First Time Here? Readers suggest starting with the expanded Gaza Explainer in #133 and #120.
Update: After email release, the Israel section was expanded. Also a section was added: The Missing Angle.
Tags: 6 Min Read; Vids; Peter Himmelman!; Relief
I believe the world needs the U.N. (it’s clearly the best the world can do).
I also believe the U.N. is broken: Iran and Qatar sit on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC, not to be confused with the UNHCR!).
Some UNHRC testimony over the past week:
This entire blog in 90 seconds (in English):
Alternately, this entire blog in two minutes (in English):
Intractable Problems are A Fact of Life
Peter Himmelman is one of my favorite musicians. (Hint, if you have kids 5-12 years old, try his kids albums -- my kids recommend: "My Lemonade Stand" and "My Fabulous Plum!")
If you read my divrei Torah, his name might be familiar:
I didn't know Peter had a blog... until today. His entry is a four minute read. If you read one thing this week about Israel, the Middle East, or "the Conflict," make it his: No Other Land—No Other Story: Team Hamas at the Oscars.
What I find interesting is that underlying Peter's position is the same observation voiced by Einat Wilf (who has appeared in this blog in #117, #75 and #76, among others.) Dr. Wilf's essential question (to you, to me, to the world) is:
Find Palestinians, who publicly and in their own voice, say the following: I, a Palestinian, recognize the equal right of the Jewish people to self determination in their homeland, I only want to live in an Arab state next to a Jewish state and not ‘from the River to the Sea,’ and I understand that this means that we are not multi-generational refugees who possess a ‘right of return’ into the State of Israel.
The perception among Israelis: There are no such people, and certainly no such Palestinian organizations. In an email thread (in which I challenged Einat on this), Einat replied: "No one ever comes back, or if they do, it’s the same three people that I already know."
I would like to be proven wrong on this and invite the readership to reply to this email (or contact me directly).
The Missing Angle
Dr. Wilf was a team member working to implement the Oslo Accords. She (and many others) spent years negotiating and pushing toward a two-state solution. That work was blown to bits by… Hamas and pals (as Himmelman describes). Dr. Wilf does something Himmelman does not: She presents a clear rubric: Find me the Palestinians who accept me as I am being asked to accept them.
This is the fundamental angle missing from Israeli leadership under the Likud cabal: Where is the exit? The conflict isn’t going away by itself. It’s leadership’s job to do what Dr. Wilf has: Paint up what you need to move forward. Dr. Wilf says: There’s no point talking about two states until Palestinians own the whole picture, not just their side of it.
To be zero sum (the way the Likud cabal operates) without a map to the exit is being a greedy child. In life, no one gets all the marbles.
At least, not if you had a normal childhood.
Discussion: Apartheid (thank you M.R.)
Apartheid for a second: Lebanon-style
Legal and Civil Rights
South Africa under Apartheid: The apartheid government enacted laws like the Population Registration Act and Group Areas Act, systematically segregating people based on race. Non-whites were denied citizenship, the right to vote, and equal access to public services.
Lebanon: Palestinians are denied citizenship and political representation, leaving them stateless. While not explicitly based on race, the exclusion is institutionalized and systemic, resulting in severe civil rights limitations.
Similarity: Both systems deny a specific group fundamental legal rights and political participation.Employment
South Africa under Apartheid: Non-whites were relegated to menial jobs and banned from skilled professions or unionizing. Their employment options were dictated by racial segregation laws.
Lebanon: Palestinians are banned from numerous professions (e.g., law, medicine, engineering) and face significant bureaucratic barriers to obtaining work permits.
Similarity: Both systems enforce economic marginalization, relegating the affected groups to lower-paying or informal sectors.Property Ownership South Africa under Apartheid: Non-whites were prohibited from owning property in areas designated for whites. They were forcibly removed to “homelands” or underdeveloped townships.
Lebanon: Palestinians are barred from owning property or inheriting property, effectively limiting their ability to accumulate wealth or settle permanently.
Similarity: Both systems prevent targeted groups from owning property to enforce economic dependence and limit upward mobility.Housing South Africa under Apartheid: The Group Areas Act forced non-whites into racially segregated and underdeveloped townships, often far from urban centers.
Lebanon: Palestinians are confined to overcrowded refugee camps with inadequate infrastructure. Building or renovating within these camps requires permits that are often unattainable.Similarity: Both systems confine marginalized groups to substandard housing with poor infrastructure.
Education
South Africa under Apartheid: The Bantu Education Act ensured that black South Africans received inferior education designed to prepare them for subservient roles in society.
Lebanon: Palestinians have limited access to public education and rely on underfunded UNRWA schools. Higher education opportunities are also restricted by additional fees and quotas.
Similarity: Both systems deny the targeted groups equitable access to education, perpetuating economic and social marginalization.
Social and Political Marginalization
South Africa under Apartheid: Non-whites were entirely excluded from political representation and decision-making. Black South Africans were relegated to "homelands" to disenfranchise them further.
