THE FURTHER CORRESPONDENCES OF MARC SUSSELMAN PART 21
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12 March 2024
MS said:
Marc M. Susselman, J.D., M.P.H.
43834 Brandywyne Rd.,
Canton, Michigan 48187
marcsusselman@gmail.com
March 12, 2024
Via Email
Mr. David Klion
Contributing Editor
Jewish Currents
Re: The Oscar Contender That Won’t Let Us Look Away
Mr. Klion:
I have read your opinion piece, titled “The Oscar Contender That Won’t Let Us Look Away,” which was published by the New York Times on March 8. After my wife and I saw the movie “Zone Of Interest,” which depicts in heart-wrenching and gut-wrenching detail what Hannah Arendt identified as “the banality of evil,” as I left the theater I contemplated whether people watching the movie, and whether anti-Israel protesters in the United States and around the world, would draw the same conclusion, and ask themselves the same question, which you raise in you opinion piece: Are we, who see the death and destruction which is being wrought by Israel’s military invasion of Gaza, in response to Hamas’s massacre and abduction of Israelis on October 7, contemporary examples of “the banality of evil”; are we who witness the horrifying destruction and death of men, women and children being caused by Israel in Gaza, also being complicit in the atrocities, as was Rudolf Höss, as the commandant at Auschwitz, and the thousands of other commandants at the multiple concentration camps, and the millions of Germans and Nazi party members, who led their ordinary, every-day lives as millions of Jews, Poles, Roma and homosexuals were being gassed and incinerated, without any sense of responsibility for those atrocities.
One of the thought patterns which is afflicting our society today is the tendency to engage in false equivalencies, analyses which equate different historical events with contemporary events, and pass moral judgments based on the purported equivalence, without engaging in an analysis of the differences, differences which render the equation false. In one of his most profound observations, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, stated in a dissent: “It was a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.” This advice has, unfortunately, often fallen on deaf ears.
In your opinion piece, you quote the director, Jonathan Glazer, who is Jewish, as stating, “For me, this is not a film about the past[.] … It’s trying to be about now, and about us and our similarity to the perpetrators, not our similarity to the victims.” You continue: “Watching ‘The Zone of Interest’ as U.S.-made bombs rained on civilian neighborhoods in Gaza, I couldn’t help but dwell on the banal acceptance of the mass civilian casualties that I’ve witnessed closer to home. … For Jews like myself, who publicly oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza, one of the hardest realities to confront is the fact that plenty of people in our communities are aware that the Israeli offensive is killing tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of whom are children. But in the wake of the gruesome Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israelis that touched off the war, many people we are close to are not just incurious about Israel’s assault on Gaza but are willing to justify it without apology.” You conclude your opinion piece with the following statement: “Having closely observed a living instrument of genocide for the duration of the film we are extended no solace and we exit the theater feeling a little unclean, as though we participated ourselves. Perhaps in another context we might have. Perhaps in another context we are.”
It is rather clear that your verdict is not one of uncertainty or possibility suggested by the word “perhaps,” but of actuality, that we who observe what Israel is doing in Gaza, are, like Rudolf Höss, and the millions of other Germans who supported the Nazi regime, complicit in what you regard as atrocities, amounting to genocide, being committed by Israel, in effect equating Israel to Nazi Germany, an equation which many anti-Semites have levelled at Israel, declaring, for example, that Zionism equals Nazism.
