From the Sublime to the Tragic

With Some Crazy Susan and Awful UNRWA in Between

Last Sunday brought the sublime news of two Israeli hostages being rescued by Israeli forces in Rafah - absolutely wonderful, though there are so many more still in Hamas captivity. But the week ended with a tragedy - Alexei Navalny died. Or rather, was murdered. I am gutted by this news - it feels very much like how I felt on October 7th. A thought about Putin’s motives (other than the usual “paranoid dictator” motive): March 17th is the date of the Russian elections. Boris Nadezhdin, an increasingly popular antiwar candidate, was, quelle surprise, removed from the ballot a few days ago for some nonsensical reason. He says he will appeal the decision. What this indicates to me is that Putin is worried about Russian support for the war and his own hold on power. Another dissident, Vladimir Kara-Murza, wrote about this from a Russian prison only two days before Navalny’s death.

I am in humbled awe of the very courageous Russians who have been protesting in Navalny’s memory (many are being arrested, of course), as I am of Navalny’s widow, speaking out against Putin.

I am in humbled mockery at Susan Sarandon, who, earlier this week, draped in a kaffiyeh, stood with a bunch of kaffiyeh-wearing CODEPINK mental midgets in the halls of the U.S. Congress chanting “ceasefire now” in a zombie-like manner. Much online derision ensued. Kasim Hafeez, Deputy Director of Messaging for Christians United for Israel, put it best: “What in the Caucasian hell is this?...People in the Middle East are suffering. They don’t deserve this. No one deserves this. How is this helping?” Another woman did her own version of the chant, chanting “Release the hostages now. Hamas, surrender now.” And isn’t it revealing how none of those who claim to be against the war ever chant those words? Apart from the obvious - there was a ceasefire on October 6th - if Hamas were to surrender and release the remaining hostages, this would be over in a flash. But they do not care about the Palestinians, least of all those suffering in Gaza. They have turned down many generous offers of temporary ceasefire, most recently one that would have lasted three months.

The writers of Team America: World Police had Sarandon’s number two decades ago.

[“You shall die a peasant’s death!” Parts of this movie were absolutely hilarious.]

A note about keffiyehs: it bothers me that they have been so fully absorbed into this madness, because they are actually quite pretty. I used to have something similar, but it was pink and white. Today, I would be embarrassed to wear it for fear of giving the wrong impression. You know, like the impression that I was a hipster woke Nazi, similar to the ones who, a few days ago, after walking up Toronto’s University Avenue, a street with a hospital on every corner, chose to congregate in front of, and climb up the scaffolding of, and place a Palestinian flag on only one of those hospitals: Mount Sinai. Gosh, can anyone suss out why that would be, why the “anti-Zionists” would pick on that particular place? The protest leaders say it was mere coincidence. (Note that Mount Sinai was founded because Jewish doctors and nurses at that time could not work elsewhere, and is now a place that employs and serves all people.)

Oh well, another week, another deranged antisemitic mob. Never fear, though, both Prime Minister Trudeau and Mayor Chow issued sternly-worded comments the next day. To her credit, Chow did increase the police budget significantly. I hope this makes them more proactive at these protests. I don’t think it is that they don’t care (well, perhaps some of them don’t), but rather they are pacing themselves and hoping these “progressive” bigots get tired. Brendan O’Neill called Hamas apologists in the West the “Lord Haw-Haws of the 21st century.” Brilliant. I was getting tired of calling them useful idiots. Do any of these protesters want to carry placards demanding the return of nearly 20,000 abducted Ukrainian children? Do they cry out for families in Darfur who have been destroyed by the Janjaweed? No. No Jews involved in those situations. With the double standards and the volcano of antisemitism we’ve been seeing, it’s almost like Jews need their own country or something.

More revelations this week about UNRWA, including - but not limited to - the following fun facts: six drones were found amid UNRWA donations that had been transported into the West Bank (for the children about whom they claim to care, I guess?); a large Hamas centre was discovered under an UNRWA building in Gaza. They plead ignorance on the matter. If true, that makes them the most willfully myopic UN workers on the planet, which is saying something; thirty UNRWA members participated in the October 7th attacks, while nearly 1500 of them are active in the terror group.

And, this week (and last week and many weeks previously), more lazy media coverage. I used to work as a full-time journalist and I generally don’t like it when people trash the media or complain about bias. My view is that there is an awful lot out there and it is up to each of us to look at the sources and find spots of sanity. They do exist. However, when an established, respected organization like The New York Times, has, as their headline, the day after two Israeli hostages were rescued in Rafah, “Palestinians in Rafah Describe ‘Night Full of Horror’ During Israeli Hostage Rescue,” one must despair, utterly. That is the Times’ take on the rescue of two elderly hostages? Other outlets were not much better, making a point of saying that 67 Palestinians died during the rescue. Well, yes, because many of them were Hamas terrorists guarding the building where the hostages were kept captive. And yes, many civilians have been killed, many others displaced. It is dreadful and the images wrenching and Hamas is to blame. The pogrom of October 7th should not have happened. People should not have been tortured, slaughtered and taken hostage. That is why we are here. And despite October 7th, Israel is doing everything to minimize casualties. Sane people know that Israel needs to reestablish deterrence. I do think the majority is sane, but the majority does not write for major news outlets. (If, like me, you worry about Israel’s geopolitical relationships, read this Edward Luttwak piece. It made me feel better.)

The mixed messages coming out of the White House don’t help. President Biden’s moral clarity in the weeks after October 7th has been replaced with the standard political “worried about the upcoming election dance” of Biden making comments aimed at Israel-haters, while John Kirby - by far my favourite member of Biden’s administration - remains stalwart, stating that the U.S. would never tell Israel not to go into Rafah. Given that we know there are hostages there, what choice do they have? But the clarity is gone overall, as I knew it would be. Heck, our prime minister only kept a hold on his moral clarity for about 72 hours after October 7th, so kudos to our American friends. It isn’t gone in Israel, thank goodness, and, from what I have read, the Israelis have a good chance of thoroughly destroying Hamas’ military organization.

I have written this before, but I think we have reached a point in history where mainstream liberal opinion does not support clear victories in wars. We prefer murky endings, attrition, ceasefires that don’t hold or that are precarious. I have theories as to why, which are neither here nor there. But it is about a billion times worse when it comes to Israel. (Hmm. Why would that be? Dara Horn’s book People Love Dead Jews gives some answers.) And it isn’t only “progressives” (who are usually anything but) that fear an Israeli win - mainstream opinion wants this to be over without Israel securing a victory. I am not saying the majority in the West supports Hamas, but that we are uncomfortable with anyone winning wars. We blush at hard power, and, in particular, Western hard power. This is counterintuitive, because Israel crushing Hamas would be the only future that would benefit the Palestinians.