed a "Zionist attack" was behind the criticism of the Pope, given that it was "powerful and refined" in nature.

Bishop Babini denied he had made any anti-Semitic remarks. He was backed by the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI), which issued a declaration by Bishop Babini in which he said: "Statements I have never made about our Jewish brothers have been attributed to me."

However, Bruno Volpe, who interviewed Monsignor Babini for Pontifex, confirmed that the bishop had made the statement, which was reported widely in the Italian press today. Pontifex threatened to release the audio tape of the interview as proof.

Monsignor Babini's reported comments follow a series of statements from senior Vatican cardinals blaming a "concerted campaign" by "powerful lobbies" for accusations that Pope Benedict XVI was involved in covering up cases of clerical abuse both as Archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982 and subsequently as head of doctrine at the Vatican.

None has explicitly blamed Jews or any other group. However Bishop Babini, 81, said Jews "do not want the Church, they are its natural enemies". He added: "Deep down, historically speaking, the Jews are deicides [God killers]."

He was quoted as saying that Hitler was "not just mad" but had exploited German anger over the excesses of German Jews who in the 1930s had throttled the German economy.

Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee said Monsignor Babini was using "slanderous stereotypes, which sadly evoke the worst Christian and Nazi propaganda prior to World War Two".

Giovanni Maria Vian, the Editor of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said there was a media campaign against the Pope but suggestions that Jews were behind it were ridiculous.

Speaking to the foreign press corps in Rome, Mr Vian pointed out that L'Osservatore Romano had reprinted remarks made in the Jerusalem Post by Ed Koch, the Jewish former mayor of New York, in which he said that continuing attacks by the media on the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Benedict XVI were "manifestations of anti-Catholicism".

Mr Koch said that he disagreed with the Catholic Church on abortion, homosexuality, divorce and contraception. But the Church had a right to hold such beliefs, and "much of the attack on it today stems from opposition to those teachings".

He added: "Many of those in the media who are pounding on the Church and the Pope today clearly do it with delight and some with malice.

"I believe the Roman Catholic Church is a force for good in the world, not evil. Enough is enough.

"Yes, terrible acts were committed by members of the Catholic clergy. The Church has paid billions to victims in the US and will pay millions, perhaps billions, more to other such victims around the world. It is trying desperately to atone for its past by its admissions and changes in procedures for dealing with paedophile priests."

There were Jewish protests at Easter when Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the papal household, compared attacks on the Pope to the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism" in his Good Friday reflections before Pope Benedict in the Vatican.

The Vatican later said the Pope had not been aware in advance of Father Cantalamessa's remarks, which did not represent the Vatican's views.

Today Mr Vian said Father Cantalamessa's observations had been innocent in intention, though whether it had been prudent to make them in the current climate was another matter.

Pope Benedict, who visited the Rome synagogue in January, has sought to mend Catholic-Jewish relations since last year, when he offended Jewish groups by rehabilitating Bishop Richard Williamson, an excommunicated ultra-conservative prelate who denies that six million Jews died in the Holocaust.

The Pope said he was unaware of Bishop Williamson's views and demanded that he rescind them.

However, the pontiff has also angered Jewish leaders with his continuing support for the beatification of Pope Pius XII, the wartime Pope who is charged by critics with having turned a blind eye to the Holocaust. Beatification is the step before sainthood.

On Friday Benedict watched a preview of a forthcoming programme to be shown by RAI, the state broadcaster, which praises Pius XII for his role in helping to save Jews behind the scenes in wartime Rome, and is said by aides to have expressed his approval.

(2) IDF order will enable mass deportation from West Bank

From: adibsk <adibsk@cyberia.net.lb> Date: 13.04.2010 05:13 PM

By Amira Hass

Last update - 14:29 11/04/2010

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1162075.html

A new military order aimed at preventing infiltration will come into force this week, enabling the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, or their indictment on charges carrying prison terms of up to seven years.

When the order comes into effect, tens of thousands of Palestinians will automatically become criminal offenders liable to be severely punished.

Given the security authorities' actions over the past decade, the first Palestinians likely to be targeted under the new rules will be those whose ID cards bear home addresses in the Gaza Strip - people born in Gaza and their West Bank-born children - or those born in the West Bank or abroad who for various reasons lost their residency status. Also likely to be targeted are foreign-born spouses of Palestinians.

