Conversation with an Israeli – “but I never hear your voice”

The flag at our stall in Oxford

As usual, I was working at the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign stall on a Saturday. We hung a a banner at the front of our table showing the fragmentation of the West Bank by Israeli settlements, military zones, checkpoints and so on. It worked wonders because it was visual, and many people would stop and look.

Among these people was a group of three, one of whom crouched and took a picture of the banner with his phone. I thought that, due to his looks and his interest he might be Arab. But he and two of his friends turned out to be Israeli. I was relieved that they didn’t overturn the entire table in rage (apparently something like that happened before but I never experienced it myself). And instead of shouting in our faces they were willing to listen. I think that may have been because they were from a younger generation, although I am not sure.

Firstly, me and my colleagues spoke to all of them at once, and when one of us mentioned a possible “One-state solution”, one of the Israelis said “but the Palestinians don’t want us here”. Of course, as a Palestinian, I stepped in and said that I in fact Do want them there, and for a few seconds they were dumbstruck.

Anyway, the conversation moves along, me and another Israeli start talking. After telling him that I have no problem with Israel existing he said (this is paraphrased of course)

“But I never hear your voice, you see. I am still afraid that if I go to Mahmoud Abbas (Palestinian president) I will get bombed. The Palestinians elected Hamas as well…but I never hear your voice”.

It was worrying but to be expected. Hamas is the new bogey man (well relatively new to the “Communist threat” before), he didn’t even know that the settlements and settler movements gain government support and subsidized housing, he thought they were private!

Even after mentioning the settlements, he also said that “Arabs live in our neighbourhoods, go in our malls, but I never see Jews live in the West Bank”. Well some of them sure live there. Not to mention one of my professors who is Jewish, and went there during the first Intifada in 1987.

But I should have told him that my voice is the voice of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement. It was a call by the overwhelming Palestinian civil society for peaceful resistance for a just, two-state solution which recognized Israel’s right to exist. Hamas’ victory over Fatah by a small percentage, coupled with tactical voting against the PLO and the complacent Palestinian Authority is one reason why they just about won. Not to mention how Hamas is actually charitable in terms of supporting schools and hospitals which greatly appealed to the poor.

It was clear what I saw in this group of Israelis. Although open minded, they are victims of the politics of fear. The only times they were in the West Bank was when they served in the Army and stood at checkpoints, as one himself said. Ramallah is only a twenty minute drive from Jerusalem, especially if you are an Israeli, but it might as well be light-years away. It is a distance of fear, not a physical distance.

If you are Israeli and are reading this, I encourage you to go to the West Bank. Talk to Palestinians inside and outside Israel itself face to face, and get to know your neighbours.

The anti-Semitic card is being played once more

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=268141

“What people of conscience need to know about Norway” reads the heading of an article by Michael Sharnoff in the Jerusalem Post. And as I read his informed testimony, I couldn’t believe my eyes…let us begin shall we?

“Casual observers of the Middle East are no doubt aware of the deeply anti-Semitic and anti- Zionist attitudes in the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. These groups make little attempt to conceal their desire for a world without Israel”

The usual “Israel is small and constantly threatened by its big Arab neighbours” argument. Take the time to look at these for a minute:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/world/middleeast/06palestinians.html

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/05/24/136403918/hamas-foreign-minister-we-accept-two-state-solution-with-67-borders

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2012/04/2012413151613293582.html

“However, many in its government, and some large businesses, have recently displayed a pattern of strong anti-Israel and often anti-Semitic attitudes which would make Islamist radicals very proud.”

There it is, there is the first of it, but please, let us carry on.

“Why would a very tolerant, progressive and democratic government espouse such prejudicial views?”

Sorry mister Sharnoff, but a view is only prejudicial if it is purely assumed with no evidence to back it up. Evidence such as the military occupation of the West Bank, the building of Settlements which house extremists, the checkpoints, the Wall, the eviction of Palestinians from East Jerusalem and its occupation also. The fact that military court law is used in the West Bank while civil court law is used in Israel…culminating in the impossibility of building a Palestinian state in the first place.

“They [the Norwegian leaders] typically avoid specifically targeting Jews, for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic, but their actions nonetheless exhibit traits of “genteel anti-Semitism.”

