WhatsApp patches flaw after spyware revelation

Yahoo – AFP, Rob Lever, May 14, 2019

Spyware injected into the popular messaging application WhatsApp could compromise
smartphones and lead to targeting of human rights activists, journalists and others
(AFP Photo/Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV)

Washington (AFP) - WhatsApp on Tuesday warned users to upgrade the application to plug a security hole that allowed for the injection of sophisticated malware that could be used to spy on journalists, activists and others.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp said it released an update to fix the vulnerability in the messaging app, used by 1.5 billion people around the world.

"WhatsApp encourages people to upgrade to the latest version of our app, as well as keep their mobile operating system up to date, to protect against potential targeted exploits designed to compromise information stored on mobile devices," a company statement said.

The WhatsApp spyware is sophisticated and "would be available to only advanced and highly motivated actors," the company said, adding that a "select number of users were targeted."

"This attack has all the hallmarks of a private company that works with a number of governments around the world" according to initial investigations, it added, but did not name the firm.

The spyware appears to be related to the Pegasus software developed by Israeli-based NSO group, which is normally sold to law enforcement and intelligence services, according to Washington-based analyst Joseph Hall.

A security flaw in WhatsApp, now fixed, allowed attackers to install spyware on 

phones (AFP Photo/NICOLAS ASFOURI)

The spyware "could have gotten into someone's hands" outside legitimate channels for nefarious purposes, Hall, chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, told AFP.

"It's unclear who is doing this."

Security researchers have found that Android and Apple phones can be infected with the spyware with a simple audio call through WhatsApp, even if the user does not answer, according to Hall, making detection more difficult.

Big risks

Hall said the unpatched security flaw opens the door to spying by rogue entities on human rights activists, journalists and others.

"The potential danger is quite large," he said.

"These kinds of apps that do encrypted messaging and encrypted phone calls tend to store the most secretive data that people need to protect."

He said dissidents and pro-democracy activists seeking to remain anonymous rely on these encrypted applications, as do journalists when speaking with sources about sensitive information.

Facebook did not comment on the number of users affected or who targeted them, and said it had reported the matter to US authorities.

It also informed EU authorities in Ireland about the "serious security vulnerability," according to a statement by the country's Data Protection Commission (DPC).

The revelation is the latest in a series of issues troubling WhatsApp's parent Facebook, which has faced intense criticism for allowing users' data to be harvested by research companies and over its slow response to Russia using the platform as a means to spread disinformation during the 2016 US election campaign.

WhatsApp is used by an estimated 1.5 billion people and 

its encryption feature has encouraged activsts, journalists 

and others for sensitive information (AFP Photo/Lionel 

BONAVENTURE)

Highly invasive software

WhatsApp said it has briefed human rights organizations on the matter, but did not identify them.

The NSO Group came to prominence in 2016 when researchers accused it of helping spy on an activist in the United Arab Emirates.

Its best-known product is Pegasus, a highly invasive tool that can reportedly switch on a target's phone camera and microphone, and access data on it.

The firm said Tuesday it only licenses its software to governments for "fighting crime and terror."

The NSO Group "does not operate the system, and after a rigorous licensing and vetting process, intelligence and law enforcement determine how to use the technology to support their public safety missions," it said in a statement to AFP.

"We investigate any credible allegations of misuse and if necessary, we take action, including shutting down the system."

Researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab have claimed that despite NSO's statement, Pegasus spyware is being misused by many governments.

The WhatsApp breach is the latest in a series of issues troubling its parent 

Facebook (AFP Photo/JUSTIN SULLIVAN)

"Pegasus appears to be in use by multiple countries with dubious human rights records and histories of abusive behavior by state security services," the researchers said in a report last year,

Amnesty International said meanwhile it would join a legal action this week in Israel by some 30 activists to revoke NSO's export license, claiming that one of its own staff members was targeted by a "particularly invasive" variant of the software in June 2018 via WhatsApp.

