Is Raf OK? -- Installment #81
2024-02-25 -- Jerusalem & Tel Aviv
Correction to #80 See below.
Tags: 8 Min Read
This is #81. How many more will there be? Will the war (on one or more of its fronts) last until the end of 2024? Longer? Will there be another 80 entries?
The scope of this blog has evolved. It started as: "What is it to be in a country at war?" It evolved to: "Stuff visible from inside Israel that may not be visible abroad." It is those things and also "Stuff visible in the U.S. that is often missed within Israel."
I don't dwell on the destruction of Gaza because: a) There are exceedingly loud voices in Europe and the U.S. who talk about nothing else; b) This is war. "Big" war. Destruction is a given; (There is also extensive destruction in southern Lebanon, Yemen and parts of Syria. Where to start? Where to end?) c) War is tragedy. What interests Raf are the historical vectors that put millions of simple people in the middle of a battle that, to Raf's eyes, isn't even their fight.
Week In Zichron Yakov
Great. Not easy, yet great. Internal refugees, Jewish Ethiopians and others from Sderot and evacuated areas were at the hotel. One evening a guitar player entertained with popular songs in Hebrew and English. The lyrics were projected so all could sing along.
The workshop: Run by the OFEK group and derived from the work of Tavistock, it was a blend of group dynamics (conscious and subconscious), support group time and personal development. The crowd a mix of secular and religious, two Palestinian Israelis and two from Germany and Italy. 60 hours of therapy in a week. I am wrung out.
Leaving Zichron unlunched inspired a yen for: "Good, local, regional food." Texts asking for referrals: Not useful. Stopping for gas we saw what looked like a fruit stand, and planned to make that do. Turns out, it's a Druze family "Friday afternoon business," selling all manner of home cooked tabbouleh, stuffed grape leaves, stuffed cabbage, home pressed olive oil, big jars of zhug, cookies and more. That became both a picnic lunch and the month's olive oil supply.
Yum! (Local food: Good as ever.)
Reader Mail
The "Funny Video..."
I don't know if you realized it, but the girl in the "silly video" was Shani Louk, murdered at Nova. I only realized it because I could read the credits, as I didn't know who she was at the time her murder was announced. Well, there’s a downer for the day....
She's the young woman whose body was put onto that flat bed or pickup truck and driven around Gaza while people cheered, spat on her, etc. There's a question as to whether she was killed at Nova and then the body was taken to Gaza, or whether she was alive but injured when taken and then later died. I cannot begin to imagine being her parents...
Entry #80 has been updated to reflect this sad reality. Thank you S.D. and M.T.
A side note about festivals like the Nova festival: There are workshops, retreats and music festivals of this kind all the time, all over the country. I was just at one for the past week (in a hotel). On the night of October 5 I was at a music festival myself, near the Dead Sea.
The War Is...
Existential
I said from the start: The war in Gaza is an existential war.
- Friend in Tel Aviv
A Tel Aviv lightpost:
Alisef Sussan - Of Blessed Memory. You are with me all the time.
In memoriam: Libi Cohen Migori: June 5, 2001 - October 7, 2023. My Heart [the meaning of her first name]. You are in all the rooms of my heart. Our ray of sunlight.
Fuck Hamas
What Israeli's Don't See
Mentioned (I think): Israelis don't know how the American political system works. Unfortunately, I have seen multiple instances of Israeli journalists posted to Washington DC who fail (with some consistency) to explain. One result of this is that Israelis don't comprehend that America has yet to send a single new dollar to Israel for the wars (recalling that the war is multi front: Lebanon, Red Sea [against the Houthis who launch missles at Israel from Yemen], and Gaza). For example, the following dynamic is just starting to surface to Israelis (quoting Ben Samuels in Haaretz, emphasis Raf's):
Trump and Tucker hold the GOP hostage. And Israel is paying the price
The GOP has been forced to navigate the tension between its hawkish elements and the isolationist America First-ers empowered by the rise of Donald Trump. Israel has become a pawn in this internal Republican power struggle
...
Israel, however, would soon become a pawn in the internal Republican power struggle despite all claims grounded in unconditional support. This first started with Tucker Carlson, whose skepticism toward U.S. support for Israel in a potential regional war would soon trickle down to members of Congress and presidential candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy.
...
