| Revision as of 13:35, 29 July 2010 editDronkle (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers12,793 edits →Alleged Israeli espionage: Trimming out 911 etc← Previous edit | Revision as of 13:36, 29 July 2010 edit undoDronkle (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers12,793 edits →Israel warned CIA about possible al-Qaeda attack a month before September 11: blankign section - 911 is nothign to do with artNext edit → | ||
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| News outlets in the], specifically in ] and ], reported young people posing as Israeli students selling art in the region in the summer of 2000.<ref>Wilton, Suzanne, "Art-sales-scam ringleaders ordered to leave Canada", '']'', Vancouver, B.C.: Aug 7, 2004. pg. A.8.</ref><ref name="Seattle">{{cite news |url=http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4007381.html |title=Information On An Israeli Art Scam |publisher=] |date=August 30, 2006}}</ref> After it hit numerous facilities and private homes of staff members of the ] (DEA), a DEA officer suspected an espionage program. Both the DEA<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1387069/US-arrests-200-young-Israelis-in-spying-investigation.html |title=Telegraph.co.uk: US arrests 200 young Israelis in spying investigation | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | first=Ben | last=Fenton | date=March 7, 2002 | accessdate=April 25, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Sunday Herald">{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060423065411/http://ww1.sundayherald.com/37707|title=Sunday Herald (UK) via Internet Archive: Were they part of a massive spy ring which shadowed the 9/11 hijackers and knew that al-Qaeda planned a devastating terrorist attack on the USA?}}</ref> and the ]<ref name="NCIX">{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070124104741/http://www.ncix.gov/archives/nacic/news/2001/mar01.html |title=Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive: Suspicious Visitors to Federal Facilities (archived at Internet Archive}}</ref> released reports about the suspicious behavior of supposed Israeli art students. The latter distinguished between two possible groups. "One group has an apparently legitimate money-making goal while the second, perhaps a non-Israeli group, may have ties to a Middle Eastern Islamic fundamentalist group."<ref name=NCIX/> ] mentioned the story in a programme discussing allegations that Israeli agents had also penetrated military bases and other government offices in the United States.<ref>{{cite video | people = ] | date = December 11, 2001 | title = ] | medium = Television | publisher = ] | time = 2:10}}</ref> Several dozen Israelis in their 20s were deported for immigration offenses,<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2002/mar/06/internationaleducationnews.highereducation|title=Israeli student 'spy ring' revealed|publisher=]|date=March 6, 2002|accessdate=March 6, 2010 | location=London}}</ref> and two of these were found to be ] operatives by an ] counter-investigation.<ref name="Forward"/> The internal DEA report was leaked in 2002 which shaped much of the media's coverage.<ref name="Haaretz">{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=162902&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=162902 |title=Spies, or students? Were the Israelis just trying to sell their paintings, or agents in a massive espionage ring? |first=Nathan |last=Guttman |date=May 7, 2002 |publisher=]}}</ref> In March 2002, a ] spokesperson described allegations of spying as an "]".<ref name="Forward">{{cite news |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/5250/ |title=Espionage Ruled Out in Case of Bad Art |publisher=] |first=Seamus |last=McGraw}}</ref><ref name=Seattle1>{{cite news |url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020307&slug=notspies07 |title=U.S. officials dismiss report of Israeli spies |last=Mintz |first=John |coauthors=Dan Eggen |date=March 7, 2002 |work=Seattle Times |accessdate=October 18, 2008}}</ref> '']'' reportedly concluded that it lacked a suitable factual base to write a story while '']'' described the DEA memo as the work of one disgruntled employee.<ref name="Haaretz"/> In response, an article for ] said that the nature of the memo made its authorship irrelevant since the memo was a compilation of field reports by dozens of named agents and officials from DEA offices across America.<ref name="Ketcham2002">{{cite journal|last=Ketcham|first=Christopher|date=May 7, 2002|title=The Israeli "art student" mystery|journal=Salon.com|publisher=Salon Media Group|url=http://dir.salon.com/news/feature/2002/05/07/students/index.html|accessdate=July 26, 2010}}</ref> As with previous reports, Israel's response to the piece was that it was "nonsense."