Talk:Qassam rocket

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Bias

The bias in the second sentence below can hardly be doubted:

"In the course of these bombardments, which in some cases lasted hours at a time, dozens of shells were launched. The IDF has ensured the fire is very accurate and never aimed at populated areas, in order to refrain from hurting uninvolved Palestinian civilians."

Are we talking about the same Gaza? It's the most densely populated strip of land on Earth. Of course the IDF kills uninvolved civilians. What kind of bubble do you have to live in to not notice that?

Well if we are looking at facts, then you should know that a large part of the strip used to be part of Israeli settlements which are uninhabited now. Plus there are LOTS of open areas. The militants fire the rockets mostly from these areas because they are closer to the borders with Israel, whiich would make the rockets go deeper into Israel. So when the navy fired, it fired at those areas. --Spoil29

6000 Kassam rockets on Gush Katif

One fact that your article fails to notice is that at the date of the so called "unilateral withdrawal in 2005 of Israeli forces and civilians from the Gaza Strip" 6000 Kassam rockets had been fired on the Gush Katif area, about one rocket for each civilian living there. " —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.64.139.222 (talk • contribs) .

The regularly quoted 6000 actually includes mostly mortar. Long range kassams were not needed by the terrorists to hit Israeli civilian towns in Gush Katif. --Shuki 20:40, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

in the west banks fears section

in the west bank fears section, it's mentioned that someone "murdered" two Israeli soldiers. I'm sure some people on here would say that's a fair statement, and so would I, if they're willing to accept Israeli soldiers "murdering" Palestinian militants, as they are called. Speaking of which, aren't all combatants technically militants? why award the legitimate status of "soldier" to fighters of one side and not to the other?

When the Palestinians adopt a military uniform and declare war against Israel then and only then should their terrorist actions against the IDF be considered an act or war rather than murder. Their terrorist acts against civillians will never be acceptable under the laws of war. When the IDF fires at terrorists in self-defense, even if pre-emptive, that is not murder. Get it? --138.162.0.43 20:37, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

The post made here by 138.162.0.43:

(...)"When the IDF fires at terrorists in self-defense, even if pre-emptive, that is not murder. Get it?"

is an opinion. It's not what this site should be about. Armed forces in other countries are soldiers at war. They can by international law be called murderers by killing non-combatants. Fighting armed forces invading is not murder but whether you recognize Palestine as a state or not makes a technical difference if a bit far-fetched (the State of Israel does not). Referring to IDF soldiers being killed by palestinians in the occupied territories as being "murdered" is a biased point of view. As is referring to palestinians fighting IDF in the occupied territories as "terrorists". A neutral (if possible) point of view on this conflict will consider the occupied territories to in fact be occupied and not belonging to the state of Israel. 22:24, 16. August 2008

About the killing of civilians by IDF artillery fire: it is a well-documented phenomena, treated by such radical anti-Semitic terrorists as the International Committee of the Red Cross and many of the numerous international aid organizations operating within the occupied territories. That includes some Israeli organizations (or "self-hating Jews," for those of you who'd prefer). Google it.

What is also well documented is terrorists disguising themselves as civilians and hiding among Palestinian civilians to use them as human shields. Unlike Palestinian terrorist actions against Israelis, what is not documented at all is the deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians by the IDF. Understand? --138.162.0.43 20:37, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

npov

this article could have a little more info about the qassam itself -- how it is made, how powerful it is, how accurate, who designed it, where it is constructed, how do these palestinians get the explosives to make them, etc. beyond that, for the uninformed, could we know us what is actually in range of these rockets? who gave these rockets the name qassam 1, 2, 3? do the palestinians have a procurmenet budget with line items with these names? i personally find it hard to believe that palestinians can manufacture effective long-range rockets.

the npov part of this whole thing is the lengthy section on notable qassam attacks with no context. some of the casualty reports make it hard to keep a straight face...such as the one where eight people went into shock, including four children. maybe we could shoot for a summary that includes the number of rockets fired (maybe a graph with # per month) and the number of people injured and killed by the rockets, and a the number of total people killed on both sides for a little context.

