reSee.it - Tweets Saved By @CptAllenHistory

@CptAllenHistory - Captain Allen

Hi, I’m a lawyer. Do want to know what is really meant by a “#proportionate response” under international law? Then read on - and feel free to ask questions! Under International Humanitarian Law, #proportionality requires that any degree of damage (up to and including death) to #civilians not be “excessive” in relation to the “military advantage anticipated from a strike against a military target.” We are going to break that down, so everyone understands what exactly that means. However, first, you should be aware that it is a misnomer that anytime #Palestinian civilians die after an #Israeli strike, it is automatically evidence of an Israeli war crime. This is completely false - the law does not work that way. Simply, and unfortunately, the international rules of law recognize that civilians are often killed during war; and, most of the time, those deaths are actually not indicative of a war crime. Instead, the legal test for “proportionality” requires that each individual strike be looked at with a particular balancing analysis. First, here is a hard and fast rule: the strike must be intended to target a military objective; it is, therefore, an unlawful war crime to strike with the intent of targeting civilians without any military objective whatsoever. Now, let’s get a little technical while still keeping it simple. Under the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 at both Article 51(5)(b) and Article 52(2), we know that when #Hamas uses its own population (or Israeli #hostages) as #humanshields - either by using them to shield themselves or to shield their weapons depots - Hamas has, under international law, turned civilians targets into military targets. That means that when Hamas places weapons caches in and under schools, hospitals, mosques, etc., Hamas has made each of those places legitimate military targets. So, it has been well-known for many years that Hamas purposefully placed its headquarters underground beneath the al-Shifa Hospital. In doing so, international law holds that the hospital is no longer just a civilian target, it is a legitimate military target. That does not necessarily give the IDF carte blanche to attack hospitals, schools, mosques, etc.; however, it does mean that an IDF attack on a civilian target that has been made into a military target by Hamas’ use of human shields is not per se illegal under international law. Instead, such a strike (as is the case with any strike conducted by a military like the IDF), must be analyzed through a balancing test. One part of this balancing test performed by Israel before each strike is to determine whether the human shields in question are being used voluntarily or involuntarily. If the human shields are being used voluntarily - meaning the human shields are there protecting Hamas and its weapons of their own volition - then the target remains a completely legitimate military target. If the human shields are being used involuntarily - meaning Hamas is forcing people to act as human shields to protect themselves and/or their weapons - then the IDF must go back to the balancing test to determine whether the anticipated military advantage of a successful strike would outweigh the reasonably anticipated loss of civilian life. Importantly, the IDF rules state that if it cannot determine whether a human shield is being used voluntarily or involuntarily, it must presume the civilian is being used against his or her own will and treat the civilians as an involuntary participant. Assuming that there is a military target & that there may be human shields that are there involuntarily, the next step in the proportionality analysis for each individual strike (remember, proportionality is determined on a strike-by-strike basis, and not as the accumulation of strikes over time) is to try to determine the likely amount of damage to civilian persons and/or property as a result of the strike. In other words, under international law, Israel must be able to give a sort of “value” to the anticipated impact on civilians (including potential civilian deaths). Simply, a smaller number of anticipated civilian casualties may make the strike proportionate if there is a significant military advantage to be gained by conducting the strike. However, if Israel determines that the anticipated impact of a strike may cause many civilian casualties, it must make the difficult determination of whether the anticipated military advantage is so significant that it warrants carrying out the strike anyway. So, if Hamas has a weapons depot underneath a house with two civilians inside, and that house has been used to fire 500 rockets at Israeli civilians, and it is reasonably expected that there are hundreds more rockets under that house, Israel can almost certainly carry out the strike within the confines of international law. If that same house, however, had 10 families living inside, including many children, it could - and likely would - tip the scales of the