Tags: 6 Min Read; Jumbo Relief w Videos
Update: 2024-05-30: Relief Area “Hey” updated with additional context.
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Raf, Check Your Attitude?
Was Raf cavalier imagining an Israeli hostage leashed to Sinwaar or suggesting that right-wingers see the war in Gaza has outlived its utility?
Maybe. I write what I observe. Sometimes what I imagine. I try to make it clear which is which. I don't like any of this. And I don't see a point in denying the extraordinary cruelty at play. War is cruel. Gazans know the cruelty of Hamas first hand (having watched Hamas publicly execute people for 15+ years--remember, Sinwaar himself was in an Israeli prison because he was convicted of murdering Palestinians and confessed to murdering twelve Palestinians PDF here). Israelis get the "benefit" of their violence being state-sponsored. But that doesn't make the experience of war "better."
At a Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day) BBQ I heard a couple guys using qualified language. Everyone can see that the IDF pulled out of northern Gaza and Hamas moved back in. Everyone knows that Rafah might be a death trap for the IDF (given how much time Hamas had to prepare). The far-right wants war and chaos. That hasn’t changed. The center-right seems to think more about their sons in the army….
Du Ality
One way I have articulated the ability to confront duality is to understand that we can have/hold/debate/understand two conflicting ideas at the same time. I do think that younger folks are less and less able to do that because of the social media algorithms that keep sending them what they want to read/hear/believe. - B.R.
The echo chambers of the internet... Complicates relations with reality?
#112 references an interview with former Weatherman Mark Rudd. His perspective on the current demonstrations is stated more clearly in his March 5 opinion piece in the New York Times (PDF here):
We didn’t realize that the violence we claimed we hated had infected our souls: At the time, I’m not sure we’d have cared. No one is innocent, we thought.
Go Toward The Problem
A recent essay about family dynamics and inter-sibling conflict: It is important to seek and engage the underlying problem and not brush it under the carpet for later/never.
The carpet, of course, has been Bibi's go-to since forever. (How is that going for you, Bibi? How is it going for your state?)
I have been told that "deal with problems now" is part of Toyota's Lean Production Principles:
"Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time." Quality takes precedence (Jidoka). Any employee can stop the process to signal a quality issue.
Does statecraft need Lean principles?
(Thank you M.Z.)
Aren't College Students and Hamas Liberating Palestinians?
Not according to anyone I see, read or hear. I am a few episodes into a podcast by a pair of Palestinian Israelis, Unapologetic: The Third Narrative. (Thank you K.T.) I appreciate their frank discussion of identity and their insistence that the humanity of all parties be acknowledged, always.
From the U.S., Palestinian Israelis/Israeli Arabs are largely invisible. In Israel, they are everywhere, part of society. A few months ago I was in a workshop where such a guy apologized that his Hebrew is stronger than his Arabic (because his job and university studies are in Hebrew, I expect). Thanks to the Unapologetic podcast, I learned that while Hebrew is mandatory in Israeli schools for Arabs, in East Jerusalem Hebrew is not required (and not taught, if I understand correctly).
The Israeli protests on the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv (which have become enormous) are actual calls on Israel to halt the war (for the sake of a hostage deal). These Israeli protesters are vilified by calls on Western campuses for Boycott and Sanction. (Quite literally. An Israeli professor asked me just three days ago, “How does boycotting me as a professor or my Israeli university make peace? It is people like me pushing hardest for peace!”)
Mark Rudd, and the Unapologetic folks are clear:
A non violent protest that directly and explicitly call for violence to stop (e.g. the Israeli protests) is constructive. A protest that "others" a group, demands that the "other" be boycotted and perhaps destroyed/removed, is not constructive.
If You Read One Thing....
Yuval Noah Harari is the author of “Sapiens,” “Homo Deus” and “Unstoppable Us” and a professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has spoken at a number of the huge rallies in Israel (against the "judicial reform," for example). He recently wrote an opinion piece in the Washington Post: Will Zionism survive the war? (PDF here)
Alternate "One Thing:" The podcast: Unapologetic: The Third Narrative -- find it wherever you get podcasts. The episodes are long (often 1+ hours). I listen at 1.3x or 1.4x.
Iran
It is night time, and temperatures in the crash area are expected to drop quite low tonight.
Below: Fireworks and celebrations in Iran following the news of the disappearance of the Iranian president's helicopter.
Below: Fresh from Iranian media, the search for the helicopter… at night… in heavy weather.
Gaza
Gaza By Numbers: Divided by ___
The U.N. cut its estimates of women and children casualties in half... Well, the estimates for women and children casualties have been cut by half (PDF here). There is still much death. But much more of it are Hamas terrorists.
The Floating Dock Runs
It is built. Trucks were brought in from Israel to move cargo from the pier in and around Gaza. Cargo has been moving for some days now.
Israeli Imports Flow
Palestinian channels report that tonight about 50 trucks of goods entered from Israel through the Kerem Shalom crossing, ordered by merchants from the Strip (e.g. Not humanitarian aid).
Hamas does not collect taxes on these goods (because they enter without going through Gaza customs), which is supposed to lower the prices of the goods for the consumer, but in reality the prices are high, according to reports from Gazans shared online.
Rafah crossing is still closed.
Rafah is the crossing from Gaza into Egypt.
Do you know why it is still closed?
Because Israel has entered Rafah and controls the Gaza side of this crossing. The Egyptians refuse to open Rafah because that would be “cooperating” with Israel. The observers I follow say that "cooperation" with Israel would compromise Egypt in the eyes of the Arab world.
So Rafah, which was a major entry point for humanitarian aid and for people to enter and exit Gaza is closed.
Is this another example of how the Arab world craps on Gaza? If they cared for Gazans, they would act. They seem to care more about their image.
Hamas’ Stasi
Palestinian social media channels report: The IDF dropped leaflets in the Deir al-Balah area in the center of the Gaza Strip, detailing the Hamas operatives who surveilled and spied on Gaza residents to monitor their political activity (that they are not acting against Hamas and its interests).
The IDF published a long list of identity card numbers of Gaza residents that appeared in Hamas's surveillance reports and invites residents of Gaza to check if they were followed by Hamas's intelligence personnel, according to reports from the Strip.
This is the Hamas internal security organ, that suppressed political dissent in the Gaza Strip for the past many years. The information was found by the IDF on captured computers.
Lebanon
Hezbollah announced death #305. (Hezbollah acts, in some ways, like an official army and announces combat deaths.) The IDF has been conducting targeted attacks on buildings and vehicles for 7+ months now. The IDF publishes videos (most of which I have watched), and there are often secondary explosions from rockets and munitions at the sites. A number of the killed are senior Hezbollah commanders. Members of Hamas and other terror organizations have also been killed in these strikes, bringing the total number killed to around 400.
Relief Area
Alef
Bet: Eretz Nehederet: How To Retaliate Against Iran?
4 Min, Hebrew w/English subs.
Gimmel
Dalet: Bob Dylan: Sang about Israel?
Hey: Eretz Nehederet: Eurovision Follow Up
5 Min, Hebrew w/English subs. (The ones brought in are the Eurovision competitors who agitated to exclude Israel from the event and/or harassed the Israeli entrant.) Works best if you have some idea of the drama at Eurovision, and worth a try in all cases.)
My housekeeping routine fell apart when the war started, and I am struggling to put it back. I seem to be working out a ton… (the gym now allows two signups per day…).
Stay well,
Raf
(Thank you A.K., B.R., M.Z., K.T., M.N.)