LCCC NEWS
BULLETIN
JULY 25/2006
News From the Daily Star
for July 25/2006
General speculates on what 'surprises' resistance has in store for Jewish state
Hizbullah fighters defend key Southern town
Cairo, Riyadh seek quick cease-fire asWashington
stalls
Rice delivers Israel's conditions for truce
UN launches appeal for $150 million to help displaced
Double amputee falls victim to Israelis for second time
Jewish state scales back expectations of easy victory
Saudi envoy calls for cease-fire
'Good Samaritan' survives attack after rescuing wounded
War damages Lebanon's image with ratings agencies
Salameh has plan for dollars to be 'brought in by sea'
Consumers prepare for lengthy war by emptying store shelves
Most of Israel's targets in Lebanon serve none of its stated goals
Exhibition looks back on Beirut's violent past, now made cruelly present
Lebanese don't have much faith in Rice's show of 'support'
Don't tie Lebanon down with a solution in Palestine-By
Chibli Mallat
How to see common ground amid the Lebanese violence -By
Juliette Schmidt
When bombs stir a Shiite political revival -By
Augustus Richard Norton
News from miscellaneous
sources for 24/07/06
UN may send envoys to Syria and Iran for talks on Lebanon-Ha'aretz
Lebanese Refugees Flock to Syria-Asharq
Alawsat
Is Syria Panicking?Yahoo! News - USA
Blair sees Lebanon plan emerging in days-Reuters.uk
- UK
America fails to address Lebanon's key players-Telegraph.co.uk
LEBANON: Egeland says situation "deteriorating by the day"-Reuters
Solana: Lebanon peacekeeping force a 'real possibility-Irish
Examiner
War shows 'weakness' of Beirut government-Independent
Online
Back home, Sfeir calls assembly of Maronite bishops-Indian
Catholic
Fighting the Wars of Others-FOX News - USA
Rice meets with Lebanon PM in Beirut-AP
Rice Makes Surprise Visit to Beirut-New York Times
Israel Strikes Hezbollah Bases, Advances in Lebanon -Bloomberg
FACTBOX-Evacuation of foreigners from Lebanon-Reuters
Rice: Poor Syria Relationship Overstated-ABC
News
UN team may go to Syria, Iran for talks on Lebanon-Reuters
Rice urges ceasefire but Lebanon battles rage on-Reuters South Africa
Canada sending ship for south Lebanon rescue-Globe
and Mail
6,700 Canadians evacuated from Lebanon-People's Daily Online
Will Lebanon-Israel conflict go on escalating?People's Daily Onlin
Heavy Israeli-Hizbollah fighting in south Lebanon-Reuters
Olmert backs joint EU-Arab force for south Lebanon-Ha'aretz
IDF expanding presence in south Lebanon-Ha'aretz -
US open to deployment of peacekeeping force on Lebanon-People's Daily Online
Israel captures two Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon-Euronews.net
Israel rules out ceasefire plan-Unison.ie
OIC may meet on Lebanon crisis-INQ7.net
South Lebanon caught in cross-fire-Reuters.uk
IDF moves more troops into south Lebanon-Ha'aretz
More foreigners leave Lebanon, operations wind down-Washington Post
SYRIA: Workers return home from Lebanon-Reuters
International force needed in Lebanon: Peres-SABC News
IDF: Syria, Iran want to escalate Lebanon crisis-Jerusalem Post
Arabs pressuring Syria to cut Hezbollah support-FrontPage magazine.com
Syria wants dialogue with US on Mideast peace-Financial Times
Saudi Arabia seeks Lebanon ceasefire in meeting with Bush, Rice-CBC News
Rice hints at openness to work with Syria-Houston Chronicle
Syria will intervene if Israeli troop approach-People's Daily Online
Ottawa denies it's sending ship to south Lebanon to rescue -Canada.com
Israel faces fierce battles with Hezbollah-AP
IDF to tighten grip on south Lebanon-Ynetnews
Bolton defends Israel's actions in Lebanon-CNN International - USA
Lebanon evacuees pour into Cyprus and Turkey-Reuters.uk - UK
Can Syria really rein in Hizbullah?-Christian
Science Monitor
Lean on Hezbollah, Syria told-News24
- South Africa
Syria warns against ground incursion-Jerusalem
Post - Israel
Lebanon offensive 'to last weeks-Daily
Telegraph
Israeli Forces Push Deeper in Lebanon-New York Times
Canada sending ship for south
Lebanon rescue
Announcement late Sunday ends day of conflicting reports
LES PERREAUX
Canadian Press
BEIRUT — Canada is sending a ship to the most dangerous hot spot in south
Lebanon to rescue up to 1,000 stranded Canadians, the Foreign Affairs Department
announced late Sunday, ending a day marked by conflicting government reports
over the possibly risky mission.