"NSO Group sells its products to governments who are known for outrageous human rights abuses, giving them the tools to track activists and critics," said Danna Ingleton, deputy director of Amnesty Tech.

"As long as products like Pegasus are marketed without proper control and oversight, the rights and safety of Amnesty International's staff and that of other activists, journalists and dissidents around the world is at risk."

Palestinians get 3G internet after decade-long row

Mail Online – AFP, 23 Janaury 2018

A file picture shows a young Palestinian woman using a mobile phone in the 

West Bank city of Ramallah on November 5, 2014

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank began receiving 3G mobile telecommunications services on Tuesday, after years of wrangling with the Israeli authorities.

The Jawwal and Wataniya firms began offering the service to their customers Tuesday morning, with Palestinians seeing the option appear on their phones for the first time.

Israel had previously blocked Palestinian mobile companies' access to the necessary frequencies.

Third generation services were originally launched in the early 2000s, and much of the world already has 4G technology, while 5G is expected in the next year.

Ammar Aker, chief executive of the Paltel communications company which owns Jawwal, told AFP it had been a decade of work to get Israel to agree to 3G.

"We launched 3G technically and commercially about midnight on Monday. This is a strategic step we have been waiting for for more than 10 years. We hope it has a positive affect on the national communications (infrastructure) and economy."

The launch coincided with a one-day strike across the West Bank in protest at the visit of US Vice President Mike Pence to Jerusalem and the US administration's recognition of the disputed city as the capital of Israel.

The Palestinians see at least the eastern part of the city as the capital of their future state and boycotted Pence's visit.

A Wataniya spokesman, Shadi al-Qawasmi, said stores were closed because of the strike but that 3G services were still offered on mobile devices.

The service will be available only in the West Bank for now and not in the Gaza Strip, blockaded by Israel for more than a decade.

The companies say they need Israeli permits to bring in equipment necessary. Egypt has also kept its border with Gaza largely closed in recent years.

HTC mum on alleged partnership with Israeli VR startup Replay

Want China Times, CNA 2015-07-14

Cher Wang speaks at an event at HTC's headquarters in Taoyuan, June 6.
(Photo courtesy of HTC)

HTC declined to comment Monday on a report that the Taiwanese smartphone maker is hoping to work with an Israel-based startup to provide virtual reality technology.

Local magazine Business Next reported on Saturday that HTC chairwoman and CEO Cher Wang had planned to visit Replay Technologies in early June, but was forced to cancel the plan because she needed to address HTC's tumbling share price.

The report said Wang canceled the plan in an e-mail to the Israeli company, citing Replay co-founder and CEO Oren Haimovitch-Yogev.

Wang's secret visit was aimed at teaming up with Replay for new technologies used in the HTC Vive — a virtual reality headset developed jointly with US video game supplier Valve, which is expected to hit the consumer market in the second half of this year, the report said.

In response to the report, HTC told CNA on Monday that it does not comment on rumors or speculation.

Replay has developed a new video format called "freeD," or free dimensional video, which works by capturing reality as a true three-dimensional scene, comprised of three-dimensional pixels that faithfully represent reality, rather than as a flat 2D image.

This information is stored in a freeD database and can be accessed to create any desired viewing angle from the multi-dimensional information, the three-year-old startup said.

The freeD technology has been used in instant replays at major sports events, including the 2012 Olympic Games, NBA All-Star Games, MLB games and the Super Bowl.

Replay has formed partnerships with Samsung Electronics, Sony and Microsoft.

Israel and Hamas clash on social media

As in the field, Israel deploys superior strength and resources as both sides attack each other on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube

The Guardian, Harriet Sherwood, Wednesday 16 July 2014

The Israeli military's Twitter account provides dozens of updates a day on
military activities and also comments on Hamas's motives and actions.

The lethal military confrontation between Israel and Hamas is being mirrored in a bitter clash on the battlefield of social media.

