First Time Here? Readers suggest starting with #120.
Tags: 6 Min Read; Blog’s raison d'être
Updates: #129 has a section about Rabin Looking Down from Above. This section has a new, long form footnote.
The Jerusalem Film Festival is wonderful. Running at two locations, six screens. Stuff from Israel and the world over. Mainstream (e.g. Tarantino) to "never heard of it."
Here is a clip of the scene outside
Reality…
With increasing activity in Lebanon and a new front in Yemen, social media feeds are exploding with activity. That said, it is important to note that combat activity in Gaza is dramatically lower in the last three months compared to the first three. It also seems, from my remote vantage, more organized.
Mail (Thank you M.Z., R.A., and M.T.)
Where is Breaking the Silence?
Why have you not referenced the accounts of Breaking the Silence more?
A fair question. I am a long time supporter of the work this group does (which until late last year was predominantly about IDF behavior in the West Bank).
The Is Raf OK series tries to fill a gap in journalism vis-a-vis the war in Gaza. IDF fuckups get a lot of news coverage. Two major examples of this are: The World Central Kitchen ("WCK") fiasco and the large civilian death toll during the war's first months.
The WCK incident shows in bright relief the cavalier side of IDF targeting in the Gaza Strip. In Haaretz and other Israeli media, the IDF was roundly criticized at multiple levels and heads did in fact roll (within the IDF).
Cavalier use of firepower is also the cause of the high civilian death toll.
However these topics are already emphasized by the Western press. E.g. I add no value dwelling on them here. From my chair, the Western Press overfocuses on this specific topic to the detriment of the conversation (death and destruction is news, slow progress toward a difficult military objective is not).
All that said, Is Raf OK consistently takes the position that military force is at best a short term solution and that it is past time to stop. I explicitly endorse the positions of Thomas Friedman (#104, #110, #73, #30 and others) and Yuval Harari (#127, #114, #13 and others). These thinkers are clear that the time and place for military intervention has passed.
The history of military intervention isn't good: Vietnam [US]; Iraq [US]; Lebanon [Israel]; West Bank [Israel] as a partial list. Intervention either costs a ton and ends up empowering the enemy (Vietnam ends up with a supercharged Viet Cong; Iraq morphs from counterbalance-to-Iran to Iranian ally & proxy; Lebanon loses the PLO and gains Hezbollah; the West Bank damages Israeli character by making it an occupier). In other words, military action in Gaza to radically degrade Hamas may have value if there is a concomitant effort to build a longer term civil solution. When I write about Peace through Nicotine not only am I not joking, I am highlighting how deeply pathetic Israeli political leadership is in that not the slightest effort is made to win hearts and minds (in either Gaza or the West Bank).
We have a Ministry of Defense (aka Ministry of War). Where the fuck is the Ministry of Peace? (In the USA it's USAID; USAGM aka VOA and probably a few others.)
Further, I have made it clear that I agree with the position of Yeshayahu Leibowitz regarding the corrupting force of being an occupier in the West Bank (this goes back to before the war in two dvars and also in #96).
This is why I don’t feel a need to cite Breaking the Silence.
So why is there so much official IDF content in this blog? It gives a militarist vibe...
Because both can be true: The army commits sins and acts responsibly. Ultimately, the army is a branch of the political system’s executive branch (explicitly saying so in many recent communiques). It tries to do what the political leaders ask.
And the main requests sent its way lately (fend off Hezbollah, dig out Hamas) are not unreasonable. Unpleasant? Yes. Perhaps pointless [due to incompetent political leadership]? Yes. But also both necessary and essentially what any other country would do in similar straits.
The reason I include IDF footage is to illustrate the necessity of what the IDF does (which appears largely absent in Western media): A few times over the past nine months has the Western media mentioned that there are 300 or 400 miles of tunnels under Gaza. To Israeli soldiers (and by extension the rest of Israel), it is an every moment awareness. Western media has ignored, from what I've seen, how many booby trapped houses and buildings Hamas created. I try to document this because this is one of the reasons for the massive destruction. (There are reports that in Rafah entire neighborhoods are booby trapped.)