I agree, Other sections on military weapons do not give details of all the people killed and wounded by them. Make this an article on the rocket, start another article if you must giving details of all the attacks on civilans by rockets, bombs and missiles in Isreali-Arab conflicts.

Herne nz 09:30, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Other military weapons are not targeted nearly exclusively on a civilian population as the Qassam is. As such those they kill are an unfortunate fact of war. --138.162.5.9 20:42, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Justforasecond 16:43, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree that the "List of notable Qassam attacks" section suggests POV - it does read like sensational headlines without real context. On the other hand, the "Casualties in proportion" section smacks of the opposite POV. A discussion of proportionate casualties seems like a good idea. However, Norman Finkelstein obviously has a strong POV - so, including this lengthy quote without any analysis or balance adds too much bias to a relatively short article.

Casualties in proportion is indeed POV as it treats the deaths of Israeli civilians as equivalent to the deaths of Palestinian terrorists. There is no attempt to break down how many among the 80 were Palestinian civialians and how many of those were deliberately targeted by the IDF as the Palestinians have directly targeted Israeli civilians. As such the treatment isn't proportional at all. --138.162.5.9 20:48, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

I think Justforasecond is on the right track. I suggest these two sections be merged - perhaps some kind of analysis of the monthly deaths and injuries resulting from the rockets, with a comparison to the monthly deaths and injuries incurred in the larger conflict. I think this would provide encyclopedic and NPOV data while helping to define the relative significance of the rocket attacks within the larger struggle.--Qball6 02:14, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Removing the lists to List of Qassam rocket attacks was easy. Removing the other material will require some more work. Sorry if that left it out of balance, but more material has to go anyway. The basic history of this weapon's use can belong here, but the discussion of proportion and morality belongs in a history article. —Michael Z. 2006-07-25 02:09 Z

Agreed. Discussions of that sort belong somewhere in the Arab-Israeli conflict series, not on a page like this. Obviously there should be a link to the discussion and maybe a couple lines but not more. This is a page about a weapon, not about the ethics and moralities of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. nadav 07:22, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

I believe that my recent edit thoroughly de-POVs the article, although the content I removed may need further de-POVing if it is to be used in an article on the history of Palestinian rocket attacks. If there are no objections, I will remove the tag a week from now. Balancer 09:10, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm a wiki noob, i hope i don't accidently fuck something up here. Just wanted to say that this article definetly should include the purpose of the rocket, which is not military in nature but more of a strategic terror weapon(not unlike V1/V2). It has neither the precision nor the possibility to saturate a target which definitly means there's no military use for it.

Crap.

This article really needs to be restarted, I came here looking for technical information on the rocket itself and what do I get? Tons of arguing about the morality of these things from each side trying to push their respective agendas. EiZei 12:27, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

I concur w/ EiZei. -- Szvest 14:52, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree. I think it is important to describe civilian casualties caused by rockets, missiles and bombs in the Middle East conflict, but this is not the right page for it. Adding death counts to this page is biased, as it will only cover deaths caused by the Qassan, and this is not balanced by the deaths of civilians caused by other types of missiles fired at civilian areas.

I say - cut this page down to what is expected of an article on military hardware. Transfer all the good work to another page called say "War on Civilians in the Middle East", link this article to it, and cover attacks on civilians in the Middle East, regardless of race or religion.

Herne nz 23:27, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

I disagree. Those who want to cut this article down to a dry list of measurements and capabilities seem to want to minimize the terror and destruction that this missile is used for. This is not just a regular military armament like the frog or the fajr which were developed mainly to be used against military targets. In contrast, the kassam rocket is used primarlily and virtually only to attack civilian locations. --Shuki 19:16, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

I do not want to minimize the terror and destruction that this missiles is used for but I do want to see a even-handed coverage of this topic.

If you can direct me to the page that covers the terror and destr

uction caused by missiles travelling across the border the other way, or another page on a military weapon which goes into as much detail on casualties as compared to facts about the rocket as this one does, I would be happy to leave this page as is.

