Salon.com > IDF

Instagram image suggests Palestinian child as IDF target

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:20:00 +0000

In the recognizable soft-focus filter of an Instagram image, the back of what appears to be a young Palestinian boy's head is framed in the cross hairs of a rifle. The photo, posted to the popular social media site by Israeli Defense Force sniper Mor Ostrovski, has caused outrage internationally since it was first flagged by Electronic Intifada's Ali Abunimah. The Israeli army, according to Al Jazeera, is now investigating as it remains unclear where the photograph was taken.

Abunimah gives some background on the image from Ostrovski's now-deleted Instagram account:

The context – particularly the character of the buildings seen in the background of the image – strongly suggests the child could be Palestinian.

There are no other images to suggest that the photographer actually fired at the person in the image in this case. The image is simply tasteless and dehumanizing. It embodies the idea that Palestinian children are targets.

Stevie Wonder backs out of IDF gala performance

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 20:40:00 +0000

A Change.org petition asking Stevie Wonder not to play at the Dec. 6 Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces fundraising event in Los Angeles only needed 419 more signatures -- but it looks like its organizers won't need them anymore. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that Wonder, who is a United Nations "Messenger of Peace," has backed out of the performance, citing a "recommendation from the United Nations to withdraw his participation." The FIDF fundraiser is expected to raise millions of dollars in support of the Israeli military.

Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yitzhak (Jerry) Gershon, the national director and CEO of Friends of the IDF, said in a press release, "We regret the fact that Stevie Wonder has decided to cancel his performance at an important community event of the FIDF, an American organization supporting the educational, cultural, and well-being needs of Israel’s soldiers, their families, and the families of fallen soldiers."

The petition, however, called the IDF "an institution which promotes, enables, and protects Israel's Apartheid regime."

Israeli troops fire at Gaza crowd surging at border fence

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 14:43:00 +0000

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israeli troops fired Friday to push back Gaza crowds surging toward Israel's border fence with the Hamas-ruled territory, killing one Palestinian and wounding 19 in the first violence since a truce between Israel and Hamas took hold a day earlier.

Hamas security tried to defuse the situation and keep the crowds away from the border, signaling the incident is unlikely to jeopardize the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire.

The truce, which calls for an end to Gaza rocket fire on Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, came after eight days of cross-border fighting, the bloodiest between Israel and Hamas in four years.

On Friday, hundreds of Palestinians approached Israel's border fence in several locations in southern Gaza.

In the past, Israel's military barred Palestinians from getting close to the fence, and soldiers routinely opened fire on violators to enforce a 300-meter-wide no-go zone meant to prevent infiltrations into Israel.

Since the cease-fire, growing numbers of Gazans have entered the no-go zone, testing expectations that such restrictions would now be lifted.

Christians United for Israel wants Hamas off Twitter

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 21:47:00 +0000

Pro-Israel, U.S.-based organization Christians United for Israel is seeking to ban Hamas from Twitter. Haaretz noted in its liveblog that, in a letter to the micro-blogging site, the group writes: "By allowing Hamas to have a Twitter account, you are providing it with an important 'service' and extremely effective 'communications equipment' which are central to its primary mission of terrorizing the Israeli people and using civilian deaths to score political points."

Salon's Alex Halperin wrote last week that the exposition of the current Gaza crisis over social media has been chilling. The IDF have used their Twitter account to send threats to Hamas and Gaza residents, while Hamas accounts have listed rocket attacks aimed at Israel.

Ariel Sharon’s son says “flatten all of Gaza”

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:59:00 +0000

In one of the most incendiary op-eds on the current Gaza crisis, Gilad Sharon, son of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, wrote in the Jerusalem Post that Israel should "Flatten all of Gaza."

Sharon, whose father ordered a withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, called for the blockaded Palestinian region to be annihilated or re-occupied by Israeli troops.

"There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing. Then they'd really call for a ceasefire," he wrote. "We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too."

Placing all blame for the current conflict on the people of Gaza, Sharon -- a columnist for Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth and a major in the IDF reserves -- suggests that Palestinians in the region chose and deserve a painful fate, essentially endorsing civilian deaths:

Israel and Hamas battle on social media as well

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:48:00 +0000

JERUSALEM (AP) -- The hostilities between Israel and Hamas have found a new battleground: social media.

The Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas militants have exchanged fiery tweets throughout the fighting in a separate war to influence public opinion.

Shortly after it launched its campaign Wednesday by killing Hamas' top military commander Ahmed Jabari, the Israeli military's media office announced a "widespread campaign on terror sites & operatives in the (hash)Gaza Strip" on its Twitter account.

It then posted a 10-second black-and-white video of the airstrike on its official YouTube page. Google Inc., which owns YouTube, removed the video for a time early Thursday, but reconsidered and restored it.

A tweet from (at)idfspokesperson said: "We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead."

Hamas, under its (at)AlQassamBrigade English-language account, which is largely considered to be the official Twitter account for its military wing, fired back: "Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves)."

Anonymous retaliates to Israel’s Gaza Internet threat

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Israel's deadly military operation in Gaza, which began Wednesday, is striking not only in its intensity (the most intensive series of airstrikes since Operation Cast Lead in 2009) but also in its exposition over social media. As our own Alex Halperin noted Wednesday, the IDF has been using Twitter and YouTube to communicate details about Operation Pillar of Defense and to send threats to Hamas. A number of reports also claim that Israel plans to shut off the Internet in Gaza.

When it comes to cyber-warfare, however, the IDF's foes are legion. Diffuse hacker collective Anonymous on Thursday announced #OpIsrael via Twitter in response to Israel's threats. In a release posted on Pastebin, Anonymous wrote:

Israeli forces used “excessive force,” say Gaza boat activists

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:24:00 +0000

As Salon reported Sunday, Israeli forces this weekend blocked and rerouted the ship Estelle, carrying activists aiming to break to Gaza blockade and deliver humanitarian goods to Palestinians. Israeli activists traveling on board the Estelle have since reported harsh treatment by the marines who boarded their vessel to intercept its course.

"They used a completely disproportional amount of force against us," said Elik Elhanan, an Israeli peace activist who had sailed aboard the European ship Estelle. Via a press release, Elhanan described that naval ships surrounded their boat before marines boarded the Estelle. The activist said that the soldiers "used the taser to give me electric shocks." He added, "Even after they completed their takeover of the boat, they continued to use the taser and administer more shocks. But if they think they could deter me and those who sailed with me, they are mistaken."