Each side has taken to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to denounce the other, and to present accounts that are at best partial and often blatantly distorted.

The propaganda war between Israel and the Palestinians is not new, but this battle-round is being fought with unprecedented ferocity. And like the asymmetry in the military conflict, the strength and resources of the Israel social media troops outweigh those of Hamas and other Palestinian organisations.

The Israel Defence Forces has an official Twitter account (@IDFspokesperson) in English, with 292,000 followers, providing dozens of updates every day on military activities plus graphics, photographs and video. As well as data on air strikes and rocket launches, it also comments on Hamas's motives and actions, and posts "infographics", such as one purporting to show how Hamas uses Palestinian homes as military command centres and weapon storage facilities.

Before the World Cup final it asked followers to retweet its posts on the number of rockets fired from Gaza using the hashtags #WorldCup and #GERvsARG in order to maximise its reach.

The IDF is also active on YouTube and Facebook, and Israeli government ministries, officials and embassies have Twitter accounts.

In recent years Israel has recruited hundreds of students to assist in its hasbara, or public diplomacy campaign. These individuals – some of whom are paid – act openly and covertly, many engaging in below-the-line online discussion threads to promote Israel's interests.

At the start of the current conflict in Gaza students at the Interdisciplinary Centre, a private college in Herzliya, launched a social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook, "Israel Under Fire".

According to its leader, Yarden Ben-Yosef, 27, more than 400 students have volunteered for the programme, running five Facebook pages in five languages (English, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and German). They run a website, israelunderfire.com, which posts in 21 languages and claims to contain only factual data – "there is no propaganda, no exaggeration, no lies".

"We counter Palestinian propaganda and explain the Israeli perspective," Ben-Yosef said. "Social media is another place where the war goes on. This is another way to tell our story."

He conceded that the students used pictures and data provided by the Israeli government, but insisted it had no say in how the group used such information. "This is part of the hasbara effort – we're working for the same goal, but we do it in our own way."

On the other side of the conflict, Hamas and other Palestinian organisations have used social media in the propaganda war. Hamas's military wing, al-Qassam, has increased its Twitter activity, posting in Arabic, English and Hebrew and using graphic and distressing pictures of injured children, funerals and the destruction of homes. It has 11,900 followers for its English posts (@qassamfeed).

It uses language such as "genocidal aggression", "resistance" and "martyrs", which may seem strong to westerners but is part of the daily discourse among Palestinians.

Hamas has also hacked Israeli television channels and Domino's Pizza's Facebook page to warn Israelis about its military intentions. Other organisations and individuals in Gaza have joined the campaign to win public support using the hashtag #GazaUnderAttack.

As well as the general public, both sides are aiming their barrages of information/propaganda at the mainstream media. The rise in live blogs covering events such as the conflict in Gaza has led to a greater reliance by journalists on social media for access to a steady stream of information in real time.

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Kryon Q&A

Question (2002): Dear Kryon, I am sure beings are watching very closely over Israel and the events happening now in this territory, and I believe they also take part and assist sometimes. I have the feeling that many miracles already happened and many lives were saved. However, I feel that we, Israelis, need more understanding and empathy from the rest of the world. The dreadful events of September 11 in the USA have shocked us and most of the world, yet we also have to cope with evil, hatred and terror for a very long period. It is getting worse from day to day.

So many innocent people were murdered. Our enemies send thousand of brainwashed young people to murder as many of us as possible. The propaganda is lying in the face of the world - on one hand they celebrate killings and continuous war, while on the other hand they complain that they are victims. Children are sent to fight against us and if some of them get killed our wounded they put the blame on us. How should we react at the moment? Until the light which people send can change the situation and we make the transition successfully, how should we react to the continuous killings - in the name of God, by Holy “Shaheeds” who for their killing “go straight to paradise”? At least we would find some comfort in being understood.

