Musings on the Israel-Hamas War

Pro-Palestinian

I pay close attention to the “pro-Palestinian” rallies that take place all over the world, especially to the signs and the placards. “From the River to the Sea” … “By Any Means Necessary” … “Ceasefire Now”. I have never seen a sign that says “Two States for Two Peoples” or anything to this effect. It is always maximalist slogans that espouse, directly or indirectly, the eradication of the Jews. [Comment: I view calls for a ceasefire as a call to keep Hamas in power without surrender or release of hostages.]

 Hamas 2. Israel 0.

 For those of you keeping track, Hamas has had two pornstars coming out publicly to support their movement. Both Mia Khalifa and Whitney Wright have come out in favor of their cause. Israel has had no pornstars supporting their offensive.

Things I Thought I’d Never See

Headline (Jerusalem Post): Austrian University Severs Ties with Harvard Over Antisemitism Concerns.

Word Groupings (From an editorial in the BMJ [British Medical Journal] Global Health Journal): The Israeli occupation is effecting the “implementation of eliminatory settler colonial strategies… to increase morbidity and mortality”. [Comment: Talk about obfuscatory language! … In human words, Israel is systemically causing the death of Gazans. Of course, the editorial fails to note, for example, that the population of Gaza City grew from 117,423 (1967) to 778,187 (2023).]

News Item: The Times of Israel quoting, in an article about Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, Brigadier General Hisham Ibrahim, commander of the armored corps of the Israel Defense Forces.

Headline (Toronto Sun): Toronto Rape Crisis Centre Organizing Pro-Hamas March.

Headline (Jerusalem Post): Moroccan Hash Dealers Boycott Israeli Drug Smugglers in Support of Gaza.

Headline (Harvard Crimson): More than 30 pro-Palestinian Harvard students participated in a 12-hour hunger strike Friday in solidarity with students at Brown University pressuring the Brown Corporation to divest from Israel. [Comment: I guess they skipped lunch.]

Observation

 In 1992, Hindu rioters destroyed the Babri Mosque in the city of Ayodhya in India claiming that this mosque was built on the site of a Hindu temple dedicated to Hinduism’s most revered deity, Lord Ram. The original Hindu temple was itself demolished by the Moghul (Muslim) invaders of India in the 16th century and replaced with the mosque. According to Hindu belief, the site of the original Hindu temple, and the mosque, is where tradition has it that the Lord Ram was born. Might Muslims be concerned that the same fate could befall the mosques sited on The Temple Mount, also known as Haram al-Sharif, where the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are located? As Jewish tradition has it, the Temple Mount is where the First and Second Temples were built and is the place where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac. The Muslims built their mosques on the Temple Mount in the year 680, having conquered Jerusalem in 638; they revere this place as the place where Mohammed ascended to heaven.