Thoughts on the war in Gaza

Commentary

After a three-plus week break, Around the Block is back

I haven’t posted a column since March 13. Up until then I was on something of a roll, posting one story on March 12, Jimmy, Oscar and Donald, and two on March 13, I can’t get “20 Days in Mariupol” out of my head and The dangers of another Trump term: If you don’t believe me, believe Bernie! I even had begun a story on March 20, opening with this:

In a March 18th New York Times story headlined, Trump Says Jews Who Support Democrats ‘Hate Israel’ and ‘Their Religion.’” the lede read:”Former President Donald J. Trump accused Jews who vote for Democrats of hating their religion and Israel, reviving and escalating a claim he made as president that Jewish Democrats were disloyal.”

I never got past that lede, never returned to the story.

Why the silence?

One reason could be travel. Sharon and I were leaving for a trip to Tokyo, our home for five years in the ‘90’s, on March 27, (I’m writing this story from my Tokyo “office,” –actually the second bedroom of our friends, the Hattori’s house where we are staying) and the prep for a trip of over two weeks to this exotic, enigmatic land required some thought and energy. Did I arrange my pills? Do I have the correct electronic wires and adapters for Japan? Am I bringing the right clothes? Do I remember how to activate my VPN so we can watch American cable shows? Did I find my Skechers slip-in shoes (de rigueur in a country where you take your shoes off, and more importantly put them back on, when you visit homes and more traditional restaurants)? And more.

But could that really be the reason? After we left Japan in 1995, I travelled here, either on consulting business or for pleasure, dozens of times – although not since before Covid. Truth be told, even at my advanced, forgetful stage of life, it didn’t require that much thought or energy ––although I’m still obsessing about whether I left my headphones on the plane or didn’t pack them.

No, the real reason for the hiatus, I believe, is the nature of the subject matter I read and then write about. My Around the Block world including, but not limited to, current events, world affairs, politics, society, Trump…is becoming so fraught, so distressing, that writing about those subjects takes enormous thought and energy. Certainly more than packing for a trip.

Today is Tuesday, April 9, 2024 in Tokyo. It is 2:35pm. The weather is awful. Heavy rains all night and into the day. Strong winds picking up later this afternoon. Not a time to go out touring or shopping. What a better time, then, to review the literally dozens of articles and stories I’ve been bookmarking and saving and do some writing.

Before I begin, one note on shopping. The $/¥ relationship is so tilted in favor of the dollar that shopping here is breathtakingly cheap. When we moved to Japan in 1991, and for most of our stay, the exchange rate ranged between $1.10-$1.30/100¥. That meant buying an item that cost ¥1,000 would cost about $11-$13. A ¥1,000 item will now cost less than $7.00! Did I say “breathtaking?”)

As I reviewed my list of articles, I realized that I could write 10 stories or more. Recognizing that’s not going to work – too much for me; way too much for you – I decided to organize today’s and subsequent posts into broad categories, pulling articles that express my fews or ideas about each.

Today’s category will be the war in Gaza. Subsequent posts will be on the current state of U.S. politics and the upcoming presidential election and then one devoted exclusively to the near and present danger of Donald Trump.

What will become became clear, I believe, is the interconnections and interdependence of these subjects.

The War in Gaza

My Israeli friends will not be happy with me for this, particularly given the sources I’ve chosen to excerpt, but it needs to be said. This war has been a disaster from the get-go and is showing, as of this writing, no signs of resolution. It is putting U.S.-Israeli relations at risk. It is threatening the future of Israel. It is having the unintended consequence of impacting the 2024 U.S. presidential election – and not in a good way.

Yes, as I, and many other liberal American Jews have said, the October 7 Hamas attack was horrific, an attack that needed to be responded to. Yes, Israel has not just the right, but the duty to defend itself and its citizens. But six months into this conflict, is there an end in sight?

I’ve excerpted comments from three recent stories that help to illuminate the point.

Israel is lost and Netanyahu has no idea where he’s taking us – HAARETZ TODAY, Apr 8, 2024

By Allison Kaplan Sommer

As I sat in traffic, it occurred to me that the insecurity and uncertainty I felt on the road with my useless GPS [due to IDF signal scrambling] felt perfectly in line with the national mood since October 7. Lost and looking for direction, we expect a calm, authoritative voice to guide the nation in a direction – any direction – that will extract it from its current distress.

Instead, we face a government that is a scrambled screen with arrows pointing at each other, providing no reassurance as to where we are heading or when we might escape the place we are in.

The headlines of the past few days tell the story: We have been told since October that the goal of the Gaza war is “total victory” over Hamas and, more recently, that for it to happen a full assault on Rafah is crucial. We will never get our hostages back without relentless military pressure. And yet there is one brigade combat team in Gaza and seemingly little preparation for a Rafah operation as international pressure grows.

The safe return of the hostages is meant to be our top national priority. And yet, the Netanyahu government is only grudgingly granting the negotiating team room to maneuver. Are we on the road towards a cease-fire deal that includes a hostage release? Or are we forging ahead on the highway to a supposed “total victory”? Which way are we headed? Nobody knows.

As for who will rule in Gaza and how we will live alongside it, Bibi has not provided even the minimum level of communication expected of a malfunctioning GPS that tells us it is recalculating its route – because that would imply that he had planned one at all.

Allison Kaplan Sommer has been a journalist at Haaretz since 2012, hosts the Haaretz Weekend podcast and is a co-host of The Promised Podcast. She is the former Washington DC bureau chief for the Jerusalem Post, and has also written for the New Republic, Politico, and other publications. She won a 2016 B’nai B’rith World Center Award for Journalism for Excellence in Diaspora Reportage and the 2017 Simon Rockower award for excellence in covering Zionism, Aliyah and Israel. Originally from Rhode Island in the US, she has lived in Israel since 1993, and lives in Ra’anana with her husband and children.

Israel Will Pay the Price if Netanyahu Doesn’t Resolve Disputes With U.S. on War in Gaza – Opinion Haaretz.com, Apr 8, 2024

By Shalom Lipner

Israel is in dire straits. It has been at war without respite for six months, paying a heavy price physically and emotionally, with no signs that the storm will be abating anytime soon. Yet, absurdly, while the IDF and the security services remain fully engaged in the struggle against Israel’s sworn enemies and the effort to rescue the hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has chosen to invest its precious time in a confrontation with Israel’s greatest friend – the United States…

… The government is suffering from severe and dangerous cognitive myopia. It can’t “see the forest for the trees” – except when it comes to itself. Its destructive handling of its critical relationship with the United States is liable to impair not only its chances of defeating Hamas but also any preparedness to meet the other challenges farther ahead.     

