Protests, prayers, and podcasts

Working my way through the craziness....

Some days, the crazy news comes at me in so many directions at once that I find it hard to focus enough to formulate a complete sentence.

(Wrote a sentence! Check!)

Even if you believe that the media purposely tosses out mountains of bad news just to keep us doom-scrolling, you still must admit that there is a lot going on. A lot of bad stuff, actually. And even if some is thrown our way in order to intentionally deflect from other things (Bibi, I’m lookin’ at you), the news right now is especially difficult.

In fact, I keep hearing from Israelis that this past week — since six hostages were executed by Hamas following Netanyahu’s rejection and torpedoing of a hostage deal — has induced of the biggest emotional downs in people’s memory. Many compare it to the utter shock we were going through on October 7. This sense of deep despair and helplessness.

I get that.

I’m also looking at Kamala Harris for a moment. I’m remembering that just days before Biden backed out of the race, roughly half of America was feeling that same pit in their stomach, as if the world was going to end. And then Kamala appeared and like magic, something shifted overnight. Sure, the race isn’t over yet. But I’m feeling like, if one event or the emergence of a new leader can set off such a seismic shift, maybe that can happen in Israel, too.

Who are the leaders on the horizon? Who is Israel’s magic Kamala-esque fairy godmother?

I can’t say for sure. But, I mean, nobody knew that Kamala would have that effect either, until she did.

So for now, I’m keeping my peripheral vision on a few possibilities and spending a lot of time praying. Protesting and praying.

On other hopeful notes, have you seen images from the mass anti-government pro-ceasefire pro-hostage release protest last week? Some say it was the biggest protest in Israel’s history. I don’t know, we seem to have had a lot of those lately. But it’s big. The protest movement is definitely growing.

An estimated 700,000 people showed up at last week’s anti-govt/pro-hostage release/pro-ceasefire protest in Tel Aviv. Where there’s life there’s hope.

So, praying and protesting. That’s my gig right now.

Oh, and podcasting, of course. If you haven’t checked it out, watch here or listen here or follow us here.

And huge shout-out to the amazing, thoughtful, and generous activist Sally Gottesman for making this podcast, Women Ending War, happen. <3 <3 <3

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Meanwhile, I decided to make some order out of the chaos and round-up some of the most important news from the past week. ICYMI. Here goes.

Mourning father of slain hostage tells the truth about Bibi Netanyahu

The father of one of the slain hostages said during the shiva last week that Bibi doesn’t care about the hostages but only about his political survival. Yes, we all can see that. “In recording from condolence visit, Rabbi Elhanan Danino, father of slain captive Ori Danino, implores PM to stop stirring division and prioritizing his own political survival.” Thank you for saying that and so sorry for your tragic loss.

Adina Bar Shalom: The hostages could have been back home in a week

Adina Bar Shalom, daughter of the late Shas leader and chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef, criticized her community and leaders for staying in the coalition that keeps rejecting deals. She says that her father believed in rescuing hostages above all else. “If my father were alive, the hostages would have been home within a week.”

Reminder: The hostages are not all dead — yet

This shouldn’t need repeating, but there are still over 100 hostages in Gaza, most of whom are presumed to be alive. As Rabbi Orna Plitz of Rabbis for Human Rights insightfully writes: The government keeps using the phrase “hostages and casualties” as if they are the same. They are not the same! The hostages are not dead!

This is a rhetorical tactic to get the public accustomed to the idea that the hostages will all end up dead. I’ve been writing about this, too, about the use of words like “sacrifices” to get Israelis used to the idea that Bibi has no intention of getting back the hostages.

Let’s not fall for these rhetorical tricks and manipulations.

It’s quite unsettling to consider how far some so-called leaders are willing to go to keep their own seats. Who gets thrown to the wolves for someone else’s ass-saving…. Chilling really. Yet here were are.

Families of the hostages are attacked

Speaking of chilling, in one of the most brain-twisting and nauseating developments in this war, Einav Zangauker — whose son Matan is still being held hostage, and who remains the tireless heroine of this struggle, relentlessly showing up on the streets every day, sometimes sitting for hours or days in front of offices or the “bunker” in Tel Aviv — has been repeatedly attacked by Israelis who somehow think that she is wrong to be fighting for her son’s release from captivity.

I have no words. No words. Well only that this a sign of complete moral bankruptcy and lack of all humanity. Whoever these people are who keep attacking hostage families.

That’s all. I don’t know how else to hold this reality .

