[Received via email on December 4, 2008]

	
	MUMBAI ATTACKS: NARIMAN HOUSE STORY

	
	
	Before the attacks

	The drama started weeks before the terrorist
	attacks - at a Jewish residential complex

	In Mumbai run by the Chabad-Lubavitch
	ultra-orthodox movement.

	Ê

	From CBC News (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

	http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/11/28/mumbai-
	attacks .html

	"In a telephone interview with CBC News from
	outside the centre, freelance journalist Arun
	Asthhana said there are reports that some of the
	militants had stayed at a guest house there for up
	to 15 days before the attacks.

	"They had a huge mass of ammunition, arms and food
	there," Asthhana said.

	That some, or all of the attackers stayed there
	before the attacks seem no longer in question.
	Later news reports state that the terrorists came
	to Nariman House posing as Malaysian students and
	were given lodging. Why Ultra-orthodox Jews would
	give lodging to these unknown Malaysian Muslim
	students is baffling; they could have been
	'terrorists'. After all they did not know them.

	However, it is well known that those housing
	quarters are rented only to religious Jews passing
	through Mumbai, so much so that the Indian Police
	wanted to know why they were rented to non-Jews in
	this instance.

	Ê

	From Times of India

	http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
	Mumbai_locals_helped_us_terrorist_tells_cops/
	articleshow/3774106.cms

	"Police are trying to find out how Nariman House
	rooms were given to non-Jews. Police has taken all
	the records books of for verification"

	Ê

	Guardian of UK

	http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/27/mumbai-
	terror-attacks-terrorism2

	"Locals said the owners of Nariman House was a
	Jewish Israeli family who rented out flats to other
	religious Jews."



	Food ordered in:



	From Mid-Day NewsÊ (MID-DAY is a 28 year old well
	respected media establishment in Mumbai):

	http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/nov/281108-Nariman
	- House-terror-hub.htm

	"The role that Nariman House is coming to play in
	this entire attack drama is puzzling. Last night,
	residents ordered close to 100 kilograms of meat
	and other food, enough to feed an army or a bunch
	of people for twenty days. Shortly thereafter, the
	ten odd militants moved in, obviously, indicating
	that the food and meat was ordered, keeping their
	visit in mind, another cop added."

	Ê

	DNA INDIA is another well-established, well-known
	Indian Media house.

	They reported:

	http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1209852

	"The terrorists came to Colaba on Wednesday
	evening," Mukund Shelke, who runs a grocery shop at
	Colaba Market, said. "Before barging into Nariman
	House, they had purchased adequate food to last
	them at least three days," he said.

	"They had purchased around two crates of chicken
	and liquor worth Rs25,000 from two shops in
	Colaba," another resident Joseph D'Mello said.

	Here the quote says that "they" had purchased the
	food, and from the text, which would be a
	translation of the eyewitness account, it would
	suggest that the terrorists did the shopping. But
	the policeman's report and quote is more credible
	because any group of terrorists going to take over
	a place during a city-wide attack would not stop to
	do shopping first, selecting meat, and liquor and
	other items, unless of course they were right at
	home.



	The Attacks Start:



	According to a changing and shifting narrative all
	attackers came in by boats.

	Why they did not stay in Mumbai after spending days
	scouting the place is unknown. That would have made
	much more sense. Maybe the commanders came in just
	in time for the operation.

	It is now being reported that they landed and split
	into groups with two men going to the office of the
	ultra-orthodox Jewish group Chabad-Lubavitch which
	runs Nariman house. There they supposedly held an
	unknown number of persons hostage, while killing
	some.

	However, eye-witnesses, and the earliest reports,
	state that all the men from the boat went straight
	to the Nariman House complex before dispersing to
	carry out attacks.

	Ê

	From Mid-Day News Ê

	http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/nov/281108-Nariman
	- House-terror-hub.htm

	"Mumbai: India's financial capital, Mumbai seems to
	be going through its longest night for the last two
	days. Wednesday, 9.40 pm, the affluent south Mumbai
	was struck by terrorists, at 12 different
	locations, including the VT station, a hub for all
	railway trains, to two of the most luxurious
	hotels, Taj Mahal and Oberoi Trident.

