This blog is a part of my body of research that seeks to analyse civil society's and academia's understanding of national security models from an academic perspective with a focus on Canada, Israel and the UK.
Mourners carry the body of 18-month-old Palestinian Ali Saad Daobasa, killed when his family house was set on fire in a suspected attack by Jewish extremists in the West Bank village of Duma, July 31, 2015. (Reuters)
There’s an organization responsible for more terrorism plots in the United States than al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab and ISIS combined: The FBI.
How? Why? In an eye-opening talk, investigative journalist Trevor Aaronson reveals a disturbing FBI practice that breeds terrorist plots by exploiting Muslim-Americans with mental health problems.
Enda Kenny has labelled those of us who have stood up to him over the last long years as 'freaks'. So this is dedicated to an Taoiseach Enda Kenny from the countless 'freaks' who are waiting to see him and his Labour party friends off at the earliest opportunity.
"Le Freak" is a successful 1978 disco song by the disco band Chic. It was the band's third single album and first Billboard Hot 100 and soul music number-one...
We have issued a statement in response to being named in recent news reports and in support of our team members. The full text is below.
Statement from Women in Toronto Politics on Online Harassment faced by Women in #TOpoli
In a city as large and as diverse as Toronto, fostering community both on and offline is key to building the city we want. In May 2012, we decided to carve out some safe space for ourselves and empower women to speak up about municipal issues by forming Women in Toronto Politics. We wanted to combat the fear countless women in #TOpoli have expressed to us - that speaking up online makes them targets for abuse. Through our collective, we hope to offer women a sense of security and protection. We know that women are safer in a group than on their own, and we try to provide some refuge from the threat of gendered insults and harassment that serves to silence women online and in their day-to-day lives.
WiTOpoli has continually demonstrated our commitment to supporting women and championing their voices. During the last municipal election, we started #thecityIwant campaign to galvanize support behind women candidates of colour who faced racism and misogyny on the campaign trail. Our community provides a platform to encourage and amplify women’s voices and challenge the forces that aim to silence them . Currently, the Crown is pursuing a case in which our Executive Director and one of our volunteers are key witnesses. As members of the WiTOpoli Operations Team and Steering Committee, we wish to publicly offer women experiencing harassment our unconditional support, and recognize the overwhelming challenges these women face as this case continues to play out in the public arena. Like many women who report harassment or abuse, our members have repeatedly been subjected to personal attacks online. As the media scrutiny surrounding this case increases, WiTOpoli continues to support our colleagues and friends. While increasing press coverage has provoked some users to send WiTOpoli hateful messages on social media, the vitriol directed at us collectively is nothing compared to the personal attacks our ED and volunteer have received. We are strong because we stand together. We stand as witnesses to these online attacks and we stand with all women who feel they have been effectively silenced.
Part of the reason this case has been the focus of such polarizing media attention is because it is one of the few cases in Canada that deals with behaviour in the online sphere. As an organization, our mission is to create a more inclusive civic discourse - one where all voices feel safe to speak up wherever conversations are taking place. In order to build a more equitable city, diverse voices need to feel they have a seat at the table. If women and other groups are hesitant to speak up for fear of being threatened, how can we start an inclusive conversation? We stand in solidarity with women everywhere who feel their voices have been silenced, quieted, or marginalized. Who fear their opinions are not valued and who fear the vicious attacks speaking up may drive their way. We believe in women, and ask that our supporters do too.
Later Monday morning, there will be an Arria-formula meeting on the situation in Gaza one year after the Israeli offensive "Operation Protective Edge". The quarterly open debate on Israel/Palestine will be held on Thursday and New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murray McCully, is expected to preside as president of the Council.
This week Council members may continue negotiating two draft resolutions on proposals for:
Other issues this week include briefings on UNAMI in Iraq and UNFICYP in Cyprus ahead of their respective mandate renewals later this month.
At the subsidiary-level, the Council's 1521 Liberia Sanctions Committee will meet on Tuesday to hear an update on the work of its Panel of Experts as well as receive a briefing from the Secretariat regarding the upcoming Secretary-General's report on arms, ammunition and border issues. On Thursday there will be a meeting of the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee ahead of the special meeting of the CTC on stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters to be held in Madrid on 28 July.
Finally, Council members will be closely following developments in Addis Ababa, where IGAD-Plus representatives are expected to convene to discuss the peace process in South Sudan.
Background information on these and other issues has been published in the July 2015 Monthly Forecast, also available in PDF. Further Council developments will be posted to What's In Blue.
Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press Today's issues: Rushing to profit from the Iran deal, the abysmal treatment of African asylum seekers, choosing between a signed agreement or no agreement, the Greek economic crisis, and of the State Comptroller's report on Israel's natural gas sector.