proportionality balancing test toward Israel not being permitted to carry out the strike, even though the house has been used to attack Israeli civilians and can be expected to continue to be used to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians. Now, that balancing test can always change. If that same house is being used to fire long-range, precision-guided missiles at Israel’s major population centers in places like #TelAviv (effectively putting millions of Israeli civilians in danger), the balancing test may tip back in favor of Israel being legally permitted to carry out the strike. This all suggests the third and final step in the proportionality balancing test: the #IDF must determine and place a “value” on the anticipated military advantage that would be gained if it were to carry out a particular strike. An attack on Hamas leadership and/or its weapons manufacturers would be considered a high value target. An attack on a single Hamas member who has no special skill, would be a much lower value military target. Similarly, an attack on a small cache of mortars would have less military value that an attack on a large cache of advanced rockets that can reach large Israeli civilian population centers. Once the @IDF determines the anticipated “value” of the likely effect on civilian persons and property and the anticipated “value” of the likely military advantage to be gained if the strike is carried out, the balancing test can be performed, and a certain amount of judgment must go into the determination of whether that strike would or would not be “proportionate.” Importantly, this decision is so vital that the IDF does not simply permit a single solder on the ground with his or her hand on the proverbial (or actual) “trigger” to make that determination. In fact, the decision of whether a strike is proportionate is not even left up to IDF officers. It’s not even left up to IDF Generals. Instead, before any IDF strike can take place, IDF Guidelines provide that the proportionality balancing test must be presented to and analyzed by IDF military lawyers who then determine whether the strike is legally permissible as “proportionate” under international law and the rules of war. And these IDF military lawyers are not mere patsies or people who simply “rubber stamp” what the IDF requests. In fact, the IDF’s military lawyers work entirely independently of the IDF. They are outside of the chain of command and do not answer to anyone in the IDF, including a General (for example). Plus, every IDF military lawyer knows he or she may very well be held to account if he or she makes a wrong decision based on the evidence available at the time. Furthermore, sometimes the decisions to be made while balancing the likely military advantage against the likely civilian casualties can be so difficult that the legality of the strike is first brought to the Israeli Supreme Court for instant review. Another important concept: the comparison of civilian body counts of #Israelis versus #Palestinians (to the extent those numbers can be trusted since they come directly from Hamas-only) is not relevant to a proportionality analysis. Each strike must be viewed individually to determine proportionality. It is not a test of the cumulative nature of the strikes. Also, by simply comparing body counts, it does not factor in how many people killed were actually #HamasTerrorists, how many were Hamas collaborators there voluntarily, and it does not consider what military advantage was gained by Israel carrying out any individual strike. As Israel is now in the process of seeking to secure the military advantage of preventing Hamas from having the capacity to carry out repeated attacks of the kind and nature seen on October 7th, Israel is permitted to act proportionately insofar as necessary to achieve that military objective (the elimination of Hamas and/or its ability to make war). One more important fact people do not know, but that they should know: according to UN statistics of global conflict, the average civilian to combatant killed ratio is a rather appalling nine civilians killed for every one combatant killed. That’s why civilian body counts in and of themselves are never indicative of a war crime. Each individual strike has to be analyzed, and unfortunately civilians always suffer disproportionately in wars. In fact, while Israel is routinely criticized for any of its strikes that kill civilians, you may be surprised to know that Israel’s civilian to combatant ratio is routinely much lower than the nine to one average. In the very last operation carried out by the IDF prior to October 7 (in Jenin), 0.6 civilians were killed for every one combatant killed. In that conflict, not only were the IDF’s ratio numbers nowhere near the nine to one international average, but the IDF actually managed to kill more combatants than civilians - something that is extremely rare. In truth, Israel is targeted by accusations of war crimes almost immediately by the media, by politicians, and by the UN General Assembly