- 17 sept 2011
Palestinians hack Jewish 'Facebook' site
19 sept 2011
Anti-Israel Turks erroneously hack into Palestinian sites
Turkish hackers post anti-Israel messages on dozens of websites, only to learn that sites belong to Palestinians.
Turkish hackers attacked dozens of Israeli websites over the weekend, only to find out that the sites belonged to Palestinians.
The confusion was caused due to the fact that the Palestinian sites, which have a .ps web suffix, use Israeli web servers.
"The hackers left anti-Israel messages on 70 Palestinian sites," said Shai Blitzblau, the head of Maglan-Computer Warfare and Network Intelligence Labs. "Most of them discovered it when it was already too late. Only after they broke in and sabotaged the websites did they find out these were Palestinian sites."
The message, which featured an image of an Israeli soldier washing blood off of his hands, read: "Because you voted on behalf of Israel on Blue (Mavi) Marmara report… We suspended this site. You will apologize Netanyahu, you will apologize Israel."
The criminal incident comes amidst a deepening diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel. Turkey recently expelled Israel's ambassador and downgraded diplomatic relations with Israel over Jerusalem's refusal to apologize for the events of last year's Gaza flotilla in which nine Turkish citizens were killed.
In recent weeks, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made a number of speeches in which he expressed, among other things, the Turkish fleet's readiness to face Israel. On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that Ankara had interfered with Israel's request to open a NATO office in Brussels.
http://fwd4.me/0BsQ 9 jan 2012, 16:01 , Respect -
Maria 28 sept 2011
Jerusalem & Babylon / The ministry of silly talks
By Anshel Pfeffer
Benjamin Netanyahu's worthless propaganda department has a lot of explaining to do.
Did you know that Israel has a propaganda ministry? Of course, basically that is what the Prime Minister's Office does 90 percent of the time, but there is also an official government department dedicated to recruiting amateur ambassadors and equipping them with a war chest of arguments promoting the Netanyahu government's policies. Not that it has a high profile most of the time.
The propaganda bureau reappeared last week with a rather annoying radio ad in which a nasal voice, masquerading as a six-year-old girl, calls up "the Shulman Family in Spain" - of all places - and wishes a rather bewildered man's voice, speaking in perfect Hebrew on the other end of the line, a hearty new year on behalf of "all the family in Israel." The ad promotes a childish website, which would have looked out of date a decade ago. The site enables you to design your own 'Shana Tova' card from a small range of simple designs and infantile, meaningless, Hallmark-style messages. There is no room for any personal creative thoughts and you don't even get to decide who will receive your felicitations. It just gets sent out, theoretically, to a Jewish family somewhere in cyberspace and you will get an answer. I'm still waiting for mine.
Who came up with this puerile wheeze? Meet the Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, who put this on the web. I had almost forgotten the ministry existed, so I immediately searched for its website to find out what other shenanigans it has been getting up to recently. Well, there isn't one. I mean, there isn't a website in the normal sense, detailing what the MPDDA actually does, the services it offers, programs it operates, and so on. There is just a website called masbirim.gov.il. (For those of you who need a translation, masbirim literally means "explainers." )
Actually this isn't a new campaign, it was launched a year and a half ago, with equally infantile ads, and it attracted a fair amount of derision at the time. Still I think it is worth revisiting, since the campaign is still running, is all the MPDDA is doing (that and the Shana Tova idiocy ) and it totally encapsulates what this government is about and has been doing since it came to power.
So, what or who are masbirim? Apparently every Israeli who meets a foreigner, in Israel and abroad, is instructed to be one. To make sure we act as faithful ambassadors, the site offers extensive, if highly selective information on Israel's history, technological achievements, scenery (including tourism tips on beauty spots in the West Bank ) and, of course, a wealth of details on the Israeli-Arab dispute, including useful quotes, facts and figures on how the Palestinian narrative was 'invented' - the Palestinians actually being refugees from other Arab lands, apparently. History is such a freestyle discipline, so I'm certainly not going to start fact-checking the veracity of masbirim's narrative. Anyway, that would leave me no time to read some other helpful tips on the correct body language to use when explaining Israel's case to the Gentiles (did you know that it helps to look them in the eye? ).
I'm not that concerned with the authenticity of the website's content, or its one-sidedness (though what will happen with all this information when a new government of different political hue comes to power? ). It is the entire concept that is troubling. How insecure does Israel's leadership feel if it needs to press-gang its civilians into a propaganda corps and supply them with precise instructions on how to act when meeting foreigners? Did whoever came up with this website not think that, when traveling abroad, Israelis are just interested in a vacation, away from the daily challenge and dilemma of living in this country? Maybe when I meet a Frenchman or Zimbabwean I prefer to hear a bit about his life, instead of haranguing him with the Palestinian question. And is this what an entire government ministry has been set up to do?
