First Time Here? Readers suggest starting with the expanded Gaza Explainer in #133 and #120.
Top Ten IsRafOK Entries: #85; #123; #128; #140; #144; #154; #161; #162; #164; #171
Tags: 10 Min Read; Gershon Baskin; Relief
Updated June 10: The section immediately below about American conservative media was expanded.
If You Read One Thing: Make it the entries below by Gershon Baskin.
Tucker Carlson interviewed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
It has long been observed that the American Fox News network often serves as a mouthpiece for propaganda from Moscow.
Now a former Foxer, Tucker Carlson, is a mouthpiece for Tehran.
U.S. DOJ and other sources show that the money and influence flowing to the American conservative establishment is largely Qatari:
One of the most notable successes [of Qatar’s influence campaign targeting American conservative media] was an interview Tucker Carlson conducted with Qatar’s Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, which garnered over six million views within hours of its release.
I do not see daylight between the positions advocated by Qatar and Tehran’s goals.
Yuri Andropov only dreamt of such manipulation and control.
No media is safe.
Mail
Dept of The Invisible
Items invisible in the Western media. (Now combined with the Postmark concept, to help consolidate topics by locale.)
Syria
There are reports from Hezbollah-aligned sources that there have been direct meetings between the new Syrian regime and members of the Israeli government. These sources--which should be taken at a discount--indicate that Syria will give up its claim to the Golan and maintain a DMZ near the border in exchange for Israel's recognition.
Yemen
The Houthis have, over just a handful of days, sunk two merchant ships and killed four crewmembers of those ships. The ships' manifests showed them going to Saudi Arabia and neither was owned by, nor enroute from or to Israel.
Gaza
Tunnels
In the last few days, the only tunnel-destruction footage has been from Lebanon, where Hezbollah’s infrastructure continues to be dismantled...
Israel
Asymmetric Violence (Gaza & West Bank)
What does it take to write this blog?
I am a "troll" -- I troll several social media feeds and compile what I find relevant to this blog's theme.
One of those feeds is the IDF's official feed in Hebrew on Telegram.
During the past year+, the IDF has been operating heavily in the West Bank. Sometimes the posts are, on the surface, a little laughable. To effect, "During a security sweep in [West Bank Town ___ ] units of ___ and ___ arrested three wanted individuals and confiscated weapons.
And then a picture of a pistol and two magazines.
Makes me think: Give me a break. A couple of Israeli intelligence officers and a team of special forces spent a night to confiscate a pistol?
I know there must be more to it (the IDF usually doesn't waste its manpower, and the guys arrested may well be planning violence, and the pistol is what was found, there could be more arms undiscovered...), but on the surface, the announcement seems laughable.
July 9, a similar post related to security forces in the Jenin area included these pictures along the arrest of several armed men:
It got me thinking: What do these weapons represent? There are three pistols, an assault rifle set up for sniping, a submachine gun and a rifle. Along with 100's of rounds of ammunition, walkie talkies, and paraphenalia.
So what does this mean?
Is it related to the question: Why can't I, who follow this stuff closely, name three candidate leaders of Gaza?
I mean, that shouldn't be hard.
But it isn't hard, it's impossible.
Why? Because the weapons pictured in the IDF reports are often intended for... targets other than Israelis.
The first targets are often political rivals within Palestinian society. We don't hear about those (because it doesn't fit the narrative). The Wall Street Journal published a piece two days ago about one or more Sheikh's in the Hebron area who came out wanting to make a "separate peace" with Israel.
Know what happened the next day?
Their (fancy) cars were torched.
Intimidation and control: It is crazy how little it takes.
A unit of the IDF was ambushed yesterday (July 8) in the Beit Hanoun area in the Northern Gaza Strip. Five were killed and 14 injured, some seriously. This is a well armed and trained unit. From available information the Hamas force may have numbered as few as four, armed with a few assault rifles and some IEDs. Again, they seem to have weaponized IDF practices, turning a route the IDF had heavily "cleared" into a trap.
It doesn't take much to create chaos. "Symmetry" is a nice idea, but it doesn't apply to a single contemporary conflict I can think of.
Not one.
Social Media - Peace Activist Gershon Baskin, July 8, 2025 - via R.G. (Mr. Baskin appeared earlier in #26)
(Demonstration in Tel Aviv) We don't send our children to wars that lack goals.
Below posted in Arabic by Mr. Baskin. Translation follows (emphasis by Raf).
I just heard on the IDF radio station, I think it was Yossi Levi, CEO of the Netzeh Yehuda Association - the organization that deals with recruiting ultra-orthodox young people to the army. At the end of his interview about the killing of five Orthodox soldiers and the injuring of many others in Beit Hanan, Gaza Strip (July 8), he said the names of these young people must unite us as a nation, because they died as martyrs protecting the homeland.
His words reminded me of the words of Abu Ovaida - spokesman of the Az-Din Al-Qassam Battalions - the military arm of Hamas. Here is a small example from Abu Ovaidah's words:
"Do not consider those who were killed in the way of Allah dead, but alive in the sight of their Lord, providing sustenance." With pride and esteem, the Brigades of Az-Din Al-Qassam mourns the great martyr of Palestine and the audience of our Arab and Islamic nation: the Mujahid who was martyred on the way of Jerusalem and Palestine – who dedicated his life to its liberation – after he was assassinated by the treacherous hand of Zionists."
The five Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza and the Palestinians killed there now, are being killed in vain. They don't defend the country. And they don't release/redeem anything. And they're not witnesses. They are just tools in a wicked game played by leaders who have lost their humanity and know no mercy even towards their own people.
