Joooooish Conspiracies Everywhere! (Update: Dustin States the Obvious Point I Missed)
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.]
(First, let me note that calling Jewish people “Jooos” and variations of that is a mocking way of mocking anti-Semitism. IMAO seems to be the originator of this meme, and the idea is that to anti-Semites they are always the “Jooos,” especially when they are accusing them of some kind of conspiracy. And today I see two articles that will get the “Jooos run the world” crowd into a tissy. But I wanted to explain the meme first, because I don’t want anyone who is not familiar with that meme to mistakenly think I engage in anti-Semitic conspiracy mongering.)
So via Patterico by email and Hot Air, we get this aerial view of the roof of the Tehran Airport:
Yep, that’s a Star of David, on a major building, in Iran. The JPost article has this as the sub-headline:
Building was constructed by Israeli engineers prior to Islamic Revolution; Iranian officials incensed, call for Jewish symbol’s removal.
Then in the lede they ask:
Did Israeli prankster architects sneak a Star of David onto the roof of the Teheran airport, or is the controversy in Iran over a Google Earth revelation much ado about nothing?
Um, you just answered your own question. It was built before the revolution, at a time when the country simply didn’t hate Jews so much. So its not a prank, more like an easter egg, like writing “John wuz here” in wet cement or carving your name into a tree trunk.
Of course the Iranian government reacted by considering the philosophical implications of the fact that Israelis and Persians once got along so well together that the Israelis built them an airport, leading the regime to a new understanding of the Jewish people and ushering in a new era of understanding between the two nations.
No, not really:
Once the existence of the Star of David was reported in Iranian media, government officials called for the immediate removal of the apparently offensive Jewish symbol.
The discovery of the symbol came three months after the Iranian public learned of the existence of a Star of David on the roof of a building in Teheran’s Revolution Square.
Meanwhile okay this is a possible Israeli conspiracy, but if it is their work, I approve. The Daily Beast credibly theorizes that the bombings of those Iranians scientists was a joint Israeli and American operation. But it starts off with an interesting description of the car bombings that were reported Monday:
A group of masked assassins on motorcycles pulls up to an idling car. Inside the car is a nuclear scientist and his wife.
One of the assassins reaches out and attaches a magnetic bomb to the side of the car.
BOOM! The bomb explodes, killing the scientist and wounding his wife.
A plume of black smoke rises to the sky as the masked assassins speed away.
No, this is not a sneak peak at the script to the latest Bond movie. This incredible series of events actually happened on Monday. Twice.
Now they don’t make the Stuxnet connection that Debka file suggested, but still it is interesting stuff. Although in truth, I am left wondering if anyone has any idea what is actually going on. Any student of military history knows that it can take years for the full truth to come out. I don’t mean that in a paranoid “they are out to get us” sort of way, but the government is on record lying. For instance, if you read a history book and it says, “and then suddenly we found the enemy’s plans” be very skeptical. At least nine times out of ten, that is a cover story for the truth: we obtained that information by espionage. Particularly in the case of WWII these accounts often cover up information we learned by stealing the Nazis enigma machine. The machine was basically a code writer and reader that the Nazis believed couldn’t be cracked. The British did most of the legwork obtaining them and shared what they knew with us. And the very fact we had this machine was not publicly known until the 1970. Why? Because as the Soviets took over, while the USSR itself didn’t use the device, a lot of the lesser Warsaw Pact nations did. Likewise, do you know how we invented computers? The cover story was that they were invented during the space race and for that purpose. The truth, however, is that computers were actually invented in WWII to break codes, but their existence was kept a secret until we needed them for the space program. The point is that the government will lie about this, and really as a rule that’s not always a bad thing. I mean contrary to these Wikileaks morons seem to think, a nation must have some secrets. But that means we can’t really know what is going on.
And that is one of the reasons why we have to have representative democracy, and one of the reasons why character is so important, especially in the Presidency. The fact is the President can probably actually get away with murder if he or she wanted to. You can put as many checks and balances on the President’s power as you want, but none of it will really work if the president is a sufficiently bad person. So the character of our leaders is very, very important.