Ever since the painful events of October 7, President Joe Biden has demonstrated unwavering support for Israel through both word and deed. Just a week and a half after the massacre in the Gaza border communities, Biden visited Israel to express his solidarity with the Israeli people; this tribute and his comforting words filled a void left by the conspicuous absence of Israeli government officials.

In the political arena, the United States blocked repeated attempts in the UN Security Council to pass resolutions demanding an immediate cessation of IDF operations in the Gaza Strip, without any precondition to release those in Hamas captivity. No other country in the world has rallied to Israel’s defense with such clout.

But nothing in life is free. The charge – levelled by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the New York Times – that Biden prefers [Hamas leader] Yahya Sinwar’s narrative over Netanyahu’s is an insult to intelligence.

The life-saving assistance that the U.S. has been providing Israel entitles the White House to receive thoughtful responses to its legitimate concerns regarding issues that should be of similar concern to Israel itself. What’s the right formula to ensure that Israel can enjoy secure borders without becoming stuck in a quagmire? How can Israel facilitate the increase of civilian aid, despite the difficulties involved, in order to halt the descent toward a humanitarian catastrophe? And what picture for the “day after” would be acceptable to Israel?

Shalom Lipner served seven consecutive premiers at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem from 1990-2016.

J Street Seeks a Middle Path on Gaza. Is That Possible Anymore? – The New York Times, Apr 8, 2024

By Marc Tracy

Over the last five years, the Jewish political advocacy group J Street reached new heights of influence. The center-left lobby, whose slogan upon its founding in 2008 was “pro- Israel, pro-peace,” saw five Democratic presidential candidates stump at its 2019 convention. It helped persuade 48 congressional Democrats to back a 2021 bill that would have pressured Israel to further a two-state solution. In 2022, J Street had its best fund-raising year up to that point, a spokesman confirmed.

With the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC increasingly identified with the right, J Street appealed to many American Jews as reasonably moderate: standing by a democratic Israel, opposing the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and supporting the coexistence of Palestinians and Israelis in two states.

Then came Oct. 7.

For months after the Hamas attack on Israel, J Street did not call for a cease-fire. In late January, it backed a “stop to the fighting,” humanitarian aid for Palestinians and an end to Hamas control of the region. Just last month, an internal J Street email said the organization would use the word “cease-fire” — and it clarified that this was a semantic step and not a change in policy.

“I’ve never hidden the fact that I want J Street to be on the 50-yard line of the American Jewish community,” Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street’s founder and president, said in an interview.

Mr. Ben-Ami said Friday that J Street backs the Biden administration, which warned American aid would depend on Israel’s treatment of civilians and supports a negotiated cease-fire.

But the war has raised serious concerns within J Street’s ranks about its ability to hold that middle position without being pulled apart by forces on the right and the left. Internally, some staff members have been frustrated that the group did not call for a cease-fire much earlier. They fear J Street’s delay alienated younger Americans, including Jewish ones, who are much more likely to oppose Israel’s conduct in Gaza, as the death toll soars past 32,000 and more than 100 hostages languish.

J Street’s cautious footing contrasts with the uncomplicated starkness both of left-wing groups — such as Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, which quickly called for a cease-fire and are often on the front lines of pro-Palestinian protests — and of ones to its right, like AIPAC, which praised U.S. support for Israel’s military and is pushing for more.

The turmoil has also raised larger questions of whether a middle lane on Israel remains tenable.

Marc Tracy is New York Times reporter based in New York. Before arriving at The Times, he covered politics and media for The New Republic and contemporary Jewish life and culture for Tablet. He periodically covers the American Jewish community for The Times and in 2012 co-edited the book, “Jewish Jocks,” a collection of 50 original essays about great (and not-so-great) Jewish sports figures.

Let me reiterate: The war in Gaza is putting U.S.-Israeli relations at risk. It is threatening the future of Israel. And, as I will write in the next Around the Block on U.S. politics, its impact on the 2024 U.S. presidential election might be catastrophic.

The dangers of another Trump term: If you don’t believe me, believe Bernie!

Commentary

A campaign solicitation email from Bernie Sanders is too important not to share

Several of my recent posts concluded with my thoughts about the dangers of another Trump presidency. I did my best to warn readers, hoping those who agree with me will at the very least, vote, and perhaps even engage in conversations with their Trump-supporting friends and neighbors in a frank and conflict-free dialogue about those dangers.

Despite my best efforts, my resources are limited; I have no staff to research each and every reason not to vote for Trump. But Bernie Sanders not only has the resources and the staff to compile a complete list, he’s sent that list out.

To be completely transparent, I don’t always agree with Bernie and some of his more extreme progressive positions. And I’m not in the habit of forwarding the dozens (hundreds?) of campaign donation solicitations I receive daily. But I do agree with his reasons to stop Trump, so much so that I felt it was too important not to share.

Theodore –

If you believe in democracy, if you believe in science, if you believe in justice and workers’ rights, let me be very clear: The next several months will be the most important in modern American history.

Yes, Donald Trump is a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe, a homophobe, and a religious bigot.

Yes, Donald Trump denied his election defeat, peddled conspiracy theories, and converted the Republican Party into a cult of the individual.

Yes, Donald Trump has contempt for a free media and criticism. He has encouraged violence and the never-before-seen use of the military and federal agents against U.S. citizens.

But if you believe Donald Trump’s first term was dangerous, I want you to think for a moment about what a second term would look like in terms of policy if a majority of Americans vote to support him and give him a mandate for another four years in the White House.

If Donald Trump is elected this November, the fight against climate change is over. Period. Not only does Trump believe climate change is a “hoax,” but he has and will once again appoint agency leaders and judges who undermine our ability to move toward sustainable energy and protect the environment. If the U.S. retreats from the fight against climate change, countries like China, India, and the rest of the world will follow. That would have irreversible implications for the future habitability of our planet for future generations.

If Donald Trump is elected in November, the already obscene levels of income and wealth inequality in this country will only get worse. In his first administration, Trump signed tax cuts into law where 83 percent of the benefits went to the top 1 percent while raising taxes for middle class families. The cuts added almost $2 trillion to the deficit, yet Republicans wasted no time finding religion on the issue of the debt when it came to paid family leave, universal pre-K, expanded home care, and more. During this current campaign, Trump has promised to extend those tax cuts for the rich and lower the corporate tax rate even further. We should believe him.

If Donald Trump is elected again in November, we can expect him and the Republican Party to escalate the attacks on women’s reproductive health in this country. No, it was not enough for the Trump to brag about appointing justices who overturned Roe v. Wade in this country, he and other Republicans have backed a federal abortion ban if he is elected for another term. 

