While the war on Hamas has moved into a “new phase,” activists went whining to Elon Musk on Twitter/X because Gaza lost internet. What did they want Elon to do? Give Gaza free Starlink!

Activists were quick to point out that Elon Musk had given Ukraine free Starlink access, and demanded the same for Gaza with the hashtag #starlinkforgaza. “Live by the promise of hashtag“, I guess. Never mind that Ukraine and Gaza are not at all comparable. Ukraine was invaded by Russia for territorial expansion in Putin’s desire to reconstitute the Soviet Union. Hamas wants to kill innocent Jews, took hostages, and wants to destroy the nation of Israel.

But back to the modern version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, where wi-fi is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. One of the loudest voices demanding that someone Do Something™ was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She was performatively crying over the lack of internet in Gaza, and went to Twitter/X to register her complaint with… the universe? She is apparently complaining into the void that is social media.

Cutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable. Journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian efforts, and innocents are all endangered.

I do not know how such an act can be defended. The United States has historically denounced this practice. https://t.co/L9iV7TSs2u

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 27, 2023

Uh, last I checked, AOC was an elected official in the most powerful country on Earth, and is of the same political party as the President of the United States. Mayhap she could address her demands thataway? But that’s not how AOC rolls. You see, being a congressperson these days isn’t about getting RESULTS. It’s about who can yell the loudest and get the most attention from the media! Results? Pfffffft. We don’t ask our elected representatives for RESULTS!

Also, AOC is just slightly morally bankrupt, as she just wants teh internetz back without Gaza or Hamas having to do anything.
https://twitter.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1718091223703986504
But then Elon Musk heard the drumbeat of the hashtag. Even though Elon Musk has a long history of feuding with the Congressional bartender and poseur, he deigned to reply to her with this.

Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.

[ComStar]

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2023

Naturally, the social media activists and Hamas apologists began to demand more. They want journalists to have free access. They want civilians to be able to make phone calls again. You know, Elon Musk should just give everyone Starlink for free. There’s no gratitude, there are only demands.

It’s probably not a big deal for Elon Musk to turn Starlink on, but it’s more about the principle of the matter than anything else. Plus, let’s not pretend that those aid groups, particularly the UNRWA (which the UN has dedicated solely to “helping” Palestinian “refugees”), is not providing aid, comfort, and supplies to Hamas terrorists. We know that Hamas raided the UNRWA supplies in Gaza – the organization tweeted that out before deleting it, probably because they are actually IN Gaza and would like to keep their heads attached to their bodies. So let’s not pretend that ONLY aid groups will end up with access to Starlink. Hamas will have a line in before the day’s end. If Elon Musk was smart, he would change the wi-fi password every other day. It would certainly slow down Hamas’s access to Starlink if he did so, because it would take a little time to relay the password along the chain. And no one could complain that he wasn’t providing the access.

I would still remind Elon Musk that no good deed goes unpunished. With this move, he just made it possible for government officials in countries around the world to demand Starlink if they think their need is great enough, or the circumstances dire enough. And no one feels the need to say thank you – remember, Elizabeth Warren was threatening to sic Congress on Elon because she felt that he wasn’t giving ENOUGH access to Starlink in Ukraine just last September. I realize that Elon Musk is trying to straddle a fine line here – but I hope he knows how quickly this could all go badly for him, especially when Hamas gets the password to Starlink. That’s WHEN, not if.

Featured image: Elon Musk by Tumisu via Pixabay, cropped and modified, Pixabay license