Wednesday 18 October - Gaza War - Aggregation & Commentary (live)

 Gaza, October 2023. What did you think “Never Again” meant? 

Within moments of the explosion last night at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza, the Palestinian narrative – here I mean not just the Islamists, Al Jazeera, but also the PLO in Ramallah along with their enablers in the media and on social media – portrayed Israel as having purposefully bombed the hospital to kill the patients and medical staff.

Knee-jerk headline. The New York Times has a long history of anti-Israelism 

If that is what you still believe, you are an enemy of Israel but get in the back of the line. 

In front of you stands Assad of Syria, who said we had committed the “bloodiest massacre against humanity” in the modern era. Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey called “on all humanity to take action to stop Israel’s unprecedented brutality in Gaza.” 

Days before the hospital explosion, North Korean state media blamed Israel for causing “constant criminal acts against the Palestinian people.” 

Putin’s Kremlin denounced Israel for its “felonious…crime …[its] act of dehumanization.” 

So, here is what really happened: Islamic Jihad was shooting at Israeli civilians, maybe at one of our hospitals, and there was a mishap. One of their rockets fell on a compound near Al-Ahli Hospital, apparently detonating an unlawful arsenal stored between the hospital and an adjacent cemetery.

Here are two Hamas operatives talking about the explosion in real-time:

https://x.com/idfonline/status/1714549126799482925?s=20

(cut and paste into your browser)

Here is Channel 12 Arab affairs reporter Ohad Hemo אוהד חמו setting out in Arabic how the calamity happened.

https://x.com/N12News/status/1714585332228702459?s=20 

And here is footage from around the hospital before and after

https://x.com/LtColRichard/status/1714587192511599022?s=20

For a detailed report, see IDF provides evidence hospital blast was a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari shares drone footage and a recording proving Israel was not behind the attack on the hospital (link)   

In the final analysis, Hamas is responsible for the safety and security of Gazans. They started this war. It is true that a majority of Gazans, indeed of all Palestinians, voted for Hamas in the past election, but that does not give Hamas the right to use them as human shields. 

Which side are you on?

Back in New York, enemies of Israel continue to scapegoat random Jews and Jewish businesses and institutions. (h/t AS)

Tuesday 17 October - Gaza War - Aggregation & Commentary (live)

Gaza, October 2023. What did you think “Never Again” meant? 

Thank you, President Biden. So far, the current administration has deterred Hezbollah and Iran from launching a major attack against Israel, allowing the IDF to focus on Hamas Gaza. The US has already airlifted armaments needed to replenish our stocks and pursue the war, and it will ask Congress for a supplemental military aid package so that Israel can purchase weapons from the US.

On Wednesday, the president will make an unprecedented wartime visit to our country, displaying courage and steadfastness. Military coordination (two aircraft carriers), financial support, diplomatic backing (blocking a Putin-Russian resolution at the Security Council yesterday that would have called for an immediate ceasefire, which would be to the advantage of Hamas), and his personal presence

Keep in mind Secretary of State Blinken is not only here but took part in a war cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv.  Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was just here. He met Israeli leaders face-to-face to “underscore the unwavering support of the US for the people of Israel and commitment to ensuring Israel has what it needs to defend itself.”

This support buys Israel the time to prepare appropriately for the next stage of the war.

Assuming the administration stays the course – Biden will go down in history as the most pro-Israel president. In my book, the only pro-Israel president in history (but that’s for another time).

I think we are about to drop in the polls again – I take this as a good thing. Had the 10/7 Hamas attack cascaded into an all-out defeat for Israel and the butchery of its population, I am confident that every Holocaust museum in the world would have built an annex to memorialize “another six million” or so dead Jews. I would rather crush Hamas, deter future Palestinian Arab aggression, and emerge victorious from this war than be dead and sympathetically memorialized.

Here are some polls put out by Gallup today.

The satanic, hard-to-kill Hamas mastermind responsible for the deaths of more Jews than any other anti-semite since WWII is not a household name. Here, in Hebrew, is a background brief about Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Masri, AKA Mohammed Deif, presented by Yoni ben Menachem, the veteran Arab affairs expert. 

How to follow events in Israel in English -  Beyond relying on the major outlets (discerningly, I pray), my go-to source for Israeli news in English is the Times of Israel.  

Haaretz (a post-Zionist publication with some fine Philo-Zionist writers and good original reporting) and The Jerusalem Post (an annoying website, though good reporters and editors doing their best) are sensible back-ups. On TV, i24 is worth checking. Look for Calev Ben David's program.

Prayer for our soldiers ...

