Sink, Sync, Human Rights
Wake up, check headlines. US didn’t attack Iran. Israel didn’t attack Iran overnight either, or we would know. And Iran didn’t attack Israel. Ok, coffee, challah toast, and Saturday morning chill routine. Chill?
Yesterday morning was sink – or sync – routine. Another week of the normal I want to disassociate from, but sync with. Did baking therapy from Tuesday to Thursday and one challah, two dozen cinnabons, and three dozen almond biscotti are in the freezer with a banana walnut cake demolished by the family and a chocolate cake made Friday upon special request. As Friday progressed, I realized how ineffective baking therapy was for a lift beyond the moment. But we had cooking to complete for our family dinner for 10. Hands in sink to save dishwasher space for later, I synced with escapism.
No need to think of starving people in Gaza. Palestinians in the West Bank, living in fear of Israeli settlers, many income-deprived for over two years lacking means of providing for their families.
Avoiding thoughts of Iranians who demonstrated for freedom, disappointed by US presidential promises, leaving us to wonder how their regime’s fall would play out, who would fill roles and institutions of a new regime. The fate of those who served the previous regime at all kinds of echelons for all kinds of self-serving reasons under hellish circumstances. Empathy for a starving child stealing bread.
Thoughts about spies. Your spy, your hero. Their spy, your traitor – my summary for years. Israel has had its famous spies – ours and theirs. Their names were familiar and the few who were theirs were names shamed. In recent years, however, as a special evening news report reminded us last week, the phenomenon has become extensive. The reporter tried to track and analyze the change. Iranian tactics. Interviewing police and other security forces’ officers, the reporter asked if the trend can be attributed to Israeli government corruption: “they can get away with lawbreaking, at the top, so why shouldn’t I?” The only response cited the common characteristic among the new generation of spies, easily baited with gradual temptation, minimal compensation and seemingly harmless tasks, until trapped into more questionable jobs – the pattern reveals culprits’ lack of steadfast values of loyalty. Disloyalty once widely considered beneath most Israelis.
Pondering one-sided presentations and lack of reference to responsibility on the part of Palestinians. But does presenting one point of view necessarily require balancing against another point of view? Asking for a friend. Not really. But I wonder. Sometimes, I seek balance. Sometimes, a standalone point. But my tendency towards context interferes.
Moments considering infinite degrees of depth and breadth. Torn in internal conflict by my use of the word genocide. Justifying it even while considering the barbaric Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Israeli retaliation measures. Still, cringe. Yet, if use of the word is indefensible, other things need to reflect that.
Jewish West Bank settlers trespassing, entering Palestinian homes, instilling fear, causing villagers to evacuate. Getting away with it. Nothing less than ethnic cleansing.
More disturbed by another term: serial sexual assault and torture. I don’t want to share the link to the story in The Guardian or to the B’Tselem report, but I don’t have the right not to read. In Israeli prisons. Treatment of Palestinian prisoners. Recalling weeks after October 7, a reserve duty soldier arriving at a large family gathering and allusions to such matters appalled me as others justified any treatment of the evil terrorists responsible for the barbaric deeds of October 7. Then and now, Israelis – in overwhelming numbers – claiming all Palestinians are terrorists. Mostly, the thought that Israeli soldiers and prison officers can invoke such methods feels more tangibly distressing, than air raid genocidal methods. Juggling how to avoid certain strings of words more than I have avoided referring to ethnic cleansing, and government tactics of genocide. Unassuming, loyal soldiers, following orders, defending us, me, could be associated with policy behind their actions. Wishing to disassociate. And by association, we are witness to the compulsion to justify.
Harriet Gimpel – January 25, 2026