Until now, Israeli civil courts have occasionally prevented the expulsion of these three groups from the West Bank. The new order, however, puts them under the sole jurisdiction of Israeli military courts.

The new order defines anyone who enters the West Bank illegally as an infiltrator, as well as "a person who is present in the area and does not lawfully hold a permit." The order takes the original 1969 definition of infiltrator to the extreme, as the term originally applied only to those illegally staying in Israel after having passed through countries then classified as enemy states - Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.

The order's language is both general and ambiguous, stipulating that the term infiltrator will also be applied to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, citizens of countries with which Israel has friendly ties (such as the United States) and Israeli citizens, whether Arab or Jewish. All this depends on the judgment of Israel Defense Forces commanders in the field.

The Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual was the first Israeli human rights to issue warnings against the order, signed six months ago by then-commander of IDF forces in Judea and Samaria Area Gadi Shamni.

Two weeks ago, Hamoked director Dalia Kerstein sent GOC Central Command Avi Mizrahi a request to delay the order, given "the dramatic change it causes in relation to the human rights of a tremendous number of people."

According to the provisions, "a person is presumed to be an infiltrator if he is present in the area without a document or permit which attest to his lawful presence in the area without reasonable justification." Such documentation, it says, must be "issued by the commander of IDF forces in the Judea and Samaria area or someone acting on his behalf."

The instructions, however, are unclear over whether the permits referred to are those currently in force, or also refer to new permits that military commanders might issue in the future. The provision are also unclear about the status of bearers of West Bank residency cards, and disregards the existence of the Palestinian Authority and the agreements Israel signed with it and the PLO.

The order stipulates that if a commander discovers that an infiltrator has recently entered a given area, he "may order his deportation before 72 hours elapse from the time he is served the written deportation order, provided the infiltrator is deported to the country or area from whence he infiltrated."

The order also allows for criminal proceedings against suspected infiltrators that could produce sentences of up to seven years. Individuals able to prove that they entered the West Bank legally but without permission to remain there will also be tried, on charges carrying a maximum sentence of three years. (According to current Israeli law, illegal residents typically receive one-year sentences.)

The new provision also allow the IDF commander in the area to require that the infiltrator pay for the cost of his own detention, custody and expulsion, up to a total of NIS 7,500.

The fear that Palestinians with Gaza addresses will be the first to be targeted by this order is based on measures that Israel has taken in recent years to curtail their right to live, work, study or even visit the West Bank. These measures violated the Oslo Accords.

According to a decision by the West Bank commander that was not backed by military legislation, since 2007, Palestinians with Gaza addresses must request a permit to stay in the West Bank. Since 2000, they have been defined as illegal sojourners if they have Gaza addresses, as if they were citizens of a foreign state. Many of them have been deported to Gaza, including those born in the West Bank.

Currently, Palestinians need special permits to enter areas near the separation fence, even if their homes are there, and Palestinians have long been barred from the Jordan Valley without special authorization. Until 2009, East Jerusalemites needed permission to enter Area A, territory under full PA control. ...

(3) Passbook rule in West Bank as in apartheid South Africa - Arab News editorial

http://arabnews.com/opinion/editorial/article42387.ece

Sly maneuver

EDITORIAL

Apr 12, 2010 21:37

The Israeli Army's plan to deport tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank is both inhuman and illegal.

It is also highly provocative and could reignite the intifada. This, of course, would suit the Netanyahu government very well, since once more, even the indirect peace talks with the Palestinians would be back on hold and Israel could protest yet again that its security was threatened by "terrorist violence."

How much longer is the international community going to sit by and allow the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, the economic blockade of Gaza and the subjugation of the already wretched Palestinian population? This latest enormity by the Israeli authorities involves a deft adjustment to an existing military order drawn up in 1969 which empowers the army to expel what it is pleased to call "infiltrators."

A new definition of "infiltrator" will embrace anyone living in the West Bank who has not been issued with a permit by the Israeli authorities.

Potentially tens of thousands of Palestinians could fall victim to this sly maneuver, splitting families and further disrupting what passes for economic life in the occupied West Bank.

