Beyond the Cusp
April 19, 2016
Suicide Bus Bombing Returns
An Egged bus this Monday was viciously bombed in Jerusalem leaving at least sixteen wounded, with the inclusion of one very critically and two seriously wounded amongst those struck. The initial police investigating the scene reported they suspected the explosion was a terror attack but that report was quickly silenced replaced with a more cautious report simply claiming a bus had exploded with the source being unknown and a second nearby bus which held whatever it was that exploded (see pictures below with captions linked to their supporting articles). Doctors reporting on the injuries their patients had suffered removed all doubt in our eyes, and eventually law enforcement came around as well to the knowing this had been a terrorist bombing and likely an attempted or successful suicidal homicide bombing. Many of the patients had the telltale wounds caused by flying nuts, bolts, screws and nails which had apparently been packed within the explosives. Such wounds do not occur naturally even when the object of the explosion was a bus. The busses contain more rivets than nuts, bolts and screws; and they never contain nails as part of their construction. One of the physicians treating the patients from the attack was quoted stating, “Some of the wounds of the victims who arrived to us are from nails and bolts that penetrated their bodies. It gives the impression of wounds from a terror attack.” The two buses were destroyed in the ensuing fires and a civilian vehicle was also damaged. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations have praised this still potentially deadly bombing as the most grievously wounded are still not out from danger.
Two Egged Buses on Fire Resulting
The attack could have resulted in far more injuries had not the bus adjacent to the bus with the bomb on it being emptied before it caught fire and fire consumed it relatively slowly. This latest escalation of the assaults upon civilians comes amidst a terror wave starting back middle to late September and has claimed thirty-four innocent victims’ lives and wounded hundreds upon hundreds physically and one can only guess at the thousand who have suffered psychological trauma or emotional stresses with any number of which requiring treatment and rehabilitative services. Often the thoughts do not go beyond those whose blood spilled from wounds of varying nature and tend to ignore the other injuries which often strike just as deep as the nuts, bolts, nails and screws often dipped in strychnine or other poisons in order to maximize the injuries and traumas to the bodies of their victims. One has not received reports indicating such yet in this most recent attack but often the full effects of such poisoning do not fully show until a day or more later. Most of the injuries were suffered on the one bus which had passengers and the private vehicle whose injured are somewhat lost due to the greater magnitude of injuries in the bus. The second bus was empty of passengers but is still a doubling of the damages to the Egged Bus Company and their insurers. The advantage to the reports finally proving to have been a terror bombing is it enables the victims to avail themselves of government funds to pay for all care not otherwise covered and even permits insurers to file complaints of losses.
Remains of the First Bus Which Caught Fire in the Explosion
Minister of the Knesset (MK) Bezalel Smotrich called upon Netanyahu to cancel the planned withdrawal of IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) forces from Palestinian Authority Area A as we reported yesterday in our article Netanyahu’s Risky Response to World Threats cited Monday’s bus bombing as “a reminder” of what could happen. Furthermore, MK Bezalel Smotrich stated “Anyone who needed a reminder of what would happen if the IDF will stop operating in the major Arab cities in Judea and Samaria got {it} today. It was fourteen years ago that the Park Hotel was attacked during the Passover Seder; that terrible terror attack that came after a long period of {deadly terror assaults} in which one-thousand people were killed and it was that {bombing} that led to Operation Defensive Shield, and from then on the IDF took back responsibility for ensuring the safety of Israeli citizens.” It truly was the Park Hotel Seder which so outraged Israelis as the victims were mostly older Israelis and resultant deaths with some being Holocaust survivors and to have them die in such a horrific attack upon Jews simply because they were Jews was a doubling of the pain for an entire nations and to others far from the shores of the Mediterranean, the backdrop for such a horrific act of blatant hatreds. MK Smotrich closed stating, “We must never return to the mistakes of Oslo, which cost us so much blood. I call on the Prime Minister to reject the proposal and the concessions [plan] and end the terror [wave] by removing the motivations that have fueled it.”
