Updated 2023-12-07: Even though it made the home page of The New York Times,
the video of Representative Stefanik’s hearing which was initially included below has been removed. Stefanik herself has promoted antisemitic narratives and individuals multiple times. While the performance of the university presidents in the hearing is shameful, it is not the job of this blog to be a tool to further Stefanik’s use of the “topic du jour” for her professedly anti-democratic political goals.
Holy woof, this is number 50? Well, some good news, this will probably become less-than-daily soon.... I definitely want to take some time off at the end of December, maybe sooner.
Seen
On Cafe in Jaffa
Jews and Arabs Refuse To Be Enemies
On Eggs
I used the last "Am Israel Chai" (The Jewish People Live) egg, and am back to "From Nature" eggs.
Read
IDF Spokesman
IDF Spokesman: In the activities of the combat team of the 460th Brigade of the 50th Battalion, one of the largest stockpiles of weapons was located, near a clinic and a school in the northern Gaza Strip. The stockpile contained hundreds of missiles and RPG launchers of various types, dozens of anti-tank missiles, dozens of explosive devices, long-range missiles, dozens of grenades and unmanned aerial vehicles.
War and its Discontents
The war here is "old" now. Like in Ukraine. Soldiers die. Civilians suffer. It drags on. I heard an Israeli politician say it could be six months.
What is going on culturally may be a longer battle: On the political Left (the splintering may enable the rise of fascism); In higher education (my goodness, more below).
Many in my circle hope that this event will lead to progress on the Israeli scene. Support for Bibi has evaporated. There is a big desire to break from the politics of division. (And Bibi’s trial just restarted!)
Thoughts
Messy, relativistic attitudes, such as articulated by university presidents (in the video below from a U.S. Congressional hearing) are unpleasant to watch. It makes me think of what happened to intellectual inquiry in the Soviet sphere. To avoid political pressure, many of the brightest minds confined themselves to hard sciences, which were less likely to be pressured. The study of history, sociology, etc. suffered tremendously as a result.
In that time and place, the pressure was from the Party. I suppose now it is from the Politically Correct.
<Video of Representative Stefanik’s hearing removed, because Stefanik herself has promoted antisemitic narratives and individuals multiple times.>
From Arabic Language Sources
A Facebook Post
A Gazan reveals on his Facebook page that the event in which the IDF attacked a school used as a shelter was preceded by the entry of Hamas military operatives into the compound, who shot of Yassin 105s (in the attached photo) and fired machine guns at IDF forces.
His description corresponds to an Israeli attack near the Hafeza school in front of Berkat Abu Rashed in the north of the Strip. The Palestinians reported injuries among those sheltering there.
He described how the custodians at the school were very frightened and began to cry. He also emphasizes the fact that every time Israel attacks a large residential complex which results in hundreds of dead, it becomes clear that the target was a senior Hamas military operative (he is referencing the elimination of the Hamas commanders in the north of the Strip and in Gaza City).
He calls on Hamas to "gently" rethink the use of military force in areas full of civilian population, as this "gives the occupation a justification for carrying out massacres".
Relief Area
Alef - SNL Style Show: Eretz Nehederet
It poured off and on for an hour. Then the sun came out. I need to finish some homework and run off to class.
