Happy Thanksgiving!
This year has been rough in many ways, and the future is uncertain. But there are still many things for us to be thankful for despite all that. I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and feast – large or small – filled with family and/or friends of your choice.
Did you get up early to cook the turkey? (Me: no.) Stuffing, in or out? (I prefer in.) Jellied cranberries or whole cranberry sauce? (Whole, which I usually make myself. It’s very easy.) Marshmallows in the sweet potatoes or no marshmallows? (No, no, a thousand times no.) What kind of pie? (Pecan and apple, and pumpkin only if it’s a very special recipe.)
Open thread 11/23/23
They all sound to me like they’re burping:
It’s the 60th anniversary of JFK’s assassination
Conspiracy theories continue to be popular. Regular readers of this blog know I believe Oswald did it alone, and I see the evidence as completely overwhelming that this is so.
Rather than write something new, I draw your attention to some previous efforts of mine: this, this, this, and this.
[NOTE: If you follow the links to the Bugliosi book, I highly recommend pages 1444 to 1459 for people who are into the idea that Oswald may have done it but that he did it for some agency or entity such as the CIA or FBI or Mafia or Castro whatever it is you think that entity might be.]
Truck explodes between Canada and US: investigated as attempted terror attack [scroll down for UPDATE]
There are now reports that the vehicle that blew up at an inspection station at the Rainbow Bridge, border crossing between the U.S. and Canada was packed with “a lot of explosives,” according to Fox’s Alexis McAdams.
McAdams also reports that the vehicle traveled toward the Customs and Border Patrol building near the toll kiosks then exploded, and that the FBI is now the lead agency on the ground. Sources have told McAdams that the event is being investigated as an attempted terror attack.
The car was coming to the US, and the bridge is near Niagara Falls. Two men in the car are dead and a border officer injured.
Everyone’s been expecting more terrorist attacks, and it stands to reason this was one effort – that has failed.
Surveillance video showed the vehicle stopped at an initial security checkpoint, according to sources briefed on the investigation. The vehicle was then directed to a secondary security checkpoint, and at that point the vehicle sped up and crashed into the secondary screening location, sources said.
So it sounds as though the perpetrators might have crashed on purpose, rather than being caught.
UPDATE 10 PM: It seems that there was an explosion, but no explosives. Governor Hochul says it has been determined that this was not terrorism, but an accident involving a couple from western New York.
On the Israeli hostage deal
Nearly everyone on the right agrees that it’s a terrible deal. My initial gut reaction is to concur with that assessment. But I’m going to take a different position here – my second take, as it were.
How could anyone not have mixed feelings about any Israeli/Hamas hostage deal? On the one hand, there are those incredibly sympathetic hostages, especially the children. On the other hand, there is the terrible price to pay: rewarding hostage-taking through the freeing of people dangerous to Israel’s future security, and pausing the military operations against Hamas.
If we were to do a cold-blooded cost/benefit analysis, it would seem obvious that no such deal should be made. But the Israeli government doesn’t have a history of cold-bloodedness on these things. And I find that, on reflection, I’m not so sure that the obvious answer is actually so very correct.
I’ve often heard people who criticize the current Israeli government for not going in to free the hostages comparing lack of such efforts unfavorably to the successful raid on Entebbe in 1976, in which hostages on a hijacked airplane were successfully rescued in Uganda. Entebbe was an incredible operation by the Israeli forces that caught the attention of the world, but it had little similarity to the hostage situation Israel now faces, because in 1976 the Israeli authorities knew the hostages were being held together at the Entebbe airport. What’s more:
Mossad built an accurate picture of the whereabouts of the hostages, the number of hijackers, and the involvement of Ugandan troops, based on information from the released hostages in Paris. Further, Israeli firms had been involved in construction projects in Africa during the 1960s and 1970s: while preparing the raid, the Israeli army consulted with Solel Boneh, a large Israeli construction firm that had built the terminal where the hostages were held.
… IDF major Muki Betser later remarked in an interview that Mossad operatives extensively interviewed the hostages who had been released. He said that a French-Jewish passenger who had a military background and “a phenomenal memory” had provided detailed information about the number of weapons carried by the hostage-takers.
