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Hamas’ ‘girls’ are at least something to celebrate

January 19, 2017 at 4:24 pm

When we look at the “sea of failures” in the Arab world, we look for at least some bright points for balance and to revive our broken souls a little in order for us not to fall into a dark black hole of misery and hopelessness. We are used to seeing our Arab “goal posts” shake with every goal scored by our foes, friends and sometimes even our “brothers”. Even our goalkeeper scores goals in our own net. We could even say that our “fans” always disappoint their team and not only score own goals, but even tear the net. Amid such failure, one holds on tight to any achievement or success, even if it is a tiny success.

We saw in the news that the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, had posed as females on Facebook to communicate with Israeli soldiers in order to hack their accounts. According to the Israeli military, Hamas executed an electronic attack by talking to Israeli soldiers via fake Facebook accounts carrying the profile pictures of pretty girls. They succeeded in tricking Israeli soldiers into revealing sensitive information about their army.

It seems that this gained attention from their monitoring devices after numerous reports from soldiers regarding “suspicious” accounts contacting them on Facebook, asking them to download calling apps before disappearing. This prompted the Israeli military’s information security unit to launch an investigation to figure out the truth behind these accounts that had pictures of girls “borrowed” by Hamas. The Israeli army admitted that Hamas did communicate with its soldiers by posing as girls whose identities Hamas had stolen and, after building a relationship with the soldiers, they would ask them to download calling apps which were actually viruses to hack their devices and access information.

The result of this operation is that many soldiers, according to the Israeli media’s own admissions, fell into this honey trap, including army majors. Hamas managed to obtain sensitive military information via these stolen Facebook accounts, such as gaining visuals of secret military equipment, learning areas of where soldiers gather and military training schedules. The army admitted that the “Facebook fighters” displayed a strong command of the Hebrew language, as they were able to communicate with Israeli soldiers without raising any raising their suspicions. In light of this successful penetration of the Israeli security system, the army took special measures, including publically exposing the fake Facebook accounts and raising the soldiers’ awareness, as well as setting up a call centre to receive complaints regarding other suspicious accounts.

It is inspiring that “soldiers” from the Arab camp were successful in making a true achievement in one of the arenas that the enemy has always scored impressive victories in. This is one of the enemy’s most cherished arenas, and we have been victims of their “pretty girls” many times. In my opinion, this is a good sign, as I have never read about any Arab victory over the enemy by means of its cherished “sexual” weapons, nor have I seen them admit to this in their media.

The major empires in human history were not defeated by an external enemy, but by an internal virus that ate it from the inside. When the time came and they were subjected to a threat from a serious external threat, it collapsed and disintegrated.

Nowadays, there is an empire known as Israel. It is not literally an empire, but I am using this term because of the protective walls surrounding it. Since its inception, it has received unparalleled backing, only a little of which was provided by Jews, and this is what gives it reason to be called an empire. Between the declaration of the state’s establishment and its stability, the official Arab systems gave it protection and supported it both secretly and publicly. All of the leaders who have ever thought, or rather day dreamed, of attacking Israel were eliminated or removed from the picture.

For now, the Israeli empire is still at the peak of its “greatness”. Some of its sponsors now feel that the giant they have created needs to be reined in a little because it not only poses a threat to its Arab victims, but also to its creators. Even Trump, who has repeatedly promised the empire he would continue to support it and would even move his embassy to Jerusalem, told Israel explicitly that it must be responsible for its own expenses. This “small” sentence may not have gained much attention, but it may be Cenmar’s brick that may threaten the foundations of the empire’s “palace”. I am not being overly optimistic regarding UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which removed settlements from the umbrella of “international legitimacy”, as this is only a slap on the wrist. But it will have more significance in the future.

The supporters and lovers of the Israeli empire are concerned with its survival as a thorn in the side of the east in order for it to remain in pain and in a state of civilizational “complacency” or clinical death. The East is what threatens the “comfort of the free world” and this comfort must be maintained by keeping the East asleep or absent. The empire’s soldiers ensure the continuation of this state. Only the empire’s soldiers are now working on crumbling the empire from the inside, as was the case with other major empires.

Israel is Israel’s worst enemy and it will eliminate itself, as is the case biologically when the body’s cells eventually kill themselves. This is a complex chemical process that cannot be explained in an article like this, and the same can be said regarding the explanation of the empire’s “internal political interactions” which will lead to its elimination.

All that I have stated above is not intended as a sedative for us to wait for the giant’s suicide. I said this earlier and I will again; there must be an external factor that helps the internal factor. As for Hamas, it seems to be the only current external factor, and all that it has done and may do in the future cannot be enough to face the empire’s might. However, it is our right to celebrate any goal it scores in the enemy’s net and highlight it, even it is a small “sexual achievement” that may be only a tiny hole in the wall.

Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, 19 January 2017

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.