Sunday, May 5, 2013

The Neighbour from Hell

Israeli threats, intimidation and bullying have a too-long history:

Lebanon today:

"According to Lebanese news sites, Israeli fighter jets circled over Beirut and staged mock strikes over several towns on Thursday..." (Israel bombed Syria, says US, Ruth Pollard, Sydney Morning Herald, 5/5/13)

Gaza 2005:

"Israel is deploying a terrifying new tactic against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip by letting loose deafening 'sound bombs' that cause widespread fear, induce miscarriages and traumatise children. The removal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip opened the way for the military to use air force jets to create dozens of sonic booms by breaking the sound barrier at low altitude, sending shockwaves across the territory, often at night. Palestinians liken the sound to an earthquake or large bomb. They describe the effect as being hit by a wall of air that is painful on the ears, sometimes causing nosebleeds and 'leaving you shaking inside'." (Palestinians hit by sonic boom air raids, Chris McGreal, The Guardian, 3/11/05)

Cairo 60s-70s:

"I remember earlier visits to Egypt when, every day, the Israelis would send jet fighters screaming down the Nile, flying over Cairo's bridges with just metres to spare, mocking the anti-aircraft gunners crouching under their camouflage nets - reminding Egyptians that a few dam-buster raids on the High Dam at Aswan could send the mightiest of all floods pouring down." (Devotion & division, Phillip Adams, The Weekend Australian Magazine, 21/2/09)

Palestine 1948:

"Leo Heiman, a Haganah officer, wrote honestly about the methods used by the Jews. According to him the Haganah brought up jeeps with loudspeakers that broadcast recorded 'horror sounds'. These included 'shrieks, wails and anguished moans of Arab women, the wail of sirens and the clang of fire-alarm bells, interrupted by a sepulchral voice calling out in Arabic: Save your souls all ye faithful! Flee for your lives.' According to Heiman, Haganah loudspeakers warned the Arabs that the Jews were using poison gas and atomic weapons. In view of what had recently taken place at Deir Yassin, the Arabs took these warnings seriously." (The Palestinian Catastrophe: The 1948 Expulsion of a People from Their Homeland, Michael Palumbo, 1987, p 64)

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