Is Raf OK? -- Installment #91
2024-03-18 -- Tel Aviv
Tags: 3 Min; Video Clips; Big Relief Area
Pics
Jerusalem
The sign on the right: “Government of the destruction of our home/Government of destruction go home.” (Word play.)
Quoted
נסראללה טען שאחרי חמישה חודשים של מלחמה לצה"ל יש מחסור באלפי חיילים, ולכן דורשים לגייס את המגזר החרדי. אלא שלדבריו, "החרדים שהם דתיים, רוצים רק ללמוד תורה ולא רוצים להתגייס, זה מהזמן של בן גוריון. אחד הרבנים אמר אם אתם תגייסו אותנו, אנחנו נעזוב לחו"ל. זה דבר טוב"
”Nasrallah claimed that after five months of war, the IDF has a shortage of thousands of soldiers, and therefore demands that the ultra-Orthodox sector be mobilized. However, according to him, "The ultra-Orthodox, who are religious, only want to study Torah and do not want to enlist, this is from Ben-Gurion's time. One of the rabbis said if you recruit us, we will leave abroad. This is a good thing."
There is a segment of the Israeli populace who would agree that the exit of the ultra-Orthodox is a good thing... (I saw a text from a guy who said he would pay for the plane tickets.) Who would have thought agreement was possible? (Agreement is a good value, yes?)
As seen on the web:
There’s an Ultra Orthodox Mother
There’s an Anxious Mother
We demand equal service for all. Mothers at the Front. (The organization)
(The words for Ultra Orthodox and Anxious are nearly identical in Hebrew. The message is: There are Ultra Orthodox mothers whose sons do not serve in the army and there are all the other mothers who are anxious because their family is serving.)
My dear proofreader wrote: “I thought the above Nasrallah quote was fake. But no, here he is saying it.” (Arabic with Hebrew subs) [Actually, Nasrallah says more: He has a narrative that “All Israelis have two passports and will leave if we just make it uncomfortable.” In this speech, he says, “This statement by the ultra orthodox that they will leave is the future of Israel. They will take their suitcases and go.” Nasrallah’s frame of reference is far from representative. The percentage of Israeli’s who have a foreign passport and somewhere to go is quite small.
New Film
Documentary of October 7 at the Nova festival.
I discovered the film via a Washington Post Editorial. (PDF here.)
The film, without narration, is composed almost entirely of evidence from the phones of festivalgoers and video taken by the terrorists. It unfolds like many a horror movie, with young people reveling in their freedom and having fun, oblivious to the monster stalking them.
Trailer below (90 seconds. Contains violence)
IDF Bulletin, 2024-03-14
Google Translate below.
Documentation of the Lotar unit’s activity in Khan Yunis
Soldiers of the Counter-Terrorism Unit from the Al-Hamarom Brigade fought deep in Khan Yunis under the 7th Brigade's combat team.
The forces carried out special and targeted missions in the heart of the built-up area, raiding terrorists hiding in apartments and military strongholds of Hamas in the various neighborhoods in Khan Yunis.
As part of the searches in the area, the soldiers located many weapons under the bed in a bedroom, including missiles and explosives. Following the searches in the area, the unit's fighters located a missile and rocket launcher near a school and destroyed it.
Subtext: 5+ months in and still finding rocket launchers…. (And rockets are still being launched from Gaza once or twice a week.) Hamas worked non stop those 15 years before this war. They set up hundreds of launchers. Many hundreds.
Also Seen... (Crazy, I know…)
Tel Aviv Typical...
I call these "Tel Aviv Minivans." Usually it is just one parent with one to three kids on the back. I saw one last week with two kids in the back and a fluffy dog standing, balancing, on a day pack in the front basket. The magic of ebikes....
At the Train Station
Power in the waiting area... First time I have seen USB-C ports in a public place. (Israel is full of USB charging opportunities... Most buses have them, for example.)
At the Shuk
At a soup cafe: A couple induction cookers and several kerosene burners. Old school! The place has an old fashioned smell. (The soup is nothing special, I regret to report. But the restaurant smells like it did fifty years ago.)
Sights From the Falafel Stand Line
And this is at the "budget falafel" stand - 8 shekels (US$2.50). Wonder what the fancy 24 shekel stand offers....
Tel Aviv
You funded Hamas. You betrayed Israel.
(Directed at Bibi)
Street Art Dialog
A Shul
All over there are "Together We Win" banners. On a synogogue is:
"Only with God's help will we win together."
Relief Area
Alef: A Purim Joke Too Far...
אירוע חריג בנתיבות: כוחות חירום קיבלו דיווח על התאבדות באזור מערב העיר. כשהגיעו למקום גילו שמדובר
ב"בובת המן" שנתלתה לרגל יום פורים (אריאל עידן)
An unusual event in Netivot: first responders received a report of a suicide in the western area of the city. When they arrived, they found out it was a "Haman doll" hung on the occasion of Yom Purim (Ariel Idan)
Bet
Gimmel: Uri Geller -- Remember Him?
I had forgotten... until I stumbled on this:
Word is he gives the tour himself! (Can I bring my own spoon? g)
Dalet
Artist: Yaron Steinberg. Seen at: JAR - Old Jaffa Artists Residency. Mr. Steinberg is one of the artists evacuated from Kibbutz Dafna in the North, now residing in Jaffa. A collective was set up in Jaffa to provide housing and workspaces to artists evacuated from the north and south. I saw the above at the opening of the residency.
Hey
Seen in Jerusalem:
Calm down... We are all going to die. (smiley face)
Next to a sticker that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the Messiah...
(Did you know: "Several times each year [Schneerson, the Lubavicher Rebbe’s] addresses were broadcast on national television. On these occasions Schneerson would address the public on general communal affairs and issues relating to world peace such as a moment of silence in U.S. public schools, increased government funding for solar energy research, U.S. foreign aid to developing countries and nuclear disarmament.")
Living the Curse (“you should live in interesting times”).
Stay well,
Raf
(Thank you A.K. and S.Z.)