If Donald Trump is elected again, I happen to believe that the almost 250-year experiment of American democracy is all but over. It goes without saying that Trump tried to overturn the results of the last presidential election, but his attack on democracy goes far deeper than the violence of January 6, 2021. If Trump wins, you can expect more extreme gerrymandering, more election workers being harassed and threatened, and as a result of his policies and lies, more and more people increasingly believing democracy itself, and our government, does not work for them.

It does not end there.

If Donald Trump is elected, he will once again attempt to overturn the Affordable Care Act and throw millions of people off of their health care.

If Trump is elected, we will take gigantic leaps backward on issues of education, gun control, criminal justice reform, and immigration.

And if Donald Trump is elected again, it would strengthen the hand of authoritarian leaders he openly respects and admires around the world like Orban in Hungary, Putin in Russia, Xi in China, and many other countries like Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and elsewhere.

So those are the stakes. Now what do we do about it?

Of course, it goes without saying that we must do everything we can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden. No excuses!

But let me also add that while President Biden and those of us who have worked with him have every right to be proud of what we have accomplished – especially given the fact that the work was done in a very divided and contentious Congress – I personally agree there are a number of areas where the administration’s response to issues has been inadequate or dead wrong. 

So while it is critically important we do everything we can to defeat Donald Trump, it is just as important we work to elect progressives this November and push President Biden to enact a progressive agenda in his second term. 

That is going to be a major focus for me throughout the rest of this year, and I can use your help in getting it done.

I can’t get “20 Days in Mariupol” out of my head

Commentary

The Oscar winning best documentary film should be required viewing for anyone casting a vote in the upcoming election

The story I posted yesterday, Jimmy, Oscar and Donald, was my take on Sunday’s Academy Awards broadcast. As I wrote, “…it was a night in which serious films, films dealing with important aspects of history, morality and human behavior, were showcased.”

It was also a night in which ex-president Donald Trump posted an angry, vile, uncalled for critical rant about the show, “…Disjointed, boring, and very unfair*. Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them…”

*I’m not sure what he meant by “very unfair.” Perhaps he’s claiming the voting was rigged!

If you haven’t read my story, I urge you to read it. At the very least it will give you some background for my post today.

One of films I highlighted was, “20 Days in Mariupol.” Winner of best documentary film, I described it as “… a devastatingly graphic film about Russia’s initial, unprovoked, illegal invasion of Ukraine and its indiscriminate targeting of civilians in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. A Russian atrocity which continues to this day.”

I haven’t been able to get “20 Days in Mariupol” out of my head, out of my mind, out of my heart. The visual account of Russia’s devastation of the city and its non-combatant citizens is horrific. The human suffering resulting from the attacks – attacks on apartment houses, fire stations and yes, hospitals – were inhumane war crimes.

Here’s the film’s trailer:

The filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov’s acceptance speech was moving, heartfelt and important to watch:

Think about this film, think about Chernov’s words, and then think about the words of the aforementioned ex-president as captured in this February 11 AP headline…

Trump says he told NATO ally to spend more on defense or he would ‘encourage’ Russia to ‘do whatever the hell they want’

…and at this campaign rally “screed:”

And then think about your senators and representatives who blocked aid to Ukraine unless it’s tied to a border protection plan (headline courtesy New York Times):

And then think about those same senators who blocked passage of the bi-partisan border bill in order to deny Biden credit for it, allowing Trump to campaign on the issue (headlines courtesy of the AP):

Senate Republicans threaten to block border security bill they negotiated

The striking turn of events comes as Donald Trump tells the GOP to sink the bill, arguing that it could take the political heat off Democrats ahead of an expected rematch with Joe Biden.

Finally, think about what America, what the world, will look like if Trump wins the next election. And, then do more than thinking – implore your Trump supporting, GOP voting friends ( I know you have them…we all do) to watch the film, to watch Chernov’s acceptance speech, to watch Trump’s rant and ask them why, for God’s sake, why they will be voting for him and his cynical Congressional toadies. Ask them if this is what they mean when they say “Make America Great Again?”

Jimmy, Oscar and Donald

Commentary

The Academy Awards’ strange bedfellows

Last night’s Academy Awards broadcast was one of the best in recent memory. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, with best actor/actress nominees presented with heartfelt introductions by former Oscar winners, it was, for a change, a worthwhile three hours – particularly in a year with so many outstanding films and performances.

Towards the end of the broadcast, Kimmel, in what might have been initially taken as yet another comedic bit, said this:

“Doing this show is not about me. And I appreciate you having me. It’s really about you and Emma (Stone) and all these great actors and actresses and filmmakers. But I was told we have, like, an extra minute, and I’m really proud of something. I was wondering if I could share it with you. I just got a review.”

iPhone in hand, Kimmel read, “Has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel at The Oscars. His opening was that of a less than average person trying too hard to be something which he is not, and never can be. Get rid of Kimmel and perhaps replace him with another washed up, but cheap, ABC ‘talent,’ George Slopanopoulos. He would make everybody on stage look bigger, stronger, and more glamorous. Also, a really bad politically correct show tonight, and for years – Disjointed, boring, and very unfair. Why don’t they just give the Oscars to those that deserve them. Maybe that way their audience and TV ratings will come back from the depths. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

I, thought, like many of you must have, there goes Kimmel again, making up what he was passing off as a joke about Donald Trump, paid off by with, “See if you can guess which former president just posted that on Truth Social? Thank you, President Trump. Thank you for watching. Isn’t it past your jail time?”

But after a quick Google search, I realized it wasn’t a joke. The former, and for the hopes of a significant portion of the electorate, future president of the United States, actually posted it on his ironically mis-named social media site, Truth Social.

Regardless of Trump’s rant, it was a night in which serious films – films dealing with important aspects of history, morality and human behavior – were showcased.

  • “Oppenheimer,” the Best Picture, a deserving winner but a wrenching film detailing the development of a weapon of mass destruction that has impacted world affairs ever since.
  • “20 Days in Mariupol,” winner of Best Documentary, a devastatingly graphic film about Russia’s initial, unprovoked, illegal invasion of Ukraine and its indiscriminate targeting of civilians in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. A Russian atrocity which continues to this day.
  • “Zone of Interest,” winner of Best Foreign Language Film, focusing on how Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig strove to build a dream life for their family in a home next to the concentration camp Hoss oversaw with ruthless, deadly efficiency. The documentary was described by Steven Spielberg as a film that [is] “doing a lot of good work in raising awareness, especially about the banality of evil.” Or, as journalist and cultural critic David Klion wrote in a Times essay, “…the film also accomplishes something more relevant to the present, forcing viewers to confront difficult questions about our own proximity to atrocity, and succeeding as a bracing reminder of how art can alert and sensitize us to the historical moment we inhabit.”
  • “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese’s best picture nominee depicting the “Reign of Terror” — a period that included the slaughter of dozens, possibly hundreds, of the Osage Nation’s citizens by non-Native people. As The New York Times reviewer opined, the film provided audiences with “unexpected lessons about empathy, the soul of the American public and how a reckoning with American colonialism must begin.”
  • “Rustin,” a film documenting the life and times of Bayard Rustin, one of the Civil Right’s movement’s most important, but forgotten heroes, the man who organized the historic 1963 March on Washington.