despite the fact that those accusations are near 100% of the time based neither in fact nor in law. Since a proportionality balancing test must be used to determine whether a single specific Israeli strike falls within the confines of international law, someone providing an analysis must have all of the facts Israel considered before carrying out that strike as to the anticipated impact on civilians and the anticipated military advantage. Obviously, anyone who is making a snap judgment critical of Israel could not possibly have that information. Understand then, that when you see talking heads accusing Israel of “war crimes” immediately after and/or during Israeli strikes, that is not an actual legal analysis under international law of what constitutes a war crime. Much more likely, what you are witnessing is part of Hamas’ ongoing psychological and propaganda warfare campaign of demonizing and delegitimizing the State of Israel in the eyes of public opinion. #Hamas_is_ISIS #HamasisISIS #HamasISIS #HamasMonsters #October7massacre

@CptAllenHistory - Captain Allen

Hi, lawyer here again. You’ve heard Israel has a right to "self-defense," but you may have noticed politicians & media stars disagree on what Israel is permitted to do in #SelfDefense. Want to know how international law really defines the limits of “self-defense?” Then read on. “Self-Defense” Under International Law Self-defense is the most basic legal right afforded to all sovereign nations. Under both customary international law & Article 51 of the #UN Charter, all countries acknowledge one another’s “inherent right” to self-defense against armed attack. You may hear some claim Israel’s self-defense is limited to what he or she claims is “#proportionate” to the #HamasMassacre of October 7-only. That is incorrect. Israel’s right to self-defense under international law continues until it has eradicated the ongoing threat of further attacks by #Hamas. Why? Well, the #October7massacre was only the latest & most deadly #TerroristAttack by Hamas against Israel. Hamas’ Goals Stated in its Charter For anyone paying attention, Hamas does not hide its intentions. Its raison d’être is expressly stated in its 1988 Charter, which includes the following (just a few examples): (1) Hamas is in a worldwide religious “struggle against the #Jews”; (2) Hamas intends to “raise the banner of #Allah over every inch of Palestine” (“from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea”) where it plans an Islamic Caliphate; and (3) Hamas vows no #peace with Israel, claiming “Palestine is an #Islamic land.” Hamas’ Early Attempts to Thwart Peace with Terror Hamas has been carrying out terror attacks against Israeli civilians for ~35 years. To help kill the 1993 & 1995 “Oslo Accords” in the cradle, Hamas carried out & celebrated multiple terror attacks, just a few of which include: (1) Oct 19, 1994: suicide bomber murdered 22 Israeli civilians & wounded 56 on a public bus in Tel Aviv; (2) Feb 25, 1996: suicide bomber murdered 26 Israeli civilians & wounded 80 on a public bus in Jerusalem; and (3) Feb 25-March 4, 1996: three Hamas suicide bombings in seven days murdered 65 Israeli civilians & wounded 164 (two on public busses in Jerusalem & one in Tel Aviv’s largest shopping mall). Camp David 2000 & the Second Intifada At Camp David in 2000, U.S. #President Bill Clinton hosted #Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak & Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to finalize a peace agreement. Barak accepted the "Clinton Parameters" & agreed to recognize a Palestinian state on 100% of the Gaza Strip & up to 97% of the #WestBank (with land swaps to make up for the remaining ~3%) with East #Jerusalem as its capital in return for “the end of belligerency and any further claims.” Arafat rejected the offer. Arafat made no counter offer. Arafat, instead, ordered the Second #Intifada. Arafat released dozens of Hamas & Islamic #Jihad terrorists from #Palestinian jails & made a strategic return to #terrorism. The Second Intifada saw bloody, almost-daily terrorist attacks for ~five years, during which more than 1,000 Israeli civilians were murdered. In fact, more than 200 terror attacks were carried out against Israeli civilians between May 2003-July 2004 alone. The constant terror - especially in response to Israel’s offer of peace & a Palestinian state - left scars on Israeli society that remain to this day. 2005 - Israel Withdrew from Gaza Entirely & Hamas Took Over Israel believed it had no "peace partner" in the PA, so Prime Minister Ariel Sharon adopted a “disengagement plan” from #Gaza in 2005, which saw Israel forcibly remove 9,000 Israelis living in 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and dismantle 38 synagogues, 42 daycare centers, 36 kindergartens, seven elementary schools, and three high schools at a total cost of ~$900 million. Israel even dug up all Jewish graves and moved them out of Gaza. There was no #siege & no #blockade - Gaza was under the complete control of the PA. But here is a general