Coss Posted October 26 Report Share Posted October 26 Because I'm dumber than a tadpole, I need clarification "a certain down trodden German journalist"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted October 27 Author Report Share Posted October 27 10 hours ago, Coss said: Because I'm dumber than a tadpole, I need clarification "a certain down trodden German journalist"? There a Journalist of sorts from Germany, who used to post here. He was a decent guy and at times walked the walk. But like a lot of social justice warriors in other countries 1) he always had a ticket home and lived off of old family money/inheritence etc and 2) ultimately over stayed his welcome and stepped on the wrong toes etc. and had to “…walk home before he had to run home…” Using that available ticket…he posted here quite a bit until he started butting heads with people over the “fact” that he “knew more than everyone else” in a very arrogant fashion, think 127 on steroids, with an ounce/gram or 2 of credibility. Marcel ultimately got tired/bored with him and gave him “das Boone Zee-assen” off the board. Send German went back to Germany claiming some sort of victory…his Thai wife and their adopted son with him. He now spends his days in government housing, living off the German government aka taxpayers pontificating on his greatness and how he “…barely made it out alive…” His credibility as a journalist pretty much gone. Kind of sad in a way as he did do some decent work. Sadly, he can never see another’s point of view and accept that that POV is as well, or better, researched and factually accurate than his own. Rule 1 of Journalism is keep you opinions to yourself and just report facts. I recently parted ways with him as I tired of his constant “…evil NATO/USA…” rants and over intellectualization of things. The final straw came when I called him out for something he said, then went back and edited it then accused me of putting words in his mouth and editing his post…a screen shot proved I was correct when I called him out on the edit, thus proving him a fraud…others noted this as well… very sad…. Idealism or “…the world according to me…” works well when you don’t have a job and you can spend all day researching your next Face Book post, while sucking more out of a system than you ever put into it, having never held a job or paid taxes… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted October 27 Report Share Posted October 27 Israel claims there's a secret Hezbollah bunker underneath a Beirut hospital. But no-one else can find it The IDF says it has evidence of a bunker containing hundreds of millions of dollars in gold and cash underneath a Beirut hospital. Is it just me or is there a continual claim by the Israelis that most of their strikes are aimed at "hidden" Hamas or Hezbollah tunnels etc yet the only evidence provided is video supplied by the IDF When the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) this week claimed that Hezbollah had a secret bunker stuffed with $US500 million ($753 million) in gold and cash under a Beirut hospital, it set off a frenzy of speculation and panic. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari took to his lectern on October 21, armed with what he said were declassified details on the group's finances, including the subterranean treasure chest. It came one month into a war between Hezbollah and Israel, which erupted after a year of cross-border exchanges. Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation in Australia, has been exchanging rocket fire with Israel since the Hamas-led terrorist attack into southern Israel on October 7. Much has been said about Hezbollah's use of subterranean tunnel networks, alleged to help the group carry out its operations away from the threat of Israeli planes and drones flying in the skies above Lebanon. But this message was different, with Rear Admiral Hagari showing a 3D animation of what he said was a facility hidden beneath Al-Sahel Hospital. The hospital's management quickly evacuated the building, fearing a potential air strike, but invited media in Beirut to come and take a look. Visiting journalists said they found no evidence of the bunker or its concealed entrances. But the IDF insists they are simply looking in the wrong place. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-27/idf-bunker-allegations-hezbollah/104516434 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coss Posted October 27 Report Share Posted October 27 jeez - if I wanted to hide vast wealth in the form of gold &c. I wouldn't put it under a hospital, the Israelites know about hospitals, I'd put it under a synagogue or similar, a settler village maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted October 27 Report Share Posted October 27 No gold or cash in those hospitals but plenty of this..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted October 27 Author Report Share Posted October 27 10 hours ago, Coss said: jeez - if I wanted to hide vast wealth in the form of gold &c. I wouldn't put it under a hospital, the Israelites know about hospitals, I'd put it under a synagogue or similar, a settler village maybe. Never heard of a hospital that didn’t have a lot of Jewish doctors working there…or Filipinos…😱 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted October 27 Author Report Share Posted October 27 10 hours ago, bust said: No gold or cash in those hospitals but plenty of this..... Link won’t open… One way to settle some of these claims, send in U.N. Investigators to search and verify if the claim is true or not…worked in Iraq… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted October 28 Report Share Posted October 28 11 hours ago, Old Hippie said: Link won’t open… One way to settle some of these claims, send in U.N. Investigators to search and verify if the claim is true or not…worked in Iraq… Israel claims there's a secret Hezbollah bunker underneath a Beirut hospital. But no-one else can find it By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran, Cherine Yazbeck and Orly Halpern Topic:War Sun 27 OctSunday 27 October The IDF says it has evidence of a bunker containing hundreds of millions of dollars in gold and cash underneath a Beirut hospital. (Supplied: IDF) Link copied When the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) this week claimed that Hezbollah had a secret bunker stuffed with $US500 million ($753 million) in gold and cash under a Beirut hospital, it set off a frenzy of speculation and panic. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari took to his lectern on October 21, armed with what he said were declassified details on the group's finances, including the subterranean treasure chest. It came one month into a war between Hezbollah and Israel, which erupted after a year of cross-border exchanges. Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation in Australia, has been exchanging rocket fire with Israel since the Hamas-led terrorist attack into southern Israel on October 7. Much has been said about Hezbollah's use of subterranean tunnel networks, alleged to help the group carry out its operations away from the threat of Israeli planes and drones flying in the skies above Lebanon. But this message was different, with Rear Admiral Hagari showing a 3D animation of what he said was a facility hidden beneath Al-Sahel Hospital. The hospital's management quickly evacuated the building, fearing a potential air strike, but invited media in Beirut to come and take a look. Visiting journalists said they found no evidence of the bunker or its concealed entrances. But the IDF insists they are simply looking in the wrong place. Here's what we know. What is Israel claiming? Armed with slick animations of the bunker layout, Rear Admiral Hagari said it was used by the former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed three weeks earlier. Amid the IDF's campaign striking branches of the Al-Qard al-Hassan bank, which it said was used by Hezbollah to pay its fighters and buy weapons, Rear Admiral Hagari insisted there was another stash of funds the group had squirrelled away. Israeli air strikes targeted several branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial institution linked to Lebanon's Hezbollah. (Reuters: Aziz Taher) Cash and gold smuggled into the country from Iran, Rear Admiral Hagari said, was hidden across the country — as well as in the capital of Beirut. "Tonight I am going to declassify intelligence on a site that we did not strike, where Hezbollah has millions of dollars in gold and cash — in Hassan Nasrallah's bunker," he said. "Where is the bunker located? Directly under Al-Sahel Hospital, in the heart of Beirut, in the Dahiyeh." Rear Admiral Hagari said the entries and exits to the bunker were in neighbouring buildings, referring to the animation of its layout — even adding a Hezbollah poster on the computer-generated walls. "It contains rooms, beds and infrastructure for long stays, and the ability to direct combat from underground," Rear Admiral Hagari said. "Hezbollah built this bunker directly underneath this hospital. "There are hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold inside the bunker right now," he claimed, as the video showed piles of wads of cash and bars of bullion appeared. The Israeli Air Force was monitoring the site, according to its spokesman, but would "not strike the hospital itself". How did the hospital respond? Al-Sahel Hospital said it was shocked to have been drawn into the fray, inviting journalists to tour the facility and see firsthand what was and was not there. The hospital has denied IDF claims that a secret Hezbollah bunker exists beneath the facility. (Reuters: Mohamed Azakir) One correspondent from German broadcast DW entered the neighbouring buildings in search of the bunker entry and exit. He did not find them, and others who scoured the hospital also failed to find any evidence of the bunker. The hospital said its two underground levels housed kitchens, operating theatres, the morgue, and generators. The Sahel Healthcare Group runs the hospital, and its chairman Fadi Alame said patients had to be evacuated from the facility as fears rose Israel was planning an attack. "They were baseless accusations intended to affect the healthcare services in the area and to close down every single medical facility in the southern suburbs of Beirut," he told the ABC. The IDF has been targeting suburbs such as Dahiyeh, in Beirut's south, because of its closer ties to Hezbollah. "As far as those graphics, they don't even look like the hospital and obviously it's a very big lie." Journalists who took part in the hospital tour say they only found a morgue, operating rooms and generators under the building. (Reuters: Mohamed Azakir) Mr Alame's father founded the hospital, and accused the IDF of trying to target Lebanese healthcare facilities in the same way it had done so in Gaza. "So many hospitals are operating under severe stress, and they're suffering from over capacity due to the closure of so many medical facilities in the south and in Beirut," he said. "That means probably more diseases, maybe more complications affecting the lives and the quality of lives of the people." The IDF stands by its claim The IDF was quick to reject the suggestions it had fabricated the intelligence, pointing the ABC to a series of social media posts from its international spokesperson. Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said there was a reason journalists had not found the entrance to the bunker. "Hezbollah prevented reporters from entering the building with the southern entrance shaft," he posted on X, formerly Twitter. "They are likely blocking and hiding the entrance to the bunker in various ways, possibly by building walls to obscure the entrances to the bunker, which holds half a billion dollars in gold and cash." Lieutenant Colonel Shoshani suggested other media outlets had wasted their time touring the basement of the Al-Sahel hospital because the IDF had never suggested that was where the entrance to the facility was located. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he had "not seen evidence" of the bunker existing. "We'll continue to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to gain better fidelity on exactly what they're looking at," he told reporters in Rome. Why the IDF's claim is being heavily scrutinised Analysts who spoke to the ABC say they believe the reason for such a campaign, even if it cannot be proven, is about eroding trust. "I don't think that people necessarily believe all these claims," David Wood from the International Crisis Group told the ABC. "But if people in these Hezbollah-aligned communities no longer have faith that they'll be able to safely access civilian infrastructure like hospitals, that creates pressure on Hezbollah. "Its appeal is not just based on an ideological narrative of resistance against Israel, but it's also ensuring that if you're in a Hezbollah-aligned community, you will have access to basic essentials." The IDF says journalists failed to find the entrances to the bunker because they were looking in the wrong places. (Reuters: Mohamed Azakir) Trita Parsi, executive vice-president of the Quincy Institute in Washington DC, said the scrutiny being applied to this claim by the IDF was different to others through the course of the war in Gaza. "Unlike Gaza, they do not control who goes in and out of Lebanon," he said. "So access for journalists to be able to verify these claims is much easier in Lebanon than it has been in Gaza. "These statements at this point are no different, and should not be treated any different, from when Trump claims that immigrants have been eating cats and dogs in neighbourhoods in Ohio." He believes that in the long run, Israel would have to care more about being called out for spreading such claims. "If the scrutiny is done, then the pressure will increase, and that will matter to the Israelis," Mr Parsi said. "It is easy for the Israelis not to care about pressure when hardly any pressure actually is exerted. "It's really difficult to point to any clear pressure that has been put on Israel by the United States and certainly not from Europe." Israeli military accusing hospitals of being secret havens isn't new In Gaza, Israel has made similar claims about a number of hospitals. Back in November 2023, Israel said that under Al-Shifa, Gaza's biggest hospital, was Hamas's "central command centre". The unthinkable horrors of a Gaza hospital Photo shows A man crouches on a hospital floor looking at people under silver blankets In Gaza's busiest hospital, doctors do what they can to treat a tidal wave of desperate patients injured in Israeli air strikes. WARNING: Some readers might find the details and images in this story distressing. IDF soldiers who entered the hospital found a few rifles and ammunition, and an investigation by The Washington Post found that the IDF claims held little water. There were underground floors, but no Hamas command centre. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak revealed to CNN that Israel had helped build underground rooms. "It was probably five or four decades ago that we helped [the Palestinians] to build these bunkers in order to enable more space for the operation of the hospital within the very limited size of this compound," he said. Earlier this month, a United Nations commission of inquiry released a report accusing Israel of perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity in a "concerted policy to destroy Gaza's healthcare system". The UN Human Rights Office said Israel's attacks destroyed Gaza health facilities, its soldiers detained and tortured medical personnel, and targeted medical vehicles during its ongoing war against Hamas. Hospitals have protected status according to Article 8 of the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court. The only exception for hospitals is if they commit acts that are "harmful to the enemy", in which case it can be considered a legitimate target. But if there is ever a doubt, the presumption, under international humanitarian law, is that the site is protected. The onus to prove a site has lost its protected status is on the attacker, wrote ICC special prosecutor Kareem Khan in an op-ed in The Guardian. Beirut holds a tale of two cities Photo shows A couple walks past a row of makeshift tens on the waterfront Beirut today is a tale of two cities – the areas being bombed by Israel and those where life carries on nearly like normal. "The burden of demonstrating that this protective status is lost rests with those who fire the gun, the missile, or the rocket in question." Fadi Alame, who is also the chairperson of the Lebanese parliament's foreign relations committee, said discussions were underway about whether the country's health ministry would file lawsuits against Israel alleging war crimes for encouraging and committing strikes against hospitals. "This kind of accusation with [the] intended purpose of shutting down and affecting the healthcare system in Lebanon — this is cheap, this is very cheap, and I will pursue and I will reserve my right for any legal actions in the future." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted November 5 Author Report Share Posted November 5 Guess that’s it? Nothing more in the news ..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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