Is Raf OK? -- Installment #128
2024-07-15 -- Tel Aviv
First Time Here? Readers suggest starting with #120.
Tags: 10 Min; Videos; Even good news!
Update: The section about YouTube below has been expanded. (2024-07-16)
I have no other country, even if mine is burning. [Storefront in Tel Aviv; The referenced song performed by Gali Atari]
The rooftop jazz concert in Jerusalem this past Saturday night (well, one minute of it...)
Good News Dept: New Museum & Theater School in Arab Towns
Just when you are least expecting it, a new museum and a new theater school: Some truly positive and surprising news was announced this week, when the Netanyahu Government announced approval for Israel's first museum of Arab culture. The Umm al-Fahm Art Gallery in northern Israel, one of whose goals is to introduce visitors to the Palestinian narrative, will receive 22 million shekels (nearly $6 million) over the next five years to reach national museum standard. It will also take on a new name: The Umm al-Fahm Museum of Art, in memory of Walid abu Shakra (the late Sufi artist). Nearly two years after the outgoing Bennett-Lapid government issued a call for proposals to establish Israel's first museum of Arab culture, the Netanyahu government finally announced a winner: the Umm al-Fahm Art Gallery. The private gallery, established in 1996 by Said Abu Shakra together with his brother Farid, will now begin a five-year transition period. It is expected to complete the physical, organizational and personnel changes required to attain government recognition as a full-fledged museum during this time. After several false alarms, Abu Shakra got word last Thursday that the Culture Ministry had chosen his gallery. The Knesset Appropriations Committee approved the allocation of a total of 22 million shekels (nearly $6 million) over the next five years to allow it to undertake the measures required to meet the standard required of national museums. The consistently high level of work at the gallery has brought it international recognition, and helped spur the development of a new generation of Arab artists. In addition to its original exhibits (with accompanying texts and catalogs in Arabic, Hebrew and English), and art classes for local residents, the gallery also houses a historical archive of photographs and video oral histories of Wadi Ara residents who lived through the Nakba in 1948-49. The money from the state will allow for an upgrade of the current structure and for the hiring of professional staff, so that Abu Shakra, 68, will be able to devote himself to fundraising. In addition to this good news, this week also saw the announcement of the creation of a new Theater School with an initial budget of 10.7 million shekel, to be established in the Negev Bedouin town of Rahat. These two announcements are the first in what is intended to be a chain of new cultural developments in the Arab sector in Israel. [source: Culture Vulture]
Postmark: Baseless Hatred
In the category of "human minds reject what they cannot contain" is anti-Zionist hatred by Jews. A journalist and author I respect, Gershom Gorenberg, writes to this topic. An excerpt:
After Israel’s independence, Jewish immigration from the Middle East and North Africa climbed dramatically. That story is too complex to sum up here. But the anti-Zionist narrative that Israel shattered idyllic coexistence in Muslim countries is a myth. “Jews were always second-class citizens under Moslem [sic] rule,” as the renowned anti-colonial thinker Albert Memmi wrote, in his explanation of why he, as a Jew, left Tunisia. Newly independent Arab states, like newly independent Eastern European states before them, were inhospitable to Jews.
...
On the other hand, claiming that Jews don’t need a state because you personally are doing fine outside that state is the ultimate in unthinking entitlement. It’s time to take a good hard look at your privilege, and learn some humility.
That Anti-Israel "Zionist" Hate Speech Thing...
In #127 I discussed the report of Stanford's faculty committee. I now see that Facebook (aka Meta) came to the same conclusion via a different path:
...we will now remove content that targets "Zionists" with dehumanizing comparisons, calls for harm, or denials of existence on the basis that “Zionist” in those instances often appears to be a proxy for Jewish or Israeli people.
...
Going forward, we will remove content attacking “Zionists” when it is not explicitly about the political movement, but instead uses antisemitic stereotypes, or threatens other types of harm through intimidation, or violence directed against Jews or Israelis under the guise of attacking Zionists, including:
Claims about running the world or controlling the media;
Dehumanizing comparisons, such as comparisons to pigs, filth, or vermin;
Calls for physical harm;
Denials of existence;
Mocking for having a disease.
And YouTube...
Has been embroiled in deciding whether this Israeli rap song about going to war against Hamas violates its anti-incitement rules.
Translated excerpt from the lyrics (which are pretty repetitive, so this covers a lot):
Left right left. The whole country is in uniform from Galilee to Eilat
Soldiers, Commandos [units are named]
We brought the whole army against you and we swear there will be no forgiveness
Are all the units ready??! (Listen!)[Units and branches of the army are listed, with a background of: One, Two, Shoot]
All units of the army are ready to beat your heads with the sword.
One of the aspects interesting to Raf is why such material should be the matter of such focus: 1) It is in Hebrew without even Hebrew subtitles (YouTube will add them, but they are half a loaf); 2) Rap music is known for descriptions of and calls to violence. Why this track, which is largely descriptive of recent events, should get such attention reeks of… Yeah. That.
On Antisemitism, That Shylock Thing?
Nirenberg's book, Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition maps strongly to today's "Pro Palestine" language and attitude. My friend Karen Treiger did some of this mapping recently.
"Zionism makes the world more dangerous for Jews" -- That's a Joke, Right?
Raf responded:
It is not a joke. It is a hypothesis. That has been hijacked by JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace, an Israel hating organization comprised largely of American Jews.). There is a question which goes like this: "One of the reasons for Israel to exist is to be a 'safe place' for the Jewish people. But we can see in history that the existence of Israel is sometimes the cause of violence against Jews. So it can be said that the existence of Israel did not create absolute safety for Jews. (Where some of the discourse in Zionist history could be understood to imply that an absolute level of safety would be created by the existence of a Jewish state.)"