overview of the unfortunate two years post-disengagement: Sept 12, 2005: not a single Jew - alive or dead - was left in Gaza; PA took control. Sept 23, 2005: Hamas fired 40 rockets at Israeli civilians in Sderot. Jan 25, 2006: PA Legislative elections resulted in a Hamas victory. March 29, 2006: Hamas formed PA government under arch-terrorist Ismail Haniyeh. June 25, 2006: Hamas terrorists crossed from Gaza into Israel, murdered two, wounded two, & kidnapped Gilad Shalit. Feb 8, 2007: Hamas and Fatah (PA President Mahmoud #Abbas’ organization) agreed to share power; Hamas reiterated it would “never” recognize Israel. June 10-14, 2007: Hamas murdered or exiled every Fatah member from Gaza in a bloody coup. Once the #genocidal Hamas terror organization completed it takeover of Gaza, both Israel & #Egypt (which also shares a border with Gaza) placed a “blockade” on Gaza that attempted to restrict smuggling of weapons & terrorists. Hamas Terror & Israeli Responses After Hamas fired more than 10,000 rockets & mortars at Israeli civilians, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in 2008; but international pressure forced Israel to end the operation with a “stalemate” #ceasefire instead of destroying Hamas. In 2012, after Hamas continued to rain thousands of rockets on Israeli civilians, Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense; but international pressure forced Israel to end the operation with a ceasefire. In 2014, Hamas was still firing thousands of rockets on Israeli civilians, and Israel launched Operation Protective Edge; again, international pressure forced Israel to end its operation with a ceasefire. In 2021, Hamas fired six rockets on Jerusalem (an Israeli “red line”) and then fired hundreds of rockets aimed at Israeli civilian population centers, including #TelAviv. Israel launched Operation Guardian of the Walls; but, again, international pressure forced Israel to end its operation with a ceasefire. Oct 7, 2023: ~3,000 Hamas terrorists & their collaborators infiltrated Israel & committed mass atrocities including mutilations, rapes, torture, & murder of Israeli men, women, children, the elderly, the infirm, & infants. More than 1,200 Israelis were murdered, ~8,000 were wounded, and ~240 were kidnapped. Extent of Israel’s Legal Right to Self-Defense Israel’s legal right to self-defense permits it to do everything “necessary” to ensure Hamas can never attack Israeli civilians again. At a minimum, this is because of: (1) the genocidal brutality of Oct 7; (2) Hamas’ history of genocidal warfare against Israel & Jews; and (3) Hamas’ express commitment to repeat massacres like Oct 7 “over and over.” Thus, Israel’s right to “self-defense” extends beyond just stopping Hamas’ immediate attacks (it still fires rockets daily at Israel), it permits Israel to completely eradicate Hamas’ military capability. One way to think of how/why it is “necessary” for Israel to destroy Hamas’ military capability in self-defense is to understand countries not only have the right to eliminate threats to their civilian population, but they also have the right to restore a sense of security. On October 7, Hamas shattered Israel’s sense of security since Hamas showed it had the capability to defeat Israel’s defensive measures. Israel had invested heavily in defensive-only military capabilities such as building the #IronDome system that intercepts the majority of rockets fired from Gaza & by constructing bomb shelters across the country. However, on October 7, Hamas got around Israel’s defenses & carried out a genocidal massacre. As a result, Israel is legally justified under international law to take necessary action in self-defense by completely destroying Hamas’ ability to make war or commit atrocities again by doing things such as: (1) capturing or killing Hamas’ command & control; (2) destroying Hamas’ combat capabilities by taking out operatives, launch sites, & military equipment; and (3) taking steps to prevent Hamas from reconstituting & rearming. One additional thing to keep in mind with regard to Israel’s legal right to self-defense is the possibility that Israel could extend this right to #Iran given its role as the main sponsor of Hamas in both weapons and terror training. Whether Israel thinks it is a good idea to strike Iran directly remains to be seen; however, it is clear that Israel would be legally justified in doing so in order to stop Iran from funding attacks against its civilians. #Education #Israel #Palestine

@CptAllenHistory - Captain Allen

