Bogus FBI tactics snare Muslims —and Jews

Maryland-based scientist and Energy Department veteran Stewart Nozette pleaded guilty to attempted espionage in federal court and faces 13 years in prison, the Washington Post informs us Sept. 7.

Nozette, 54, stood in an orange prison jumpsuit in the District’s federal court as he conceded that he had accepted $11,000 in cash in 2009 in exchange for passing classified materials about U.S. satellite defense systems to what he believed was an Israeli intelligence officer.

That "what he believed" construction is the tip-off that there were no Israeli agents involved at all. Only FBI agents pretending to be Israeli agents—in other words, a non-existent threat created by the government out of thin air. The FBI has of course used this same cynical trick over and over against Muslims and jihadist sympathizers, with agents pretending to be al-Qaeda representatives—keeping a steady stream of completely fabricated "terrorism" cases in the headlines, creating public paranoia, and gratuitously ruining the lives of harmless hotheads. Yet those who vociferously (and rightly) protest this scam when used to ensnare Muslims are just as apt to applaud the feds cracking down on Israeli espionage (even when it is non-existant). Conversely, those who protest Nozette's entrapment as anti-Semitism are just as quick to applaud the feds cracking down on Islamic terrorism (even when it is non-existant).

Some cases in point. Jewish Week in its coverage of Nozette (who is of Jewish background) quoted Abe Foxman of the ADL accusing the feds of singling out Israel in its "espionage" investigations. Yet Jewish Week also credulously cited the supposed "Bronx synagogue bomb plot" as highlighting the need for more Homeland Security funds in the metro area—never mentioning that the "plot" was another FBI creation! Meanwhile, The Nation's Robert Dreyfuss legitimately called out this bogus federal tactic in the Bronx case—but has also served as a mouthpiece for Beltway Judeophobes who think AIPAC controls the government. Disgracefully, we haven't heard that he has issued a peep of protest over use of the identical tactic against Nozette. Unless we missed something, the silence has been deafening. And not just from Dreyfuss, but from the left in general.

As for the right—well, neo-Nazi sites like Stormfront and Judeofascism.com (fascist pseudo-anti-fascism, just lovely) take positive glee in Nozette's entrapment. So, in more genteel terms, does the ruling-class Council for the National Interest. Yet even such America-first nationalist wonks have paradoxically become heroes for the left when they take on Israel.

This situation is way out of wack, and it has to stop right here and now.

We're not saying that either Israeli spies or Islamic terrorists don't exist, but it is telling that the FBI and related agencies are now inventing them. And the ubiquitous double standard on this question is evidence of just how poisonous the political atmosphere has become.