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Ashraf
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Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 17, 2004 - 08:30 AM
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Only two days after the Israeli Supreme Court overruled nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu’s request to remove the limitations imposed on him, a full interview with him has been published in the London-based Arabic weekly al-Wassat.
Being interviewed by an Arab newspaper based in London, Vanunu has thus broken the restrictions the Israeli defense establishment had placed upon him not to give interviews to the foreign media.
The latest interview included secret details regarding Israel’s nuclear plan.
"Israel possesses between 100-200 nuclear weapons, including a neutron bomb and hydrogen bombs, which are tenfold in their effect", Vanunu said in the interview.
"If an atomic bomb can kill 100 thousand people then the hydrogen bomb can hurt a million".
Furthermore, Vanunu said that he will fight till his dying day for a permit to leave Israel and seek political asylum abroad.
"I will call for an international convention in Cairo, including Israel, for dismantling nuclear weapons", he said.
He also added that he would try to develop his expertise in nuclear warfare, and that he is intending to offer his services to the UN’s nuclear energy agency.
Vanunu will begin lecturing on the subject before an audience in Nazareth soon as well as resume his studies in a university abroad.
Source:
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=2943
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Ashraf
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 17, 2004 - 01:01 AM
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What I fear most is taking advantage of the US Presidential election preparation by the Israelis to launch a surprise attack against the Iranian Nuclear installations as they did with Iraq before. You can be assured the US won't at all criticize such move because each US candidate needs the Jewish vote to win the election. The Iranians will certainly retaliate with possible aid from Hizbollah in South Lebanon and that will surely trigger the Israelis to engage war with Syria. I just pray that such scenario won't ever happen but the Israelis had taken advantage of such periods in the past especially against the Palestinians. That will be much worse than any crisis the Middle East has ever experienced!
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Ashraf
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Israel's Arsenal of Mass Destruction
August 17, 2004 - 01:43 AM
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Today, estimates of the Israeli nuclear arsenal range from a minimum of 200 to a maximum of about 500. Whatever the number, there is little doubt that Israeli nukes are among the world's most sophisticated, largely designed for "war fighting" in the Middle East. A staple of the Israeli nuclear arsenal are "neutron bombs," miniaturized thermonuclear bombs designed to maximize deadly gamma radiation while minimizing blast effects and long term radiation- in essence designed to kill people while leaving property intact.(16) Weapons include ballistic missiles and bombers capable of reaching Moscow, cruise missiles, land mines(In the 1980s Israel planted nuclear land mines along the Golan Heights(17)), and artillery shells with a range of 45 miles(18). In June, 2000 an Israeli submarine launched a cruise missile which hit a target 950 miles away, making Israel only the third nation after the U.S. and Russia with that capability. Israel will deploy 3 of these virtually impregnable submarines, each carrying 4 cruise missiles.(19)
The bombs themselves range in size from "city busters" larger than the Hiroshima Bomb to tactical mini nukes. The Israeli arsenal of weapons of mass destruction clearly dwarfs the actual or potential arsenals of all other Middle Eastern states combined, and is vastly greater than any conceivable need for "deterrence."
Israel also possesses a comprehensive arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. According to the Sunday Times, Israel has produced both chemical and biological weapons with a sophisticated delivery system, quoting a senior Israeli intelligence official, "There is hardly a single known or unknown form of chemical or biological weapon . . .which is not manufactured at the Nes Tziyona Biological Institute." (20) The same report described F-16 fighter jets specially designed for chemical and biological payloads, with crews trained to load the weapons on a moments notice. In 1998, the Sunday Times reported that Israel, using research obtained from South Africa, was developing an "ethno bomb; "In developing their "ethno-bomb", Israeli scientists are trying to exploit medical advances by identifying distinctive a gene carried by some Arabs, then create a genetically modified bacterium or virus... The scientists are trying to engineer deadly micro-organisms that attack only those bearing the distinctive genes." Dedi Zucker, a leftist Member of Knesset, the Israeli parliament, denounced the research saying, "Morally, based on our history, and our tradition and our experience, such a weapon is monstrous and should be denied."(21)
Source:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/STE203A.html
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 17, 2004 - 02:07 AM
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Palestinian - you think the reason America would sit mum if Israel took out Iran's nuclear facilities is because the President needs the Jewish vote?
85% of Jews in America voted against Bush in the last election and are likely to do so again.