Perhaps you could start your search on missiles by looking up what Wikiedia already covers on the German V1 and V2.Herne nz 07:45, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

This article has gone way over the top with the detailed lists of casualties' names and incidents. —Michael Z. 2006-07-24 09:01 Z

I agree. I would expect Kassam_Rocket article to be about the rocket, the technical details about the rocket (and possibly about the launchers used to launch them). A mention of it being used in the current Israel Palestine conflict is on order and then one could create a page Kassam Rocket Attacks, or some such for describing its use in the current conflict. If I come to Kassam Rocket page, I expect that I will find the technical details. This is wikipedia, and I and many others come here to check on actual facts. Like how far can they be propelled, what kind of launcher equipemnt one needs to use them, etc. These are valuable for anybody trying to understand what's happening within the conflict beyong rethoric. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.142.250.185 (talk • contribs)

It is not about minimizing or maximizing the "terror and destruction" as there's no single missile on earth that is used for the sake of peace. All missiles are for terror and destruction. We are talking here about the technicalities. If you mean that the missiles dropped over Lebanon and the Occupied territories are softer or that they never target civilians than all the above is pure crap and biased. -- Szvest 09:11, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

There is a difference between the employment of ordnance dropped on military forces, and that used to destroy a country's military or civilian infrastructure, and that fired randomly into populated areas. The fact that this weapon has been mainly employed a certain way, that it was built for that purpose may be relevant to mention here.

A discussion of the morality, however, probably belongs in an article about the particular conflict or about unconventional warfare. A list of names of casualties or a "list of notable Qassam attacks" isn't encyclopedic, and probably belongs on someone's political weblog. Let's start cleaning this article up. —Michael Z. 2006-07-25 01:26 Z

I've removed the list of attacks to List of Qassam rocket attacks. —Michael Z. 2006-07-25 01:35 Z

Kudos for taking the bull by the horns! Moving the list was a good start. I decided to be similarly bold. There was really only one piece of real information in the "Casualties" section - i.e. that 13 people had been killed by Qassam attacks. So, I moved this item to the history section; it doesn't make any sense to have a separate section for just one fact and a couple of barely related reaction opinions. I also removed the Norman Finkelstein quote - I never understood why it was there and no-one seemed to be defending it. In fact, it contradicted the other text in that section - the former "Casualty" section said there were 13 deaths, while the Finkelstein quote said 8. Finally, I moved the Peres reference to reaction, where it seems more appropriate. However, I would not object if there were a consensus to remove it altogether.--Qball6 03:21, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

It still leaves this article very different from articles on other weapons and creates new problems. An article called List of Qassam rocket attacks could really be called List of rocket attacks by Palestineans on Israelis because that is who fires them and who are harmed by them. Missing are the rocket and bombing attacks on civilians by the other side in this conflict, and this means the article does not have a neutral point of view. Other weapons used in this conflict such as the Apache Helicopter or the Merkava tank do not cover the civilian death toll they have caused. Why do we apply a different standard for this weapon? And where is the article on List of Apache Helicoper rocket attacks?

I believe the place to put all these attacks is on the Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 2005 page, and make this strictly a technical page. Herne nz 08:16, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Disagree. This weapon, as well as the katyusha used in the 2006 Isr-Leb conflict, is distinguished since it is specifically used to terrorize a civilian population. It is not a regular weapon used in an exchange of military hostilities. Frankly, it is special since it is not like all other mass produced weapons either. The purpose of the Qassam is also defiitely not micro/tactical, but rather macro/strategic. --Shuki 17:57, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

People are looking for facts when they open an encyclopedia. Having something here "to show the terror" would be like having a line saying "the atom bomb is a terrible-terrible weapon" at Nuclear weapon, or that "Stalin was a doody-head" at Communism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.68.184.43 (talk • contribs)

Please see Terrorism in wikitionary. The nuclear bomb was also a strategic weapon, but it wasn't merely fired at will a few thousand times at specific civilian targets. The facts are plain and simple here. The use of the Qassam is specifically to kill Jewish civilians. This is not a defensive weapon since it isn't aimed at Israeli military targets which are active in Gaza and few of the thousands of rocket launches were actually fired at military targets. --Shuki 23:46, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

You clearly have an axe to grind. It's a weapon, therefore this section should describe it as such. It's not part of the conflict anymore than Israeli tanks, Molotov cocktails or even stones are. This is a red herring, and a pretty destructive at that.

