Blog#128-10/7/24
NO END IN SIGHT
By
Richard Davis
It has been a year of continuous warfare in the Middle East. The spark that started the conflagration happened when Hamas killed 1200 Jews in a bold and ruthless attack. Many of the hostages they took a year ago have either died or not been heard from and families of the hostages are living in a constant state of frustration.
Israel responded to the attack predictably and over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed and much of Gaza has been destroyed. The Israeli bombing of Gaza continues and over 1.9 million people (90% of the population) have been displaced from homes that no longer exist. Famine and disease are daily reminders of just how hopeless the situation is for Palestinians.
Most of the leaders of the civilized world have been calling for a cease fire in Gaza but their pleas and diplomatic efforts are falling on deaf ears.
It has been impossible to craft a deal acceptable to Hamas and the Netanyahu government.
From my perspective a big part of the problem of not having a cease fire has a lot to do with the hard line stance of Netanyahu and his close circle of officials who would like to completely destroy Gaza and make sure Palestinians never live there again. Into that mix consider the fact that if Israel was not at war, Netanyahu would be facing serious criminal charges in the Israeli courts. If that legal process could play out he would have a good chance of spending time in jail. As long as Israel is at war he is protected.
As if one battle front was not enough, Israel is now waging war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is partly a proxy war against Iran. The missiles are flying and many more innocent people are dying in Lebanon. Many months ago, in anticipation of this battle, a big chunk of northern Israel was evacuated and many northern towns and villages are now ghost towns.
And don’t forget the West Bank. That is a smaller battle but nothing is minor when people die and have their homes destroyed. One of the questions about Israel fighting on multiple fronts is how long could they keep this up without support from the United States? President Biden has tried to rein in Netanyahu but he has remained defiant and we are still sending weapons and money to Israel. If we make support conditional, as Bernie Sanders suggests, we might have some ability to control warfare escalation. But that is not happening and Netanyahu continues to do whatever he wants despite being unpopular in Israel.
The politics are one thing but we also have to think about what it would be like to be living in the Middle East during these horrific times. My cousin in Jerusalem started sending regular dispatches via his You Tube channel a year ago. When the intensity leveled off he stopped sending them. A few weeks ago he sent a new update and that makes me realize that Israelis are once again having their lives disrupted on a daily basis more than in the past few months.
My other cousin in Tel Aviv is hearing missiles fly over her house and is living with the threats from Iran to retaliate for incursions into Lebanon. She has lived in Israel for a long time but I doubt you ever get used to being forced into a bomb shelter on a regular basis.
If I had Palestinian friends or relatives the story would be worse. They are losing everything they have because a bunch of militants and hard line politicians cannot find any way to compromise on any issue.
The hostages remain in limbo and the Palestinians continue to flee, but they have no where to go. Most of the word wants this madness to end.
If things continue to escalate where will this lead us?
You're overcomplicating it
> The spark that started the conflagration happened when Hamas killed 1200 Jews in a bold and ruthless attack.
The “spark” is the deliberate genocide of the Palestinians, which has been going on since long before October 7.
The Israeli media reported that several hundred of those killed that day, maybe even a slim majority, were killed by Israel. The Hannibal Directive was in full force: any vehicle headed toward Gaza that day – including many filled with hostages – was targeted and many were destroyed by Israeli tanks and helicopters.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-07/ty-article-magazine/.premium/idf-ordered-hannibal-directive-on-october-7-to-prevent-hamas-taking-soldiers-captive/00000190-89a2-d776-a3b1-fdbe45520000
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israeli-hq-ordered-troops-shoot-israeli-captives-7-october
> They are losing everything they have because a bunch of militants and hard line politicians cannot find any way to compromise on any issue.
The issue is not a lack of compromise, as if “merely” half a genocide would be acceptable. The Israeli government has been open about its desire to kill or displace all of the Palestinians for many decades now. That’s the issue. Fascist ethnostates based on genocide are either ok, or they’re not.
> President Biden has tried to rein in Netanyahu
It’s amazing that anyone thinks that the US – the only country outside of Israel that could stop the genocide tomorrow by withholding money and ammunition – is actually doing anything to stop the killing. For example: we’ve known for a long time that the Israelis have a policy of bombing food aid trucks. But now it’s came out, via sources in the Israeli cabinet, that the US helped craft that policy. The secretary of state was in the next room hammering out the details: https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/blinken-approved-policy-bomb-aid-trucks . When Israel gets around to building its own gas chambers for Palestinians, the US will pay for it and veto all the piddly UN resolutions condemning them.
Scam Advisor: "Suspicious website identified. Read the analysis."
RDavis’ critique of Israeli policy and actions is well-reasoned, thoughtfully presented, and deserves serious discussion.
But in citing as his authority a questionable source, Grumpy Old Nerd casts a shadow on his own credibility. Consider the following:
https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/dropsitenews.com
The trust score of dropsitenews.com is rather low. Why?
The trust score rating of the website is rather low. dropsitenews.com may be a scam.
We determined the trust score using a computer algorithm. The algorithm looks at 40+ data points on which basis its creates a trust score. Sources are third party reviews, the location of the company, the hosting party used by the website, if the website has been reported to sell fake products, etcetera.
As the review of the website is somewhat low, please do take time to check the website yourself. Our trust score is only a recommendation.
LOL
Who’s scamming who? I have no idea what “scamadvisor” is, but here are their highlighted “negatives”:
> The identity of the owner of the website is hidden on WHOIS
> This website seems popular but is also young
> The age of this site is (very) young.
The first is common for all manner of normal websites. The second is true, but not a negative. Yes, dropsite is fairly new.
Dropsite is the project of
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Scahill
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Grim
Two former longtime journalists at The Intercept, both of whom have broken big stories over many years. But you don’t need to trust them – just follow the links to the Israeli media reports and official government statements that the story references, it’s quite detailed.
I don’t blame you if you don’t like the story – it’s horrifying – but it’s true.
I would like to share this message, which I just sent to Grumpy Old Nerd
Good morning, Grumpy Old Nerd.
I hope to give your comments the serious response that they deserved. The Hannibal Directive certainly is shocking, and not well reported in the mainstream press. I think you did well to cite Haaretz as one of your sources.
Whether or not your major conclusions are supported by the facts can be checked, although it will take me time to be thorough. As some of what you cite as sources support their veracity with links to other sites which are written in Hebrew: Even if I can find online translation, the full and fair fact check that your challenging comments deserve will take time.
Some of your conclusions are clearly over-the-top and obviously hyperbole. And, as with any complex matter (particularly assigning blame to one side while justifying the other in a war) people can make cogent arguments for opposite opinions, depending on the the slant of their perspectives.
Currently, personal health challenges and just taking care of daily obligations are my primary focus, so (with the thought that getting it right matters more than speed) it might take me a week, or even two, to reply.
If the moderators do not close comments to this thread (as they recently did to another Israel/Palestinians discussion which was heating up) I hope to continue to develop this current discussion.
SK-B