<ref name="Haaretz"/> | News outlets in the], specifically in ] and ], reported young people posing as Israeli students selling art in the region in the summer of 2000.<ref>Wilton, Suzanne, "Art-sales-scam ringleaders ordered to leave Canada", '']'', Vancouver, B.C.: Aug 7, 2004. pg. A.8.</ref><ref name="Seattle">{{cite news |url=http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4007381.html |title=Information On An Israeli Art Scam |publisher=] |date=August 30, 2006}}</ref> After it hit numerous facilities and private homes of staff members of the ] (DEA), a DEA officer suspected an espionage program. Both the DEA<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1387069/US-arrests-200-young-Israelis-in-spying-investigation.html |title=Telegraph.co.uk: US arrests 200 young Israelis in spying investigation | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | first=Ben | last=Fenton | date=March 7, 2002 | accessdate=April 25, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Sunday Herald">{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060423065411/http://ww1.sundayherald.com/37707|title=Sunday Herald (UK) via Internet Archive: Were they part of a massive spy ring which shadowed the 9/11 hijackers and knew that al-Qaeda planned a devastating terrorist attack on the USA?}}</ref> and the ]<ref name="NCIX">{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070124104741/http://www.ncix.gov/archives/nacic/news/2001/mar01.html |title=Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive: Suspicious Visitors to Federal Facilities (archived at Internet Archive}}</ref> released reports about the suspicious behavior of supposed Israeli art students. The latter distinguished between two possible groups. "One group has an apparently legitimate money-making goal while the second, perhaps a non-Israeli group, may have ties to a Middle Eastern Islamic fundamentalist group."<ref name=NCIX/> ] mentioned the story in a programme discussing allegations that Israeli agents had also penetrated military bases and other government offices in the United States.<ref>{{cite video | people = ] | date = December 11, 2001 | title = ] | medium = Television | publisher = ] | time = 2:10}}</ref> Several dozen Israelis in their 20s were deported for immigration offenses,<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2002/mar/06/internationaleducationnews.highereducation|title=Israeli student 'spy ring' revealed|publisher=]|date=March 6, 2002|accessdate=March 6, 2010 | location=London}}</ref> and two of these were found to be ] operatives by an ] counter-investigation.<ref name="Forward"/> The internal DEA report was leaked in 2002 which shaped much of the media's coverage.<ref name="Haaretz">{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=162902&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=162902 |title=Spies, or students? Were the Israelis just trying to sell their paintings, or agents in a massive espionage ring? |first=Nathan |last=Guttman |date=May 7, 2002 |publisher=]}}</ref> In March 2002, a ] spokesperson described allegations of spying as an "]".<ref name="Forward">{{cite news |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/5250/ |title=Espionage Ruled Out in Case of Bad Art |publisher=] |first=Seamus |last=McGraw}}</ref><ref name=Seattle1>{{cite news |url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020307&slug=notspies07 |title=U.S. officials dismiss report of Israeli spies |last=Mintz |first=John |coauthors=Dan Eggen |date=March 7, 2002 |work=Seattle Times |accessdate=October 18, 2008}}</ref> '']'' reportedly concluded that it lacked a suitable factual base to write a story while '']'' described the DEA memo as the work of one disgruntled employee.<ref name="Haaretz"/> In response, an article for ] said that the nature of the memo made its authorship irrelevant since the memo was a compilation of field reports by dozens of named agents and officials from DEA offices across America.<ref name="Ketcham2002">{{cite journal|last=Ketcham|first=Christopher|date=May 7, 2002|title=The Israeli "art student" mystery|journal=Salon.com|publisher=Salon Media Group|url=http://dir.salon.com/news/feature/2002/05/07/students/index.html|accessdate=July 26, 2010}}</ref> As with previous reports, Israel's response to the piece was that it was "nonsense."<ref name="Haaretz"/> | ||
| ==Israel warned CIA about possible al-Qaeda attack a month before September 11== | |||