As I said, I also contemplated this question as I left the theater. I believe that it is a question that should be asked, and which deserves an intelligent answer. I have concluded, however, that the question rests on a false equivalency, a false equivalency which is ahistorical, unjustified, and in fact blasphemous. In reaching your verdict, you make no mention of the numerous factors which distinguish what the Nazis did from what Israel is doing, distinctions which underscore the fallacy of the false equivalency. The Jews who were exterminated by the Nazis presented no threat to the survival of Germany. They did not invade Germany and kill thousands of innocent German civilians, or abduct innocent Germans and hold them for ransom. The Jews who were marked for extermination had not hidden military munitions in underground tunnels among the German and Jewish population, requiring the death of thousands of Germans and Jews in order to destroy the Jewish threat to Germany’s survival. The Nazi regime portrayed the Jews as enemies of the state not because of anything that they had done in reality, but based on age-old anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish greed, manipulation, and dominance of the financial sector. This contrasts significantly from what Hamas – a political organization elected to govern the Palestinians in Gaza by the Palestinians themselves – has done. Hamas, supported by a large segment of the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, does represent an existential threat to the survival of Israel, the only Jewish state in the world, contrasted with the 47 countries with a Muslim majority, which have declared Islam as the national religion. Israel’s government, with all of its faults – faults which I have acknowledged and criticized - does not denigrate the Palestinian people, using any of the disparaging terms that equate to the anti-Semitic tropes which were deployed by the Nazis. In its military action in Gaza, Israel has taken measures to warn the Palestinians to evacuate areas where they intend to attack. The Nazis did not warn the Jews that they were about to be arrested and deported to concentration camps, where they would be gassed and incinerated.
You may regard these differences as trivial rationalizations. You may say, in your defense, that you did mention the Hamas massacre as an atrocity. You may take psychological comfort in your belief that by implying that we are all complicit in what you believe is Israel’s commission of genocide is a moral judgment which demonstrates your humanity, your commitment to morality, and to Jewish values. Notwithstanding, you proceeded to not just imply, but essentially to state, that Israel’s actions in self-defense against an enemy dedicated to its destruction, are the equivalent of the Nazis’ deliberate murder of millions of Jews, and others. Your rather flippant mention of the Hamas massacre, in passing, and then proceeding to expostulate on a false equivalency, without making any effort whatsoever to note the distinctions which demonstrate the falsity of the alleged equivalence, is ahistorical, and, as I say, blasphemous. Your opinion piece, vouched for by a Jew, facilitates the proliferation of this false equivalency, and fosters the conviction that it is true, equating Israel to Nazi Germany. In so doing you have done a gross disservice to Israel and to the Jewish people.
Marc Susselman
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MS said:
Congressman Raskin utterly destroys the Republican Trump sycophants.
"https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2024/03/12/jamie-raskin-biden-trump-memory-special-counsel-robert-hur-sot-vpx.cnn"
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13 March 2024
MS said:
"https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2024/03/13/american-gaza-israel-strike-bashir-pkg-lead-vpx.cnn"
This is the kind of nonsense on the internet, seeking to demonize Israel. An elderly American citizen living in Gaza asks why President Biden is allowing Israel to “target” her, as if Israel’s specific objective is to kill this elderly woman. She admits she could leave and return to the United States, but feels it is her “duty” to stay in a war zone and keep faith with the Palestinians. Well, if you stay in a war zone, you can be expected to be killed – and you are not being targeted.
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14 March 2024
MS said:
Senator Schumer gave a phenomenal speech in the Senate today calling for Netanyahu to resign, and for the renewal of efforts to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bravo!
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15 March 2024
MS said:
Well, Fanni Willis may not be exactly toast, but she sure smells pretty bad.
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17 March 2024
MS said:
I have come to the conclusion that LFC’s position that Pres. Biden should threaten to reduce U.S. military aid to Israel unless Netanyahu steps down as the Prime Minister of Israel is the correct position for the U.S. to take. While Hamas is primarily responsible for the terrorist massacre on October 7, Netanyahu and his right-wing government are also largely responsible for what occurred, by virtue of their complacency, incompetence and preoccupation with reforming the Israeli Supreme Court. Netanyahu is exploiting the Hamas massacre as cover for his own neglect and egotistical conduct; he shows absolutely no remorse whatsoever for what his negligence and egotism have caused. Netanyahu is a disgrace to Israel and to the Jewish people. He has the blood of both Israelis and Palestinian civilians on his hands. American Jews should put pressure on Israel to remove Netanyahu, and if this requires rethinking U.S. military aid to Israel, then so be it.
