Is Raf OK? -- Installment #78
2024-02-14 -- Tel Aviv
Tags: Best Tunnel Videos Yet; 8 Min Read; Some Raf Analysis
In #77 I discussed how/why Israelis don't dwell on destruction in Gaza. Additional items:
In the first days, even before the ground invasion, a thread I saw said: Israeli generals plan a punishing invasion because their sense of masculinity was breached by the success of the October 7 attack. While that still resonates, the degree to which Gaza is a tunnel fortress shifts my perspective. Soldiers in Gaza talk about the battle existing in "720 degrees." They refer to the fact that the enemy can be anywhere around them on the ground, below them in tunnels, and above in drones and CCTV cameras. (Military observers note this is a first. In Ukraine drones threaten from the sky but there are no tunnels.) The idea of a radicalized Hamas military trained to torch, rape and slaughter, with armament factories and huge tunnel fortresses makes me think... is there an alternative to a large invasion? What would an alternative look like?
I also mentioned that Israelis look at their own towns and cities and imagine them the victims of Hamas & Hezbollah rockets. That is incomplete. They also know that what happened on October 7 would happen to the people: Mass slaughter and rape.
Which again forces the question: What would an alternative look like?
A War Scholar's Perspective
John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point, co-director of MWI's Urban Warfare Project writes in Newsweek (PDF Here).
The whole piece is a 3 or 4 minute read, and worth it. Why? Because it is from the desk of an expert on urban warface, not a journalist or pundit. Small excerpt:
...
Hamas' strategy is to use Palestinian civilians as human shields, because their goal is not to defeat Israel's military or to hold terrain; it is far more sinister and medieval—to use the death and suffering of Palestinian civilians to rally international support to their cause and demand that Israel halt their war.
Meanwhile, Israel's war aims were more traditional: returning Israeli hostages, dismantling Hamas military capability, and securing their border to prevent another October 7 attack.
...
Ultimately, comparisons with both past and modern cases highlight the fact that there is almost no way to defeat an entrenched enemy defender without destruction, even while implementing all feasible precautions and limits on the use of force required by the laws of war.
Let's put away our military history books. There is no comparison to what Israel has faced in Gaza—certainly none by which Israel comes out looking the worse.
Diversion: The Holon Museum of Design
I visited the exhibit: Game Changer: Gender in Design. (In Hebrew, it is "Tie Breaker" -- they played with the translation.) On the one hand it is about gender bias in the sphere of design (one segment features Caroline Perez and the research featured in her book Invisible Women. On the other it is about letting go of the gender binary.
A third (smaller) aspect is the specific invisibility of Jewish women since October 7 (the exhibit was years in the making, this wasn't "in the plan" but could not be ignored).
Translations:
The blood of my sisters cries to me from the earth. (A tweak to the biblical verse)
We fight, struggle, are kidnapped, bleed, and get killed as if we were men. But we are raped and silenced because we are women. -- Stops here! -- We will put men in their place! -- [Word play נשים- “put” and נשים - “women” — same spelling, different parts of speech] -- [You are the local heroes.]
This is rape, not rape culture (תרבות אונס).
Parade Float in Germany
Tunnels -- Worth A Look!
20 Second Overview
Shows the context and overall route of one tunnel complex under Khan Younis. Text in English.
Guided Tour of Sinwar's Hideout!
Under Khan Younis, vacated by Sinwar just in the past few days. 2 Min. Hebrew with English Subs.
Sinwar In Person
IDF Spokesperson: Attached are the materials presented in the statement of the IDF Spokesperson, RDML Daniel Hagari, regarding intelligence findings seized by IDF soldiers in which Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar appears and information regarding the underground tunnel route in Khan Yunis
Attached is footage from a tunnel where you can see Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar fleeing.
40 seconds, English text
"Makes My Brain Hurt" Dept
Regional puzzle: Arabs and Palestinians who are gay or trans and suffer abuse and death: Can they apply for asylum in Israel?
Historically, the answer was No. Typical scenario: A gay Palestinian man from the West Bank flees to Israel for his safety (there have been sweeps by the Palestinian Authority police, and they are often under threat of death from family members). The State of Israel says: Oppression due to sexual orientation isn't one of the things Israel manages for (perhaps because the person is eligible for aid under the U.N. [UNRWA]). Then the person turns to one of the Israeli N.G.O. legal aid groups that helps him apply for asylum in a European country. Some percentage of these applications are granted, and off the guy goes to a new life.
Background:
Gay Man Beheaded in West Bank (AP Article) (2022)
Film: The Invisible Men
(Violent homophobia: Outside the Gay community, largely forgotten in the West. Rather alive in the rest of the world.)
Now, an Israeli court has ruled that LGBTQ+ West Bank Palestinians can request asylum in Israel. (And I am sure the “tolerant” [not] American leftists who shut down discussions of gay rights in Israel will stop accusing Israel of “pinkwashing.” [not])
My head hurts….
Lucy Aharish: Muslim Israeli Woman Is the Future of the Middle East
Lucy Aharish is a prominent Israeli television news announcer. This inteview is an hour long. Watch if you like. In English.
Fan Mail Q&A
In some of the videos, why are tunnel entrances often shown at bottom of a large excavation?
I believe it is because the entrances are often booby trapped. Excavators are used to dig down into the tunnel so it can be entered "mid way."
Are you worried about being called up for military service?
No. I have aged out of such things. Early on there was a call up to older special forces soldiers. Guys in their 40's and 50's. Most of them had been long released from the reserves. One friend, fifty-ish, tried for a few days. His body refused. That was that.
Also, note that while military service is mandatory, only a portion of recruits end up in combat units. One has to volunteer for those roles.
The son of a friend: Released from active duty a year or two ago. Called up early in the war for reserve duty. His unit was in the field continuously and had a psychologist attached. Most evenings they would talk through the day and their feelings about it. After a couple weeks, this soldier couldn't handle the stress. They sent him home. Two weeks later, he asked if he could rejoin the unit, in a less exposed role. And that is how it was for another month until most reserves were released.
Not your grandpa's Israeli Army...
Relief Area
Alef: Dog Karma
IDF troops rescue a hungry dog in Gaza.
Bet: Karma?
Crazy and true. It's them, not the Jews, and not Israel.
Gimmel
עשיתי המון חיים בטעויות שלי
This play on words turns "I have made a lot of mistakes in my life" into " I have lived much thanks to my mistakes"
It poured rain for twenty minutes today. At least in Tel Aviv (not in Jerusalem). I had "wisely" decided to leave the umbrella at home, as the past three times I had it there was no call. So I ducked into a bakery and had a cup of tea.
The rain made me 25 minutes late to get the latest Covid and Flu vaccine (I just hadn't dealt with it until now... it's me, not the system). Experienced integrated health care. Wow! Imagine going to one place for everything... you make appointments in an app. Everyone you see knows both everything about you (health wise) and what is pending. Every time they see you they check your weight and blood pressure. All your info is in one place. Zero friction... Appointment is in an app, check in is at an ATM like machine. Your number is called. You go in and get a right-sized dose of attention. No charge at the point of service.
Nice.
Saw a hot Canadian film last night that reminds me of the book Three Women.
I hear a lot of Spanish on the streets, in buses, at the gym. Also French. And was lucky to bump in to my Hebrew Rock and Roll mentor from Middlebury Language Schools.
A great day.
Stay well,
Raf
(Thank you A.K.)