Burned Out Hulls of Two Busses Completely Gutted
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in heartfelt prayers conveyed his sympathies to the victims and their families, relatives, neighbors and friends as well as the nation as a whole, as these acts of violence strike at each of us in their own way, stated, “Our prayers for a speedy recovery go out to those injured in the terror attack, being treated as we speak in hospitals across Jerusalem. On such a day – when thanks to the dedicated work of the security services, this morning the discovery was revealed of a terror tunnel in the south, and in the evening frightened citizens returning from their daily routine are being rushed to hospital {paused, continuing emphatically} it is clear to us all, that the struggle against terrorism is ceaseless. We will pursue and we will reach all those who wish us harm, until quiet is assured.”
Closer Image Showing Burned Bus andTwo Private Vehicles Also Caught and
Destroyed in the Flames of Terrorist Attack
Revealing their truly hate filled hearts, as empty and blackened as the remains of the buses, the Hamas terror organization approvingly applauded the horrific carnage and bombing of buses and their civilian passengers, riding a known Jerusalem bus route which does not serve any contested areas, stated definitive with awe and praise the bus bombing that it was “the natural response to Israeli crimes, particularly the field executions it conducts, and the assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” Further and in support of such senseless carnage and taking of even more innocent lives whether through injury eating their spirits the rest of their lives or worse, death as all are not out of the woods yet, Islamic Jihad also justified the attack, presenting their praise claiming that it “delivered the message that the Intifada would continue.”
Montage of Fire from a Distance with Inspecting First Bus and Wires andDestruction of Driver Side of Bus and Final Frontal View of Burned Out Bus
Police reported at the close of their inspections of their efforts yesterday, Monday, stating that an explosive was placed on a number twelve bus line which detonated under or within a bus that was empty of passengers but which led to the wounding of the passengers in an adjacent bus and a private car. They also believed that the person most critically injured was likely the terrorist who set off the explosives as their body was found ripped open nearest the actual bombsite. Daniel Katzenstein, a member of the Psychological-Trauma-Unit for United Hatzalah of Israel speaking to Arutz Sheva informed them of some background tying it to this bus attack referencing that this attack reminded him of the bus attacks of the Second Intifada from between 2000 through 2005 where there were many serious and traumatic bus bombings, many even more damaging and lethal than this particular bombing. He relayed that, “Unfortunately that’s were United Hatzalah gained a great deal of its experience, in responding to bus bombings.” He further expounded explaining that the medical teams began evacuating the wounded, saying, “there were many people who were far too dangerously close to the bus when it was burning. The first task was actually to get them to a safe place and then to begin to treat them.”
Our prayer go out to all affected by this horrific crime against humanity though we advise not holding one’s breath waiting for United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon or President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry to denounce this as a cavernous act of cowardice and as a striking of every person residing in a free and diverse state which are all threatened by such terrorist violence. Additionally, with the discovery of a Hamas tunnel which reached over a mile into Israel and the obvious use of construction material allowed into Gaza for rebuilding of infrastructure and residence for the people being diverted almost completely to the building of terror infiltration tunnels, many of which have collapsed being besides the fact, the misuse should cut off all building supplies into Gaza. The residents of Gaza who are still without places to live and without work as their place of employment has yet to be rebuilt and finding the only work available is to advance the terror goals of Hamas will unfortunately continue to suffer. Such a move will not affect their woes but will prevent further expansion of the Hamas tunnel terrorist infrastructure, the seemingly sole use of every last inch of concrete, rebar and other building materials. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the rest of the terror structure do not care about the people of Gaza which was made obvious through their not permitting them to seek safety in their tunnel system during the conflict, have not permitted the homeless shelter and food in their tunnels reserving such for their youth and supporters and finally did not use their upper-class homes as places from which to fire the rockets into Israel thus tempting return fire destroying their nice mansions while placing the people’s homes and apartment houses, schools, clinics and other needful places and things as legitimate targets once used for launching rockets. One can also almost hear echoing around the globe the howling which would have arisen had Israel targeted only the multi-million dollar and Euro homes of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders and main beneficiaries as that would have been called extrajudicial war crimes which were disproportional as Prime Minister Netanyahu’s house was not struck so why were the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad mansions destroyed. They would have claimed they had no military purpose completely missing the fairness of including their homes as they risked the targeting of the peoples, those they consider lesser people who must sacrifice so they can live luxuriously. This was another war crime committed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad as they only risked the regular people’s homes, their peasants and lessors of their societal importance and structures. This should be the lesson for every Gazan, that ultimately every home and shopping center, school and clinic, workplace and shopping market of the normal working Gazan that will be sacrificed and never rebuilt for as long as they allow Hamas to run their lives and distribute the goodies to their friends and fighters making terrorism the only occupation in Gaza. That is how a nation becomes a true terror state. One need look no further than Gaza to know what a Palestinian State in Judea and Samaria would become and thus making it obvious why Israel must always maintain security rights even if that limits the Palestinians to a semi-autonomous statehood and not complete separation and independence as that would result in another failed terrorist state where terror would be the sole industry.
