“The tech was used” but how, specifically, in regards to Operation Grim Reaper? The implication is that it was used to select targets but if that it true then does that mean there are still unexploded pagers in use?
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Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
341–350 of 832 posts
Re: Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
#342Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most likely as a data lakehouse, but the Palantir angle is most likely overstated - Palantir has a tiny presence in Israel, and has had a history of overstating it's intel and defense credentials (eg. A three letter agency that churned Palantir was named for years after before they stopped calling them out). That said, I have heard some positive feedback about Palantir's data integration capabilities - most other ven…
Thanks for attempting to answer what I was asking about. I have had difficulty finding out more about it, the alleged ex-Palantir commenter said this would be part of their Gotham product, but most of what I could find on that was buzzword data visualization stuff. If their old post history and what you're saying is accurate, then it's really just a database integration tool with a nice interface?
“A nice interface” disguises the truth here. Palantir is so successful because they build minimum viable prototypes on the fly for clients, deliver rather than balk when custom code has to be written, and leave working solutions alone. (See also other replies about FDEs here.) It’s the kind of behavior I used to take for granted as normal as a small-town ISP, and were it not for their ‘ethics are the customer’s problem’ approach I’d have signed on as a database / dashboard engineer for them years ago.
Re: Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
#343Earlier quoted context omitted.
The principle of proportionality is explicitly about expectations, i.e. expected military advantage vs expected collateral damage. You seem to be holding Israel to an impossible standard of guaranteeing zero collateral damage, which IHL does not require because no military is capable of that.
The latitude you wankers expect is absolutely incredible ... talking of impossible standards around "zero collateral damage" after what Israel has done in Gaza et al ...
The topic at hand is a military operation in Lebanon, not Gaza.
Re: Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
#344I actually consider the pager attack to be legal. There's obviously criticism of it, but I'm fairly sure you're allowed to do this kind of thing by laws of war. Obviously this creates a huge problem for pretty much everyone though, since we can imagine that our ordinary consumer products from all sorts countries could similarly explode if we ended up at war with the manufacturers.
Legal or not it makes me afraid of Israeli technology. I don't want to be part of their collateral damage.
Don't kill their citizens, don't launch rockets at them. Don't socialize with people that do.
Re: Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
#345Earlier quoted context omitted.
Attacking a civilian population is a war crime.
The intended targets of the exploding papers weren't civilians. Very few actual civilians ended up hurt by the detonations, much fewer than attacks by conventional weapons. It's about as targeted an attack as one can achieve from a distance. As an act of warfare, Israel did a splendid job on this. Thoroughly impressive work.
Did it only focus on Hezbollah military officials? Hezbollah is a political party. This is like package bombing US congressmen, Presidential cabinet members, etc. Which would be considered a terrorist attack obviously (and was when Israel sent our politicians, including our President, mailbombs shortly after WW2)
Re: Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
#346Earlier quoted context omitted.
Targeting here goes beyond reasonable expectation from a military at war. Compare that to the russian terror of lobbing 500kg bombs at random housing blocks.
Does it? Do you have any data on how many of these devices ended up in civilian hands? Afaik they intercepted a shipment for Hamas members only. Do you have more information? How many civilians there even use these pagers instead of mobile phones? Are there any ?
>Afaik they intercepted a shipment for Hamas members only
Ignoring that it was Hezbollah, not Hamas, I would point out that many of Hezbollah members are civilians.
Re: Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
#347This seems fitting:
> Yet what is the result, the gain to humanity, of this wonderfully regulated society which has been built solely to make life richer? Millions are on the verge of starvation, hundreds of thousands are spending their lives in producing instruments for the destruction of human life, and millions again are wasting their existence in a dull tragedy of monotony. In every great industrial centre where wealth is most plentifully produced, there is poverty and want. In the rich town where no production is carried on, there is plenty and enjoyment. He who labours hard or produces wealth is in poverty, he who lives in idleness is rich. When the warehouses are full, there is want and hunger. Those without food are forbidden to produce because the demand is already supplied. [0]
I highlighted the part that relates to Palantir and most everyone on here reading HN (except you, of course, you're special :))
Which is to say this is nothing new and discussing the minutia of did this specific company do this specific thing when the system that makes this inevitable remains unaddressed is missing the point.
Oh well, politics for 99% of people seems to amount to gossip. Did you hear what X said/did? Oh my god, I can't believe it, etc, etc.
[0] https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/george-barrett-the-a...
Re: Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
#348Earlier quoted context omitted.
You seem to be under the impression that they targeted pagers that were distributed through civilian channels. These were pagers that were purchased BY Hezbollah to be used on Hezbollah's private, secure network, not on a public network. These were not pagers used by a hospital for normal healthcare work. Healthcare workers were carrying these pagers because Hezbollah effectively serves as a shadow state in Lebanon.…
Again, so what? You aren't off the hook because of the actions of your enemies. It was obvious these would be going off around civilians, in homes and public spaces, including hospitals, and they chose to go through with the attack knowing this. That the civilians who would be around them would have no particular reason to fear or suspect this attack, because the vector was a common daily object . It was an attack on…
They go off around civilians, in homes and public spaces, including hospitals because guerrillas and terrorists are not regular soldiers and imbed themselves in homes and public spaces, including hospitals.
They masquerade as civilians and use civilians as shields. This is why we have regular uniformed soldiers and separate places for them to do their military shit.
Re: Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
#349The scale of these terrorist attacks seems to be lost by some in the comments here. Here’s a documentary showing the extent, including all of the undeniable civilians that were injured or killed: https://youtu.be/2mqqDTIs4vE
These pagers did not bring down buildings as shown in here. This 'documentary' is all over the place factually with sources from many of the most anti-Israel (not pro-Palestinian) organizations.
Re: Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon
#350Earlier quoted context omitted.
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> Unless you’re a Lebanese doctor? Where would a Lebanese doctor get an encrypted pager bought by Hezbollah and given to Hezbollah members with the explicit use for communicating with other Hezbollah members?
Growing tired of repeating the same response to the same points. Please see on of my other replies to sibling comments.