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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Medics condemn Gaza sonic booms
2005-11-03
Doctors' groups have filed a petition at the Israeli Supreme Court seeking to halt air force jets from breaking the sound barrier over the Gaza Strip. The UN says the tactic is an abuse of human rights, causing widespread fear especially among children, and medics say it induces miscarriages. The sonic booms from Israeli jets are designed to be a show of force to militant groups, correspondents say. Israel evacuated its settlers and troops from Gaza earlier this year. However, the Jewish state continues to control the territory's airspace, coastline and borders. It has also continued to carry out air raids against what it says are militant targets.

The joint Israeli-Palestinian petition filed in the Supreme Court by the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel says that according to international law, "the booms are collective punishment against the civilian population and thus illegal".
What about the "booms" on Israeli buses?
The head of the Gaza group, Dr Eyad Sarraj, a psychiatrist, has said that the sonic booms are having serious effects on children in Gaza, including anxiety, panic, fear, poor concentration and low academic success. He also reports that the number of miscarriages among pregnant women increase during periods of frequent sonic booms.

The United Nations spokesman in Gaza, Khaled Abdul Shafi, said: "We at the United Nations have already submitted a letter of protest to the Israeli government urging them to stop... the sonic booming and the air raids immediately, because we simply think that this is a violation of basic human rights, especially rights of children to live in peace and to be educated in peace." The Israeli military declined to comment.
I think I'll decline to give a f**k as well
"Because the subject is before the Supreme Court, the response will be given in that framework," the army spokesman's office said.
Posted by:Steve

#14  Wha'd you say?

Somebody set us up the bomb.
Posted by: Phil   2005-11-03 18:25  

#13  Wha'd you say?
Posted by: Jiger Omemp7875   2005-11-03 16:49  

#12  Sonic booms were only a minor problem when I was stationed at Shaw AFB. Having F-16s come directly over my house (base housing) on final was much worse. The real noise problems I had were when the F-111s would visit RAF Alconbury, and warm up their engines 40 FEET from the "temporary" building (built in 1942) I worked in. That caused a large part of my tinnitus problem.

If they don't like 'em at 100 feet, drop down to 50, and fly in formation. If they want 'em to stop, stop the a$$holes from firing Kassam rockets into Israel. Simple, no? If Israel REALLY wanted to get nasty with the paleos, we could always "lend" them a couple of AC-130's for a month or two...
Posted by: Old Patriot   2005-11-03 16:48  

#11  I condemn the sonic booms, too.

Real bombs are much more effective in the long (and short) run.

Anybody know how many bunker-busters or MOABs it would take to turn Gaza into the world's largest swimming pool? I'm sure we could lend them to the Israelis. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-11-03 15:20  

#10  Medics condemn Gaza sonic booms

Be glad they're just "sonic."
Posted by: Zenster   2005-11-03 14:08  

#9  when i was in Israel years ago, sonic booms were routine. Its a small country, not much room for a patrolling fighter.

Color me unimpressed by this "issue"
Posted by: liberalhawk   2005-11-03 12:59  

#8  medics say it induces miscarriages.

... thats certainly a first-order prognostical stretch. More likely coitus interruptus...which is a defensible goal I'd say. And I thought all this time the little buggers, unlike laying hens, actually enjoyed loud noises and clatter.
Posted by: Besoeker   2005-11-03 11:33  

#7  Doctors' groups have filed a petition at the Israeli Supreme Court seeking to halt air force jets from breaking the sound barrier over the Gaza Strip. The UN says the tactic is an abuse of human rights, causing widespread fear especially among children, and medics say it induces miscarriages.

Not a problem. Send in the IDF to clear Gaza of its "militants", and any reason to induce sonic booms is gone.

Simple, no?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-11-03 10:58  

#6  What a load of crap ,I lived near Fort Carson Army base and airforce academy and heard sonic booms all the time at low altitudes, it shook windows alot, but other than that I am alright :)
Posted by: djohn66   2005-11-03 10:44  

#5  pacifist lefty "physicians" whining about something they should STFU about.

How about "Engineers against Kabuki"? Same moral standing
Posted by: Frank G   2005-11-03 09:51  

#4  As a kid in the 50's we loved sonic booms. But hey weren't done at 500 feet. Has anyone heard of windows being shattered or is these just a boom from 10 angels? Are the booms inaudible in Israel because it has installed the Halliburton Sonic Boom Fence?
Posted by: Snuling Ebbains7645   2005-11-03 09:33  

#3  Sorry. We had no idea.
We'll drop bombs instead.
Posted by: IAF   2005-11-03 09:24  

#2  What about the "booms" on Israeli buses?

"Human rights" groups are all for those. Legitimate resistance against oppression, dontchaknow.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-11-03 09:17  

#1  I have never heard such a brutal and shocking injustice that I cared so little about. -- Capt. Zap Brannigan
Posted by: SteveS   2005-11-03 09:09  

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