When the Senate finally managed to pass a foreign aid bill, 26 Republicans (more than half the party's representation) voted against the bill over Trump's insistence that any foreign aid would be in the form of a loan to be paid back in full.
...
With emergency aid in gridlock and the Republican Party held hostage by Trump, Tucker and their ideological whims, one thing is clear within the GOP: the isolationists are winning.
Americans Don't See
Announcements about Israeli military deaths. For the first three months are so, there were announcements almost every day, usually of one to three dead. Injured are not announced except as part of (rare) operation reports (like the mission to rescue the two hostages a couple of weeks ago).
A surprising, shocking, percentage of the dead are officers, including senior officers. Some announcements are stories in themselves:
This is one of the heroic stories of October 7th. Hero of Israel the Arab Israeli Ibrahim Kharuba was a tracker in the Gaza Division's northern division. On the morning of October 7th, when Hamas launched a terrorist attack, he rushed to the fence to check for any infiltration attempt. Ibrahim and another officer reached the fence when they were shot at, and the officer was wounded. Ibrahim fired back and carried the officer to safety. Meanwhile, many terrorists broke through and entered the base. Ibrahim fought them valiantly until his last bullet, killing 17 terrorists before he was killed. He fought with courage and bravery and saved many lives at the base.
He was 39 years old when he died. He left behind a wife, four children, and a remarkable legacy of a brave warrior who was also a symbol of Israeli partnership. Hero of Israel, may his memory be blessed.
File under: Not your grandpa's Israel.
Aid To Gaza
Kerem Shalom is a road from Israel into Gaza. Because of the Houthis rocketing merchant vessels on the Red Sea, an overland route has been established across Jordan, connecting Arab countries and Persian Gulf ports to Gaza. From Haaretz on Feb 23:
Hundreds demonstrated on Friday at the Kerem Shalom crossing to prevent the passage of aid trucks into Gaza. Police and border guards cleared the protesters, allowing 79 trucks to enter Gaza.
Israeli protesters protest that aid is being delivered while there are still hostages being held. This blocked some deliveries, but appears to be more for "show" at this point.
The Shirky Principle & UNRWA
It has been discussed (here and elswehere) that a big (big) part of the problem in the Middle East is a direct product of the U.N. I just discovered the Shirky Principle which describes UNRWA to a T.
The Shirky principle is the adage that “institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution”. More broadly, it can also be characterized as the adage that “every entity tends to prolong the problem it is solving”.
From Gaza
Anti Hamas Demonstrations
These seem to be happening a lot, including in daylight. People demonstrate saying they want food, and that Hamas are donkeys/killers/etc. This clip is a 2 minute rant. He brings up Hamas about half way through. (Arabic with English subs. Might be best to watch with sound off, as he shouts.)
"The Revolution of the Hungry of Jabaliya and the North of the Gaza Strip" - a must watch for all, and especially for the disconnected Yahya Sinwar (:
During a nighttime demonstration, a resident of the northern Gaza Strip comes out harshly against Hamas and slams it with the harshest accusations - while in the background, with perfect timing, Hamas members shoot at him and the Gaza protesters, whose protection they are supposed to be entrusted with.
In response to this video, someone wrote on Facebook: The revolutions started in Jabaliya (the reference here is to the first intifada in 1987 which started in Jabaliya).
Part Two
A Gazan on TikTok explains that today he is going to sell his car to pay for coordination to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing. According to him, this coordination would have cost, before the war, 400 dollars and now 7000 dollars, so he had to sell his car. He adds and says that everyone exploits them: "The Gazans exploit the Gazans even before the Jews. The Arabs suck the Gazans even before the Jews..."
I have seen photos of large crowds (many hundreds) queuing in front of the relevant ministry in Cairo to pay the fee for their Gazan relatives to exit. Described as "institutional bribery."
Part Three
Where did Sinwar go?
The children are looking.
The father asks: Amira, what are you doing, digging?
The little girl: I'm looking for Sinwar.
The father: Who are you looking for?
Little Girl: For Sinwar.
The big girl: Give me the shovel. She will not find Sinwar. I will find him!
Relief Area
Alef
Bet
Tel Aviv continues to be a great place to live. Traffic is a bit lighter than “usual.”
I have more analysis to write up. Stay tuned and stay well.
Raf
(Thank you A.K.)