Our enemies spread their false propaganda and everyone listens only to them, while the continuous terror we have to cope with day by day is mostly being ignored by people who have only a very vague idea of the facts. Why do I have the feeling that what is really happening to us is of little interest to most of the world, but so many people are very quick to blame us for being the cause of unrest and terror in other countries? I would like to hear what is your answer to all this.

— A woman and mother from Jerusalem

Answer: My dear Israeli, you have struck the magic chord of the strings of the new consciousness. Indeed your description fits the frustration of the ages. The “unsolvable” problem also was supposed to provide the seeds for Armageddon… an energy which was provided to end the entire earth! What was needed all along, instead, was for the other parts of the world to “see” some of the truths behind the real battle, as we have stated within the first answer. This process has begun. It is slow, but it has begun.

It is not the process of a political coalition, but rather one of education and awareness.

How should you in Israel react? Just like you have for the past thousand years… with patience and endurance. But instead of patience without resolution, you now have something brewing that you never had before: The rest of the earth has had a profound insight as to what it feels like to have this energy at their doorstep. Gone are the days when you and your seeming enemies battle it out with the world turning its back, or not fully understanding the subtleties. Now the major powers of the planet must look at it closely and study the true roots of the issue, not the false ones.

We have said over and over… “As go the Jews, go earth.” Do you understand now? Do those reading this who are NOT in the Middle East understand now? Your problems are now Earth’s problems. You also share them with those on the other side of town [meaning the Palestinians]. They also wrench their hands in frustration, wondering what to do. Do you think other mothers in those areas wish their children to be filled with hate and die? No. As discussed, it is not a group consciousness that is forming, but many individual ones together. This means that there are many in what you call the “enemy” camp, who are beginning to think differently about everything that was impossible in the past to solve. What happens in the future where you live, is what will guide the entire planet.

Be peaceful with the fact that because of the new energy, the leaders will change and the structure will change. You may see the seeds of solution within your own lifetime as governments, schools, and even fundamentalist religions slowly understand that hatred is no longer the energy-hat will bring about the means of what they desire. Force will no longer equal peace... a very old consciousness since the beginning of mankind. It’s easy to die. It’s far harder to live in peace for a long time. This requires a wisdom that is just beginning to form. Let the children lead the way, for as they grow up you will see amazing changes… not like the ones you have seen over and over all your life. The ones who are being “trained to hate” by old energy adults are beginning to ask questions on their own, which may surprise you.

By the way… when the prophet Muhammad spoke of Martyrdom, it was wisdom offered in the context of consciousness of those who would sacrifice their lives on the battlefield of God… a battlefield where warriors fought for unity and for the God of the Abraham! Paradise was never promised to one who would willingly terminate themselves by their own hand. This latter concept came from men, not God.

US Presbyterians vote to divest from firms to pressure Israel

Yahoo – AFP, 21 June 2014

Israeli soldiers patrol a street in the West Bank village of Beit Furik,

southeast of Nablus, early on June 20, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

Washington (AFP) - The nearly 1.9 million member Presbyterian Church USA voted Friday after a contentious debate to divest from three companies that provide supplies to Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The 310 to 303 vote at the influential Protestant denomination's meeting in Detroit, Michigan, means the group will pull any financial investments out of Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions, according to the church's official news service.

Israeli soldiers arrest a young Palestinian

 boy following clashes in the West Bank

 town of Hebron, on June 20, 2014 (AFP

Photo/Thomas Coex)

Assembly moderator Heath Rada emphasized the decision "in no way reflects anything but love for both the Jewish and Palestinian people," the news service said.

The measure also included a reaffirmation of Israel's right to exist, an endorsement of a two-state solution and encouraged interfaith dialogue, The New York Times reported.

It also included a provision to encourage "positive investment" to improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians, the Times said.

The close vote came after a week of intense lobbying and "most contentious debate of this assembly," the church's news service said, noting that divestment has historically been seen as a "last resort" after "other engagement tools have failed."