Hamas committed a national mass suicide on October 7 without asking the Palestinian people if they were prepared to pay the price. Hamas decided alone. While Israel’s government and Prime Minister continue to risk the lives of soldiers and hostages, though the overwhelming majority of Israelis already want this war to end. There is no strategic military reason to continue the war. Soldiers in Gaza do not defend the homeland - they protect Netanyahu and his coalition government. And the soldiers who die are not martyrs.
Hamas fighters who kill Israeli soldiers do not defend a homeland. Do not free Palestine. And do not bring pride to the Palestinian people. Hamas's decision to continue the war in Gaza is another proof of its bankruptcy as a political movement. There is no successful armed struggle – there have never been any of this kind. Hamas will not give up on Israel, but is ready to sacrifice more Palestinians in Gaza and call them heroes and martyrs.
This is a sickening reality - both for Israelis and Palestinians.
We have leaders who make decisions that go against the national interests of both peoples, and show us every day that they don’t really care about us – the people of Israel and the people of Palestine.
We, the people on both sides, have a duty to protect our countries by removing these irresponsible bad leaders and replacing them with forgetful people who really want to protect the country, knowing that the only way to do that is to achieve peace.
Mr. Baskin Continues, July 9, 2025:
To the so-called “Free Palestine” Camp:
When I write that the Palestinians do not have a viable armed struggle option, I often receive responses (arguments, talkbacks, feedback, diatribes, and attacks) by people from the so-called “Free Palestine” camp (more often than not, they are not Palestinians) who say: the Palestinians have a legal right to use arms against the occupation. To that I say the following:
I have never said that Palestinians do not have the right to use arms against the occupation - they do. BUT I would like to point out the following:
(1) The legal right to use arms against the occupation is only against military targets. Killing civilians is something else – it is called terrorism. By the way, that includes settlers – killing civilian settlers is also terrorism even though they settle in the West Bank illegally. One illegality does not make killing them legal.
(2) Having the legal right to use arms against the army does not make it the right decision. There are choices. I don’t think that any Palestinian leader can justify to their own people the amount of death and destruction (done by Israel) that makes the use of the arm struggle a wise or a right decision. The use of violence by Palestinians against Israel did not liberate Palestine or bring about a Palestinian state, or peace for Palestinians, and it never will. It is not a question of legal rights; it is a question of wise political strategies.
Since I mentioned the so-called “Free Palestine” camp, I would like to quote some of my Palestinian friends and colleagues who say to this camp that the use of the slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is the most anti-Palestinian slogan there is. Most Palestinians know and understand that from the river to the sea there are two peoples living on the land and one of them is not going to get rid of the other. I understand, as the Palestinian professor of history, Prof. Rashid Khalidi wrote in his last book (The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017) that Palestinians will never be able to legitimize Zionism, nonetheless, Prof. Rashid wrote that Palestinians need to overcome this and deal with the reality of Israel. As Samer Sinijlawi rightly says, Palestinians need to rewrite their own false narrative which denies the connection of Jews to the Land of Israel. As Muslims they cannot do that because they cannot deny their own Quran and their own history. As Samer says – Jews were always in the Land and always connected to the Land, BUT, as he says – we Palestinians have to remind the Jews that there were never in the Land alone – there were always others. And the others are Palestinians.
So, as Samer and I have been saying – the correct slogan and goals need to be:
From the River to the Sea, On Two States We Agree!
This is a pro-Palestine, pro-Israel, pro-life and peace slogan.
(Gershon Baskin, Co-Head, the Alliance for Two States, July 9, 2025)
Tel Aviv Ranked 8th Most Expensive City
(Source)
Tel Aviv was ranked the world’s eighth most expensive city to buy residential real estate in an annual report on the cost of living in 69 of the world’s most important cities.
Relief Area
Alef - Bibi @ Nir Oz
Horrible. Who is responsible for this?
Bet - Parsha Balak
On right: Bilaam
On left: Balak
Gimmel
Dalet - Israeli Editorial Cartoon: "Coming Soon in New York"
(The sign on the upper left says “Revolution”)
Hey - Extremist Minister Who Looks Scruffy Says...
Soldier! Neaten your appearance! (Being said to Chief of Staff Zamir)
Vav - Sara and Bibi on Israel's "Air Force One"
Yair in Miami, my dad's in London, we are flying to America, They [everyone else in Israel] can burn!
(Citing Sara's comments to this effect years ago.)
Zayin - Another Israeli Editorial Cartoon
(Bibi and Sara hanging with son Yair in an NYC hotel.)
Laptop: Ceasefire in two phases
Bibi: Let's split it like this: In the first phase, we'll go to The Plaza Hotel, and in the second phase The Regency.
Chet
As clean as Bibi
(Who always says he is clean regarding all the allegations and issues of corruption around him.)
Tet
You are not allowed to hug Elon Musk
Yod
I requested that they cancel the trial, said Poo.
And I recommended you for the Nobel Prize, said Piglet.
Chaf
A Gazan posted on Facebook:
“Netanyahu’s wife doesn’t look at him the way Trump looks at him… What kind of love is this?”
A few of the replies:
العشق الممنوع 😂😂
Forbidden love.هذا اسمو العشق المسموح 😂
That’s called permitted love.زي حب الام لابنها الوحيد بزبط 🤣
Like a mother’s love for her only son
Lammed
The Iranian news agency "Mehr" publishes a video in which Prime Minister Netanyahu is seen giving President Trump a mezuzah in the shape of a B-2 bomber, made from parts of an Iranian missile that fell in Israel.
This interests the Iranians?
The Relief section has hit the "publish me" threshold.
Airlines are returning to service. United, Wizz, Air Europa, Air France, Lufthansa and others are starting up in the coming days. It continues to be a great time to visit.
To Peace,
Raf
(Thank you A.K., M.T., R.G.)