Genteel anti-Semitism you say? The anti-Semitic card is evolving. So despite the fact that they don’t target Jews and they say it, you still claim that they are in a “secret” or “genteel” way. No offence, but this sounds like some neurotic paranoia here…but let us give this journalist some rope.

“Oslo may have distanced itself from Halvorsen’s controversial remarks, but it has refused to follow the United States and European Union’s classification of Hamas as a designated terrorist organization.
“We condemn organizations that are involved in terrorism,””

Excuse me, but how does that make it anti-Semitic again? It is not denying the fact that Hamas carries our terrorist activities and it condemns those activities. Just because it doesn’t do as the E.U and the U.S.A does, that is shutting its ears and saying “lalalalala” like an insolent child, doesn’t make it wrong. It makes it pragmatic.

“Støre has also insisted that Israel dismantle its security wall built in response to the wave of suicide bombings from the West Bank.”

Yes, you are absolutely right. Norwegian leaders have a secret agenda to send out radical suicide bombers into Israel, that sounds rational, and I am sure you know what rational means because you have used it in the article many times. No, I’m just joking. I just wonder why you didn’t say where the wall was built, well that is because it is in Palestinian territory, snaking this way and that, choking Bethlehem and cutting off farmland from its farmers. Also, read this article.

“A 2010 report from NGO Monitor which provides information on organizations claiming to advance human rights revealed that Oslo provides tens of millions of kroner annually to West Bank and Gaza NGOs. Some of these organizations are blatantly anti-Israel and promote anti- Israel boycotts.”

Name some of these organizations for me. And what is wrong with boycotting Israeli goods in protest of their policies? You know, the policies that I mentioned earlier in case you forgot.

“The Norwegian People’s Aid, funded by the Foreign Ministry, described Israel as “apartheid” and accused it of “war crimes.”

If you think that Norwegian organizations are the only ones saying this you are in for a nasty surprise.

“The most recent example of Norway’s genteel anti- Semitism was exemplified by Roar Arnstad, CEO of a Norwegian pharmaceutical chain called VITA, with his decision to boycott Ahava cosmetics manufactured in West Bank settlements.”

“Genteel”, there it is again. Tell me what is wrong with boycotting enclaves full of nationalist religious zealots who torch farms, form their own road blocks, drive people from water springs and so on and so forth…

“Arnstad denies holding anti-Semitic beliefs and claims his policy is only against the Israeli occupation, but if this was indeed sincere, he would apply the same boycott to other occupying nations.”

Can you give me examples of other occupying nations that they deal with. I love how Mr. Sharnoff doesn’t actually deny that Israel is an occupying nation. Because I guess the best thing you can do after your crimes are staring you in the face, is point to other nations and say “they are worse than us!”.

“Singling out Israel is anti-Semitism and this demonstrable fact cannot absolve the Norwegian government of its own bigotry.”

The bright and informed journalist seems to think every Jew in the world is Israeli or in an Israeli university. You know what anti-Semitism is? It is a policy aimed at all the Jews around the world. Israeli Jews are not the only Jews in the world, Mr. Sharnoff.

“So tell us, do you boycott cultural and academic events in Britain (occupier of the Falkland Islands), China (occupier of Tibet), Russia (occupier of the Kuril Islands), Iran (occupier of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa Islands), Morocco (occupier of Western Sahara), Armenia (occupier of Nagorno-Karabakh) and Turkey (occupier of Northern Cyprus)? Do you ban imports from these countries? Moreover, do you criticize suicide bombings and rocket attacks against civilians with the same fervor with which you criticize Israeli policies? For many, regarding Norwegian policies – enough is enough. If Vidkun Quisling was alive today and read the anti-Israel an anti-Semitic statements that were coming out of Norway, a big smile would appear on his face.”

I love how he now expresses sudden concerns for all of these mentioned territories. Maybe if they got more media attention and pressure by activists then these will change. You know, like the activists who are in Palestinian villages getting beaten, arrested and sent to prison without trial. Maybe we should make these other issues mainstream if we can. Also, yet again you didn’t deny Israel was an occupying force itself. All that is left, after your moral collapse, is to point fingers. Meanwhile you can talk about the close friendship Israel had with Apartheid South Africa too, that was a concerning historical friendship.

“The writer completed a PhD in Middle East Studies from King’s College, London.” – This translates to “he sounds nuts, but believe him anyway”.