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22 March 2024
MS said:
I wish to comment on a recent exchange on Wolff’s blog relating to a comment by Anonymous claiming that a comment by aaiii was anti-Semitic, and comments by s. wallerstein and others denouncing the accusation.
In Anonymous’s comment, he made valid points regarding the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, pointing out that the current situation is largely due to actions which were taken years ago by the Palestinians, led by Yasir Arafat, actions which represented an intransigence against making peace with the Israelis, despite Israel’s numerous efforts to find a path to a Palestinians state and establish peace. The Palestinians, led by Arafat, largely supported his intransigence, just as Palestinians in Gaza have largely supported Hamas’s actions and its vow to annihilate Israel. There are consequences for such actions, which include Israel’s invasion for its own security and to prevent a recurrence of the Oct. 7 massacre, consequences which include the death of many innocent Palestinians, including their children. Should there be limits to those consequences, including on the number of innocent children killed?
Anonymous also correctly pointed out the past actions of the Palestinians and Hamas have created an Israeli population traumatized by past events, which has contributed to creating an authoritarian tyrant such as Netanyahu. What would they expect – when you refuse to make peace, and terrorize a population seeking peace, they will react with vindictiveness.
Anonymous was reacting to a rather silly comment by aaaii – which is not unusual for him – comparing a recent statemen by Jared Kushner to Hitler’s Mein Kampf. In doing so, he mischaracterized Kushner’s statement, which is also not unusual for aaaii and others who are critical of Israel. aaiii was implying that Kushner was proposing to evacuate Gaza of Palestinians – suggesting that this is indeed the objective of Israel – in order to exploit its valuable waterfront property. The Guardian, in the article cited by aaiii was also making the same implication. But this is not what Kushner said, if aaaii had bothered to watch the video of Kushner’s actual statement, which was included with the article. After Kushner made his comment about the value of the waterfront property, the interviewer stated that Arabs are concerned that if Israel evacuates Gaza, that the Palestinians will not be allowed back. Kushner stated, quite clearly, “I don’t know that Israel has stated that they do will not want allow the people to move back there afterwards.” If it was Israel’s plan, in the context of Kushner’s comment about the value of the waterfront property, then one could conclude that Israel is exploiting the Hamas massacre, and its invasion to destroy Hamas, as an excuse to obtain valuable waterfront property. Rather than quote what Kushner said, however, the article states that he responded “Maybe.” But saying “maybe,” implying that it was, perhaps, Israel’s objective, is an inaccurate distortion of a response that means, “No, I have not seen such a statement by Israel,” which is essentially a denial that this is Israels plan. Did the writer of the article deliberately distort Kushner’s comment in order deliberately to give a false impression that in fact Israel’s invasion is about acquiring valuable real estate – a distortion which one could compare to the kinds of distortions Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf? Perhaps. Would such a deliberate distortion constitute anti-Semitism? Perhaps. Does aaiii’s same implication equate to anti-Semitism? Hard to say, since we do not know his intention – was the comparison just sloppiness on aaiii’s part, or deliberate? I don’t know, but if deliberate, I would agree that it was an anti-Semitic remark – a deliberate distortion of what Kushner said to convey the centuries old anti-Semitic trope that Jews are greedy, manipulative people who exploit circumstances in order to enlarge their wealth.
I do not believe that Anonymous’s accusation is outside the realm of possibility. Those who took issue with his assertion do not understand the above analysis which gives rise to the assertion, or just don’t care. Their stupidity does not make them anti-Semitic – it just means that they are stupid, and there is a lot of such stupidity going around these days, especially in the case of everything s. wallerstein states.
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23 March 2024
MS said:
I wish to make a comment regarding wallerstein’s response to Anonymous’s charge that aaaii’s comparison of Jared Kushner’s observation that the Gaza waterfront represents very valuable real estate to Hitler’s comments about Jews in Mein Kampf.
