First Time Here? Readers suggest starting with the expanded Gaza Explainer in #133 and #120.
Tags: 4 Min Read + 5 Min of Videos; Raf Analysis; Big [but not funny] Relief!
At the shabbat table this past Friday, everyone shared something they were grateful for. I didn't expect this:
I don't like schadenfreude, but the guy at work who throws Nazi salutes all the time slammed his hand in the van door, so now he is out of action and I get to do the job in Miami and get some sun.
If this building can withstand rockets, it can handle your needs.
A friend at lunch bemoaned the political landscape (Israeli, American). Montage of Raf responses to this recurring theme:
I think we are seeing how people function in large groups. You and I can sit here and list ten possible courses of action. We can say five are good and five are bad. When we take that list to a group of even ten or twenty people, the list will get shorter. A lot shorter. In a group of millions, not only will it get cut down to one or two, but they may all be on the “bad” list. Or the larger group may choose an option the two of us don't even consider possible.
I consider corruption to be a force of nature.[1] When we push corruption to the side it is a victory. Such victories are probably, by definition, temporary—the natural force is always pushing. Eventually, or intermittently, we will tire of pushing back. The moment that happens, the Force of Nature prevails.
Dept of The Invisible
Items invisible in the Western media. (Now combined with the Postmark concept, to help consolidate topics by locale.)
Israel
After the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the Israeli government empowered a body (the Agranat Commission) to make a full investigation and report to the country on intelligence and operational failures. There have been many demands that such an inquiry be done for the October 7 disaster, however the Likud-managed government has blocked such a panel of inquiry.
The IDF, however, did not hesitate to launch its own process, which has been running concurrently with the war. This inquiry has many aspects. The IDF waited until all efforts were completed before surfacing the results. This is expected to commence next week.
And... from a year ago:
Below: The current Israeli political picture... 2 minutes, English subs by Raf:
Another two-minute-take (English subs by Raf):
And this past week, the following occurred:
Tehran: Qatari ruler meets with Iran's supreme leader.
Let’s move our focus north, then clockwise around the region, shall we?
Lebanon
Israel has demanded that direct flights from Tehran to Beirut stop, and they have, in fact, been halted. The concern? Iran has been sending suitcases of cash to Hezbollah. This topic is quite the preoccupation in Lebanon at the moment....
Former Lebanese Interior Minister, Marwan Charbel:
Adraee (IDF Spokesperson in Arabic) is the one who decides whether the airport will open or not.
And he is the one who decides whether this car can pass or not. He decides, and we follow his orders.
Iranian media reports: Lebanon has officially notified Iran that flights from Iran to Lebanon are suspended until February 18.
Below: Lebanese Shiite journalist Dima Sadek responds to a Hezbollah supporter who called the Lebanese President and Prime Minister Zionists. She wonders how Hezbollah managed to eliminate the independent thinking of its Shiite base, turning them into narrow-minded followers.
("The Party" in the clip refers to Hezbollah.)
Southern Lebanon
Lebanese women return to Maroun al-Ras only to find everything in ruins.
Yes, many villages in southern Lebanon are in ruins. Only Shiite villages. Villages Hezbollah used to store weapons and to shoot thousands of rockets at Israeli buildings and people.
Hezbollah, from these villages, damaged and destroyed thousands of Israeli buildings and were in turn destroyed.
Is this news?
Charles Jabbour, from the Lebanese Forces party (Christian), in an interview:
"I don't see it as provocative that Israel is still occupying part of Lebanon [five or seven outposts within Lebanon].
The reason Israel hasn't withdrawn yet is Hezbollah - because it still holds onto its weapons."
Syria
A group of American Jews of Syrian origin visited Damascus last week, touring the neighborhoods where they once lived, the Jewish cemetery, the tomb of Rabbi Chaim Vital, and other sites.
The visit was made possible with the assistance of the Syrian Emergency Task Force.
Tehran, Iran
Billboard in Tehran: Preparing for Nasrallah's funeral this coming Sunday.
Gaza
source: Ben-Tzion Macales
An up-to-date control map of the Strip. Marked in red is the "perimeter" - the buffer zone around the Strip that the IDF currently controls (and is present in).
Relief Area
Alef - Eretz Nehederet (3 min, in English)
Bet
Bibi deciding:
Return [extreme right winger] Ben Gvir to the coalition
or
Free the hostages
Gimmel
Know what they call the Qatari Embassy in Israel?
The Prime Minister's Office
(A growing number of advisors to Israeli leadership turn out to be in the employ of the Qatari government—this fact is not disputed by the principals. C.f. videos above!)
Dalet
You mean to tell me: They [the Likud and the Israeli Right] call Israeli Leftists traitors but an advisor to the Prime Minister who helps Qatar they call a hero? [See video above where Bibi calls such a person a hero.]
Hey
Vav
Zayin
Chet
Senior Government Official is…
Qatar
Tet
When Bibi complains about incitement against the Prime Minister
[Because he, and his son, incite against many sectors of Israel’s government and society.]
Thinking about the big picture, we can ask: How is it possible that Israel is still in conflict with Gaza five hundred days later? I mean let’s get real, right? (a) Gaza is a small place; (b) Hamas is a fraction the size of the IDF; (c) Israel is a regional military superpower; and (d) Gaza is rather isolated. That should be a few weeks of war, right?
But it is 500+ days. Why?
Because Gaza has been a problem that has been allowed to simmer for fifty years?
Because corrupt forces like Qatar and Likud leadership conspired to enrich themselves (ideologically & geopolitically for the Qataris, financially for Likud leaders) at the expense of Gazans and Israelis? Or,
Because Gaza is the most formidable garrison in the history of modern warfare?
Problems are opportunities... for someone. Who is benefiting from the problem called Gaza?
I am travelling for many days yet. This post, like the others, was not generated with AI. So far.
To Peace,
Raf
(Thank you A.K., M.T.)
[1]
From "Raf Language -- A Glossary"