The reason we would sit mum is because WE WANT them to do this for us -
Last Year Iran marched long range ballistic missles through their streets with our names written on them calling for "death to America" - you think we are going to let them go nuclear? That would clearly not be in our interests - and it would clearly be in our interests to have the Israelis set the Iranian nuclear program back about 10 years.
As far as Israel having weapons - of course they do.
If they didn't use them in 73' against the invasion they obviously know how to be responsible with the technology - they will only use them if their existance or survival is threatened. Call it an insurance policy - considering they are alone in the most dangerous area of the world with many enemies.
That and the fact that Jewish scientists were about half of the Manhattan project which created the bomb for the US in WW2
Anyway - Palestinian - if you really think the Israelis have such an enormous arsinal - then how do you imagine it will be possible for the Arabs to destroy Israel without suffering enormous losses?
Perhaps it would be wiser to leave them in peace - perhaps the escalation of their arsinal is in direct response to repeated invasion attempts and 50 years of Arab threats and provocation.
Perhaps had the Arabs simply compromised with the Un partition conference in 47'
1. Palestinian would already be a country as old as Israel and bigger then the one you will end up with.
2. The Jews would have focused on matters of Economics, Arts and Sciences - like they have always done.
Israel represents the first time in the last 1000 years that Jews have focused on military matters - and it is because they learned the lesson of the Hollocaust - "Never Again" - and because they feel their survival is threatened in a sea of hostile forces.
If you continue to escalate the threat against them - the Israelis will surely respond in kind.
If you leave them alone - if the Arabs simply stopped threatening them - and negotiated a peaceful settlement which we leave the Jews in peace on their own land - then you will find the Jews slowly turn back to matters of economics, arts and sciences as they always have done - and de-emphasize the military.
As far as chemical weapons etc. - please more evidence.
Just a comment that some unnamed senior Israeli offical said so is meaningless - to begin why would any senior Israeli offical admit to having weapons which are banned by international law?
it seems to me that if they did have them they would deny it.
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Cicero
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 17, 2004 - 10:05 AM
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If somebody would have blasted up the nuclear reactor that Izraelis have, it would not only make both Izraeli and Palestinian territories impossible to live in, but also western Egypt, Lebanon, most of Jordan..
Walking there would resemble walking on surface of a moon.
Ave Futuria
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Ashraf
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 18, 2004 - 05:55 AM
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Luke,
>>Palestinian - you think the reason America would sit mum if Israel took out Iran's nuclear facilities is because the President needs the Jewish vote?
The Jewish vote and influence in the US politics is very much noted. I do not have to remind you of the strength of the Zionist lobby and zionist organizations such as aipac and their direct impact on US foreign policy.
>>85% of Jews in America voted against Bush in the last election and are likely to do so again.
Each candiate must show loyalty to zionist interests -- be it Bush or John Kerry regarless of who the Jews will vote for. After all, the Jews did not vote for Bush as you said but it seems Bush was the best US president the zionists ever dreamed of.
>>The reason we would sit mum is because WE WANT them to do this for us -
>>Last Year Iran marched long range ballistic missles through their streets with our names written on them calling for "death to America" -
Do not please start this silly argument..It has been confirmed and already photographed that your US soldiers wrote insulting words to Muslims and their religion on the US missiles which were used to bomb Baghdad..That is as bad as "death to America" if not worse.
>>you think we are going to let them go nuclear? That would clearly not be in our interests - and it would clearly be in our interests to have the Israelis set the Iranian nuclear program back about 10 years.
But you allow the Israelis to go nuclear and keep whining day and night that the WMD must be removed from Middle East ingoring completely that "Israel" is already in that area of the world. Didn't the US launch its war against Iraq because of the allegation that Saddam possessed WMD???..well here you have not 1 or 2 or 3 nuclear bombs but 200 Nuclear bombs!!!. So what are you going to do about it?
I realy do enjoy exposing your double standards. Keep talking!
>>As far as Israel having weapons - of course they do.
>>If they didn't use them in 73' against the invasion they obviously know how to be responsible with the technology - they will only use them if their existance or survival is threatened. Call it an insurance policy - considering they are alone in the most dangerous area of the world with many enemies.
Another silly argument of yours..It has been already confirmed that the Israeli millitary is more sophisticated and powerful than all the Arab armies combined. The Israelis don't need any nuclear weapon for any war. Why keep 200 Nuclear bombs when it is obvious the conventioanl arsenal can do the job???