In order to rebut Anonymous’s accusation, wallerstein points out that Israel does not speak for all Jews. It is, indeed, a rather mundane observation that no member of any ethnic, religious, political, … group has the privilege to claim to speak for all members of the group. This mundane observation is not relevant to whether aaaii’s comment – or anyone’s comments critical of Israel – are, or are not, anti-Semitic. Such comments are not anti-Semitic because the views, actions, and policies of the Israeli government do not represent the views of all Jews. This is what is commonly referred to in general parlance as a “red herring.” The comments are anti-Semitic because the population of Israel is predominantly Jewish; that Israel is the only predominantly Jewish nation on Earth; and the comments distort the history of the Israeli-Palestinians conflict and employ double standards to criticize the actions of Israel, taken in self-defense, criticism that are not leveled at other nations or ethnic groups which act in self-defense.
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24 March 2024
MS said:
aaaii has now posted a comment responding to my comment to Anonymous’s accusation that aaaii’s prior comment was anti-Semitic, i.e., comparing Jared Kushner’s remark about the value of Gaza’s waterfront property, and evacuating Palestinians from Gaza, to Hitler’s comments about Jews in Mein Kampf, i.e,, that Jews are scheming, avaricious people who deserve to be exterminated. Kushner’s comments, according to aaaii, are evidence that Jews are, indeed, scheming, avaricious people, He does not go so far as to say that they deserve to be exterminated. They just do not deserve to have a country of their own – one which they allegedly stole from the Palestinians to begin with.
In my original comment, contrary to s. wallerstein’s assertion that I did, in fact, agree with Anonymous and stated that aaaii is anti-Semitic by virtue of his comment, I did not affirmatively agree with Anonymous and state that aaaii’s comment was anti-Semitic. Rather, I stated that it would depend on whether aaaii deliberately distorted what Kushner said, because Kushner did not say what aaaii, as well as the Guardian, claimed that he said, and if one just viewed the video of the interview, which was included in the Guardian article, in which Kushner made the observation that the Gazan real estate was valuable, it would be obvious that he did not state that the Palestinians should be evacuated in order to exploit the valuable real estate, nor did he state that this was Israel’s objective in invading Gaza – nor should it be. Kushner’s comment was made in the context of rehabilitating Gaza once Hamas had been destroyed. The comment about the value of the Gazan waterfront was contrasted with the fact that Hamas, rather than build Gaza’s infrastructure, rather than build schools, hospitals, etc., to improve the life of the Palestinians, had wasted the billions of financial aid which had been provided to the Palestinians in Gaza, on building a network of tunnels, using expensive concrete, and obtaining armaments, to attack Israel after Israel had evacuated Gaza and left it to the Palestinians to form their own government. When asked whether it was Israel’s objective to evacuate the Palestinians and not let them return, so that Israel could exploit the valuable real estate, Kushner responded (at 2:32): “[F]rom Israel’s perspective I would do my best to move the Palestinians out to clean [Gaza] up, but I do not think Israel has stated that they do not want the people to move back thereafter.” This is in fact a denial that it was Israel’s intention to evacuate the Palestinians and not let them return so that Israel could reap the financial benefit of the valuable waterfront property. Yet the Guardian journalist who wrote the article, rather than quote Kushner’s exact words, states that he stated that “maybe” this was Israel’s intention, a distorted, anti-Semitic gloss on what Kushner actually said. My point was that if the journalist, or aaaii, deliberately offered that distortion, rather than inadvertently, or via sloppy journalism, it constituted an anti-Semitic remark, whoever said it. Since I did not know if the distortion was made deliberately, or negligently, I could not conclude one way or the other whether the remark was anti-Semitic.
