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Midnight Express
From Yediot America
November 2, 2001
Note to those being referred to this article by one of several antisemitic, conspiracy-theory web sites:
Please notice that these sites have left out the following important passage: "The five denied
dancing. I presume the neighbor was not near them and
does not understand Hebrew. Furthermore, the neighbor
complained that the cheerful gang on the roof spoke
Arabic. As far as I understand it, that neighbor has had
previous problems with the company, and she could have
been waiting for an opportunity to avenge the owners." In other words, the one "witness" was not telling the truth.
Last Thursday we arrived at the detention facility of
the immigration authorities in Brooklyn. The
penitentiary stands in the heart of a blue-collar
neighborhood, next to a chewing gum factory which
spreads its sweet scent all around. Before we got used
to the smell, we were stopped in a blockade four
blocks from the jail. Two FBI agents wearing
bulletproof vests told us we couldn't proceed without
a permit. "But you can photograph the building from
any other direction, as long as you won't enter the
restricted area," they explained courteously.
Following their advice, we went to the back of the
building, where there was a police barrier and an empty
police car. The photographer started snapping his
camera but after 30 seconds about 20 FBI agents
appeared out of nowhere and with pointed guns ordered
us to surrender our equipment (a camera, a pen and a
notebook) and raise our hands. Traffic on the nearby
road was immediately stopped and drivers were diverted
to a side street. With our hands up and barrels
pointing at our necks, we were interrogated by the
officers on our actions. We didn't know whether to
laugh or cry. We came to the penitentiary writing an
article on the Israelis arrested a day after the
terrorist attack, and soon, we thought, we'll find
ourselves in the cell, next to them.
The story ended with the film's confiscation, a
warning not to return and an apology from the force's
commander. "You have to understand the situation we're
in," he told us and sent us on our way. If until then
we didn't fully comprehend how much the city changed
during the last couple of months, now we know.
Steven Gordon is the lawyer representing the five
detainees, held in Brooklyn. The five, Yaron Shmuel,
Oded Helmar, the brothers Paul and Sivan Kretzberg,
and a fifth man named Omer, were arrested in New York
a few hours after the disaster. They worked for the
Urban moving company; whose offices are located in
Hoboken, New Jersey. The company's offices closed down
following the arrests, and the owner, an Israeli named
Dominick, could not be located. Many versions of the
reasons leading to the arrests and the events
following them have been circulating in the last
weeks. Gordon's is the most complete and reliable one.
"On the day of the disaster, three of the five boys
went up on the roof of the building where the company
office is located," said Gordon. "I'm not sure if they
saw the twin towers collapse, but, in any event, they
photographed the ruins right afterwards. One of the
neighbors who saw them called the police and claimed
they were posing, dancing and laughing, against the
background of the burning towers. The five denied
dancing. I presume the neighbor was not near them and
does not understand Hebrew. Furthermore, the neighbor
complained that the cheerful gang on the roof spoke
Arabic. As far as I understand it, that neighbor has had
previous problems with the company, and she could have
been waiting for an opportunity to avenge the owners.
"Anyhow, the three left the roof, took an Urban
truck, and drove to a parking lot, located about
a five-minute drive from the offices. They parked, stood on
the roof of the truck to get a better view of the
destroyed towers and took photographs. A woman who was
in the building above the lot testified that she saw
them smiling and exchanging high-fives. She and
another neighbor called the police and reported on
Middle-Eastern looking people dancing on the truck.
They copied and reported the license plates.
"The five men then drove to Yaron's friend's place
in New Jersey. At around 2:30 p.m. they decided to go
to the Brooklyn apartment of Oded, Sivan and Paul. They
headed toward the George Washington Bridge, but, after
hearing radio reports about traffic jams and police
blockades at entrances to Manhattan, they decided to
return to the company's offices in Hoboken and spend
the night there. On their way, a policeman stopped
them, using the description provided by the neighbors.
FBI agents were summoned instantly and the five were
arrested.
The agents found a few items that raised their
suspicion. Yaron, who also has a German nationality,
had two passports, and $4,000 in cash were found in
the belongings of one of the men. Police were also
alarmed that none of the five were American. News
broadcasts reported that a truck full of explosives
was caught on its way to blow up the George Washington
Bridge. Photos of the Urban truck accompanied the
reports, which said there were five young men in the
truck, apparently terrorists, who were taken to an FBI
facility.
The five were taken to a police station near the
Meadowlands sports complex. Gordon said that the FBI
agents who questioned them understood after a few
hours of interrogation that the suspects had no
connection to the World Trade Center disaster and no
intention of blowing up a bridge. But during the
investigation, it was found the men had no work
permits and that some were staying in the United States
illegally. The agents called the Immigration and
Naturalization Services, which took responsibility for
the detainees.
The days turned into weeks, and the five are still
under arrest. Gordon said he did not understand why.
"The authorities know for certain they are not
involved in the attack. The simplest explanation is
the lack of manpower in the INS. I think the paperwork
in their case just didn't reach whoever should sign
the release . . . . It's not supposed to take 120
days, maybe 120 minutes. All the answers I got about
this issue were bull..... In the detention
facility, I was told they are not there, which is a
total lie. I have no sensible explanation for why they
are still arrested."
(Translated from Hebrew by Oren Yaniv)
(Read about how Yediot America covered the detentions
of hundreds of Israelis in America after September
11th)
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