>>That and the fact that Jewish scientists were about half of the Manhattan project which created the bomb for the US in WW2
I see ..so "Israel" has that right because those scientists in Manhattan were Jews????
>>Anyway - Palestinian - if you really think the Israelis have such an enormous arsinal - then how do you imagine it will be possible for the Arabs to destroy Israel without suffering enormous losses?
You seem to forget the lessons of history quite rapidly, Luke. The Soviets were defeated in Afghanistan and eventually collapsed despite they had much more powerful arsenal than that of "Israel". The same applies to the US which was defeated in Vietnam.
>>Perhaps it would be wiser to leave them in peace - perhaps the escalation of their arsinal is in direct response to repeated invasion attempts and 50 years of Arab threats and provocation.
Amazing..
We have Palestinian refugees whose number is even larger than all those living in occupied territories and you are telling me 'repeated invasion attempts'!!. All the wars startring from 48 did not happen until the Israelis occupied the Arab land in Palestine..so who invaded who?
>>Perhaps had the Arabs simply compromised with the Un partition conference in 47'
I am totally surprised of this silly comment!. Does anyone in the world 'compromise' when a thief comes to his house and kicks him out?.
>>1. Palestinian would already be a country as old as Israel and bigger then the one you will end up with.
>>2. The Jews would have focused on matters of Economics, Arts and Sciences - like they have always done.
Just add to them..
3- The zionists would have focused on committing massacres against Arabs - Like they have always done in Dir Yassin, Sabra & Shatila, Qana, Jenin etc.
>>Israel represents the first time in the last 1000 years that Jews have focused on military matters - and it is because they learned the lesson of the Hollocaust - "Never Again" - and because they feel their survival is threatened in a sea of hostile forces.
It is realy amazing how you want to win sympathy for the victims of the holocaust while deny others the right to rise against the other holllocausts committed by the zionists!!. Hypocracy in its uggliest form!
>>If you continue to escalate the threat against them - the Israelis will surely respond in kind.
>>If you leave them alone - if the Arabs simply stopped threatening them - and negotiated a peaceful settlement which we leave the Jews in peace on their own land - then you will find the Jews slowly turn back to matters of economics, arts and sciences as they always have done - and de-emphasize the military.
Negotiate with whom? with Sharom the war criminal?.
>>As far as chemical weapons etc. - please more evidence.
As if the research constitutes nothing in your eyes...anyway I will try to satisfy your hunger for knowledge and do some research on the Israeli chemical weapons.
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 18, 2004 - 05:57 AM
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Palerstinian - I know you would like to lecture me on Jewish influence in American politics - but my older brother was the Assistant Secretary of Technology for Bush Sr.
I think I know it a bit better than you.
The Democrats certainly need Jewish money - it comes primarily from the Trial Lawyers - of which many are Jewish.
And culturally Jews are inclined toward more tolerant liberal values - that is why most are Democrats.
The "Zionist Lobby" - is frankly a load of crap fed to you by Arabic media sources.
Yeah, there are alot of rich Jews over here - and they give generous amounts of their money to political parties - and Israel is an issue for them - but it is not some organized lobby group.
The reason Bush has sided with the Israeli's is simple -
BECAUSE THEY ARE FIGHTING ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS JUST LIKE WE ARE.
That and most of the Christian religious right wing in America sees the Jews return to Israel and the fullfillment of biblical prophesy.
You don't understand American politics half as well as you think you do.
You keep trying to defend Iran marching missles through their streets and calling for our destruction -
maybe our soldiers did write stuff on missles meant for the Baathists - wouldn't surprise me.
And I also wouldn't be surprised if the people those messeges were about wanted to stop the people who had them from using them.
So you shouldn't be surprised if we want to stop a country that has openly threatened us with missles - from being able to put nuclear warheads on top of those missles - its called common sense.
Anyway - I don't think there is a double standard.
In America citizens have a right to Bear arms - to own a handgun.
But before the handgun is sold the dealer must do a background check on who owns it to see if they have a violent criminal record.
We didn't want Saddam to WMD because he is a maniacal dictator.
Sharon is democratically elected - and he has never used those weapons despite multiple invasion attempts.
Saddam has used Chemical weapons - and invaded his neighbors.
There are a number of countries that have Nukes and we don't care - Britan, France, Pakistan, India, China. We are not concerned because they are not threatening us.
