by Scott Pinsker, PJ Media:
Back in the late 1980s to early 1990s, the only people with pagers were doctors and drug dealers. And if you happened to be friends with a doctor or drug dealer, you learned to call the pager and leave a numeric code. (We even figured out a way to pass along football scores.) This communication process wasn’t turnkey, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.
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But pagers, of course, went the way of the typewriter and telegraph machine. Nowadays, the only people who still use pagers are, well, doctors and drug dealers. (Lots of hospitals have lousy cell reception, so the medical staff is armed with pagers.)
And terrorists, too. (At least they used to.)
The media is trying to form-fit Israel’s intelligence triumph into its larger narrative on the Israel-Palestinian conflict: Israel is the mean ol’ warmongering aggressor, while the brave and noble Arabs simply want to live in peace. The longstanding narrative hasn’t changed an iota; same song, same verse. Consider the media drumbeat just today:
“Resistance groups denounce Israel’s cyberattack on Lebanon”
“Lebanese envoy calls paper explosions ‘war crime’ at UN General Assembly”
“‘Thirst for blood’: Syria says Israel terror attacks in Lebanon shows its ‘desire to expand war’”
“Palestinian Resistance condemn Israeli attack on Lebanon, praise Hezbollah”
“Belgian Deputy PM calls Hezbollah pager incident ‘terror attack’”
“International condemnations pour in after Israeli terror attack on Lebanon”
Meanwhile, antisemitic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) described Israel’s actions as “Disgusting.” Because of course, she did.
No matter: This is an example where the media are neutered because they don’t have the power to change any of the facts on the ground right now. And speaking of neutering, since most people keep their pagers in (or attached to) their pants pockets, those explosions likely hit a sensitive part of the terrorists’ anatomy. (Ahem.) Yesterday evening, balls were flying all across Lebanon — yet nobody was playing soccer.
The only thing that would’ve made Israel’s actions funnier would’ve been if they triggered the beepers to play a few bars of “Hatikvah” before detonating.
The big story that the media are missing, however, is what comes next. The pager bombing may or may not be over: Today, there are even reports of walkie-talkies(!) exploding in Lebanon!
But if hair dryers start blowing up, I guess we’ll all know who was responsible. Well, those terrorists were forewarned: You DON’T mess with the Zohan.
Either way, Israel’s actions carried a secondary message — one that the media overlook but will soon coalesce in the hearts and minds of Israel’s adversaries: We delivered you these pagers. We’ve been tracking your movements for months. We know where you are currently. We know where you go for your “secret meetings.” We know who you’re meeting with. We know everything about who you are and what you do.