	24 hours later, the attention has riveted to these
	hotels, and a tiny nondescript building, barely a
	few meters away from the Taj Mahal hotel. Housing a
	five-storied guest house for Israeli nationals,
	this building is turning out to be the 'den' for
	the militants.

	"I saw 6 to 7 boats comingÊ in on Wednesday evening
	and about ten people unloaded many bags from these
	boats and then gradually took them into the
	building, Nariman House', Vitthal Tandel, a
	fisherman in the area said. "The building has many
	rooms and these are used as guest houses by
	travelers, largely Israeli residents. None of us
	know what their names are", he said.

	"Virendra Ghunawat, a television journalist who has
	been tracking the Nariman House shootout since the
	time it took place Wednesday night, said even the
	cops have been cagey about details".

	Ê

	From the Guardian of UK

	http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/27/mumbai-
	terror-attacks-terrorism2

	"They came by sea, on a small skiff, and made their
	way in the dark through the narrow streets of old
	Colaba to the six-storey apartment building called
	Nariman House. There they stayed Ð an unknown
	number of mystery gunmen who besieged the building
	from the inside."



	From The New York Times

	http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/world/asia/29tock
	.
	html?bl=&ei=5087&en=c7382f26209af6ce&ex=1228194000&
	pagewanted=all

	"When the terrorists landed in front of Mr.
	Dhanur's boat, they were just three blocks straight
	down a narrow lane from Nariman House, a
	five-storey building housing a Jewish center run by
	a young Rabbi, Gavriel Holtzberg, and his wife,
	Rivka, who had moved from New York.

	But the attack does not appear to have started
	there. According to India's Home Ministry, the
	first shots were fired at the train station, and
	soon after that at the Leopold CafŽ."

	The account of eyewitnesses and the earliest
	reports are very clear. The 'terrorists' went into
	Nariman House. Later reports keep insisting that
	they 'stormed' the house.



	What did they look like?

	At least some of the terrorists were fair-skinned
	foreigners.



	From the Guardian of UK

	http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/27/mumbai-
	terror-attacks-india4

	"One police officer who encountered the gunmen as
	they entered the Jewish centre told the Guardian
	the attackers were "white""

	"I went into the building late last night," he
	said. "I got a shock because they were white. I was
	expecting them to look like us. They fired three
	shots. I fired 10 back."

	Now, Indians know fair skinned Indians and
	Pakistanis. They meet them every day, especially in
	Mumbai, where all the upper class Indians
	congregate. Indians know foreigners and they call
	Americans and Europeans "foreigners" or "white". It
	is easy for an Indian to tell the difference
	between a fair skinned Indian or Pakistani and a
	"foreigner"

	Other eyewitnesses at other locations also describe
	the terrorists as "foreign" or fair skinned.



	From the BBC

	http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/7752625.stm

	Then, the "foreign looking, fair skinned" men, as
	Mr Mishra remembers them, simply carried on
	killing.

	"They did not look Indian, they looked foreign. One
	of them, I thought, had blonde hair. The other had
	a punkish hairstyle. They were neatly dressed,"
	says Mr Amir.



	While at the Nariman House: Celebrations



	From DNA India

	http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1209852

	"Some residents claimed that the suspects were
	keeping track of the police's movements through a
	television in Nariman House.

	"When the news of top police officials getting
	killed flashed in the television, we heard loud
	noises from the flat. It seemed they were
	celebrating," Anand Raorane, a resident in a
	building opposite Nariman House, said."

	Some in India claim that the terrorists were
	targeting some of India's top anti-terrorist
	officers, and indeed a number of top officers
	including Hemant Karare, who were in the process of
	investigating an explosive case of terrorist
	activities by army officers and politicians, were
	killed. It is very strange that these exceptionally
	experienced men would so easily be killed. Some
	reports say they were ambushed. It was at the time
	that the news of these men's demise was announced
	that sounds of celebration came from the Chabad
	office.