Hi, lawyer here again. You’ve heard Israel has a right to "self-defense," but you may have noticed politicians & media stars disagree on what Israel is permitted to do in #SelfDefense. Want to know how international law really defines the limits of “self-defense?” Then read on. “Self-Defense” Under International Law Self-defense is the most basic legal right afforded to all sovereign nations. Under both customary international law & Article 51 of the #UN Charter, all countries acknowledge one another’s “inherent right” to self-defense against armed attack. You may hear some claim Israel’s self-defense is limited to what he or she claims is “#proportionate” to the #HamasMassacre of October 7-only. That is incorrect. Israel’s right to self-defense under international law continues until it has eradicated the ongoing threat of further attacks by #Hamas. Why? Well, the #October7massacre was only the latest & most deadly #TerroristAttack by Hamas against Israel. Hamas’ Goals Stated in its Charter For anyone paying attention, Hamas does not hide its intentions. Its raison d’être is expressly stated in its 1988 Charter, which includes the following (just a few examples): (1) Hamas is in a worldwide religious “struggle against the #Jews”; (2) Hamas intends to “raise the banner of #Allah over every inch of Palestine” (“from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea”) where it plans an Islamic Caliphate; and (3) Hamas vows no #peace with Israel, claiming “Palestine is an #Islamic land.” Hamas’ Early Attempts to Thwart Peace with Terror Hamas has been carrying out terror attacks against Israeli civilians for ~35 years. To help kill the 1993 & 1995 “Oslo Accords” in the cradle, Hamas carried out & celebrated multiple terror attacks, just a few of which include: (1) Oct 19, 1994: suicide bomber murdered 22 Israeli civilians & wounded 56 on a public bus in Tel Aviv; (2) Feb 25, 1996: suicide bomber murdered 26 Israeli civilians & wounded 80 on a public bus in Jerusalem; and (3) Feb 25-March 4, 1996: three Hamas suicide bombings in seven days murdered 65 Israeli civilians & wounded 164 (two on public busses in Jerusalem & one in Tel Aviv’s largest shopping mall). Camp David 2000 & the Second Intifada At Camp David in 2000, U.S. #President Bill Clinton hosted #Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak & Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to finalize a peace agreement. Barak accepted the "Clinton Parameters" & agreed to recognize a Palestinian state on 100% of the Gaza Strip & up to 97% of the #WestBank (with land swaps to make up for the remaining ~3%) with East #Jerusalem as its capital in return for “the end of belligerency and any further claims.” Arafat rejected the offer. Arafat made no counter offer. Arafat, instead, ordered the Second #Intifada. Arafat released dozens of Hamas & Islamic #Jihad terrorists from #Palestinian jails & made a strategic return to #terrorism. The Second Intifada saw bloody, almost-daily terrorist attacks for ~five years, during which more than 1,000 Israeli civilians were murdered. In fact, more than 200 terror attacks were carried out against Israeli civilians between May 2003-July 2004 alone. The constant terror - especially in response to Israel’s offer of peace & a Palestinian state - left scars on Israeli society that remain to this day. 2005 - Israel Withdrew from Gaza Entirely & Hamas Took Over Israel believed it had no "peace partner" in the PA, so Prime Minister Ariel Sharon adopted a “disengagement plan” from #Gaza in 2005, which saw Israel forcibly remove 9,000 Israelis living in 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and dismantle 38 synagogues, 42 daycare centers, 36 kindergartens, seven elementary schools, and three high schools at a total cost of ~$900 million. Israel even dug up all Jewish graves and moved them out of Gaza. There was no #siege & no #blockade - Gaza was under the complete control of the PA. But here is a general overview of the unfortunate two years post-disengagement: Sept 12, 2005: not a single Jew - alive or dead - was left in Gaza; PA took control. Sept 23, 2005: Hamas fired 40 rockets at Israeli civilians in Sderot. Jan 25, 2006: PA Legislative elections resulted in a Hamas victory. March 29, 2006: Hamas formed PA government under arch-terrorist Ismail Haniyeh. June 25, 2006: Hamas terrorists crossed from Gaza into Israel, murdered two, wounded two, & kidnapped Gilad Shalit. Feb 8, 2007: Hamas and Fatah (PA President Mahmoud #Abbas’ organization) agreed to share power; Hamas reiterated it would “never” recognize Israel. June 10-14, 2007: Hamas murdered or exiled every Fatah member from Gaza in a bloody coup. Once the #genocidal Hamas terror organization completed it takeover of Gaza, both Israel & #Egypt (which also shares a border with Gaza) placed a “blockade” on Gaza that attempted to restrict smuggling of weapons & terrorists. Hamas Terror & Israeli Responses After Hamas fired more than 10,000 rockets & mortars at Israeli civilians, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in 2008; but international pressure forced Israel to end the operation with a “stalemate” #ceasefire instead of destroying Hamas. In 2012, after Hamas continued to rain thousands of rockets on Israeli civilians, Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense; but international pressure forced Israel to end the operation with a ceasefire. In 2014, Hamas was still firing thousands of rockets on Israeli civilians, and Israel launched Operation Protective Edge; again, international pressure forced Israel