Anyway - you are kidding yourself if you think there is any similarity between Vietnam, or Afghanistan and Israel.
To begin, most of the trouble in those areas was due to the terrian - Mountians and Jungles and a total lack of familiarity with the area.
The Jews know the area and it is basically flat.
Also there was not the political will of America to do what was necissary to win that conflict.
If we really wanted to win the war in Vietnam we would have unleashed our nuclear arsinal. But it was not a threat to our survival.
Same with the Russians.
The reason Israel has these weapons is so that it is impossible for them to be defeated. You mentioned how they have the most sophisticated army - and in the same breath spoke of how you intend on beating them in a conventional war setting.
The point is that if the Jews feel the survival of the State of Israel is in serious jeporady - they always have a final recourse to rectify that situation.
It is check and mate.
And the point that is still lost on you -is that Vietnam was not our country - Afganistan was not the Russians country.
Israel is the Israeli's country - it doesn't matter if you see it that way - THEY see it that way. Vietnam was not our home - Americans did not live there - we just had an army over there.
Israelis live in Israel - it is the only country in the world in which Jews are a controlling majority - they are not going to give it up - and it really doesn't matter how long you struggle.
As far as negotiations - my friend you ended up with Sharon because Israelis were scared of the inteffadda and so elected a warrior as their president.
In 98' you were negotiating with Barak - perthaps it would have been wiser to continue talking to him. Also remeber that comment goes both ways -
"negotiate with whome - Arafat, the War Criminal."
Anyway my friend I understand that the Palestinians have suffered - but it is nowhere near the Hollocaust.
Are they loading you into concentraition camps and gassing you by the dozens? Do they have ovens to burn you alive?
in the last 4 years about 1000 Palestinians have died - during that same time Palestinians have killed about 450 Israelis.
during the Hollocaust 6 million innocent and defensless people were killed in about 6 years of systematic genocide - the Jews were responsible for few if any German deaths.
It is simply not the same thing.
Alot of the Israeli military action has been in response to violent attacks specifically targeting their innocent civilians.
Anyway - as far as a "Theif" - I know that is how you learned the story.
But my family was one of those who donated to Hollocaust survivors so that they could purchase land in Palestine.
They bought the majority of the land with money - yes they bought it out from under the Arabs living there when it wasn't simply empty desert land. They bought it from absentee landlords in Egypt etc.
The British in the 20's, 30's, and 40's weren't just letting the Jews march into people's houses and kick people out (unless they bought the deed) - that is illegal - and the British recognised it as such.
They did expand the amount of immigration - but Jews had to buy, or build their houses just like anyone else.
The Jews did put an economic squeeze on the Arabs in the Area to drive them out - this is an old tactic used by land developers - I buy land on either side of you and cut off maybe your access to water or a road - soon you are willing to sell your land.
Once they had enough land - they wanted to make it continous country - so they wanted a partitiion conference so they could democratically elect Jewish leadership in the area they were a majority in.
There was an organized effort to do this - obviously.
But if you want to know who to blame for losing your land - look to the ultra wealthy Arab families from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt who sold it to the Jews for a tidy profit.
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paktheen80
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luke is rite??
August 23, 2004 - 01:23 AM
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hey palestinian luke is telling u the rite thing....of what site are u talking about...its totally biased....
mr. luke will only accept things from fox ++ cnn something like that,....other wise its baised...
and poor palistenian...iam sure u cant find something like that over there....so ur claim is wrong and lie...coz u dont have evidence
wish u find evidence...for mr luke 
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 23, 2004 - 01:44 AM
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Thanks paktheen80,
Actually just about any independant source works for me - not one that is controlled by any government - or Al Jezeera unless it is corroborated - because they have are clearly anti-Israel
But CNN, Fox, NBC, NYTimes, Guardian, BBC - A major paper in France or Italy - or if the UN reported this.
Or just the Associated Press.
understand I wouldn't trust an Israeli newspaper on this subject either.
If I started posting articles from the Tel Aviv Times - I wouldn't expect you to beleive it.
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Ashraf
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One drop in the ocean!
