Disrupting communications is one of the first tasks in an air war, so Israel's destruction of 90% of the infrastucture of Pal Tel in Gaza isn't a surprise. Anyone in communications realizes that will exact a toll on more than just the ability of Hamas to fight. This is not the place to debate the war, but I'd like to say something as a technologist.

My uncle, Sammy Burstein, was one of the first pilots in 1948, when the Israeli Air Force was a Piper Cub and two other planes. My father help smuggle weapons on the New York docks. It is 60 years later, and the war continues. It's easy to talk 6,000 miles away in New York, and I claim no wisdom about how to create peace. But I do know that technology will continue to advance, including Moore's Law electronics, biology, and chemistry.

Some day, it will be possible for a small band with access to a college lab to make weapons far more lethal than today's rockets or IED's. There are extraordinary quantities of radioactive material around the world. What's used every day in many hospitals is enough to make lethal dust, if not a bomb. The information is available that will soon allow a dedicated scientist to resurrect the smallpox virus. I don't know whether that will be in my lifetime or our grandchildren's, but horrifying capability is inevitable.

Some of the finest engineers I've met reporting DSL are Islamic. One world class engineer is Palestinian, but tells his colleagues he is from a different country, and didn't reveal the truth to me for several years.  The Arabs I've come to know are as decent as any other people, and unlikely to build weapons, although some have the skill I'm sure.

My uncle did not expect to survive in 1948; forty percent of WW II pilots died, and the now powerful Israeli army was an underequipped militia. His beliefs were so strong he volunteered to spend time in a DP camp after the war and be smuggled into Palestine. (He survived and went on to write a book in 1956, Rabbi With Wings.) If asked to crash his plane into an Egyptian military post, I believe he would have done it.

There are now tens of thousands in Palestine who have had a family member die or their home destroyed. From what I know of human nature, some of them will do anything in their power to strike back. Some of those will be brilliant and able to harness technology. Today they have small rockets. Someday they will have more. If this war continues for decades, I fear for everyone.

Readers should know the bias of a reporter. I have signed the J Street petition calling for an end to the rocket fire as well as Israeli military action.

The details from Paltel

Jan, 4th 2009
Paltel Group, the provider for fixed, data and mobile telecommunications located in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is warning that Gaza could be disconnected from the outside world as a result of the Israeli air strikes and ground assault in Gaza. Paltel Group has several alternatives  and means that can allow connecting Gaza Strip with the outside world, however only one alternative is still functioning as all other alternatives have been totally damaged as a result of the air strikes and ground assault.

Meanwhile, the services have been extremely affected due to the cutting off of electricity and the inability of our teams to reach the sites and refill the main power generators with fuel. Currently, 90% of the mobile service network is down, in addition to a huge number of fixed lines which are out of order, either due to direct damage or because of the loss of electricity.

We have lost 3 technicians in the attacks, several technicians were injured during their efforts to repair some technical damages, numerous switchboards, mobile masts, and transmission alternatives were totally damaged and destroyed in air raids and the ground attack. Despite all obstacles, Paltel Group is placing all possible efforts to keep the services functioning in Gaza Strip even at minimum capacity.

We are warning the international agencies and community that the connection between Gaza and the outside world as well as the internal telecommunication services could be lost at any moment, which would affect the humanitarian and medical emergency efforts in place and the ability to contact the emergency and hospitals numbers, in addition to the negative psychological impact on all Gaza residents

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The incumbent Australian operator, Telstra, is no stranger to controversies, having fomented quite a few in recent years by its evident determination to make a media coup out of just about anything that pops into what might loosely be described as the brains of its PR department. However, its latest wheeze - to provide free phone calls to Gaza - is causing even more uproar than is usual Downunder.

The Australian media (and public opinion) is split (pretty unevenly it must be said) between those that see the gesture as humanitarian and deeply meaningful and those that regard it as a cynical and opportunistic publicity stunt in the worst possible taste.

It was Telstra's CEO, Sol Trujillo, who made the announcement to a gob-smacked nation, saying that the carrier is offering a telecoms assistance package to Australian customers who may be affected by "unrest" in the Gaza area.

The "assistance package" takes the form of free telephone calls from "Telstra retail customers' residential fixed lines" (i.e their home phones) to the Gaza area.

Mr. Trujillo said, "Telstra customers in Australia will be able to call free of charge from their home phones to check on the wellbeing of immediate family members in the Gaza area. We appreciate that many of our customers are concerned about the welfare and wellbeing of their families in the region. Our thoughts are with those who have been affected by the unrest and especially people who may have been displaced or lost loved ones.''

Seemingly all that Telstra is asking in return for its magnanimity is that customers "remain patient" and "keep their calls brief". This, the company says, is because telecoms networks in the Gaza area "are likely to be under stress".

"Under stress" is something of an "under" statement. Two days ago, the main provider of telecoms in Gaza, Paltel, gave warning that the territory may be "disconnected from the outside world as a result of the air strikes and ground assaults."

In a press statement of its own, Paltel, says it has lost workers in the ongoing Incursion by Israeli forces and adds that 90 per cent of Gaza's mobile phone service has been knocked-out whilst a significant number of fixed lines have been "destroyed or badly damaged."

The Paltel statement says, "We have lost three technicians in the attacks, several technicians were injured during their efforts to repair some technical damage, numerous switchboards, mobile masts, and transmission alternatives have been totally damaged and destroyed in air raids and the ground attack.''

Now, Australia does indeed have some residents and citizens of Palestinian origin with family and friends in Gaza, but they are comparatively few in number and easily identifiable on Telstra's records by virtue of their names and calling histories.

Given that, one might then have thought that Telstra would have worked quietly behind the scenes to permit these people to make free calls without all the attendant publicity bally-hoo and then perhaps mention the initiative more or less in passing and not make a big PR deal of it all.

Some hope.


The press release accompanying the announcement is couched in terms to ensure maximum media exposure and the result has been the absolute polarisarion of Australian opinion in regard to their incumbent carrier and its senior management.

Those seeing the "assistance package" as a little more than a misguided PR stunt are now pressing Telstra to provide free calls to subscribers who have friends and family in those parts of Israel where Hamas rockets are landing amongst the civilian population whilst media pundits point out that the carrier has now created a precedent and that Telstra customers having friends or family in any far-flung corner of the world that might be affected by war or civil insurrection should make their case for free phone calls directly to Mr. Trujillo.

And, those Telsta subscribers that do wish to take advantage of Telstra's largesse should read the small print as the offer isn't open for long. The free calls period begins tomorrow, Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at noon AEST and ends at noon on Thursday, January 15. It applies only to calls with the 0011 970 8 area code.