issue no 40
DESCRIPTION
Issued on: 23/04/2013TRANSCRIPT
Issue No: 40 23rd April, 2013
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 2
Read in this report:
Samer Issawi to end his hunger strike (P.4) Palestinians mark Prisoners Day (P.5)
US allocates $220 million for Israeli
missile defence system (P.5) Hamas: Jerusalem under real danger
(P.6)
Hamas denounces US effort to set back
Erdogan's visit to Gaza (P.6)
Israel and the electronic war (P.8)
Issue No: 40 23rd April, 2013
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 3
CONTENTS
NEWS OF PALESTINE
Samer Issawi to end his hunger strike........................................................................................ 4
Russian newspaper: Israelis infect prisoners before their release .............................................. 4
Palestinians mark Prisoners Day ................................................................................................ 5
US allocates $220 million for Israeli missile defence system ................................................... 6
Hamas: Jerusalem under real danger ......................................................................................... 6
Hamas denounces US effort to set back Erdogan's visit to Gaza .............................................. 7
Haniyeh meets with the Crown Prince of Qatar in Doha........................................................... 7
ARTICLES & ANALYSES
Israel and the electronic war ...................................................................................................... 8
Issue No: 40 23rd April, 2013
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 4
After imposing his conditions on Israeli negotiators
Samer Issawi to end his hunger strike
23/04/2013
Long term hunger striker Samer Issawi has agreed on a deal with the Israelis to end his hunger strike in exchange for his release before end of the year, the Palestinian Prisoners Society revealed yesterday. “Issawi accepted an offer presented by the Israeli negotiators, on the condition that a written agreement is signed in the presence of lawyers and Red Cross representatives. The deal would entail serving six months in prison in exchange for ending his hunger strike” the source added.
Israel's Ofer military court has held an "urgent" hearing for Samer Issawi on Monday
after he decided to stop taking vitamin supplements to protest dissatisfaction with ongoing negotiations with the Israelis about his release. Israeli negotiators have been visiting Issawi at Kaplan Medical Center and pressuring him to accept proposals to end his hunger strike, lawyer Jawad Boulos said last week. Issawi has been on hunger strike for over 265 days and has so far refused all offers by Israel to be exiled, insisting on being released to his home in Jerusalem.
Source: Agencies
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Russian newspaper: Israelis infect prisoners before their release
19/04/2013
The Israeli prison service gives Palestinian prisoners prostatitis-infected injections before they are released, Russian newspaper Pravda revealed on Friday.
Pravda reported former female prisoner Rania al-Saqqa saying that prisoners suffer from
NEWS OF PALESTINE
Issue No: 40 23rd April, 2013
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 5
"serious and chronic diseases like bladder cancer and liver disorders," likely caused by the unknown injections prisoners receive before they are released. The newspaper also pointed to the policy of deliberate medical neglect and torture adopted by the Israeli prison administration against the Palestinian patient prisoners inside jails.
"A suspiciously large number of Palestinian prisoners are suffering from incurable diseases or permanent disabilities as a result of the critical situation in prisons that they suffer at the hands of Israeli regime," the paper revealed.
In a related context, the Israeli Occupation Authorities released the sick Palestinian prisoner Muhammad al-Taj on Thursday after a serious deterioration in his health.
Al-Taj told the media from his bed in the medical complex in Ramallah that the Israeli Authorities decided to release him only when they realized that he would die any moment.
Source: Agencies
__________________________________________________________________________________
Palestinians mark Prisoners Day
18/04/2013
Rallies have been planned in West Bank and Gaza to mark Palestinian Prisoners' Day in honor of the thousands of Palestinians who are being detained in Israeli jails.
Central to the demonstrations is the fate of at least five of the prisoners, including Samer Issawi, who have been on hunger strike.
As Palestinians commemorate Prisoners' Day, the statistics show that Israel is holding almost 5,000 political prisoners in its jails. According to the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in “Israel” (Adalah), the actual number of "security prisoners" is 4,804; this includes 14 women, 235 children, 170 with
Israeli citizenship, 177 from occupied East Jerusalem, 2 from the occupied Golan Heights, 536 from Gaza and 4,099 from the occupied West Bank.
