Friday, December 29, 2017

Anti-Trump ‘resistance‘ chief faces child-rape accusation

SEATTLE — Only three days before a 46-year-old man filed a lawsuit accusing him of child rape and “molestation,” Seattle Mayor Ed Murray was featured in a national interview story as one of the faces of the Democratic Party’s resistance to President Trump.
said Murray was “positioning himself at the forefront of the pushback” to Trump.
His city had and he had teamed with Washington’s governor and attorney general to oppose Trump’s temporary travel ban, resulting in a ruling by a federal judge in Seattle to temporarily halt the president’s executive order.
Murray, who is running for re-election this year, told Politico he was “beginning to think we’re dealing with America’s first authoritarian administration.”
But last Thursday, a local man filed a , claiming Murray raped and molested him when the man was a teenager.
with a thorough, multi-reporter examination of the charges, including interviews with two other men with similar profiles who told similar stories and provided matching intimate physical details of Murray and the apartment he lived in at the time.
 and he said he felt sad for the “troubled” individual making the claims.
“I have never backed down,” he said. “And I will not back down now.”
“Let me be clear: These allegations, dating back to a period of more than 30 years, are simply not true,” the mayor said.
The mayor’s personal spokesman Jeff Reading said: “These false accusations are intended to damage a prominent elected official who has been a defender of vulnerable populations for decades. It is not a coincidence that this shakedown effort comes within weeks of the campaign filing deadline. These unsubstantiated assertions, dating back three decades, are categorically false. Mayor Murray has never engaged in an inappropriate relationship with any minor. … Mayor Murray will vigorously fight these allegations in court.”
However,  for deciding to investigate and report the allegations, noting it had interviewed two other accusers and sought “documentation or witnesses to corroborate their accounts.”
The Times knew of two other accusers in March 2008, Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson, but chose not to report their claims at the time, because, among other things, the attorney for Simpson withdrew a potential lawsuit.
“Ultimately, we felt we did not have enough information to publish these very serious accusations,” the Times said.
But the paper “decided we needed to take another look when we learned recently that a Kent man was preparing to sue now-Mayor Murray.”
“We found no connection between the new accuser, identified in the lawsuit as D.H., and the other men. Our reporting revealed similarities among the three accounts, including some graphic details. We felt readers should know,” the Times said.
“We don’t take these decisions lightly, and make them only after lengthy discussions. We know this is a disturbing story. But we cannot shy away from important stories simply because they make us uncomfortable.”
After Murray’s statement Friday, the lawyer for D.H., , arguing the mayor’s representatives have never asked for his client’s identity, so if Murray is being truthful “he should have no idea who my client is” and would have no basis to “paint him as ‘troubled,‘” unless he knew him.
Epicenter of resistance
Murray was named in a Feb. 5 Washington Post article headlined ” noting the mayor had vowed to protect illegal-alien residents, even asking the city to rework budgets in anticipation of the loss of federal funds.
“This city will not be bullied by this administration,” Murray .
Politico reported Murray’s path to City Hall in Seattle began as an AIDS activist in the 1980s. Later, he managed a friend’s campaign for state representative. Murray was appointed to that seat himself after the friend died. He then won a seat in the state Senate before defeating an incumbent in a 2013 mayoral primary.
Under Murray, Seattle led the nation in imposing a $15 minimum wage and has initiated controversial, tax-hiking programs to combat homelessness that have included tent cities and encampments deploying run-down RVs.
Days before the lawsuit against him was filed, in favor of pursuing a county sales tax increase to pay for services in the region.
Seattle and King County rank third — behind Los Angeles and New York City — among 50 major cities and counties in the number of homeless people, with nearly 11,000, according to a November 2016 federal government report.
In his interview with Politico April 3, Murray discussed his Catholic faith — he once studied to be a priest before changing direction — and the divisions among Democrats who are trying to mount a resistance to Trump.
“On the national level, at times, I feel like we are becoming like the tea party on the far right, that we have purity tests,” he said.