The IDF has certainly destroyed more structures than it "needed" to. It is also true that the percentage of buildings that have: a) Weapons or rocket storage; b) Booby traps; c) Tunnel entrances; d) Weapons workshops; or e) Are used by Hamas was over %25 and in some areas over %50. Ergo massive destruction. [Analysis is Raf's based on reading multiple sources over the past 9 months. This analysis is, at root, anecdotally based—I do not have or claim access to hard data.]
The Western Press Has A Narrative
An incomplete narrative. Yes there has been combat in and around multiple hospitals. Yes, there have been concerns about hospitals running out of fuel for generators or critical supplies. The Western Press has covered (or overcovered) those topics. It is also true that the IDF and Israeli Civil Administration have trucked in fuel for those generators and supplies for the hospitals.
The Western Press was full, month after month, of warnings about famine and "imminent famine" in areas of Gaza. It does appear, based on available information, that food insecurity was prevalent in certain areas at certain times. It is also true that the main authority on the subject studied Gaza for months (PDF here) and concluded: "...available evidence does not indicate that Famine is currently occurring [in Gaza]." (As mentioned in #124.)
Also missing from the Western press famine warnings is the role Hamas plays in hijacking humanitarian aid, stockpiling it, and selling what is supposed to be free. This clip is from the Rafah area in the past few days [source: IDF spokesman]:
This Region Is A Lot To Hold
Thomas Friedman has a line that if you want to talk about Israel or Palestine you have to be able to hold several things in your head at once. Like: Israel has accomplished so much in its short existence and Israel does horrible things to Palestinians. Ditto for Palestinians.
This blog doesn't try to say all that there is to say. It suggests additional things to hold on to.
The Suffering Olympics: Right?
No.
Yes, some pieces in the Relief Area ride on this idea. And some of my astonishment at protesters in the U.S. and Europe makes reference to it. But the fact is that suffering is real and the job is to see it.
One of the things I value in the Unapologetic Podcast is their emphasis on seeing and acceptance: People are real (Palestinians and Israelis); Suffering is real (ditto). Rejection of either is not OK. If you can’t hold all that, and accept that that everyone involved has a right to unapologetically demand respect and rights, please exit the conversation.
Postmark
Tel Aviv University
Palestinian channels report on a "demonstration by Arab students at Tel Aviv University" calling for an end to the war.
I think this is across from the building that says “Our Hearts [e.g. the hostages] are In Gaza.”
Rafah - Another tunnel blown up
Just 200-300 more miles to find... (based on currently available information).
Relief for Context
Canine Cam Context (c.f. #64, #129)
As mentioned, the unit in the IDF that collaborates with dogs is called Oketz [“stinger” in Hebrew]. Years ago I was told that when a soldier loses his dog, the soldier himself is retired from the unit, because the bond is so strong.
I have no idea if that is still the case.
I recently learned that the Oketz unit maintains a dog cemetery next to its cemetery for fallen soldiers. And further, that in this dog cemetery, is a monument for dogs whose burial place is unknown (e.g. they fell in combat but their corpse was not recovered). Because 29 dogs have been killed in the current conflict, a new section was recently added to the dog cemetery. [Source: IDF publication]
File under: What Country Does This?
Relief Area
Alef: It's Complicated...
Bet
Gimmel: From a thread about the LGTBQ+ population in Tel Aviv...
In Tel Aviv, you get a large number of homosexuals, hummussexuals, but no Hamassexuals. You can be gay and still pray. You can appreciate the rainbow that Hashem created, whilst wearing the rainbow that the Pride flag created.
I mentioned the Umbilicus exhibit at the Tower of David Museum (adjacent to the Jaffa Gate). Rebecca Szlechter and Rikki Zagelbaum published a nice review that is as close as you can get to being there. Jessica Steinberg also published a write up (PDF here).
At the Jerusalem Film Festival, my favorite film so far is The Milky Way. A “near-fi” film that manages to engage and critique several elements of patriarchal society.
I saw something that suggested: Since President Biden doesn’t need to manage reelection, he can apply more pressure for a cease fire and hostage release.
We should be so blessed.
Stay well,
Raf
(Thank you A.K., M.T., R.A., M.Z.)