Monday 16 October - Gaza War - Aggregation & Commentary (live)

 

Gaza, October 2023. What did you think “Never Again” meant? 

Today’s Israel Today (page 17, Hebrew) reports that because of the condition of the remains, it could take weeks, perhaps months, for forensic pathologists to identify all the victims of Hamas’s butchery. So far, 532 bodies have been identified. The Times of Israel writes, Awaiting ID, the bodies of Hamas’s victims are stacked on racks in outdoor containers. Haaretz (Hebrew) covers the story here. 

"כולנו רוצים לזהות את החללים כמה שיותר מהר, אבל לא במחיר של טעות"

The Economist pitied Israel on the first day of the war. That was then. Now, on the third day of the war, the magazine’s empathy and patience have evaporated. “The fact that a lot of children in Gaza, Palestinian children, will die in an attack—even if it’s legal—is destructive for Israel’s legitimacy around the world.” The anti-Israel weekly intoned. “Israel must balance retribution against Hamas with the laws of war.”  

JoeTruzman at the Long War Journal has a piece about the specialized Hamas unit likely holding Israeli and American hostages. He notes that "Islamic Jihad claims to have over 30 hostages under their control, whereas the Popular Resistance Committees have confirmed through a message on their Telegram channel that they, too, possess hostages. Moreover, a distressing video released by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades [associated with Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah] exhibits an injured individual accompanied by a terrorist, seemingly en route to Gaza."

He also covers the seizure by the IDF of EFPs, RPGs, and other munitions from

Hamas with Iran's fingerprints all over them. "Hamas’ possession of EFPs and the existence of EFP factories is a strong indication of support from both Hezbollah and Iran. EFPs are known as a signature weapon of Iranian proxies and clients."

Speaking of Iran, Robert Malley is expected to face a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee about how he ran his office as the Biden administration’s special envoy to Iran. Malley lost his security clearance, and there are suggestions some of his aides had unseemly ties with Iran. By the way, in retaliation for Hamas's attack on Israel, the Biden administration and Qatar reportedly "re-froze" that $6 billion in Iranian assets sitting in South Korea that had been released in the recent hostage exchange.

There goes the love. Veteran journalist Gary Rosenblatt sums up the thinking of two keen observers of the Israeli scene, Micah Goodman and Yossi Klein Halevi, on losing the world’s sympathy so soon into the Gaza war. Halevi said, “Israel must do whatever is necessary to reverse the image of Jewish helplessness that it has borne since Oct. 7, with the utter failure of the army, intelligence, and political system to protect its citizens.” Goodman explained, “We want Madonna and Bono to love us, but we want Hezbollah and Hamas and Iran to panic when they think of us,” he said. “The problem is that there is a zero-sum game between these emotions of love and fear.” You have to choose between them. “What we do to restore the fear will erode the love,” he figured. “And if we try to keep the West’s love, we won’t restore the fear of us in the Mideast.”

Not unexpectedly B'Tselem is trying to pull Hamas's chestnuts out of the fire so they can live to fight another day. They are telling Israel:

It is something to remember if you contribute to B'Tselem or the philanthropies and foundations that support B'Tselem. 

A Canadian-based progressive Muslim religious society (yes, there apparently is such a thing) has issued a statement signed by scores of imans denouncing Hamas and its antisemitism. The stationery of the Global Imams Council identifies Najaf, Iraq, as its headquarters. Perhaps it is some kind of oasis in Iran-dominated Iraq. Any sign of a reformation in Islam, no matter how slight, is genuinely welcome.

Mass demonstrations in New York, London, Paris, and elsewhere in the Western world took place Sunday to support Hamas. While many Muslims participated in these rallies, so did considerable numbers aligned with the Left (Jeremy Corbyn spoke at the London protest). 

Leftists have shown an uncanny ability to bridge the gap between Islamic fundamentalism and progressive politics.

 (see picture left).

Sunday 15 October - Gaza War - Aggregation & Commentary (live)

 

For the Medical Community -

Update from Israel: One Doctors Perspective | Prof Mark Clarfield MD FRCPC

Israel at War: Special Online Medical Webinar | Monday 16 October | 7pm BST

Speaker: Prof Mark Clarfield MD FRCPC

Emeritus Professor, Ben-Gurion University; Chair, Israel National Council on Geriatrics

Prof Clarfield will be giving an update from Israel with his perspective as a doctor.

Please click here to register for the event. Sponsored by the Jewish Medical Association of the UK

Sunday's New York Post front page

Thank God for all the anti-regime change “anarchists” and “traitors.”   Reserve generals and pilots and ordinary volunteers on the home front. 

