Young Israelis Posing as Art Students
According to this painting's former owner, it was sold in November, 2000 by one of the Israeli "art students" at a location in the eastern suburbs of Phoenix, near three
different residences of Hani Hanjour.
In the years 2000 and 2001 there were a large number of Israelis, male and female of about military age, selling cheap art door to door in the United States. There were reports of them
in or near many cities, including Montgomery, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Little Rock, New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Kansas City,
Washington D.C., and Richmond.1 A consumer protection alert from a local Seattle TV station said that the Israelis had agressive
sales tactics, gave different stories about what their profits would be used for, and generally scrammed when asked for their business license.2 Whether by design, or by sheer force
of numbers, they soon became known to a number of federal law enforcement agencies.
The federal professionals had a number of different opportunities to observe and even question the young Israelis, but there wasn't anything like an official investigation, or a systematic attempt
to find out how many there were, or whether or not they were doing anything besides selling paintings. There were a few common threads:
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The majority of the Israelis had served in Military Intelligence, Explosive Ordinance, or Electronic Surveillance units
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They usually claimed to be associated with the Bezalel
Academy of Arts or the University of Jerusalem
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There were indications that the paintings were actually produced in China
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They generally travelled in groups, and a "group leader" would drop them off to sell their paintings, and pick them up when they were finished3
There were also disturbing quirks in the "art students" behavior. One young Israeli woman tried to sell paintings to an EPA Special Agent at his home, and returned later to
photograph his house. Two "art students" carried counterfeit Social Security cards. Telephone numbers in the possession of another were linked to an ongoing Ecstasy
investigation.4 It was only after 9/11, that federal investigators, especially in the DEA, would begin to take the "art students" very seriously, and wonder especially about connections
between these young Israelis and the 9/11 hijackers.
On The Spot and then Way Away From the Spot
A Wayne Madsen source interviewed an Israeli "art student", who was also a British national. She had lived on a kibbutz in Israel for a year, and then worked in the United States
as an "art student."1
She became suspicious when questioned about her time in the U.S.2
On the morning of September 11, 2001 she was near the Pentagon at the time of the impact, and saw the famous gaping hole in the building. She had a ticket to fly out of
New York City on September 12. She arrived in New York on the 12th, but was unable to leave since commercial flights had been cancelled.3
She was able to cross the border into Canada.
When Wayne Madsen's source asked why she was in such a hurry to leave the United States, she said that the American government
suspected Israelis of being involved in 9/11.4
D.G.
Israeli-9/11 Hijacker Intersection: Hollywood, Florida
On the first of March, 2001, a young woman knocked on an unmarked fifth floor door of the First Union Bank building in Tampa, Florida. She was carrying a portfolio containing a number
of canvas paintings. What she was thinking when she knocked on the door, and whether or not she knew she was knocking on the door of a DEA office is unknown.
When a DEA special agent answered the door, she told him that she was an Israeli art student selling paintings, and the agent, aware of at least one similar incident,
and concerned about security, asked her into an interview room. Here they were joined by another DEA agent, and a question and answer session began.1
The young Israeli woman identified herself as Bella Pollcson, pointing to the signature of Bella Pollcson on one of the fifteen or so paintings she carried in her portfolio.
At this point, probably acutely aware that she was no longer in charge of the situation, she changed her story, saying that in fact she wasn't selling paintings,
but was promoting an upcoming art show in Sarasota. Would the agents give her their business cards so that she could notify them about the Sarasota exhibition?
The agents asked when this art show would occur, and the young Israeli woman said she wasn't sure. Then she was questioned more closely, and her answers were described
as "evasive at best."2
"Bella Pollcson" told the agents that she was part of a group, and that she had been driven to this particular Tampa destination by her "team leader," who drove a red van.
The agents located the red van nearby, along with a number of members of the group. At this point, an unspecified number of agents questioned members of the group individually,
and found that although they gave ambiguous answers, they all claimed to be Israeli art students.
The tactic of questioning each separately revealed that "Bella Pollcson" was actually named Inbal Vakshi, and she was found to be carrying a Florida driver's licence
in the name of Sarah Minna Sassoon, with a Hollywood, Florida address. According to the report's version of her story, Sarah Sassoon was a friend,
who on leaving Florida, gave Inbal Vakshi her driver's licence.3
The team leader, Hanan Sarfaty, also had a Hollywood, Florida address,
as did Oshirt Zaguri, while Keren Kuznitz had an address in nearby Fort Lauderdale. None of the other members of this particular group was associated in the DEA report with any US address.4
Ziad Jarrah's Florida driver's license had a Hollywood, Florida address
After the beginning of April, 2001, Hollywood, Florida appears again and again in an FBI chronolgy of hijacker activities5,6:
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On April 4, 2001, Mohamed Atta forwarded his mail to a Hollywood, Florida address
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On April 30, 2001, Waleed Alshehri rented a room at a Hollywood, Florida hotel/Apartment complex
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On May 1, 2001, Ziad Jarrah began residence at an apartment in Hollywood, Florida
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On May 9, 2001, Marwan Alshehhi paid a deposit and first month's rent for an apartment in Hollywood, Florida
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On May 13, 2001, Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi rented an apartment in Hollywood, Florida
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On May 21, 2001, Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi open a mail box at a Hollywood, Florida location
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On May 28, 2001, Mohamed Atta rented a room at the Hill Hotel, Hollywood, Florida
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On May 31, 2001, Marwan Alshehhi purchased a membership to Gold's Gym in Hollywood, Florida
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On June 1, 2001, Hamza Alghamdi opened a bank account at the Hollywood, Florida branch of Suntrust
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On June 13, 2001, Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi rented a different apartment in Hollywood, Florida
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On June 14, 2001 Satam Al-Suqami made an ATM withdrawal in Hollywood, Florida
So, at the beginning of March, 2001 more than one "art student" was living in a midsized South Florida city where a number of the 9/11 hijackers would be a month later.
It isn't possible to say how improbable it is that these young Israelis, posing as art students, were at the same place, slightly removed backward in time,
from the 9/11 hijackers. Why? Because it simply isn't known how many "art students" there were altogther. It is possible to say that if this coincidence in location isn't
due to chance, then the fact that the "art students" appear to have been there first
is a stronger indication that the "art students", or others related to them, controlled the hijackers, rather than that the "art students", or their associates,
followed the hijackers, and so were controlled by the hijackers movements.
D.G.