In a statement ahead of the vote, Presbyterian Church USA said it was considering divestment in Caterpillar because its responsible investing committee found the company provides the bulldozers "used in the destruction of Palestinian homes, clearing land of structures and fruit and olive tree groves, and in preparation for the construction of the barrier wall."

Hewlett-Packard, it said, "provides electronic systems at checkpoints, logistics and communications systems to support the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, and has business relationships with illegal settlements in the West Bank."

And Motorola Solutions "provides military communications and surveillance systems in the illegal Israeli settlements," the Church added.

HP spokeswoman Kelli Schlegel insisted, however, that "respecting human rights is a core value at HP and is embedded in the way we do business."

The HP systems used at checkpoints help expedite "passage in a secure environment, enabling people to get to their place of work or to carry out their business in a faster and safer way," Schlegel added.

Motorola Solutions emphasized in a statement the "company has a long record of working with customers" throughout the Middle East and "supports all efforts in the region to find a peaceful resolution" to conflict.

The company added it has "a comprehensive set of policies and procedures that addresses human rights, which is designed to ensure that our operations worldwide are conducted using the highest standards of integrity and ethical business conduct applied uniformly and consistently."

Caterpillar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At the 2012 General Assembly, Presbyterian USA voted to boycott products made in the Israeli settlements and to "begin positive investments in Palestinian businesses."

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Also in the garden of the Vatican embraced Peres
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'iNakba' app finds former Palestinian towns in Israel

Yahoo – AFP, May 6, 2014

'iNakba' app finds former Palestinian
towns in Israel (AFP)

Jerusalem (AFP) - An Israeli NGO is on Monday launching a smartphone app that allows users to find the remains of Palestinian villages that now lie inside modern-day Israel.

The launch is timed to coincide with Israel's 66th independence day, which begins at sundown, when the Palestinians remember the "Nakba" or "catastrophe" that befell them when Israel came into existence in 1948, and 760,000 of them fled or were forced into exile.

"iNakba" features an interactive map and photos of buildings and houses that Palestinians fled during the fighting which erupted after Israel declared itself independent.

"Many Palestinians have difficulty locating their home towns and villages (in Israel and the West Bank), because cities or Jewish settlements have been built on top of them," said Raneen Jeries of Zochrot, the NGO that developed the app.

"There's a file on each of hundreds of Palestinian villages or cities, and you can find information and see old and new user-uploaded photos about the locality," she told AFP.

Zochrot, based in Tel Aviv, campaigns for Israelis to recognise the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, along with their descendants.

The right of return for Palestinian refugees has long been a key sticking point in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the latest round of which collapsed in late April after nine months of apparently fruitless negotiations.

Israel fears that any flexibility on the issue would open the floodgates to millions of refugees, which would pose a demographic threat to the "Jewish and democratic character" of the state.

Palestinians mark Nakba Day every year on May 15.

"Our aim is to make Israeli Jews aware of the Nakba, which uprooted hundreds of thousands of Palestinians," said Liat Rosenberg, director of Zochrot.

Palestinians in the diaspora can "follow" their own villages to watch for new information or pictures posted by those who are able to visit them inside Israel, Jeries said.

"Refugees living in Lebanon, for example, can follow their village and each time someone uploads a photo of it or writes a comment, they'll see an update."

Zochrot uses maps from British Mandate Palestine (1920-1948) to locate the villages, Jeries said, and marks them on the interactive Google Maps-based app with virtual "pins".

Rosenberg admitted iNakba might not have the desired impact on most Israeli Jews, but insisted that "left-leaning Israelis will be interested in the app".

Google 'recognizes' Palestine

Foreign Policy, Elias Groll, Thursday, May 2, 2013

First the United Nations, now Google. On Thursday, the Palestine News Network noticed that the Internet giant had changed the tagline for the Palestinian edition of its search engine, Google.ps, from the "Palestinian Territories" to "Palestine." The decision comes after a November vote by the U.N. General Assembly to recognize Palestine as a non-member state over the objections of Israel and the United States.

