Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

541–550 of 693 posts

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#541

Post by kesor »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #445
jussij wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Israel can get all the detailed imagery it needs by just launching a reconnaissance aircraft or drone. So on that basis I would say it only stops the Palestinians from getting imagery of the area. Now considering the fact Palestine only has rockets and not missiles, I doubt that imagery is of much value to them. Call me cynical, but I suspect the more important reason to keep these images blurred might be to stop the…

There was a post about this last week where someone said the reason is to prevent the widespread confirmation of Israels nuclear program. Everybody knows they have nukes, but officially the US denies knowing. These images would provide fairly strong evidence of Israel's capabilities, hell Israel has spent years trying to claim satellite images of Iran prove they have a nuclear program.

here you go, all the nukes are right in here - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Negev+Nuclear+Research+Cen...

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#542

Post by modo_mario »

belorn wrote: post #466
jussij wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Israel can get all the detailed imagery it needs by just launching a reconnaissance aircraft or drone. So on that basis I would say it only stops the Palestinians from getting imagery of the area. Now considering the fact Palestine only has rockets and not missiles, I doubt that imagery is of much value to them. Call me cynical, but I suspect the more important reason to keep these images blurred might be to stop the…

It would surprise me a lot if there were no people inside both Israel and Palestinians that has the resources and international connections to buy high resolution imagery or simply direct access to satellites. Given a few millions in capital and a few shell companies, finding a commercial entity willing to lend access to a satellite for a few hours seems likely, unless control over satellites are much more militarize…

>finding a commercial entity willing to lend access to a satellite for a few hours

The vast majority of satellites aren't made for this kind of mapping as far as I know. Of the ones that are most aren't private commercial projects. Wikipedia lists 6 such projects and i doubt their time is cheap enough to make it worthwile for Palestinian resistance. Israel is another matter but they'd probably just knock on the US door for those.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#543

Post by roelschroeven »

LeoNatan25 wrote: post #479
deanCommie wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But more Palestenian lives are being lost. Purely from a numbers perspective if you put aside all other variables or blame, wouldn't that explain why one side is being criticized extra right now?

How about criticizing Hamas, a terrorist organization, for shooting rockets at civilian populations of a country with one of the most advanced armies of the world? How about criticizing Hamas for shooting these rockets from civilian centers? Seems like the media is willfully ignorant here. Then you have nonsense like: https://www.vox.com/2014/7/17/5912189/yes-gaza-militants-hid... Clearly this smells foul.

How about criticizing both Hamas and Israel for shooting rockets at civilians? Blame can go both ways.

On top of that, many people, me included, criticize Israel for illegally occupying Palestinian territory, stealing houses from Arab Israels, and generally treating Palestinians as second-rate citizens and worse. There's simply no excuse for that.

Imagine yourself in a situation like that. Whatever you do, whoever you complain to, the situation only gets worse. You're helpless against enormous injustice. While I don't condone violence, I do understand why people resort to violence when everything else fails.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#544

Post by wombatmobile »

zwog wrote: post #529
wombatmobile wrote: post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious how Palestinian people live. I’d like to see the condition of their dwellings, infrastructure and resources eg water, roads, rail, ports, public spaces. I just want to get a feel for the place, like I can almost everywhere else. How can I do that?

Street View is available in the West Bank area, for example in Ramallah and Jericho

How would Gaza compare with Ramallah and Jericho?

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#545

Post by wombatmobile »

oldnews193 wrote: post #516
wombatmobile wrote: post #509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious how Palestinian people live. I’d like to see the condition of their dwellings, infrastructure and resources eg water, roads, rail, ports, public spaces. I just want to get a feel for the place, like I can almost everywhere else. How can I do that?

Come and visit. As far as I understand, foreigners do not have much trouble visiting the West Bank.

Tourism in the State of Palestine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_the_State_of_Palest...

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#546

Post by hereme888 »

hellbannedguy wrote: post #478
betterunix2 wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have learned to demand a very high standard of evidence for conspiracy theories, so...let's see the evidence that there is some conspiracy between Google and Israel to hide what is happening there. For that matter, I am not even sure what you think Israel is hiding -- Netanyahu is not at all shy about settlements, the IDF calls people up to tell them when a bomb is going to be dropped on their building, and there a…

We don't have any evidence. We do know that Israel has launched 1000 to 1500 missiles up until 10 pm pacific time. Netanyahu has been blatant over taking back "theiir" land lately. Netanyahu is in a very close political race. I won't say what I thinking though out of respect for the rules.

They launched missiles in response to the thousand rockets that terrorist Hamas launched against their civilians.

Don't be posting such a biased, one-sided story.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#547

Post by modo_mario »

woodpanel wrote: post #521
geofft wrote: post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain why I am misusing the phrase? I believe it to be objectively accurate. Again, that phrasing might make people uncomfortable. as I wrote above. I understand that, and I understand why people desire to censor it. But I don't believe it's incorrect, which is another thing entitely.

You can have your beliefs, but that doesn't make them facts. Meanwhile a cleptocratic regime is firing missiles at civlians using as launching pads hospitals, kindergartens or office buildings housing international journalists.

>office buildings housing international journalists.

Weird how those journalist agencies themselves missed that.

What's the slow colonisation with settlements about? Liberation of land controlled by evil terrorists?

Also as far as Israel is concerned there is no recognised regime or other such government there. It's apparently a stateless area with stateless people to be slowly ethnically cleansed.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#548

Post by mavhc »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #97

Not really related to the article at hand, but I've been on a bit of a Google Maps binge the past couple weeks. I learned a few interesting facts, blurry Israel being one of them. Another strange thing I found that might not be super well known (I didn't know about it) is that all GPS data in China is offset by a nonlinear psuedo-random amount. If you turn on the satellite view in Google Maps and look at various citi…

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@42.4300052,130.6278764,3096m/... China's roads appearing to cross into Russia.

https://goo.gl/maps/oDwCuGhxxZVSj7nJ6 Hong Kong/China border bridges

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#549

Post by hereme888 »

DSingularity wrote: post #161
Trias11 wrote: post #135

The questions are: - Does Google deliberatly blurring Gaza strip? - Who benefits by artificially degraded quality of Gaza maps? - Does Google quietly taking political sides?

- Yes. - Israel. - Yes, see how they took a position on the heart of this issue — the occupied territories themselves. They literally erased Palestine from the map.

Palestine is not a country. Never has been. Its just a geographical area first established by the Romans, and always handed down to another country.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#550

Post by hereme888 »

f430 wrote: post #196
Trias11 wrote: post #135

The questions are: - Does Google deliberatly blurring Gaza strip? - Who benefits by artificially degraded quality of Gaza maps? - Does Google quietly taking political sides?

Not sure about sides here but if you launch rockets into cities indiscriminately and then the building where you keep your weapons, communication center using human shields after warning residents well ahead of time that the building will be blown up, actually gets taken out who is at fault here? Why are people even defending Hamas???! Does Israel not have right to defend itself? Is Israel like South Korea who gets a…

It's crazy how you got downvoted. Shows how much bias and misinformation exists even in HN.

What you said is plainly obvious.

If US mainland were ever attacked, no one here would object to a similar response.

Post reply on HN