The last time I wrote about the MPDDA was before it even came into existence, two and a half years ago, immediately after Netanyahu appointed his cabinet. I used this column as an open letter to Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein. (The ministry had not yet been christened but it certainly confirmed to the rule that the more grandiose an organization's title is, the more empty its purpose. Fans of British comedy will certainly be reminded of Jim Hacker's Department of Administrative Affairs in "Yes Minister." ) In the letter, I recommended Edelstein not to take the job, as 'Hasbara' is a pointless exercise and he would have no influence over Diaspora affairs - there are already much larger and better-funded organizations who certainly would not take orders from him.
Not surprisingly, Edelstein did not heed my advice and now we have this MPDDA, with a budget of some NIS 30 million a year and, I'm sure, a spokesperson who will next week write an angry letter to Haaretz excoriating my column and detailing all the worthy projects undertaken by the ministry. We know the truth, though: The only reason there is an MPDDA is that Netanyahu had to appoint Edelstein to his cabinet, as a reward for political loyalty and with an eye to the next elections, to make sure that Likud would have a Russian-born minister. There was no need for the MPDDA before Netanyahu formed his government and when a new prime minister comes along, on that very day, the MPDDA will evaporate, from obscurity to nothingness. But its spirit will live on.
The MPDDA spirit is the deep lack of confidence that still bedevils so many Israelis. It's that persecution complex that convinces us all that criticism is irrational and bred of anti-Semitism and ignorance (which do exist ), and if only we could find the way to explain ourselves better, the enlightened citizens of the world would automatically love us and realize how hollow and pernicious the Palestinians' claims are. This feeling is stronger on the right, but it exists also among left-wingers; the obsession with how we are seen from outside transcends politics.
Is there a chance that Israelis are finally trying to work out for themselves what kind of a society they want to live in, and not just worrying about external critics? Perhaps this summer's social protests were also subconsciously motivated by this. At the end of such a turbulent year, both within Israel and the nations around us, I think the best thing we can wish ourselves, and our neighbors in 5772, is that we finally reach some kind of understanding of who we are, what we stand for and how we hope to solve our problems, because ministries of propaganda can't supply any of those answers. Shana Tova.
http://fwd4.me/0CWf 9 jan 2012, 16:01 , Respect -
Maria 2 nov 2011
PA seeks UN inquiry into Internet attack
RAMALLAH (AFP) -- A Palestinian Authority minister said on Wednesday he would seek an international inquiry into a hacking attack that took down Internet service across the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Communications minister Mashur Abu Daqqa said the government would ask the International Telecommunications Union, a UN agency, to officially investigate Tuesday's cyber-attack.
"We will begin today our communications with the ITU to request an international committee to investigate the facts," Abu Daqqa told a news conference.
On Tuesday, Internet service across the occupied Palestinian territories went down after a coordinated hacking attack against Palestinian servers, the PA says.
Abu Daqqa said on Tuesday that the attack was "organized" and hinted that it could have been orchestrated by Israel in response to winning membership of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
"The sites have been attacked in an organized way using mirror servers," he said.
"I think from the manner of the attack and its intensity that there is a state behind it, and it is not spontaneous.
"Israel could be involved as it announced (on Monday) that it was considering the kind of sanctions it would impose on us," he added.
On Wednesday, Abu Daqqa reiterated that the complex nature of the attack, which he told Ma'an involved hackers from more than 20 nations, suggested "the work of a state."
"It was clear that this attack was intended to wipe the name of Palestine off the Internet in response to Palestinian membership at UNESCO," he said.
By Wednesday afternoon, Internet service was largely restored across the Palestinian territories.
Abdel Majid Melhem, director general of the Palestinian telecommunications company, said the attack was "almost brought under control, but is ongoing, and our teams are working around the clock to solve the problem."
The communications ministry said it would set up a committee to examine the attack and devise methods to prevent or respond to similar incidents in the future.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=434620
Palestinians: Hackers hit Internet services
Unknown hackers access Paltel Palestinian internet provider, disable services. Official alleges that attack was 'organized by foreign state', connected to UNESCO bid.
Hackers disrupted Palestinian Internet services in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the Palestinian telecoms minister said, alleging that a foreign government was behind the interference.
"All Palestinian IP addresses have been exposed to a focused, organized attack from abroad," Mashour Abu Daqqa told Reuters. "I think this is organized by a state. This is my prediction," he said.
