Fruits of the Intifada:

The Destruction of the Mirkava III
Brings Down Zionist Military Trade, Morale, and Strategy

Despite the great sense of elation that permeated Palestinians, Arabs,
Muslims, and supporters of the Palestinian cause everywhere when a Mirkava
III tank was pulverized wide open in the Gaza Strip on February 14, 2002, we
still have to fully comprehend the extra-special significance of this
operation beyond being just another Zionist loss of manpower, expensive
machinery, and prestige.

Later on that month another Mirkava and an armored bulldozer were both
destroyed near Balata Camp in Nablus on February 26, 2002.  While the
"Israeli" army was withdrawing from Ramallah in March, 2002, the burning
remnants of another Mirkava were also reportedly seen.  It was no longer
possible for the "Israeli" military establishment to pretend that the
destruction of the first Mirkava was an exceptional aberration.

Neither is the importance of these precedents derived from the simple, yet
ingenious, means the Palestinians used to destroy the Mirkava beasts.  Take
for example the story of the first Mirkava in Gaza: an explosive charge of
somewhere between fifty and one hundred kilograms of C-5 was detonated with
a remote control device thus inducing a hole fifty centimeters wide in the
base of the sixty-five ton tank that sent the engine inside the guts of the
tank, the tower off the top, and most of the crew to a special Palestinian
Arab hell.

THAT, in and of itself, is a great testimony to the power of the people over
advanced technology in the hands of an oppressive power.  But the Mirkava
III is not just any tank, and it isn't only the kind of tank of which the
IDF employs 3600, out of a total of 5000 tanks (the other 1400 are American
Abrams 1 tanks).  The Mirkava III is supposed to be the jewel of "Israeli"
military industry, a marvel of Jewish genius applied to advanced technology,
so to speak.  It WAS marketed around the world as the tank with a ZERO
percent hit ratio to the crew where other tanks have an average of 26% hit
ratio (or possible injury to the crew operating the machine).

Why not? It is sheathed in three layers of armor for extra protection,
especially in its tower.  Its engine lies in the front of its structure.
The ammunition for its gun is encased in special containers that are
supposed to be fire and explosion- proof.  It is equipped with a special
electromagnetic system for identifying potential dangers.  Its
air-conditioning system was designed to provide protection for the crew
inside against chemical, bacterial, and radio-active emissions.  It has
infra-red night vision.  Entry and exit takes place from a backdoor.  It can
store more ammunition than usual for tanks which enables it to stay longer
on the battlefield.  In short, the Mirkava III has so many features, it has
helped the "Israeli" military command develop a severe superiority complex,
but that arrogance of power was badly wrecked on the rock of Palestinian
Arab popular resistance when Intifada II beat down the Mirkava III.

Not that this is merely a matter of egos or morale, despite the decisive
importance of the latter in battles.  In fact, the repeated destruction of
the Mirkava III tank had dire ramifications for "Israel" strategically and
economically, i.e., for Zionist power and money.

For one thing, despite all the Zionist and American fanfare about Arab and
Islamic long-range missiles, "Israeli" leaders have always said that
"Israel" cannot be destroyed with missiles, but only with a land invasion.
Given the very narrow depth of the "Israeli" strip of land, this has meant
that maintaining superiority in tank divisions became a strategic imperative
if conventional land incursions are to be prevented.  Hence the sequence of
Mirkava I, Mirkava II, Mirkava III, and Mirkava IV (under development).  The
point is that if the Palestinians have found the Achilles heel of the
Mirkava, and were thus able to bring it down using relatively simple means,
then the whole Zionist defense credo of relying on superiority in tanks to
defend "Israel's" existence becomes a house sitting on sinking sands.
Should there arise a determined leadership willing to take the confrontation
with Zionism to the end instead of the political parasites drooling over a
Palestinian statelet under any condition and sacrifice of principle, the
whole Zionist military credo would be thrown into disarray.

On the economic front, the destruction of the Mirkava III in the West Bank
and Gaza dealt a severe blow to Zionist efforts to market the Mirkava III
worldwide.  Its exorbitant price suddenly went down considerably in
international arms markets.  Its prospects in China, India, Africa, and some
small European states where the "Israeli" Defense Ministry was marketing
aggressively were shattered.   A lot of effort was expended to convince
Turkey to buy one thousand Mirkava III's.  A factory was built in Mexico,
with American financing, to supply Mirkava III's to the Latin American arms
market.  Now all that is in the winds.

Consequently, the destruction of the Mirkava has brought about Zionist
losses that exceed the immediate loss of personnel and equipment inherent in
the tanks destroyed.  It has damaged the reputation of the allegedly
invincible Mirkava III and the reputation of "Israeli" armored divisions
thereof, not to mention the damage to the alleged "Israeli" technological
and industrial superiority.  The economic losses have not only hurt
"Israeli" military industry and trade, but the profitability of the American
investors who financed the factory in Mexico as well.  Strategically, the
destruction of the Mirkava has ripped a big hole in the Zionist military
credo as well.  It has also demonstrated once more what a people can do when
they are truly determined to face down a technologically more advanced
adversary.

"Israel" had freaked out in 1999 when Egypt signed a deal to buy a stock of
120 millimeter shells for its tanks, known as "the silver bullet", that are
made out of depleted Uranium.  As it turned out, Mirkava's are not exactly
immune to those.  But still, the Palestinian Arab resistance has managed to
inflict so much damage on "Israel" itself with the destruction of the
Mirkava without any "silver bullets".  AND SUCH ARE THE FRUITS OF THE
INTIFADA.

The Free Arab Voice

(Adapted freely from an article in Gulf Defence Magazine, issue 63, May
2002, pp. 68 ? 73, by Dr. Khair Eddin Abdul Rahman.)