	The Arrrest of Israeli Security Officer



	While the standoff between the security forces and
	the terrorists in Nariman House was going on an
	Israeli 'security officer' at the Israeli consulate
	close by was arrested while running to the scene.



	From the Jerusalem Post

	http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=
	1227702378439&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FS

	"The security officer at the Israeli consulate in
	Mumbai was arrested by Indian police as he raced
	toward the Chabad House last Wednesday after Rabbi
	Gavriel Holtzberg telephoned to say it was under
	attack."

	Was this 'attack' referring to attack by the
	terrorists or by security forces? It is not clear
	as yet. The officer was released from jail a few
	hours later according to the Jerusalem Post.



	Also India continuously refused Israeli offers to
	help with the crisis:



	http://www.zeenews.com/world/2008-11-28/487051news.
	html

	"Jerusalem, Nov 28: India has turned down an offer
	by Israel to send its Crack Commandos to Mumbai,
	where a Jewish centre has been taken over in the
	terrorist attack which have claimed so far over 160
	lives, media reports said here."

	The Nanny and the rescue of the two-year old Moshe
	Holtzberg. As the standoff progressed, the nanny of
	the two-year old child of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg,
	Sandra Samuel, came running out with the little
	boy. Whether he was the subject of a daring rescue
	or was sent out by his parents is unclear. The
	dizzying array of reports, many contradicting the
	others, that describe this incident leaves the
	question unanswered. Only when police question the
	nanny would this be resolved.



	The number of hostages and terrorists

	According to recent police reports there were
	fifteen terrorists in all who came by boat.



	From TIMES ONLINE

	http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/
	article5265938.ece

	"At least five terrorist gunmen might have escaped
	the carnage in Mumbai and could strike again, it
	emerged yesterday as a video surfaced showing the
	capture of the gang's sole known surviving member."

	"However, a hijacked Indian fishing boat used by
	the gunmen had equipment for 15 men on board when
	it was discovered adrift Ð suggesting that several
	gunmen could still be at large."

	"Fifteen winter jackets were found, fifteen
	toothbrushes," a police source said. "That more
	terrorists are loose is possible."

	Again there are conflicting reports on the number
	of terrorists and possible hostages that were in
	Nariman House. At the end of the seige by security
	forces, there were six bodies of hostages found.
	Some reports insist five bodies were found plus two
	alleged terrorists. This will remain unclear until
	Indian security personnel who conducted the raid
	tell their stories.

	It would seem from many eyewitness reports and
	local media that as the standoff continued, there
	were only two 'hostages', the Rabbi and his wife,Ê
	and the rest were terrorists.



	From DNA India

	http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1209852

	"The six terrorists who have made an Israeli family
	hostage at Nariman House building in Colaba can
	battle with the security agencies for at least
	three days without having to worry about food,
	local residents claimed on Thursday."



	From Yahoo News

	http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081128/wl_time/
	08599186266100

	"From the vantage point of three Black Cat snipers
	watching the building, I could see Nariman House's
	shattered windows. The couple who own the building
	are Jewish, giving rise to rumors throughout the
	day that "Israelis" were somehow involved in the
	attacks. The other people in the building,
	including an infant wearing a pink bonnet and green
	blanket, were held as hostages but released early
	Thursday.

	The last person to leave, a young woman, told
	authorities that the only remaining hostages were
	the couple, who had made no sound or movement since
	the night before. By 5 p.m.Ê theyÊ were presumed to
	be dead, and the Black Cat commandos moved in half
	an hour later, unleashing a volley of gunshots into
	the building. By 9:30 p.m. local time, the firing
	was still going on, and it was not clear whether
	the four to five suspects inside had been killed or
	captured. "

	India's elite commando squad would surely have a
	very good idea about the number of people they were
	dealing with especially after speaking with the
	young woman and the nanny.



