Text Messages: New form of anti-Semitism
Text Messages: New form of anti-SemitismIsraelNN (photo file)

Warning messages sent by SMS to Israelis not to enter Gaza originated from the United Kingdom, the British daily, The Sun reported. Checks of the code of the sender’s number identified the text message senders as originating from Britain.

It was initially thought that the Hamas sent the SMS messages to Israelis from Gaza as a means of psychological warfare. However, the British Sun states, “British supporters of the Islamic fanatics in the besieged Gaza Strip were assumed to be responsible for the scare tactics last night.”

Israeli citizens received on Wednesday threatening text messages on their mobile phones warning them from entering Gaza. The messages said, "Come on into Gaza, Lots of surprises are waiting for your sons, the least of which is death – Hamas."

Israeli and British anti-terrorist officials have been unable to trace the menacing text message sender, as the line has been disconnected since Wednesday night.

"In the first second that you see it, you're mainly surprised. What? How did they reach me? After that, it's replaced by a sense of sorrow, anger, and intrusion into your privacy,” Nava Inbar, a Tel Aviv resident, told Ynet.

"It didn't scare me. On the contrary. If anything, it makes me want to give it to them even harder. In my opinion, it is really a pathetic move. If they tried to arouse fear, they failed in their mission," Inbar stated, adding that she has stored the phone number on her mobile phone.

Liron Morris, also of Tel Aviv, feels that it is very legitimate to be concerned of a threat “when someone gets a hold of your telephone number and threatens you.”

"This is a kind of threat, and even if you know that it isn't really directed toward you, it is still stressful, especially when my husband is currently on reserve duty," Morris added.

MK Uri Ariel has asked the cell phone companies to more carefully screen foreign SMS messages. He says they should easily be able to prevent this from happening in the future.

While more details of the text messages emerged, an Arab media war on Jews continues. A new video was released Wednesday with the voice of Osama bin Ladin, who has called for a holy war against Israel.