I saw this on an Israeli news ticker ealier and now the Free Republic has reposted this story from Ananova:
A suspected IRA dissident, believed to be training Palestinian militants in the use of explosives, has reportedly been arrested in Israel. Security sources said the man, who was not identified, was on Saturday in the West Bank town of Ramallah and is being questioned by the Shin Bet security agency. The Observer reported that Israeli security forces were seeking an IRA dissident said to be training Palestinian militants in bomb-making. The newspaper said the man was believed to have entered Israel last month on a British passport and crossed over to a Palestinian area in the West Bank. The newspaper said it knew the identity of the man, who comes from the nationalist heartland of South Armagh, but could not name him for legal reasons. It said he was a former IRA member who had switched his allegiance to the so-called Real IRA, which split from the IRA in protest over its 1997 cease-fire.This is another example of why terrorism anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere. Terrorists cooperate, what one group knows how to successfully do, it will teach to others. And the biggest target for terrorists is the USA.
Of course, the Indymedia.org types will say: "What does this have to do w/ bin Laden?"
To which a rational person should respond: "Isn't it obvious?"
I guess the IRA wants to cement their status as a "terrorist organization of global reach".
How stupid could they be?
Someone: We mustn't forget that, aside from the political reasons people join terrorist groups, there are also more psychological ones. Some people enjoy being a law unto themselves, wielding the power of death over others, and delight in destruction and terror for their own sake. Whether they call themselves freedom fighters, jihadis, or revolutionaries, the essence of this subgroup is the same: they are sick, demented killers who need to be removed from the world.
Do you remember the days when people who systematically used violence for political ends where called terrorists and the term dissident was used for people like *Andrei Sakharov*
Anthony,
Not that it doesn't happen all the time ("militants"?), but in this particular case I believe that he's described as an "IRA dissident" because he split from the IRA to the "Real IRA".
It (the Observer) said he was a former IRA member who had switched his allegiance to the so-called Real IRA, which split from the IRA in protest over its 1997 cease-fire.
But then again...
For years, the IRA had links with Palestinian militant groups, and Irish paramilitaries have recently been accused of training violent groups abroad in exchange for funds. Three IRA-linked Irishmen are currently on trial in Colombia, accused of training Marxist rebels in terrorist techniques.
Apparently individuals and groups are not terrorists, only their techniques.
Good catch, clue.