to end its operation with a ceasefire. In 2021, Hamas fired six rockets on Jerusalem (an Israeli “red line”) and then fired hundreds of rockets aimed at Israeli civilian population centers, including #TelAviv. Israel launched Operation Guardian of the Walls; but, again, international pressure forced Israel to end its operation with a ceasefire. Oct 7, 2023: ~3,000 Hamas terrorists & their collaborators infiltrated Israel & committed mass atrocities including mutilations, rapes, torture, & murder of Israeli men, women, children, the elderly, the infirm, & infants. More than 1,200 Israelis were murdered, ~8,000 were wounded, and ~240 were kidnapped. Extent of Israel’s Legal Right to Self-Defense Israel’s legal right to self-defense permits it to do everything “necessary” to ensure Hamas can never attack Israeli civilians again. At a minimum, this is because of: (1) the genocidal brutality of Oct 7; (2) Hamas’ history of genocidal warfare against Israel & Jews; and (3) Hamas’ express commitment to repeat massacres like Oct 7 “over and over.” Thus, Israel’s right to “self-defense” extends beyond just stopping Hamas’ immediate attacks (it still fires rockets daily at Israel), it permits Israel to completely eradicate Hamas’ military capability. One way to think of how/why it is “necessary” for Israel to destroy Hamas’ military capability in self-defense is to understand countries not only have the right to eliminate threats to their civilian population, but they also have the right to restore a sense of security. On October 7, Hamas shattered Israel’s sense of security since Hamas showed it had the capability to defeat Israel’s defensive measures. Israel had invested heavily in defensive-only military capabilities such as building the #IronDome system that intercepts the majority of rockets fired from Gaza & by constructing bomb shelters across the country. However, on October 7, Hamas got around Israel’s defenses & carried out a genocidal massacre. As a result, Israel is legally justified under international law to take necessary action in self-defense by completely destroying Hamas’ ability to make war or commit atrocities again by doing things such as: (1) capturing or killing Hamas’ command & control; (2) destroying Hamas’ combat capabilities by taking out operatives, launch sites, & military equipment; and (3) taking steps to prevent Hamas from reconstituting & rearming. One additional thing to keep in mind with regard to Israel’s legal right to self-defense is the possibility that Israel could extend this right to #Iran given its role as the main sponsor of Hamas in both weapons and terror training. Whether Israel thinks it is a good idea to strike Iran directly remains to be seen; however, it is clear that Israel would be legally justified in doing so in order to stop Iran from funding attacks against its civilians. #Education #Israel #Palestine

@CptAllenHistory - Captain Allen

In May of 1964, the #Palestine Liberation Organization (NOTE: it’s the “Palestine” Liberation Organization – meaning “from the River to the Sea” – not the “#Palestinian” Liberation Organization) was created as a new means of fighting #Israel. Suddenly – three years before the ’67 Six Day War, and for the first time in history – instead of Israel only fighting #Arab regular armies – such as those in #Jordan (which occupied the “#WestBank”) and #Egypt (which occupied “#Gaza”) – Israel also had to fight a #terrorist group calling itself a national liberation movement for “Palestine.” According to Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa (below), who was a Romanian Two-Star General in the Securitate (the secret police of the socialist republic of Romania) and who was the highest-ranking #Soviet defector to the U.S. (he defected in July 1978), the #PLO was entirely the brainchild of the notorious Soviet spy agency – the #KGB. According to Lt. Gen. Pacepa, the KBG contrived the PLO the same way it did other “national liberation movements,” such as the Bolivian National Liberation Army, to create instability and expand the Soviet sphere of influence. Lt. Gen. Pacepa also revealed the KGB, not any “Palestinian Arabs,” drafted the original Palestine National Charter and that the KGB then handpicked the 422 Arabs who would be members of the “PLO Council” to “rubber stamp” the KGB’s Charter and adopt it as its mission statement. Similarly, the KGB drafted both the Palestine National Covenant and Palestinian Constitution. Thereafter, the PLO adopted the KBG-drafted charter, which – at Article 24 – included the organization’s purpose. Article 24 specifically makes the demand for PLO control over all lands under Israeli control as of 1964, and it specifically excludes those lands already under Arab control – the “West Bank” and Gaza. If you didn’t catch the importance of that, please go back and re-read that sentence. Specifically, Article 24 states: “This Organization does not exercise any territorial sovereignty over the west Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or in the Himmah Area. Its