It is now apparent that aaaii has read my comment in Michael Lleonos’s blog, in which Michael has graciously been reproducing my observations regarding the comments posted on Wolff’s blog, and has had the opportunity to watch the video, and has reiterated his claim that Kushner was recommending evacuating the Palestinians from Gaza and not let them return, so that Israel could take advantage of the valuable Gazan real estate. So now I know that aaaii’s comment is, indeed, deliberate, and therefore anti-Semitic. s. wallerstein’s rejoinder is that, because aaaii is apparently familiar with Hebrew, per his inclusion of Hebrew references in his comment, and therefore it is highly likely that he (using the male pronoun for convenience) is himself Jewish, and therefore it is inconceivable that he is, himself, anti-Semitic – putting aside the pejorative assignation of being a “self-hating Jew.” But what I am stating is that aaaii’s intentional comment, which is a distortion of what Kushner actually said, is an anti-Semitic comment. Whether aaaii is an anti-Semitic person would depend on the totality of his views regarding Jews and Israel. It is not inconceivable that a person deemed Jewish by virtue of his/her ancestry and/or upbringing could be anti-Semitic, or could harbor anti-Semitic views. I, in fact, fought an individual who was born and raised Jewish, and his anti-Semitic cadres, in court for four years seeking an injunction against their use of signs posted every Saturday morning, for 18 years, in front of a synagogue in Ann Arbor, signs which bore such messages as, “Resist Jewish Power”; “Jewish Power Corrupts”; and “No More Holocaust Movies.” So, it is not inconceivable that a person born and raised a Jew can harbor anti-Semitic views.
In conclusion, aaaii’s comment, which he is now making deliberately, which distorts what Kushner in fact said, to make it appear that he, as a typical Jew, was recommending evacuating the Palestinians from Gaza so that Israel could take advantage of its valuable real estate, was an anti-Semitic comment. Moreover, it is a further distortion to suggest that this would be the very reason that Israel would evacuate the Palestinians to begin with. Israel invaded Gaza in order to destroy Hamas, after Hamas on October 7 had brutally massacred over 1,000 Israelis, and others, and raped, only some, women in the process, and then abducted several hundred Israelis whom they have held as hostages. In order to accomplish the objective of destroying Hamas as a military apparatus – a justifiable objective for the defense of Israel – the IDF has conducted an aggressive military operation to obliterate Hamas, an objective which would benefit not just Israel, but the Palestinian people themselves. In the process of this aggressive military operation, several thousand Palestinian civilians - men, women and children - have died. Israel has been criticized for this consequence, which Israel attributes to Hamas’s practice of housing its military structure and armaments in tunnels under Gaza’s homes, hospitals, schools and even mosques, resulting in the collateral damage of the death of innocent Palestinians. World opinion, including virtually all of the commenters on Wolff’s blog, with the exception of Anonymous and Michael Llenos, have roundly condemned Israel’s conduct as inhumane, unethical and despicable. Yet, when it is proposed that Israel evacuate the Palestinians from the war zone, so that it can reduce and avoid killing innocent Palestinians, and finish its objective of destroying Hamas, aaaii and others accuse Israel of being typical Jews, using the invasion as an excuse to steal more valuable Palestinian property. So Israel is damned if it does, and damned if it does not – a centuries old artifice to blame Jews for the world’s ills.
By the way, Happy Purim. Apparently, the scions of Haman are alive and well in the world, including on Wolff’s blog.
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MS said:
Today, Wolff writes on his blog:
“Here is what I think he can do. First, he can take all of the food on the aircraft carriers in the Middle East, put it on airplanes, and airlift it to an Egyptian airport, telling the Egyptians to get out of the way. He can commandeer trucks, cars, whatever in Egypt and announced that the aid is being taken into Gaza, regardless of whether they have permission to do so. He can tell the Egyptians to get out of the way and my guess is that they will. At the same time, he can ship more food by air to the carriers to replace the food sent to Gaza. Meanwhile, he can underwrite the efforts of anybody, any organization, attempting to help the Gazans and announce to the world that American troops are going to take the food into Gaza. Meanwhile, he can cancel all military aid to Israel until they stop the creation of illegal settlements in the Palestine Authority. He can tell Israel that if its troops fire on American troops bringing food to the Gazans, he will cancel all further military aid to Israel for as long as he is president.
Will he do any of these things? No. Could he do them? Yes.”