| According to ] newspaper ] that uncovered the story behind alleged Israeli spy ring, Israeli agents were followed some, at least 4, of September 11 hijackers, including its leader ]. Apparently Israeli agents did not such good of a job because American counterparts noticed their activities, and deported them out of the country much before the attack of September 11.<ref name=BBC1>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/2294487.stm|title=Report details US 'intelligence failures'|last=Broomby|first=Rob |date= 2 October, 2002 |publisher=] |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref> | |||
| Alleged Israeli spy agents worked in USA between December 2000 and April 2001 before they were deported.<ref name="Der Spiegel">{{cite news |url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2002/derspiegel100102.html|title=Mossad Agents Were On Atta's Tail|last=Gebauer|first=Matthias |date= 2 October, 2002 |publisher=] |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref> <ref name="Der Spiegel1">{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,216421,00.html|title=Mossad-Agenten waren Atta auf der Spur|last=Gebauer|first=Matthias |date= 2 October, 2002 |publisher=] |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref> | |||
| About a month before the attack on Aug. 23, 2001 Mossad contacted ], and provided them with the list of 19 hijackers.<ref name="BBC1"/><ref name="Die Zeit">{{cite news |url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2002/diezeit100102.html|title=Deadly Mistakes|author = Oliver Schröm |date= 1 October, 2002 |publisher=] |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref> | |||
| Before they were deported the Israelis had not yet found out about the specific plan for the Sept. 11 attacks, but the list they gave to CIA a month before the attack contained such names as Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi, both of whom later sat in the airplane that crashed into the Pentagon in Washington. Israelis warned CIA that 19 persons named in their list were potential terrorists who "were planning attacks in the United States" <ref name="Der Spiegel"/><ref name="Der Spiegel1"/> | |||
| Even before ''Die Zeit'' on May 17, 2002 ] also reported that: {{cquote|Based on its own intelligence, the Israeli government provided "general" information to the United States in the second week of August that an Al Qaeda attack was imminent.<ref name="Fox News truth">{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53065,00.html|title=Clues Alerted White House to Potential Attacks|author = ] |date= May 17, 2002 |publisher=] |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref>}} | |||
| UK News-] published an article "Israel issued urgent warning of large-scale terror attacks" that says nothing about Israeli spies, but does say about the warning:{{cquote|ISRAELI intelligence officials say that they warned their counterparts in the United States last month that large-scale terrorist attacks on highly visible targets on the American mainland were imminent. The Telegraph has learnt that two senior experts with Mossad, the Israeli military intelligence service, were sent to Washington in August to alert the CIA and FBI to the existence of a cell of as many of 200 terrorists said to be preparing a big operation. <ref name="Telegraph truth">{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,53065,00.html|title=Israeli security issued urgent warning to CIA of large-scale terror attacks|author = David Wastell in Washington and Philip Jacobson in Jerusalem |date= 16 Sep 2001|publisher=] |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref>}} | |||
| == References == | == References == | ||
Revision as of 13:36, 29 July 2010
The art student scam is a confidence trick in which young people pretend to be art students and try to sell overpriced artwork claimed to be of their own production. The scam is international in nature, with instances reported of Chinese, French, Israeli, and other nationalities pretending to be art students and the scam being reported in Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand, and the United States.
Variants
A variant of this scam has been reported in various countries at least since 2001. In this way, the art is sold door-to-door, approaching the marks in their homes without the need for sham exhibition sites or art stores.
China
In a Chinese version of the scam, scammers approach tourists at popular attractions such as the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. The scammer speaks English well enough to get into a conversation with the foreigner. The scammer claims to be an art student whose works are on display at a nearby exhibition which is part of the scam and sells mass-produced art reproductions at exorbitant prices. There are warnings about this scam in tourist guides.
