Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IT’S EMERGED AN Irish officer played a key role in a bizarre incident last week involving Israel, Lebanon and a bird (yes, a bird) alleged to have been spying for Israeli forces.
The story of the vulture suspected of espionage made headlines across the world over the weekend…
TheJournal.ie carried the initial report on Saturday.
As there are plenty of Irish soldiers serving in the area as part of the ongoing UNIFIL mission, we decided to put a call in to the Defence Forces to find out if any of our own officers were involved.
So what happened?
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority first raised concerns last Tuesday after images were shared on social media appearing to show the bird, with an Israeli identification ring and location transmitter, captured by villagers in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon.
It had crossed the border some days before from its home at the Gamla Nature Reserve - flying about four kilometres into Lebanon, according to officials.
The authority at the time said the villagers had suspected espionage due to the transmitter but the bintjbeil.org news portal said the bird had been freed after it was deemed not to pose any threat.
Handover
As Israel and Lebanon are technically at war, citizens of the two countries are banned from communicating by law.
Contact was made with the UN peacekeepers, and an Irish Lieutenant Colonel who acts as liaison for the Lebanese Armed Forces, the United Nations and the Israel Defense Forces engineered the handover.
“It took place at a crossing at an area known as Rosh Hanikra,” a Defence Forces spokesman confirmed.
The spokesman said the bird was in fact a Spanish Eagle, and not a vulture as Israeli officials have described it.
“In a discreet operation with the Lebanese and with the great help of UN forces and the UN liaison unit, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority was able to return the vulture that was caught a few days ago by villagers of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon,” a statement from the Israeli nature authority on Friday had said.
The handover took place on Thursday night, and the bird was said to be to “weak and with minor injuries,” the statement added.
Animal conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories are endemic in the Middle East, particularly when it comes to Israel’s spying activities.
Last summer, Palestinian media reported claims by the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers that they had apprehended a dolphin off their Mediterranean coastline, equipped with video cameras for an Israeli spying mission.
In 2011, Saudi media reported that a vulture carrying a GPS transmitter and an identification ring from Tel Aviv University had been detained by security forces who suspected it was being used for espionage.
And in 2010, Israel’s foreign ministry dismissed Egyptian reports linking a spate of Red Sea shark attacks to the country’s Mossad intelligence agency.
There are around 350 Irish personnel serving across the Middle East. The majority are based in Lebanon.
Includes reporting from AFP.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
That’s a very useful arrow on the construction jobs chart.I never would have understood it otherwise.
Must have been the work experience lad!
Latest reports of a 12% increase in tourism doesn’t seem to be factored into the employment charts. The Irish hospitality industry is significant and shouldn’t be confused by lumping it in with arts and sports.
I look forward to a United Ireland, a return to the Punt and banning all things foreign.
We can then revert to all the old jobs again. Basket making, candle carving and we’ll all be knitting woollen jumpers to sell to the Europeans on passing ships who we can row out to over the waves on our currachs, selling our handicraft in exchange for spices, beads, batteries and mirrors.
OTV….why not move to one of the inhabited islands off our coast, there you can experience your love for the old jobs and with the poor internet service….we’ll all catch a break.
Obvious satire/sarcasm was obvious.
That’s some woolie cap your man in main pic.
He was ahead of his time. Very cool now to wear a wooly hat.
I’d say he has less teeth to pick at too!
He has a fine set of teeth, probably a handsome 53 year old wealthy farmer now thank you very much.
That picture shows what hasn’t changed… farmers love a good protest.
Funny how people talk about the IT boom yet looking at the graph only 30k more people work in the industry which is amazing considering all the ecommerce,social and infrastructure upgrades since 1998. Health and Education have an extra 60k each yet you’ll never hear of the education/health boom.
dont be minding all the guff about e-commerce that’s just fluff the government throw out, no one in government actually know or care how the IT sector works… so long as the multinationals keep giving them a cut of their tax fiddle thats enough
Jayzus much less farmers nowdays, whos going to be voting for FG in tens years time?
And hasn’t the country boomed from all these changes…..oh wait..
I would like to see a breakdown of the mean and mode earnings associated with these jobs. I suspect the majority of those in hospitality aren’t paid a living wage and don’t have any of the protections or level of security the other sectors enjoy
have your say