This night, frankly, was a rarity for an Oscar broadcast. It was a night in which truly important films were honored – a night in which we watched nuclear power used in war for the first (and hopefully, only) time; a night in which Russian war crimes were graphically exposed; a night in which a Holocaust film juxtaposed banality and atrocity; a night in which two films documented American racism and prejudice. But on this night in which movies that dealt with the past forced us to deal with our own present, Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, could only do one thing. Play the role of an unhinged television critic.

Let me ask you Trump supporters. Has there ever been a WORSE TV CRITIC than Donald Trump? At least his job performance as TV critic is consistent with his performance as president: In the Sienna College Research Institute’s 2022 ranking of U.S. presidents #45 (Trump) ranked forty-third, ahead of only James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson. Based on some of his recent campaign promises, if Trump does win the 2024 election, my guess is that he will pass at least one, if not both, of those two incompetent predecessors.

That is if, based on those campaign promises, there will be any need for presidential rankings as the United States as we’ve known it will cease to exist with a second Trump presidency!

Einstein, the Bomb and Trump

Commentary

The unlikely confluence of Albert Einstein and Donald Trump

I recently finished watching the Netflix docudrama, Einstein and the Bomb.

(Here’s a link to the trailer):

The film culminates with the development and dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. Although Einstein was not directly involved in the Robert Oppenheimer-led Manhattan Project, it was his most famous discovery in 1905, “E equals mc2,” which led to the concept that atomic energy would someday be unlocked.

Why was the world’s greatest physicist, perhaps the world’s greatest mind, the man whose work paved the way to the utilization of atomic energy, not a participant in Oppenheimer’s project?

By August 1939, a month before the outbreak of war in Europe, recognizing the potential power of a nuclear weapon and fearful that Nazis would develop that weapon first, Einstein wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt about the need to accelerate the US development of a nuclear bomb. Einstein continued writing to Roosevelt, recommending further steps in the development of nuclear warfare. Despite his expertise and encouragement, he was not allowed to participate in the Manhattan Project because the U.S. Army Intelligence office denied Einstein, a well-known pacifist, the security clearance needed to work on the project; he was deemed a “potential security risk”

Even if you haven’t seen the Academy Award nominated film, “Oppenheimer,” you probably already knew the outcome of the Manhattan Project.

And Einstein? He regretted his involvement in the creation of nuclear weapons. In an interview with Newsweek magazine he said “had I known that the Germans would not succeed in developing an atomic bomb, I would have done nothing.”

So, what does any of this have to do with Trump?

At the end of the film, Einstein is quoted,

“They elected Hitler after he made his shameful intentions clear beyond the possibility of misunderstanding.”*

Does that quote make the connection for you? If not, allow me to elaborate.

*In slides at the beginning of the film, the filmmakers make clear that “THIS FILM IS BASED ON REAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ALBERT EINSTEIN. ALL WORDS ARE HIS OWN, EITHER SPOKEN OR WRITTEN DURING HIS LIFETIME.”

In preparing this story, I accessed three recent articles, of the literally hundreds, regarding Trump’s intentions should he be elected president for another term. The three sources are Rolling Stone, The Washington Post and the Canadian Broadcast System News.

Every Awful Thing Trump Has Promised to Do in a Second Term

by Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone

  • He will indict Biden and his other political enemies
  • He will round up, intern, and deport undocumented immigrants
  • He will send the military to the border
  • He will invade Mexico
  • He will round up the homeless and send the National Guard into cities to fight crime
  • He will bring back the death penalty in a big way
  • He will make stuff more expensive by taxing all imported goods
  • He will reevaluate America’s participation in NATO
  • He will roll back all of Biden’s climate progress and reinvest in fossils fuels
  • He will construct “freedom cities” filled with flying cars
  • He will try to overhaul the education system in the MAGA image
  • He will torch the First Amendment by going after non-MAGA media
  • He will legally delegitimize trans Americans
  • He will pardon the Jan. 6 rioters
  • He will gut the federal government and take unprecedented control of what’s left

Trump and allies plot revenge, Justice Department control in a second term

by By Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey and Devlin Barrett, Washington Post

  • Establishing “Project 2025,” a group developing plans to invoke the Insurrection Act on his first day in office to allow him to deploy the military against civil demonstrations.
  • Using the Justice Department to investigate onetime officials and allies who have become critical of his time in office, including his former chief of staff, John F. Kelly, and former attorney general William P. Barr, as well as his ex-attorney Ty Cobb and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley.
  • Vowing to appoint a special prosecutor to “go after” President Biden and his family.
  • Drafting plans to dispense with 50 years of DOJ policy and practice intended to shield criminal prosecutions from political considerations. 

Trump could be U.S. president again. Here’s what he plans to do if he wins.

by Alexander Panetta, CBC News

  • Vengeance: It’s a recurring theme in the platform. On his first day in office, Trump says he’d appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden and his family’s revenues.
  • Firing civil servants: Trump allies want to overhaul the tederal bureaucracy. They’re already working to replace civil servants with more like-minded ones.
  • Transgender care: Trump wants to curtail gender-affirming care for minors. He wants hospitals and doctors cut off from federal health funding if they participate in transitioning treatment for minors.
  • Death penalty: Trump used to muse to aides in private that drug dealers should get the death penalty. Now, it’s part of his platform.
  • War on drugs – literally: When he was president, Trump inquired about the possibility of firing missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs, according to his former defence secretary. Bombing Mexico is now becoming an increasingly popular idea among Republican candidates.
  • End birthright citizenship: Trump would end citizenship rights for children born on U.S. soil to undocumented parents – a radical change in interpreting the Constitution’s birthright citizenship clause.
  • Homelessness crackdown: Trump says he would force homeless people off city streets. He would ban urban camping and offer violators two options: receive treatment and rehabilitation in newly constructed encampments, or face arrest.
  • Punishing tech: Trump is angry over how he and members of his campaign were treated on tech and social platforms during the 2020 election. Now, he wants to see them punished.
  • End racial equity programs: Trump would cancel programs aimed at race and gender equity created by Biden, citing those aimed at non-white farmers and restaurant owners.
  • Restore an old presidential power: He would fight for more presidential control over the federal budget. Remember Trump’s first impeachment? It started with him withholding military aid for Ukraine, previously approved by Congress; he was pressing the Ukrainian government to investigate the Biden family’s business dealings.
  • Investigate pharma companies: In a seeming nod to anti-vaxxers, Trump has promised a presidential commission into what’s driving a rise in childhood ailments. He mentioned autism and a number of other ailments, and while listing several possible causes he appeared to specifically single out pharmaceutical companies.
  • Re-evaluate NATO: Under Trump, the current president’s frequent extolling of U.S. alliances would seem like a distant memory. Last time he was in office, Trump derided those allies as deadbeats and reportedly talked to his own staff about leaving NATO.
  • Ukraine: Few nations will be watching this U.S. election as closely as Ukraine. Trump constantly criticizes U.S. efforts to defend the country against the Russian invasion. He says he’d demand compensation from Europe for the massive amounts of military hardware the U.S. has delivered. He’s called for pausing Ukraine funding for a variety of reasons.
  • Rattling the new NAFTA: Trump is hinting he would ignore a recent ruling under the dispute system of the new North American trade pact, raising questions about the stability of the agreement and whether it will be reliably enforced.
  • Restoring pre-Biden policies: He would pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, again. He probably couldn’t undo Biden’s landmark climate law funding green energy, which requires an act of Congress. But some analysts believe he could sabotage its implementation.

