Wheels within wheels...
On the news this morning, an Israeli officer wanted for alleged war crimes was allowed to escape arrest. This all happened back in September 2005, but for some reason made the news today... Why is anyone's guess.
Now, the BBC are usually pretty good when it comes to minimising the bias in their reporting of foreign affairs, but in this case they did show a little bit too much bias against the police.
See, this Israeli officer arrives in Britain for a visit, but is tipped off that he is going to be arrested and stays on the plane. Who tipped him off? The implication in the BBC report was that it was someone in the police and/or Home Office here. Personally, I doubt that. I seriously doubt whether any decision gets made by any "friendly" government without Mossad knowing about it - in fact, it would not surprise me if my google search just then (to check the spelling - one s or two) was logged by them. Israel reputedly have the best intelligence service in the world today!
The police here requested permission from El Al to board the flight and were refused. Now, they could have forced their way on board, but that would have required, at the very least, a Special Branch Anti-Terrorist unit. In fact it's the sort of job the SAS are really good at! But do we really want to commit an act of war against the sovereign territory of an ally? I'm not 100% sure on the finer points, but my understanding of international law is that a flag-carrying aircraft is considered to be the sovereign territory of the nation who's flag it carries. This is why there is a sign saying "Welcome to Britain" as you pass through the gate the other side of Passport Control at Heathrow! Until then, you aren't in the country.
The other option, the news report insisted, was to prevent the flight taking off again, and call in a hostage negotiator. Now, here I'm on shaky ground, but I imagine that to prevent a scheduled flight from leaving requires a significant amount of paperwork? The control tower needs to be informed, and given the correct authorisation. True, the aircraft could be prevented from taxiing, denied a runway, and denied permission to take off. However, look at this from the traffic controller's point of view.
His biggest concern is safety, and his is the MOST stressful job in the world. (By the way, I'm sure there are female ATCs, I'm using the male pronoun as generic). If a pilot wants to break the rules, there's absolutely nothing traffic control can do about it. If there was, 9/11 would not have happened! So, if that EL Al pilot was ordered by his superiors to go anyway, all Heathrow traffic control could do about it would be to make sure he got off the ground safely!
I don't think they make wheel-clamps for aeroplanes?
The question I would like answering is, why was a warrant for the man's arrest issued in the UK? He is allegedly wanted for war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza in 2002, but since when is that OUR problem? If the Palestinians want him they should apply for his extradition from Israel themselves, not get us to do their dirty work for them!
One other point was made by some "human rights activist" interviewed by the BBC. If the plane had been from some Arab country, we would not have hesitated to send in the SAS. Actually, he was half right. If the plane had been from an allied Arab country, we would most likely have let the same thing happen. It is, after all, all about politics!
Now, the BBC are usually pretty good when it comes to minimising the bias in their reporting of foreign affairs, but in this case they did show a little bit too much bias against the police.
See, this Israeli officer arrives in Britain for a visit, but is tipped off that he is going to be arrested and stays on the plane. Who tipped him off? The implication in the BBC report was that it was someone in the police and/or Home Office here. Personally, I doubt that. I seriously doubt whether any decision gets made by any "friendly" government without Mossad knowing about it - in fact, it would not surprise me if my google search just then (to check the spelling - one s or two) was logged by them. Israel reputedly have the best intelligence service in the world today!
The police here requested permission from El Al to board the flight and were refused. Now, they could have forced their way on board, but that would have required, at the very least, a Special Branch Anti-Terrorist unit. In fact it's the sort of job the SAS are really good at! But do we really want to commit an act of war against the sovereign territory of an ally? I'm not 100% sure on the finer points, but my understanding of international law is that a flag-carrying aircraft is considered to be the sovereign territory of the nation who's flag it carries. This is why there is a sign saying "Welcome to Britain" as you pass through the gate the other side of Passport Control at Heathrow! Until then, you aren't in the country.
The other option, the news report insisted, was to prevent the flight taking off again, and call in a hostage negotiator. Now, here I'm on shaky ground, but I imagine that to prevent a scheduled flight from leaving requires a significant amount of paperwork? The control tower needs to be informed, and given the correct authorisation. True, the aircraft could be prevented from taxiing, denied a runway, and denied permission to take off. However, look at this from the traffic controller's point of view.
His biggest concern is safety, and his is the MOST stressful job in the world. (By the way, I'm sure there are female ATCs, I'm using the male pronoun as generic). If a pilot wants to break the rules, there's absolutely nothing traffic control can do about it. If there was, 9/11 would not have happened! So, if that EL Al pilot was ordered by his superiors to go anyway, all Heathrow traffic control could do about it would be to make sure he got off the ground safely!
I don't think they make wheel-clamps for aeroplanes?
The question I would like answering is, why was a warrant for the man's arrest issued in the UK? He is allegedly wanted for war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza in 2002, but since when is that OUR problem? If the Palestinians want him they should apply for his extradition from Israel themselves, not get us to do their dirty work for them!
One other point was made by some "human rights activist" interviewed by the BBC. If the plane had been from some Arab country, we would not have hesitated to send in the SAS. Actually, he was half right. If the plane had been from an allied Arab country, we would most likely have let the same thing happen. It is, after all, all about politics!