August 23, 2004 - 03:04 AM
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Source:http://www.antiwar.com/orig/brooks.php?articleid=2957
Israel's Chemical Weapons
by James Brooks
"On June 10th, 2004, the two clinics in Al-Zawiya treated 130 patients for gas inhalation. The patients were children, women, old people and young men. Dr. Abu Madi related that there was a high number of cases of [tetany], spasm in legs and hands, connected to the nervous system. Pupils were dilated. … Other symptoms included shock, semi-consciousness, hyperventilation, irritation and sweating."
Thus reads a report by medical units serving the West Bank village of Al-Zawiya, where nonviolent resistance to Israel's impending wall has been extraordinarily resolute. According to the medical report (procured by the International Middle East Media Center [IMEMC]), "the gas used against the protestors is not tear gas but possibly a nerve gas."
The following day, Israel's "Peace Bloc," Gush Shalom, began a press release with the following quote from Al-Zawiya:
"What the army used here yesterday was not tear gas. We know what tear gas is, what it feels like. That was something totally different. … When we were still a long way off from where the bulldozers were working, they started shooting things like this one (holding up a dark green metal tube with the inscription "Hand and rifle grenade no.400" - in English). Black smoke came out. Anyone who breathed it lost consciousness immediately, more than a hundred people. They remained unconscious for nearly 24 hours. One is still unconscious, at Rapidiya Hospital in Nablus. They had high fever and their muscles became rigid. Some needed urgent blood transfusion. Now, is this a way of dispersing a demonstration, or is it chemical warfare?"
The incident in Al-Zawiya appears to be the tenth attack by Israeli soldiers using an "unknown gas" against Palestinian civilians since early 2001. We have photographs of the canisters. We have film of victims suffering in the hospital. We have interviews with Palestinian and European doctors who have treated the victims. And we presumably have hundreds, perhaps thousands, of survivors. But we know nothing of their fate. Despite the evidence, we have not inquired.
Though it is a state secret, Israel's development of chemical and biological weapons has been known and analyzed for decades. From the typhoid poisoning of Palestinian wells and water supplies in 1948 to the conversion of F-16s into nerve gas "crop dusters" in 1998, Israel has always demonstrated a strong interest in developing CBW agents and methods for their dispersal.
In 1992 an El Al 747 flying nerve gas ingredients from the U.S. to Israel crashed into an Amsterdam apartment building. According to Salman Abu-Sitta, president of the Palestine Land Society, the respected Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad followed up the crash with an in-depth investigation of the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR), Israel's CBW complex in Nes Ziona. The paper reportedly found "strong links" with several U.S. CBW and medical research centers, "close cooperation between IIBR and the British-American biological warfare program," and "extensive collaboration on BW research with Germany and Holland."
At IIBR, doctors publish world-class research in acetylcholine, the mother lode of nerve gas design. The Nes Ziona complex is reputed to have invented an "undetectable" poison-needle gun for "clean" assassinations. In September 1997, two days after Jordan's King Hussein told Israeli PM Netanyahu that Hamas was seeking negotiations, Mossad agents in Jordan attempted to kill Hamas leader Khaled Misha'al with a lethal dose of fentanyl.
For years, rumors persisted that Israel was using or testing unknown chemical agents on Palestinian civilians. The rumors began to reveal their substance February 12, 2001, when Israel began a six-week campaign of "novel gas" attacks in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. By chance, American filmmaker James Longley arrived in Khan Younis, Gaza in the middle of the first attack. That afternoon he began filming the victims. His award-winning film, Gaza Strip, documents the naked reality of Israel's chemical weaponry – the canisters, the doctors, the eyewitnesses, and the hideous suffering of the victims, many of whom remained hospitalized for days or weeks.
The February 12 gassing of neighborhoods in Khan Younis presaged the attacks that followed. When the gas canisters landed, they began to billow clouds of either white or black, sooty smoke. The gas was non-irritating and initially odorless, changing to a sweet, minty fragrance after a few minutes. One victim recalled, "the smell was good. You want to breathe more. You feel good when you inhale it." The smoke often shifted to a "rainbow" of changing colors.
From five to thirty minutes after breathing the gas, victims began to feel sick and have difficulty breathing. A searing pain began to wrench their gut, followed by vomiting, sometimes of blood, then complete hysteria and extremely violent convulsions. Many victims suffered a relentless syndrome for days or weeks afterward, alternating between convulsions and periods of conscious, twitching, vomiting agony. Palestinians agreed: "This is like nothing we've ever seen before."
