Re: [Starlink] "Interesting set of developments with Starlink. Musk says they will support "international aid orgs" in Gaza, Israel now says they will use "all available means" to stop SpaceX from doing so.

[Daniel AJ Sokolov <daniel@falco.ca>]

On 2023-10-29 at 09:26, Dave Taht via Starlink wrote:
> I think that the internet should stay up, connecting people to people,
> through all the conflicts we may ever have.

Indeed, if the internet had stayed up, Israel and Gaza would not be in 
the situation they are today.

The first thing the Hamas attacked were not people, or bridges, but the 
communication infrastructure of the villages. That enabled the Hamas to 
kill some 1400 people, mostly civilians, and take hundreds of hostages, 
mostly civilians, in a few hours. Without communications, the IDF was 
deaf and blind.

(Why did they not have or use analogue radios?)

However, if we could create an international rule to not disable 
communications, and then get terrorist groups like the Hamas to obey it, 
we could probably prevent terrorist groups like the Hamas from targeting 
civilians, taking civilians as hostages, using hospitals and schools as 
shields, etc. All of that is already outlawed.

So don't hold your breath. Communications will generally be one of the 
first targets in any armed conflict. It has been like that for a very 
long time.

There is an irony in this: Wasn't the internet a military project meant 
to survive armageddon?

BR
Daniel AJ