	From Mid-Day News

	http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/nov/281108-Nariman
	- House-terror-hub.htm

	" One of the militants called up a television news
	channel and voiced his demands today, but,
	interestingly, when he was asked where are they all
	holed him, he said at the Israeli owned Nariman
	House and they are six of them here", one of the
	investigating cops said. Since morning, there has
	been exchange of gun fire has been going on and the
	militants seem well equipped to counter the cops
	fire. To top it, they have food and shelter. One
	wonders if they have the support of the residents,
	a local Ramrao Shanker said. "



	Reports at the end of the seige



	From the New York Times

	http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/nyregion/29chabad
	. html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

	"Jewish Center Is Stormed, and 6 Hostages Die"

	"Israeli officials and Lubavitch elders confirmed
	later that six hostages were found dead inside.
	They were Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, of Brooklyn,
	and his Israeli wife, Rivka, 28, the Lubavitch
	emissaries in Mumbai who ran Nariman House; another
	rabbi from Brooklyn who was living in Israel,
	Leibish Teitelbaum; Bentzion Chroman, an Israeli
	with dual American citizenship; an unidentified
	Israeli woman; and another unidentified woman,
	according to Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, a Lubavitch
	spokesman in Brooklyn , and The Associated Press".

	Two unidentified "hostages" were women. But here is
	a strange co-incidence. A number of reports and
	eyewitnesses claim that at least one of the
	attackers was a woman.



	FROM INDIA TIMES

	http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/
	3775205 .cms

	"Mystery woman had accompanied terrorists at Cama"

	Quote Ð ""A man and a burqa clad woman entered from
	the gate opposite our quarters. The man started
	firing towards the hospital immediately after
	entering. Moments before, the woman, in a salwar
	kameez underneath her burqa, had even tried to
	enter the hospital by climbing a water pipe. As the
	man continued firing, the woman, who wasn't armed,
	knocked on one of the houses"

	also

	"The shopkeeper's friend said, "He told me that
	when he saw Azam's picture in Mumbai Mirror on
	Thursday, he realised it was the same youth who had
	visited his shop with a woman, who was also young.
	He mentioned they had been like any other youths."

	"Hostages killed by 'terrorists' or by security
	forces in shoot-out?

	The Indian security forces thought that the
	remaining people in the Chabad house with the
	possible exception of the Rabbi and his wife were
	terrorists, and they were in a shoot-out with all
	these people. Yet reports persist that the
	'terrorists' killed the 'hostages', before they
	were themselves killed. Some say the hostages were
	killed the day before. Reports also insist that the
	security forces killed only two terrorists at
	Chabad House.



	However more recent reports say that the Indian
	security forces may have killed some of the
	hostages:



	From The Jerusalem Post

	http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=
	1227702371655&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

	Haka Head: Indian forces may have killed some
	hostages:

	"The Indian commando raid launched to save the
	lives of Jewish and Israeli hostages at Mumbai's
	Chabad House may have inadvertently ended the lives
	of one or more of the hostages, the head of a
	six-man ZAKA team in the terror-stricken Indian
	city told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday".

	Any Terrorists Remaining?

	Police insist that fifteen terrorists came ashore.Ê
	Nine are dead and one is in custody. Where are the
	other five? Where is the woman terrorist?



	FromÊ Times Online:

	http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/
	article5265938.ece

	"At least five terrorist gunmen might have escaped
	the carnage in Mumbai and could strike again, it
	emerged yesterday as a video surfaced showing the
	capture of the gang's sole known surviving member."

	Were the missing five the same persons who were
	killed at Chabad?



	Conclusion Ð What really happened at Nariman House?



	Time may eventually tell what really happened at
	the Chabad House, Mumbai. Indian security service
	officers may come forward with further information.
	More information may dispel rumors and speculation
	that the Israelis at Chabad house were part of the
	terrorist operation and that the non-white
	terrorists, all of whom were killed, with the
	exception of the designated poster-boy, Ajmal, were
	the usual patsies.


	It will dispel rumors that the four or five
	'hostages' killed in the center were actually part
	of the terrorist group and were killed by security
	forces in the shootout.