“On Wednesday July 26, 2006, the Government of Canada will be undertaking an
evacuation of Canadians citizens in Southern Lebanon,” said a travel advisory
posted in the government website late Sunday.
“A ship, which can carry up to 1,000 passengers, has been chartered by the
Government of Canada and is expected to arrive in the port of Tyre between 9 am
and 10 am local time,” the advisory said.
The announcement put an end to a series of conflicting reports that started with
Canada's Ambassador to Lebanon, Louis de Lorimier, telling reporters in Beirut
that a chartered ship would be sent Monday to Tyre, the most dangerous hot spot
in the south of the country, to rescue Canadians stranded in the heavy
bombardment by Israeli forces. Canadian tourist Maya Zein holds her son Rafi, 14 months old, both from
Montreal, after leaving buses prior to boarding a ship to evacuate them from
Beirut in Lebanon on Sunday, July 23, 2006. (Ben Curtis/AP)
That was quickly contradicted by the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa saying
the ambassador's statement had been “premature” and that no ship would be
dispatched on Monday.
Dan Dugas, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, would not
discuss details of any rescue operation.
“As the minister has stated repeatedly, there is a plan to get Canadians out of
the south, but we don't talk about details because of security considerations.
The safety of Canadians is paramount,” Mr. Dugas said early Sunday.
Attempts to confirm the latest report with Foreign Affairs officials were not
successful.
Earlier, Mr. de Lorimier said officials had no idea how many Canadians might be
hiding from the steady bombardment in the area. He called the mission “extremely
dangerous.”
“It's extremely difficult to answer that [numbers] question, we think there
could be a lot but I can't give you a figure,” Mr. de Lorimier said in Beirut.
“The combats there were so violent it seems obvious to us that a lot of people
tried to flee. We don't know how many people are still there. We want to make
sure we have the capacity to help those people.”
Mr. de Lorimier would not say what arrangements were made with Israeli or
Hezbollah forces to ensure safe passage.
“We're going to a place that is extremely dangerous right now and I don't want
to discuss operational considerations,” he said.
The European Union, however, is sending a ship to Tyre. UN forces in the area
were expected to help organize and provide security for the evacuation.
Meanwhile, big ships bolstered Canada's effort to ramp up the evacuation from
Lebanon on Sunday with 2,415 Canadians setting sail. In all, five Canadian
evacuation ships were used, two large ones and three smaller vessels.
Two of the ships, carrying about 1,330 evacuees arrived at the Cypriot port of
Larnaca early Monday. A third one carrying 832 people, most of them Canadians,
was expected to arrive later.
More than 6,500 Canadians have been evacuated since work began last week, nearly
one-third of them on Sunday alone.
Mr. de Lorimier said the boost shows the Canadian evacuation team, including
diplomats and soldiers, is hitting full stride. But the pace comes nearly two
weeks after the conflict began and as other countries like the United States and
Britain are winding down their operations.
At Canada's evacuation centre in a borrowed dance hall adjacent to Beirut's
port, hundreds of exhausted people sat quietly eating snacks and waiting for
their turn to board a boat Sunday afternoon.
Around them, children used seat cushions for pillow fights and chased each other
across the floor.
By sundown, the hall was empty.
“It shows our effort is now fully operational,” Mr. de Lorimier said.
As the first ship with about 1,100 people pulled out of port Sunday, explosions
rumbled far in the distance, knocking out power to nearby neighbourhoods.
People waiting at the processing centre were told to expect a journey of up to
72 hours before they set foot in Canada.Some evacuees said they were terrified when Israel first launched its massive
military offensive July 12 after Hezbollah guerrillas crossed the border and
captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a firefight.
Many quickly learned to take it in stride, remembering their experience in
Lebanon's years of civil war.
