[LottiFurmann]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurar...docs_leak.html

Shamai Kedem Leibowitz, also known as Samuel Shamai Leibowitz, 39, appeared in federal court in Greenbelt, Md. Thursday to plead guilty to a single felony count of disclosing classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized party, according to court records and a Justice Department release. Court papers said Leibowitz held a "top secret" clearance and worked from January through August 2009 for an FBI task force in Calverton, Md.

The public court documents do not describe the secret information Leibowitz leaked, the blog he sent the information to, or the FBI group he worked for. However, a sealed addendum submitted to the court is being kept from public view. The FBI's Innocent Images initiative, which is an international task force aimed at child pornography, is located in Calverton. A Justice Department spokesperson said other units are also located at that site but declined to say precisely whom Leibowitz worked for.

The plea agreement calls for Leibowitz to serve a 20-month prison term, but his final sentence will be set by a federal judge.

Leibowitz has a blog, Pursuing Justice ,and a web site, Israel-law.org. He calls himself "an Israeli-American attorney, admitted in New York and in Israel" and "a certified Hebrew-English translator and interpreter." One of his biographies says he was born in Haifa, graduated with a bachelor of laws from Bar Ilan Univesity in 1999 and a master's of law from American University in 2005, summa cum laude, on a full scholarship.

According to an Associated Press profile from 2002, Leibowitz is the grandson of a famous Israeli Torah scholar, philosopher and left-wing activist, Yeshayahu Leibowitz. The younger Leibowitz drew attention for joining the defense team of a Palestinian activist accused of murder and terrorism, Marwan Barghouti. One of Leibowitz's web sites says "he filed more than ten habeas corpus petitions to the Israeli Supreme Court resulting in the release of undocumented workers and asylum-seekers from prolonged detention."

Leibowitz is a supporter of a "one-state solution" to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict .... He has also supported efforts to encourage U.S. institutions to divest in Israeli bonds .... See also

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...821778,00.html

http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archiv...en/index.shtml

Here's the backgrounder on him:

Samuel Shamai Leibowitz, former contract linguist for FBI, admits handing over five secret documents concerning US communication intelligence activities to blogger; calls 20-month prison term 'appropriate'
A former contract linguist for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) pleaded guilty on Thursday to leaking classified documents to an Internet blogger, the Justice Department said.

Shamai Kedem Leibowitz of Silver Spring, Maryland, who is the grandson of renowned Israeli philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, to one count of disclosing classified information to an unauthorized person, the department said in a statement.
Leibowitz, 39, also known as Samuel Shamai Leibowitz, acknowledged handing over five FBI documents concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States to the blogger, who was not identified.

The blogger then published information online derived from the documents, which were classified as "secret," the Justice Department said.

The department said prosecutors and Leibowitz had agreed that a 20-month prison term was the "appropriate sentence" in the case. The plea agreement and sentence remain subject to the approval of the court...

Leibowitz worked for the New Israel Fund [Update: See clarification in comment below.], he was on Marwan Barghouti's (the terrorist) defense team, refused to serve in the IDF, and here in the Boston area lent himself as a tool of the Somerville Divestment Project, writing letters, op-eds, and giving presentations in favor of divestment from Israel. Here's one email shared by an approving Somerville pol, Denise Provost, lamenting Somerville's vote against divestment:
Dear Denise,
As an Israeli, I would like to convey to you my gratitude for trying so hard to pass a selective divestment resolution. I am sorry that my presentation was so short, and that in the end, the other Aldermen capitulated under pressure. In university jargon, we would say: you get an E for Effort...
I am very disappointed with the outcome, and I hope that those Aldermen that buried the resolution will come to realize what a grave mistake they made. They are using Somerville residents' money to help continue the practice of torture, home demolitions, bombing of civilians, and severe humiliation. I never knew that cities can have money invested in foreign countries, and that Somerville's money is invested in the terrible war crimes committed by the Israeli army, destroying prospects for peace for many years to come. I am so angry at them.

I hope they understand they have dealt a severe blow to peace and justice in Israel/Palestine. I also hope that the citizens of Somerville remember their cowardly and shameful behavior on election day, and show them the way out of office.

More and more Israelis are now calling for divestement. Below is a very well-written and illuminating article by Israeli Oren Medics. I hope that it is informative to you, and it strengthens your efforts.
http://www.redress.btinternet.co.uk/omedicks3.htm
best regards,
Shamai LeibowitzShamai K. Leibowitz
New Israel Fund Law Fellow
LLM Candidate, International Legal Studies Program
American University

Here's an old post at Imshin's regarding his behavior in court defending Barghouti: No longer welcome in synagogues

..."The relative tranquility inside the courtroom was at one point punctuated by loud guffaws from the audience when Leibowitz compared Barghouti, accused of orchestrating attacks in which 26 Israelis were killed, to the biblical Moses. "Moses, too, did not recognize the Egyptians' jurisdiction to try him and fled the country," said Leibowitz, a grandson of the late biblical scholar Yeshayahu Leibowitz.

Quoting Exodus, he continued: "Moses saw cruel occupation and he killed the Egyptian and left him in the sand." A patient (Judge) Gurfinkel carefully retorted "but Moses killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was beating an Israelite, not just any innocent Egyptian.""...

His own nature finally caught up with him.