https://www.commentary.org/articles/efraim-karsh/what-occupation/

From that very long but very worthwhile essay:

During the 1970’s, the West Bank and Gaza constituted the fourth fastest-growing economy in the world—ahead of such “wonders” as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Korea, and substantially ahead of Israel itself. Although GNP per capita grew somewhat more slowly, the rate was still high by international standards, with per-capita GNP expanding tenfold between 1968 and 1991 from $165 to $1,715 (compared with Jordan’s $1,050, Egypt’s $600, Turkey’s $1,630, and Tunisia’s $1,440). By 1999, Palestinian per-capita income was nearly double Syria’s, more than four times Yemen’s, and 10 percent higher than Jordan’s (one of the better-off Arab states). Only the oil-rich Gulf states and Lebanon were more affluent.

When Biden says something it has some sort of impact. Not the same as, say, Trump, because most realize Biden isn’t fully in charge. But still, Biden does have some level of influence.

My feeling is that no one is really in charge. There are multiple influences, some stronger than others. But no one fully dominate.

It’s a dangerous situation.

I do use several Linux OSes as a ‘Companion OS’ to Win11 Pro, or as a recovery tool, as a hobby, and sometimes just to have an OS on a USB in my pocket.

Discovered the Open Source research and/or intelligence tools and/or media sites about the time Russia reinvaded Ukraine in 2022. I did some blog posts which proved the Russian propaganda machine as liars, but those posts are on a private blog site that I will eventually shut down—after transferring some of the posts to a newer self-hosted site.

Bellingcat is an example of an Open Source research and intelligence tools media site.

‘Exploiting Cadavers ’and ‘Faked IEDs’: Experts Debunk Staged Pre-War ‘Provocation’ in the Donbas is an example of how Open Source can be used to prove false propaganda.

Open Source quotes:

The promise of open-source intelligence
It is a welcome threat to malefactors and governments with something to hide…

THE GREAT hope of the 1990s and 2000s was that the internet would be a force for openness and freedom. As Stewart Brand, a pioneer of online communities, put it: “Information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time.” It was not to be. Bad information often drove out good. Authoritarian states co-opted the technologies that were supposed to loosen their grip. Information was wielded as a weapon of war. Amid this disappointment one development offers cause for fresh hope: the emerging era of open-source intelligence (OSINT).

New sensors, from humdrum dashboard cameras to satellites that can see across the electromagnetic spectrum, are examining the planet and its people as never before. The information they collect is becoming cheaper. Satellite images cost several thousand dollars 20 years ago, today they are often provided free and are of incomparably higher quality. A photograph of any spot on Earth, of a stricken tanker or the routes taken by joggers in a city is available with a few clicks. And online communities and collaborative tools, like Slack, enable hobbyists and experts to use this cornucopia of information to solve riddles and unearth misdeeds with astonishing speed.

Another link: First Steps to Getting Started in Open Source Research

There are other such sites. I know Israel uses these tools to disprove certain Gaza & MSM propaganda, but am not sure if MSM uses it at all—and certainly Hamas hasn’t been using it.

Still pondering this thought, but Hamas not using it certainly suggests they don’t want facts, and probably the same suggestion for MSM.

Bellingcat has a few articles, for anyone interested in checking (see above link to site), but I haven’t checked them all out yet…

The Palestinians destroyed the greenhouses and started digging tunnels. The UN and the rest of the world funded Gaza.

I certainly agree, they bent over backwards to do this — it WAS as much the “two state solution” as anyone could ask for, and they freely set it up.

At that time, the Gaza Strip was the second most prosperous region in the entire ME that was not reliant utterly on oil money, with one of the highest per capita incomes for residents in all the ME.

Within about 2-3y of self-rule, the “Palestinians” had trashed it and turned it into a typical Islamic shithole (FACT is, Malaysia shows that Islam itself does not equate to “shithole”, but it damned sure is the only significant exception that doesn’t use lots of oil to prevent it)

…in the Western Civilization destruction organization known as the UN…

You seem to have misspelled something there. Fixt it fer ya.

De Nada 😀

Muslim voters are clannish. If their mosques and leaders suggest they abstain, they’ll do it. It’s Jewish voters who don’t have that kind of pressure. The administration made a calculated political move here – nothing more.

MollyG:

Exactly.

Once upon an innocent time I thought Israel’s ceding Gaza to the Palestinians free of charge with tons of nice infrastructure and greenhouses, would be the show of Good Faith that would prove to the world Israel’s Good Intentions.

The Palestinians destroyed the greenhouses and started digging tunnels. The UN and the rest of the world funded Gaza.

It won’t matter in the least. To her enemies–the UN, the “Biden” administration, the intersectional US and international left, the Arab street, et al.–Israel cedes the moral high ground simply by existing.