Meanwhile on the International front....

Yep. That 'oof' cuts both ways.

The idea the WSJ is piping inflammatory stories about Iran is a serious, serious charge.

And that Marshall is making Said's work history public is nuts.

 

Is this an accurate quote? Came from Twitter, so could be inaccurate for any number of reasons.

Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant:

"I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we will act accordingly.”

I’d link to it but Elon sucks.

 

Looks like the Wall Street Journal has it, but as some folks linked above have suggested, the actual quote could have been "In the past I have ordered a Happy Meal on the Las Vegas Strip."

 

I'm sure he said it.

But he said it in Hebrew, so we're relying on translations.

The video is on Twitter X.

Defense minister announces ‘complete siege’ of Gaza: No power, food or fuel

Israel-Palestine war: 'We are fighting human animals', Israeli defence minister says

 

Truth is an absolute defense; but you’d better be prepared.

 

I am a Zionist.

I have also been opposed to the policies of Likud and other Israeli right wing parties. Every settlement they allowed and encouraged in the occupied territories made the possibility of a resolution with Palestinians that much less likely. I am appalled by Netanyahu who, with his right wing and religious fundamentalist coalition partners, (and supported and encouraged by the Trump administration) has taken Israel to a place I never could have imagined and which flies in the face of the principles in its Declaration of Independence. I cannot argue with those who call his policies ones of apartheid or who promote BDS. This is not antisemitism. It is calling out the terrible policies of the Israeli government towards Palestinians within Israel’s 1948 borders as well as occupied territories. While I support Israel retaining the Golan, I also support a two state solution. I struggle with what to do about Jerusalem. I cannot imagine an Israel without the Western Wall.

And while I had been sympathetic to Palestinians, I was never sympathetic to Hamas. I am now beyond horrified by an act, not of war in any sense of the word, but of sheer terrorism with mass targeting of civilians, even children, for death. No, Israel did not have a moral high ground. At least not before this terrorist attack.

I had hoped that the world’s reaction to this would be similar to that towards the IRA after the assassination of Lord Mountbatten and from many it is. Sadly and horrifyingly, from what I’ve read, the Arab countries have not so reacted but are doubling down in their support of Hamas. I don’t know how even the most left wing Israelis cannot find themselves consumed by hatred. That’s where I find myself.

 

Yahoo had the Iran angle story up this morning but quickly took it down.

 

It’s more like “the The Islamic Resistance Movement”, if I understand the translation correctly.

 

If I were part of Hamas, I’d be a little bit worried that the Saudi government might decide that this is the time to show the Israelis the extent of their good faith.

 

2 Palestinian journalists killed, 1 injured, 2 missing, in Gaza-Israel conflict - Committee to Protect Journalists

 

I'm a Gentile, with no close Jewish connections. That said, I read Leon Uris' "Exodus" when I was quite young, and his "Mila 18", which is a fictional account of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Jewish uprising there in my late teens. Those books and my knowledge of WWII made me hate the Nazis and sympathetic to Zionism. I've backed Israel pretty reflexively since.

My opinion began to change when the U.N. ordered an end to new Jewish settlements on the West Bank and Netanyahu openly encouraged people to hurry and open more settlements before the ban took effect. They were basically stealing land that had long been held by the Palestinians who were pushed out. Over the years since, these settlements have continued to spread and Israel has become more and more openly racist in those dealings. Acts of violence against protesters and journalists have been disturbingly common. I understand the history going back to 1948, and that Israel is surrounded by enemies who would love to see them all dead and gone.

Still, many of the Israeli government's choices have set my teeth on edge.

The IDF is going to go into the Gaza Strip and hurt people and break things. That's war. The problem is that this is exactly the response that Hamas wants to provoke, a heavy handed reaction that fuels another generation of hatred and terrorism, the warfare of the less powerful.

I also save a share of the blame for the various Arab states who have for decades funded and fueled this conflict with money, arms, and ideology. They have done virtually nothing to help the Palestinians, partly because of tribal and ethnic differences and partly because having the West Bank and Gaza Strip remain weeping sores on Israel's borders pleased them.