SATELLITE IMAGERY AND THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL EXCEPTION

Bicentenario communications satellite

Zena Agha writes in Al Sabaka,  “In the United States and beyond, the rules that apply to the rest of the world have long applied differently to Palestine-Israel. In the US, this exceptionalism often manifests as censorship of Palestinian perspectives and operates on many different levels: On university campuses, Palestine has become the exception to free
speech, and in local government, Israel marks the exception to the right to boycott.”

“Remarkably, this  exceptionalism even extends to the quality of aerial photography and satellite imagery of Palestine-Israel. Bipartisan legislation passed by the US House of Representatives in 1997 limits the quality of aerial photography of Palestine-Israel available to the public through platforms such as Google Earth and Bing Maps. The Kyl-Bingaman Amendment (KBA) to the US National Defense Authorization Act restricts the availability of high-resolution satellite imagery by preventing satellite operators and retailers in the US from selling or disseminating images of Palestine-Israel at a resolution higher than that available on the nonUS market. The result: limited access to clear aerial photography of Palestine-Israel.”…

Bicentenario in a different position

” This is due to the KBA, which cited Israeli national security concerns as for the reason for limiting the public provision of high resolution imagery of Palestine-Israel. Consequently, a two-meter resolution standard has been the “perceived baseline” of what can be sold on the commercial imagery market, including what is made available on platforms such as Google Earth.” (more…)