January 14, 2009
Cellphones put to 'unnerving' use in Gaza
To the suicide vest, the rocket and the battering ram, those longtime staples of conflict in the Middle East, add the cellphone. USA Today reports.
Both sides in the Gaza war have employed cellphones as a form of psychological warfare, among other purposes — part of a trend toward using new media in a century-old conflict.
Hagar Mizrachi, a 25-year-old Israeli, recently received a text message that said rocket attacks on all of Israel's cities were imminent. The message was signed "Hamas" and the sender name was listed as "Qassam.hamm," he said. Qassams are rockets that Hamas militants have been firing from Gaza into southern Israel. "It's unnerving to receive something like that," said Mizrachi, an editor at an online news service. "It feels like they've invaded you."
Yaniv Levyatan, a psychological warfare expert at the University of Haifa, said cellphones are a natural tool since soldiers and militants are generally young and have grown up using them. Israel and Gaza are both small, densely populated areas blanketed by wireless service, making the phones' use even more effective, he said.
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