While southern Lebanon and some suburbs of Beirut have been the scene of heavy
bombardment, explosions elsewhere have been much more sporadic.
“People at home are more scared there than us,” said Ola Zeitoun who was
vacationing with her fiancée. Her parents were waiting anxiously for her in
Montreal.
“They feel that everything is huge, that all the people are dying. It's true
there is a lot of damage but it's not as big as that.”
Ms. Zeitoun's family in Lebanon have lost homes and a bakery to bombing.
Many evacuees had been waiting since the fighting began to leave, but initial
anger and frustration has given way to resigned patience as they stand in line
and sit around for hours.“It's a bit slow, but we're a lot [of people],” Ms. Zeitoun said. “It's good
that they're taking us.”
The evacuees waiting Sunday said they spent most of the past week staying
indoors and watching television news to find out what was happening.
“I wasn't sitting in the basement, but we didn't go out much,” said Nadim
Boustany of Montreal. “Where we were living it's not that bad but it's tense,
tense everywhere. There's no cash, no cash flow. Everyone is worried they're
going to shut the gas soon. We weren't under the bombs, but we could see them
and hear them.”
Canadians comprise Lebanon's largest foreign community, estimated at more than
40,000. It was not clear how many would attempt to get out of the country,
although most estimates have been in the tens of thousands.“Let's not play the mathematics game here,” Mr. de Lorimier said.
“We have figures of upwards of 40,000, but it doesn't mean they all want to go.
We're not ordering people to go. This is a personal decision.”
Mr. de Lorimier said evacuation efforts will continue until every Canadian who
wants to leave is out of Lebanon.
Rice makes surprise visit to Beirut
Secretary of State meets with Lebanese officials ahead of Israel stop
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:49 a.m. ET July 24, 2006
SIDON, Lebanon - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced
visit to Beirut on Monday in a show of support for that country's weakened
democracy, which is struggling to contain the fighting between the Hezbollah
militia and Israel.
Rice met with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who greeted her with a kiss
on both cheeks. Rice told him, "Thank you for your courage and steadfastness."
Saniora told Rice he was glad to have her in Lebanon, adding that his government
is looking to "put an end to the war that is being inflicted on Lebanon."He and
other Lebanese officials are expected to push Rice to call for an immediate
cease-fire, something the Bush administration has resisted.
Rice's visit, her third to Lebanon, is intended to make a show of support and
concern for both the Saniora government and the Lebanese people, administration
officials said. She also plans to talk with Lebanese leaders about how the
central government can gain control of the entire country.
"We all want to urgently end the fighting. We have absolutely the same goal,"
Rice told reporters traveling with her.
She is also seeking more humanitarian aid for Lebanon, and is expected to
announce additional U.S. financial aid. But her mission took a dramatic turn
with her surprise arrival here under stringent security.
Seeks a `cessation of hostilities'
Under heavy guard, Rice flew over the Mediterranean from Cyprus. As Rice's
motorcade sped through Beirut on the way to her meeting with Saniora, aides said
the idea to stop in Lebanon was Rice's. R. Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary
of state for political affairs, said Monday that Rice will seek to use "our
influence to see if there can be a cessation of hostilities." However, he told
CBS' "The Early Show," any cease-fire would have to be long-lasting and involve
a removal of Hezbollah rockets on the Israeli-Lebanese border and a return of
Israeli soldiers taken captive.
En route to the region, Rice discussed the role of Syria, which the U.S.
considers one of the world's state sponsors of terror. In recent weeks, the Bush
administration has blamed it, along with Iran, for stoking the recent violence
in the Middle East by encouraging the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to attack
northern Israel. Rice pointed out that there are existing channels for talking
with Syrian leaders about resolving the Mideast crisis when they're ready to
talk.
"The problem isn't that people haven't talked to the Syrians. It's that the
Syrians haven't acted," she said. "I think this is simply just a kind of false
hobby horse that somehow it's because we don't talk to the Syrians. "It's not as
if we don't have diplomatic relations," she said. "We do."
The U.S. ambassador to Damascus was recalled last year after the assassination
of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Syrian officials have been
blamed for the murder, which Damascus denies.
U.S. seeks to re-engage Syria?