Forty people were admitted to Al-Nasser Hospital "in an odd state of hysteria and nervous breakdown," suffering from "fainting and spasms." Sixteen gas patients had to be transferred to the intensive care unit. Doctors "reported the Israeli use of gas that appeared to cause convulsions."
At the Gharbi refugee camp, thirty-two people "were treated for serious injuries" following exposure to the gas. Dr. Salakh Shami at Al-Amal Hospital reported the hospital receiving "about 130 patients suffering from gas inhalation from February 12."
Bewildered medical personnel had "never seen anything … like the gas at Tufa." Victims were "jumping up and down, left and right … thrashing limbs around," suffering "convulsions … a kind of hysteria. They were all shaking." Others were already unconscious. An hour or two later, they would come to. And the convulsions and the vomiting and disorientation and pain would return.
The following day, February 13, Israeli forces again deployed the strange new gas canisters in Khan Younis. Over forty new gas victims, "including a number of children … from 1 to 5-years-old," arrived at Al-Nasser Hospital and the hospital of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
The news began to trickle out. "Palestinian security services have accused the Israeli army of using nerve gas during a gunbattle yesterday," reported AFX News Limited, noting "the army has strongly denied the charges." The Voice of Palestine reported that "specialists believe that this is an internationally banned nerve gas." Those who inhaled the gas "suffered a nervous breakdown and vomited blood."
The next day, Deutsche Presse-Agentur quoted Dr. Yasser Sheikh Ali from Al-Nasser Hospital: "Israel has been using a powerful type of tear gas against the Palestinians that causes convulsions and spasms." According to DPA, more than 80 Palestinians…reported that Israeli soldiers had used the white smoky gas, but Israel denied doing so."
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reported that on February 15 three more canisters of the poison gas were fired at houses in the Khan Younis camp, and "another 11 Palestinian civilians, mostly children, suffered from suffocation and spasms due to gas inhalation." British journalist Graham Usher wrote that Khan Younis civilians were "incapacitated" by "a 'new' form of toxic gas."
PA President Yasser Arafat publicly "accused Israel of using poison gas." The IDF issued a second denial. Israeli Communications Minister Ben-Eliezer called reports of gas casualties in Khan Younis "incorrect and false." Senior PA minister Nabil Shaath said that a sample of the gas would be sent to "an international center for analysis." The results, if any, were never divulged.
On February 18, Israeli soldiers near the Neve Dekalim settlement reportedly fired four poison gas canisters at Palestinian houses in Khan Younis. Later that afternoon, more canisters were fired, forcing Palestinians to flee their homes. PCHR reported that "41 Palestinian civilians, mostly children and women, suffered from suffocation and spasms." By PCHR's count, 238 Palestinians were affected by poison gas attacks between February 12 and February 20. Twenty-seven of the victims were still hospitalized on the 22nd.
On March 2, an unknown gas was used against civilians in the West Bank town of Al-Bireh. Israeli soldiers reportedly fired "canisters of a highly effective black gas similar to the one used in Khan Yunis three weeks ago."
Twenty-four days later, Israeli forces east of Gaza City used a gas that "left symptoms different from those of the … gas used first … in Khan Yunis starting from February 12," although several similarities also appeared. In this attack the onset of abdominal pain seemed to be delayed.
On March 30, medical professionals in Nablus reported Israeli soldiers using the new poison gas against Palestinian demonstrators.
British journalist Jonathan Cook reported a March gas attack on the schoolyard of Al-Khader village, near Bethlehem. Thirteen year-old Sliman Salah was playing when a gas canister landed next to him, "enveloping him in a cloud of gas described by witnesses as an unfamiliar, yellow colour." Large doses of anti-convulsants were required to control the boy's seizures and maintain consciousness. His symptoms "were finally brought under control five days after his exposure to the gas. But Salah's father says the boy is still suffering from stomach pains, vomiting, dizziness and breathing problems."
In its March, 2003 special report, Israel's Secret Weapon, BBC Television reviewed this series of gas attacks, noting, "The Israeli army has used new unidentified weapons. In February 2001 a new gas was used in Gaza. A hundred and eighty patients were admitted to hospitals with severe convulsions. … Israel is outside chemical and biological weapons treaties and still refuses to say what the new gas was."
In my amateur analysis of the reported comments of victims, eyewitnesses and medical professionals regarding this series of attacks, I identified thirty-three distinct symptoms attributed to the unidentified gas. All but three of these symptoms appear to be typical of nerve gas poisoning. Tareg Bey, a chemical warfare expert at the University of California-Irvine, told the Chicago Reader that the symptoms described to him "all fit really well to nerve gas," though he was puzzled by the reported fragrance and skin rashes.