GPS צה"ל הגביר דרמטית את שיבושי ה-GPS לסיכול מתקפת מל"טים של חיזבאללה

השיבוש מכוון גם נגד רחפנים של חמאס וטילי שיוט של איראן. חוקרים אמריקאים איתרו לאחרונה משבש עוצמתי במירון. החסימות מפריעות לתעופה האזרחית ומסכנות מטוסים בנתב"ג

President Herzog met a bipartisan delegation of US Senators this morning (Sunday) in Tel Aviv led by Senate Majority, Senator Chuck Schumer. With Schumer were Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Bill Cassidy, and Democratic Senators Mark Kelly and Jacky Rosen. They expressed their solidarity with the State of Israel. (GPO)

Sderot to be Evacuated. Residents will be evacuated from Sderot, at 11:00 today, Sunday, 15 October. (GPO) 

Who is responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza? I mean, who needs to worry about the civilian population in Gaza? Not Israel. Israel is at war with the regime in Gaza. The war aims to remove the regime's capacity to govern and pose a military threat to Israel. So, Israel's first responsibility is to its citizens: crushing Hamas. 

Gazans have been urged to move south of the city of Gaza located in the north of the strip. 

As Aaron Lerner (IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis) points out:

Gazans are not being told by the IDF to travel hundreds of kilometers to reach safety outside of the war zone delineated at this time by Wadi Gaza. Not scores of kilometers. We are talking single digits! Distances which could have been traversed at a snail's pace within the 24-hour warning period. The distance between the northernmost section of Gaza City and Wadi Gaza is no more than 5 kilometers (about 3.1 miles). The northernmost point in the Gaza Strip is only 7 kilometers from Wadi Gaza. UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) could cooperate in moving civilians this short distance or cynically contribute to encouraging human shields for Hamas to remain in place.

Foremost, Hamas is responsible for the people of Gaza. The Palestinian Authority and UNWRA could play a constructive humanitarian role if they'd set aside their animus toward the Jewish state. The oil-rich Arab world can help, too. But just as you don't ask Ukraine to take responsibility for Russian civilians while it strikes at Russian military targets, don't ask Israel to take responsibility for the Gazans. Hundreds of Afgan civilians were inadvertently killed by the British military in Afganistan. The number of Iraqi civilians killed inadvertently by the US numbers in the hundreds of thousands. 

The aims of Hamas are genocidal. It is us or them. If Hamas hides behind civilians, the onus for their deaths is on Hamas, not on Israel. If you don't get that, your moral compass is askew.

I have been channel-hopping in watching coverage of the war. Channel 14 is “all-Bibi-all-the-time” and devotes disproportionate air time to defending their hero. Mainly, this involves panels of pundits blaming Israel’s unpreparedness on someone other than Bibi, on the amorphous “left.” Haim Ramon (a has-been politician from Labor and later the defunct Kadima) is a frequent punching bag. Not sure why.

Channel 11 consistently provides solid non-showy coverage, though I switch to 12 when Ayala Hasson comes on. The veteran journalist was brought over to 11 to try to win over some of the Channel 14 crowd. It has not worked, as ratings for 11 are the lowest of all the channels. My go-to channel is 12. They have the best line-up of talent, even if (former) boy genius Amit Segal gets on my nerves sometimes. I don’t see much of 13 just because I can do only so much clicking with my arthritic fingers. 

For all the channels, my policy is when panel members start shouting and talking over each other, I mute the sound.

Speaking of muting, Netanyahu has received justified criticism for going on TV Friday night. The last time a prime minister went on TV Friday (Shabbat) night was Yitzhak Rabin in 1994 during the kidnapping (eventual murder) of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman by Hamas in Oslo days.

When an anchor tells frazzled Israelis the prime minister has asked to address the nation on a Friday night, the assumption is the news is big and bad. But when Bibi went on TV this past Friday night, it was to blow off hot air. Many people say that the channels should not immediately go live when he is on until they can establish he’s saying something of substance. But in a time of war, that’s not a good idea. 

Things are getting weird when friends and family are sending around a pro-Israel op-ed that ran in the vitriolically anti-Zionist Guardian. But one of their Jewish in-house writers (who’s never been on the fringe left anyway) wrote a column people find worthwhile. So here it is. I prefer Al Jazeera to the Guardian. But that’s a matter of personal taste.

Catching up on the weekend papers...

The Secrets Hamas Knew About Israel’s Military  (NYT)

The Erev in the Trafalgar Square area must be back up. Neturei Karta is my favorite anti-Zionist group.  The secular anti-Zionists are so vanilla, but these characters ... thank you, Woody Allen. And by the time they got home, the chulent was burned. (Daily Mail)

Friday 13 October - Gaza War - Aggregation & Commentary

BEFORE SIGNING OFF FOR SHABBAT... 