There you have it, all you Trump-supporting Einstein’s out there*. Are we going to elect Trump after he’s made his shameful intentions clear beyond the possibility of misunderstanding? Or, after reading all this, are his intentions still not clear enough, still not shameful enough, for you to withhold a vote for him? Are they not enough to foretell the existential threat to the American democracy a second Trump term would engender? Does he actually have to use his so-called “Presidential Immunity” (over to you SCOTUS) to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not face any consequences to change your mind? Or, is even that not enough?

*Yes, I know there are few, if any, “Trump-supporting Einstein’s” reading Around the Block.” But if you know any, send them this this story. I’m sure it will spark a deep, thoughtful conversation with them.

He’s baaack!*

Commentary

*No, not Arnold (although based on a State Farm Super Bowl ad, he might be) but…

JON STEWART!!!

Yes, Jon Stewart is back. But before I get into Stewart’s return to The Daily Show, I thought I’d start today’s post with a little Around the Block history and why The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is particularly important to me.

In a story from May, 2023 which I called, “Lucy, you got some ‘splaining’ to do.”, I provided readers with some Around the Block background.

When I first began writing Around the Block in 2012, several hosting iterations ago, (yes old-timers, its been over 10 years), my posts were mostly devoted to straight political commentary. Remember, 2012 was a presidential election year and, with Mitt Romney the GOP candidate running against President Obama, there was a lot to write about. After a while, particularly because I was a devotee of the New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz and his “Not the News” columns, I decided to go beyond straight commentary and post occasional satirical stories, dubbed “News with a Twist.” Posts identified as “News with a Twist” were fun to write but perhaps what was even more fun was the reader reaction; many readers wondered, what was real and what was “twisted?” It got to the point that I even considered color-coding the text: black for real; red for “twisted.”

In the run-up to the 2016 election, Trump’s shenanigans and the inaneness of his GOP primary opponents provided ample material for “News with a Twist” posts. In fact, although I haven’t done an exhaustive examination, my guess is that at least 50% of my stories in 2015-2016 were satirical.

Then Donald Trump became POTUS. 

And then satire…funny…wasn’t funny any more. In my mind, satirists at the time, like Borowitz and Samantha Bee and Trevor Noah and others were trying too hard to be funny and cynical at a time when the world was becoming, not only unfunny, but dark and evil. So, I began writing less “News with a Twist” and more straight commentary. 

You might have noticed that when I wrote, “satire…funny…wasn’t funny any more. In my mind, satirists at the time, like Borowitz and Samantha Bee and Trevor Noah and others were trying too hard to be funny…”, one very notable satirist wasn’t mentioned.

JON STEWART!

Why? Because Jon Stewart left The Daily Show in 2015. Much to the disappointment of his legions of fans, Stewart left satirical coverage of the 2016 Clinton/Trump election debacle, the horrors of the Trump presidency and, yes, the foibles of the Biden administration, in the hands of well-meaning, but not up to his standards stand-ins.

Now, as we move full-bore into the 2024 election season we’re facing an election pitting two old men – one of whom is a lying psychopath* who, in his most recent outrage, is encouraging Russia’s President For Life Vladimir Putin (a title Trump desperately wants to emulate), to attack NATO allies, solidifying his “Vlad bromance;” the other facing ever increasing questions about how his age is hindering his fitness for the office – we’re in a “no matter how clever you are, this is not funny” time.

*A psychopath is an individual with a personality disorder characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. No psychiatrist I, so I’ll leave it to you to judge.

Until this:

Jon Stewart returns to host The Daily Show

Yes, he’s back! And, based on his inaugural show last night, he’s as good as I remember.

Stewart himself will appear on Mondays as a weekly guest host, while a rotating lineup of the show’s correspondents are slated to share hosting duties the following days. In addition to host, Stewart is also a writer, producer, director, political commentator and actor. He will now add the title of executive producer for the Emmy-winning show.

Watch it live on Comedy Central. Record it from a slew of other outlets. But just watch it. Based on last night’s inaugural show, you won’t be disappointed.

And for those who can’t find last night’s telecast ofThe Daily Show (aka, Season 29/Episode 1), here it is. Enjoy how Jon Stewart who, in his singular, inimitable way, puts some sense into today’s unsettling, scary world.

https://www.cc.com/episodes/7lf6wz/the-daily-show-february-12-2024-season-29-ep-1

Experiences and thoughts from Israel post-October 7th – Part 3

Commentary

“The Gaza Envelope”

This is the final of three essays by my friend, Mickey Golbus, documenting his recent trip with his wife, Toni, to Israel. I am publishing these essays in Around the Block with his permission. (In the event you did not see the first two posts, here are the links to the first essay, “The Hostages.” https://around-the-block.com/2024/02/06/experiences-and-thoughts-from-israel-post-october-7th/ and the second, “The Day After” https://around-the-block.com/2024/02/08/experiences-and-thoughts-from-israel-post-october-7th-2/

The Gaza Envelope by Dr. Mitchell S. Golbus

Toni and I made another trip Thursday that I need to share with you. This was to the area the Israelis call the Gaza Envelope. It is the communities that surround and are close to Gaza. It was these communities that were attacked on Oct. 7th with 1200-1500 civilians and 400+ soldiers killed and 240 hostages taken back to Gaza.

Our first stop was at the field of cars. There is a square block area full of burned and destroyed cars-it is simply a mass of metal. Next to it is a field the size of two football fields with row after row of cars riddled with bullet holes, but still recognizable as cars.