In an October 9, 2003, article, Jennifer Loewenstein and Angela Gaff asked, "What gas is Israel using?" They reported the story of Mukhles Burgal, a Palestinian prisoner caught in a brutal attack inside Israel's Ashkelon prison. The "guards forced their way into the crowded cell, spraying two canisters of some type of gas. Some of the 14 prisoners passed out. … The effects of the gas were severe muscle spasms and an overwhelming sensation of not being able to breathe."
Two days later, Palestine Monitor reported that Israeli forces in Rafah were allegedly "firing gas grenades containing a black gas believed to be adamatite [adamsite?] – the use of which is forbidden according to international law. Medical authorities urged people to avoid the gas at all costs, as it not only causes difficulty in breathing but seriously affects the nervous system." For some reason, PCHR's press release from the same day, an apparent source of these reports, is no longer available. On the 14th, eyewitness Laura Gordon wrote, "The army used some kind of nerve gas for the first time in Rafah, leaving people in convulsions for days."
Following the recent gas attack in Al-Zawiya, town officials reportedly told Al Ayyam newspaper, "the Israeli occupation troops were using an illegal substance that caused nerve spasms and that several cases had been transferred to Nablus hospitals."
The PA's International Press Center reported that "official and public sources in … Al-Zawya … asserted that those who have inhaled the tear gas IOF troops fired at them four days ago are still suffering from the effects of the gas … a number of those citizens have already had amnesias or partial memory loss, in addition to cramps … in addition to strange cramps every three hours … those who inhaled the gas are still suffering severe pains in the joints and nausea for four days now. Eyewitnesses recalled that the Israeli soldiers were keen on picking the empty tear gas canisters." Journalists told IPC "that the gas was in different colors they have never seen coming out of a tear gas canister before, and that some gases had an unrecalled smell."
According to IMEMC, "[T]ens of demonstrators who inhaled this gas had partial memory loss. Dr. Bassam Abu Madi told IMEMC that the some of those who inhaled the gas had severe choking and some contraction in their feet and arm muscles. Eyewitnesses said the gas has a strange smell and a reddish-brownish color." In a follow up story, IMEMC concluded that "protesters were attacked with gas that is not like the tear gas. Those who inhaled the gas suffered some memory loss while others had other symptoms of a nerve gas. Yet this was not medically confirmed for lack of laboratories to inspect the gas canisters collected from the scene."
Al-Jazeera reported the opinion of Awni Khatib, a professor of chemistry at Hebron University:
"The new symptoms – particularly the violent convulsions experienced by some Palestinian protesters outside the village of Sawiya [Zawiya], southwest of Nablus – suggest … that the Israeli army may be using a new class of chemicals that lie somewhere between normal tear gas and chemical weapons."
Israel's repeated use of highly toxic unknown chemicals against Palestinian civilians is now an open secret. We can expect these attacks to continue until a concerted effort is made to determine the facts and hold Israel accountable. So far, the international human rights community has steadfastly ignored the mounting evidence.
When will professional investigators begin to retrieve and test the gas canisters? Why has no one but James Longley bothered to document interviews with victims, doctors, and other eyewitnesses? In a world in which one country's mere possession of chemical weapons can be an excuse for international retribution, how can another country's use of chemical weapons against civilians be dismissed as a "regrettably excessive" tactic of crowd control?
Our silence is poisoning Palestine.
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 23, 2004 - 12:21 PM
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yeah I have seen this article before - is this the best you can do?
If you want me to take accusations of chemical weapons seriously then it needs to come from a real news source.
This is a totally biased website.
Aside from that - it doesn't mention any fatalities - if they were using illegal chemical weapons - all those people would be dead.
So what you are saying is that this is the best you could find - and that it is not very substantial.
You couldn't find a single real news agency that carried the article?
That is probably because it was written by the protesters themselves - and exaggerated.
I guess I am still waiting for any kind of substantial proof of your accusations - this article is meaningless - it amounts to little more than an accusation of the use of an unidentified - non lethal gas.
which has not been corroborated by a single outside agency.
You accused them before of having illegal chemical weapons - like Mustard Gas, or Ricin, or Anthrax, etc. I still see zero evidence of this.