HAMAS MUST SURRENDER

 UNCONDITIONALLY

Remorseless anti-Zionists such as Lara Friedman, Kenneth Roth, Peter Beinart, and Gideon Levy are working overtime to save Hamas so it can fight another day. Naturally, they don't quite put it that way.

But they are lobbying against evacuating civilians from the northern Gaza Strip. 

What these self-styled human rights campaigners should be telling Hamas is "SURRENDER UNCONDITIONALLY!" 

And if they can't bring themselves to say that, they should, at the very least, not rouse Hamas to continue using human shields. They should at least tell Hamas leaders in bunkers below Gaza's hospitals to get out from behind the wounded.

Tell Palestinian civilians to move south. If the anti-Zionists value human life, they need to tell Palestinians to move south.

The IDF is coming for Hamas.

How do you deal with a morally relativist Sky Newsreader? 

Who's asking why Israel is letting Palestinian babies die in the incubators?

Watch how Naftali Bennett handles it. 

Alumim coming home with your help.  Kibbutz Alumim, located on the border of the Gaza Strip, was founded in 1966. For the 57 years of its existence, it has flourished, producing prime agriculture, and generations of children and youth.

But all came to a standstill during a long day of battle.  On the morning of 7th October 2023, on the joyous festival of Simchat Torah, Dozens of terrorists infiltrated the kibbutz.

They attacked and murdered foreign farm workers, burnt agriculture infrastructure and kibbutz institutions, and then a grand battle ensued, led by the kibbutz security squad, who drove them away. We are raising funds to rebuild and restore Kibbutz Alumim, and we appeal to all of you to assist us as much as you can. Alumim has not fallen and never will With your help, we can restore Alumim to its magnificent glory and bring her home.

Link: https://pe4ch.com/ref/sBtgV2pH2cen

With heartfelt gratitude - The Members of Kibbutz Alumim.

I can vouch for this appeal. It is being conducted by our friends on the Kibbutz. We know the kibbutz well - Elliot.

Journalist Amir Bar-Shalom says he heard Persian (Farsi) spoken during the Hamas attack and again in Gaza - I am not sure what to make of this, but it deserves dissemination and professional analysis. 

This is a screenshot.  

Here is the link.      (h/t IM)

Hard as it is to believe, if Israeli elections were held now, plenty of patsies would still vote for Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, and Netanyahu. Watching Bibi address the Knesset last night, I can understand why. He's a wizard bedeviling the masses. It's like he's just arrived on the scene to clear up the mess that Bennett, Lapid, Rabin, Golda, and Ben-Gurion left for him in Gaza. He's so dazzlingly manipulative I almost felt sorry that it had all been thrust on his shoulders! I almost forgot he was shtuping Hamas with suitcases of money and insisting on maintaining the Islamists in power to counter the PLO. I almost forgot that he had no time to talk to the generals, that he fired his defense minister, then took him back but would not talk to him...I almost forgot. But I didn't.

סקר "מעריב": הקואליציה מתרסקת, הליכוד 19 בלבד; גנץ נוסק | כל הפרטים

Opposition leader Yair Lapid explains why he has not joined Netanyahu's government:

בעקבות המלחמה: רכבת ישראל תפעל במהלך השבת, הנסיעת יהיו חינם

The Economist (a superior weekly not known for its Philo-Zionism) offers this podcast with Hamas politburo member Moussa Abu Marzouk. The editor is discomfited by dead Jews, so it is a contentious interview. By next week, I'd expect the Economist to be back to form.

Daniel Gordis has been doing exceptional blogging on the war. My friend Gary brought it to my attention, and I am sharing it with you. 

Islamists have declared today in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora a "Day of Rage." Their "rage" is understandable. Hamas tried to slaughter us - we resisted - and now we are coming after them - so they are enraged.

Sanhedrin 72a-b

Ha-ba le-horgekha, hashkem le-horgo  – if someone comes to slay you, you should hurry to slay them first.

Having been a graduate student at NYU and an adjunct instructor of political science there for many years, I was curious to "meet" the head of the New York University Law School Student Bar Association whose first reaction to the slaughter of Jews on Israel's side of the Gaza border was, "I will not condemn Palestinian resistance.” 

You can read all about her here. Oh, did I say "her?" Sorry. She's actually Non-Binary. Neither moral nor sapient.  

If you give money to NYU, Columbia, or Harvard, consider the dividends your investment is paying.

For a semi-amusing antidote to such stupidity, have a look at this eight-minute video.