Anyway, so as they say, read the whole thing.
Update: In the comments, Dustin points out that they really didn’t need Google Earth to discover this, given that this is at an airport. So I am calling B.S. The pilots, at least, knew. They knew for years. They just didn’t say anything. Which is interesting if you think about it.
And that sound you hear is me smacking myself on the forehead for not noticing such a basic point. Thanks Dustin.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
It’s a damn airport. How is this the first time they noticed it? They need the USA’s google earth to see Israel’s design of their airport.
Many of the greater structures in Iran are there thanks to the work of Americans and Jews and other ‘horrible’ people prior to Persia losing the revolution to monsters.
It’s sad to think that so many sources of pride for this country are actually signs of someone else’s greatness. Persia could be one of the brightest spots on the planet. It’s such a damn shame.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 12/1/2010 @ 10:17 amIt’s a targeting device for Israeli smart bombs or drones. A similar one may be found under the Great Pyramid of Giza.
great unknown (261470) — 12/1/2010 @ 10:34 am[Yes I know that statement involves anachronisms and other historical impossibilities…]
Dustin
Lol, stupid me, i didn’t even think about that.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 12/1/2010 @ 10:55 amAaron, you think too much.
nk (db4a41) — 12/1/2010 @ 10:55 ambtw, dustin, i updated the post with that point.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 12/1/2010 @ 11:00 amIts a three sided building with a structure on top that consists of two triangles superimposed. Duh.
SPQR (26be8b) — 12/1/2010 @ 11:06 amSPQR
mmm, i don’t believe it. no isreali would have failed to notice they had coincidentally created a star of david.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 12/1/2010 @ 11:09 amHow is this the first time they noticed it?
They are illiterate, brainwashed or lazy like most (not all) of the world’s mooooooslims?
Torquemada (a8a9b2) — 12/1/2010 @ 11:17 amPilots had better not have been looking at the top of the building. Among other things, when you’re directly over it, you can’t see it anyway, unless you roll your Ilyushin liner/bomber 180. Which you really shouldn’t.
Richard Aubrery (59fa91) — 12/1/2010 @ 11:19 amPassengers might have seen it and some would have talked.
So we have to figure no landings or takeoffs went over the building at close enough to vertical to make the Star visible.
Richard, when I look at the airport, I see a lot of helicopters.
I assume most of the pilots had better things to worry about than the zionist conspiracy.
This place has been there for decades with hundreds of thousands of eyes overhead, so I’m sure the pattern isn’t a surprise. All that’s changed is that it’s on the internet now and the government has to erase the truth about Persians and Jews being friends in the past, with Israel helping Tehran be a much better place.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 12/1/2010 @ 11:23 amWe know it must have been Israelis or Americans that bombed the good professor because we know muslims never kill other muslims and the last weapon muslims would think of using would be a bomb.
Jim (844377) — 12/1/2010 @ 12:01 pmRegardless of whom ultimately proves responsible for the recent events in Iran, they’ve accomplished what they set out to do – retard their nuclear progam and make the Mullahs very, very paranoid about their future existence. What a terrible shame that Obama missed his chance to act correctly and side with the Green protestors when he had the chance – instead of voting “present” and going along with the murderous thugs. When Iran finally breaks free of this dictatorship (and they will), the entire ME will be changed for the better (if we don’t all get blown up first).
Dmac (498ece) — 12/1/2010 @ 12:11 pmActually, when aircraft are close to the ground in the vicinity of a major airport their flights are very closely controlled by the flight controllers at that airport.
It is quite possible that no aircraft ever was close enough to the ground over that particular building to notice this structure. Especially considering that what you might actually be seeing is the shadow made by structure rather than the structure itself, the angle it is viewed from is critical.
Hank Archer (44fa64) — 12/1/2010 @ 12:16 pmJim
well, I think that stuxnet is connected, so you have to believe that whoever did the bombing is involved in stuxnet, if you buy debka file’s argument. some allege that arabic countries just don’t have the ability to do that.
myself, i don’t know. i really don’t know. its a house of mirrors trying to figure it out.