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Ray Ovac
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Journalists and Sources
August 24, 2004 - 02:02 AM
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Originally posted by Palestinian
paktheen80,
>>mr. luke will only accept things from fox ++ cnn something like that,....other wise its baised
Great statement!
Luke,
I think you should also exclude 'Sunday Times' from your list of 'authenticated' sources...and perhaps anyone else who does not fit your criteria of reliable sources.
Truth hurts, does it not?
Pal:
I honestly don't doubt that Israel either has (or used to have) chemical weapons...the US certainly did at one time (although in small quantities) and I suspect that a lot of other nations like the UK, Russia, China, etc. I suspect that most (if not all) have done away with them in the last 20 years, but it is not hard to believe that just about anyone either has them or at least did have them at one time.
With that being said, you do have to admit that without confirmation from another accepted media source (pick one from outside of the US) that this story is difficult to swallow. I actually believe that many of the US news organizations are pretty unbiased (CNN, Wall Street Journal) but I also read the news from the UK (BBC), Japan, Singapore, France, Switzerland (which is still neutral), even Turkey (which is an Arab nation and mostly Islamic). In general, the main news outlets from these countries agree with the facts presented by each other (including the US sources).
So, unless there is some type of global conspiracy across journalists from just about every nation (including those who are neutral and outside of the US and Europe and even those in Arab and Islamic nations), then when a story is only covered by one newspaper (or television news organization) without a peep from the others that I have described, you have to admit that logic suggests that there is something fishy about it.
As I said, I don't even doubt the story (or the possibility of it)...and there are plenty of journalists out there who would love to publish exactly this story and have their name associated with it. Why, then, isn't it covered anywhere else?
Further, why isn't it covered *everywhere* else? There are a myriad of news stories that are hardly favorable to Israel (everytime they send tanks in and kill innocent civilians when going after known terrorists, for example) that are covered by all of the main media outlets. Why would this one be any different? They all covered the US prisoner abuse story in Iraq...who would be afraid of covering this story?
Do you see what I mean?
The reality is that most journalists care a lot less about politics or about the impact of their stories and much more about their own careers...breaking a big story (that is credible) before anyone else does (regardless of who the story is about or what it does politically) makes a name for a journalist. The bigger the story and the more shocking it is ("Israel Has Chemical Weapons...Is Seen as Hypocritical by Allies" would be a big one), the better for a journalist. This is why I have some doubt.
God Bless!
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Luke Lieberman
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 24, 2004 - 03:56 AM
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"The truth hurts doesn't it?" - Palestinian
AHAHAHHAHA! - if you stumble across any I'll let you know.
It is not like I am making this hard for you - the Associated press feeds every major news organization from Islamabaad to Paris, from New York to Bei Jing
You just found a protest website - and now you are claiming their accusations are facts.
You have not found one single - outside independant source to verify or substanciate these claims.
That is why I ask you - is this the best you can do?
You have nothing real to back up your claims just a website built by protesters.
I think if I started posting articles from the Likud Party website you would probably not think it credible.
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Ashraf
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 24, 2004 - 04:25 AM
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paktheen80,
>>mr. luke will only accept things from fox ++ cnn something like that,....other wise its baised
Great statement!
Luke,
I think you should also exclude 'Sunday Times' from your list of 'authenticated' sources...and perhaps anyone else who does not fit your criteria of reliable sources.
Truth hurts, does it not?
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Ashraf
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Re: Israeli Nuclear Threat
August 25, 2004 - 10:14 AM
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Luke,
>>"The truth hurts doesn't it?" - Palestinian AHAHAHHAHA! - if you stumble across any I'll let you know. It is not like I am making this hard for you - the Associated press feeds every major news organization from Islamabaad to Paris, from New York to Bei Jing You just found a protest website - and now you are claiming their accusations are facts.
1- You have independent journalists around the world who do not have to be getting their information from Associated Press to be called truthful
2- The website records medical and official statements and findings regarding the casualties caused by the poison gas used by the Israeli troops. If you have evidence that refute such claims, then please do so.
>> You have not found one single - outside independant source to verify or substanciate these claims. That is why I ask you - is this the best you can do? You have nothing real to back up your claims just a website built by protesters. I think if I started posting articles from the Likud Party website you would probably not think it credible.
Go ahead and post independent sources if that is going to make your life alot easier to refute such claims. What are you waiting for?
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