Introducing a layer of judicial oversight to the deportation process is merely a smoke screen to cover the blatant illegality of the whole procedure. The military is already empowered to throw a Palestinian out of Palestine within 72 hours, hardly time enough to mount a proper legal appeal.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, is entirely right when he drew the comparison with the apartheid regime in white-run South Africa. There if a person did not have the necessary passbook, he/she was expelled even from their ancestral lands. Even though Israel had extensive clandestine relations, particularly military, with the white South African regime, it publicly condemned the enormity of apartheid. Now it is embracing it with open arms.

This latest contemptible move is unlikely to play well in the Obama White House. It may indeed be a signal that relations between the president and Netanyahu are even more strained than was at first appreciated. Washington simply has to take a stand on this. Whatever Israel's security concerns, there can be no grounds for what is little short of ethnic cleansing. Obama needs to understand that Israel simply does not want peace, because ever since its creation in 1948, this state has survived on a war footing.

Zionists around the world pour money into Israel so it can maintain what it calls its defensive posture. American aid and technology underpin a relatively small and fragile economy. Lasting peace based on a just settlement for the Palestinians, therefore, holds unknown risks for the Israelis. They understand aggression. They do not understand peace.

So once again, an Israeli government is poking the Palestinian beehive, hoping for an angry swarm to react, which it can then swat with its vastly greater firepower.

But maybe this time they have gone too far. How can it ever be said that Palestinians have entered their own land illegally? The real illegal infiltrators in the West Bank are actually the Israelis.

(4) Syrian President Assad denounces new rules as "ethnic cleansing"

Arabs slam Israel's West Bank expulsion rule

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10638066

By Albert Aji

8:42 AM Tuesday Apr 13, 2010

Palestinians demonstrators run away from tear gas smoke fired by Israeli soldiers during clashes in the West Bank last week. Photo / AP

DAMASCUS, Syria - The Arab League and Syria have slammed new Israeli military orders that Israeli human rights groups have warned could lead to the expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank.

Syrian President Bashar Assad denounced the new rules as an attempt at "ethnic cleansing," while Arab League chief Amr Moussa said contacts are under way among Arab officials on possible countermeasures.

Under the new rules, which are to take effect on Tuesday, anyone caught in the West Bank without an Israeli permit could face expulsion within days or be sentenced to up to seven years in prison. ...

(5) Israel's army denies that it plans mass expulsions of Palestinians in West Bank

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g_ptD5sOJAuCA0MjZ-a-KQFt14qw

Israel military denies West Bank expulsions policy

(AFP) – April 12, 2010

JERUSALEM — Israel's army denied on Monday that it plans to carry out mass expulsions of Palestinians living in the West Bank after a new military policy entered into force.

The policy "will make it possible to better defend those those affected by an order of repatriation because it envisages the creation of a legal commission which such people may call upon," a military official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the order would "affect very few people" as it was meant for people who were staying in the occupied West Bank illegally. ...

The Israeli military can issue its own orders in the West Bank, but these can be overturned by the government or by Israeli courts.

(6) Israeli-Arab singer cancels Independence Day appearance

From: Kristoffer Larsson <kristoffer.larsson@sobernet.nu> Date: 13.04.2010 02:18 PM

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/04/11/1011513/israeli-arab-singer-cancels-independence-day-appearance

April 11, 2010

LONDON (JTA) -- Israeli-Arab singer Mira Awad canceled her appearance at a concert in London for Israel Independence Day.

Awad said she cancelled the appearance with Jewish Israeli singer Achinoam Nini in the concert sponsored by the Zionist Federation due to "the complexity of this date for me." Awad represented Israel at the last Eurovision Song Contest with Nini, who is known as Noa. The duo performs internationally to packed audiences, promoting a unique message of peace and co-existence.

The Zionist Federation, which has organized annual Israel Independence Day events in Britain for many years, invited the pair to headline the show and celebrate the diversity of Israel's population, of whom almost 20 percent are Arabs.

But on Friday the Zionist Federation announced that Awad had to cancel her London concert, and that Noa will perform on her own. ...