Abu Daqqa said technicians from telecoms firm Paltel, an Internet services provider, were working to resolve the problem which also prevented users from viewing foreign websites. They had identified fake servers behind the disruption, he added.
"It's between slow and stopped altogether," said Ghassan Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian Administration in Ramallah.
In separate remarks to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Abu Daqqa said the attack was linked to the Palestinians' admission to the United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO on Monday - a diplomatic success for the Palestinians and a move opposed by Israel.
http://fwd4.me/0g3d 9 jan 2012, 16:02 , Respect -
Maria 6 nov 2011
Israel Government, Security Services Websites Down In Suspected Cyber-Attack By Anonymous In Support Of Flotilla
By Anshel Pfeffer and Oded Yaron
Israel government, security services websites down in suspected cyber-attack.
Attack follows threat by hacking group Anonymous in response to interception of Gaza flotilla; websites of IDF, Mossad and government ministries among crashed websites.
Several Israeli government websites crashed on Sunday in what appeared to be a cyber-attack by hackers. The websites of the IDF, Mossad and the Shin Bet security services were among the sites that went down, as well as several government portals and ministries.
The apparent attack comes after the international cabal of hackers known as Anonymous threatened a cyber-attack on the Israeli government’s computers in response to its interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla on Friday.
The IDF and Shin Bet said they were investigating the reason for the malfunction. Security officials stressed that only the external government sites crashed, and that the internal computer networks were unharmed.
In a video that was uploaded to YouTube, Anonymous warns that if the siege on Gaza is maintained, it will have no choice but to go on the attack.
Anonymous said that if the siege continues and Israeli forces intercept additional flotillas, or if they conduct additional operations such as the commandeering of the Mavi Marmara, it will have no alternative but to launch repeated cyber-attacks on Israeli computer systems until the siege ends.
Anonymous has succeeded in the past in bringing about the temporary disabling of many websites, including credit card companies that refused to transfer donations to the WikiLeaks organization.
Several months ago, Anonymous announced that they have the code for Stuxnet, which was distributed on the internet. Security experts usually do not see them as a strategic threat, as they do programmers who are responsible for this type of malicious software.
Anonymous threatened to disable the Knesset website a few months ago, but even if hacking did occur then, the website continued to function and did not suffer any apparent damage.
Last May, Israel established a national taskforce to prevent cyber "terror attacks" by foreign countries on its strategic computer networks. The national cybernetic taskforce was set up in order to protect Israel from possible harm to its defense systems and infrastructure networks.
http://fwd4.me/0gJo
Who is behind government websites' crash?
Anonymous sends viral warning to Israeli government about future attack, however State officials deny internet hacking group is behind crash; claim it is a server malfunction.
Who crashed the official IDF, Mossad and Shin Bet websites? The Anonymous internet hacking group issued an online statement on Friday warning they intend to attack once again. However State officials deny on Sunday that the group was behind the attack, instead claiming it was a server malfunction.
A Youtube video uploaded on Friday was signed by Anonymous as an open letter to the government of Israel claiming the Israeli navy blocked the Canadian-Irish flotilla attempting to reach the Gaza Strip.
(2:11) An open letter from Anonymous to the Government of Israel
"We do not tolerate this kind of repeated offensive behavior against unarmed civilians… If you continue blocking humanitarian vessels to Gaza… then you will leave us no choice but to strike back again and again until you stop," said a computerized voice in the video.
The Anonymous group have recently canceled their November 5 plan to reveal the identities of the people cooperating with Zetas, the most violent drug cartel in Mexico.
Deputy Director of the government's Information Technology Unit Ziv Slater claimed a serious technological malfunction on one of the servers caused some of the government websites to crash.
"It has nothing to do with an attack, no threat and no hacking. It's just a systems malfunction," said Slater. "Our best minds are working to fix the problem. They were not hacked."
The following websites have been taken off line: Shin Bet, Mossad, IDF, IDF Spokesperson's Unit, Health Ministry, Justice Ministry, Construction and Housing Ministry, Science and Sport's Ministry, the President's Residence, Immigration Authority, the Israel Land Administration and Israel Atomic Energy Commission.
http://fwd4.me/0gJb
Israeli military, intelligence sites down after 'Anonymous' threat
(2:11) An open letter from Anonymous to the Government of Israel
Greetings government of Israel,
As the world has witnessed today your Navy soldiers boarded the vessels which were en-route to the Gaza Strip, attempting to break the illegal maritime security blockade placed by you to hurt the people of Gaza in the name of counter terrorism.