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are working to entice Syria to end support for Hezbollah,
a move that is central to resolving the conflict in Lebanon and unhitching
Damascus from its alliance with Iran, the Shiite Muslim guerrillas' other main
backer.
Arab diplomats in Cairo said the United States had signaled a willingness to
re-engage Syria through Washington's encouragement of the Egyptians and Saudis
to lean on Damascus to stop backing Hezbollah. In a brazen raid into Israel on
July 12, Hezbollah killed eight and captured two Israeli soldiers, provoking
Israel's biggest military campaign against Lebanon in 24 years. The fighting has
left hundreds of civilians dead, mostly in Lebanon.
Rice and President Bush have resisted pressure for an immediate cease-fire,
saying that any peace agreement must come with right conditions to ensure that
it is sustainable. They particularly want to see an agreement that would help
Lebanon control its entire territory, including the southern third that is
dominated by Hezbollah.
Arabic for "Party of God," Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party with its
own militia. Funded by Iran, Syria and other individual donors around the globe,
it fills gaps left by Lebanon's weak government and provides the bulk of the
health care, schools and other social services in southern Lebanon.
The government and the militia
Yet Rice said any cease fire agreement would have to be signed by Lebanon, not
Hezbollah.
"If there is a cessation of hostilities, the government of Lebanon is going to
have to be the party," she said. "Let's treat the government of Lebanon as the
sovereign government that it is."Rice has tried to walk delicately between
supporting the democratic government of Lebanon, while also not dictating to its
ally Israel how it should handle its own security. Her posture has frustrated
numerous allies. Rice plans stops in Israel and then to Rome, where she will
join a high-level conference of key players of the Middle East and the
international community to focus on the political underpinnings of a potential
cease fire. She's also focused on humanitarian aid for Lebanon.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13990500/
Rice visits Lebanon
Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:48 AM ET
By Sue Pleming
BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced
visit to Beirut on Monday to seek a "sustainable" ceasefire in Lebanon, where
Hizbollah guerrillas and Israeli forces are fighting in the south.
Rice met Prime Minister Fouad Siniora after her heavily guarded motorcade sped
through Beirut from the U.S. embassy to the north where her helicopter had
landed from Cyprus."Thank you for your courage and steadfastness," she told
Siniora, who has repeatedly pleaded for an immediate ceasefire.
On her way to the region, Rice said she was seeking a "sustainable" ceasefire in
a war that has cost 373 dead in Lebanon and at least 37 Israeli lives in nearly
two weeks.A U.S. official in Rice's party said she would announce aid for
Lebanon, where Israeli bombing has displaced half a million people and wrecked
installations worth an estimated $1 billion.Rice has no plans to meet Hizbollah
leaders, but was due to see Shi'ite Muslim Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a
pro-Syrian politician who has acted as a link between the Islamist group's
leaders and Siniora since the war erupted.
Hizbollah said it had shot down an Israeli helicopter and hit five tanks,
inflicting casualties in fierce battles that erupted after Israeli forces pushed
north from a border village.Arab television channels said two Israeli soldiers
had been killed. The Israeli army said only that nine had been wounded. An
Israeli military source acknowledged that a helicopter had crashed, but said
Hizbollah did not shoot it down.
Israeli tanks had driven north from the border village of Maroun al-Ras,
captured in heavy fighting last week, toward the town of Bint Jbeil, about four
km (2.5 miles) inside Lebanon.The incursion was one of several forays by Israeli
troops across the border in search of Hizbollah fighters using well-hidden
rocket-launchers to attack northern Israel. Israeli air strikes killed at least
three people and wounded 20 in the south. Bombs also hit a Shi'ite district of
Beirut.
Israel's 13-day-old onslaught, launched after Hizbollah seized two Israeli
soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12, has not stopped rocket attacks that
have killed 17 Israelis. Twenty Israeli soldiers have also been confirmed
killed.
CEASEFIRE DEAL
The United States, which blames Hizbollah and its allies in Syria and Iran for
the crisis, wants any ceasefire deal to remove the threat to Israel posed by the
Shi'ite group."We believe that a ceasefire is urgent," Rice told reporters
during her flight to the Middle East. "It is important to have conditions that
will make it also sustainable."Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who
wants to swap the two soldiers for Lebanese and Palestinians in Israeli jails,
said Israel's assaults would not stop cross-border rocket fire."I assure you
that this goal will not be achieved," he said.