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 12/1/2010 @ 12:21 pmFor people curious to look for themselves, this is the Mehr Abad airport. The building is easy to spot (it’s the Iran Air HQ).
At this airport are many excavation sites and bunkers, as well as aircraft with excellent downward visibility, such as C-130s and CH-47s.
The star is 50 feet wide and judging by the shadows, the buildings to the east are taller and probably can see it.
I’m sure they do control the airspace pretty well as Hank guesses, but it’s hard to believe that they didn’t conduct careful analysis of what you can see from the sky many times over the past 30 years. I mean, they have air conditioners on the roof next to a 50 ft star of David (and yeah, it looks like a deliberate design choice). They have Mig 29s and F-14s at this airport. It’s realistic that a lot of people noticed this ages ago.
It’s possible that no one bothered to complain about the star, but I suspect the government’s only problem is that it’s proof Israel helped Iran before the revolution, and many of the more interesting elements of Iranian infrastructure are thanks to cooperation.
The infamous (to me) 150 ft tall Azadi tower is only 1 mile east from this site and has a huge observation deck on top looking to the west.
It’s like the Eiffel Tower of Tehran and the most interesting element from the air. I’m telling you guys, this star was not well hidden and in a location that lots of Iranian aircraft have been looking down on for a generation.
Granted, most people wouldn’t notice this pattern, but I’m betting thousands of people did. The only problem is that it’s now concrete proof that Iran doesn’t really have to hate Israel so much.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 12/1/2010 @ 12:41 pmThe truth, however, is that computers were actually invented in WWII to break codes, but their existence was kept a secret until we needed them for the space program.
They were selling computers commercially in the 50’s and as I recall using them to calculate artillery in WWII
quasimodo (4af144) — 12/1/2010 @ 12:58 pmI was programming computers in 1958. The origin of the digital computer was with Alan Turing who worked at Bletchley Park during the war. It was the Poles who stole the Enigma and had pretty well figured out its design when they were invaded in 1939. They passed it to the French who then turned it over to the British. The analog computers that they were using at Bletchley were called “bombes” and were used to calculate probabilities.
There is an excellent book called Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks. It is actually about the SOE but tells the story of teaching code to the Jedburgh agents who were going to parachute into France and other countries in Europe during the war. The book could not be published for 50 years after the war so it came out recently. It is very entertaining.
Marks’ father owned the famous antiquarian bookstore at 44 Charing Cross Road. There is a famous book about the bookstore. The title is the address.
Mike K (568408) — 12/1/2010 @ 1:14 pmmy favorite is this guy…..
ROPMA.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 12/1/2010 @ 5:36 pmIt’s quite possible that whoever is behind Stuxnet is not the same as whoever is behind the car bombings. The car bombs might have been organized by someone who knew who was in charge of the Iranian anti-Stuxnet methods, and decided that here was a good opportunity to make life more complicated for the Iranians–but was not themselves involved in the creation of Stuxnet.
Mullah attempts to plunge Israeli-Iranian friendship under the Shah into the memory hole pale in comparison to what the Muslim religious authorities in Palestinian controlled areas are doing–which is a sustained effort, now extending over a decade or more, to physically destroy as much evidence as possible which demonstrates the ancient Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and other sites–for instance, by covertly building an underground mosque, the construction of which just happened to destroy some of the foundations of Herod’s Temple (the structure which replaced the Temple built during the Persian era, and which was the Temple known to Jesus, the Apostles and the first generation of Christians).
kishnevi (1b86f1) — 12/1/2010 @ 6:07 pmKish
Ah, so opportunism by a second party… i like the theory.
Aaron Worthing (b8e056) — 12/1/2010 @ 6:11 pmIndeed, “bombes” were used to process German encryption from Enigma code machines. But they were really not “computers” as we understand them. They were hard-wired special purpose machines. The modern general purpose computer is invented a couple of years later.