Two Irish-Canadian flotilla ships - Canadian Tahrir (Liberation), and the Irish Saoirse (Freedom) - with 27 passengers from nine countries on board were approaching Gaza in a peaceful and humanitarian mission. They were not inside Israeli territories, and are not carrying any weapons.
These boats were captured by your navy exactly at 15:59 Gaza Time; the vessels were about 35 NM outside Gaza, which is INTERNATIONAL WATERS at the time of capture. This is a clear sign of piracy on the high seas. Furthermore, UN resolution 3005 states, that all resources (so also the sea) and natural wealth falls under the control of residents of Gaza.
Your actions are illegal, against democracy, human rights, international, and maritime laws. Justifying war, murder, illegal interception, and pirate-like activities under an illegal cover of defense will not go unnoticed by us or the people of the world.
We do not tolerate this kind of repeated offensive behavior against unarmed civilians. We along with 127 countries recognize Palestine as a state for people of Palestine and such acts by you and your military are acts of war against another sovereign nation.
If you continue blocking humanitarian vessels to Gaza or repeat the dreadful actions of May 31st, 2010 against any Gaza Freedom Flotillas then you will leave us no choice but to strike back. Again and again, until you stop.
We are Anonymous,
We are legion,
We do not forget,
We do not forgive,
Expect us.
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Israeli army and intelligence agencies' websites were offline on Sunday, two days after hacker group Anonymous warned it would "strike back" for Israel's capture of Gaza-bound ships on Friday.
Anonymous, a network of online activists who have attacked government and financial websites around the world, released a statement Friday warning that the group would take action against the navy's seizure of two ships aiming to break Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip.
"Your actions are illegal, against democracy, human rights, international, and maritime laws," the statement addressed to the government of Israel and posted on Youtube and Anonymous-affiliated sites said.
"Justifying war, murder, illegal interception, and pirate-like activities under an illegal cover of defense will not go unnoticed by us or the people of the world."
Websites for Israel's army, internal Shin Bet security service, and Mossad spy agency could not be accessed on Sunday. It could not be confirmed that Anonymous was responsible.
An Israeli army spokesman said it was a "strange coincidence" but he could not confirm that hacking was responsible.
"Initial investigations conducted by the internet company indicate problem with the internet servers," a military spokeswoman added. She said they did not know whether it came as a result of a hack.
In its statement Anonymous slammed Israel's deadly raid on a flotilla heading to Gaza last year, which killed nine Turkish nationals.
"If you continue blocking humanitarian vessels to Gaza or repeat the dreadful actions of May 31st, 2010 against any Gaza Freedom Flotillas then you will leave us no choice but to strike back. Again and again, until you stop," the statement said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=435222 9 jan 2012, 16:02 , Respect -
Maria 10 nov 2011
Israeli intelligence to establish social network in Russia for Muslims
MOSCOW, (PIC)-- The PIC has learnt from special well informed sources in Russia that Israeli intelligence agencies have been working for some time on a huge internet project similar to social networking sites such Facebook and Twitter directed at Muslims, to use for collecting sensitive information on "potential enemies".
The sources said that “the internet trap” is to target Muslims in European countries, then the Arab world and will try to attract various sectors of internet users, in more than one language including Russian.
The Israeli embassy in Moscow indirectly supervises the project by choosing teams of Muslim programmers in Russia and employing some Muslim programmers in Western Europe.
This is not the first attempt of its kind, but seems to be the more serious. Unfortunately it is being directly supervised by some "deceived” Muslims. The sources added that the project is almost complete and will be launched in the near future in a Muslim country to gain the confidence of Muslims.
http://fwd4.me/0gXg 9 jan 2012, 16:09 , Respect -
Maria 12 nov 2011
Occupy Wall Street Stifled Solidarity With Gaza Flotilla at Dan Sieradski’s Urging
At first I thought this issue was much ado about very little, but the various ways in which Dan Sieradski, co-founder of Occupy Judaism, has attempted to deflate or deflect the controversy he started, and the disingenuousness of the arguments he’s used to defend his actions, have made it a very important one. As the Gaza flotilla boats were steaming toward Palestine, someone tweeted on the @OWS Twitter feed:
“We support and would like to express # solidarity to # FreedomWaves # Palestine # ows”.
According to Sieradski, he then either tweeted or asked a member of the OWS General Assembly to look into the tweet. Though he protests loudly that the subsequent deletion of the tweet was not his doing, he clearly disagreed with the tweet and believed it would be harmful to OWS, as his subsequent statements have confirmed. Methinks he doth protest too much.
