Porn and Politics in Palestine

Why would Israeli troops program porn? If it was a freelance operation by individual soldiers, then it was merely an act of contempt. If it was an act planned by military authorities, however, then it can be read in a variety of ways.

Modern psychological warfare often makes use of unlikely media. When U.S. forces had Panama’s Manuel Noriega surrounded a few years ago, they bombarded him around the clock with raucous rock musicsudden exposure to hard-core imagery would come as a psychological shock to those unaccustomed to it.

Replacing Palestinian news and other programming with such material also increases the stress and frustration of the populace. Remember, Ramallah’s residents were unable to leave their homes, even to buy groceries. Their need for information was intense. Israeli forces had the option of taking the TV stations off the air entirely. Instead, they left them operating, but broadcasting “replacement” imagery. The pornography may well have been even more demoralizing than no programming at all.

via reason.com

Weird.