Lebanon: Palestinians have no political rights, voting power, or representation, keeping them excluded from national decision-making.
Similarity: Both systems systematically exclude marginalized groups from political participation.
Security and Movement
South Africa under Apartheid: Pass laws required black South Africans to carry identification and permits for movement, subjecting them to police harassment and arbitrary detention.
Lebanon: Palestinian refugee camps are under tight security and military surveillance, restricting residents' autonomy. Travel documents are hard to obtain, complicating movement domestically and internationally.
Similarity: Both systems severely restrict freedom of movement and impose heavy surveillance.
The point is not that "two wrongs make it OK" or that "the entire Middle East shits on Palestinians yet only cries foul on Israel." All wrongs are wrong. The point is:
Harsh discriminatory treatment of Palestinians is a regional behavior, not an Israel-specific one; and,
This is the direct result of the Palestinians refusing to be classified as refugees under the UNHCR, which would give them a path to residency and citizenship in dozens of countries around the world. Lebanon, with its volatile ethnic makeup, chose, 70 years ago, not to integrate Palestinians (unlike Jordan). UNWRA and the Palestinians, by resisting the phase out of UNWRA and integration into UNHCR, refuse to open a door to integration in the world.
Palestinian status, and situation, is the result of their choices.
(What else is new?)
Dept of The Invisible
Items invisible in the Western media. (Now combined with the Postmark concept, to help consolidate topics by locale.)
Iran
Over the past month or so, the Iranian regime has been promoting the deployment of their new home-grown air defense system (in the aftermath of Israel's destruction of all the Syrian AA and much of Iran's.)
March 5: The Iranians published a high-quality promotional video "boasting" that Iran's Bavar-373 air defense system recently received an upgrade that allows it to hit aerial targets at a range of 300 km.
Gaza
Above: Among the ruins in the northern Gaza Strip: the "Musaharati", waking up the Gazans so that they can have time to eat the "Sahur" meal before the Ramadan fast begins at sunrise.
Below: Gazan TikToker Awad Rarbakh summarizes the "Arab Emergency Summit" held yesterday in Cairo, which was attended by 22 Arab state leaders, in 44 seconds.
Raf Commentary: In an honor based environment (such as the Middle East), I am not sure how productive it is to deprive everyone involved of agency (experienced as "honor").
This applies to both the US and Israel.
Israel
Above: Incoming IDF Chief of Staff Zamir: "The mission assigned to me from today is clear - to lead the IDF to victory. Hamas has not yet been defeated." (Full speech, 11 min, Hebrew w/English subs. Note: Halevi is a better speaker.)
Below: The 20 minute speech of the outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi (Hebrew w/English subtitles):
Note his open call for a State Commission of Inquiry (blocked by the Likud and its partners in the Knesset).
I also note his lengthy acknowledgement of military spouses. His praise of his own partner’s work is both praise and a direct comment on the lack of such efforts by the Netanyahu family. Halevi also praises his incoming successor.
Halevi and Zamir call for all segments of Israeli society to participate in the IDF (another challenge to the political leadership).
Relief Area
Alef
Bet
(Israeli social media feed)
Gimmel
(Israeli social media feed)
Dalet
(Israeli social media feed)
I would add: The campaign against Europe (by Moscow) goes back over ten years. BREXIT was the first visible success of this effort, greatly weakening the E.U. Attacks on Europe never stopped, and have become more visible during the Ukraine war.
Hey
Why is it when someone is harassing an Israeli hostage freed from Hamas, it's always you three?
Bibistim (Bibi fans), Ben Gvir fans, More Bibistim
(Israeli social media feed)
Vav
If I had a shekel every time a Republican gave a Nazi salute, I'd have two shekels.
Which isn't much, but it's strange it happened twice.
(Israeli social media feed)
Zayin
Captain America #47
A disturbed new world
(Israeli social media feed)
Chet
(Israeli social media feed)
Tet
Syria: A Central Bank vehicle was involved in an accident on the Damascus - Homs highway.
A large crowd "volunteered to help" clean up the money.
(Reported as non-fiction.)
Well, the Relief area is getting large, must be time to publish!
Went browsing the shuk last night for a dinner place. A friend from Seattle is in town, but my usual "interesting and tasty" go-to closed early... forcing me to... branch out (a good thing!). And I discovered a new fave pizza place:
Hipsters with waxed handlebar mustaches making awesome thin crust pizza. Certified Kosher, no less (I was surprised, typically places in the Tel Aviv shuk are either not kosher or are "kosher without a certificate").
"AI is everywhere" department: Jim Morrison (The Doors) and Jimmy Hendrix are seen making pizza (note the mustache in the lower left!):
Other sightings this week:
New Taco stand in the shuk (a friend turned me on, the place is hopping!):
Falafel shop on Dizengoff:
The falafel recipe is secret! :-)
"It was very good! Thank you from Haifa! The falafel was the tastiest ever!
Napkins and other dumb stuff for your "enjoyment" :-)
To Peace,
Raf
(Thank you A.K., M.T., M.R.)