Beyond the Cusp
April 18, 2016
Netanyahu’s Risky Response to World Threats
There have been the usual threats and accusations along with rumors and rumors of rumors all of which indicate the possible move announced through trial balloons may be the biggest threat of them all. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has again found no problems in Syria, well, one general denunciation of the needless violence, no such complaints or other commentaries on Iraq, Iran, Cuba, North Korea or any of the other spots on the globe except for a number of mentions of supposed Israeli wrongs. Israel was blamed for spousal violence and honor killings in Gaza and the Palestinian Territories as apparently the presence of IDF troops assisting in keeping the calm and Abbas in power in the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) was the driving cause. There were other minor complaints which can be generally placed under the same old same old perfidies accused of Israel all stemming from the mere existence of the Jewish State.
But the United Nations has been busy on another front, the front of historic and significant places. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has determined the historic relevance of the Temple Mount, the Mosques, Churches and Shrine upon it, the Western Wall and Plaza and all surrounding areas are of solely Islamic origins. Apparently the wall built by Herod in the years before the start of the Gregorian calendar was actually built solely for Muhammad to tie up his first magic steed which transported him in his dream to the farthest Mosque, which happened to be present despite not being built for another two to three centuries where he strode upon second magical beast which carries him through the planes of Heaven where he met Moses, Gabriel, Abraham and a who’s who of Biblical greats and Allah as well where he was bid to write the Quran which would eventually be understood by the great sages of Islam instructed them to spread Islam across the face of the Earth until it was the sole religion putting to the sword all others in a final struggle.
Such decrees from UNESCO are not new and have the same weight as a feather blowing in the winds of war in Syria had of ending that carnage any time soon. Still, when these are added to the rest, we wonder why the Catholic Church and the other Christian religions who are bid to care for the holy Christian Churches on the Temple Mount which were included in the general gifting of the entire area and transforming those as well into Muslim shrines are not up in arms. The same can be asked of the Israeli government and Jewish Chief Rabbis; where are their protests and indignations? Meanwhile there is the idea that the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) may be pulled from their presence in Area A of the West Bank where they have assisted the Palestinian Security Forces with subduing terrorism including any attempts by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and we can guess potentially the Islamic State from toppling Mahmoud Abbas and setting up shop launching suicide bombers and rockets into Israel and other violences including the favorite pastime of hurling rocks through the windshields of passing vehicles in attempts to crash the vehicles and kill its occupants. One can only wonder where the impetus for such an idea could have arisen.
There was that interesting idea flushed out in the Huffington Post article titled To Save His Middle East Legacy, Obama Must Recognise a Palestinian State Now written by Ibrahim Fraihat, a Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Doha Center and Affiliate Scholar at Georgetown University in Qatar. In the article it was put forth that President Obama should recognize Palestine declaring its existence and potentially its borders as a final stab at preserving any legacy for President Obama in the Middle East, to finally earn his Nobel Peace Prize apparently given him in the promise that he would establish Palestine, and make a final, in your face, insult to pay back Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for his insults and actively campaigning in the United States for the Republicans against President Obama in his bid for his second term. It also stated that the United States would eventually recognize Palestine and why should President Obama allow such a great prize slip through his fingers and fall to some subsequent President. The piece de resistance was noting how once leaving office Presidents and other high officials from the United States government had all readjusted their positions on Israel and the Palestinians after leaving office and no longer falling under the pressures and influences of that eternal damnation (extra descriptors from our impressions) of the Israel Lobby. The prime example coming from that fairest of judges, Jimmy, Israel and the Jews be damned, Carter who never missed an opportunity to pile more grief and shames upon Israel at every turn.