(7) Netanyahu pulls out of Nuclear conference to avoid attention on Israel's nukes

Canceled Netanyahu trip spotlights Israel nukes

Israel's decision to avoid a U.S. nuclear conference reveals tensions surrounding the issue

BY STEVEN GUTKIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

April 9, 2010

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hah_mnNlEdL2F05h25Ib2pRBctegD9EVO6B80

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to abruptly cancel a trip to a nuclear conference in Washington spotlighted a key sore point Friday in international nonproliferation efforts: Israel's own atomic weapons.

The Jewish state wants to help lead the charge against allowing nuclear weapons to end up in undesirable hands, even when nobody doubts that Israel itself possesses them. ...

An Israeli official said Friday that Netanyahu called off his trip after his government received word that participants at next week's conference would "push an Israel-bashing agenda." He and other officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the government's reluctance to allow its members to speak publicly about nuclear-related issues.

Israel's official policy of "nuclear ambiguity" — neither confirming nor denying that it has nuclear weapons — has long been a cornerstone of its military deterrence. But officials and experts from various countries, in addition to one well-known Israeli whistle-blower, have all said the truth is not ambiguous at all: That Israel has dozens, perhaps hundreds, of nuclear bombs.

Muslim countries have long complained of a double standard when the West asks them to stay nuclear-free while turning a blind eye to Israel's program. Many Israelis see atomic weapons as their ultimate defense against annihilation in a hostile Middle East.

Netanyahu's announcement earlier in the week that he would be at the summit, which is supposed to focus on how to prevent terrorists from getting nuclear materials, would have made him the first Israeli prime minister to attend an international nuclear forum.

The announcement raised some eyebrows at home, with some wondering why Netanyahu would attend a meeting where the words "Israel" and "nuclear" would inevitably be uttered in the same breath.

Two ministers who asked not to be named said they had warned Netanyahu against going because of the potential for unwanted attention on Israel's nuclear program. But they said the Israeli leader insisted on going anyway because of his desire to share his expertise on nuclear terrorism — a topic about which he has spoken and written extensively. ...

(8) Britain expels Mossad agent over forged passports in Dubai assassination

From: WVNS <ummyakoub@yahoo.com>Date: 13.04.2010 07:19 PM

Britain expels Mossad agent over forged passport plot

Police investigation finds Israel forged documents used by Dubai hit squad in killing of Hamas leader

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor

Tuesday 23 March 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/23/israel-mossad-agent-expelled-passport

Britain expelled a senior Mossad official at the Israeli embassy today after directly accusing Israel of forging British passports used by a hit squad in Dubai.

The blunt allegation, coupled with parallel investigations by other European countries into possible transgressions by the Mossad, seemed certain to deepen Israel's isolation at a critical moment. It coincided with a visit by Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to Washington aimed at soothing US anger over Jewish settlement building in Jerusalem.

David Miliband, the foreign secretary, laid out the case against Israel in parliament, saying a police investigation found "compelling reasons" to believe Israel was responsible for the copying of British passports, which were used by the killers of a Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. He said the documents "were copied from genuine British passports when handed over for inspection to individuals linked to Israel, either in Israel or in other countries".

The name of the official was not published. British officials said the diplomat had been asked to leave because of their position at the embassy and was not being accused of direct involvement in the falsification of British passports. The Guardian understands the official is a senior Mossad agent.

"They'd handed over their passports to officials': Julian Borger on Britain expelling Israeli diplomat over forged passports plot

Tonight the Foreign Office warned British travellers to try to avoid entrusting their passports to Israeli officials.British sources said there was evidence that the 12 British victims of stolen identity had had their passports temporarily taken away either by Israeli immigration officers or other officials. Clones of those passports were subsequently used by some of the large team sent to kill Mabhouh.

"They found no link to any other country," Miliband said.

Without mentioning the Mossad by name, he added that "the government judges it is highly likely that the forgeries were made by a state intelligence service".He said British investigators had interviewed all the passport holders affected, who hold dual British-Israeli citizenship, and "found no evidence to suggest any of those individuals were anything other than innocent victims of identify theft".