Here's how Google.ps looked earlier this year, according to the Wayback Machine Internetarchive. The gray words in Arabic below the word "Google" say, "Palestinian Territories."

And here's how the same page looks today, with the word "Palestine" instead:

The change is obviously a minor one, but within the context of the fraught politics of the Middle East, Google's decision could be interpreted as a victory for advocates of Palestinian statehood who supported Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's recent decision to circumvent the long-stalled, U.S.-supported peace process with Israel.

This isn't the first time Google has found itself at the center of a geopolitical dispute. In 2010, for instance, a Nicaraguan commander cited a border demarcation on Google Maps to justify a raid on a disputed area along his country's border with Costa Rica. And in China, Google has been locked in a long-running dispute with the government over censorship and what materials to make available on its search engine.

As for the company's latest foray into international relations, something tells me it won't be enough to jumpstart the moribund peace process.

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Israel and Hamas wage social media war

Deutsche Welle, 21 November 2012

Social media has elevated the Gaza conflict into a minute-by-minute tickertape of dead children, destruction and misinformation. Both sides are engaged. Yet Israeli tweets might also help Hamas aim its rockets.

When Ebaa Rezeq sits down in her room to tweet, she first opens up the window. Shyly, she explains her reasoning. If a rocket hits somewhere near her house or a bomb explodes, she explains, then she won't be cut by shards of glass.

Even with the windows closed, the gunshots are unmistakeable. "We're living in hell here and I want the world to experience some of it," she said.

The student twitters the entire day - about explosions, deaths and damaged buildings. Before leaving home she checks Twitter to see where the latest shots were heard. Often, Ebaa says, Israelis whom she calls "extreme Zionists" send her digital threats. "The way they insult me is just awful," she said. In spite of those threats - or perhaps because of them - she tweets on.

A war of propaganda

Attacks are first tweeted by eye-witnesses
 - and then later by those responsible

On the battlefield of social media, a war of propaganda and interpretation is underway. It is a battle in which both sides employ images of rubble fields and dead children - something like the picture of the crying BBC journalist Jihad Misharawi as he held the wrapped body of his eleven-month-old son in his arms. The picture was re-tweeted throughout the world before landing on the covers of international newspapers.

"The Israeli army and Palestinians are trying to get worldwide support through social media," said Ula Papajak from Berlin's Technical University. It is therefore no surprise that so many tweets are in English.

Even the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) first announced their attack on Gaza through their Twitter account, @IDFSpokesperson, prior to holding a traditional press conference. Not long thereafter a warning was issued to members of Hamas via Twitter. "We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead," the message said.

An answer followed promptly. It came from the Hamas Al-Kassam Brigade via its own Twitter account, @AlQassamBrigade. "Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves)."

Minute-to-minute war updates

The Israeli Defense Force gives
updates on its Facebook page

As both sides twitter officially without interruption, so, too, do hundreds of Palestinian and Israelis citzens. Their war is 'updated' every minute from Gaza. It is also made vivid from Tel Aviv bunkers, where entire families sequester themselves and stream their worries live on Youtube.

The extent of the coverage has even reached a point where the IDF has warned the Israeli populace against exact descriptions of rocket attacks from Gaza. "Ultimately that's information that could end up helping Hamas," said Gabriel Weinmann, a media expert at the University of Haifa. Hamas could use that information, for example, to improve the hit-rate of its rockets.

Support from worldwide hackers

The virtual war, however, is not a level playing field. "The Israelis are more organized, they have a real propaganda machine and full-time employees and anything they need," said Asaad Thebian, a Lebanese media expert. Palestinians, by comparison, have to rely on themselves.

Every eight hours, Ebaa explains, the power goes out in Palestine. During that time all updates come from smartphones and Twitter. "Cell phone connections are so slow, it isn't easy." Still, they manage to send as many tweets as possible - some days upwards of a hundred, the media expert said.