Add the UNESCO rulings, the Human Rights constant irritations, the Huffington Post floating an idea for President Obama and the pulling of IDF troops from Area A allowing for the possible declaration of that area, the one guaranteed the Palestinians in the Oslo Accords where Area C was preserved for Israeli expansion and Area B was to be donated as to who got what and the then required borders which such would imply. The immediate reaction came from Yair Lapid among others who view themselves as Israel’s next Prime Minister warning of renewed suicide bombings, buses exploding on the streets of Tel Aviv and throughout Israel and a terror wave of unprecedented proportions as these attacks could now be organized and launched without the usual IDF and Shin Bet intelligence warning of the imminent attacks. May these warning be nothing more than political maneuvering and second guessing, there still is a grain of truth but Israel would not likely be the initial target, and there is the fly in the ointment. Without the IDF and other intelligence gathering there is a distinct possibility, some might say likelihood, that Hamas, or worse, Islamic State could launch a successful coup potentially using many of those exact same Palestinian Security Forces to assist their takeover. Where would the United Nations, European Union and all the other myriad of forces be in blaming Israel for such an eventuality and the instituting of a true and recognized terrorist takeover in the Palestinian governance? This would result in the unbelievable response where Hamas would be recognized as now being the new democratically chosen leaders and Gaza would no longer be that threat thus leading to demands for Israel to lift the embargo. But wait a moment, was there not a mention out of Turkey that Netanyahu had promised to lift the embargo and assist Turkey in building a sea port in Gaza as part of the reconciliation between the two nations. That simply places the cherry atop the giant ice cream sundae which apparently is in the offing if all these floated ideas come to fruition.
As to how much of this is valid we can only guess. The IDF pull back from Area A is very doable and would not particularly be a disaster and actually only an inconvenience in the loss of intelligence which would be nowhere near as serious as some have implied. The real danger of an IDF pullout is the possibility that Abbas would lose control and be replaced by somebody or some group worse than the Palestinian Authority. One must remember that the actually elected Palestinian Parliament has a majority of Hamas and allied ministers which would imply their having the real support in the West Bank, or at the least in Area A. The latest polling out of Gaza show the majority of the people asked actually called for the replacement of Hamas by anybody more attuned to their needs and less concerned with terror tunnels and rocket construction and more dedicated to rebuilding their homes and shopping areas and the rest of the destruction which has been all but ignored as the lion’s share of the concrete and building materials have indeed gone into terrorist infrastructure and largely tunnels which have been collapsing with an unbelievable frequency. It is notable that the people of Gaza have tired of the war every two to three years against Israel where Hamas assures the maximalist damage and the minimalist repair afterwards such that the next conflict starts with great photoshoots of destruction already in place before Israel fires their first salvo. How absolutely convenient if you are the media seeking a story condemning Israel or Hamas assuring their narrative of woe has a maximalist effect with the aid of the media.
All of these items start with the truths of the United Nations through UNESCO and the UNHRC and their decisions condemning Israel and all Israeli claims especially to any religious or historical sites. The declaration of the entirety of the Temple Mount and surroundings is right in step with the Cave of the Patriarchs where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Leah are all buried in the cave which Abraham bought using foreign monies so as to differentiate his claims from that of the Canaanites. That along with Rachel’s Tomb and Jacob’s tomb have all been designated Islamic holy sites if memory serves us correctly (validations or corrections would be accepted and appreciated). The article calling on President Obama to recognize Palestine though containing numerous and generous falsehoods is real and the rumor of an imminent IDF pull back from Area A is also real. What they all add up to is anybody’s conjecture and one is as good as any other unless you possess the demonstrable predictive powers of a Nostradamus, through writing in cryptic quatrains assisted in his being applied to any and every situation or event or more. Finally, any conclusions which imply the end of the Jewish State are great exaggerations with absolutely no connection to reality as we are not going anywhere, period. Lastly, the future is the one item where any prediction is usually malleable enough to at least contain a grain of truth otherwise who would believe them other than those already firmly in the camp from whence such preposterous prediction arise. One of our favorites for consistency is indeed former President Jimmy Carter who will always denounce Israel and praise Cuba, what a man of foresight, everything he represents is basically upside down and consistently so. He and the United Nations are two institutions where you can hardly ever go wrong opposing.