Israel and Palestine; what next? A talk by OneVoice – part 2

Continued from part 1 

After Rami and Dari said what they had to say about their work in OneVoice, I and a few other listeners had a few questions. Here are the highlights:

I had heard during their introduction that they had offices in Gaza which had closed during Operation Cast Lead for obvious security reasons, and now they have just been reopened. The point of interest to me was how it was received by Hamas, the ruling party over there. I was curious because Hamas is, at best, a firm organization. If there is anything that they see as a threat they will try and take care of it swiftly.

Rami was the one to answer my question since he was obviously more aware of the situation there. To the surprise of the audience, they had allowed it to open. They were even allowed to hold two meetings in Universities there, a general meeting and one specifically for students that specifically support Hamas and those that supported parties from the PLO. Rami expressed his wishes that it would be just the start of things to come. But with the blockade still active, he as a West Bank resident, can’t visit his colleagues as of yet.

Another pressing issue was that of normalization. When I had put up the event on a social networking site, some people chose not to go because it encouraged normalization. Meaning that they saw that OneVoice made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict politically symmetrical, while in reality it is asymmetrical, with Israel doing the occupying, building the settlements, possessing more finances and a more powerful military. OneVoice responded by saying that they too did not deny that the situation was indeed asymmetrical, but that what is important is the end of the conflict. Rami himself said that there will be no justice or peace, no work towards an independent Palestinian state, until the military occupation ends, and it needs to be ended “urgently”. OneVoice was not forcing people from both sides into dialogue and presenting a symmetrical political situation, but making people on both sides to focus inwardly, both at the same time, to effect change. As Sharon, a representative and worker in OneVoice’s London office, said “if Israel is part of the problem, then it is part of the solution”.

Throughout the talk, I noticed that Dari kept on mentioning that if the conflict does not end then her future will be, in essence, ruined or ripped apart. Some pro-Palestinians might think that she is doing nothing but playing victim, but I kept an open mind and asked her what she explicitly meant by that. Her answer was nothing to do with the possibility of increased terrorist attacks, but the very moral integrity of Israeli society. She had mentioned earlier on, during an informal chat, how long it took Israelis to “wake up”, and now she was envisioning a world fifty years from now where Palestine eventually disappears. She imagined that all her fellow Israelis would be asking themselves “where were we when this happened?”.

That last part was admittedly touching. Many who follow Palestine’s political affairs have witnessed the crimes committed by the Israeli government and I.D.F. I have always wondered how the soldiers who have taken part in these crimes deal with it. How must they react or whether they realize at all that their own morals are crumbling. Yet here was Dari, a soldier who had served in the second Intifada, left frustrated and saw the importance of moral integrity to herself and the country she was born in. An importance greater than any amount of wealth or land that one can gain.

These were essentially the main points of the talk. Hopefully I will stay in touch with the organization and their progress. I don’t want to raise my hopes too high, and I don’t know if this is because I am wise or because it is just a knee-jerk reaction. Something tells me things will either be slow to change, or it will be too late…

 

David Pratt’s “Intifada: a long day of rage” – a book review (take 2)

(I posted my previous book review to a social networking site where someone gave me some feed back. And so I am going to follow this feedback and see how I can improve on the review and maybe pull in more readers).

Intifada is an Arabic word that means to shake something off, and in the history of the Israeli Palestinian conflict it has the meaning of the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli military occupation in West Bank and Gaza. There were two Intifadas, one from 1987 – 1993 and another from the year 2000 – C.  2005.

The focus of this book is on these two Intifadas.  The journalist, David Pratt, did not simply sit on the seat and record what was on television, but he went down on the ground to where the “action” was happening to record what he saw and what he also thought of the matter. In the first Intifada he documents how the Palestinians dealt with the Israeli military, running into Hamas gunmen during the Organization’s infancy and the possible causes for exactly why an uprising had happened then. As for the second Intifada, he goes back on the ground witnessing Israel’s notorious Operation Defensive Shield in an attempt to crush the uprising, the chilling background of Palestinian suicide bombers and how they carried out their operations, and an interview with the prominent Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti among other things.

One part of the book gives a brief but good history of Yasser Arafat, the former leader of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) which was the dominating secular political group from its founding in 1964 until the end of the first Intifada. After that, the book documents the rise of Hamas (an Islamic Palestinian political party) to power in Gaza in 2007 and the post second intifada world in general, including the development of the Israeli “security barrier” or “Apartheid wall” between the West Bank and Israel.

