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Home » Some miscellaneous things I want to highlight

Some miscellaneous things I want to highlight

The New Neo Posted on by

(1) Commenter “IrishOtter49” has a health crisis; see this. Please pray for his recovery if you’re the praying kind, or if not, please send good wishes and hopes for his recovery.

(2) I thought I’d reiterate the following, most of which I’ve discussed previously in my own comments here:

In Israel, for the most part the “safe rooms” were reinforced rooms within the house itself and didn’t have locks. People held them shut, sometimes for 12 hours or so. But even if the terrorists couldn’t get in, they often just set the whole house on fire.

And regarding the failure of the Israeli military and police to get there in time: from what I’ve read, the failure to respond had to do with several factors. The first was that it was a holiday and a lot of people in the military weren’t on duty. The second was that the jihadis disabled some of the communications – I’m not sure of those details and I don’t think the details have been reported, for security reasons. Another is that on a nearby base that had close to 300 soldiers on duty, the terrorists attacked while they were still asleep and murdered them all. I also think that some soldiers and police did come to the area (and many were killed), but not in enough quantity because it took quite a while to realize the huge scope of the invasion – about 3,000, spread out – because an invasion it was, of an unprecedented kind.

Also, 1,000 to 1,500 terrorists were killed that day in Israel. I don’t know what percentage of those terrorists were killed by members of the communities they were attacking, but I think it’s very likely that, as the Israeli military and the police were trying to get to all the areas where Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists were engaged in killing people, a significant number of those terrorists were killed by the Israeli authorities. The area was relatively small – Israel itself is relatively small – but the terrorists were not centralized and they were spread out all over that area. Coordinating the response must have been very challenging. It was obviously poorly done, but I think many factors were involved and we’ll get more information as time goes on.

(3) You might say that this Israeli peace activist who was murdered by Hamas (hat tip: commenter “huxley”), was wrong. But I think she was, if anything, naive. The alternative to believing that peace is possible, and that good deeds will help, is to fall back on a solution that seems terrible. The sad truth appears to be that sometimes it takes violence to combat evil. But still, I can understand the deep desire for it to be otherwise. RIP:

She co-founded the Women Wage Peace group, which lobbied for a diplomatic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and helped found Ajeec-Nisped – the Arab-Jewish Center for Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation.

Kher Albaz, an Israeli Bedouin who worked alongside her, tells BBC World Service she “lived in equality” and used to drive injured Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Israeli hospitals.

“She was a real human being, her view on life was very positive, she was always smiling and looking for ways to make people feel better, always looking for ways to make sure people felt accepted and felt good,” he says.

(4) I got a late start today and need to do some other tasks for the next hour or two. So posting will be delayed till late afternoon or early evening.

Comments

Some miscellaneous things I want to highlight — 42 Comments

  2. I would say that ‘peace activists’ are routinely naive. Their naivete certainly should not preordain a death sentence.
    It is fine that there are people who have such a benevolent view of the human spirit. They are often the ones who do good works; frequently at great personal risk.
    It is also well if their naivete is balanced by others who are more skeptical; who are vigilant and ready to violently oppose those with evil intent.
    Let’s hope the latter are in the neighborhood when the former are in distress.

    I saw early on that Hamas left 1,500 martyrs behind, and questioned those who suggested that the Israelis were totally helpless in the face of the surprise attack. Someone responded vigorously even though Hamas apparently cloaked their intent well by showing a relatively benign face in the period leading up to it.

  3. IrishOtter49 — I will be praying for you! I always enjoy reading your comments and I hope you come back soon. Please get well! Refuah shlemah!

  7. It’s likely that the Israeli peace activist was indeed naïve. But every Israeli peace activist must, by definition also be willfully blind. As given the unrelenting malevolence they face, that is a necessary precondition for naivety.

  9. Geoffrey Britain:

    I disagree, and the reason I say that is that it’s only recently that it’s become utterly crystal clear that Israeli “peace activism” and especially Israeli negotiation with the Palestinians isn’t going to work. There were different turning points; one was Camp David in 2000, one was the election of Hamas in 2006, and one of course – perhaps the final one – was October 7, 2023. This woman believed, apparently, that acts of kindness would make a difference on a personal level, and that if enough of those acts were undertaken, there would be a macro change. I don’t think that’s being “willfully blind.” It’s being optimistic, naively so in this case.

  11. More importantly how could the Israeli intelligence services not picked up on the signs that something massive was about to happen?

  12. “It was obviously poorly done, but I think many factors were involved and we’ll get more information as time goes on.”

    If there were soldiers caught asleep, that IS poorly done, human killers should raise an alarm (might not find out too much more? for security reasons) – but ad hoc response after the surprise death of those whose job is to protect first is, in the best case, going to be sub-optimal.