Right. Absolutely. The President of the United States can just march into Egypt and tell Egypt what he expects it to do; he can commandeer Egyptian vehicles by virtue of U.S. hegemony. And, of course, the Egyptian government will stand aside and say, “Whatever pleases you, Mr. Biden.” He can do these things as long as he is President. This would just ensure the election of Trump, which, of course would make things much better.
Perhaps Plato was not correct when he suggested that the world would be better when philosophers became kings, or kings became philosophers.
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MS said:
A brief historical note regarding the Jewish holiday Purim, being celebrated today. The holiday relates to a biblical account in the Book of Esther about the Persian king Ahasuerus, who, irritated that his first concubine refused to accede to his demand that she appear naked at a royal banquet and, as punishment, exiled her and is seeking a new wife. He asks his prime minister, Mordecai, a Hebrew, to find him a new wife. Mordecai persuades his cousin, Esther, to apply for the job. She so beguiles Ahasuerus by her beauty and personality that he chooses Esther as his new wife. Mordecai learns that Haman, another official in the king’s court, is planning the extermination of all of the Hebrews living in Persia. Mordecai requests that Esther use her influence over the king to stifle Haman’s plans, which she does, ending in Haman’s execution, rather than a pogrom of the Jews.
The story is likely an apocryphal folk tale, like the story of Zorro, intended to inspire an oppressed people that they are protected by a deity solicitous for their welfare. Jewish tradition has it that descendants of Haman continue to oppress Jews, and that Hitler was such a descendant. The tragic irony of the story is that the deity in that instance failed to protect the Jews from the Holocaust.
Historians generally agree that king Ahasuerus was actually Xerxes I, the son of king Darius, who was defeated by the Greeks at the battle of Marathon. Xerxes, seeking to avenge his father’s defeat, decided to invade Greece and put an end to its independence. His military effort ended with the defeat at the naval battle at Salamis, in 480 B.C., and the defeat of his army at Platea, assisted by the brave resistance of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. This marked the end of the expansion of the Persian empire, leading to the defeat of the empire by Alexander the Great at the battle of Gaugamela, in 331 B.C.
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25 March 2024
MS said:
The blood libels against Israel continue unabated, with knee-jerk liberals like AOC, and the sycophantic commenters on Wolff’s blog, accusing Israel of deliberately preventing food aid from being delivered to the starving Palestinians in Gaza, and using famine as a tool of war.
Here is the truth:
"https://www.jns.org/hamas-steals-food-from-its-citizens-yet-israel-gets-blamed"
“All evidence shows that while there is food in Gaza, most Gazans cannot afford it. The reason: Hamas prevents needy Gazans from accessing donated food by stealing and reselling it on the black market—forcing Gazans to pay exorbitant prices for what should be free.
“Hamas is also working to prevent Israel’s efforts to facilitate aid delivery to ordinary Gazans through local clans and business people, threatening reprisals against Palestinians who cooperate with Israel as it attempts to prevent theft by the terrorists.
“For the media, politicians, the United Nations and NGOs to blame Israel for the suffering of Gazan civilians is not only inaccurate and unfair, it distracts world attention from the real reasons for Gaza’s hunger crisis. Where are the stories exposing Hamas’s profiteering in food it steals from the mouths of starving children and families? Where are the cries to stop the plunder and safely deliver donated food directly to ordinary Gazans?
“The accusation that Israel is “starving Gazans” is a blood libel—malicious and unproven. There is no proof that Israel intentionally limits food supplies to Gaza. To the contrary, Israel makes herculean efforts to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Over the last five months, Israel has allowed nearly 14,000 aid trucks into Gaza—an average of about 2,800 a month, 665 a week. Some 126 food trucks per day enter Gaza currently. COGAT, the body responsible for implementing the Israeli government’s civilian policy in the Gaza Strip, has stated, ‘There is no limit to the amount of aid that can enter Gaza.’
“Remember, Israel itself facilitated the aid convoy that last month gave rise to another blood libel—the lie that the Israel Defense Forces murdered over 100 civilians seeking aid on Feb. 29. Israel organized this convoy in partnership with local Palestinian businessmen. Contrary to media reports, nearly all the civilians killed trying to access the aid died in a stampede that ensued when they swarmed the convoy.