SPQR (26be8b) — 12/1/2010 @ 6:46 pmThe bombes were analog. The real father of digital computers with loadable programs was Johnny Von Neuman. At the time I was programming in 1958, programs were very small. They were capable of calculation but nothing else. The data was loaded on IBM cards. I tried to write a program to print headings on each page of data but the timing pulses were not precise enough in their timing. That was the year that the first computer using transistors was introduced.
Mike K (568408) — 12/1/2010 @ 7:35 pmA few historical corrections here.
1) There was no theft of the Enigma machine. In fact the Germans assumed that Enigmas would be captured in battle; but they believed it was impossible to break their key settings.
2) The Poles figured out mathematical ways to deduce key settings. They had help from a French spy who provided German manuals, and sample messages and settings.
3) German changes defeated the Poles by 1939, but they passed their work to France and Britain, who found new ways to break Enigma keys.
4) The ultimate answer was the “bombes”, huge electromechanical devices which could test tens of thousands of possible key settings. They were digital, not analog, but were special-purpose, not programmable.
5) Programmable computers were developed during WW II for code-breaking (though not Enigma) and for calculating ballistics tables used by artillery crews (a job that required hundreds of people working mechanical calculators).
6) After WW II, computers such as ENIAC were developed for scientific calculation, and for business use. The Space Age didn’t start till Sputnik in 1958. The Sperry Rand UNIVAC had been for sale since 1951.
Rich Rostrom (f7aeae) — 12/1/2010 @ 10:15 pm#19, it’s not just ancient remains that have been erased. Until about 20 years ago, one could walk about the “Moslem Quarter” of the old city of Jerusalem, and see the holes in the doorways where mezuzot used to be, showing that these were Jewish homes until the pogroms of the 1930s. Then the Moslems realised that this contradicted their claims, so they filled in the holes and painted them over.
Milhouse (ea66e3) — 12/2/2010 @ 5:46 amDoes anyone remember that a while back we spent $600,000 to disguise some barracks that were laid out in the shape of a swastika? All because someone spotted it on Google.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/us_navy_barracks.php
10SCgal (9d2e60) — 12/2/2010 @ 11:28 amThe history of computing presented in the post is completely bogus. Digital computers were developed, though not perfected, in WWII primarily for calculating ballistics, not codebreaking. Analog/mechanical computers for doing specific types of calculations existed long before then. Computers’ existence was certainly NOT kept a secret until the space program.
John Reece (9dc1d1) — 12/3/2010 @ 10:04 amThe history of computing presented in the post is wrong. Digital computers were developed, though not perfected, in WWII primarily for calculating ballistics, not codebreaking. Analog/mechanical computers for doing specific types of calculations existed long before then. The existence of computers was certainly NOT kept a secret until the space program.
John Reece (9dc1d1) — 12/3/2010 @ 10:10 amThat may be the official story, but it makes perfect sense that if they were actually used to break the Enigma, the official story would say they were for something else.
It’s not easy to put computer evolution on a single line, anyway. Much of their development related to the Manhattan project, much for artillery calculations, and obvious a great deal of the early development had to do with breaking codes, and this area was kept secret for decades. I’ve been able to perform artillery calculations with a slide rule (I was in the Artillery), so I suspect the code breaking for the enigma has a more intense use of calculations.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 12/3/2010 @ 10:12 amIf the Star of David is in fact a pattern on a flat roof, then yes, people flying by or in nearby tall buildings couldn’t help but see it.
However, if it’s some sort of 3D construction – perhaps containing mechanical equipment, it may be difficult to discern the shape unless almost directly overhead. The shadows cast by it are inconclusive.
equitus (9d39fe) — 12/3/2010 @ 10:52 amequitus
that’s a good point.
Like that famous “face on mars” looks completely different from a different angle, so it truly does look like something random.
Or maybe that’s just what the joooos want us to think. (yes, that last part is a joke)
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 12/3/2010 @ 10:56 am“The shadows cast by it are inconclusive.”
Very interesting, equitus.
I see some long shadows cast by the building itself, and it looks like this picture was taken in the middle of the morning. The star doesn’t appear to be very tall, so I agree it doesn’t cast enough shadow to indicate much.
