As President Barack Obama visits Israel for the first time, the cyber-terrorist elements of hackivist group Anonymous have continued their #OpIsrael fight of late 2012, with fresh hacking and a call for #OpIsrael Reloaded. Sites that Anonymous claimed to have attacked yesterday include the Israel Defense Forces website and the Israeli site for MasterCard.
Anonymous hackers also announced #OpIsrael Reloaded for April 7, 2013. The website Pesel.co.il was defaced with a graphic showing mask-wearing, sword-carrying terrorists superimposed on explosions with a message reading, “Justive Is Coming,” and other text that said, “Muslims are Everywhere.”
The #OpIsreal Reload campaign was also announced by Twitter accounts like AnonymousIndonesia.
An Anonymous activist with the Twtter handle @Crypt0nymous appeared to endorse President Obama’s past statements on a Palestinian state:
Palestinians deserve an independent and sovereign state and an end to occupation by #Israel bit.ly/10mS38x #OpIsrael #Gaza
— Anonymous (@Crypt0nymous) March 21, 2013
Because of the leaderless nature of Anonymous, the attacks on Israel only tell part of the picture, however. As Tal Pavel, a professor at Tel Aviv University, recently told The Times Of Israel:
What Anonymous is not, says Pavel, is organized. “There is no official membership, no committee that clears statements or position papers. No one can claim to be a spokesperson or chapter chairperson. It’s the ultimate anarchy.” There are also competing interests at work, so while there is a large Anonymous group advocating an #OpIsrael hack attack against Israeli targets, there is also a Facebook page for Anonymous Israel (in fact, there are nine Anonymous Israel groups on Facebook).
Except the ultimate anarchy to continue.
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