Posted on 04/16/2002 7:07:12 AM PDT by marshmallow
The Israeli Army is broadcasting ear-splitting screeches and wails at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, traditional site of Jesus' birth, to force out 200 Palestinians besieged there.
Troops brought in a crane to hoist loudspeakers over the ancient basilica, one of the holiest shrines in Christendom, as part of what one person inside called "psycho terror". One of the noises sounds like a car alarm.
Camped outside the church, the army estimates there are about 50 wanted Palestinian militants inside, with clergy and civilians.
The Israeli Government offered a deal on Sunday under which the wanted men would be given a choice between permanent exile and trial before a military court. "If they leave, it's for good but, if they stay, then they will have to stand trial in Israel," said a spokesman for the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. The offer was put by the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, during talks on Sunday.
Palestinian negotiators immediately rejected it, saying the men would not accept exile, and if they were to be judged it should be before a Palestinian court. But they would accept any deal that Mr Arafat approved.
In an appeal on Friday the trapped Palestinians called for United Nations intervention to save them from "a slow death".
They have been deprived of food for almost two weeks, and the army has shot at Palestinian youths lobbing bags of bread into the compound.
"We are hearing loud whistles and screeches in the daytime and now at night," said the Governor of Bethlehem, Mahmoud Madani, who is inside the church. "They want to destroy our morale, but the only solution is a negotiated settlement."
The church has responded to the caterwauling by ringing its bells.
In a major blow to the Palestinian resistance, Israel last night arrested Marwan Barghouthi, a leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction in the West Bank and regarded by Israel as the top militant in the area, Israeli security sources said.
Barghouthi, sought by Israel since it launched a West Bank offensive on March 29, was arrested in the city of Ramallah, the sources said.
Project giant images of Hillary, Reno and Helen Thomas. Naked.
War Crime.
They did this with Noriega and at Waco.
I don't think it ever works and probably has the opposite effect.
Yeah, I remembered that, too.
Every year, Popular Science -- and other magazines -- devote feature spreads of all manner of high-tech, non-lethal weaponry available to global security forces. Yet, here where some type of non-lethal assault would be perfect, supposedly the most advanced military in the world resorts to loud speakers and big noise -- crap that didn't even work on lunatic fringe Christians...
Is this really the best the good guys can do?!
Mark W.
By increasing tensions inside the church (which the Israelis are now invading in a psychological sense) this tactic heightens the danger of the clergy inside (consistent with earlier attempts to force them from the complex), and significantly heightens the risk of a violent breakout, giving the lie to the Israeli claim that they want to make peaceful arrests, and needlessly risking lives on all sides, as well as God's house.
I seem to recall hearing, many years ago by an "expert" in crowd control, interviewed on a radio talk program, that there is a certain ultra high frequency which, if broadcast, causes the listeners to lose bowel control.
I don't know if it has ever been used, or how those doing the broadcasting would avoid these side effects.
That would be a "certain ultra LOW frequency", below 20 Hrz. It's the amplitude (volume), at a frequency below the threshold of hearing, that causes severe distress.
Riiiiiiiiight . . .
Ah, yes, doubtless the work of those mad Jew scientists who have been working for years to invent Death Rays and Untraceable Poisons. Lineal successors, don't you know, of the evil Dr. Yakub, who invented white people 6000 years ago. Just ask Minister Farrakhan. Nice to see the major media finally getting on board.
Um, that would be the "Best of Yoko Ono" 4-disc collection.
Why?
What's your interest in this affair?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.