Standing there in awe, one gets the sense of the magnitude of the worst day for Jews since the Holocaust. We were told a story of one of the burned vehicles, an ambulance. The occupants were charred remains which were carefully removed. There was a necklace identified as belonging to Dafna and what could be extracted from the car was buried in a coffin by Dafna’s family. It is noteworthy that Israeli burials are in shrouds and a coffin is only used in time of war when the remains are incomplete or unrecognizable. Dafna had a close friend, Shira, who was never found and presumed to be among the hostages. The necklace was taken to a laboratory where the blood was scraped off and submitted to DNA analysis. The analysis showed that the remains were of both Dafna and Shira. The coffin was exhumed, the unrecognizable remains split into two parts and reburied so both families could have some closure.

Our next stop was at a moshav (community in which the means of production are held in common by all) that had been attacked. The survivors had been evacuated to a hotel near the Dead Sea. One man came back and set up a coffee stand to provide coffee to the soldiers going into and coming out of Gaza. Within a short time, people from all over the country had come and set up food stations, showers, a massage room (!), and other facilities for the soldiers.

Many of the soldiers took the time to thank us for coming (it is incomprehensible to me how THEY could be thanking US).

To fully understand what is happening here, we must remind ourselves of the last year of Israel’s[MG1]  history. A year ago, Bibi Netanyahu was elected as Prime Minister and established a far right-ultra religious-extremist coalition. Ministers (equivalent to U.S. Department Secretaries) were chosen based on loyalty to Bibi and allowed to run rampant with their departmental budgets. The civil service was replaced with friends who had no idea how to run a governmental agency. There was a concerted effort to weaken/nullify the courts with the further goal of limiting some civil rights. The citizens reacted by coming out into the streets. Every Saturday night (at the end of the Sabbath), hundreds of thousands of Israelis joined protests against the government. This was a huge coalition that reached across the far left, the left, the center, and even into the right, politically. This basic and formidable division of the country existed through Oct. 6th and abruptly ceased on Oct. 7th. Then they were all “just Israelis” and at war. But at this point the government did not know how to provide civil services-the 80,000 people who needed to be evacuated from the Gaza envelope, the 80,000 people who needed to be evacuated from the north (under Hezbollah rocket bombardment), the soldiers who needed to get to their units, the food needs, the psychological needs. And the citizens who had been taking to the streets now came out to fulfill the country’s needs. So, when I described the R&R site and services above, those were not governmental, they were the efforts of fellow citizens.

Our next stop was at Kibbutz (a socialized community where everything belongs to the community-perhaps the only successful example of communism) Beeri. This community had 97 citizens killed on Oct.7th. 300 Hamas terrorists surrounded the community and started the raping and slaughter. There are destroyed buildings everywhere.

It took the IDF (Israeli army) two and a half days to clear the community of terrorists.

As we left this area, we passed a bomb shelter on the side of the road. These are common as there is only a 15 second warning between the sirens and the landing of a rocket from Hamas. This shelter was well known because on Oct. 7th fifteen people huddled inside with one reserve soldier at the doorway. The terrorists would throw a grenade into the shelter and the soldier threw it back out. This went on until the 8th grenade exploded. There were still 8 survivors who would not have lived without the bravery of that reservist.

Our fourth stop was at the site of the Nova rave party attended by 3000 people in their 20’s and 30’s who had gathered for a weekend of music and dancing in the desert. A party rule that no weapons could be brought left them defenseless when the Hamas hordes arrived. 340 of these young people were killed and most of the 240 hostages were taken from this area. There are too many stories to tell of the heroism of ordinary Israelis who heard of the slaughter and went there in their own vehicles to rescue people. There is a field of 340 flags, each surrounded by special mourning candles (yahrzeit candles) to commemorate this loss. Recently, on Tu b’Shevat (the Hebrew New Year of the trees) the families of these young people came and each planted a tree in the memory of their loved one, producing a poignant new forest.

Our last stop was at Kibbutz Ner Oz. This was a community of 400 souls of whom 38 were killed and 75 taken hostage on Oct. 7th. We were allowed to visit one burned out home where the children’s coats were still on the hooks by the door, the singed teddy bear was on the floor, and everything within the house, including the refrigerator contents, had been burned to a crisp.

This uninhabitable community has been taken over as an advanced military staging area. We were one mile from Kahn Yunis (the largest city in southern Gaza) and could see the smoke and hear the explosions of the ongoing conflict. There were about a dozen soldiers here, one third of their unit. They were guarding the Kibbutz while the other two thirds of the unit were fighting in Gaza. They rotate with roughly ten days in Gaza and five days at the staging area. They told us they “just march to the battle as it is only a mile away.” A large bar-b-q was set up to do steaks, hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs, and vegetables. The first food was packed up to go in to their unit-mates in Gaza, the next fed the soldiers and the last fed us.

We ate and talked to them. They were baby-faced, open in their conversation, and kept thanking us for coming. On the way out of the kibbutz we were taken to a small area where they are launching observation drones. The drones look like large model airplanes and are equipped with three cameras. A team of two send the drone up and over Gaza, and a team of two there take control and direct it to exactly where the observation is needed.

This day was very difficult and emotionally overloading. The tremendous loss of life and the creation of the hostage situation has left an unimaginable burden on the psyche of every Israeli (and many of us). The world will forever be split into before Oct. 7th and after Oct. 7th. This, however, contrasts with most of the world who have already forgotten Oct. 7th and can only talk about Oct. 8th.

I have another difficult and controversial concept that I must share. It is not well known in the “outside world” that on Oct. 7th, in addition to the hordes of Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel, over 1000 ordinary Palestinian citizens followed them in to Israel. They mostly came to rob, but many digressed to rape and kill. The hostages were not all taken by Hamas. Some were taken by Islamic Jihad (another terrorist group), and some were taken by these ordinary Palestinians and are being held without Hamas knowing where they are being kept. On Oct. 7th when all the hostages were taken to Gaza, they were met by mobs of Palestinians who spat on them, beat them, and tried to further degrade them. These pictures have been well publicized in Israel. This makes it very hard for Israelis to have great sympathy for the Palestinians currently. Between the terror they feel for their lives, the fear for the hostages, and the revulsion at the Palestinians, there is very little room for other thoughts.

Mitchell S. Golbus, M.D., is Professor Emeritus, UCSF School of Medicine and resides with his wife in San Rafael.

Super Bowl LVIII – the Mayoral Bets are on!