	The only person who may be able to give an
	impartial report of what went on at Nariman House
	would be the Indian nanny, Sandra Samuel. Indian
	Intelligence would be looking forward to
	interviewing her when all the confusion ends and
	when she recovers from the ordeal. Let's hope that
	the trauma does not lead her to commit suicide or
	anything like that.



	Breaking News: Nanny going to Israel



	From the Jerusalem Post:

	http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=
	1227702371988&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


	"The nanny who saved two-year-old Moshe Holtzberg
	from the attack at Mumbai's Chabad House on
	Thursday is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday
	along with the child, his grandparents and the
	bodies of his parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka
	Holtzberg."

	"She expressed a desire to accompany Moshe back to
	Israel on a special flight sent by the Israel Air
	Force. The toddler was reunited with his Israeli
	grandparents, Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg, on
	Friday.

	Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Sunday that
	her office was working to arrange for Samuel's
	arrival in Israel, while the Interior Ministry was
	considering bestowing upon her the status of
	"Righteous Gentile," which would allow her to
	remain in the country for an extended period of
	time".



	Breaking: Nanny already in Israel:



	From the Indian Express:

	http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-funeral-
	baby- moshe-leaves-for-israel/392990/

	"The orphaned two-year-old baby Moshe and his nanny
	Sandra Samuel, along with his maternal
	grandparents, left for Israel tonight in a special
	Israeli military aircraft from Mumbai."



	BREAKING: Nanny to live in Israel



	From The India Telegraph:

	http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081202/jsp/nation/
	story_10193938.jsp


	ISRAEL HOME FOR MOSHE NANNY

	"Dec. 1: Israel is planning to issue an immigration
	permit to the Indian nanny who saved two-year-old
	Moshe Holtzberg while his Jewish parents died in
	the Nariman House attack.

	Foreign minister Tzipi Livni told the cabinet
	yesterday that her ministry was working to grant
	the nanny, Sandra Samuel, a residency permit so she
	could live there."

	Sandra Samuel has made an absolutely amazing and
	admirable choice, to leave her own family and
	relatives and go to live in Israel with baby Moshe.



	To continue with the conclusion:



	This terrorist incident will most likely lead to
	much greater bloodshed unless the true culprits are
	found and convicted in a court of law. Some
	analysts say that this event could lead to a new
	world war.

	It would just make plain sense to have kept the
	nanny in India for a while. India should demand her
	return soon, so that she could help with the
	investigation.

	Again, to further dispel the rumors of the dead
	Israelis being part of the operation, autopsies
	would be conducted on the bodies of the dead
	including the Israelis at Nariman House. Autopsies
	would give vital clues as to their role as victims
	or perpetrators. Forensic science is powerful
	science today. For example, gunpowder residue on
	fingers tells a tale.

	Let's see what comes of it.



	MORE BREAKING NEWSÉ.



	BREAKING NEWS



	NO AUTOPSIES ON ISRAELI BODIES.



	From: The India Telegraph

	http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081202/jsp/nation/
	story_10193938.jsp

	"Israel has requested India not to conduct
	post-mortems on its nationals killed in the Nariman
	House siege, citing what it said were "privacy and
	religious reasons".

	"The request for not doing the post-mortem is based
	on privacy as well as some religious reasons," an
	official of the Israeli embassy here said.
	According to the information with the mission,
	seven of the nine killed in the attack were Israeli
	nationals, all of them Jews."

	Ê

	To continue with the conclusion



	Indian journalists are urged to dig into this story
	with their very lives, because the life of our
	nation is at stake. India could be dragged into a
	game on the grand chessboard, and possibly into war
	with Pakistan and then China, and maybe Russia. In
	the end there will be only one winner, the
	superpower which is on the verge of economic
	collapse, and which can avert complete disaster
	only by destroying its main competitors, or getting
	them to destroy themselves.

	PS:

	The whole Mumbai operation was messy, with a lot of
	dirty, loose ends. If our Intelligence agents are
	really doing their job, there will be need for
	major distractions very soon.

	Look out for another attack.