The one thing I detest more than anything else in progressive politics is litmus tests. The Jewish community has litmus tests coming out the yazoo. Reference Jonathan Tobin’s smug comment at a GA panel dealing ironically with the subject of “civility in Israel discourse” in the community, that “everyone” agrees that Jewish Voice for Peace is not a legitimate part of the debate.
What Sieradski has done to the Occupy Wall Street movement is introduce a litmus test regarding Israel-Palestine designed to pre-empt criticism of the protest by the mainstream Jewish community. In tweet after tweet and in interviews he’s repeatedly said that the Gaza flotilla was a dangerous issue for OWS and that embracing it would leave the latter open to attack by the Jewish right. Sieradski’s presumption is that OWS must do everything in its power to avoid criticism by the Jewish right-wing even if that means stifling political speech. Here he speaks to Mondoweiss about the controversy:
…The tweet was immediately picked up by the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Jewish Internet Defense Force, among others, and began making its rounds about the net.
The ramifications I imagine begin with a mountain of press attacking OWS as being anti-Israel and pro-terrorism. Whereas beating back false charges of antisemitism was easy because the movement is not antisemitic, were the movement to embrace an explicitly pro-Palestinian agenda, it would be impossible to counter charges that the movement is anti-Israel.
Why is support for the Gaza flotilla “pro-Palestinian,” but not “pro-Israel?” And what does it say about Sieradski’s approach that Israeli Palestinians have joined such flotillas? Are they anti-Israel for doing so? And if they are, how does he justify claiming he supports equal rights for Israeli Palestinians? Hey, if someone wants to call Occupy Wall Street “anti-Israel” for supporting the flotilla that’s a fight I’m glad to join. Those are terms worth fighting for.
He further argues:
No matter how much we as individuals may reject such a framing, supporting the breaking of the Gaza blockade will surely be labeled as enabling the flow of arms into Gaza…
Well, sure it will be “labeled” as such by Commentary and the RJC, but isn’t that a fight we should be prepared for? Why should we be afraid of this? If the Jewish far right wants to argue that breaking an illegal siege against the 1.5 million civilians of Gaza equals promoting terrorism, I’ll take those odds and join the fray.
Objectively, there are scores of ways to ensure no weapons or arms enter Gaza, that could be used to promote terror against Israel. Besides, currently WITH the siege Gaza militants get all the weapons they need to attack Israel. How does the Gaza siege have any impact against terror? It doesn’t.
This statement by Sieradski really gets me hot under the collar:
…We all know that mainstream media does not handle nuance well when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
So because it may be hard for OWS to explain to obtuse media reporters why it published a single tweet supporting the Flotilla, that means it should avoid the issue like the plague? What is the purpose of our political activism? Is it to take the easy, safe way to advance our goals or take the just and right way, even if it makes our lives a bit more difficult?
He claims that Occupy Boston’s march on the Israeli consulate has “even” made it into the Israeli press. What is wrong with that? And even if the Israeli press is attuned only to claims of anti-Semitism within the movement and misunderstands the motives, isn’t that grounds for intensifying our own pressure and outreach on the Israeli media to get the story right? Hell, that’s what I do every day in this blog and in my research for the posts I write. I yell and scream whenever Israeli reporters get issues wrong. A lot of them don’t like me for it. But I’ve got their grudging, if not respect, then at least attention. That’s how the OWS movement needs to approach this issue. We’ve got to fight for our values, not calibrate how we can avoid criticism or controversy. Sieradski has this all wrong.
Sieradski proceeds to claim that the OWS tweet in effect forced the movement to “pick sides.” I presume the sides he’s talking about are Israel and Palestine. But how in God’s name does a tweet supporting Freedom Waves indicate you’ve taken a position against Israel? I support Israel AND the Gaza flotilla. I dare anyone to argue that doing the latter causes you reject Israel (as opposed to Israeli policy)? You can see how Sieradski has quickly ditched his progressive values and gotten himself stuck in a thorn-bush from which it’s very hard to extricate oneself.
If Andrew Breitbart, the Republican Jewish Coalition, Commentary and others would attempt to make hay out of this–gei gesunt. They’re welcome. Aren’t we big boys and girls enough to respond in kind and defend ourselves? Sieradski even argues we should back off the issue because these extremists will “make hay” out of the fact that OWS “supports terror.” Hey that’s what these people DO. It doesn’t mean you back off your values because you’re going to have to get into the ring with a bunch of bullies and fight back against a little pummeling from them. I’m willing to take my stand on an issue like this. And a principled one it would be. Supporting the Gaza flotilla should in no way harm OWS. It is in no way anti-Israel or anti-Zionist.