Commentary

Quinton Lucas (KC) and London Breed (SF) continue the tradition

It’s Friday, February 9th. Super Bowl LVIII* is on Sunday. As some of you might know, this year’s big game pits the AFC champions, the Kansas City Chiefs against the NFC champs, the San Francisco 49ers. And what would be better on the Friday before Super Bowl weekend than the competing mayors making their high-stakes wagers with notable symbols of their respective cities. This year, in a revenge match for San Francisco (the Chiefs beat the Niners in 2020’s Super Bowl LIV when the Chiefs scored 21 straight points in the final 6:13 of the game for a 31-20 victory) San Francisco Mayor London Breed is wagering Dungeness crab and a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge.

*58 for you non-pretentious numerologists

Not particularly creative given all the things San Francisco is famous for: Cable Cars; Rice-a-Roni; the Crookedest Street; Levi’s Jeans; Alcatraz; Haight-Asbury and the “Summer of Love” and so much more.

Kansas City’s Quinton Lucas, after suggesting that the Chief’s “red” was better than the Niners’ “red:”

Really, Mr. Mayor

Hmm, Chiefs, red, arrowhead logo, tomahawk chants…I’m sensing a little political incorrectness in KC, countered with Kansas City BBQ and Taylor Swift(!) bracelets.

Can you imagine living in a city where the mayor has to resort to wagering an artifact from someone who doesn’t even live there? I mean KC has to be known for something beyond BBQ. And even that’s not an exclusive if you take into account Memphis or anywhere in North Carolina. And aren’t they called St. Louis (Missouri) ribs not Kansas City (Missouri) ribs. Get my drift?

Couldn’t Mayor Lucas come up with something more creative? I mean he could have wagered some funny Hallmark Cards. Hallmark, was founded in Kansas City by Joyce Hall (Mr. Hall preferred being referred to as “J.C.” for obvious reasons). Or given that we’re close to tax season, a free tax return prep by Kansas City-based H&R Block would have been nice, (No relation, unfortunately. Actually, brothers Henry and Richard Bloch chose to spell the name “Block” with a K to ensure their name was not mispronounced “blotch”. (Never had to face that problem, although I’ve been known to be called “Blockhead” more than once. But I digress.)

Is that it, KC? A disputable claim to BBQ, Taylor Swift or maybe, two corporations. How about when Will from Oklahoma “got to Kansas City on a Friday” and by “Saturday, learned a thing or two.” What did he learn? Couldn’t he have shared what he learned with Mayor Lucas like he shared it with these cowboys?

Like this, for example:

They got a big theayter they call a burly-que
Fer fifty cents you c’n see a dandy show
One of the gals was fat and pink and pretty
As round above as she was round below

I could swear that she was padded
From her shoulder to her heel
But later in the second act when she began to peel
She proved that ev’rythin’ she had was absolutely real
She went about as fur as she could go
(Yes, sir)
She went about as fur as she could go

Well maybe not that. After all, the Super Bowl is family entertainment, right Janet Jackson?

Searching for something else Mayor Lucas could wager, I found the website, What Is Kansas City Known For? (18 Things It’s Famous For). Surprisingly, there are several items that would have served the mayor better.

With a rich history of blues and jazz, how about a vintage set of Louis Armstrong records?

Or, given that that Walt Disney opened his first-ever animation studio in KC and that Walt got the idea for Mickey Mouse from a real mouse who lived in the building (Walt was friends with a real mouse? Now I understand how he came up with “Fantasia), how about a trip to Disney’s original “Laugh-O-Gram Studio?”

(Back in the day, the NFL missed a bet* when the Super Bowl MVP ran off the field yelling, “I’m going to Disney World” when he should have been yelling “I’m going to Laugh-O-Gram!”)

*Can you say “bet” and “NFL” in the same sentence? Oh, right, Super Bowl LVIII is in Las Vegas!

Check out the KC list for other ideas (or don’t, your call). But c’mon Mr. Mayor. You could have done better.

Needless to say, I can’t finish this story without some suggestions for Mayor Breed that all you “Frisco”haters would have loved to have her offer. The list was compiled with the assistance from my friends at Fox News whose original slogan, “Fair & Balanced” was first replaced with “Most-Watched. Most Trusted,” then, “Real News. Real Honest Opinion” (excuse me, I had to stop writing to catch my breath after five-minutes of non-stop laughing. I’m back now), and then to “Standing Up For What’s Right.” (Wait, there I go again…thanks, I’m back).

Some items from Fox’s list:

  • A guided tour to see San Francisco’s best panhandlers up close and personal;
  • A gift certificate to the San Francisco’s flagship Nordstrom store in the fabulous, but almost empty, downtown San Francisco Center mall;
    • Oops, that Nordstrom closed last year.
  • A Waze GPS add-in: Parking in San Francisco where your car won’t get broken into…

I know Fox News could go on, but I won’t. The “City” as we provincially refer to it (New York City, what’s that?) has its share of big-city problems. But it’s still San Francisco, still, in the opinion of many, “the most beautiful city in America.” So perhaps in these days, as Herb Caen’s* beloved city suffers like almost every other major U.S. city, the best wager Mayor Breed might have made would have been a plaque containing one of Caen’s most famous quotes about San Francisco, a quote that described what he’d say if he ever got to heaven and looked around:

“Heaven, it ain’t bad, but it ain’t San Francisco!“

*Herb Caen was a San Francisco humorist and journalist whose daily column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political happenings, and offbeat puns and anecdotes—”A continuous love letter to San Francisco”—appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle for almost sixty years and made him a household name throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. It was my, and many others, first read in the Chronicle each morning.

Actually, all this San Francisco talk is kind of silly given that the Niners play in Santa Clara, 45 miles from San Francisco. Can you imagine if the mayor of Santa Clara had to come up with a wager? A tour of the Intel Museum?

With that, on to Sunday and SB-LVIII. May the best team win!

Only kidding.

GO NINERS!

Experiences and thoughts from Israel post-October 7th – Part 2

Commentary

“The Day After”

This is the second of three essays by my friend, Mickey Golbus, documenting his recent trip to Israel. I am publishing these essays in Around the Block with his persmission. (In the event you did not see the first post, here is the link to the first essay, “The Hostages.” https://around-the-block.com/2024/02/06/experiences-and-thoughts-from-israel-post-october-7th/

THE DAY AFTER

Israel is in some deep trouble-of its own making. The trouble starts with the right wing, ultra-religious, extremist government put in place by Bibi Netanyahu one year ago.  This government shares some of the blame for Oct. 7th. Its preoccupation with the West Bank, which many of the cabinet ministers would like to annex to Israel, led to troops being moved from the south area near Gaza to the West Bank. Thus, Hamas could see that there would be little IDF resistance to their Oct. 7th plans. Not wanting to be bothered with Gaza and Hamas, the cabinet (along with the IDF high staff and intelligence services), chose to ignore clear signs of Hamas preparation. 