Access to social media is far more
limited in the Palestinian territories

While the Palestinian power grid is down, others take over the fight. According to Gabriel Weinmann, that means hackers from Saudi Arabia or Lebanon. As recently as Monday (November 19) hackers attempted to break into his university's network, the professor explained. He is used to it. "As soon as there's war here there are always a huge number of attempts by hackers to infiltrate websites or disseminate false information."

False information via Twitter

False information about the current war is also being spread via Twitter and Facebook - pictures of dead children, for example, that are actually from  Syria. That angers Ebaa. "We have to stick to the truth, or no one is going to believe us any more." Ulla Papajak also believes that pictures and information need to be verified for accuracy - even if he also understands that there is no time to do so.

Through the explosions, gunshots and the flood of Twitter updates, it is  not always easy to find the truth, Ebaa admits. "Nobody actually knows for certain what really happened." That, however, is not going to stop the tweets.

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Hackers down hundreds of Israeli sites over Gaza

Hackers down hundreds of Israeli sites over Gaza

Google - AFP, November 17, 2012

Online activist group Anonymous said it had downed the websites of

dozens of Israeli state agencies (AFP/File, Jack Guez)

                           

TEL AVIV — Online activist group Anonymous said on Saturday it had downed the websites of dozens of Israeli state agencies and a top bank in protest over the Jewish state's deadly air assault on Gaza.

The hackers said their operation "OpIsrael" had either damaged or completely erased the sites of more than 650 private and public institutions that included the Bank of Jerusalem -- one of the country's main finance houses.

"Bank of Jerusalem database has been deleted," the group said in a tweet next to a link to the lender's non-functioning website.

A fire ball rises as the Israeli air force

 carries out a raid over Gaza City 

(AFP, Majdi Fathi)

It also claimed to have briefly downed the foreign ministry website in protest over an alleged Israeli threat to cut the Gaza Strip's Internet communications.

"For far too long, Anonymous has stood by with the rest of the world and watched in despair the barbaric, brutal and despicable treatment of the Palestinian people in the so called 'Occupied Territories' by the Israel Defence Force," Anonymous said in a statement.

"But when the government of Israel publicly threatened to sever all Internet and other telecommunications into and out of Gaza they crossed a line in the sand."

The group threatened Israel with the "unbridled wrath of Anonymous" if it went ahead with the Internet cable cut.

Israel's foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment on the threat, and no reference to the hack attack was made in official government statements on Saturday.

Israel has been pressing an intense aerial assault over the coastal Palestinian enclave as militants from the ruling Hamas movement and other groups have fired hundreds of rockets over the border.

Palestinian cyber activists work during a sit-in in Gaza City (AFP/File,

Mohammed Abed)

The intensifying stand-off has also played out over the Internet.

Militants have used social networking sites such as Twitter to promise new attacks and take credit for specific strikes.

Meanwhile, Israeli defence officials have used Twitter to provide real-time warnings about incoming rockets and also make direct threats against Hamas.

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"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS"– Sep  29, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… Let us talk about the swords: When you hear the word sword, the first thing that occurs to you is battle. The Bridge of Swords is a battle and we told you that as well. Swords are metaphoric and they mean many things, so let us describe the things we mean them to say to you.

Number one: They are indeed a weapon in a battle. There is a battle coming. "Kryon, does that mean there's going to be a war?" Potentially, yes. Right now we will tell you that the Middle East cooks itself. You've noticed, haven't you? What do you know about the Middle East, dear one? Let's start examining things for a moment. What energy did you grow up in? What was the energy of the Middle East? In the '40s, what was the energy? With the establishment of the state of Israel, you built a wall of hate, both sides. The wall was so thick that the children of both sides were taught to hate one another as soon as they were able to understand the language. They were told who their enemies were. Now, where were you then?