For your viewing pleasure, here is an outtake from the latest CNN Democrat Presidential debate where Hillary and Bernie square off over Israel, enjoy and do not take anything said by Hillary as denoting actual policies she would enact. Enjoy!
Beyond the Cusp
April 17, 2016
Palestinian Future Will Fully Involve Hamas
The immediate future with the Palestinians will remain Hamas and company launching what they are able whenever they desire from Gaza and Mahmoud Abbas turning on different levels of violence and calm such that Israel is never quite brought to intervene militarily. All of these restraints being applied when Israeli population begins to reach their limits and demand an intervention is dependent on Mahmoud Abbas remaining the governing force. That may be less a given than some presume as eventually one of two events could change that. The first would be the Arabs in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) demanding elections as every poll indicates that in any fair election Abbas would lose and Hamas and company would take over the parliament and replace Abbas as the head of the Palestinian Authority. This would bring into effect many changes other than just a change in leadership for the Arabs; it would also break all agreements with Israel as those agreements are with Fatah and not Hamas. This would mean that any provocation would allow for an Israeli retaking of all of Judea and Samaria and either placing a moderate Arab leadership in charge replacing Hamas or simply apply military rule while considering what the next step should entail. This might come to pass sooner rather than later as Abbas is eighty years old and who can predict his future health. Further, there is always the possibility of Hamas or Islamic State challenging Fatah in an election or in a coup similar as Hamas had done in Gaza. The reason this has yet to occur is largely due to the presence of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to prevent just such a putsch.
Needless to point out, Israel would be forced to act should either Hamas or the Islamic State make a move to replace the theoretically more moderate Fatah leadership in Judea and Samaria. The main reason that Israel has yet to militarily intervened again in Judea and Samaria is due to Abbas restraining any level of violence when Israeli leadership appears ready to respond to demands that any violence emanating from the Arab population in Judea and Samaria reaches levels deemed unacceptable. What has been remarkable is that any level of terror is considered acceptable to the Israeli general public. The main reason that such has not triggered an immediate intervention when terror violence reached even a minimal level is that the vast majority of such violence had been targeting the Israelis residing in Area C of Judea and Samaria or East Jerusalem and not targeting Tel Aviv and surrounding population centers along the shores of the Mediterranean. Still, the Israeli population as a whole has slowly been lowering the level of terror which will be tolerated. Even the rock attacks on Israeli licensed vehicles have been restricted almost exclusively to drivers on roads beyond the Green Line in Judea and Samaria. When they began to strike vehicles within main roads within Israel proper the Israeli population reacted strongly demanding that such attacks be halted, period. This also led to interventions attempting to terminate all rock attacks within and outside of the Green Line.
Mahmoud Abbas proved beyond any doubt that he actually was controlling the recent knife attacks which had plagued much of the Old City of Jerusalem and the bordering areas of Jerusalem as well as in Judea and Samaria and was starting to wear on the collective nerves of the Israeli nation as a whole. Still, the main reason that Mahmoud Abbas called a halt to the knife attacks was after an IDF soldier killed a terrorist who had been presumably disarmed but the soldier believed the terrorist was reaching to press a detonator and detonate an explosive belt. Still the IDF command had initially charged with murder and subsequently changed the charge to manslaughter. The distressing reaction of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense all but trying the soldier in the media reacting with horror and charges of needless, intentional and spiteful charges against the soldier casting doubt on his claimed reason for reacting and shooting the terrorist was disturbing at the very least and unprofessional and spiteful and thus met with a fair degree of scorn from many sectors of the population. What proved interesting was that a human motion and action specialist also believed that the terrorist was actually reaching to detonate an explosive belt which would justify the soldier’s shooting. Another piece of evidence was that the soldier had walked onto the location mere moments before and had not discussed whether or not the terrorist had been searched for explosives or simply disarmed of his knife and simply subdued but not cleared of any other threat. Additionally the terrorist was wearing a heavy coat or sweater which easily could have concealed an explosives belt adding to why the soldier may have acted shooting the terrorist. Additionally the terrorist was wearing a heavy coat or sweater which easily could have concealed an explosives belt adding to why the soldier may have acted shooting the terrorist. Finally, B’Tselem, a leftist NGO and agitating influence set up the entire provocation and filmed it for the expressed purpose of hoping for just such a scenario playing out. The terrorist was incited by the NGO and brought to the site to press the situation to provoke an over-reaction from any single soldier for the expressed reason of showing Israel as an oppressive force.
