Well, some of the Israelis had been in Palestine from before the Nazis. They
came there to colonize the land. Their motives for emigrating to Palestine were
varied and in many ways, similar to the motives of Europeans who came to settle
in North America. It had always been their plan to completely take over the
entire land of Palestine. After WW2, many of the Holocaust survivors wanted to
come to the US. But as they waited in the displaced persons camps, they were
convinced by Israelis to emigrate to Israel instead. This is history not spread
by popular movies and books. I've read it in the past 8 years. But in case
you're tempted to think that it's only the Israeli government that is so
bloodthirsty, I heard a description of the Israeli people drinking and
celebrating in Tel Aviv while the Gazans were being murdered.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2018 12:32 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Drones Over Gaza: How Israel Tested Its Latest
Technology on Protesters
Bullies bully. They need no reason. they simply bully because they are
bigger, or stronger, or more intimidating, or meaner, or sneakier.
We can inspect and dissect them, try to figure them out, why they do what they
do, but that's going to get us nowhere. Bullies bully. The only way to deal
with bullying bullies is to not play their game. And from the past several
day's news, that's not working out so well, either. Sitting peacefully in
protest while snipers pick you off one at a time, is a bad idea.
It just struck me that these Israelis are descended from people who were
persecuted by Nazi Germany. And here they are. Here they are, making me
wonder if Nazi values won the day after all. Do you realize that Capitalism
and Nazism are closer to one another in philosophical thinking than Capitalism
and Christianity?
Just a thought from a devout Agnostic.
Carl Jarvis
On 5/17/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
So evesn in this article, some credence is given to the idea that
burning kites sent into the air from inside Gaza can fly far enough
over the barriers into Israel to cause damage there. Incredible!
Miriam
Drones Over Gaza: How Israel Tested Its Latest Technology on
Protesters By Daniel Hilton, Middle East Eye
17 May 18
Tear gas grenades dropped from above caused injuries, panic and death
during this week's Gaza and West Bank protests
The mismatch between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces has
often been likened to David and Goliath. Now, Goliath doesn't even
need to enter the field of combat.
In a new innovation, small drones have been used by Israel's military
to drop tear gas on Palestinian protests along the Gaza Strip's border
with Israel and in the occupied West Bank.
First seen in early March, when Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen TV filmed a
group of protesters in Gaza as they were targeted by one, the
gas-carrying drones were used heavily in protests in the coastal
enclave and the occupied West Bank on Monday and Tuesday.
There appear to be three types of drones being used to disperse the gas.
The first, developed by Israeli company ISPRA and known as the
"Cyclone Riot Control Drone System", is a small drone with rotas that
carries a box containing nine light aluminium cartridges which burn up
after they are released.
However, two other models appear to have been used, which experts told
MEE have never been seen before.
One is a drone that releases gas directly from the craft, like an
aerosol, dispersing a cloud on those below.
The other, a potentially far more dangerous device, is a
helicopter-style drone which carries rubber bursting grenades with
metal tops that disperse gas as they fall.
As the Great March of Return protests came to a crescendo earlier this
week, the third type of drone became by far the most regularly used of
the three, according to experts spoken to by MEE.
This drone does not appear to be a sophisticated device.
"It's more sophisticated [than a commercial drone] - it's not
something that you would buy cheaply on Amazon, but I think it's not
far from it," Itay Mack, an Israeli human rights lawyer and activist
who tracks Israel's military exports, told MEE.
The drone appears to be fitted with a spring-loaded rack, which opens
to drop a number of tear gas grenades.
"I think the pins are manually pulled from the grenades when they are
secured in the rack before takeoff," James Bevan, executive director
of Conflict Armament Research, told MEE.
The rack is then released once the drone is positioned over the area
where the controller wishes to disperse the gas.
"It may be something as simple as a retracting pin attached to a
servomotor, which is wired into the drone's circuits," Bevan says.
"This is what Islamic State [IS] used in Iraq and Syria."
According to Bevan, IS is the only group for which there is physical
evidence of these small, helicopter-type drones' use in combat
situations, mostly seen in Iraq's Mosul and Syria's Tal Afar.
"We see drone use in other theatres, including by non-state groups,
but these have been military fixed-wing drones," he said.
New range, new danger
Monday's demonstrations in Gaza coincided with the ceremony marking
the official opening of the United States' new embassy in Jerusalem
while Tuesday's protests marked 70 years since the Palestinian Nakba -
or Catastrophe - when 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their
homes in historic Palestine in 1948.
Over the two days, 62 Palestinians were killed by live fire or tear
gas inhalation, as Israeli forces attempted to quell the protests.
At least 980 Palestinians were wounded by tear gas dropped on the
protests on Monday, Gaza's health ministry said, including many minors.
The drones have given the Israeli forces new range. Previously, gas
canisters had only been fired into the Gaza Strip from vehicles on the
Israeli side of the divide.
The large fence that separates the besieged enclave from Israel
restricts the military's ability to fire gas across the border, unlike
in the West Bank where soldiers often fire the canisters from
specially equipped rifles.
Israeli forces rarely make ground incursions into the Gaza Strip,
which they pulled out of in 2005, while they maintain a significant
presence in the occupied West Bank.
This new range has allowed the Israelis to target areas far from the
flashpoint border area, places more likely to be populated by
families, minors and the elderly.
Gas a threat to the vulnerable
"The problem with gas grenades is they are especially dangerous to
small children and elderly people," Mack said.
The gas can be fatal in two ways: suffocation and overdosing on the
chemicals used.