The "make a safe space for Jews" and "makes the world more dangerous" argument is out of context and an example of hostile reductionist propaganda. At times, Germans have been targeted for being German (including by the Russian secret service right now due to their support of Ukraine), and Americans for being American (including by Palestinian terrorists/PDF here). Hatred happens, and is directed variously over time. The unspoken part: Israel is an effort at being a relatively safe place to be Jewish, and its existence is to provide Jews everywhere with the sense of a haven somewhere on earth (as opposed to nowhere).
Whether that haven is "perfect enough" is not absolute. One's answer to this question varies by the person. However even if the statement is true: "Zionism makes the world more dangerous for Jews"
It doesn't matter.
In fact, the very phrase is simply an attack. What the phrase is trying to say: "The presence of a state of Israel makes the world more dangerous for Jews." [With an unspoken: “Therefore, since you obviously want the world to be safe for Jews, you agree that there should be no state of Israel.”]
This “makes more dangerous for Jews” is a non statement. Americans wouldn't be at risk, as Americans, if there were no USA. [This is not a straw man: When I went to Poland in 1986 an older member of the ensemble put a Canadian flag on her backpack because the American bombing of Libya triggered anti-America demonstrations.] But states are states. Sometimes a state breaks into two (Eritrea from Ethiopia a recent example). It's on the late side to attack Zionism (or Indian independence or Bolshevism for that matter).
"Zionism" doesn't "do" anything (in 2024). Whatever it was going to do is already done. When used by JVP and the like, it is stripped of its context and made into a package of angst and hatred.
The world is a difficult, messy place. The sooner they get used to that, the sooner actual progress can be made.
JVP Has Iran Behind It
Whether actual dollars or "just" social media support, it's huge. The U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines:
Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts, seeking to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions, as we have seen them do in the past, including in prior election cycles. They continue to adapt their cyber and influence activities, using social media platforms and issuing threats. It is likely they will continue to rely on their intelligence services in these efforts, as well as Iran-based online influencers, to promote their narratives.
In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years. We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters.
Read
The IDF Published: The Battle of Kibbutz Be'eri
In English, with infographics. (PDF here)
In Haaretz
Chief of Staff!
It's on you to fulfill the Supreme Court’s order!
63,000 ultra-orthodox are now obligated to be drafted.
[The 3,000 draft orders the army issued]: That's a sad joke.
Call them all up! Now!
Who Do Palestinians Blame?
Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen accuses Hamas of responsibility for the "genocide" in the Gaza Strip:
The PA Chairman's office published an official proclamation following today's [2 days ago now] Israeli attack on Khan Yunis in which it condemns the Israeli attack and accuses Israel of being responsible for the attack and also the US which militarily supports Israel.
At the same time, the Palestinian Authority places responsibility on Hamas, which provides pretexts for Israel to continue the "genocide in the Gaza Strip" and thus is in fact an accomplice that bears responsibility for the killing of the Palestinians and their suffering, alongside Israel. [source: Abu Ali Express]
Postmark
Gaza
The Hamas Interior Ministry published a statement a short time ago (after a long period of not publishing anything) in which it called on the residents of Gaza City to ignore the IDF's evacuation calls, while noting that the "safe crossings" the IDF tells the residents are actually "death crossings".
For the past couple of weeks, there have been many reports of Hamas telling Gazans to ignore IDF evacuation warnings (in Gaza city and elsewhere). Given that Hamas issues these warnings selectively, there is a strong smell of maintaining a large human shield of civilians.
This is in the context of a dramatic ratcheting up of combat activity in the Gaza Strip over the past several weeks.
IDF Report from Shejaiya
The IDF has been battling intensely in the Shejaiya area for a week or so. Above and below ground. Some of the underground findings:
6 km of tunnels destroyed.
Other Hamas Assets Found
UNRWA buildings used by Hamas.
And these items in a university building:
IDF: Internal Discipline
Israel's Chief Military Prosecutor Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi said that "hundreds of combat incidents" are being examined relating to harassment or suspicion of violence against detainees from Gaza, adding that "the capability to investigate and prosecute where necessary is one of the things that distinguishes us from our enemies" and is "crucial for the resilience of the IDF and its ability to continue and fight." [source: Haaretz]
Sufficient? No. Something? Yes. (Raf thinks mothers are an important part of this.)
Speaking of the Chief of Staff…
His public statement after the attack on Muhammad Deif this past Saturday. 9 min. Hebrew w/English subs.
Relief Area
Alef: Palestine, 1945
"Wikipedia is a Zionist scheme! It is obvious the Zionists try to erase the great battle of Tel Al-Rbia (what the Zionists call "Tel-Aviv") by claiming it is a photo of Soviets in Berlin (to remind everyone about the Holohoax that didn't happen but they deserve)"
Bet
Gimmel
Dalet
The war, from today's chair, smells like a case of multi-lateral underestimation:
Hamas underestimated Israeli perseverance. (Nine months of war, unprecedented in the region.)
Israel underestimated the degree to which Hamas had dug in and turned the entirety of Gaza into a giant garrison.
The Israeli public (and, it seems to Raf, the global public) underestimates how much Iran has tilted the region in its direction.
The Jerusalem Film Festival starts in a few days. I'll get some distraction there.
Stay well,
Raf
(Thank you A.K., M.T., K.T.)