#get on it. Israel cut off all telecommunications in Gaza the other day | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ayusaurus · 7 months

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Look, I get it, what’s going on in Palestine is a lot.

But I can’t be quiet when thousands upon thousands of Palestinians have lost their lives in the span of a month. With the blackout that happened in Gaza in the past day, it’s hard to say how many more have been lost. Israel has not only cut off power and telecommunications in Palestine but has continued air raids and also used Phosphorous weapons that is a powdered substance that ignites upon contact with air, clothing, and skin and will not stop burning till it reaches bone and can only be stopped by surgical removal.

Regardless of what came before that lead up to this, the moment Israel chose to intensify and double down further on their genocidal efforts that have been going on since 1948 is the moment that any prior justification became a moot point. Genocide isn’t and should NEVER be the answer.

Many of us on here were not alive during WW2 and we’ve only learned about the Holocaust through history books, and it can be so easy to ask how it got to that point. The fact that the narrative has been so heavily skewed in favor of Israel has not helped, but only made it worse. The lack of proper coverage of the Palestinian side of what is currently happening by major news outlets also sways the narrative to make it easier to believe that it’s “justified” for Israel to carry out its genocide - exactly what the holocaust was.

This is a time to be speaking out and raise more awareness. Contact your representatives (especially since the US, among 13 other nations voted against a call for ceasefire at the UN General Assembly yesterday 10/27), email them, fax them, attend protests if you’re able, donate to verified organizations such as MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians) to help send aide to Palestine, and educate yourself on what’s happening in regards to Palestine . They don’t deserve to die without letting their voices and their truth be heard.

Even if all you can manage is to reblog and share posts, it’s better than doing nothing.

This is not war. Call it what it is - a genocide.

#free palestine #palestine #palestine genocide

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soon-palestine · 6 months

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While most telecom networks bury their cables 60cm (about 2ft) underground, PalTel buries its cables up to 8 metres (26ft) deep. In case the Israelis cut off electricity, its data centres in Gaza also have three layers of redundancy: generators, solar panels and batteries. The company has also developed emergency protocols to direct workers remotely from the occupied West Bank, and if severed communications make this impossible, Gazan staff are empowered to act autonomously. Despite all the redundancies and preparations, the sheer scale of bombings these past weeks has still crippled the network. About 70 percent of the mobile network has been taken offline. Solar panels have been rendered mostly useless either by being destroyed in attacks or covered in dust and debris. The relentless nature of the conflict is also weighing on staff, who are dogged by danger from their house to the field. Rabih*, a fibre optics technician, was called to repair a cable just metres from the border on October 15. Prior to going, he had to give an exhaustive list of the repair team’s names, the colour of their cars and registration numbers to the Israelis, because “a mistake could be deadly”. As Rabih and his team laboured for two hours to fix the cable, the buzz of a drone above him and the sounds of shelling intermingled with the sound of their excavator. “Any wrong move could mean being targeted. I cannot explain to my wife and kids why I do that or why I volunteer to go out during the war. My company doesn’t oblige me, but if someone can do it, it has to be me,” he said. No matter how many metres deep they dig or the number of solar panels they install, Gaza’s connections to the outside world ultimately relies on the Israelis.

The cables that connect Gaza to the outside world run through Israel, and the country on at least two occasions has deliberately cut off the strip’s international communications. “It’s clear for us that it was cut off by a decision. What proves this is that we didn’t do anything to get it back,” Melhem said. Israel also controls fuel to Gaza, allowing a small trickle into Gaza on Friday after weeks of pressure from the United States. Described as a “drop in the bucket” by humanitarian groups, Israel announced that 120,000 litres (31,700 gallons) of fuel would be allowed into the territory every two days for use by hospitals, bakeries and other essential services. PalTel will also be given 20,000 litres (5,283 gallons) of fuel every two days for its generators. On Thursday, the company had announced it would go into a full telecoms blackout because its fuel reserves were exhausted for the first time during the current war. According to Mamoon Fares, the corporate support director at PalTel, the 20,000 litres provided “should be enough to operate a good part of the network”. However, Gaza’s telecoms network will still be at the mercy of Israel should it decide to cut off fuel deliveries or network services that run through its territory. Without the ability to communicate, the already dismal situation in Gaza would only further deteriorate. “No ambulances, no emergency services, no civil defence or humanitarian organisations can work without telecommunications,” Melhem said. * Names have been changed to protect the individuals’ safety.

#palestine #gaza #free palestine #mobile network #telecom #communication #data center #telecommunications

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