That’s not to say the Entebbe rescue operation was easy. It was justly famous for its planning, audacity, and success:
Initiating the operation at nightfall on 4 July 1976, Israeli transport planes flew 100 commandos over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) to Uganda for the rescue effort. Over the course of 90 minutes, 102 of the hostages were rescued successfully, with three having been killed. One of the dead hostages, Dora Bloch, had been murdered by Ugandan authorities at a hospital in Kampala shortly after the Israeli rescue operation; she had fallen ill during the hijacking and was removed from the plane for treatment prior to the commandos’ arrival. The Israeli military suffered five wounded and one killed; Yonatan Netanyahu was Israel’s sole fatality of Operation Entebbe, and had led Sayeret Matkal during the rescue effort – he was the older brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, who would later become Israel’s prime minister. The Israeli commandos killed all of the hijackers and 45 Ugandan soldiers, and eleven of Uganda’s MiG-17s and MiG-21s were destroyed.
I don’t pretend to be any sort of expert on the matter, but I really don’t see any logistical similarities to the present hostage situation, which seems far more challenging. So I simply don’t see a successful rescue raid as possible. The choices facing Israel’s leaders are between allowing the hostages to stay under Hamas control and to probably be tortured and even killed because without a deal they are worth nothing to Hamas, or doing some sort of deal.
Given that black-and-white choice, and the enormous amount of pressure (not only from the families of the hostages but from other Israelis too) to make a deal, it’s not surprising that the government would agree to an exchange. So, how bad is this particular exchange under these particular circumstances? I’m not so sure it’s all that bad.
Here’s my reasoning: at this point, the most important factor is whether Hamas is destroyed by Israel. If Israel fails to do that, any refusal to do a hostage deal probably wouldn’t have given Israel much future advantage. After all, if Hamas continues to function, jihadis will do their best to repeat October 7 whether or not terrorists are released for hostages. Hamas has made that clear. So it rests on whether Hamas is destroyed. Of course, to the extent that this deal will make it harder for Israel to do that, it’s a bad deal. But I’m not sure that in the long run, stopping the fighting for a few days will matter all that much. Either Israel has the will and the ability to get the job done or it does not.
Reportedly, the released prisoners in this deal would not – unlike in the Shalit deal – include high-ranking terrorist masterminds. I read somewhere (although I cannot find the source at the moment) that although some of the list of hostages to be released have aided murderers, none have themselves committed murder. They are for the most part teenagers and women – not that that means they can’t be very dangerous, of course. But given the attitude of most of the current Gazan population and how devoted to terrorism and Jew-murder they are, I think that these foot-soldier terrorists on the list could easily be replaced with others if they were kept in prison, so I’m not sure their release will matter all that much. Gaza seems to have a nearly inexhaustible supply. What will matter most of all is whether Israel is victorious in the war on Hamas, and whether it does what needs to be done after that victory to make it less likely that future attacks will happen. I don’t think that depends on whether these particular terrorists stay in prison or not. And if Israel is successful in that endeavor, other terrorist groups might take notice.
I’m trying to look on the brighter side here, while remaining realistic.
[NOTE: A couple of things I had forgotten about Entebbe – if I ever knew them in the first place – were the following:
(1) The 12-person French crew of the airplane refused to be released and chose to stay with the hostages. That’s incredibly impressive.
(2) Israel got help from Jomo Kenyatta’s Kenya, which allowed the rescuers to refuel. “Idi Amin subsequently issued orders for the Ugandan military to kill all Kenyans living in Uganda, leading to the deaths of 245 Kenyan-Ugandans and the exodus of around 3,000 Kenyans from Uganda.” I had not know Kenyans paid such a high price.
(3) Two of the hijackers were German leftists – this guy and his girlfriend – showing early on the link between leftists and Palestinian terrorists.]
Open thread 11/22/23
“Genocide” is a word that has lost its meaning …
… in the hands of the left. Then again, that happened a long time ago.
Apparently, any attack by Israel is a genocide, according to the anti-Israel anti-Jew crowd on the left and in the Arab world. Those on the right who aren’t keen on Jews don’t usually utter the “genocide” accusation; they are more into “Protocols” type stuff.
The accusations of genocide are especially painful to Israelis and other Jews, for obvious reasons. Here you have John Kirby trying to explain the word to those who refuse to use it properly:
This word genocide is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way by lots of different folks. What Hamas wants, make no mistake about it, is genocide. they want to wipe Israel off the map, they’ve said so, publicly, on more than one occasion, in fact just recently. And they’ve said that they’re not going to stop. What happened on the 7th of October is going to happen again, and again, and again. And what happened on the 7th of October? Murder, slaughter, of innocent people in their homes, or at a music festival. That’s genocidal intentions.
