[Marxism] "Hello, madam, we?re about to tear your home down"

[Juan Fajardo]

>
> Message: 5
> Date: Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:16:49 -0300
> From: Nestor Gorojovsky <nmgoro at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Marxism] "Hello, madam, we?re about to tear your home down"
> To: marxism at lists.econ.utah.edu
> Message-ID: <4963CA41.3000009 at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> I don?t know if this is true. A Spanish blog informs that, according to 
> IDF sources, their attitude is so humanitarian that they "phone" those 
> who live at the houses they are about to blast. One would think that the 
> listing includes some red-painted lines, which is where "terrorists" 
> live. "Yes, don?t call this phone at Appartment 503, they?re terrorists".
>
> Anyone can check this monstruosity?
>   

It is a practice that has been in use at least since 2006.     The 
standard practice, it seems, is to call 10 or so minutes before the 
airstrike warning residents to get out.   The initial airstrike is often 
followed by a secondary bombing, ostensibly to complete the destruction 
of the now "softened" target structure.   

This is often cited as an example of the IDF's "humanity".   I have 
argued this long and hard on other fora, noting that it is in fact 
nothing of the kind, but merely an extension of the IDF's previous house 
demolition practices, but a more inhumane one if that can be 
imagined.    Now that the IDF does not control the ground in Gaza 
day-to-day, it's bulldozers have been replaced with laser-guided bombs, 
the previous standard 30 minutes -often more- to get possessions out, 
has been replaced with a middle-of-the-night 10 minutes; barely enough 
time to register what is happening and get the family rousted and out.  
Moreover, the bulldozers did not then return and run over the bystanders 
and rescuers, unlike now when it is not unusual for them to be killed by 
secondary bombing runs on the same building.

Couple that with the practice, trotted out during the IDF's "Operation 
Summer Rain", of placing fake calls in the middle of the night, rousting 
families and sending them in a panic into the streets, fleeing  bombs 
that were not on their way, and one can get a truer image of the IDF's 
"humane" practices.