| ||||
أعلنت شبكة الجزيرة الفضائية اليوم إطلاق المرحلة التجريبية الثانية لموقعيها الخاصين بأخبار الجوال باللغتين العربية والإنجليزية. والموقعان متاحان على أي هاتف محمول يمكن تصفح الإنترنت من خلاله وكل ما يحتاجه المستخدمون هو كتابة الرابطين التاليين على هواتفهم المحمولة: للأخبار باللغة الإنجليزية (http://m.aljazeera.net) وللأخبار باللغة العربية (http://ma.aljazeera.net). وقال المدير العام لشبكة الجزيرة وضاح خنفر إن "إطلاق موقعي الجوال يمثل خطوة إضافية مهمة في مهمتنا الرامية إلى الوصول إلى أكبر عدد ممكن من الناس عبر العالم. فبالإضافة إلى توسيع نطاق انتشارنا الحالي فإن هذه الخطوة ستكون نافذة للكثيرين ممن يعتمدون على الهاتف المحمول لمتابعة الأخبار. ونحن سعداء بهذه الخطوة".
وعبر عن أمله في أن يظهر إطلاق هذه الخدمة تقديم تجربة جديدة في مجال متابعة الأخبار على الجوال بواسطة الإنترنت، تجربة تكون من وحي اختيار المستخدمين أنفسهم. وتشمل الأخبار التي سيتم نشرها على الموقعين القصص الإخبارية الرئيسة في قناة الجزيرة والتقارير الاقتصادية والرياضية وغيرها. ويعتبر إطلاق هذه الخدمة جزءا من مبادرة "الوسائط الجديدة" التي أطلقتها الجزيرة والتي تتضمن من بين أشياء أخرى نشر صور فيديو على مواقع تفاعلية على غرار يو تيوب وفيس بوك وتويتر و آي تيونز. ولمعرفة المزيد من التفاصيل حول هذا الموضوع يمكنكم زيارة (http://labs.aljazeera.net). | ||||
JERUSALEM — To the suicide vest, the rocket and the battering ram, those longtime staples of conflict in the Middle East, add the cellphone. Both sides in the Gaza war have employed cellphones as a form of psychological warfare, among other purposes — part of a trend toward using new media in a century-old conflict. Hagar Mizrachi, a 25-year-old Israeli, recently received a text message that said rocket attacks on all of Israel's cities were imminent. The message was signed "Hamas" and the sender name was listed as "Qassam.hamm," he said. Qassams are rockets that Hamas militants have been firing from Gaza into southern Israel. "It's unnerving to receive something like that," said Mizrachi, an editor at an online news service. "It feels like they've invaded you." Yaniv Levyatan, a psychological warfare expert at the University of Haifa, said cellphones are a natural tool since soldiers and militants are generally young and have grown up using them. Israel and Gaza are both small, densely populated areas blanketed by wireless service, making the phones' use even more effective, he said. Levyatan said the messages from Hamas to Israeli cellphones were generally crude and not targeted very well. "The Hebrew was terrible," he said. Palestinian phone users report receiving calls on both cellphones and land lines, encouraging them to turn in Hamas militants or warning them their home is about to be bombed, said Amman Aker, head of the Palestinian mobile phone company Jawwal, which operates in Gaza. "We can't do anything about it," Aker said. He said the calls come in from international carriers and cannot be traced or blocked. Israeli officials say they are doing Palestinians a service by advising them of impending attacks so civilians can get out of a building. "We have to do what we can to warn civilians," said Maj. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli military spokesman. Dallal declined to discuss how the Israeli military obtains cellphone numbers in Gaza. Land line phone numbers here are generally available in phone books. Jonathan Fighel, a retired Israeli colonel at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, based near Tel Aviv, said it's relatively simple for both sides to use cellphones and landlines to spread their message. He compared the technology to that used by telemarketers around the world, who obtain lists of phone numbers and then use computers to place automatic calls. This isn't the first war in which cellphones have been a relevant issue for Israel. During the war in Lebanon in 2006, Israeli soldiers commonly tucked their phones into their cargo pockets when they went onto the battlefield and regularly used them to call home or keep in touch with friends. The constant phone calls from the field became a security issue since Hezbollah militants had the capacity to listen in on conversations. "We know it was common in Lebanon that the bad guys were eavesdropping on cellphones," said Shlomo Brom, a retired Israeli brigadier general. In Gaza, soldiers have been ordered to leave their phones at their base, Dallal said. The cellphone battles are part of an aggressive effort by both sides to use technology to shape the world's perception of the Gaza war. Except for occasional news media tours set up by the Israeli military, foreign journalists have been prevented from reporting from the battlefield. The Israeli Defense Forces started a YouTube channel shortly after the conflict began Dec. 27. It was the brainchild of a couple of soldiers and has attracted millions of viewers, said Maj. Avital Leibovich, a military spokeswoman. The Israeli military posts videos of precision airstrikes and ground forces operating in Gaza. "We want the world to see the conflict from our point of view," Leibovich said. YouTube allows the Israeli military to communicate directly with the audience, without the filter of traditional news media. "We don't have a mediator here," Leibovich said. Hamas has a Web presence and has continued to operate a television station called al-Aqsa. Israel's military has occasionally cut into broadcasts of the Hamas channel to urge the population to turn against militants. On Jan. 3, Israel's Channel 10 News aired a video it said appeared that day on al-Aqsa, featuring mug shots of Hamas leaders who had been killed and a ticking clock. "Hamas, your time is running out" flashes across the screen. Israeli military officials have declined to discuss the reports — or whether they use phone calls for other means, such as deceiving militants. "All I can say is we call them, especially when we're going to target a building," Dallal said. Contributing: Daniel Estrin |
Finally, the government plans to make it mandatory that all mobile phones are sold with a complimentary set of earphones to reduce the exposure of the head to any radiation risk.