Einav Zangauker

Sara Netanyahu’s cold heart is once again on display

First lady Sara also told the hostages families that there was “no choice” other than to refuse the deal that left six more hostages dead.

Nice one. Talking to hostages families about sacrificing their kids’ lives while your sons are safe. Holed up in a Miami hotel drinking martinis and trolling protesters while taxpayer funds are spent on their “protection”. Good job, there.

Let’s hope we can fire her from her job soon.

Meanwhile Gallant is calling for a cease fire.

Gallant is in charge of the war and is ready to admit that this bloody, senseless war is leading to nowhere. Bloody, endless war….

Brutality in Gaza

The killing of the Abu Salah family — six members of one family — by the IDF on the street in Gaza while they were holding a white flag and returning from the burial of their young relative is uncovered in brought to us in gruesome detail in a scathing analysis of NYT video. It is alarming, infuriating, and deeply shaming for me as a Jew and Israeli that my people are doing this, as if in my name.

“Sect of death eaters”

IDF Major General Hezi Nechemia has decided to be brutally honest with Israelis. He has been giving media interviews in which he admits that despite all the fighting and small “victories”, there hasn’t really a significant strategic victory. He also said that in the current plan, over the next five years there will be a lot of bloodshed. His descriptions have evoked labeling those who support this war and who oppose a hostage deal as a “sect of death eaters”.

Sheesh.

The “they are lying” defense is a bad one

IDF attacked the “humanitarian relief” zone of Gaza. At least 40 people were killed, according to Palestinian sources that add that entire families were killed — not for the first time. In response, the IDF did the whole “they are lying” thing, which I’ve talked about many times before. If our only defense of our actions is “they are lying” we are doing something very wrong.

“It’s their own fault they’re dead” is also a bad defense

I also want to say something about the whole “It’s their own fault” defense. The IDF keeps saying that we “have no choice” because Hamas operatives holding guns are mingling with innocent people – in hospitals, schools, children’s bedrooms, whatever. While this particularly sick tactic is arguable a uniquely Hamas thing, that does NOT giver us the right to kill those innocent civilians. Like we saw in that NYT video where the IDF is like, “Well, Hamas is hiding behind innocent people”, so, you know, it’s their own fault.

Let’s unpack this for a moment: If the people you want to kill — because you have determined that they must die right here and right now in this instant — if those people are hiding behind innocent civilians, you DO NOT HAVE TO SHOOT. Or bomb. Or whatever. You can choose NOT to. You can choose NOT TO SHOOT INNOCENT CIVILIANS.

I am very much OVER AND DONE WITH all that pro-Israel chatter all over the world that tries to prove our righteousness by saying that Hamas uses innocent people as “human shields”. WE DO NOT HAVE TO SHOOT AT THE INNOCENT PEOPLE! I’m furious that nobody in charge here has figured that out yet…. Or even seemingly questioned it.

There are options

This is NOT a war of no choice. There ARE choices. Many. Listen to this episode of my podcast, Women Ending War to hear more. I’m very proud of this episode, where we interview Nivine Sandouka of ALLMEP and Naomi Sternberg of Geneva Initiative about real solutions in the pipeline, a whole other vision for the country.

More police violence under Ben Gvir

Meanwhile, an epileptic woman who threw sand at Itamar Ben Gvir was arrested and then “misplaced” in prison for a day as the law enforcement authorities under Ben Gvir refused to tell her family where she was located.

This, by the way, is a fraction of what many Palestinians go through, who can be “detained” for six months at a time without having visitors, legal representation, or even information about why they are arrested. This entire issue is barely discussed amid the dominance of the Gaza war and hostages. As one Haaretz commentator wrote, Ben Gvir cares more about sand than he does about human life. Clearly.

I haven’t even begun to discuss what is happening in the West Bank. I’ll have to save that deeper dive for a later post. But I’ll share one item:

This all seems to be getting worse

Israeli society’s dehumanization of Palestinians is now absolute, writes Meron Rapoport in 972Mag. “In the past, Israel’s moral debate about its military actions may have been narrow and hypocritical, but at least it existed. Not this time.”

While Jewish Republicans cheer

And I’ll end with this today: While all this is happening, on the other side of the lake, Trump threatens that a vote for Democrats will mean Israel will be destroyed. As Jewish Republicans cheer….

Obviously, these guys have got that all wrong. Mind-bogglingly wrong. This should not need any more explanation.

But I’ll spell it out anyway.

Let’s be very clear: It is Bibi Netanyahu who constitutes the greatest threat right now to Israel and to the Jewish people and to lots of other human beings who deserve to live.

That’s it.

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