“If we are starting to have purity tests amongst ourselves, then we’re never going to gain back those working-class and lower-income people that we are building a progressive movement for.”
‘Healing process’
The three accusers interviewed by the Times said they knew Murray when they were growing up in Portland in the 1980s.
In his legal complaint, D.H. alleges Murray “raped and molested him” over several years, beginning in 1986 when the man was a 15-year-old high-school dropout and crack-cocaine addict.
“I have been dealing with this for over 30 years,” the man, now sober for a year, told the Times.
He said he was coming forward as part of a “healing process” after years of “the shame, the embarrassment, the guilt, the humiliation that I put myself through and that he put me through.”
The two other accusers, Simpson and Anderson, also described themselves as troubled teens in the 1980s when they knew Murray.
Simpson told the Times he spoke to a detective and a social worker in 1984 about his claim, but no charges were filed.
A decade ago, they both raised the allegations to media and Washington state lawmakers. Simpson, in 2008, said he spoke on the phone with the Rev. Ken Hutcherson, the late local pastor who was an outspoken activist for traditional marriage.
Anderson and Simpson told the Times they would testify in court if needed.
Murray’s spokesman, Reading, addressed the previous claims.
“The two older accusations were promoted by extreme right-wing anti-gay activists in the midst of the marriage equality campaign, and were thoroughly investigated and dismissed by both law enforcement authorities and the media,” he said.
The Times pointed out all three of Murray’s accusers have “substantial criminal records.”
Simpson said he understands why people didn’t believe him then.
“I get it. I understand, my past is less than stellar,” he said. “… People did think I was nuts and nobody wanted to believe it. But I felt I needed to tell the truth, finally tell the truth.”
D.H. told the Times he didn’t see how Murray could deny the claims. The paper said attorneys want to question the mayor under oath within 90 days.
The accuser wants Murray held accountable for treating him “like I was just nothing, like I was worthless.”
His lawsuit said he “is disturbed that Mr. Murray maintains a position of trust and authority, and believes that the public has a right to full information when a trusted official exploits a child.”
‘Potential land mines’
The Seattle Time’s Nina Shapiro cited
Danni Askini of the Gender Justice League said it’s “too soon” to take sides but said she felt emotional about the allegations.
“The news has been unbelievably triggering for survivors of DV (domestic violence), sexual assault and childhood sexual assault,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
But she is also concerned, Shapiro said, about how “accusations like these can feed homophobic stereotypes.”
“I see so many potential land mines here,” Askini wrote.
Shapiro said that while the mayor and his spokesmen have accused the men of having political motivations, “the allegations — though unproven and still fresh — had an all-too-familiar ring.”
“It’s the pattern,” said Richard Sipe, a former priest who has written and testified about sexual abuse in the Catholic church. “All the elements are there.”
Sipe noted the alleged victims were vulnerable people, and Murray is accused of developing a relationship with them by offering help.
In Catholic church abuse cases he has studied, Sipe told the Times, priests often chose children who had lost a father, then drew close and said, “I’ll be your father now.”
Mary Dispenza, Northwest leader of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, didn’t want to jump to conclusions, recalling Murray was a leader in supporting homosexuals in the church.
But she told Shapiro the allegations stirred memories.
Dispenza said he was abused at age 7 but didn’t disclose it until she was 52.
“I know what holds us back,” she said, referring to shame.
members of the Seattle City Council were remaining silent about the allegations. Council President Bruce Harrell said in a written statement he and the council’s other members “have no intention of commenting on matters of pending or potential litigation. We believe that it is critically important that, together, we remain committed to the business of governing.”
If Murray were to resign, Harrell would be called upon to serve as acting mayor.
“Our city cannot afford to be distracted,” Harrell said. “There is a judicial process that will address the serious allegations that this situation has presented, and we will respect that process and the rights of all parties involved. All accusations of abuse require a thorough investigation. It is in our human nature to immediately want answers, but I ask we not cast aspersions to the parties involved before we have all the facts through the legal process. I am confident that through this process, truth and justice will prevail.”