Israel, after initially dismissing the idea, now says it would be willing for an
international force to dislodge Hizbollah from south Lebanon and take control of
Lebanon's border with Syria to stop the guerrillas re-arming. "It doesn't matter
who runs the mission, it's just important that the mission is accomplished,"
Israeli Vice-Premier Shimon Peres told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
But just as Hizbollah has fought Israeli attempts to drive it from the south, it
would surely resist military coercion by any international force, assuming one
could be assembled. Several European Union countries are ready to contribute to
a peace force for Lebanon but problems remain in ensuring it can fulfill its
mission, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said.
"It's a real possibility. It is not an easy force to deploy but we have been
working since Wednesday to try to construct a concept that would make it
possible to deploy under the umbrella of the U.N. Security Council," Solana said
in Brussels.
Siniora has said only a broad political deal will work.
This should include a prisoner swap and an Israeli pullout from the disputed
Shebaa Farms area to create conditions in which Hizbollah could disarm and the
Lebanese army take over. Any new international force would have to deploy under
a U.N. flag, he told CNN at the weekend.
U.N. peacekeepers have been in the south since Israel invaded in 1978 to attack
Palestinian guerrillas.
Rice is also set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas before discussing the crisis with European and Arab
officials in Rome on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Jerusalem bureau)
Rice meets with Lebanon PM in Beirut By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press
Writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon - In a surprise visit to Beirut, Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice praised the beleaguered prime minister of Lebanon on Monday for his courage
in struggling to contain the fighting between the Hezbollah militia and Israel.
Rice met with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who greeted her with a kiss
on both cheeks. Rice told him, "Thank you for your courage and steadfastness."
Saniora told Rice he was glad to have her in Lebanon, adding that his government
is looking to "put an end to the war that is being inflicted on Lebanon." The
two shook hands across a conference table on which there were two flags, one
Lebanese and one American. Half a dozen other diplomats sat around the table.
Rice also paid a short visit to the speaker of Lebanon's parliament, Nabih Berri,
an ally of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. Going into the session at
Berri's lavish office and residence, Rice said, "I am deeply concerned about the
Lebanese people and what they are enduring. I am obviously concerned about the
humanitarian situation."
Rice said President Bush wanted her to make Lebanon the first stop on her trip
to the region. It was her third visit to Lebanon and was intended to make a show
of support and concern for both the Saniora government and the Lebanese people,
administration officials said.
Saniora and other Lebanese officials have been pushing Rice to call for an
immediate cease-fire, something the Bush administration has resisted on grounds
that would not address the root causes of hostilities — Hezbollah's domination
of south Lebanon.
"We all want to urgently end the fighting. We have absolutely the same goal,"
Rice told reporters traveling with her.
She is also seeking more humanitarian aid for Lebanon, and is expected to
announce additional U.S. financial aid. But her mission took a dramatic turn
with her surprise arrival here under stringent security.
Under heavy guard, Rice flew by helicopter over the Mediterranean from Cyprus.
Her motorcade sped through Beirut on the way to her meeting with Saniora.
R. Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, said
Monday that Rice will seek to use "our influence to see if there can be a
cessation of hostilities."
However, he told CBS' "The Early Show," any cease-fire would have to be
long-lasting and involve a removal of Hezbollah rockets on the Israeli-Lebanese
border and a return of Israeli soldiers taken captive.
En route to the region, Rice discussed the role of Syria, which the U.S.
considers one of the world's state sponsors of terror. In recent weeks, the Bush
administration has blamed it, along with Iran, for stoking the recent violence
in the Middle East by encouraging the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to attack
northern Israel.
Rice pointed out that there are existing channels for talking with Syrian
leaders about resolving the Mideast crisis when they're ready to talk.
"The problem isn't that people haven't talked to the Syrians. It's that the
Syrians haven't acted," she said. "I think this is simply just a kind of false
hobby horse that somehow it's because we don't talk to the Syrians.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are working to entice Syria to end support for Hezbollah,
a move that is central to resolving the conflict in Lebanon and unhitching
Damascus from its alliance with Iran, the Shiite Muslim guerrillas' other main
backer.
Arab diplomats in Cairo said the United States had signaled a willingness to
re-engage Syria through Washington's encouragement of the Egyptians and Saudis
to lean on Damascus to stop backing Hezbollah.