activities will be on the national popular level in the liberational, organizational, political, and financial fields.” In other words, Arabs have been saying the “occupation” began in 1948 since, well, 1948; but for some reason (“Westsplaining” – see @EinatWilf and her book The War of Return), Western governments & media continue to say the Palestinians only want the West Bank and Gaza and that those are the only two areas to which they’ve ever referred when complaining about “occupation.” Um….......nope. Just stop re-interpreting and re-wording to make Arab words fit your sensibilities, to put your own spin on it so it sounds the way you want it to sound, and simply LISTEN to what the Palestinians have said repeatedly decade after decade. Lt. Gen. Pacepa also recalled speaking with the Chairman of the KGB at the time, Yuri Andropov, about the PLO’s formation, and Andropov told him: “We need[] to instill a #Nazi-style hatred for the #Jews throughout the #Islamic world, and to turn this weapon of the emotions into a terrorist bloodbath against Israel.” The goal was to use the Islamic world as the KGB’s puppets by instilling this Nazi-style hatred for Jews into the culture to then use the weapon of emotions that would result to turn them into terrorist groups working to destabilize and ultimately doom both Israel and the U.S. According to Lt. Gen. Pacepa, about seven months later (in December 1964), the KGB hand-picked #YasserArafat to be the “Palestinian Arab” in charge of the KGB’s campaign of #disinformation (#dezinformatsiya in #Russian) in the Islamic world. The KGB personally trained #Arafat in the #SovietUnion at “its Balashikha special-ops school east of #Moscow” and decided to “groom him as the future PLO leader.” To make Arafat credible as a leader of the PLO, Lt. Gen. Pacepa revealed that the KGB invented a background story for him that would claim Arafat was born in #Jerusalem – the KGB even created false documents (such as a fake birth certificate for Arafat “proving” he was born in Jerusalem). In reality, Arafat was both born and raised in Cairo, Egypt – as his real birth certificate was later revealed to show unequivocally. As part of its training of Arafat, Lt. Gen. Pacepa revealed the “KGB also selected a ‘personal hero’ for him [Arafat] – the Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini.” In fact, the PLO, via the KGB, recruited two former #Nazi instructors – Erich Altern, a leader of the #Gestapo’s Jewish affairs section & Willy Berner, an SS officer who worked in the Mauthausen Extermination Camp. Another former Nazi, Johann Schuller, also supplied arms to the related terrorist organization that ultimately merged with the PLO, #Fatah. After the major humiliation the Soviets felt after Israel’s lightning victory over Soviet-backed & Soviet-armed Arab states in the Six Day War, the KGB turned-up the pressure on the Jewish State via more disinformation campaigns & more guerrilla/terrorist tactics via its KGB-created “Palestinian freedom fighters” instead of relying solely on regular Arab armies to destroy Israel. So, on Dec 11, 1967, the KBG founded another terror group: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (#PFLP). From the very start, the PFLP openly stated it was guided by Marxism and Leninism. The PFLP’s first leaders were Wadi’ Haddad and George Habash. Habash openly and repeatedly stated he viewed the “liberation of Palestine” as an integral part of the world #Communist Revolution. The PFLP’s charter laid out its six main ideologies: (1) Communist Revolution is the People’s War; (2) Communist “national liberation movements” must use “guerrilla war” tactics to achieve their goals; (3) Revolutionary Warfare must be based on Communist Revolutionary Theory; (4) Wars of “Liberation” are “Class Wars” that are guided by Communist ideology; (5) the PFLP’s “main field” of Communist Revolution would play out in and for “Palestine”; and (6) this “Palestinian” Communist Revolution included both “West Jordan” (i.e., Israel) and “East Jordan” (i.e., present-day Jordan). The PFLP, guided by the KGB, also publicly declared its methods to achieve its goals. The PFLP would: (1) carry-out and advocate for armed #insurrection; (2) perpetrate media-oriented attacks against Israel; (3) use airplane hijackings as a means of achieving international attention for the Communist and Palestinian “cause”; and (4) use any means necessary to bring the “Palestinian cause” to the public’s attention. Plane hijackings, in fact, quickly became one of the primary means of KGB-backed Palestinian terror after the Six Day War. In 1969 alone, the PLO hijacked 82 planes. 