Tuesday, December 26, 2017

FBI agent accused of lying about firing shots during confrontation with LaVoy Finicum

FBI agent in court on charge of lying about rancher shooting

PORTLAND, Ore. — An FBI agent pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges that he lied about shooting at a key figure in last year’s armed occupation of a national wildlife refuge just before the man was killed by Oregon police.
W. Joseph Astarita said nothing during a brief court hearing and was released on his own recognizance.
He was indicted on five felony charges after the inspector general of the U.S. Justice Department began investigating last year possible FBI misconduct and whether there was a cover-up.
Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, a spokesman for the group that took over the remote bird sanctuary to oppose federal control of land in the western United States, was fatally shot Jan. 26, 2016. Oregon State Police opened fire after he got out of a vehicle at a police roadblock, held up his hands and then reached toward a handgun that he kept in an inner jacket pocket.
Investigators determined the troopers were justified in shooting Finicum but also found members of an FBI hostage rescue team at the scene failed to disclose that they fired two rounds that missed the Arizona rancher.
A grand jury indicted Astarita on three counts of making false statements to his FBI supervisors on the day of the shooting and the day after it and on two counts of obstruction of justice for misleading the Oregon State Police. A jury trial is set for Aug. 29.
Finicum’s widow, Jeanette Finicum, has said she plans to sue Oregon State Police and the FBI, alleging the use of excessive force in her husband’s death. Nobody answered a call to her number Wednesday, and her lawyer, Brian Claypool, did not return a message seeking comment.
Dozens of people, including leader Ammon Bundy, occupied the remote Malheur National Wildlife Refuge about 290 miles southeast of Portland, from Jan. 2 to Feb. 11, 2016. They were allowed to come and go for several weeks as authorities tried to avoid bloodshed seen in past standoffs at Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho.
But authorities moved in Jan. 26 when key standoff leaders left the refuge to attend a community meeting, pulling over two vehicles and arresting the occupiers inside.
Finicum, 54, was driving one of the vehicles. Video taken by one of his passengers showed the occupants panicking after authorities stopped the truck.
With his window rolled down, Finicum shouted at officers: “Shoot me, just shoot me! Put the bullet through me.”
Finicum then sped off. He was driving more than 70 mph when the truck came to a roadblock and plowed into a snowbank.
Authorities say the FBI agent fired two errant shots as Finicum left the truck. As Finicum stood in the snow, authorities told him to lie on the ground. Instead, he reached toward his jacket, leading state troopers to fire three rounds, all of which hit him.
Most occupiers left the refuge after Finicum’s death, though four holdouts stayed an additional 16 days.
Federal prosecutors tried to convict occupation leaders Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five others in a trial last fall but jurors acquitted them of charges of conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs.
Jurors convicted four men in a second trial. An additional 14 people pleaded guilty without going to trial.
The Bundys and others are now facing trial in Nevada on conspiracy charges in a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Chelsea bomber tried to radicalize inmates, prosecutors say

Chelsea bomber tried to radicalize inmates, prosecutors say


Story highlights

  • Ahmad Khan Rahimi shared terrorist propaganda with other prisoners, prosecutors say
  • He was convicted in October in the 2016 bombing in New York's Chelsea neighborhood
(CNN)The man convicted in the 2016 bombing in New York's Chelsea neighborhood that injured 30 people has been trying to radicalize other inmates, federal prosecutors say.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi also told a judge he is on a hunger strike.
Rahimi provided inmates with copies of terrorist propaganda and jihadist materials, including speeches by Osama Bin Laden and the late militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, bomb making instructions, books on jihad and issues of the al Qaeda-backed magazine Inspire, prosecutors said.
Rahimi "has been attempting to radicalize fellow inmates in the Metropolitan Correction Center by, among other things, distributing propaganda and publications issued by terrorist organizations," according to a letter from Acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim to US District Judge Richard Berman.
Rahimi let other inmates view the items on his laptop and gave them electronic copies, Kim's letter said. Discs of the materials were found in two inmates' possession.
Defense attorneys for Rahimi have yet to respond to the allegations.
Prosecutors said Rahimi began distributing these materials in October if not earlier. Rahimi was convicted October 16 on eight federal charges in connection with the Chelsea bombing.
Among the inmates Rahimi gave the materials to, prosecutors say, is Sajmir Alimehmeti, who is scheduled to go on trial next month on terrorism-related charges.
Alimehmeti is represented by attorney Sabrina Shroff, who is also on Rahimi's defense team. Kim wrote to Berman asking for a hearing to make sure Rahimi "has knowingly waived the potential conflict of interest that exists between [Rahimi] and his attorneys."

Hunger strike

Rahimi also says he's on a hunger strike. In an undated handwritten letter to Berman, Rahimi states that he began a hunger strike on December 8 out of protest because he says his wife and children have not been able to visit him since the end of his trial.
"I am on a short time because my sentencing date is on January 18, 2018. Because of this short time and the frustration I have decided to go on a hunger strike," Rahimi wrote.
Berman received the letter December 21 and has ordered attorneys for both the government and defense to respond, according to court documents.
Rahimi was arrested and charged after a pressure cooker bomb went off in New York's Chelsea neighborhood on September 17, 2016. A second pressure cooker bomb was found a few blocks away, on 27th Street, but didn't detonate.
Earlier the same day, a bomb went off near the start of a Marine Corps charity run in Seaside Park, New Jersey.
After a two-week trial and roughly four hours of jury deliberation, Rahimi was convicted of charges including the use and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, bombing a public place, destroying property by means of fire or explosives, and using a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence.
During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence -- including DNA and fingerprints -- linking Rahimi to the bombs that were placed in New Jersey and New York.
Rahimi faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, according to an earlier statement from Kim.
Rahimi faces separate charges in other jurisdictions in connection with the bomb that went off in Seaside Park, a backpack containing improvised explosive devices found the following day at a transit station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and a shootout he had with police before being taken into custody.