Hamas would like to finish what Hitler began. Israel is determined that the phrase “Never again!” is made a reality.
Over 20% of Israel’s own citizens are Arabs. No one is killing any of them – except, of course, Hamas, who on October 7 managed to murder quite a few – whether through accident, haste, excess of murderous zeal, or on purpose because any Arab who lives in Israel becomes an honorary Jew. Don’t think the Arabs of Israel haven’t noticed.
NOTE: I have my own memory of how long ago the left was using the word “genocide” inappropriately for the activities of the Big Satan (the US). When I was in college, I had a roommate with whom I was quite friendly. The Vietnam War was ongoing, and we both were against it at the time. But one day she said the US was committing genocide there. I thought I’d let her know why that was an incorrect use of the word – maybe she simply didn’t understand, although she was a pretty smart girl. But an argument ensued, and I couldn’t help but notice how weak her reasoning was.
It perplexed me at the time. It no longer does. She later went on to become a successful lawyer, and I have no idea what her politics are now. But back then she was just doing the best she could to parrot the leftist party line on the Vietnam War. Many years later I recalled the disagreement and my puzzlement, and realized it was one of the first signs of the characteristics that were what led me to my political change.
Milei of Argentina
The results of Argentina’s recent election are interesting, to say the least:
[Argentina] has just elected a radical free-market economics professor named Javier Milei as its new president …
… Milei’s landslide win over an entrenched left-wing political machine Juan and Evita Peron founded in the 1940s (immortalized in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Evita”) is significant on many levels.
… Milei has called China an “assassin” regime, and while still allowing [Argentinian] trade with it, he will strictly limit official ties.
Argentina will also drop out of attempts by nations such as Russia and Brazil to create a new unit of account as an alternative to the US dollar.
Indeed, Milei wants to put a brake on Argentina’s 143% annual inflation rate by adopting the dollar as its de facto currency.
The local peso has lost about 90% of its value against the dollar on the black market in the last four years.
Other US allies will benefit from Milei taking office.
He recently waved an Israeli flag in solidarity with the Jewish state and has pledged to move the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem.
Not only that, he has a lot of supporters among young voters.
Piece of trivia: he used to be a singer in a Rolling Stones tribute band.
More:
After recent left-wing victories in Brazil and Colombia, Argentina now joins Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador and Uruguay in successfully countering the left-wing tide.
Hope it spreads here in 2024.
Hostage deal?
For weeks I’ve been seeing rumors of a hostage deal, but this news sounds a bit more solid. On the other hand, it would be a good idea for the Israeli government to pretend to be negotiating a deal, in order to have Hamas keep the hostages alive until (hopefully) rescue can be achieved.
There are several problems with a deal, of course. One is that any prisoner exchange can endanger Israel further by letting go some dangerous people and by making future hostages more valuable to take. Another is that any ceasefire is counterproductive to the offensive. Still another is the fact that Hamas apparently does not hold all the hostages – other groups and even individuals may have some.
But anyway, here’s the report:
A senior Israeli official on Tuesday outlined further details of a tentative hostage deal with Hamas, which Israeli cabinet members are reportedly voting on late Tuesday, according to NBC.
The source told NBC that the prospective agreement would release around 50 women and children hostages over the course of four days, during which time Israel would temporarily pause attacks to ensure the safe passage of the hostages. Israel would also agree to halt drone flights for a certain amount of time each day, though the source said Israel believes it can maintain oversight of Gaza without them.
Under the current work-in-progress deal, the official confirmed that Israel would also release 150 Palestinian women and child prisoners who assisted in terror attacks but did not directly kill Israelis themselves. Families of the victims of the convicted prisoners would have a 24-hour opportunity to appeal their release to the Israeli Supreme Court. …
At this stage, Israel is only negotiating for Israeli hostages, according to the source. Other countries will have to conduct their own talks with Hamas to release their respective hostages. The official noted that many of the American hostages have dual-citizenship and therefore qualify as Israeli hostages.
Time will tell.
ADDENDUM: (Hat tip: commenter “Miguel cervantes”) Netanyahu made a statement:
The return of hostages is a top, “sacred priority and I am committed to it,” Netanyahu says.