Alleged Israeli espionage
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News outlets in thePacific Northwest, specifically in Seattle and Vancouver, reported young people posing as Israeli students selling art in the region in the summer of 2000. After it hit numerous facilities and private homes of staff members of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), a DEA officer suspected an espionage program. Both the DEA and the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive released reports about the suspicious behavior of supposed Israeli art students. The latter distinguished between two possible groups. "One group has an apparently legitimate money-making goal while the second, perhaps a non-Israeli group, may have ties to a Middle Eastern Islamic fundamentalist group." Fox News Channel mentioned the story in a programme discussing allegations that Israeli agents had also penetrated military bases and other government offices in the United States. Several dozen Israelis in their 20s were deported for immigration offenses, and two of these were found to be Mossad operatives by an FBI counter-investigation. The internal DEA report was leaked in 2002 which shaped much of the media's coverage. In March 2002, a Justice Department spokesperson described allegations of spying as an "urban myth". The New York Times reportedly concluded that it lacked a suitable factual base to write a story while The Washington Post described the DEA memo as the work of one disgruntled employee. In response, an article for Salon.com said that the nature of the memo made its authorship irrelevant since the memo was a compilation of field reports by dozens of named agents and officials from DEA offices across America. As with previous reports, Israel's response to the piece was that it was "nonsense."
References
- ^ Sarah Moyes and Michelle Robinson (March 5, 2010). "Warning on art scam". East And Bays Courier.
- "Foreign students caught up in fake art scam". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. April 18, 2008.
- Gandia, Renato (August 19, 2009). ""Israeli art scam" preying on people's kindness". Calgary Sun.
- "Oil painting scam hits the Border". Border Mail. April 22, 2009.
- Dye, Stuart (February 4, 2004). "Brush with law reveals art scam". NZ Herald.
Coulter, Narelle (January 18, 2006). "Door slammed on 'original' art scam". Star News Group.
Feek, Belinda (January 19, 2010). "Warnings out over art scam". Waikato Times. - "The famous art show ripoff in Tiananmen Square was recently cleaned up for the Olympics. This was a pretty funny one, where English-speaking 'art students' would strike up conversation with overseas visitors and tell them they happen to be in town for an art show across the street. The show was closing today when I first heard the spiel in 2006, it was closing today when I returned to Beijing in 2007, but the pre-Olympics cleanup really seems to have closed the collection of knockoff art." . See also .
- Frommer's China, Wiley, ISBN 978-0-470-52658-3, p. 140. "You should also be leery of any English-speaking youngsters who claim to be art students and offer to take you to a special exhibit of their work. The art, which you will be pressured to buy, almost always consists of assembly-line reproductions of famous (or not-so-famous) paintings offered at prices several dozen times higher than their actual value."
- China Tourism Scams
- Wilton, Suzanne, "Art-sales-scam ringleaders ordered to leave Canada", Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, B.C.: Aug 7, 2004. pg. A.8.
- "Information On An Israeli Art Scam". Komo News. August 30, 2006.
- Fenton, Ben (March 7, 2002). "Telegraph.co.uk: US arrests 200 young Israelis in spying investigation". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- "Sunday Herald (UK) via Internet Archive: Were they part of a massive spy ring which shadowed the 9/11 hijackers and knew that al-Qaeda planned a devastating terrorist attack on the USA?".
- ^ "Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive: Suspicious Visitors to Federal Facilities (archived at Internet Archive".
- Carl Cameron (December 11, 2001). Special Report with Brit Hume (Television). Fox News Channel. Event occurs at 2:10.
- "Israeli student 'spy ring' revealed". London: The Guardian. March 6, 2002. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
- ^ McGraw, Seamus. "Espionage Ruled Out in Case of Bad Art". The Forward.
- ^ Guttman, Nathan (May 7, 2002). "Spies, or students? Were the Israelis just trying to sell their paintings, or agents in a massive espionage ring?". Haaretz.
- Mintz, John (March 7, 2002). "U.S. officials dismiss report of Israeli spies". Seattle Times. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Ketcham, Christopher (May 7, 2002). "The Israeli "art student" mystery". Salon.com. Salon Media Group. Retrieved July 26, 2010.