Today I fixed an upside down interpretation and translation in one section of yesterday's post. This post was updated after its initial release to correct the Gaza hospital name from Shifa to Rantisi, and was then corrected a 2nd time on Nov 15 that one clip is from Shifa and the other from Rantisi. (Yet another artifact of using hospitals as human shields…. Thank you M.T.)
Reported
The dinner party last night: Nice. Uneventful. We followed the protocol of schools and classes "If there is an alert, the safe room is across the street--yes there is time to get there." At about 8:00PM there were a couple of booms. Either over the ocean or in another zone, as there was no alert in this neighborhood.
Dinner started with a toast To Life.
Seen
Today in Tel Aviv: The coffee shop around the corner is still closed; “I wanna go home”/Home Now stickers on a scooter. The Yellow Ribbon is the Bring Them Home mascot.
I took the above, but not the below at a Tel Aviv shopping center:
On The Road
Cousin S.D. is traveling from Chicago to D.C. for the big Israel rally today. I can report: People in Israel need to see the support. A sense of isolation and fear flows from footage of people taking down Kidnapped posters in American cities and rallies waving Palestinian flags.
Summarized By Oded Rahav
3 minute, well presented high level summary. (Contains ~15 seconds of graphic footage)
Said
A snippet from last night:
(Raf speaking) If an event looks and quacks like a conspiracy, it is equally dangerous. "Back room deals" are not required. For example, a divisive, damaging U.S. President is something the KGB-FSB-SVR ("KGB") wanted for decades. Whether the KGB was involved in the election of Trump or not, the damage his administration caused to American institutions and the American Justice System are longstanding goals of the KGB. Similarly, there is a symbiosis between Hamas and Netanyahu (aka Bibi). It is reasonable to say: Bibi was brought to power by Hamas. Hamas (and related) terrorism in the 1990's made Bibi's "extreme security" pitch sound correct to a lot of Israeli voters. Once in power, Bibi--for whatever reasons--implemented multiple policies that empowered and entrenched Hamas in Gaza.
They need each other. At least at times: Bibi needs violence, because he has historically sounded like the "I will keep Israelis safe" leader. And Hamas needs Bibi because he opposes, in word and deed, rivals of Hamas (who happen to be more peaceful).
(Historical background for the Hamas-Bibi dynamic can be found in John Oliver's full clip mentioned yesterday. 30 minutes.)
Thought
"Conspiracy-less conspiracy" is perhaps a subtheme of the Oded Rahav clip above. We are all part of one organism. What happens in one place influences another. A lesson from Social Media: Influence is irresistible.[1] The unforeseen (to Raf) consequence is what seems like a trend: The "anti-X" group becomes the group infected by the idea of X:
The historically anti-communist U.S. Republican Party becomes the party to praise Putin (himself career KGB), block military aid to Ukraine, and expand Iranian regional power (via the U.S. invasion of Iraq under Bush Jr. & pullouts from the Middle East under Trump)
The "individualist” LGBTQ+ movement becomes supportive of Hamas and a political movement (a Palestinian state) hostile to deviance from "traditional" sexual expression. (The Palestinian Authority isn't a bastion of Gay Rights, for example.)
Heard
Hebrew language Sounds of Silence: The original version or Raf's upload with English subtitles (also below). Location: A bomb shelter. The names mentioned are members of the current government coalition (a pack of extremists and ex-convicts). If English isn’t visible, tap the “cc” button on the lower right.
Hamas Visuals
One minute: Hamas weapons storage under Shifa Hospital
Six minutes, evidence of hostages kept under Rantisi hospital
A Sargent's Perspective
Sgt Nimrod Vronen, in Gaza - 6.5 minutes
Relief Area
Ack, I don’t have any. The unused material is too tasteless to use. Hopefully tomorrow!
[1]
c.f. Trust Me, I'm Lying; The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Zuboff; Zucked, McNamee
It is actually rainy off and on just now. Thunder. The natural kind. I was drizzled on coming home from the gym. Just now it is pouring. It is pushing 3 PM. I need to figure out how to sign some forms without a printer.
Stay well,
Raf
(Thank you A.K., M.N. for content and feedback.)