The deaths of several Palestinians in the West Bank have been linked
to tear gas inhalation in recent years. In 2015 an eight-month-old
baby in the village of Beit Fajjar died after soldiers fired tear gas
into his home.
And in 2014, Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ein died from complications
related to tear gas inhalation after attending a protest near the
village of Turmusaya.
A report last year described the Aida refugee camp in the southern
West Bank as the "community most exposed to tear gas in the world".
Reports emerged on Tuesday that an eight-month-old baby, Leila
al-Ghandour, was also killed by tear gas in the Gaza Strip. She is
said to have been exposed to the gas while at a protest site far from
the Israeli separation fence, though at the time of publication this
could not be independently verified by MEE.
Indiscriminate projectiles
Though made of rubber, the gas grenades dropped from the drones are
weighty and have a metal top.
The Israeli military has regulations banning firing such projectiles
directly at people. Gas canisters fired from specially fitted rifles
are particularly dangerous at short range.
The long-range 40mm grenade launchers used by Israel are also
considered dangerous because they can be fired with only limited accuracy.
A spokesman from Omega Research Foundation, which researches the
manufacture, trade in and use of military, security and police
technologies, told MEE that drones can be used to increase accuracy
when dispersing tear gas.
"On a purely technical level, the drones can hover at a safe height to
drop the grenades and target individuals that pose a threat," the
spokesman, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
However, video footage of this week's protests appears to show the
canisters dropping from a considerable height, reducing accuracy and
increasing the risk of head injuries.
Not a threat
Israel has repeatedly accused the protesters in Gaza of attempting to
cross the border fence and lay explosives in Israeli territory. It
says the use of live fire and tear gas is justified by the threat
protesters pose by breaching the barrier.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told the AFP news agency
previously that the drones have "the capability of flying over certain
zones and certain areas and then letting go of tear gas in areas that
we want to prevent protesters from reaching".
However, MEE reporters in Gaza and the West Bank and videos emerging
online suggest Israeli forces targeted areas far from the border area
and people who did not appear to pose a threat.
On Monday, an MEE reporter was gassed by a drone along with several
other members of the media. The area targeted was clearly populated by
many journalists, with vehicles prominently displaying "Press".
Video footage also showed a drone dropping gas on a communal tent full
of women and children, apparently more than 500 metres from the border.
The deployment of gas grenades from above appears in some situations
to have sown confusion and fear among crowds, rather than dispersing
them to other locations.
In a demonstration on Tuesday near the illegal Israeli settlement Beit
El in the West Bank at least four drones deployed gas directly onto
protesters.
A 20-year-old protester there, who wished to remain anonymous, told
MEE that "panic ensued" when the drones appeared in the sky.
"People were running in all directions unsure of where to go as the
drones hovered above our heads waiting to drop tear gas," the protester told
MEE.
"The Israelis have only begun using these drones in the last few weeks.
They
are indiscriminate, and show no mercy."
According to Gabriel Avner, an Israeli security consultant, Israel's
policy in Gaza is a departure from its usual crowd-control methods.
"The situation in Gaza right now is completely different to what is
happening anywhere else... they're thinking of this as a full-on
conflict zone," he told MEE.
"There is some cause for concern because the rules of engagement are
hard-coded," he said, adding that the Israeli military needed to make
sure soldiers were properly trained to understand the potential
consequences when new technology such as this is introduced.
'Kite terrorism'
The use of drones is not limited to dispersing tear gas, however.
Some Palestinians have been flying kites across the border, often
incendiary ones carrying burning coals with the objective of starting
bush fires in Israeli territory.
According to Israeli daily Haaretz, the Israeli military has enlisted
amateur racer drones to intercept the kites, using the rotas and fish
hooks attached to the crafts to cut their cords and send them off course.
The drones intercepting the kites are operated by hobbyists, and can
reach speeds of 110 metres per second, Haaretz reported.
One of the kites that reached the Israeli side of the divide carried a
suspected remote-controlled bomb, the paper reported.
While the device did not explode, and police sappers said it may have
been a dud or a fake, the paper speculated it could herald a new phase
along the border of what it called "kite terrorism".
Many of the kites are harmless, however, with protesters often using
them to fly the Palestinian flag.
If not intercepted by drones, these kites are often shot down using
live fire.
Technology to sell
Israel is one of the world's leading countries in drone technology.
It has been using unmanned aerial vehicles since the late 1970s, when
they were used by the military for surveillance in south Lebanon, and
were widely deployed in Israel's 1982 invasion of its neighbour to the
north.
Mack, the human rights lawyer, noted that Israel has previously used
conflicts to showcase its weaponry with the intention of selling it on.
Israel sells its arms and technology to many countries. Last month the
German Defence Ministry announced its intention to sign a $1bn
contract with Israel Aerospace Industries to lease unmanned aerial
vehicles.
Tel Aviv has been criticised for selling weaponry to governments with
poor human rights records, most recently Myanmar, which has reportedly
bought Israeli military equipment as it conducts an operation against
the Rohingya minority. The Myanmar government's assault against
Rohingya communities has been widely described as ethnic cleansing.
Israeli company Global Group also sold surveillance drones to the
beleaguered and cash-strapped government of South Sudan for millions
of dollars in December.
The South Sudanese government's forces have been accused by the UN of
serious human rights abuses since its civil war broke out in 2013.
The Israeli military's use of drones to drop gas in Gaza and the West
Bank suggests that the models sold to South Sudan could equally be
adapted to release tear gas or other payloads.
"Larger commercial drones . are designed to carry a range of payloads
(large cameras for sports events, crop-spraying attachments), so are
designed to operate payload functions remotely. This would be very
easy to configure,"
Bevan said.
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