Israel Matzav

Using Google Earth to target for terror

Al-Guardian reports today that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen's Fatah's 'al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade' terror group is using Google Earth to flesh out targets in Israel for terror attacks.

Hat Tip: NY Nana

Members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a group aligned with the Fatah political party, say they use the popular internet mapping tool to help determine their targets for rocket strikes.

"We obtain the details from Google Earth and check them against our maps of the city centre and sensitive areas," Khaled Jaabari, the group's commander in Gaza who is known as Abu Walid, told the Guardian.

Abu Walid showed the Guardian an aerial image of the Israeli town of Sderot on his computer to demonstrate how his group searches for targets. [And you all thought Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip. CiJ]

The Guardian filmed an al-Aqsa test rocket launch, fired into an uninhabited area of the Negev desert, last month. Despite the crudeness of the weapons, many have landed in Sderot, killing around a dozen people in the last three years and wounding scores more.

...

Abu Walid insists there is no contradiction between his group's actions and talk of peace by Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah's leader.

And now for something really strange....

Bringing up archive footage of rocket launches on his computer, he said that the group had modified the homemade rockets to travel longer distances by cultivating salt from the sea. "It's a secret process, but we're very excited by the results."

And you thought Islam wasn't into science....

When asked about the use of Google Earth by al-Aqsa militants, Google said it was aware of potential problems, but would not comment specifically on the case. "We have paid close attention to concerns that Google Earth creates new security risks," said the company in a statement. "The imagery visible on Google Earth and Google Maps is not unique: commercial high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery of every country in the world is widely available from numerous sources. Indeed, anyone who flies above or drives by a piece of property can obtain similar information."

The company would not confirm whether it had received requests from the Israeli government to block certain images or areas inside Google Earth, but said it was committed to working with officials to take public safety into account.

"Google has engaged, and will continue to engage, in substantive dialogue with recognised security experts and relevant agencies worldwide," it said.

Given Google's political bent, I wouldn't be surprised if they were helping the terrorists.

They also have a video that I was not able to embed. You can watch it here.

$410 million will sure buy a lot of laptops to teach 'Palestinian' kids how to be computer literate help 'Palestinian' terrorists to find targets, won't it Condi? But let's keep supporting the 'moderates' of Fatah!

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:38 AM