A report issued by Adalah confirms that the data was supplied by the Israeli Prison Service on 10th April 2013. This shows that 1,224 prisoners are being held in custody pending legal action; 159 are being held without charge or trial under so-called "administrative detention"; and 546 are serving life sentences.
Meanwhile, head of Hamas's political bureau Khaled Mashaal said that his Movement would keep working hard to liberate all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, renewing his Movement vow to uphold the resistance as an option to restore the usurped land and rights.
Mashaal made his remarks in a speech he gave over the phone during a festival held on Wednesday evening by the Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip on the anniversary of the prisoner day and the assassination of its leader Abdul-Aziz Al-Rantisi.
Source: Agencies
Issue No: 40 23rd April, 2013
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 6
US allocates $220 million for Israeli missile defence system
17/04/2013
At a time of serious economic crisis in America, the US government has allocated $220 million to Israel for its "Iron Dome" missile defence system. Documents linked to the US Department of Defence budget, reviewed by Agence France Presse yesterday, reveal that the US allocation will be made in the 2014 fiscal year despite budget cuts.
Moreover, the Department of Defence, which spent $204 million in 2011 and $70 million in 2012 on Iron Dome, also wants to allocate an additional $167 million in the 2015 fiscal year.
Recently-appointed Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel promised the former Israeli Minister of Defence, Ehud Barak, last month that Washington would continue to fund Israel's anti-missile systems, including Iron Dome, despite America's severe budget constraints. The US Senate, dominated by Republicans, approved the funding of the Iron Dome system in March 2012 for up to $680 million.
US military aid to Israel amounts to $3 billion a year, and, according to US law, aims to provide Israel with a "qualitative military edge" over other countries in the region.
Source: MEMO
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Hamas: Jerusalem under real danger
18/04/2013
A report issued by the Information Office of Hamas on Thursday stressed that the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem are exposed to a real danger aimed to obliterate their landmarks.
The report said that the international silence has encouraged the occupation to intensify its excavations in the Magharba Gate, which is an integral part of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Hamas also
pointed to the confiscation of the land of the historical cemetery of Ma'man- Allah.
The report, which monitors Israeli attacks in the period from March 16 to April 15, revealed that the occupation has started establishing a biblical garden, a landfill and a network infrastructure on a confiscated Jerusalemite land that has an area of 1232 dunums, near Al-Aqsa Mosque from its eastern side. Hamas' report monitors the Israeli continued campaign of confiscation of Palestinian lands. It also documented the continued escalation of the settlers' attacks on Palestinian citizens, lands, properties and holy places, adding that these attacks include physical abuse, confiscation of lands, provocative marches and repeated raids into Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Source: PIC
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Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 7
Hamas denounces US effort to set back Erdogan's visit to Gaza
22/04/2013
The Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine - Hamas - denounced on Sunday the American call on Turkish Prime Minister Recpep Tayyip Erdogan to postpone his visit to the Gaza Strip. "This is clear evidence of the American involvement in reinforcing the siege on Gaza," Hamas spokesman Sami abu-Zuhri said.
While in Istanbul, Kerry suggested on Sunday that the Turkish Prime Minister postpone his visit to Gaza scheduled next month. After meeting Erdogan, Kerry told reporters: "With
respect to the Prime Minister's potential visit to Gaza, we have told the Prime Minister that we really think it would be better delayed and that it shouldn't take place at this point in time for a number of different reasons.
PA's Abbas was in Istanbul over the weekend to also ask Erdogan to cancel his planned visit to Gaza. Abbas and Fatah believe that a visit of any officials to Gaza is a step that reinforces internal division.
Member of Hamas’ politburo, Dr. Mousa Abu Marzook said that anyone who, perversely, believes that the continuation of the blockade of Gaza by stopping important visitors will somehow help the reconciliation process is "very much mistaken". He pointed out that Erdogan's visit to Gaza will contribute to breaking the blockade and putting an end to Israeli aggression.