Make no mistake that David Pratt is not mechanical in his writing in that he does stir emotions. You do not get a sense that he is either pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli, but a humanitarian instead, with friends both from Israel and Palestine with whom he asks of their opinions on certain issues. I imagine that even for one who is not that interested in the Palestinian Israeli conflict, it would be interesting to read of the journalists experiences in places such as Jerusalem, Jenin, Bethlehem and Ramallah (keep in mind, if you are not familiar with these names it is good to have a map of Palestine and Israel at hand just to get a geographical sense). The book is a good blend of humanitarian activism, personal narrative and documentary. If you are sick of reading history books that sound a bit too impersonal then this is definitely worth a read.

(David Pratt, Intifada: a long day of rage) ISBN – 1-904684-16-5
Sunday Herald Books.

David Pratt’s “Intifada: a long day of rage” – a book review

My few previous posts have been quoting this particular book for a reason. And that is because I find it excellent.

The only immediate negative point that comes to mind about this book is that if you are not interested in the Israeli Palestinian conflict, then you would probably find this book quite boring. It is essential that you not only have a basic political know-how, but also a geographical one since he mentions the various locations he visits without much description of their relation to one another.

The most enjoyable part of the book is about the first half. The author, being a photo journalist, was in the thick of the second Intifada so it is very much like a first person narrative in a war film. But another less superficial quality is his ability to put human faces to everyone, be they Israeli or Palestinian. This doesn’t necessarily give a non-bias view, but rather a humanitarian one. He had the luck of being able to go to the West Bank and make friends there but also stay in Jerusalem where he got to know Israelis.

The second half is the one that will really test your interests, since it is more concerned with history and historical facts. At times, I can imagine it being quite dry for someone who has just gotten into this issue. It is mainly concerned with the development of the Israeli separation wall, a quick history of Yasser Arafat and the post Intifada period with the rise of Hamas in Gaza.

Overall, the book left me with a message that was not blindly pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian. Instead felt like a rational argument for why peace between the two is essential. It also points out the rights and wrongs of the Palestinians and Israelis in general, which should provoke anyone who has “made their mind up and chosen a side” so to speak to think reflectively.

If you want to know the cost of conflict, then this is one of the books to get.

(David Pratt, Intifada: a long day of rage) ISBN – 1-904684-16-5
Sunday Herald Books.

 

I feel like a pawn on a chessboard

“In May 2006, Israel quietly approved an arms transfer to enable Abbas [leader of the Fatah party] to ‘contend with Hamas’. ‘I can’t tell you the exact amount of weapons, but it is a limited amount intended for the purpose of securing Abass’ ability to protect himself on the backdrop of the important decisions he makes’, said Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli Defence Ministry official”

“In the month’s following Hamas’ victory, Washington ploughed some $42 million into bolstering opponents to the Islamists [...] Much of that cash is going towards helping Abbas strengthen his presidential guard by perhaps as much as 7o percent”
David Pratt’s Long Day of Rage (2006) Sunday Herald Books

It was not long ago that Israel had given Hamas the milk it needed to grow, so to speak. Because Hamas was seen as a threat to the then more dominant secular resistance. Now that Hamas has grown fast and ever more threatening to Israel itself, Israel has begun financing the secular Fatah. It reminds me of the ironic war between Iran and Iraq in which both nations were given weapons by the U.S.A. Oh and as I forgot to mention, Fatah’s security apparatus has been aided by some obscure U.S. military general.

As far as I am concerned, our interests don’t seem to be taken at heart at all. Israel will keep trying to silently fund one side or the other as if it is jumping on hot sand in the hope that we will forget its atrocities among our political squabbles. But what Israel should know is that it is hard to ignore the settlements, the wall, the evictions in East Jerusalem, the checkpoints, the blockade in Gaza and the more recent massacre there.

But with all of that, it is only the elites that are in control in such a situation, because no one in this conflict can risk giving responsibility to “inexperienced” people. Meanwhile, I sit and hope that one day Israel will lose its balance of trying to divide and conquer in that manner. But for the Zionists who want a greater Israel, war and conflict will have to be perpetuated, whether it is between Hamas and Fatah or Palestine and Israel as a whole. Or as George Orwell simply put it, ‘war is peace’.  I am a pawn on a chessboard. I can argue and debate as much as I want, I can give out leaflets, go to demonstrations or (not that I want to) go to Palestine and throw stones at soldiers. But it is the hands of the ultimate players that will move my fate.

