No doubt by now a shortage of gas masks..... Seattle passed the gas mask law during WTO affair. Here is item re Israel and gas masks and who will get what - item on list re judge on case involving Seattle where he had gas mask, all city officials given gas masks, etc. and I imagine there is a Marc Rich out there somewhere waiting to profit.... So in Seattle the law was passed during this World Trade Organization meeting - kids were arrested and anyone who had a mask unless he would be a city official, police, etc., arrested - the judge hearing the case had a gas mask - etc etc etc. Let us say "anyone of importance" had a gas mask - while the Mayor Of New York was building a bunker for the safety of the Mayor and his staff - too bad they didnot spend a little time worrying about their tallest attraction and land mark but then, they were preparing for the "Chrisian" Militia to attack. Now no doubt there is a shortage but just 6 months ago I had cataloge where they were selling the real military thing and could not get rid of them fast enough. Evidently those in the World Trade Center building all believed if a plane struck the building they would survive as the building was plane proof.......but they they had water sprinklers and it was reported too, that from floor 30 up asbestos in walls throughout the buildings........ Tall Towers sitting ducks - this story re Israel is disgusting.....see, it is a matter of economics.... Saba February 13, 1998 Frightened illegal aliens in Israel demand gas masks MICHAL YUDELMAN Jerusalem Post Service JERUSALEM -- A group of illegal aliens from Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Congo, Sierra Leone and South Africa demonstrated outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv Sunday, demanding that they be given gas masks and instructed how to act in an emergency. The demonstrators held posters saying: "Prevention is better than cure. Give masks now," and "Have mercy, give us masks. We are defenseless and without help." "We don't know what to do," one demonstrator said. "We went to the mask station in Tel Aviv, but they turned us down. They said there are no masks for us. Nobody told us where to go, what to do or how to protect ourselves." Meretz Knesset member Dedi Zucker, who organized the demonstration, said there are some 5,000 Africans and 5,000 South Americans in Tel Aviv illegally. They have been working in Israel for several years and many have families here, but are not recognized by the authorities. Zucker said that although the immigrants may not have permits to work here, they have the right to be protected in case of a conventional or non-conventional missile attack. "These people are terrified of a missile attack, and most of them were even afraid to demonstrate here for fear the authorities would crack down and deport them," Zucker said. But Haifa's Histadrut chairman, Baruch Saltz, called on the government not to distribute gas masks to illegal workers, due to the shortage of masks and their high cost. "The government doesn't have to subsidize masks for hundreds of thousands of foreign workers who sneaked into the country like thieves in the night and are taking jobs from Israelis, who, as a result, are unemployed," Saltz said. He suggested that the government take this opportunity to solve the illegal alien problem and deport them. In another development, dozens of elderly Safed residents protested the closure of the town's gas mask distribution center. The IDF published notices instructing the residents, including many who are too old or sick to travel, to go to Kiryat Shmona or Karmiel for masks. The Safed station is due to reopen in three months, according to a statement from the Home Front Command. It adds that any bearded man, whether religious or secular, is entitled to a special gas mask, in accordance with a decision by the High Court of Justice just over a year ago, the IDF spokesman said Sunday. However, because there is currently a shortage of batteries for these special masks, anyone without a such mask will be given a regular mask temporarily, and will be summoned for a full "bearded" kit as soon as it becomes available, the statement said. Copyright Notice (c) 1998, San Francisco Jewish Community Publications Inc., dba Jewish Bulletin of Northern California. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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