    I understand that the planning was done the very old fashioned way, by Face to Face meetings. Overconfidence in electronic intel without having reliable spies (HUMINT) is a failure. Bibi will be blamed, but it’s likely also the IDF top; many anti-Bibi despite being hawkish. How does a spy prove he’s not a spy? By raping, torturing, and murdering some innocent Jewish woman?

    No IDF soldier is likely to pass that test.

    Bibi should be repeating: “we’ll have peace when Hamas surrenders.
    Why not call for a peaceful surrender?”
    (to the UN, to the US, to all critics of IDF)

    Very glad they’re clearing out the hospital.

    What are Bibi’s ideas for post-war Gaza?

  14. Just like 73 when the Intel Failed.

    – Hubris
    – Believed Hamas had too much to lose / Institutional Bias
    – Ending devil’s advocate position that was created after 73 failure
    – trust in technology / high tech

  17. A week or so ago we had a discussion about whether or not to watch or read about the details of the atrocities committed by Hamas. I was among those who said no, I get it and I don’t need to be tormented by specific images. Well, yesterday I stumbled on some detailed descriptions, included without warning in an article on the subject. Cost me some sleep. I offered that up (Catholics understand) for those who suffered so horribly.

    That alternated with the desire to put a bullet or three in the heads of the perpetrators.

  18. Ray SoCa:

    Hamas had a very lengthy, clever, diabolical and well-executed scam whereby it pretended to have somewhat softened its stance in exchange for some economic benefits. They did this for at least 2 years. Israelis understandably wanted to believe it, and the Gazans were very convincing.

  19. The other side should have the peace activists.

    Might have been Heinlein who observed that the pacifist is the deadly enemy of the free society. It’s in the free society, not the predator society, that the pacifist can do his work. His work weakens the free society and makes it look vulnerable to the predator society.

    Even if the free society rebuffs the predator’s attack, it will do so at greater cost because the pacifist’s work involved weakening it, military effectiveness, preparedness, and getting the predator society to start in the first place.

    In the predator society, the pacifist is dead so fast nobody knew he existed. Consider Gandhi under Japanese or German (see Turtledove) rule.

  20. Tom Grey:

    I think that once the war part is over, Bibi will be thrown out and Gantz will be in. So the real question is what Gantz and the others will decide. I am pretty sure that different scenarios are being discussed by all.

  21. Neo – I agree on the Hamas side mis-direction.

    Plus Hamas figured out how to counter the pervasive Israeli high tech video and electronic surveillance of Gaza.

  24. Body camera footage of the shootout at the Jerusalem tunnel checkpoint plaza a couple days ago when Hamas terrorists from Hebron jumped from their car and began shooting Israelis waiting in traffic, killing a young soldier and wounding a number of others. The terrorists were killed quickly: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/380502

  26. Re: Peace activists

    I was a peace activist. I wouldn’t say I’ve stopped. I’d like to think I’ve gotten smarter.

  27. huxley, your comment moved me to wonder what the opposite of activist would be. Clearly, it would have to be a passivist. So if one stops being a peace activist, can one then become a pacifist passivist? Or a passionately passive pacifist?…

  28. @ Ray So-Ca > “Small world – more on that Reedley, California Chinese Lab.
    Rod Rosenstein’s (DOJ) sister was involved? Unbelievable.”

    The labyrinth of connections among government leaders and China indicates that the Bidens may not be the only crime family in America.

    Perhaps the Deep State feared Trump would pull the lid off of more than one can of worms.

  29. @ IrishOtter – adding my prayers to the others for your health and recovery.
    If you do keep reading, drop a comment into the open threads occasionally just to say hello. We will miss your insights, but understand how much effort it takes sometimes to consider and present them.

  31. Deacon Red is a difficult level to maintain. As time passes without incident, alertness is reduced, both on the part of people involved, and resources devoted.
    In Red, somebody is checking the guards. Awake? Show me your ammo belt.
    Eventually?
    It’s somebody’s budget, money or personnel.
    A bit here, a bit there….

  33. IrishOtter: I don’t know you directly, but I know your comments here, and I appreciate them. They had to have come from somebody thoughtful and worthwhile; somebody generous and courageous enough to sort them out and share them; somebody actively building this community as it seeks truth. So, yeah, I care how things go for you. And you have my prayers.

  34. To all who said prayers for me and offered kind healing words: At the moment I’m really too tired and frail and addled to say much, except this: your prayers & etc. mean more more to me that I can ever say. You all are a blessing.

    I mean to stick around. God willing, I will.

  35. My prayers for you, IrishOtter49 – are you 73, 74 years old now? (My twitter ID TomGrey56 includes my birth year.) No need for any urgent answer; perhaps I’ve missed it, while nursing my torn Achilles tendon and watching X comments about Hamas.

