Yes, yes, you all thought terrorism was about sowing psychological fear among a larger population using minimal resources. You all thought terrorism was about imprinting upon and keeping in the forefront of hearts and minds the ideology of the terror group. You all thought terrorism was vindictiveness run asunder, punishing civilians and using them as targets in order to combat governments and their perceived evil.
Well…yes.
But terrorism is so much more! And thanks to entrenched Palestinian terrorism, after several decades of trying to figure out what they are really about, the Palestinian terrorists have finally figured it out: advertising!
Today, a Qassem rocket landed near a Western Negev kibbutz, one of over 1200 Qassems fired into Israel since the disengagement from Gaza. This rocket, however, was different. It was marked with the words, in Hebrew, “Al Quds.”
Why?
The rocket was fired by Islamic Jihad gunmen [Ed. note: they are terrorists, dear Reuters; they are terrorists targeting civilians, not gunmen]. The group’s spokesman in Gaza, Abu Abdullah, explained to the Reuters news agency that the decision to write the rocket’s name in Hebrew was aimed at ensuring that credit for the attack goes to the appropriate group.
“This is meant at distinguishing between our rockets and rockets fired by other organizations,” he stated.
You heard right! Branding!!
And since this conflict and its ongoing attacks are heavily televised and covered by the media, we can also call this a form of Product Placement.
Oh my gosh! Think of the possibilities! You want to fly a plane into a skyscraper? Paint its sides with the logo of your choice. You want to blow yourself up on a crowded street? Lots of those who’ve tried have been decapitated in the process, so tattoo your forehead. The publicity is free and worth millions.
In fact, why stop there? Why not sell your services to corporations? You think that explosives manufacturer wants to remain unknown while you garner all the credit for killing yourself and lots of innocents? Think again! They will pay and pay well to have all this publicity. Maybe some important Saudi minister wants to gain some publicity? How about a ruthless dictator looking to show his people he really likes dead Jews? Hmmm…maybe Jewish blogs can buy space…
In fact, now that I think about it, why not sell sponsorships? “This attack on an IDF outpost has been brought to you by XYZ Financial Brokerage…we know how to dig deep for information, find the light at the end of the tunnel and bring you results that’ll knock you dead and that keep on paying dividends for months and years.”
The future is here today.
Now we just need some ad salespeople.
(enterprising photoshoppers, please enter “Jewlicious” on the rocket in the photo)
The Raccoon
10/17/2006
lol
“Rockets’R'Us”
“Hamas – for all your genocide needs!”
“Hizballah – our products come with complimentary 72 virgins!”
Or the NorK one, to be put on the nukes:
“North Korea – one-stop shopping for your terror needs!”
Jameel @ The Muqata
10/17/2006
Actually — till today, branding was very important. You see, Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced today at the Foreign Defense committee, that “The period has ended in which we examine the shipping invoice of every rocket that hits Israel. From now on, we will attack all of them…”
What this means in plain English, is that the IDF had official orders not to shoot at Fatah terrorists who were shooting rockets at Israel…only Hamas terrorists. Hence the importance of knowing who was shooting which rocket. After all, there are good terrorists, and better terrorists…and Israel thinks the PA Fatah terrorists are not such a bad group of rocket launching thugs. Fatah good, Hamas bad.
themiddle
10/17/2006
If you can read the label, it means you missed the terrorists. I’d be surprised if they were actually allowing Fatah to fire because of their goal of weakening only Hamas.
Shy Guy
10/17/2006
And of all people, you’d expect former Histadrut workers union leader Peretz to be seething at the sight of Kassams with no union label on them!