British officials stressed that the findings by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) were focused on the abuse of British documents rather than the assassination in January, which they stressed was a matter for the United Arab Emirates, and they said that the evidence uncovered so far was circumstantial. However, the government decided it was strong enough to take action.Police in Dubai have already said they are "99% certain" the Mossad was behind Mabhouh's killing, and Miliband's remarks represented the first official endorsement of that view by a western government. Ireland, France and Germany are all investigating use of their passports.

Miliband said that he had handed his counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, a letter seeking assurances that Israel would never again "misuse" British passports. Israel gave similar assurances following an incident in 1986.

The allegations and retaliatory measures taken by Britain seemed certain to weaken Netanyahu's hand as he met Barack Obama and
Congress to fend off US anger at Israel's settlement-building. British
officials said the timing of the foreign secretary's statement to the
House of Commons was coincidental, and dictated by the completion of the Soca enquiry, not by global politics.

"Such misuse of British passports is intolerable," Miliband said. "It presents a hazard for the safety of British nationals in the region. It also represents a profound disregard for the sovereignty of the United Kingdom. The fact that this was done by a country which is a friend, with significant diplomatic, cultural, business and personal ties to the UK, only adds insult to injury. No country or government could stand by in such a situation.

"The Israeli response was also uncertain. Miliband said yesterday that there was no justification for Israeli retaliation, and after Miliband's statement to parliament, the Israeli ambassador, Ron
Prosor, said: "It is now our intention to strengthen the firm foundations of our relationship, which is vital for both our countries."

(9) Gag order on Haaretz journalist who exposed targeted killings

From: Max <Max@mailstar.net> Date: 09.04.2010 07:51 PM

Gag order on Anat Kamm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anat_Kamm

Anat Kamm (born 1987) is an Israeli journalist who most recently worked for Walla!, an internet news portal owned, until recently, by Haaretz. She was secretly put under house arrest in December 2009 by the Shin Bet for allegedly leaking classified documents from the IDF, suggesting the military had defied a court ruling against assassinating wanted militants in the Palestinian territories who otherwise might be arrested safely[1][2][3][4][5][6]. The Israeli police secured a gag order prohibiting Israeli media from reporting on Kamm's arrest and the reasons for it. They could not even report the existence of the gag order itself.

In 2008, Uri Blau of Haaretz published a report[7] based on these documents which showed that the IDF senior command planned and executed targeted killings of three terrorist leaders, that violated an earlier 2006 ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court limiting the circumstances in which such a tactic could be used.[8]

During Kamm's military service, she worked in the office of the head of Israeli Central Command, Major General Yair Naveh, one of the officers referred to in the Haaretz report.

Despite the fact that numerous foreign media outlets have reported on the case and her identity, there was an almost ironclad gag within the mainstream media. No newspaper has published her name though many have published reports criticizing the authorities for imposing the gag and preventing them from telling their readers about this major story. The first overseas reporting on the case[9] came in the Tikun Olam blog, which collaborated with Israeli bloggers and journalists to bring the story into the public consciousness.

The gag order was removed on April 8. On April 14th, Kamm's trial is scheduled to begin unless her attorneys arrive at a plea bargain with the prosecution.

Though the prosecution originally sought the gag order, in this case Kamm and her attorneys felt it was in her interest to honor it as well. She has exerted great pressure on her supporters not to publicize her arrest or the charges against her. She successfully got Hebrew Wikipedia to remove the article about her[10], which raised controversy both within the Hebrew Wikipedia community and among free speech and free press advocates within Israel and abroad.

The case raises profound questions about the balance between national security and press scrutiny. Advocates for human rights and democracy both within Israel and outside are closely monitoring the case. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders issued a statement saying that "Defence of national security is a legitimate objective but censorship must not be used to prevent the Israel Defence Forces from being held responsible if they broke the law."[11]

(10) Israeli journalist held under House Arrest for exposing secret documents

From: Dr. Gunther Kümel <sapere--aude@web.de> Date: 07.04.2010 04:58 AM

Israeli Journalist Held Under Secret House Arrest

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18508

April 5, 2010
Ma'an News Agency - 2010-03-27

New York - Ma'an - An Israeli journalist has been held secretly under house arrest for months, sources confirmed this week, amid allegations she obtained and leaked classified military information to an Israeli newspaper.