Some of you weren't here yet. By the time you arrived, in your youth, were you aware of the Middle East? Not particularly. "What's the hatred about?" you might ask. What if I told you it's about a family feud? Two sons of a Jewish master are involved. One founded the Arabs and one remained a Jew. They don't want to hear this, but they are all Jews. (Don't tell them this.)

If you look at the lineage, it's pretty obvious and yet it's a complete and total set-up for either solution or war. The set-up would have this world ending in a conflagration that would have been brought about by this hatred. That's in the prophecy of Nostradamus and your scripture, but it is no longer the prophecy of the planet. Yet the hatred still exists. The hatred is as great today as it was then, but where was all the terrorism 40 years ago? It was isolated.

Those in Israel and Palestine and surrounding areas took the brunt of it, but now it's seemingly everywhere - and you're worried. Why would this be? The answer is that the old energy was happy to have this hatred contained, for it would keep it going and never involve outsiders. Outsiders tend to bring unwanted light to the party. Suddenly, the whole earth is involved and can see the entire scenario before them. The old guard wants war, just like all the eons before them. The ones on the bridge are holding the light and showing the earth how to cross. Even many younger ones in Israel and Palestine and Iran are holding light! It's all around the old guard and they are furious, for they are losing the "battle of hatred."

Will there be a war? What is going on? You can feel it cooking, can't you? Some of you don't want to look at the news, for you're afraid of what tomorrow will bring. It's not even the end of the year yet! Will there be a battle?

Let me tell you, dear ones, right now as we speak to you there is the potential of a small war in the Middle East. You have been told that if there is any war at all in the Middle East, the whole world will join in, and you will not make it. I will tell you that that is an old paradigm, for if and when it happens, watch carefully who decides not to come to the war party. For there's a new consciousness brewing on this planet and I will tell you this: In all fairness, as we see the potentials before you in your future, it's not going to matter one way or another to the bridge if there is a battle or not.

What's eventually going to happen in Iran is going to be the same no matter what, and I will tell you why - because there is nobody to take the place of the old guard. They're not growing any, young ones! It's all the ancient ones with the hatred who are moving the chess pieces as though they are representing the whole of the nation, but they are not. There will come a time, perhaps one that is actually exacerbated by a war, that will create the revolution in that country. Overwhelmingly, they don't want war.

Ask an Israeli if they want still another war. They will say no, but they are afraid that their enemies will bring one to them. Who are their enemies and what is changing, dear ones? You think you know what's going on in Syria and Egypt and Libya? You think you do? Let me tell you there's a recalibration going on there of what they believe and who their enemies are. It's about what they want from their government. Let me tell you what all of them want eventually, and you may not see it for 20 years, but they want schools and hospitals. They want what you have in your stores, and they want the freedom to worship their prophet without a small group telling them the rules of how they should. They want to honor Muhammad in their own way and see the love of God in him as was designed by him. That's what's going on. That's the battle. The problem is that the old energy will fight this, for it will lose control if they get what they want.

There's a paradigm shift at hand and you're going to see it over there first, and it may not be pretty, so I want you to hang tight. Don't pull out what Nostradamus said at the last minute and say, "He was right." Nothing he said has manifested since 1987. Don't suddenly grasp the scriptures of Revelations and draw out all of those words that haven't been true for 30 years. Nothing has happened as they said it would. The only thing that rings true there is that there are still problems in the Middle East.

All of those prophecy quatrains have fallen on the floor and didn't come true. The timing is not right for them to happen now. Take a look. Oh, there are still those who say, "It's happening, it's happening, it's happening!" For they are invested in fear and control. Some of them actually want it to happen, and they believe the culmination will be in the rapture of going home to God. I want to tell you, dear ones, you're all going home! But home is across the bridge to an earth without war. That's the bridge. Old energy dies hard.…”

Israel Army, Mossad 'halted Iran attack alert' from Netanyahu, Barak