I just wanted to note that the googe earth image has been flattened to appear as though it was taken from directly overhead, but it was really taken at an angle.
This is more accurate.
Remember, this is the headquarters for a major airline. I know when I overfly my house or building I’m familiar with, I do look at it. Thousands of people who work at this building have flown over it thousands of times, and I suspect looked at it.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 12/3/2010 @ 11:03 amDustin, it’s not much of an angle from what I can tell. If it were, you’d see more of the wall or sides of the structure – and I see almost none. From the length of the shadow as compared to those of surrounding buildings, I’d say this is at least a 4 story building. I still say this view is close to directly over the building.
equitus (9d39fe) — 12/3/2010 @ 5:16 pmhttp://pajamas media.com/ it’s the jews stupid, what’s the question/
narciso (9d0688) — 12/3/2010 @ 5:28 pmI think the perception that you can’t see enough wall to think the picture was taken at an angle is partly due to the fact that the picture was taken from the southwest (mostly west) and the shadows are on the west walls. Also, many of the buildings have similarly colored walls and roofs.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=35.694372,51.316634&num=1&t=h&sll=35.689167,51.313611&sspn=0.02472,0.096317&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=35.694053,51.31705&spn=0.001514,0.002411&z=19
That’s just a few feet away from the HQ. The west wall is in the shade, but it’s clearly not an overhead shot. And check out the sweet C-140 (LBJ’s Air Force 1 and 1/2). The shade is just hiding the detail. If you look at things that aren’t in the shade, such as aircraft pointing north or south, the logo to the West is visible but the logo to the East is hidden, because the picture was taken at a pretty good angle and then a computer distorted the image to suggest a top-down perspective.
Which I guess is actually support for equitus’s skepticism. These pictures can easily have some kind of illusion or distortion just because of the lighting or the sewing together of different shots. But my guess is that they knew this star was there all along, etc.
And I realize this is completely silly to worry about (I just like looking at sat footage). The fact is that this airport is there because there was a period of time that Israel and Persia were friends that worked together, and the current theocrats are extremely afraid of that history being evident at all. Sadly, it remains that much of the useful infrastructure in Tehran was build at least 30 years ago, coincidentally before the revolution.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 12/3/2010 @ 6:11 pmI’d relied on the screen caps posted, and they’re pretty low-rez compared to seeing it in Google Maps first hand. Your link was helpful. I concede your point.
From one satellite imagery geek to another.. 🙂 No, it’s nothing to “worry about.” Just interesting. (And I thank Patterico for letting us belabor this here.)
equitus (e4bb2f) — 12/3/2010 @ 7:11 pmIt really is pretty interesting. I’m glad I can get some feel for Tehran today because I know it’s not likely I’ll be able to visit anytime soon (and I wish I could). All those American aircraft holding on a generation later, many of their pilots purged because they were trained in the USA and liked the west.
This airport was replaced in 2004 by Imam Khomeini Airport, which also designed by Americans but construction delayed for decades and has been a colossal cluster####. If you look at IKA from Google Earth, it’s really depressing to consider just how scaled down Iran’s aspirations have become. The replacement looks like it’s meant to serve a small city in Oklahoma.
It’s good to be skeptical of anything you see on Google Earth because there are so many artifacts of the process used to put these images together. Just as Aaron said, that man on mars is a great example. Though it’s quite a coincidence if an Israeli designed building just happens to have their national mark on it. 🙂
If you’re touring Iran via google earth, one of my favorite things to look at is the Niavaran Palace, which as a lot of 360 degree panaramas that look like they came out of a Final Fantasy game.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 12/3/2010 @ 7:41 pmOf course, the president himself doesn’t do a thing — he can only order bad things. And those orders only get carried out if the entire chain of command under him agree to pass on those orders. Similarly, any one high up in a chain of command has the possibility to do a great deal of harm. This is why character everywhere in the executive is so important.
Aaron (b4ec19) — 12/5/2010 @ 6:38 pm