Suit Claims Al-Jazeera Intentionally Helped Hezbollah Fire Rockets Into Israel

Reported in The New York Post:

Missile suit vs. Jazeera

Dozens of people injured by Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israel sued al-Jazeera news outlet yesterday for allegedly helping the terrorists aim their deadly missiles.

The Manhattan federal court suit -- which seeks $1.2 billion in damages -- says al-Jazeera journalists "repeatedly and intentionally" transmitted "real-time audiovisual footage" of bomb strikes in the Holy Land during July and August of 2006.

Broadcasts of the "precise impact locations" on the Arab-language satellite network allegedly allowed Hezbollah fighters to adjust the direction and trajectory of their crude projectiles, which lacked any internal guidance systems.

"On several occasions, al-Jazeera personnel in Israel were caught red-handed making such recordings and transmissions, and were arrested by Israeli authorities for violating censorship rules," court papers say.

Of course, this is not something completely new--in the past, members of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade admitted to using Google Earth to target Israelis:

Israel’s fears in regards to Google Earth’s satellite imaging tools have come to fruition. Members of Palestine’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a group aligned with the Fatah political party, has admitted to using Google Earth for mapping targets for rocket strikes. Khaled Jaabari, the group’s commander, has said that they are using Google Earth images to check details against their own maps in order to find sensitive areas that are vulnerable to strikes.

As Israel already expressed concern about the updated Google Earth images, and Google Earth also faced criticism when al-Qaida used Google Earth for similar purposes, the admittance from the Palestinian militants may spur more aggressive discussions for not only Israel but privacy groups overall.

The actions of Al-Jazeera, if proven true, are even more flagrant.
I suppose we will be treated to a lecture from the journalists on freedom of the press.

Coming from the Middle East where journalists are bullied and suppressed by Arab despots with little world attention, that should be interesting.

Technorati Tag: Al-Jazeera and Hezbollah and Google Earth.