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Homeland Security says chain migration let terrorism-related suspects into U.S.

Homeland Security says chain migration let terrorism-related suspects into U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security said chain migration is the common element in two cases allegedly tied to terrorism activities, according to a statement released Saturday.
In the statement on Twitter, Acting Press Secretary Tyler Houlton said DHS “can confirm the suspect involved in a terror attack in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and another suspect arrested on terror-related money laundering charges were both beneficiaries of extended family chain migration.”
Chain migration is when an immigrant gains legal entry into the U.S. via sponsorship by a family member who’s already a legal resident or citizen. The Trump administration launched a campaign against the immigration system, in favor of a more merit-based structure, favoring education and job potential as factors.
WHITE HOUSE TO PUSH MERIT-BASED IMMIGRATION IN NEW CAMPAIGN
The memo referred to Ahmed Aminamin El-Mofty, 51, who it said was a naturalized U.S. citizen admitted to the U.S. from Egypt on a family-based visa. El-Mofty went on a shooting spree Friday in Harrisburg and was reportedly targeting police officers.
The gunman, carrying two rifles and a shotgun, fired at officers in multiple locations.
"He fired several shots at a Capitol police officer and at a Pennsylvania state police trooper in marked vehicles," Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said. The state trooper was injured but is “doing well,” he said.
El-Mofty pursued the trooper to a residential neighborhood and encountered law enforcement officers, who ultimately killed him after he fired “many shots” at them.
The statement also mentioned Zoobia Shahnaz, who DHS said was a naturalized U.S. citizen who entered from Pakistan, also on a family-based visa. Shahnaz was indicted on Dec. 14 after she allegedly laundered more than $85,000 through Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies overseas to the Islamic State.
END CHAIN MIGRATION, AS TRUMP WANTS, AND SWITCH TO MERIT-BASED IMMIGRATION
Acquiring the money through fraudulently obtained credit cards and a bank loan, Shahnaz laundered the funds to people in Pakistan, China and Turkey and “planned to travel to Syria and join ISIS,” federal officials said.
Shahnaz was charged in federal court with bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and three counts of money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In the DHS statement Saturday, Houlton said, “These incidents highlight the Trump administration’s concerns with extended chain migration.”
“Both chain migration and the diversity visa lottery program have been exploited by terrorists to attack our country,” Houlton said. “Not only are the programs less effective at driving economic growth than merit-based immigration systems used by nearly all other countries, the programs make it more difficult to keep dangerous people out of the United States and to protect the safety of every American.”

COPS AGAIN KILLING UNARMED WOMEN AND CHILDREN

Child killed in police shootout identified, suspect found unarmed






SCHERTZ, Texas – A 6-year-old boy and a suspect are dead after deputies engaged in a shootout in Schertz with a known felon who was found unarmed.
A half mile pursuit on Dec. 21 led deputies to the Pecan Grove mobile home park where they opened fire on a woman who had several outstanding felony warrants.
Sheriff Javier Salazar said a young boy was struck in the abdomen and killed by a stray bullet during the shootout. The woman was allegedly on the porch of the boy’s home when he was hit. The boy has been identified as Kameron Prescott by the Bexar County Medical Examiner. 
The incident began when police received a call about a woman trying to steal a car. According to Salazar, the unidentified woman was found hiding in a closet at an apartment complex. A deputy told investigators the suspect indicated to him that she had a weapon and was going to shoot him.
After allegedly showing the deputy a gun, the woman ran towards a wooded area igniting a two hour pursuit. During the case, deputies, witnesses and a helicopter all reported seeing the woman with a gun.
At one point she crossed Cibola Creek and was chased by K9 officers to the mobile home park. Witnesses told police she was trying to get into trailers and threatening people.
"I was just sitting out back on my porch, playing with my cats. My friend texted me and just said don't go outside. I was like why and she was like there's a shooting going on by your house,' said neighbor Alexis Juarez.
As officers approached the woman on the porch of the boy’s home, the sheriff said she made them fear for their lives. At one point the helicopter patrol told officers she was reaching for her waistband. Several shots were fired by four deputies, hitting the woman who fell down and died at the scene.
Salazar said a weapon was not found on the suspect’s body.
The young boy was taken to the University Hospital where he died. Investigators said at this time they do not know if the boy was hit by a deputy’s bullet.