The second “sin” of this government regarding Gaza was that the very necessary response has been carried out without a clear plan and goal. The oft stated goal of “removal of Hamas” is clear nonsense since: 1) Hamas is an ideology and ideologies cannot be removed and; 2) there are Hamas cells in both the West Bank and Lebanon that will not disappear because of actions taken in Gaza. This lack of a plan and a goal by Israel’s political arm continues to hamper the IDF in its operations.

There is also a basic problem with the twin goals of bringing home the hostages and making Hamas non-functional (a more realistic statement of the IDF goal). No one, including me, wants to make a choice between these goals, but they are not compatible. Furthering either one inhibits the other. How to resolve this conflict is unclear and tortures the mind of every Israeli.

The third “sin” of this government is neither having nor allowing anyone else to put forth a plan on how to govern Gaza once Hamas is not the functional government. The far-right adherents of Netanyahu’s government will not consider any long-term plan for Gaza, and Bibi cannot go against them without losing his coalition and his job. Holding on to his job is critically important to Netanyau because without it he is likely to be found guilty in his ongoing corruption trial and end up in jail. He also is against anyone else (e.g. United States, Saudia Arabia, Egypt) putting forth any suggestions.

In the absence of an Israeli plan for the day after, bad alternatives are coming to the fore. One such bad alternative has come from Gaza. The IDF has largely withdrawn from northern Gaza (Gaza City) and is concentrated in southern Gaza (Khan Yunis and Rafiah). This has left a vacuum in Gaza City and Hamas has started sending agents in civilian clothes to Gaza City with considerable money. They have begun distributing this money to former police officers and civil servants in small payments. But when you have had no income, the small payment is greatly welcome. Thus, Hamas is trying to re-establish itself as the government of Gaza, undoing everything Israel hoped to accomplish in the last 120 days of war.

A second bad alternative has come from Israel. A far-right, ultra-religious, and messianic coalition held a large (3,000 people) “party” celebrating their solution which is for Israel to occupy Gaza and reestablish settlements there. It is noteworthy that 11 cabinet ministers and 39 (of 120) members of the Kenesset (Israeli parliament) attended. The basis of this solution rests on three premises. First is that prior to 2005, when Israel occupied Gaza and had settlements there (20 settlements with 8-9,000 Israelis), nothing like Oct. 7th occurred. It is conveniently forgotten that one key reason for the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza was that Israel tired of having its soldiers killed by terrorist incursions on the settlements. Second is a concept in Judaism that says if you make a mistake, you must correct it. Seeing the withdrawal as a mistake, they want the correction to be reoccupation. Third is a messianic cohort who sees the reoccupation as part of the historic path to the messianic age. It is not clear to me why this would be true since ancient Israel never included Gaza; it was held by the Philistines. This proposal is all fantasy, but one that 38% of Israelis say they can support at this time.

The fantasy exists because no real alternative has been proposed. Netanyahu’s government is incapable of providing an alternative. This means it must come from the opposition, which at this time has the support of a significant majority of Israelis. The opposition MUST produce an alternative that can be considered, improved, and solidified as the policy of the country. They cannot wait for elections because in the Israeli system it is difficult to get an early election when the coalition in power wants desperately to hold on to that power. The time for the opposition to act is finite and getting shorter day by day!

Americans will remember that we didn’t have “day after” plan when we engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are still suffering the consequences of that lack of planning. Although I believe that all conflicts should be entered into with a plan for the day after, there is a key difference between the U.S. and Israel regarding the lack of planning. While both were responding to attacks on their homeland, the U.S., not dealing with an existential threat on their doorstep, took time before initiating military action. Because of the nature of the Hamas attack and the proximity of the attackers, Israel had to respond immediately. Saying that doesn’t give Israel a pass; the consequences of not determining a post-war Gaza plan are infinitely more consequential than America’s lack of post-conflict planning.

Mitchell S. Golbus, M.D., is Professor Emeritus, UCSF School of Medicine and resides with his wife in San Rafael.

Experiences and thoughts from Israel post-October 7th

Commentary

First in a series of three essays from friends traveling in Israel

Two of my best friends from California, Toni and Mickey Golbus, have been traveling in Israel over the last week or so visiting family and friends and attending to other family matters. The Golbuses are frequent travelers to Israel (they even made Aliyah years ago before returning to the U.S.). But with the fraught situation precipitated by the October 7th Hamas attack, they decided to, to the degree they could, see things themselves, first hand.

Mickey, who is an excellent writer has documented what they saw in a series of essays. With his permission, I will be publishing his essays in Around the Block this week.

ISRAELI HOSTAGES            

We had an experience today that I need to share. It is at the base of the depression, fear, and uncertainty that every Israeli is feeling. We were on our way to the Tel Aviv Museum of Fine Art when we came to the large (football field size) cement area in front of the museum. The area has been made into an homage, a prayer, and a plea for the 130 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. I will describe it after a moment of history.

During the Oct. 7th devastating attack by Hamas in southern Israel villages and communities, not only were 1200-1500 civilians killed after rapes and beheadings, not only 400+ IDF (Israeli army) personnel killed in defending the area, but some 220 hostages were taken. They were taken by Hamas, to a lesser degree by Islamic Jihad, and even some by individual attacking families. In November, 90 hostages (women and children) were released in exchange for 270 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons and a few-week pause in the war. This allowed Hamas to regroup but was felt to be worthwhile by the Israeli government. The exchange was then stopped by Hamas and the suspicion was that the remaining women and children were in such bad condition that Hamas did not want them seen by the world. From those released we are only now hearing tales of rape and horrible conditions. The stories come out slowly because of the psychic trauma suffered by these hostages. There still remain 130 hostages, not all of whom are probably alive. Israel faces the dilemma of how to get the hostages released while still processing the war to prevent Hamas from being able to repeat Oct. 7th.

The area in front of the museum contains many artists’ attempts to express emotions connected to the hostage situation. Broken hearts and timers with their sands running out are common themes.

There is a tent where a large group of mothers and wives of hostages sit and share their stories and fears. A collection of Israelis stands around them, lending their silent support. There is a mock-up of a tunnel that we (and many others) went through to the sounds of gun fire to impress us with this experience (many of the hostages are being held in such tunnels).

There is a long table set for Shabbat dinner with 130 empty seats.

Pictures of the hostages are everywhere (and are posted all over the country-by individual Israelis, not by the government.

There are small cages representing the holding cells of the hostages, and an infant feeding seat with many stuffed animals to commemorate the baby that had its first birthday as a hostage and is still being held.

The hostage situation is never far from any Israeli’s mind. I hope you can understand a little of what Toni and I were feeling.

Mitchell S. Golbus, M.D., is Professor Emeritus, UCSF School of Medicine and resides with his wife in San Rafael.