Source: MEMO
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Haniyeh meets with the Crown Prince of Qatar in Doha
21/04/2013
The Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met on Sunday with the Crown Prince of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in the Qatari capital Doha.…………………………… The Palestinian government spokesman Taher
al-Nunu confirmed that Haniyeh discussed with the Qatari Crown Prince the issues of reconciliation, Jerusalem, prisoners and the reconstruction of Gaza. Nunu said in a statement that the Qatari crown prince announced that his country is to donate $11 million to build the Palace of Justice in Gaza, in addition to the Qatari grant for the reconstruction.
Haniyeh has also welcomed the Qatari initiative to hold a mini-summit for national reconciliation in Cairo, and hailed Qatar's attitudes towards the Palestinian case and people.
Source: PIC
Issue No: 40 23rd April, 2013
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 8
Israel and the electronic war
By: Saleh Al-Na’ami *
Despite the wide scale reaction caused by recent electronic attacks on Israel
which targeted ministry websites and government facilities on the internet, it
may be asserted that this attack is far from being electronic warfare of
significant concern to the government and its strategic think tanks which
work around the clock to protect the country from harm.
What stirs fear in Israel is facing an electronic
attack that directly targets its strategic facilities
connected to the internet, such as infrastructure
(electricity, water, transportation, and banking ...
etc.), leadership committees, military control
networks and satellites as well as all advanced
technologies connected to the internet.
Scenario of Israeli panic
Israel believes in a hypothesis that says the
higher the level of technology that is used in its
infrastructure facilities and sensitive civil and
military institutions, the higher the chances of
them becoming susceptible to "hostile"
electronic attack. This, it is believed, will not
only bring to a standstill the functioning of these
facilities and institutions and lead to paralysis in
the life of the state, but could even lead to the
death of a large number of civilians and
militants.
It is very important that we give a small example
that explains the size of damages that Israel is
afraid it may incur as a result of an electronic
attack on its infrastructure such as the damage
that could result from attacks on the
computerized control that manages traffic lights.
A number of Israeli officials warned that any
hostile side that had the ability to access
electronic control panels in the traffic system
could cause the death of hundreds of Israelis in
minutes; settings of these controls could be
changed activating green lights in opposite
directions at the same time, which would lead to
the death and injury of a large number of people
in sure-to-happen traffic accidents.
Damages resulting from attacks on the
computerized controls that manage traffic lights
are considered little as compared to possible
damage that would result from targeting more
vital facilities. For example, Israel is afraid that
"hostile" entities may be able to access
computerized controls at Ben Gurion airport and
cause crashes between planes that are taking off
and others that are landing, or to jam systems
that control the height of planes through take off
so they would crash with each other or with
natural obstacles.
Using the same mechanisms, Israel's supply of
electricity, water and various communications
services could also be disturbed. What applies to
civil facilities can also apply to various military
facilities which are controlled by computers,
specifically military manufacturing facilities.
For example, Israel fears that the monitoring
system at a factory that manufactures military
armour would be disturbed in a manner that
could lead to its explosion, in addition to
influencing control units tied to air defence in
order to target Israeli military or civil planes.
Israel is also panicking about the possibility of
"catastrophic" results due to electronic war in
which "hostile" parties could access
computerized systems which mange
petrochemical factories leading to unwanted
reactions that could result in clouds of poisonous
gases and lead to large numbers of people dying,
in addition to the environmental catastrophes that
could result.
ARTICLES & ANALYSIS
Issue No: 40 23rd April, 2013
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 9
Offensive strategy
Israel realizes that the scenario of terror
mentioned above could be realized if someone
possessed the electronic abilities that could allow
it to carry out this level of hacking, and it
believes such abilities are only available to
countries that have major capabilities in the
electronic field.
Thus, it thinks that initiatives taken by hackers
usually do not succeed in accessing
computerized control boards that are associated
with infrastructure or the different military
systems because hackers are not qualified to
hack into the defence mechanisms linked to such
systems.
Israel's sensitivity and fear regarding the dangers
of an electronic war are mainly due to the fact
that it understands the hidden potential in
electronic war, as it practices this kind of war on
a significant scale in an attempt to achieve
tactical and strategic goals.