Maybe the Palestinians need a more democratic empowerment that is not masked by tactical voting and hate…

“The wounds of Gaza” – A talk by Dr Ang Swee Chai

Part 1 – The roots of purpose and reason.

note: This talk took place in January of 2010, a long time ago. I thought it would be good to publish it again here for people to read. Operation Cast Lead may be over, but people over there are still suffering. 

“The wounds of Gaza” is a talk prepared by Dr Ang Swee Chai and about her experiences as a hospital worker during the 2008/2009 Israeli offensive on Gaza, formally known as “Operation Cast Lead”.

The first thing that may really stand out to someone is the passion, respect and sophistication with which she speaks, not just about the recent war on Gaza, but of the whole history of the Palestinians.
I suspected that these passions over a wide ranging issue must have had a root cause, and indeed there was and she confirmed it with her own words.
Born in Singapore in the 1950s and of a Chinese origin, Dr Ang Swee Chai was a practicing Christian and her interpretation of the Bible led her to believe that Israel and Palestine rightfully belonged to the Jews and that Israel was a blessed nation. After the 6 day war of 1967 in which Israel occupied what remained of Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza strip, she recalled seeing the event as “David against Goliath” as Israel had after all defeated three Arab nations (Syria, Jordan and Egypt). This strong Christian Zionism that she had remained with her until it was struck down by experience and then broken by shock.
The moral turning point that caused this began when she volunteered, as a Christian of good works, to work with the Red Cross as a doctor. She ended up in Gaza hospital, which is not in the Gaza strip, but in Lebanon. To be more precise it directly over looked Sabra and Shatila refugee camps which the Palestinians inhabit (By the capital city Beirut). Her perception of the Israeli-Palestinian situation was totally changed when she became involved with Palestinian culture and more importantly with refugees as individuals. As she said in her own words
“I fell in love with the Palestinian culture and the Palestinian people”
However, as she worked in the 1980s in the area, she was to witness an event that would shock her and bring home the reality and urgency of the situation and lead her to support a peaceful pro-Palestinian cause as opposed to the previous pure pro-Israeli views.
On the 15th of September 1982, a massacre of the Palestinians of Sabra and Shatila by the so called “Christian” Phalangists proceeded for three days and cost over three thousand lives. Numbers are still disputed as this event does not have an “official” historical record.
What was more shocking to Dr Chai was that the Israeli army, which helped pave the way for the Phalangists, stood by and watched the whole thing unfold. All it took for this to stop on the 19th of September was the simple order of “Stop, everyone go back to your homes” by an Israeli commanding officer and surely enough, the Phalangist death squads listened.
When Dr Chai herself saw the aftermath of the massacre she said that she had felt angry at first, but then broken. That is what I see as a major moral turning point in her life. What inspired her to work even harder was as she said the “perseverance” of the Palestinians. One example being a picture she took of some children of Sabra and Shatila who survived that massacre, smiling and making the victory sign, which many in the West mistake for a peace sign.
By 1987 she was working at a hospital in Khan Younis in the North of the Gaza Strip itself. The significance of this date is that it marked the first intifada, a popular uprising of the Palestinians against the Israeli military occupation which has been going on since 1967.
The first thing she mentioned about the Intifada was the event of Tiananmen Square and how the Palestinians have been similarly facing up to tanks on foot before and after this famous iconic event.
As the injured and the dead began to roll into the hospitals, her personal experience destroyed the myth that Gaza is simply a block of Islamic extremists as she worked with doctors of Christian and even secular orientations.
In 1989 the Intifada was carrying on, and even though it consisted of mostly boys throwing rocks Israel was taking action in trying to keep it down. The whole of Gaza had spent the Islamic holy month of Ramadan under curfew. The conditions in the talk were not made clear but from my understanding a typical curfew was that no one was allowed out after dark and that there were continuous military patrols throughout the designated area. As Ramadan ended the curfew was lifted and the people of Gaza spilled out on to the streets to celebrate the ensuing “Eid-al Fitr”. Rockets which were reported to be fired from helicopters exploded into the crowds leaving 68 dead and 343 injured. Dr Chai was one of many doctors who worked in treating the casualties and the repetitive exposure to the direct result of war had emphasised the degree of brutalisation in this conflict.

