HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
> > From wired > > Israel Blocks Palestinian ISP > By Noah Shachtman > > 2:00 a.m. July 16, 2002 PDT > > For hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, getting to work, school or the > market has been virtually impossible since Israel's latest anti-terror > campaign began. Now, they won't be able to get online, either. > > Early Monday morning, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops took over the > offices of Palnet, the leading Palestinian Internet service provider, shutting > down the firm's operations. The move -- part of Israel's 3-week-old "Operation > Determined Path," which has kept seven of the eight major Palestinian cities > under strict curfew -- reduced Internet access to a trickle in the West Bank > and Gaza. > > "The Israeli army stormed the office building where six (Palnet) employees > were believed to be staying in order to maintain Internet service during this > difficult time," the Palestinian pro-democracy group Miftah said in a > statement. "Explosions were heard and the fate of the six (Palnet) employees > is unknown. > > IDF sources verified that troops were operating in the Palnet building, but > could not confirm any details of the operation. > > The strike is part of a larger, intermittent effort by the Israeli military to > hobble the Palestinians' communications and media infrastructure. In January, > the IDF blew up the Ramallah offices of the Palestinian Broadcasting > Corporation, the official voice of the Arafat government, after a member of > Arafat's Fatah organization shot and killed six Israelis. A government > spokesman called the corporation a "center of incitement against the state of > Israel," after the attack. > > In April, as part of Israel's "Operation Defensive Shield" anti-terror push, > troops destroyed equipment at Palestinian radio and television stations. > > Technology was targeted then, as well. > > "Records were stolen, computers were smashed, and a big data node in Nablus > was destroyed, and the school records of 2 million school children were lost," > said Nigel Parry, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada website. > > To Israel's defenders, such moves are a justifiable means to fight terror. > > "The Palestinians have declared war on Israel. And part of defending yourself > in war is closing down the other side's communications," said Daniel Pipes, > director of the pro-Israel Middle East Forum. "It's a way to reduce the > ability to make war, and it's a way to show the Palestinians that the course > of violence they're pursuing is not going to serve them well." > > But less sympathetic observers see the Palnet shutdown and other events as > another sign that the Israel government is trying to make life unbearable for > the Palestinians. > > "The occupation is not just a physical occupation. It goes beyond that, > foreclosing the ability to communicate, to learn, to work," Judith Kipper, > director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and > International Studies. > > The IDF has recently been talking up the ways in which terrorists are using > the Internet to plot and plan. In June, the IDF posted to its website a > discussion allegedly taken from the Hamas site in which members debate whether > arsenic, rat poison or cyanide would be most effective in killing Americans. > > Hackers have repeatedly crippled pro-Hamas and Palestinian Authority Web > pages. Almost exactly a year ago, the site of the official Palestinian news > agency, Wafa, was shut down by such an attack, and an unofficial Hamas site > was replaced with a link to porn. > > But this official assault on Palnet will have far more wide-reaching > consequences. > > "Palnet does the ISP services for most of the government agencies and a lot of > the NGO's (non-government organizations)," Parry said. "Anyone who has a > private dial-up account is going to have a Palnet account." > > > > -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- > -- -- > If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better > than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not > your counsel or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands of those who feed > you. May your chains set lightly upon you. > Samuel Adams > --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