Israel's Shin Bet intelligence service has banned news media from mentioning the case or identifying the reporter, Anat Kam, 23, who former colleagues say worked for the Israeli news site Walla! until her arrest last December.

A group of Israeli journalists will challenge the ban in court on 12 April, 48 hours before Kam goes on trial for espionage and treason. Prosecutors will claim she copied at least two classified military documents during her mandatory army service years earlier. These two documents are believed to have inspired a 2008 investigation by Haaretz reporter Uri Blau detailing Israeli army assassination procedures.

Most of the Israeli journalists who contacted Ma'an said they believed Israel's intelligence community wanted to make an example of Kam in an effort to dissuade others from exposing secret documents in the future. But knowledgeable Israeli sources have also said Blau could be the real target. "This is bigger than you think," said one source who remains in contact with the Haaretz reporter. "They're really after him."

Blau's report alleged that the Israeli military has repeatedly violated a 2006 ruling by the High Court of Justice against certain types of "targeted assassinations," predominantly those in which a non-combatant was killed. Some killings were planned more than a month in advance and were later excused as arrest raids gone wrong, according to the story in Haaretz Magazine that republished sensitive documents.

A year after the story's publication, Israeli authorities seized Blau's computer, Ma'an has learned. Blau, who happened to be in China at the time, remains abroad. Colleagues say he fears arrest if he returns to the country. Blau did not respond to inquiries about his present location, although his colleagues say he is somewhere in the United Kingdom. His latest story's dateline is London.

'Hundreds of Documents'

How Blau convinced Israel's military censor to approve the story is a matter of debate in journalistic circles. Colleagues believe his report was longer than the one Haaretz ultimately published in November 2008, and that its approval came after Blau agreed to remove certain allegations.

Some say it was approved only when the censor became aware of hundreds of other highly classified documents -- allegedly provided by Kam -- proving the assassinations story was just the tip of the iceberg. Giving the okay to one part of the story, these sources claim, put the damper on more damaging elements.

While Kam's ongoing detention is well-known to local and foreign journalists based in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, no Mideast-based news organization has independently reported on the issue until now. Despite criticism that the newspaper has remained notably silent, Haaretz has fought the order in court. It also submitted reports on the Kam case to the censor's office, which rejected them outright.

Another Israeli newspaper, Ma'ariv, has published ambiguous references to the case. One came in a January op-ed about a non-existent country that secretly jails journalists, asking its confused subscribers whether that country should still be considered a democracy. Another reference appeared as a satirical correction. "Due to a gag order, we can't tell you what we know. Due to laziness, indifference, and misplaced trust in the defense establishment, we don't know anything," the Hebrew-language daily explained Friday.

No side in the case has officially confirmed involvement, a point of concern noted by press freedom groups. Israel's military did not return calls seeking comment, nor did a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose office approved the publication ban.

Haaretz has not confirmed that Kam was Blau's source. Speaking with Ron Kampeas of the Jewish Telegraph Agency, Haaretz editor-in-chief Dov Alfon called allegations the two journalists collaborated on the assassinations story "absurd." "More than a year passed between the publication and her arrest, a year in which Uri Blau published several other front-page articles criticizing the army's conduct," he said.

Kam has also denied involvement. Her lawyers did not return calls seeking comment, but one of them, Eitan Lehman, told Donald Macintyre of the London-based newspaper The Independent that his client was doing her utmost to abide by the terms of the publication ban. Lehman said the leaks were coming from "the other side and not from us," and has stated that the defense did not seek the gag order.

Cracks in the publication ban's effectiveness began to appear this spring, when Israeli journalists leaked the news to bloggers. Richard Silverstein's Tikun Olam blog in the US brought the story to light in English, while the JTA filed its report from Washington, DC on Sunday. Israel's own state broadcaster, IBA, let the story slip through in Arabic, although it was quoting JTA as a foreign source.

Macintyre became the first foreign correspondent to report the story from Jerusalem late Tuesday. The move was significant because most international reporters, including those with foreign agencies and newspapers, also sign an agreement with the censor before they are granted Israeli press credentials. Based in the Palestinian territories, Ma'an is neither a party to this agreement nor bound by the gag order.