Following your POV (!!!), one could have the sentence "These glorious weapons are great tools against the zionist occupation". Not that I identify with that sentiment, just that what you're preaching is that this encyclopedia should identify with one side of the conflict.

Determining the focus of an article on a weapon by the morality of its use is the definition of POV. Ashmoo 06:47, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Shuki et al Aren't all weapons instruments of terror designed to frighten citizens? Therefore the targets and casualties caused by the Qassam creates an aire of bias. One more question. In article about swords, would you put in there the use of swords against people in the Sudan and how many casualties? You might, but that discussion belongs somewhere else. There are a few other things wrong with this article, but all having to do with not staying on the topic of Qassams. Please fix this article! al 20:47, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

Jeez oh man! People! I came to read about the weapon, found little out, and then come here to find out why. the reason is exactly what I thught it would be - Hazbarah at it again. What the hell does the word Qasam meen? Can we have that in the article at least. Why is there an article about a divice witha on-english name and we don't even have a translation? We all know why.

Ths is what's ruining wikipedia. People using it for their POV pushing. "The use of the Qassam is specifically to kill Jewish civilians." What? A lot of them hit Flatbush lately? And they have special guidance so they miss Thai workers, Israeli Arabs, Russian Christian, Maronite monks or any of the other types of people on the other side of the Gaza border?

The rocket is as accurate as it can be made, and it is used in the same way any innacurate rocket of it's type can be used. Point in a direction and fire. Can we please have an article about why that is, what its targeting is like, its payload, where its made and leave the whiny BS out of this article. I'd like to know what the word meens for starters. If someone tranlsates the word, then we can put in the word "antisemitism" and "holocaust" 52 times somewhere in the article to appease the usual suspects. 79.177.238.63 (talk) 12:20, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

"What the hell does the word Qasam meen? Can we have that in the article at least." Its in the article;

Qassam rockets are named after the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas, itself named after an Islamic Mojahed and fighter Izz ad-Din al-Qassam who led a Palestinian fighters group during the 1930s.

all your other questions are answered also. ^{(Hypnosadist)} 17:11, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

Rocket attacks or Qassam

This article needs to decide if it is about the Qassam rocket or Palestinian use of rockets' in general. Multiple mentions are made of other rockets such as the Gladrocket and the Katyusha which seem to have no connection to the Qassam except that they are rockets and used by the Palestinians. Ashmoo 06:45, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

This, in turn, is what is giving this article NPOV problems. An article simply titled "Qassam Rocket" should, like most other articles on bits of military hardware, concentrate on the device itself; who madeit, what its specifications are, how many are produced, when the various models came out, etc. Balancer 08:48, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Clipped material

In order to fix this article up, I've clipped a large amount of material that may be useful in writing an article on the general history of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. Given the amount of material, it seems like this could be a notable subject. Balancer 09:04, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Large numbers of rockets began landing in the Western Negev in March of 2006: 49 in March, 64 in April, 46 in May, and over 83 by the end of June. This prompted protests and a demonstration in the town of Sderot, which has been a major target.

Israeli cities and towns have been the main target of Qassams. In some areas, such as Sderot and some Israeli settlements in Gaza, shelling occurred frequently. They usually land in open areas, but Qassam rockets have killed 6 to 8 Israelis, three foreign workers and some Palestinians to date. The first fatalities caused by a Qassam occurred on September 29, 2004. A rocket fell in the town of Sderot, killing Dorit Benisian, aged 2 and Yuval Abebeh, 4.