Sieradski has even called those supporting Freedom Waves “fringe extremists” trying to “take over an economic movement.” This despite the fact that he claims to oppose the Gaza siege. It makes absolutely no sense. So either Sieradski is a liberal Zionist schizophrenic or there’s some sort of personal animus between him and those supporting the Flotilla that explains his inexplicable hostility to a tweet that seems politically kosher to me.
Speaking of schizophrenia, try to parse the contradictions in this statement:
I personally am very troubled by efforts to focus this movement on opposing the Israeli occupation.
Which is not to say that I support the Israeli occupation or the violation of Palestinian rights, or that I believe Palestinians and their issues should be excluded from this movement.
On the one hand he says he’s troubled by a tweet that focuses OWS on opposing the Israeli Occupation. On the other hand he says Palestinians and “their issues” (aren’t their issues also Israeli issues?) shouldn’t be excluded from OWS. I can’t think of a more disjointed, confused statement than that.
In another passage from his Mondoweiss interview he, in a typically disjointed way, ends up supporting U.S. military aid to Israel because it provides jobs to American workers:
U.S. military aid to Israel…supports the defense manufacturing sector, putting money in the pockets of working class Americans that, in turn, re-enters our economy.
When he gets himself into such hot water I almost feel sorry for him. He’s clearly in over his head when he both opposes and supports the military aid in the same sentence. But again, if you don’t have well-thought out, consistent views on a subject, then don’t take it on as your major issue and make yourself look foolish.
Sieradski even gets a dig in against Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the most courageous of American Jewish peace groups on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. He sniffs at the attempt to equate the “occupy” in OWS with the Occupation:
I fear JVP’s recent call to “Occupy the Occupiers” is just one such example of this moving in a direction that could have negative consequences for the Jewish community and its involvement in OWS.
I’m sorry Dan, but if OWS has to tiptoe around issues because YOU say it’s bad to take a stand on them, then what good is the overall movement it represents? I’m personally sick and tired of the Shah Shtill types who hold their finger to their lips as if you’ll wake the baby if you talk about Israel-Palestine. We’re all grown ups here. This isn’t going to cause an apocalypse that will wipe out the world as we know it. It’s just an issue of elementary justice of interest to many American progressives.
In a bid for complete disclosure, I’m not a fan of Sieradski nor he of me. In fact, he recently weighed in support of the pro-Israel hasbarist Adam Holland, by calling me a “douchebag.” And yes, you tend not to forget such dyspeptic comments. So some may take my criticism as personally motivated. But it’s not. As I wrote above, I intended NOT to write about this until I saw the disingenuous explanations he began offering for his actions. That’s what motivated me to speak out.
There’s a strange thing that happens with some Jews, even those like Sieradski who call themselves “progressive.” They’re rad when it comes to any other issue but Israel. But the latter gives them conniptions. What’s strange about Sieradski is that he does hold progressive views even on issues related to the Occupation and Palestinian rights. But the make or break issue for him is Nakba and Right of Return.
He holds the odd belief that if Israel accepts ROR it will mean the destruction of Israel. He even tweeted that it would mean “creating 7 million new [Israeli] refugees.” I’ve got news for Dan. You can have the “right” views on every issue, but if you don’t understand the implication of rejecting ROR for your progressive value system, then you’re headed into trouble. Your values are at war and you have further contemplation in order to bring them into alignment. Until then, you’re being false to yourself, to Israel and especially to Palestinians.
Sieradski would protest that he is progressive in every way. He support equal rights for Israeli Palestinians in Israel. He opposes the Occupation, the Wall, the Gaza siege. But still there’s that remaining thorny issue of Nakba. The Original Sin of Israel. You can’t hope to be a truly consistent progressive when you’re AWOL on Nakba and ROR.
What’s deeply ironic about all of this is that if Sieradski in his pro-Israel paranoia hadn’t stuck his nose into this, there would’ve been a single tweet supporting Freedom Waves and that would’ve been the end of it. No pro-Palestinian activist would’ve attempted to hijack the movement, as Sieradski fears. Everyone would’ve gone on their way supporting their various political causes whether they be OWS or Palestinian rights. But as a result of his foolishness HE has made this issue the sine qua non of OWS. HE has made it a defining moment by which Jews must choose to defend a deracinated OWS or reject it because it has rendered the Palestinians as superfluous to their really important goals.
In truth, what Dan Sieradski is doing is intensifying friction and tension among the various political constituencies within OWS. It’s his kind of litmus-test politics that strains such coalitions to the breaking point. I know because I’ve participated in Jewish political groups (among them New Jewish Agenda) riven by such factionalism around the issue of Israel and Zionism. Though he may not have intended it, Sieradski has made OWS less pliable, less flexible, less open, and less tolerant. And that bodes ill for it in the long-term.