“Israel welcomes every effort to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including its suggestion of aid delivery by sea, which the United States is currently implementing.
“Food in Gaza is available—for a price. While the media and many NGOs portray the humanitarian situation in Gaza as apocalyptic, this seems a gross exaggeration, especially when comparing Gaza now to, say, Somalia in 2011, where a famine was only declared once 100,000 people had died. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry claims 21 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration—tragic, but hardly a humanitarian disaster.
“Still, media run such headlines as, ‘Gaza residents surviving off animal feed and rice as food dwindles.’ In contrast, evidence indicates sufficient food is available in Gaza markets—for those who can afford it.
“In an interview with The New Arab, Gaza resident Mohammed al-Ashram said, ‘Because of the unreasonable prices, I can barely buy a few vegetables and some meat for my children…and we do not get enough food or even water. In return, we are forced to buy it from the black market.’ It is because of Hamas that Gazans like al-Ashram do not receive the aid they should be getting.
“Hamas deliberately prevents needy Gazans from accessing humanitarian aid. They distribute to themselves, then sell the rest on the black market. One Gaza resident told The Media Line, “[The aid] goes to the gangs. Hamas controls 70% of it, and the rest goes to merchants who sell it in the market. We do not receive aid except for a few things on rare occasions. The rest is for Hamas, and the merchants belong to Hamas. The prices are very high, and we cannot buy it.”
“Israeli intelligence estimates Hamas steals as much as 66% of the aid meant for Gazan civilians. The Media Line reporter also witnessed armed men, who locals identified as Hamas operatives, surrounding the aid trucks and firing into the air to keep Gazan civilians away.
“Hamas also prevents Gazan civilians from ensuring safe delivery of humanitarian aid. In an effort to prevent Hamas from pirating aid, Israel is working to enlist influential, often well-armed, large families or clans in Gaza. However, many clans refuse to work with Israel, fearing reprisals from Hamas.
“Last week, Hamas executed the leader of the Doghmush clan in northern Gaza because Israel allegedly contacted him about supervising aid distribution. Hamas’s Al-Majd website issued a warning to any Palestinians against helping Israel secure aid convoys. Until Hamas’s vise-like control over Gaza is broken, it’s hard to imagine stopping them from routinely stealing humanitarian aid.”
The truth no longer matters. What matters is libeling the Jews, which has been effective for centuries.
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MS said:
David,
I am surprised at you. As a philosopher, and a devotee’ of logic, you should know and appreciate the difference between action and inaction. The claim by AOC and the UN is that Israel is deliberately impeding and preventing the distribution of food to starving Gazans. If that is what Israel is doing, I would agree that would make Israel complicit in genocide. The comment by Yisrael Gale, however, is that Israel is failing, despite its purported defeat of ¾ of the Hamas military, to itself administer the distribution of food aid – a job which is supposed to be the responsibility of UNRWA, not Israel. This is not an accusation that Israel is deliberately impeding and preventing the distribution of food to starving Gazans. It is, at best, an accusation that Israel is failing to do what the UNWRA is charged with the responsibility of doing. So, Israel, in addition to conducting a military exercise with the aim of destroying an enemy bent on its annihilation, is supposed to also perform the administrative functions which are supposed to be performed by other official agencies. Did you ever question whether the UNRWA, given the unrebutted evidence that the UNWRA has been infiltrated by members of Hamas, whose objective is to do everything in its power to make Israel look as bad and evil as possible in world opinion, is itself preventing the distribution of food aid to its starving fellow Palestinians?
History keeps repeating itself. Let’s blame the Jews for everything, since, after all, they control the world, its finances, its media, and even the incompetence of others.