The Jerusalem Post notes: "The rapidity that Tehran is returning to vortex of the international business community tends to make the agreement seem like nothing more than a preamble to opening the gates of profit," and adds: "Iran, in other words, is shown that it can literally stick to its guns and its 'non-negotiable' genocidal plots against Israel, while the response from the rest of the world is an indulgence that triggers an unnerving impetuous competition in Europe and Asia for lucrative Iranian opportunities."
Haaretzcontends that the government feels that "African asylum seekers aren't human beings." The editor criticizes the government policy of deporting asylum seekers to Uganda and Rwanda, without having obtained clear guarantees of their safety and freedom in those countries, and asserts: "The right thing to do would be to enable the asylum seekers to live in dignity and freedom here in Israel as long as circumstances don't allow them to return to their homelands."
Yediot Aharonot discusses Prime Minister Netanyahu's efforts to muster the required majority in the US Congress against the agreement with Iran, and argues that "Netanyahu is not interested in any agreement with Iran, regardless of its content." The author, a former head of Mossad, says that Teheran was obliged to make considerable concessions, and notes that the agreement also details a "clear process giving a forum with a clear Western majority the possibility of restoring the sanctions." The author believes that "it's important to hold a profound debate in Israel on whether no agreement is preferable to an agreement which includes components that are crucial for Israel's security," and concludes: "There will be no other agreement and no other negotiations. What is better, a signed agreement or no agreement?"
Israel Hayom compares the Greek economic crisis to a similar crisis in Israel in 1985, and states that unlike 21st century Greece, the 1985 Israeli national unity government, "managed to stop Israel's nosedive, stabilized its economy and put Israel on solid economic footing." The author adds: "The economy recovered because of economic liberalization. By adopting free-market principles, the government managed to transform Israel's heavily centralized and planned economy." The author criticizes the Leftist MKs who "continue to advocate the same destructive populism that brought Greece to its knees," and is hopeful that more moderate and reasonable forces will prevail.
Globes discusses the publication of the State Comptroller's report on the subject of the natural gas sector, and states: "The State Comptroller correctly identified the weaknesses and defects, and criticizes (gently) those who need to be criticized. Beyond the soft criticisms and rebukes, however, he proposes no solution, no way out, or alternative scheme for escaping this depressing imbroglio."
[Efraim Halevy, Zalman Shoval and Amiram Barkat wrote today's articles in Yediot Aharonot, Yisrael Hayom and Globes, respectively.]
Gloria Steinem once said, Feminism is a reflection of the society from which it emerges.
I do believe that MI5 was understaffed to meet the challenges of post 9/11 threats to the security of the UK in the UK.
I do believe the ethnic, cultural and operational swing from the IRA to threats that were of various ethnic Muslim communities proved challenging to the service.
And I do believe it produced some less than favorable dynamics.
I am on the receiving end of one of their less than favorable dynamics.
I also believe the current Prime Minister's conceptualization and response to threats against the UK is a continuation of dynamics. Some of which I agree. Some of which I disagree.
It is a reason why there is a relatively new head of MI5.
And is the reason why some feminist organisations in London, England veered so heavily into the analysis of the UK's security model because the very vocal perception was that it was not working.
It is also the reason why I and some other London operating feminists for a time were being approached by men and women with an intense interest in the UK's security as it intersects with Israel's security.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33543352
Former agent: I was abandoned by MI5 after breakdown
A former MI5 spy has broken cover to give the BBC an unprecedented account of his life in service - and describe his anger at the way he was treated.
The agent, codenamed Robert Acott, said he spied for 18 years, mostly following Islamic and Irish terrorist suspects.
He told Newsnight MI5 pushed him out after he suffered symptoms of stress, later diagnosed as PTSD.
MI5 would not comment on the claims - but security sources said they felt his was only one side of the story.
In an interview with Newsnight, Acott says:
MI5 was completely unprepared for the Islamist terror threat and was so short-staffed during one major plot that it had to rely on British Transport Police to follow terrorist suspects
The agency had so few non-white officers that one team leader considered 'blacking-up' agents - this was tried on a training exercise
The agency had to undertake some surveillance operations because of suspicions of corruption and leaks within the police
He challenged senior managers when his team was tasked with looking at a suspected paedophile. Acott considered this beyond the agency's remit. The operation lasted several weeks, but he says he saw no evidence of child abuse
Acott, 46, was dismissed five years ago for misconduct after leaving an unmarked MI5 training manual in his garden shed. It was found by a member of the public and handed to police.
At the time he was sacked, Acott was suffering from panic attacks - and he has since been diagnosed as suffering from Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, brought on by the pressure of his career in the service.
Acott claims MI5 took an opportunity to get rid of him. "MI5 was my life," he says. "I would have done - within reason - anything for them."
Though former director-generals of MI5 such as Dame Stella Rimington and Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller have written about their time in the secret service, Acott's is the first account of life as a 'foot-soldier' in the dangerous and secretive world of counter-espionage.
Acott told Newsnight he was immensely proud to have been an MI5 surveillance officer - he was recruited from the Royal Navy by a senior officer.