“Before us is a difficult decision but the right one,” he adds. “We will not rest until everyone is returned. The war has stages and the return of the hostages will have stages.”
More at the link.
Open thread 11/21/23
Where there’s a will, there’s a way:
The propaganda war: no matter how strong the evidence the IDF offers, much of the world rejects it
You can see some of the new Israeli findings about Hamas terrorist activity in Shifa hostpital here. But no matter how strong the evidence, you can also see – especially if you follow the reaction on social media – denial is strong. So many people merely say it’s all fake; that Israel lies, and that’s that.
Actually, as far as lies go, they don’t get much bigger than this Big Lie issued by the Palestinian Authority:
The Palestinian Authority falsely claimed Sunday that a preliminary investigation by the Israel Police has revealed that the Israel Defense Forces was responsible for the death of all 364 partygoers near Kibbutz Re’im during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, drawing fierce denunciation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid.
In a statement by its foreign ministry which has since been deleted from its social media accounts — but which Hebrew media said was sent as a document to diplomats and to the United Nations — Ramallah asserted that Israeli helicopters bombed Israeli civilians on October 7 during the Supernova music festival as part of the so-called “Hannibal Protocol, which allowed the occupation police and army to kill everyone.” …
However, the claim disseminated by the PA has no basis in reality, originating in a Haaretz story Saturday that quoted an unnamed police source saying one of the options being looked into is that a small number of partygoers had been harmed on October 7 by fire from a military chopper that had been directed at the Hamas terrorists. The police denied the Haaretz report.
A bit like the 9/11 Truthers: Bush did it!
Yesterday I read an article that described the scope of the Palestinian propaganda program and how it worked on youth and the left. Please take a look. I really suggest you read the whole thing, because it cannot possibly be summarized. But here’s an excerpt:
As the years went on, I began to see what Ameer Makhoul had laid out to me taking shape. The PR coverage was first …
Then the campuses: The creation of Apartheid Week worldwide. The growth of BDS. The student volunteers who began by the thousands to work in the Palestinian territories and its refugee camps. The shocking creation of anti-Zionist Jewish student groups.
As an award-winning copywriter and creative director in ad agencies and a professor of Communication at USC, I have developed an intuitive antenna to detect similarities between writing styles, idea styles and conceptual creation. In the early years of this pro-Palestinian campaign, I could see the commonalities of excellence, style and manipulation across all their platforms. Teaching on a university campus gave me a front-row seat at this theater of darkening skies.
People of color, particularly antisemitic Black groups like BLM, were organizing to identify with the Palestinians. Many organizations representing people seen as oppressed were moved to identify with the Palestinians. Students of every variety were swayed. I could see the commonalities of language creation and transfer — my field — being applied to the Jews. Many of them were old antisemitic tropes into which new life was being breathed:
Israel and Jews are colonialists just like other white oppressors around the world. Israel is an apartheid society, the same as South Africa was.
Jews have white privilege, even though more than 50% of Jews are dark-skinned people from the Arab world, Iran and Africa.
Jews hold power in media and banking, making them the enemy.
Jews center themselves as capitalists and donors.
Jews don’t hold space for anyone but themselves.
Jews need to be held accountable for the pain they are causing.
If you challenged any of this you were a racist, the worst thing you could possibly be accused of.
(Except if you are racist against Jews. Then you prove you are a true ally of the oppressed.)
Our enemies have had a real success. They have formed a winning international communication army with trained troops everywhere.
When Israeli writer, producer and former antisemitism envoy Noa Tishby recently said that students, particularly Jewish ones who are protesting against Israel, have been “played,” I don’t know if even she understands the background and extent of it. They haven’t just been played, they’ve been turned. Many of them are alumni of Jewish day schools and camps. Those students believe they have joined the other side because they were the victims of a propagandized Zionist education and have now seen the light. No, they are the victims of a propagandized, slow, well-crafted plan, laid out to me by Ameer Makhoul.
This has been going on for decades, and social media has become one of the main conduits for such propaganda. You can see for yourself how incredibly effective it’s been. Those enormous crowds – especially of young people passionately screaming not just Israel-hatred but Jew-hatred – are no accident, nor are they some organic natural development. They are the fruits of long labor by master propagandists on the Palestinian side.