Wednesday
Dec312008
Gaza: Top Black Comedy Moments --- "I Will Turn Into Biscuits"
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 13:10
Intended humour:
At the Hassouna Bakery near Shifa Hospital, about 100 men and 50 women waited in separate lines to buy bread. Amal Altayan was telling others in the line that she kept her cellphone in her pocket so that if an Israeli missile destroyed her house she would be able to phone for help. The other women mocked her, saying that if a missile hit her house, she would be gone. Showing familiarity with the kind of knowledge circulating in Gaza these days, Ms. Altayan replied, “It depends. If it is an F-16 I will turn into biscuits, but if it is an Apache I may have a chance.”
Unintended humour:
A pro-Israeli lobbyist, noting the Palestinian and Israeli death tolls:
The problem is that the numbers are not very flattering.
Unintended humour (2):
Former Israeli Government press advisor:
When you have a Palestinian kid facing an Israeli tank, how do you explain that the tank is actually David and the kid is Goliath?
At the Hassouna Bakery near Shifa Hospital, about 100 men and 50 women waited in separate lines to buy bread. Amal Altayan was telling others in the line that she kept her cellphone in her pocket so that if an Israeli missile destroyed her house she would be able to phone for help. The other women mocked her, saying that if a missile hit her house, she would be gone. Showing familiarity with the kind of knowledge circulating in Gaza these days, Ms. Altayan replied, “It depends. If it is an F-16 I will turn into biscuits, but if it is an Apache I may have a chance.”
Unintended humour:
A pro-Israeli lobbyist, noting the Palestinian and Israeli death tolls:
The problem is that the numbers are not very flattering.
Unintended humour (2):
Former Israeli Government press advisor:
When you have a Palestinian kid facing an Israeli tank, how do you explain that the tank is actually David and the kid is Goliath?
tagged Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Palestine in Middle East & Iran
Reader Comments (5)
Israelis are actually telephoning residents to warn them out of their homes BEFORE they attack the rocket launcher illegally placed in the backyard between the homes...
So whether F16 or Apache, that cell phone will ring before the attack and they'll have warning.. Israelis learned from 2006
Dave- I'd be interested to know where you heard about this- do you have a link? Is the Israeli air force really able to obtain mobile numbers of every single resident and call them all at short notice?
They are doing it. I posted a link in the comment box of the latest Gaza Update.
Thanks. Here's the link again if anyone's interested:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20081229/wl_mcclatchy/3133187
But every resident of every building that's being targeted or is near one that's being targeted? I'm still finding that hard to believe.
I don't have time at the moment to bring up the link, but the Israeli warnings are part of a broader psychological warfare operation. By calling residents throughout Gaza and telling them that their houses are about to be bombed, Israeli Defense Forces are attempting to add to the panic and fear amongst civilian population. At same time, Israel can point to the warnings as evidence of their concern over civilian casualties.
Of course, this doesn't negate Steve M's point that Rayyan was warned of risk to him and his family if he did not go into hiding and that, unless other Hamas leaders, he chose to remain above ground.