Last week, the Finnish radiation body recommended limiting the use of mobile phones by children, and the UK government has a similar recommendation - although neither country has legislated for the issue.
The war in Gaza is the first to be broadcast in 140 characters or less.
| Gaza aggressors kiss cell phones goodbye Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:19:56 GMT | |
Six hours before the Israeli ground incursion into Gaza on Saturday, thousands of infantry and armored forces were ordered to hand over their cell phones, an official has told AFP on condition of anonymity. The order was "to keep the impending attack secret", an Israeli official was quoted as saying. The military censor's office also banned media coverage of the offensive until two hours after it began, the report said. The Israeli military had also used several deception techniques, one of which was to grant leaves to soldiers and release bogus reports on planned cabinet meetings before the attack on Gaza on December 27. The army has also tried to confuse Palestinian fighters, including those of the Hamas, by sending dozens of units to different locations along the Gaza border. Israel violated its six-month ceasefire with Hamas earlier in 2008 and says its launch of Operation Cast Lead is aimed at halting rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. According to Israel, the war on Gaza will end Palestinian rocket attacks, topple Hamas and prevent the democratically-elected group from rearming. Hamas, on the other hand, demands a cessation of Israeli attacks and the opening of the Gaza border -- which has been closed due to the 18-month blockade imposed on the strip by Tel Aviv. Israel escalated its attacks on Saturday and entered the strip with ground troops and armored vehicles. The Israeli aggression has so far claimed more than 584 Palestinian lives and has left over 3000 others wounded. The recent conflict is the latest of a series which began when world powers created Israel in 1948 under the slogan of a 'land without a people and a people without a land'. The move neglected the fact that the Palestinians were the natives of the land. The international Red Cross on Tuesday revealed that Israeli policies in Gaza have led to a "full-blown" humanitarian crisis. The situation for Palestinian civilians is "extreme and traumatic as a result of 10 days of uninterrupted fighting," said the International Committee of the Red Cross head of operations, Pierre Kraehenbuehl. He says ICRC staff in Gaza told the neutral body Tuesday that the previous night was "the most frightening of all to date" on account of the ground offensive Israel has launched in the Palestinian territory. MT/AA |
Israel and Hamas have mounted psychological warfare on each others' civilian populations. Hamas says it is firing threatening text messages at Israeli mobile phones and jamming radio stations while Israel is bombarding Palestinians with menacing phone calls and leaflets.
"The messages say that the Palestinian resistance missiles will reach you wherever you are and your government won't be able to protect you," said Abu Mujaheid, spokesman for the Palestinian Resistance Committees.
Hamas says it can send up to 70,000 text messages but so far there have been reports of just dozens.
"[Israel is] sending text messages and interrupting Palestinian radio and trying to scare Palestinians with their messages so we are running a counter campaign by sending text messages to Israelis," Mujaheid said.
According to Israeli media reports the messaging is crude. "Rockets on all cities, shelters not protect, Qassam rocket, Hamas," is how the text reportedly read in Hebrew.
"This is another manipulation by Hamas, whether they are sending the messages or not," said Captain Benjamin Rutland, a spokesman for Israel's military, who said he could not confirm what Hamas claiming.
"While they claim to send threatening messages, the IDF uses messages to warn people to evacuate areas that are about to be attacked because they are being used for terrorist purposes," Rutland said.
But many Palestinians perceive Israel's messages as threatening.
One leaflet found in Gaza City by the Guardian reads: "To the residents of the Gaza Strip, be responsible for your fate. The rockets launched by terrorists are putting you and your families at risk. For your safety, please keep your call secret. The Israeli army will respond if the rocket fire continues."
"If you want to help your families and friends and brothers in the Gaza Strip please call," it says, listing what appears to be either a Jerusalem or Ramallah number.
There is also a mistrust of Israel's phone calls, some of which are recorded and some of which are live, warning people they have just minutes to evacuate before they bomb the house.
Hamdi Shakura, a human rights lawyer at the Palestinian Human Rights Centre in Gaza says despite the hundreds of phone calls to families warning their house is about to be blown up, only 37 have been destroyed.
Many families have left their homes to stay with friends and relatives.
"Who can tell where the next hit will be," says Shakura. "Who can advise people not to take the threats seriously, it's psychological war fare but it's real."
The Palestinian phone company, Paltel, has been phoning customers in Gaza to reassure them that they are not responsible for the calls that Israel has been making to their phones.