IF SHE WAS IN A CLOSET IN AN APARTMENT POINTING A GUN AT DEPUTIES...WHY DIDNT THEY SHOOT HER THEN,  BET SHE NEVER HAD A GUN BUT WAS HOLDING ON TO HER METH PIPE,,CHARGE OF MURDER SHOULD BE FILED ON COPS

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Mistrial in case against rancher Cliven Bundy, sons and militiaman

Judge declares mistrial in case against rancher Cliven Bundy, sons and militiaman




Cliven Bundy at an event in Bunkerville, Nev., in 2015. (John Locher/AP)
 


A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the criminal conspiracy case against rancher Cliven Bundy and three other defendants, saying government lawyers suppressed key evidence that would have been favorable to the defendants’ case related to a 2014 standoff with federal agents.
U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro determined that the prosecution suppressed evidence from FBI surveillance cameras recording the Bundy family home and the presence of Bureau of Land Management snipers around the property in the days leading up to the standoff there. Additionally, the prosecution did not provide FBI logs, maps, reports and threat assessments that said the Bundy family was not dangerous.
Navarro pointed to assessments conducted by the FBI, the Southern Nevada Counter Terrorism Center and the BLM that said “the Bundy family is not violent” and that they “would probably get in your face, but not get into a shootout.”
The court “regrettably believes a mistrial is the only suitable option,” Navarro told the packed Nevada courtroom. “A fair trial at this point is impossible.”
The case accused Bundy, his sons Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and Montana militiaman Ryan Payne of conspiring to commit a crime against BLM officers during the armed standoff near the family ranch in Nevada.
Navarro spoke of several reports that were also kept from the defense that showed that the Bundy family’s cows — which had been illegally grazing on public lands for more than 20 years when the BLM orchestrated a roundup of the cattle — had “no detrimental impact on Desert Tortoise habitat.” The tortoise is listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
Such details cast doubt on the government’s portrait of the family as violent, paranoid, anti-government extremists. But Navarro noted to the courtroom that declaring a mistrial does not mean that the men are being found not guilty.
“That is not the court’s decision,” Navarro said. “It is for a jury to decide.”
As of Wednesday evening, Cliven Bundy was still incarcerated, but his attorney, Bret Whipple, said he planned to file an emergency motion to see his client released from jail without conditions. The Bundy family patriarch, along with other defendants, was granted conditional release earlier this month, but Cliven Bundy chose to stay in jail until he was allowed to leave without GPS monitoring, which Bundy said would “acknowledge that he did something wrong,” Whipple said.
Both sides have until Dec. 29 to file briefs on whether the judge should allow the government to pursue a new trial.
“I do not think there is a jury in this country that will convict us,” Ammon Bundy said outside the courthouse, an arm slung around his mother’s shoulders as he spoke to reporters. “The truth is on our side.”
The mistrial “does bring a lot of vindication to us,” he said, noting that Navarro “talked about our family, my dad, how he wasn’t prone to use violence. My dad has said that many, many times. He’s not a violent man. He’s a man of peace. He only wanted his rights to be protected.”
Supporters of the Bundy family streamed to the Nevada desert in the spring of 2014 after videos of BLM agents using a stun gun on Ammon Bundy and throwing his aunt to the ground went viral. The family put a call out for supporters to come to their aid in what they felt was an illegal roundup of their cattle.
A mistrial is, in some ways, the latest in a string of victories for the Bundy family.
Last fall, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, as well as other defendants, were acquitted of nearly identical charges for their 41-day armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January 2016, a federal facility they said should be returned to the people of the southeastern Oregon county.
In a separate trial this year over the 2014 standoff, several men were acquitted by a jury.
Ryan Bundy, who represented himself in both Oregon and Nevada, told reporters that the family’s decision to stand up against what they saw as federal tyranny was informed by their belief in the scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, particularly the “white horse prophecy,” which contends that LDS followers will be the final defenders of the U.S. Constitution. The LDS church has continually condemned the actions of the Bundy family and says that the white horse prophecy is not accepted doctrine and more akin to conspiracy theory.
But on Wednesday, Ryan Bundy spoke of the prophecy as truth: “Joseph Smith prophesied that the Constitution would at some point hang as if it were by a thread,” he said. “Put it this way: Whether the church calls it doctrine or not, we’ve got quotes from several prophets reiterating that. . . . I take the words of the prophets both modern and previous ones seriously.”