    Will Bibi be replaced, quickly?
    Part of me thinks probably.
    Of course, many blame him – but aren’t they the same who hated him before?

    What if he is successful and gets rid of Hamas? Stands strong against the UN, even against the Jew hater faction in the USA, and creates a peaceful Gaza?
    Part of me thinks/ perhaps Bibi’s plan is to be willing to sacrifice his political future in order to end the Hamas threat in Gaza — which might also save his future.

    Israel needs to defeat Hamas, re-occupy hostile & somewhat destroyed Gaza, and create … something.
    Maybe the Gaza Palestine Confederation (of 5 cantons).
    I have not yet heard their plan.

  36. neo:
    I think that once the war part is over, Bibi will be thrown out and Gantz will be in.
    ——————————-
    Not going to happen. Nobody’s pulling out in front of Bibi in Israeli public opinion.

    Forget missiles – Red pills are falling from the sky all over Israel,,,

    The Leftists who were running the attempted coup earlier this year tried to rebrand themselves as the “committee for hostages”. They have been roundly condemned for trying to politicize the issue and damaging morale. A group of center-right families have formed their own group – insisting that the war continue.

    The politicians Gantz, Galantz, and others who let themselves be goosed by the Lefties into making statements about “imminent releases” – connected to a ceasefire that nobody wants – have repeatedly wound up with egg on their faces.

    Similarly, the Left’s attempts to pin this war on Bibi have fallen flat – everyone know that this is The Oslo War, caused by Leftie fantasies. There is credible evidence that the massacre occurred because Leftie officials ignored evidence that contradicted their “conventional wisdom”.

    Nope, nope, nope – any talk of Bibi being blamed or removed is wishful thinking by Lefties unable to accept their own defeat…. another 30 years out of power, eh?

  37. Hang in there Otter.
    Wishing you as quick as possible a recovery and, following that, good health.

  39. Forget missiles – Red pills are falling from the sky all over Israel,,,

    Ben David:

    I wondered about that. Please continue commenting.

    (When one takes the Red Pill, one chooses to see reality as it is, not as the conformist fabrication.)

  40. Ben David:

    I wasn’t just making stuff up when I said that about Gantz and Netanyahu. I didn’t put in a link, but I was going by this sort of thing.

    I’m curious what you think about the poll.

  41. Tom Grey on November 18, 2023 at 1:19 pm
    “Israel needs to defeat Hamas, re-occupy hostile & somewhat destroyed Gaza, and create … something.
    Maybe the Gaza Palestine Confederation (of 5 cantons).Ben
    I have not yet heard their plan.”

    This comment from Daniel Pipes at the Middle East Forum suggests Israel does not have the ability or willingness to make of Hamas a “final solution”.
    https://www.meforum.org/65223/appeasement-not-victory-israel-has-quickly

    I have no answers but the following thoughts:
    1) Prior to 10/7, the MEF’s position that Israel should adopt a “we have won” attitude and posture that the Palestinians can never defeat them, seemed like a credible view, from the outside (i.e., from the USA). Now, perhaps that was still naive?
    2) I wonder if some major fraction of the Israeli Jewish population is suffering some form of Stockholm Syndrome. Maybe they believe, or realize, that Israel does not have the psychological, physical, or financial strength to totally defeat the Palestinians and all of the other hangers-on supporting them.
    3) Even if by some magic, all of the anti-Israeli Arabs/Muslims could be removed and benign, if not really friendly, relations with all of its neighbors could be achieved, would Israel fall apart from internal dissention? Does Israel need its “others” as a focal point and enemy as much as the Palestinians do?

    Ben David’s “red pills falling” comment suggests perhaps I am too negative. But Pipes presumably has good info sources.

  42. Something that the American people need to be constantly reminded of. President Trump’s ME policy was the right one, compared to the Biden/Obama peace through appeasement strategy.

    From a 2021 Forbes story:

    “Since 1950, U.S. taxpayers have sent over $6.3 billion through the United Nations to subsidize Palestinian refugees living in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. In 2016, the last year of the Obama Administration, the U.S. sent $359 million in Palestinian aid, only $39 million less than 2014’s all-time high of $398.7 million.

    President Donald Trump cut the Palestinian aid to zero in 2018 – which had never been tried in the 71-year history of funding the region. In response, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said U.S. taxpayers had violated an international obligation to fund them.

    In April 2021, President Joe Biden agreed with the PLO, not Trump, and restarted aid to the Palestinians. Weeks later, rockets were again were landing on Israelis and the region was at war.”

    Add to that the approximately $16 billion Biden has freed up for Iran and the billions Obama sent with the JCPOA.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/05/26/biden-reversed-trumps-foreign-aid-freeze-to-expand-palestinian-funding-63-billion-since-1950/?sh=2682c3d917a7

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