82!!! In one year (later, after his defection to the United States, when Lt. Gen. Pacepa revealed the KGB was responsible for directing and funding PLO terrorism, including airplane hijackings, both Muammar #Gaddafi and Yasser Arafat offered $1 million each for anyone who assassinated Pacepa). Lt. Gen. Pacepa also revealed that 1969 was the year in which the KGB “asked Arafat to declare war on American ‘imperial-#Zionism’ … it appealed to him [Arafat] so much, Arafat later claimed to have invented the imperial-#Zionist battle cry. But in fact, ‘imperial-Zionism’ was a Moscow invention, a modern adaptation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and long a favorite tool of #Russian intelligence to foment ethnic hatred … The KGB always regarded #antisemitism plus anti-imperialism as a rich source of anti-Americanism.” At the same time, the KGB also launched Operation SIG (Sionistskiye Gosudarstva), which was a disinformation campaign designed to sow worldwide disapproval for the US and Israel as #racist, #imperialist, and #colonialist. Operation SIG eventually included a global clandestine disinformation campaign against Israel that involved a combination of both propaganda and direct military support to any terrorist group that would declare itself the enemy of Israel. As further revealed by Lt. Gen. Pacepa, part of Operation SIG included the KGB’s recruiting of thousands of doctors, engineers, technicians, professors and even dance instructors, who were all told to portray the U.S. as an arrogant & haughty Jewish fiefdom that was being financed by Jewish money, run by Jewish politicians, and whose goal was to subordinate the Islamic world. As for his personal role in Operation SIG, Lt. Gen. Pacepa revealed the Romanians were tasked with infiltrating #Libya, #Iran, #Lebanon, and #Syria—all countries where Romania was contributing to infrastructure—with agents who were trained in antisemitic dezinformatsiya and terrorism. Lt. Gen. Pacepa further explained that the intelligence service to which he belonged, known as the D.I.E., received an Arabic-language translation of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, along with “documentary” material “proving that the United States was a Zionist country whose aim was to transform the Islamic world into a Jewish fiefdom.” Lt. Gen. Pacepa also advised that the science of “dezinformatsiya” is a complex, long-term, and patient non-violent attack on a civilization as a whole. As Lt. Gen. Pacepa put it, “As that very clever master of deception Yuri Andropov once told me, if a good piece of disinformation is repeated over and over, after a while it will take on a life of its own and will—all by itself—generate a horde of unwitting but passionate advocates.” Operation SIG’s disinformation campaign ran from approximately 1967 to 1988; and it built and weaponized narratives based on made-up or twisted facts. It distorted history. It employed classic propaganda tools such as deception, guilt by association, and repetition to inculcate the key messages. It also shamelessly played on people’s sentiments, and it used both Soviet Jews and #Muslims as instruments of its #propaganda. Specifically, the disinformation propaganda portion of Operation SIG attempted to (and too-often succeeded in) inflaming and spreading anti-Israeli sentiments by relying on old antisemitic tropes and inventing new ones. The overall goal of the disinformation campaign of Operation SIG was to reframe the modern miracle of Israel – the first successful #decolonization campaign in history – as actually being the prime example in the world of an oppressive, imperialist state that was built unjustly and at the expense of the “native population.” In this way, Operation SIG created an alliance that included Pan-Arabists, Pan-Islamists, and Naziism by focusing on what they all had in common: their hatred for Jews, for Israel, and for #democracy. According to former #CIA Director R. James Woolsey, Lt. Gen. Pacepa helped reveal to the Americans the KGB’s tactics against Israel and the U.S., which included carefully planted false stories about prominent leaders while seeking to convince the public at large that their reported falsehoods were true (both of which, Woolsey noted, the KGB successfully carried out time and time again). As Lt. Gen. Pacepa later wrote, “By 1972, Andropov’s disinformation machinery was working around the clock to persuade the Islamic world that Israel and the United States intended to transform the rest of the world into a Zionist fiefdom.” Lt. Gen. Pacepa also wrote that Andropov told him the goal was to “whip up their illiterate, oppressed mobs to a fever pitch. Terrorism and violence against Israel and America would flow naturally from the Muslims’ antisemitic fervor.” In fact, Lt. Gen. Pacepa remained so concerned by Russian disinformation campaigns that he repeatedly warned they had become “the Bubonic Plague of our contemporary life.” Finally, as part of his warning to the Western world, Lt. Gen. Pacepa expanded on the dangers of Russian disinformation by writing: (1) #Lenin used disinformation to bring communism to life; (2) Hitler used disinformation to “rationalize” the Holocaust; (3) #Khrushchev used disinformation against the pope to “widen the gap” between #Christians and Jews; and (4) Andropov used disinformation to “turn the Islamic world against the United States and ignite[] the international terrorism that threat[ens] us today.”