It is no longer a secret that Israel, in cooperation
with the United States, managed in 2009 to
disable the centrifuge on which Iran depends for
enriching uranium by using the "Stuxnet" virus.
Israeli Minister of War, Moshe Ya'alon, did not
hesitate to admit that Israel was responsible for
the electronic attack which sensitive Iranian
computerized systems were subjected to in June
2012 via the "Flame" virus.
Moreover, in September 2006 Israel hacked into
the control panels responsible for directing
Syrian air defences the night Israeli planes
launched an air attack against the Syrian nuclear
facility near Deir ez-Zor in north-eastern Syria. It
disabled these systems which lessened the
chances of exposing raiding planes to Syrian air
defences.
In addition to this violent use of it capabilities,
there is also the "smooth" use of electronic
warfare which Israel has been working on for
years. Members of Israeli intelligence employ
social networks to recruit agents by using false
identities. Data provided by Palestinian security
services confirm that based on the interrogations
of people who confessed to collaborating with
Israel, it was found that they were recruited to
work for Israel after having virtual relationships
with Intelligence members who pose as
Palestinians on social networks.
It is clear that electronic warfare has become one
of the main tools used by Israel to achieve its
strategic goals without getting involved in an
open confrontation with targeted sides. An
example of this is the attacks on computers at
Iranian nuclear facilities as it would not be easy
to provide concrete evidence that proves the
responsibility of a certain side for hacking into
these systems.
Cyberspace has become a major part of Israel's
offensive strategy and is now employed in the
military efforts adopted by Tel Aviv as part of its
comprehensive strategy. The Israeli army took a
major step in 2009 when it announced that
cyberspace had become one of its strategic
operational fields.
Thus, the army established an "electronic
warfare committee" which is part of the Israeli
staff army leadership and whose task it is to
coordinate and plan electronic warfare
operations, and in doing so, is copying the US
which has already established an "electronic war
committee".
Defence strategy
Israel, which pays so much attention to
employing electronic warfare in its military
efforts, has realized that one day it could be
attacked by the same mechanisms. To avoid such
a scenario of terror, Israel has formed a
comprehensive defence strategy to use in
cyberspace.
On May 18th, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu, announced the establishment of "the
national committee for electronic warfare" with
the main aim of taking defence measure which
can provide protection for cyberspace and
protection for infrastructure and civil and
military facilities connected to cyberspace.
According to the announcement, the aim of
establishing this committee was to expand the
defence capabilities for dealing with any type of
electronic warfare launched by either countries
or organizations.
This committee is responsible for all military and
civil wings participating in this effort and works
in coordination with Shabak's "official authority
for protecting information" and the "Tehilla"
company which provides web browsing services
to the ministries and their institutions.
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Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) 10
Those working in the committee realize that the
biggest challenge facing them is designing a
comprehensive electronic defence system
knowing that formulating such a system requires
prior coordination and full cooperation between
civil and military institutions, unlike in the
traditional military field which is controlled
solely by the security institution.
The new committee works on the principle that
coordination and cooperation between civil and
security institutions is very important, because it
is difficult to differentiate between civil and
military infrastructure in cyberspace. At the
same time, and even though the security
institution is the one directing electronic warfare
against external sides, it realizes that improving
defensive abilities requires cooperation and
coordination with the private sector, especially
advanced technical companies considering that
they have large skills and capabilities in the field
of cyberspace.
Interest in electronic warfare in Israel has
reached the point that there are now calls within
the security institute and the external and
security committee of the Knesset to re-
formulate Israeli security doctrine, which was
first formulated in the early fifties, so as to fit
with cyberspace warfare now.
Finally, the outperformance of some parties in
the field of electronic warfare depends mainly on
Israel's ability to employ and use its own
resources, mainly human resources. So if there
was an Arab or Islamic party concerned with
retaliation against Israel in the field of electronic
warfare, it would have to invest in the
preparation of suitable human teams in suitable
learning environments so as to guarantee the
required outcomes.
Needless to say, the national democratic political
regimes are those keen on doing all they can to
employ the internal resources of their countries.
* The author is a Palestinian writer. This article was translated by MEMO from the Arabic which first appeared on Al Jazeera, 12/4/2013