In August 2003, a Qassam traveled five miles from the Gaza Strip into Israel and landed near Ashkelon. Another rocket landed near Ashkelon on December 15, 2005, and rockets have hit near the city on several subsequent occasions. On June 29, 2006 a dud rocket landed in a neighborhood of Ashkelon for the first time. Ashkelon is the farthest city from Gaza to have been struck by the rockets. The city provides numerous attractive targets besides its civilian population. Defined as 'national infrastructure' installations, the Rottenberg Power Station and the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline have both been hit a few times causing minor damage.

Other Israeli communities in the Negev to have been hit by Qassam rockets include Or HaNer, Nirim, and Nahal Oz.

On December 26, 2005, the military wing of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed it possessed BM-21 Gradrockets with a range of twenty-five kilometers (about 15 mi), and that it could hit southern Israel communities previously immune to rocket threat. The group claimed, however, that it will not launch the rockets unless the IDF attacks the Gaza Strip or assassinates one of their leaders.

Despite the Qassam's meager characteristics as a rocket, its use shocked the Israeli army and public, who were used to the Palestinians lacking any method of long-range military weaponry. Many civilian leaders and politicians even ridiculed the idea. Hezbollah, in contrast, has long shelled Israel from Lebanon using Katyusha rockets, hitting cities as well as farms and military targets in the sparsely populated northern border zone.

Shimon Peres claimed that Israel can afford to ignore Qassam fire. "This hysteria over the Qassams must end," he told journalists at the Knesset. "We're just adding to the hysteria. What happened? Kiryat Shmona was shelled for years. What, there weren't missiles?" Right wing Israelis counter that Israel cannot permit militants to continually impinge its sovereignty and security with impunity.

Most of the launches prior to 2006 were carried out by Hamas from the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. Following Hamas's victory in Palestinian elections, other groups such as Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade have launched Qassams as well.

In November 2005, the press reported that the Israel Defense Forces would be purchasing Skyshield, a Swiss-designed rapid fire anti-aircraft defense system specifically to counter any future Qassam attacks. However in January 2006 Director-general of the Ministry of Defense, Yaakov Toran, said "We can’t invest millions in protection – that would be a strategic mistake. We need minimal protective solutions for vulnerable positions. ... we need to remember that Qassams are more a psychological than physical threat."

Israel has tried to stop the development and manufacture of such rockets by extensive crackdowns on launchers, including assassinations, and by the destruction of facilities (such as metal shops) which are, or could be used for their construction. It has also destroyed the family homes of many Palestinians involved in the construction or firing of rockets.

Qassam launches have also been the catalyst for a number of large-scale Israeli raids on Gaza, such as Operation Days of Penitence in October 2004. Operation Summer Rains, begun June 27 2006, was triggered by the abduction of Cpl Gilad Shalit from an Israeli outpost, but it also reflected pressure on the Israel government and IDF to stop the Qassams.

Israeli Naval Response

On March 29, 2006, Israeli Sea Corps (Israeli Navy) vessels shelled rocket launching sites in the Gaza Strip for the first time. The ISC directed artillery shells at areas in Gaza used by rocket launching cells, mostly in the northern part of the Strip, in a bid to deter militant cells from operating there.

In the course of these bombardments, which in some cases lasted hours at a time, dozens of shells were launched. Israel has claimed the fire is very accurate and never aimed at populated areas, in order to prevent Palestinian civilian casualties.

West Bank Fears

A particular concern for the Israelis is the development of longer-range Qassam missiles that, if fielded by Hamas in the West Bank, could be used to strike at the cities in the country's coastal heartland. Numerous attempts have been made to transfer the production of the rockets to the West Bank, but most have failed, as there has only been one rocket attack from that region.

On December 11, 2005, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed to have fired a Qassam rocket from the West Bank at Israeli civilian targets. However, Israeli officials denied such a launch took place, saying the claim was either a lie or the rocket malfunctioned. Three days later, on December 14, an Israeli operation in the West Bank town of Nablus uncovered explosive labs which were producing Qassam rockets. In January 2006, however, Israel reported that a Qassam had indeed been launched from the West Bank.