He says he put himself in numerous dangerous situations because he believed in the work he was doing.
Media captionThe agent said MI5 was "totally understaffed" to meet the challenge after 9/11
But he admitted the pressure began to get to him after 9/11 when MI5 found itself completely unprepared for the Islamic terrorist threat. There was only one Muslim surveillance officer he was aware of in the whole of the surveillance unit.
"(MI5) was totally understaffed. We weren't used to dealing with the way they acted. The good thing about following Irish targets is the Active Service Units would generally meet in pubs you could go into.
"The Islamists would meet round each other's houses or in mosques which you can't get away with going into. Also, they were living in mostly ethnic areas and often you would find the only white people on the street were surveillance officers."
MI5 was blindsided by the July 7 attacks in 2005 and was stretched to breaking point when it helped foil the plot to detonate explosives on transatlantic airliners a year later.
"It was horrendous. We had around eight targets mostly based in Walthamstow, a couple in High Wycombe. It was 24 hours a day. It went on for quite some time," says Acott.
"With all of Special Branch, with all of MI5, there was just not enough people. CID became involved, British Transport police became involved. That's how desperate we'd become.
"If that airline job had gone as planned it would have eclipsed 9/11. It would have been horrendous."
Acott was in a team following the ringleader of the group, whose codename was Lion Roar. "He was the leader, he was the boss. He was in two minds about whether to martyr his wife and child as well as himself. Just before he was arrested, he took his wife and child with him to Mothercare. It seemed unbelievable to me that he could do that at the same time as he was thinking of killing so many people."
"They were making martyrdom videos. We had cameras hidden in the flat so we could see them videoing themselves."
Acott said following new suspects on the London underground became particularly stressful.
"The jobs I was really unhappy with was what they would call 'the first look up'. If they were a terrorist you had no idea at what stage they were at. I became particularly nervous of travelling on tubes with them."
"On one occasion this chap had shaved his head, which is a ritual they they go through. He was on the tube and was stood by the doors in the middle. I was at the end of the tube keeping an eye on him. I had been separated from my team.
"My body comms didn't work very well underground. I was on my own. I looked around. People were on phones, doing crosswords, a woman with a toddler trying to keep it under control. I started having a panic attack."
Media captionThe spy describes his first panic attack in the job
Acott says he travelled all over the world for MI5, following suspects out of the UK to Europe and the Middle East on a passport with a false identity.
He also went to Ireland to provide covert help to MI5 handlers who had meetings with IRA double agents.
Acott said the trips were undeclared to the Irish government and the surveillance teams would have been stranded had they been caught by republicans - or the Garda.
The surveillance on the suspected paedophile - codenamed Operation Saturday - caused him concern, he says, because he couldn't understand why MI5 was doing it.
"It involved extremely powerful, wealthy people. It was a very need to know job... We were given the scantest of briefings on it. All of a sudden the job stopped. I did actually question why were we doing paedophiles - it wasn't in our remit.
"The trouble with the police is they move from job to job. Special Branch only do it for three or four years. Then they go onto CID or some other job. There was a strong suspicion of corruption within the police, whereas MI5 was more highly trusted."
The operation ended after a few weeks - Acott says the target was using drugs and prostitutes, but he saw no signs of child abuse.
Acott says his health began to deteriorate in 2006. He began to have nightmares and panic attacks and he was drinking to help cope with the pressure.
"I know I was in a mess at the time. But the service didn't want to deal with that. Once they realised I had health problems, I think they just wanted rid of me.
Robert Acott has been diagnosed as having PTSD
"They went through the motions. I was definitely being bullied by my team leader and my junior team leader... They sent me to see a doctor. However the doctor wasn't there to help me as far as I could see. He was there to diagnose me as an alcoholic."
Acott was dismissed for gross misconduct over the file he had left in his garden shed. He told an MI5 tribunal the document was so dull he didn't believe it had any security status, but he was sacked.
The dismissal, he says, accelerated his health problems - he tried to commit suicide on at least three occasions. His parents, who have also spoken to the BBC, said they were convinced their son was suffering from PTSD, but a psychologist used by the service disagreed.
In a letter to his parents, MI5 said: "It is important to reiterate that this Department is not responsible for his health problems, nor do his problems stem from his time working here."
However, four doctors have now diagnosed him as suffering from PTSD - including clinicians from the military veterans' charity, Combat Stress.
Acott recently attended one of the charity's residential courses.
He told Newsnight he wants MI5 to admit it made a mistake when he was sacked. He also believes he is entitled to a medical pension.
Security sources insisted that MI5 has professional teams that support the physical and mental wellbeing of staff because of "the very particular nature of the work".
Sources said staff do come forward and that support teams are proactive "during difficult periods such as at a time of particular operational intensity or following the death of a colleague".
The full report with former MI5 agent Robert Acott was on Newsnight, on BBC Two at 10:30pm on Wednesday 15 July. You can also watch on iPlayer.