In a brazen raid into Israel on July 12, Hezbollah killed eight and captured two
Israeli soldiers, provoking Israel's biggest military campaign against Lebanon
in 24 years. The fighting has left hundreds of civilians dead, mostly in
Lebanon.
Rice and President Bush have resisted pressure for an immediate cease-fire,
saying that any peace agreement must come with right conditions to ensure that
it is sustainable. They particularly want to see an agreement that would help
Lebanon control its entire territory, including the southern third that is
dominated by Hezbollah.
Arabic for "Party of God," Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party with its
own militia. Funded by Iran, Syria and other individual donors around the globe,
it fills gaps left by Lebanon's weak government and provides the bulk of the
health care, schools and other social services in southern Lebanon.
Yet Rice said any cease fire agreement would have to be signed by Lebanon, not
Hezbollah.
"If there is a cessation of hostilities, the government of Lebanon is going to
have to be the party," she said. "Let's treat the government of Lebanon as the
sovereign government that it is."
Rice has tried to walk delicately between supporting the democratic government
of Lebanon, while also not dictating to its ally Israel how it should handle its
own security. Her posture has frustrated numerous allies.
___
Associated Press writers Steven R. Hurst and Salah Nasrawi in Cairo; Kathy
Gannon contributed from Lebanon and Lauren Frayer from Beirut
Subject: Community Security Alert
From: "JEWISH CANADA" <news@jewishcanada.ca>
SECURITY ALERT
TO SYNAGOGUES, SCHOOLS & COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
Following consultations with the RCMP and new information from Israeli
intelligence, B’nai Brith Canada is issuing the following SECURITY ALERT to all
synagogues, schools and community organizations, as well as individuals.
According to sources in Israel, Hezbollah "sleeper" terror cells outside Lebanon
have been put on standby and may be planning attacks against Jewish and Israeli
targets throughout the world.
Hezbollah has attacked Jewish and Israeli targets abroad in the past. It was
implicated in the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 in
which 29 people were killed and 242 were wounded.
Hezbollah was also thought to be behind the 1994 attack on the Argentine
Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in
1994, in which 85 people were killed and hundreds more wounded.
In recent days there has indeed been an increase in threats and incidents,
including a bomb threat against a synagogue, and worshippers being stoned after
evening prayers.
At this time we are re-sending our Twelve Warning Signs pamphlet, which gives
details of what to look for at this time of heightened tensions, and when to
call the authorities.
The RCMP has given us a Hotline number to share with you. If you see anything
suspicious, call immediately:
RCMP Hotline: 1-800-420-5805
B’nai Brith’s Community Hotline: 1-800-892-2624
Unfortunately, it is probable that sometime in the near future there will be a
terrorist attack either on Canadian soil or against Canadian interests abroad.
Over 50 terrorist groups reportedly have sleeper cells in Canada and
Canadian-raised individuals have been implicated in terrorist activities abroad.
As the phenomenon of home-grown terrorism grows, the threat to all Canadians
increases.
Jewish institutions are certainly at risk, having been threatened by entities
connected to international terrorism, and reconnaissance activities of Jewish
schools, synagogues and community buildings across Canada have been carried out
by persons unknown.
Everyone must remain vigilant at all times. The following should be treated as
suspicious and reported to security staff on site, if available, or directly to
the police:
1. Theft or loss of badges or other identification
2. Photographing, sketching or surveillance of facilities
3. Trespassing near secure areas, especially by a number of persons
4. Persons searching through garbage sites or leaving unusual items there
5. An increase in the number of false fire and security alarms
6. Unknown workers trying to gain access to facilities for repairs
7. E-mails or calls requesting details about your facility, personnel or
schedules
8. Unusual patterns of activity around your facilities
9. Suspicious mail packages which might contain noxious substances or bombs
10. A large group of men occupying a nearby residence with no apparent daily
schedule
11. Persons interested in renting office space or equipment with no declared
function, especially if a cash deal is suggested
12. The smell of unusual chemicals coming from any building or facility
Should you notice any of these warning signs, inform the authorities
immediately. However, at no time should individuals put themselves at risk by
challenging any individuals or investigating any premises themselves.
For further information call B’nai Brith’s Hotline at 1-800- 892 2624.