Occupy Tel-Aviv, or the social protest by Tel-Avivians, is entering it’s second year, and after failing quite miserably to achieve anything in regard to social justice for iPhone-toting, bohemian living, hi-tech working, poor upper middle class, it looks like this year the organizers are breaking a few rules and windows.
So the obvious outcome was a heightened police presence in the rallies yesterday evening to prevent vandalism, or as we like to call it, Policing.
One of the most obvious ways of policing is crowd control, and this certainly isn’t my definition. And what better way to control the crowd and watch out for troublemakers than by surveillance equipment, used en masse by Israel’s law enforcement and armed forces. Israeli police use many types of observation and surveillance equipment during mass gatherings, such as blimps, cranes and helicopters.
One such type of surveillance equipment was spotted yesterday in the streets of Tel-Aviv, and immediately caused hearsay, rumors, angry web posts, tweets and more by the not-too-smart-Left.
First, the facts: The vehicle is a “Raccoon”, a Humvee equipped with a mobile ISTAR system, a day/night electro-optical sensors, RADAR, long-range acquisition capabilities, and GPS-based navigation support. It is used by the IDF’s Combat Intelligence Collection Corps and the Border Guard (which is under the command of the Police). This specific vehicle seen yesterday in Tel Aviv and photographed by Yossi Gurvitz, had the typical blue-green of the Border Guard, with Border Guard officers driving it.
Now, the fantasies:
Occupation comes home: What was a military surveillance vehicle doing in TLV last night?
Protesters taking part in the #J14 march last night couldn’t help noticing a large army vehicle near the route of the protest, on the corner of Ibn Gvirol and Frishman streets (basically under my house). The car, nicknamed Raccoon, is a modified Hummer with special surveillance equipment. It is often used in the occupied territories against unarmed Palestinian protesters
Bystanders and families tried to peep inside the military car, in what seemed like a sign of days to come in Israel – more evidence that the occupation does not end with the Green Line. If there is no democracy in Ramallah and Nablus, there will be none in Tel Aviv.
So a military presence in Tel Aviv is regarded by Dawlat Tel Abib as “Occupation”. I’ll ignore the fact that it belongs to the police – who also have a 24/7 presence in Jaffa and southern Tel Aviv – and focus on the absurd labeling of a military presence as occupation.
Besides protecting leftist scumbags in Dawlat Tel Abib from home-grown and external terror and military threats, the IDF also partakes in more civilian roles such as search and rescue, emergency response, air traffic control, fire control and NBC mask deliveries. The reason is simple: the IDF is after all Israel’s biggest, most trained, and most experienced organization in handling the aforementioned fields. Some say it might not be the best solution, but if the manpower is there, we might as well use it.
The social media sphere was abuzz with false identifications and descriptions. Some called it an armoured vehicle, some called it a riot dispersal vehicle, some said it sported a biometric camera to create biometric profiles (1984 anyone?)
Uberleftist Didi Remez went so far as to create a nice poster of the vehicle with a swipe at Gidon Saar, Minister of Education, after he said the violent protest is a dangerous ideology. He titled it “The Occupation arrives at Tel Aviv.”
The mainstream media also didn’t know what to make of it. Ynet called it a “Data gathering vehicle.” Walla! wrote it was confirmed to be a riot dispersal vehicle. Walla has since changed it to a surveillance vehicle, and Amir Bohbot, undoubtedly the most incompetent of all military correspondents in Israel, once again showed how he is the most incompetent of all military correspondents in Israel. Haaretz with the not-so-subtle “What was a Border Police surveillance vehicle doing at a Tel Aviv social protest?” also intentionally blurred the lines between the military and the civilian.
It is worth mentioning that the vehicle wasn’t actually deployed. And with this in mind, I would like to mention Emil Grunzweig and Rabin who were both murdered in rallies organized by the Left. Could it be the this symbol of occupation, was actually there to protect the social protesters from some lone lunatic, be he from the Left or Right? Because it only takes one idiot with a handgun or grenade to start a civil war, and the Israeli police know it.
