Going at it in Gaza: New Realities in an Old Conflict.
The Gaza Strip Cyber War. As military strikes between Israel and Gaza continued with the deaths of 11 Palestinian civilians on Sunday, a complicated internet battlefront has appeared.
A virtual info-war is just beginning, and it exists on multiple fronts. There is an unprecedentedly transparent wave of social media propaganda by both sides, a fairly predictable backlash of Israeli website defacement from Anonymous, and an effort to bring open internet access for civilians affected by the strikes from a group called Telecomix. On Wednesday, the IDF released an infographic-filled video describing the methods the IDF uses (phone calls and precision strikes) to minimize civilian casualties. The IDF is also live-tweeting the strikes on Gaza using their shiny new Twitter account, @IDFSpokesperson. The Twitter feed for Al Qassam, the military branch of Hamas, has responded by tweeting numerous photos of dead children killed by Israeli strikes.
The Telecomix logo. @patrickmcguire. Israel and the Palestinians - a history. Pillar of Defense: The Naval Angle. 20/11/2012 Moriya Ben-Yosef - israeldefense.com Damage to Hamas headquarters, naval strikes and more - the Israeli Navy carried these since the start of Pillar of Defense.
Former Navy Commander Maj. Gen. (Res.) David Ben Ba'ashat speaks of the advantages the Israeli Navy provides to the IDF in the Gaza Strip combat In parallel to the Israeli Air Force’s attacks during the day and night, Israeli Navy fighters also operate vis-à-vis the Gaza coasts, attacking terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip and firing from the sea. Maj. “There are plenty of targets along the coastal line and on the ground for which the navy can be very effective in foiling. Ben Ba’ashat also notes the cooperation and synergy between the IDF’s various branches. Malheur au vainqueur. Fiche au chef d’état-major des armées, février 2009.
Dans De la guerre, Clausewitz décrivait la guerre comme l’affrontement de deux trinités associant chacune un gouvernement, un peuple et une armée. Dans son esprit, cela se traduisait par un duel gigantesque entre deux forces armées jusqu’à l’écrasement de l’une d’entre elles. Privé de leur centre de gravité, l’Etat et le peuple n’avaient alors plus qu’à se soumettre au vainqueur sur le champ de bataille. Ce schéma s’est trouvé mis en défaut lorsque les Etats n’ont plus affronté d’autres Etats mais des « organisations » dont le centre de gravité n’était plus leur armée, généralement modeste, mais le soutien de la population, transformant le « duel » en « opération au milieu des gens ».
Dans le cas de l’opposition entre Israël et le Hamas, cette asymétrie est encore accentuée par les particularités des deux adversaires. La population pour cible Le premier cercle concerné était celui de l’opinion publique israélienne. Palestine vs. Israel Scoreboard. Two New Resources: Timeline of Israeli escalation in Gaza and Israel's history of breaking ceasefires. The Institute for Middle East Understanding has released two useful resources on the current Israeli attack on Gaza.
The first presents a timeline of events and the second outlines Israel’s history of breaking ceasefires. Following a two-week lull in violence, Israeli soldiers invade Gaza. In the resulting exchange of gunfire with Palestinian fighters, a 12-year-old boy is killed by an Israeli bullet while he plays soccer. Shortly afterwards, Palestinian fighters blow up a tunnel along the Gaza-Israel frontier, injuring one Israeli soldier.
An anti-tank missile fired by Palestinian fighters wounds four Israeli soldiers driving in a jeep along the Israel-Gaza boundary. An Israeli artillery shell lands in a soccer field in Gaza killing two children, aged 16 and 17. One Palestinian civilian is killed and dozens more wounded in Israeli attacks. Palestinian militant factions agree to a truce if Israel ends its attacks. FACT SHEET – Self-Defense or Provocation? Giving Israel-Palestine The Infographic Treatment (Carefully, And By The Numbers) The huge popularity of infographics these days--love them or hate them--has affected everything from the way buildings are designed to the way we read the news.
But the renaissance in visual communication, led by patron saint Ed Tufte, has had special impact for nonprofits and social justice advocates--groups that are often trying to communicate basic facts and figures across multiple cultures in an engaging way. Click to enlarge. Visualizing Palestine, a collective of architects and graphic designers, tells visual stories about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based solely on impartial data. Featured recently on the Daily Beast and Al Jazeera, the group’s work has resonated online. One diagram demystifies the complicated license plate classification system, which restricts access to certain types of roads within Israel. It’s undoubtedly rough ground to tread--you’d be hard pressed to find a topic that inspires more emotion.