After the mistrial was declared, Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, yelled into a bullhorn outside the courthouse: “Public lands belong to everybody! Not just to people who have the biggest guns!” Around him, Bundy supporters jeered in response.
“There are no public lands!” one woman yelled. “The government has the biggest guns!” another man countered

Monday, December 11, 2017

Uzi

Uzi: The Israeli Machine Gun That Conquered the World



Outside of Israel the Uzi proliferated widely, contributing to its global image. Countries as diverse as Japan, Germany, Belgium, Peru and Brazil all used the Uzi in their armed forces, as well as producing it under license. The Uzi wormed its way into a variety of Third World conflicts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, was active in antirevolutionary conflicts in Central and South America, and became an object of desire in the United States among criminal gangs.
One of the most recognizable weapons of the postwar era came from one of the newest nation-states. The Uzi submachine gun was designed to be a simple, inexpensive weapon that would overcome the logistical problems of a ragtag army turning professional. In doing so it became a commercial success, exported far and wide and a legend among postwar small arms.
The story of the Uzi goes back to 1948 and the birth of Israel. Declared a nation in May 1948, the young country was immediately attacked by its Arab neighbors—Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Transjordan. Various Israeli paramilitary organizations, particularly the Haganah militia, coalesced into the Israeli Defense Forces, the country’s armed forces. Despite being outnumbered and often outgunned, the IDF successfully defended the country.
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All in all, the IDF repelled the Arab world’s combined assault with just two hundred machine guns, ten thousand rifles and 3,600 submachine guns. The IDF’s victory came despite its reliance on a motley collection of surplus small arms from around the world, from British small arms and Enfield rifles to surplus Axis equipment—particularly from Czechoslovakia. Some of Israel’s earliest defenders used their own civilian sporting rifles and shotguns. This prevented universal training and was a logistical nightmare, as the different weapons used dozens of different ammunition types.
Israel’s network of allies—and enemies—had yet to coalesce, and acquiring arms abroad was a tricky (and sneaky) business. Much of the country’s armaments, even fighter planes, were acquired via smuggling. The country was also very poor and could not afford the latest arms. The solution was to take advantage of the country’s highly educated citizens, constant near-war footing and many veterans of World War II, and create an arms industry of its own.
In 1952, a Israeli of German descent, Lt. Uziel Gal, patented a new machine gun design. The gun was short and compact, with a metal stock that folded up above the upper receiver. It took a twenty-five- or thirty-two-round magazine that was inserted vertically into the pistol grip. It utilized a simple blowback design, firing either semiautomatic or automatic at a relatively slow rate of six hundred rounds a minute. It had a simple sight, protected in both the front and the rear from being dented or bashed. The gun even had three safety mechanisms: a manual lever safety, a grip safety not unlike the one built into the 1911 pistols and a bolt safety. The gun was named Uzi, after the creator.
There were a number of advantages to the Uzi that made it an effective submachine gun. Firstly, it used stamped parts, making it easy and inexpensive to mass-produce—an important feature for a poor country without a lot of industry. Second, the placement of the magazine in the middle of the weapon made it well balanced, much like a pistol. The safety mechanisms made it easier to train and entrust to conscripts and recruits without much military training. Finally, the ability to spray nine-millimeter parabellum rounds at six hundred rounds a minute gave the user the ability to put out a large volume of suppressive fire.
Contrary to popular belief, the Uzi was not the standard weapon of Israeli infantry. The weapon’s short range—its sights maxed out at just two hundred yards—made it useful in built-up, urban areas, but much less useful in open, rolling terrain, where a full-sized battle rifle would be much more useful. The bulk of the IDF carried the Belgian FN-FAL rifle, while the Uzi went to paratroopers, tank and armored-vehicle crews, and special-forces units.
The IDF placed its first orders for the Uzi in 1954. The submachine gun’s baptism by fire occurred in 1956, when Israeli paratroopers of Unit 202 sized the Mitla Pass in the Sinai Peninsula. The paratroopers cleared out Sudanese and Egyptian forces from in and around the pass in support of a larger offensive to take the Sinai, and the compact, high-firepower Uzi proved useful in clearing Egyptian troops out of nearby caves. During the 1956 war, the Uzi was used in the Sinai desert once against Egyptians, in the streets and alleys of the West Bank against Jordanian troops, and in the Golan Heights against Syrians.