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26 March 2024
MS said:
Beelzebub, who is aptly named, questions the reaction of the Israelis to the October 7 massacre by Hamas, suggesting that they are being hysterical comparing the event to another Holocaust, given the disproportionate corresponding number of Palestinian civilians who have perished in the course of Israel’s military response, aimed at destroying Hamas so that it will no longer present a threat to Israel. On October 7, some 1,300 Jewish Israelis were brutally slaughtered, plus several hundred non-Jewish foreign workers – 1,300 Jews in one day. Holocaust scholars date the beginning of the Holocaust as November 9, 1938, commonly known as “Kristallnacht” (Night of Broken Glass) and its end with the evacuation of Buchenwald on April 6-10, 1945. That’s a total of 6 years, 5 months, or approximately 2,340 days. If 1,300 Jews were killed on each of those days, it would total a mere 3,042,000 dead Jews, not the equivalent of the official number of 6,000,000 Jews, to be sure, so perhaps a mini-Holocaust in Mr. Beelzebub’s reckoning. That’s 3,042,000 Jews killed deliberately, intentionally. To Beelzebub, the deliberate murder of 3,042, 000 Jews pales in comparison to the reported death of approximately 30,000 innocent Palestinian men, women and children who have perished in the course of the IDF military action over 5 months, a deplorable number of innocent deaths, to be sure, but none of them were intentionally gunned down by IDF soldiers (contrary to s. wallerstein’s grotesque assertion that they were); none were gassed in gas chambers; none were incinerated in ovens; none were brutally raped, as it has been reported Hamas raped “a few” Israeli women. They died because Hamas has housed its military operations and armaments under the homes, schools, hospitals and mosques of the civilian population. But to Mr. Beelzebub, this is just trivial quibbling. What are these Israelis whining about? As I have said, anti-Semitism is alive and well on Wolff’s blog.
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27 March 2024
MS said:
Israeli woman who was held hostage by Hamas speaks out on her abduction and sexual assault in Gaza
"https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/middleeast/amit-soussana-israeli-hostage-hamas-sexual-assault-intl/index.html"
The UN does not even condition the ceasefire it demands on the immediate release of all Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. After all, the persecution, including sexual assault, of a bunch of Jews counts for naught, while the world weeps for the innocent Palestinians dying because the government they elected – Hamas – uses them as human shields.
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MS said:
Individuals who display a high level of wisdom are sometimes referred to as “Solomon like,” referencing the wisdom reportedly displayed by King Solomon, the son of King David. The paradigm example of King Solomon’s wisdom is depicted in the biblical story of his adjudicating a dispute between two women, each of whom contended that she was the birth mother of a child they each demanded custody of. To resolve the dispute, Solomon proposes to cut the baby in half, so each disputant can obtain part of what they demand. One woman expresses satisfaction with this resolution. The other woman rejects the resolution and instead tells Solomon to give the baby to the woman who was willing to accept the proposal. Solomon concludes that the woman who is willing to sacrifice her alleged right to custody in order to prevent the sacrifice of the child is the rightful mother, recognizing that only the true mother would prefer that the child live, rather than that she obtain part of what she desires.
Unfortunately, there are few Solomon like representatives in the UN, or even on Wolff’s blog. They discern the plight of the innocent Palestinians, a plight due in large part to the conduct of the government they elected, as deserving more sympathy and consideration than the plight of the Israelis, who have been victimized by the government the Palestinians elected, hundreds of whom are still being held as hostages by the government the Palestinians elected. Rather than condition a ceasefire on the immediate release of all the hostages still held by Hamas, they would prefer that the Israeli hostages remain hostages, while demanding that Israel cease its military actions in Gaza to destroy the government that the Palestinians elected. They would cut the baby in half, rather than save it.
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MS said:
Congratulations to Leslie Glazer. His/her comment is the most rational comment I have seen on Wolff's blog regarding the situation in Gaza.
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MS said:
Out of curiosity, I did a Google search for Leslie Glazer. There are several individuals with that name, but one possible candidate is the author of the following paper, found at:
"https://philpapers.org/rec/GLAPOG"
“Perspectives on Good and Evil: An Inquiry Into the Representation of Good and Evil and its Connection with Gender and Level of Education”
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The End.