From DEBKA, with the usual grain of salt
Captured in Baghdad Saturday, March 17, were two – some sources say three – Israeli Arabs, who told their American interrogators they came from the northern Israeli village of Majd al Krum near Carmiel, northeast of Haifa. They were taken prisoner fighting in the central Baghdad district of Bab al Moadham, near the notorious insurgent stronghold of Haifa Street, together with Abu Qetada al Falastini, deputy al Qaeda commander in Iraq.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that al Falastini’s real name is Mahmoud al Madi and he hails from the West Bank town of Nablus.
The Israeli Arabs captured with him formed his inner personal command. Ahead of the new US-led security crackdown in Baghdad ordered by President George W. Bush, al Qaeda pulled its top local commanders out of the city and out of range. It is not clear why the Palestinian group did not join them.
There is a large Palestinian community in Baghdad, one that these mooks could reasonably expect would shelter them. That’s why they stayed. And, the Palis are the low man on the Iraqi totem pole right now, with almost universal dislike from the people since Saddam favored the Palis. So they stayed because they thought they were safe and they could defend their Pali brothers.