Contrary to what Dan Sieradski may believe, his work and his views are not so significant that they need to be held up to a mirror and parsed for meanings and contradictions. The reason I’ve written this post is because the contradictions inherent in his Israel-Zionist world-view afflict so many American Jews and Israelis and cripple them in addressing these issues as forthrightly as they should.
A final word: I’m not criticizing Sieradski because he’s a Zionist or because he supports Israel, because I do as well. I’m criticizing him because his views are so contradictory that he does a deep disservice to truly progressive values on these issues.
http://fwd4.me/0gkk 9 jan 2012, 16:10 , Respect -
Maria 12 nov 2011
PCBS: Noticeable Increase in Internet Use in Last Two Years
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – A noticeable increase in internet use took place among Palestinians in the Palestinian Territory during the last two years, according to a Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) survey on Saturday.
PCBS conducted the fourth Household Survey on ICT during the period 5 from July 2011 – August 2011 using a random sample of 4,448 households (3,048 households in the West Bank and 1,400 households in the Gaza Strip).
In addition to households, the survey also targeted individuals aged 10 years and over.
The survey showed that 50.9% of Palestinian households in 2011 have a computer, compared to 49.2% in 2009: 53.2% in the West Bank and 46.5% in the Gaza Strip.
The results showed that 30.4% of households in the Palestinian Territory have an Internet connection, compared to 28.5% in 2009, of which 30.6% are in the West Bank and 30.0% in the Gaza Strip.
The percentage of households with a satellite dish was 93.9% compared with 92.0% in 2009: 95.9% in the West Bank and 90.1% in the Gaza Strip.
The results also indicated that 44.0% of households in the Palestinian Territory have a phone line compared with 47.5% in 2009: 45.3% in the West Bank and 41.6% in the Gaza Strip.
Data showed that 95.0% of households in the Palestinian Territory have a mobile phone in 2011: 95.1% in the West Bank and 94.7% in the Gaza Strip.
The results indicated that 53.7% of individuals aged 10 years and over in the Palestinian Territory use a computer in 2011: 54.8% in the West Bank and 51.7% in the Gaza Strip, with 58.5% of males and 48.7% of females.
In 2009, the percentage of individuals who used a computer was 57.1%.
Data showed that 49.4% of households without a computer cited the reason as the high cost involved: 49.3% in the West Bank and 49.6% in the Gaza Strip.
A further 23.2% stated that the reason was that no one in the family had skills to use the computer: 19.0% in the West Bank and 30.4% in the Gaza Strip.
The results indicated that 39.6% of individuals aged 10 years and over in the Palestinian Territory use the Internet, compared with 32.3% of individuals aged 10 years and over were using the Internet in 2009.
The percentage of persons 10 years and over who use a computer through internet use was 69.8% in 2011: 68.3% in the West Bank and 72.5% in the Gaza Strip; use of the Internet varies between males and females: 72.7% and 66.2% respectively.
The results of the survey also indicated that 85.7% of individuals use the Internet to access information, 49.3% use the Internet for studying, 69.1% for communication purposes, and 79.3% use the Internet for fun and entertainment.
Moreover, about one-fifth (18.2%) of individuals aged 10 years and over use the Internet for work. These results were almost the same as those for 2009.
The percentage of individuals aged 10 years and over who have an e-mail account was 27.5% in the Palestinian Territory in 2011, compared with 21.3% in 2009.
The results also showed that 47.0% of individuals who use the Internet were exposed to a virus while surfing the Internet, while 9.3% were exposed to file damage, 7.3% of individuals had their personal information stolen, and 1.1% had their personal credit card details stolen.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17986 9 jan 2012, 16:11 , Respect -
Maria 30 nov 2011
Barak takes to Facebook on Iranian blast
Defense minister praises second mysterious blast in Iran on Independent Party's Facebook page, commenting: 'The more the merrier' before post version was modified.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak took to the Independent Party's Facebook page on Wednesday to praise the second mysterious blast on Iran's nuclear facilities.
On the party's official social webpage a comment was posted next to a picture of Barak reading "the more the merrier," in regards to the blast that took place at a munitions depot near Tehran last week.
Some time afterwards the version was modified, clarifying that "'the more the merrier' post was written by the webpage manager, and not by the defense minister, as previously suggested."
The London-based The Times newspaper reported that recent satellite pictures reveal that despite Iran denying so, the mysterious blast did in fact damage the uranium conversion plant in Ispahan.