On April 9, 2006, members of the elite Duvdevan Battalion, which specializes in undercover operations, killed Tanzim fugitive Jabar Akhras in Bethlehem, after he opened fire on them during an arrest operation. Akhras personally killed two Israeli soldiers on November 18, 2003, and Israel said he had been the leading figure in attempting to build Qassams in the West Bank.

On July 9, 2006, a Palestinian attack attempt to fire an improvised rocket from the Tulkarem area failed. Several Palestinian sources boasted during the weekend that they "managed" to launch a rocket, but it turned out that the attempt failed completely.

On July 11, 2006, for the second time in past few days Palestinian militants attempted to launch a rocket from northern West Bank into Israel. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and The Al-Quds brigades claimed they succeeded in launching a rocket from the West Bank town of Jenin into Israel. IDF officials have denied any knowledge regarding the rocket launch attempt, saying that if one took place the rocket may not have reached the lift-off stage.

Katyusha Fears

On March 28, 2006, Islamic Jihad fired a 122mm (4.8") calibre Katyusha rocket (2.8 meters or 9 ft long, weighing 66 kilograms or about 150 lb) and carrying a 17-kilogram (38 lb) warhead; see BM-21), a much longer-range projectile than the Qassam, from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Katyushas have never before been fired from the Palestinian controlled areas. It is believed that it was orchestrated by Hezbollah, since they are known to use these rockets in northern Israel. Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Abdullah claimed that hundreds of these rockets were smuggled into the Gaza Strip by ship across the Gaza-Egypt border from Sinai. Israeli officials downplayed Islamic Jihad's announcement and said the militant group was in possession of only "a small amount" of Katyushas.

Here's more:

• "Disengaged Occupiers: The Legal Status of Gaza" (PDF). Gisha: Legal Center for Freedom of Movement [1]. January 2007. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
• "The scope of Israeli control in the Gaza Strip". B'Tselem. Retrieved 2007-06-04.

Thanks to Doron for wikifying the references, but we shouldn't have a discussion about the extent of current Israeli control on this entry. I've tried to rewrite the paragraph in question to take no position on the issue, instead just stating the most uncontroversial parts, and focusing on how Israeli control relates to the tactical considerations for the rocket. Tewfik^Talk 04:18, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Well done.--Doron 05:10, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

In the article it is stated that both Katyusha and Grad are general terms for artillery rockets. I removed Grad is the name of a very specific rocket (the 122mm one fired by BM-21 launchers) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.56.90.0 (talk) 12:58, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

Casualties

I've added the number of dead and a ballpark for attacks in the lead. If people have a problem with that, I'm open to discussion. I'd also add that I am open to changing the source, since the number originally in the text was uncited. I know that Seale has had trouble in the past with the numbers, but he's still being printed in a reliable source. However, I'd like another reference - preferably not one from a partisan source - if possible. --Relata refero (disp.) 15:24, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Neutrality of this article is disputed

I think the netruality of this article is seriuosly disputed. Either a tag should be put on it or extensively edited. I honestly doubt that it confers to the standarts of wikipedia that is observed and enforced in other articles. Which in my humble opinion serves a purpose. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.175.51.198 (talk) 11:04, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

Expertise? More like expertise in lying

"Qassams are sometimes referred to as "homemade" or "primitive", but require "both expertise and dedicated locations to manufacture"." is a quite dubious statement.. I mean, the rockets are obviously made out of the poles from road signs and similar.. Packed with a nitrate and sugar charge as propellant, and then some homemade urea nitrate, smuggled TNT and detononator fitted at the top.. Expertise required to make something like that? Please.. this is nothing but propaganda aimed at making it look like the palestinans have this "horrible weapon" and these "advanced manufacturing plants" to make it. Anyone with the slightest understanding of chemistry and mechanics could make one of these in their living room, only part that's hard to get is the TNT and the detonator and that is most surely smuggled in.

The so called "source" of this nonsense is "honestreporting.com" btw.. A well-known Israeli propaganda page.. So it's nothing but propaganda and so doesn't belong in an encylopedia. I'm going to remove it.