Part 2 – Operation Cast Lead and the weapons of war. 

Following a second Intifada in the year 2000 and the election of Hamas in Gaza in 2006 was the blockade of Gaza in 2007. One of the most densely populated areas on earth, the size of the isle of Wight was locked up with all eight crossings closed and the sea was made a “no access” zone for up to three nautical miles. As supplies dwindled, 80% of Gaza’s population was reduced to relying on U.N rations.
Hamas, as a former resistance movement and now a political body, mounted it’s own attacks using “homemade rockets” from materials smuggled in underground tunnels going to Egypt. The rocket attacks stopped and started over various failed cease fires.
On the 27th of December 2009, Israel launched operation “Cast Lead” as a response to Hamas and an attempt to weaken them. Dr Chai was also present in this particular war where more than 1300 died including 400 children. The Israelis themselves suffered 13 deaths. The operation itself included bombing and ground incursions with troops and tanks.
During the talk, Dr Chai mentioned various weapons that the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces/ Israeli army) had used. Some of which I will describe and explain.
• D.I.M.E (Dense Inert Metal Explosives).
These are still believed to be in their experimental stages. Unlike traditional explosives, they do not rely on their explosion of the metal cases for shrapnel damage, instead the metal casing disintegrates and unleashes “micro shrapnel”; pieces of metal approximately 2mm big in a 4 meter radius killing anyone within that range almost instantly. Anyone close to that lethal zone is likely to have their flesh and bone torn apart by these metallic pieces; they also embed themselves in wounds causing infection. This is considered untreatable as the pieces are too small to be taken out individually meaning that doctors have to resort to amputations. Some forms of the bomb have been reported to have metal powders instead of pellets for shrapnel.
The shrapnel itself is made from a tungsten alloy, HMTA, mainly consisting of the metal tungsten with small amounts of nickel and cobalt. Studies by the U.S department of health shows that these elements may have carcinogenic (cancer causing) effects, although these findings should be treated with caution.

• White Phosphorous – Incendiary (fire based) tactical weapon.
Stored within metal casing and exploded in the form of clustered solid lumps spreading over a wide area and igniting upon contact with almost anything.
Under international law, it is illegal to use directly against humans but legal to use as a smoke screen for strategic reasons. Dr Chai has shown images of phosphorous bombs exploding over Gaza City and Khan Younis and also the aftermath such as burnt out buildings which seemed to have been directly targeted.
Burns on the flesh have left open wounds where excess white phosphorous is absorbed in to the tissues and the blood stream of victims sometimes causing multiple organ failures.
Gases given off from the bombs such as phosphorous pent-oxide can cause phosphoric acid rain causing damage to plants and aquatic life. This is particularly destructive to the outskirts of Gaza, which as a community is heavily dependent on agriculture especially during a blockade which is on going.

• Fuel Air Bomb – Less formally known as a “Vacuum” bomb.
A bomb that was used by Israeli forces in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. The “fuel” inside quickly consumes the Oxygen of the environment and reacts violently causing an explosion, this means it can burn for a long time in places of limited air flow as the fuel “searches” for Oxygen so that it can react. This means survivors of a blast in a closed space such as a tunnel or bunker may die from asphyxiation (No oxygen to breathe means death). If that is not enough the rapid cooling after the reaction creates a sudden drop in pressure and so a vacuum suction effect is created (hence the name “Vacuum Bomb”). In other words, if dropped in a building, the building could implode in on itself burying the inhabitants alive.

The precision of these weapons are not the greatest in terms of their area of effect with the exception of the experimental D.I.M.E. However, the reader should consider their potency within densely populated cities as well as the part they played in reducing the northern Gaza strip to a tent city.
I must be fair in saying that Hamas has also acted rashly with the use of imprecise rockets. Although most don’t seem to even have explosive warheads they have still caused damage. One case was when a rocket crashed through the roof of an Israeli primary school which was fortunately empty at the time.
This ultimately gives an idea and shows the hatred and loathing Israel has created and aimed at itself over the years. More importantly, as human beings, the victims of ignorance have been our children