The images published in TheTimes clearly shows smoke rising from the damaged facility. Meanwhile, Iran has continually denied the incident ever took place.
Israeli intelligence officials told The Times that there was "no doubt" the explosion damaged the nuclear facility in Ispahan, maintaining it was no accident.
After the first mysterious blast a couple of weeks ago in Iran, while most Israeli officials avoided discussing the blast, Barak said in an interview with Army Radio that he didn't know what caused the blast but added "the more the merrier."
http://fwd4.me/0htH 9 jan 2012, 16:12 , Respect -
Maria 30 nov 2011
Minister for Censorship Australia - Steve Johnson Phone call
(9:49) Minister for Censorship Australia - Steve Johnson Phone call
(9:06) Minister for Censorship Australia - Steve Johnson Phone call Part 2
Steve Johnson calls the Australian Minister for Censorship, Propaganda and Misinformation about the impending Internet Filter policies being formulated.
If the Government gets its way (And it wont) These sites will be blocked as "Unhelpful and unwanted"
Primarily because they contain too much truth about the Governments own Sedition against the Australian people and their laws. 9 jan 2012, 16:12 , Respect -
Maria 30 nov 2011
Report: Israel army investigates classified video
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- A video uploaded to the Internet by Israeli soldiers has been removed after it was reported to the army by local media, an Israeli news site reported Wednesday.
The video, uploaded to YouTube, documented confidential maps and "highly advanced command-and-control systems," the Ynet news website reported. It was removed after months online, Ynet said.
According to the report, the video also documents soldiers dancing around without their uniforms and smoking inside a situation room. Bulletin boards with classified instructions could be seen.
An Israeli military spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=440902 9 jan 2012, 16:13 , Respect -
Maria 9 dec 2011
US, Israel bid to hack Press TV fails
The United States and Israel have failed to hack Iran's Press TV website in a cyber attack after the Iranian news network broadcasted footage of an advanced US spy drone downed by Iran's Army.
On Thursday, Press TV's website also published the video of the cream-colored US reconnaissance drone, which showed two commanders of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) inspecting the unmanned aerial vehicle.
On December 4, the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit downed with minimum damage the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft in Iran's North Khorasan Province.
The aircraft, designed and developed by the American company Lockheed Martin, had crossed into Iran's airspace over the border with neighboring Afghanistan.
Iran has announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the captured RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, which is also known as the Beast of Kandahar, and is similar in design to a US Air Force B-2 stealth bomber.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity on Tuesday, confirmed that the drone had been part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the United States intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan.
They claimed the reconnaissance capability of the RQ-170 Sentinel drone enabled it to gather information from inside Iran by flying along Afghanistan's border with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaei on Thursday lodged an appeal in an official letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, urging the body to condemn the violation of Iran's airspace by the US spy drone and adopt necessary measures to end these “dangerous and illegal” acts.
The Iranian government insists that the "blatant and provocative” violation of Iran's airspace is tantamount to an act of hostility against the country, which is a flagrant breach of the international law, particularly the fundamental principles of the UN Charter, the diplomat pointed out.
http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/214663.html 9 jan 2012, 16:14 , Respect -
Maria 9 dec 2011
European Union to outline Internet freedom strategy
By Roberta Cowan
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -- The European Union will outline a strategy on Monday to support activists living under repressive governments who are using technology to organize, mobilize and exercise their rights, European Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Friday.
Echoing remarks made on Thursday by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Internet restrictions in Russia, Syria and China, Kroes said the Arab Spring had been a wake-up call about the relationship between technology and human rights.
The use of social networking websites during this year's popular uprisings in the Arab world helped bring down authoritarian governments in Egypt and Tunisia and prompted counter attacks by governments against the Internet.
In Russia, prominent anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny was jailed this week for 15 days after taking part in anti-government protests over ballot-stuffing and other irregularities in Sunday's parliamentary elections.
Kroes, responsible for the EU's digital policy, told a Dutch conference on Internet freedom she had been inspired by meetings with activists fighting for democracy in their countries.
"I am committed to doing whatever I can to support their cause," Kroes said. "On Monday we will be announcing further details about how we can take this forward."
Kroes also urged technology companies to be transparent about equipment they were selling to governments who might use it to repress their citizens.
"If technology is used by certain repressive governments to identify innocent citizens and put their life or freedom in danger, we ought to know," she said.
"I think it is high time for the industry to decide where they stand, and what they are going to do. If not as a moral issue, then as an issue of corporate reputation. Being known for selling despots the tools of their repression is, to say the least, bad PR."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=443531