Indicted Soldier
The media has gone to some length to display the soldier in the worst possible light. They have made public that the soldier had stated in barracks bravado that he thought no terrorist should be taken alive. Barracks bravado rarely is indicative of soldiers’ actual actions in the field where their training and professionalism overrides stupid boastings. Further, every soldier knows that their actions will be poured over by their commanders and the legal eagles from command, something which tempers actions often to the point of overt caution all too often to the point of paralysis which has been the cause of many soldiers and too often also civilians being murdered or severely injured when an explosives belt was not discovered before detonation. There are those who will side with blaming the soldier for shooting before actually checking the terrorist and ascertaining whether he indeed had an explosive belt. There was a recent editorial which quoted Dror Zicherman’s Facebook post about just such a scenario where the soldier obeyed his orders from his ranking officer and did not shoot despite his strong suspicions. The soldier is disabled and suffering from permanent injuries and constant pain as the terrorist did have an explosive belt and detonated it murdering the officer who ordered him to hold his fire. Please take the time and read about this ordeal as it will cast a different light on the fears and apprehensions soldiers hold in such situations where they are watching a terrorist who has on a heavy leather coat who then reaches inside the coat. Second guessing a soldier’s actions after the fact is easier and what is more disturbing is when Minister of Defense Yaalon was in a similar situation during his service he reacted identically to the way our soldier acted in this instance. As far as our judgement, we are not so foolish as to make such a call as we were not there and have not had the opportunity to investigate the entire series of events and question the soldiers and others at the scene. We would tend to fall on trusting the soldier if there is any doubt as doubt in such a situation one must fall on the side supporting the actions of the soldiers at the moment. If we are unable to trust the soldiers then we need to adjust their training until they can be trusted in any situation, especially when the safety of the troops and the public is involved. In the time being all we can do is hope that the investigation will exonerate the soldier and find his actions justified.
Beyond the Cusp
Filed under: Administration,Amalekites,Anti-Israel,Anti-Semitism,Anti-Zionist,Arab Appeasement,Arab Authority,Arab World,Arutz Sheva,Blood Libel,Bombing,Civilization,Conflict Avoidnce,Coverup,Defend Country,Demolitions,Europe,European Governments,European Pressure,European Union,European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs,Foreign NGOs,Government,Hamas,Hate,IDF,Internal Pressures,International Politics,Intifada,Islam,Islamic Jihad,Israel,Israeli Interests,Jerusalem,Jihad,Jordanian Pressure,Muslim World,Old City,Oslo Accords,Palestinian,Palestinian Authority,Palestinian Pressures,Politicized Findings,Prime Minister,Promised Land,Secular Interests,Temple Mount,Terror,United States State Department,World Pressures,Zionism,Zionist — qwertster @ 1:59 AM
Tags: All Material for Tunnels, Bombing, Bus, Buses on Fire, Gaza, Gazans Big Losers, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Israel, Jerusalem, Jews, Judea, None for Rebuild, Rebuild in Gaza, Samaria, Suicide Bomber, Terror Tunnels, Terror War, Terrorism, West Bank
Tags: All Material for Tunnels, Bombing, Bus, Buses on Fire, Gaza, Gazans Big Losers, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Israel, Jerusalem, Jews, Judea, None for Rebuild, Rebuild in Gaza, Samaria, Suicide Bomber, Terror Tunnels, Terror War, Terrorism, West Bank
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