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There’s something “Stinky” in Cuba
By Mary Rizzo
Jul 14, 2006, 00:59
There seem to be few certainties in life, and
in politics, such a thing as a certainty is non-existent and
surprises are always in store. …
Nothing in politics is written in stone, and
politicians have become chameleons and masters in fluidity,
going where they think the consensus will take them, or going
there in gross defiance of it, yet generally maintaining a
general direction that is consistent. When it seems like
politicians change their colours according to convenience, one
could somehow look to Cuba to believe that there was steadfast
support for the Palestinian people and their struggle for
liberation. There is no shortage of speeches where Cuba’s leader
Fidel Castro expresses support and friendship towards them. How
far these speeches were translated into actions, I can’t say,
but at any rate, a certain image has been promoted of Cuba
publicly condemning Israel.
“Cuba reaffirms its total and unshrinking
solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just struggle
for the establishment of an independent and sovereign state and
for the return of all occupied Arab territories; exhorts the
international community to energetically denounce these crimes;
and pronounces itself decidedly against the dilatory tactics
used by Israel to continue imposing its arrogant annexationist
policy in violation of the most basic norms of coexistence and
international law, for which it has always counted on
Washington's unrestricted support.” [1]
Imagine my surprise when I read the Ynet
dispatch about Castro lighting a gigantic Menoráh in Havana
together with Rafi Eitan to inaugurate the Holocaust Memorial
that was being built in Cuba. One can have a positive, neutral
or negative opinion about the construction of Holocaust
memorials in lands far distant from the actual places where
these events occurred, but the element that stuck out in my mind
wasn’t so much the memorial, but that name, Rafi Eitan. . . .
Rafi Eitan, it was so familiar, but it was hard to precisely
place who it was. I reflected on it, but it took a few moments
later, and an email from Jeff Blankfort to his list to clarify
it all:
“What I neglected to mention in my post (and
was unable to stop it before it went out) on Fidel Castro's
lighting a menoráh in Havana was Rafi Eitan, the large Israeli
landowner mentioned in the story, was the former head of
Mossad's European operations and the "handler" for convicted
Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. One wonders if he is carrying out
espionage activities in Cuba and for which country?” [2]
That’s right, it was starting to come to me .
. . Rafi Eitan, neo-minister elected in the ranks of the
Pensioners’ Party in the latest Israeli elections. Rafi Eitan
the Mossad and Shin Bet man, famous for his capture of Eichmann,
but also for the planning of the Israeli bombing of the Osirak
nuclear plant in Iraq, and more than anything, for the Jonathan
Pollard Affair, the American he recruited to spy for Israel.
Rafi Eitan, “known in Israel's intelligence
community by his nickname, "Stinky" (he fell into a sewage ditch
when he was in the Palmach, the strike force of Israel's
pre-1948 defense organization)” regrets nothing and makes one
claim: “As was the case my entire life, I thought I was doing
the best thing for the State of Israel."
The Ynet article seems to suggest Eitan has
massive economic interests in Cuba. I was surprised by that,
since I thought there was an interruption of economic relations
between the two states, so I started to take a look to see what
I could find.
“For the last decade, Eitan, a reported
multimillionaire, has been involved in several large business
ventures in Cuba in the field of agriculture and construction.”
In an interview published on 3 July by
Haaretz we read: “Eitan is a partner in a company that owns vast
orchards in Cuba, but when asked about the secret of his ties to
Castro, he answers: 'There is no secret. It's simply not true. I
don't work with Castro. I'm a farmer in Cuba. All the rest are
bluffs by the press.' 'The company deals with agriculture in
Cuba, mainly with growing vegetables and producing citrus juice
concentrate at the world's largest plant. I met Castro a few
times, but we're not friends.'”
As to the construction; here is some
interesting material from 2001: “Israel is the only country in
the world that has consistently backed the U.S. trade embargo
against Cuba whenever the issue comes up in the United Nations.
”Ironically, Israel is also becoming one of
the leading foreign investors in Cuba, with private Jewish
businessmen involving themselves in everything from Cuban citrus
exports to real-estate projects.
"Now, in a move sure to infuriate Cuban exile
groups and the Bush administration, a group of Israeli investors
is sinking tens of millions of dollars into what they're calling
Cuba's first "intelligent office building complex" -- a suburban
Havana office park that, when completed, will consist of 18
six-floor office buildings located on 180,000 square meters
(nearly two million square feet).
"The Miramar Trade Center (MTC) is the
brainchild of Inmobiliaria Monte Barreto S.A., a joint venture
between Cuban state agency Cubalse S.A. and Grupo BM, an Israeli
entity headed by former Mossad spy chief Rafi Eitan.”
In 1994, Israel Shahak wrote several articles
about Eitan and Cuba (Israeli Cultivation of Cuba Reflects
Contempt for U.S. Policies and The Pro-Israeli Lobby in the U.S.
and the Inman Affair. Here are a few of the things he said:
“Israeli trade with Cuba is coordinated by
'Business Enterprises Corporations' (BEC), which has its main
offices in Tel Aviv. Eitan's position within BEC has never been
defined, [Shlomo] Slutzky writes, because, 'as usual, Rafi Eitan
likes to hide behind the scenes.' Nor 'has he ever actually
visited Cuba.' Instead, Slutzky reports, he 'has sent other
Israelis, some of whom remained there as major advisers.' In
order to impress the Cubans, Rafi Eitan arranged the visits of
some of their experts and high officials to Israel. Their visits
took place early this year, ostensibly in order to let them see
an agricultural exhibition then being held in Tel Aviv, really
in order for them to meet Minister of Agriculture Ya'akov Tsur.
"As Israel has become increasingly involved
in Cuba, management of Cuban citrus plantations has fallen into
Israeli hands. Of several such areas, one alone exceeds the
total area of citrus groves in Israel. According to Slutzky, the
Israeli experts sent by Rafi Eitan found that Cuba's citrus
yield was 'less than one-tenth of Israel's.' They were expected
to raise it, and are working to increase the efficiency of the
Cuban economy, especially its agriculture.
"Despite never having visited Cuba, Slutzky
reports, Rafi Eitan 'represents in Cuba a large number of
Israeli trading companies. The high esteem accorded by the Cuban
regime to an unofficial representative of the Israeli
intelligence establishment can only prove -- as a proverb puts
it -- that 'money never stinks.'”
Here is where the question begs: How can a
leader who is on record stating support of the Palestinians
allow one of the leaders of the Mossad to co-own “the world’s
largest” citrus juice plant, coordinate massive investments for
Israeli companies and build the largest commercial and office
complex in the country? Isn’t it simply inconsistent? Eitan is
not just an ordinary Israeli citizen. He himself states that
everything he has done, he has done for the good of Israel.
If nothing else, an examination of conscience
is in order for Castro. If he is “ignorant” of his partner,
someone provide him with Internet service and he can look it up
in five minutes and learn all he wants to know about Eitan and
more. If he “knew,” that is nothing short of criminal, since
what is done for the good of Israel only has severe
repercussions on the lives of Palestinians, and adds to their
suffering, since Israel has no interests in the Palestinian
people. Money is important; you can't do anything without it.
But everything has its price, and one hopes that Cuba, like
almost all the rest of the world, has not sold out the
Palestinians to the highest bidder.
Notes
[1] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Cuba, official statement issued Havana, 3 October
2000. See "Declaración del Ministerio de
Relaciones Exteriores de la República de Cuba," Granma, 4
October 2000. English translation by
staff, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies,
University of Miami.
2. From Jeff Blankfort’s mailing list.
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