Israel and Hamas

Full disclosure, I am Jewish, and a Jew by choice. As a Jew, I want Israel to continue to exist as a homeland for Jews. Having said that, my position on Israel’s assault on Hamas in Gaza will offend people on both sides of the fence.

The attack by Hamas was horrible, and I accept that Israel had a right to respond to that attack. The question becomes one of how severely Israel should respond. Hamas killed some 1200 Israelis, most civilians, women, and children. Israel’s response has killed some 34,000 Palestinians, many of those civilians, women, and children.

There is the old Biblical injunction of an eye for an eye. That was not meant to condone violence, but to limit it. One should hurt the other no more than they were hurt. So far Israel has killed 28 Palestinians for each Israeli killed. That is grossly disproportionate, and quite contrary to the eye for an eye injunction. 

Israel’s assault on Gaza needs to stop. Apart from the Palestinians killed, outside aid workers have been killed, when they were simply trying to help. Netanyahu’s rationale for all this is that Israel needs to destroy Hamas, to prevent a recurrence of the October attack. The problem is that as David Petraeus said, "Every civilian's death diminishes us, collectively." Not only that, but civilian deaths radicalize the survivors.

It has long been obvious that Netanyahu has no interest in a two state solution. In fact he has said so very explicitly. He allows continued expansion of illegal settlements on the west bank, on land already owned by Palestinians. He has made no attempt to negotiate a genuine end of the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

The conflict will only end, when there is an independent Palestine on the west bank and Gaza. Anything less than that will feed the radicalization of Palestinians. Members of Netanyahu’s government have said thay want the Palestinians pushed out and Israel to control all of Eretz Israel.  That is no more realistic than calling for Palestine to control ‘from the river to the sea’.

Netanyahu was caught on camera bragging that he worked to undermine the Oslo accords, which laid out a path to a viable two state solution. So long as he is prime minister, Bibi will sabotage any attempt to build a lasting peace. Hamas’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel, yet some high level Hamas people have said they will lay down their weapons if there is a just peace. 

Frankly, both sides have been guilty of undermining peace efforts. After Rabin was assassinated (by a Jew) and Peres became prime minister, he wanted to negotiate, but Palestinian factions began a series of terror attacks that forced Peres from office. Arafat walked away from negotiations at Camp David. Then again Sharon undermined Abbas as the PLO leader by unilaterally pulling Israeli troops and settlements from Gaza. That allowed Hamas to take control of Gaza. Olmert negotiated with Abbas for a two state solution and was close to agreement, but Olmert was forced from office by corruption allegations. Netanyahu became prime minister and walked away from what Olmert negotiated.

I want to see an end to the fighting in Gaza. I want to see  Israel and Palestine as two independent countries, side by side based loosely on the 1967 borders. There may need to be some tweaks to the border, with exchanges of land equal in area and quality. The only way that will happen is if Netanyahu is no longer prime minister.

Stop the killing and start negotiating in good faith. Anything less will result in continued violence.

Diatomaceou Warth

 I had  lung problems due to diatomaceous earth. That is used for certain insect infestations, and I suppose it can be effective. 

The problem is that it can cause lung irritation. If you have an underlying lung issue, the problems it causes can be severe. We used it, not realizing the problems. We cleaned it up, but the stuff is insidious.

 Even after thorough cleaning, it was still in the carpet and invisibly in the air. I breathed the stuff for two months with my breathing getting progressively worse until I was hospitalized. 

Even after having the carpet professionally cleaned, I know it is still present, albeit to a lesser degree. I am having the carpeting replaced with hard flooring, and the room intensely cleaned, ceiling, walls, everything. 

It is seriously nasty stuff, and that is no joke. Do yourself a favor and do not ever use diatomaceous earth.

Gaza

 I see people who are very down on Biden about what is happening in Gaza. I hate what Netanyahu is doing there, but when Biden pressured Bibi to halt the fighting, Netanyahu basically gave Biden the finger. 

Yes, we have supplied weapons to Israel, which is something we've done since the 1960s. As it stands, Biden has publicly criticized Israeli actions and allowed the UN Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire. 

I have no issue with Israel defending itself against Hamas and retaliating for what Hamas did. Israel's response however has been disproportionate, and they need to stop their attacks, which are too often killing civilians, women, & children.

Likely Scam

 I was approached out of the blue by someone who wanted me to write 2550 words about social media, based on their outline, saying they’d pay me $1 per word. That seemed rather high to me, but I said I would and began researching and writing. 

The person then got back saying they would pay me before I completed it. I told her I’d prefer to be paid once I’d turned something in. They then said there would be a phase 2, which they wanted me to do as well. 

They could not provide me with any details on phase 2, since their sponsor had not yet approved it. They sent me a check for $5950 saying I needed to deposit it immediately and send them proof I’d deposited it. 

The person emailing me used not a company email address but a personal gmail account. The check was from a law office in Louisville KY, drawn on a Miami FL bank, and the return address on the envelope was a trucking company in Poughkeepsie NY.  

None of this makes a lot of sense, unless this person is trying to scam me. I can easily imagine me depositing the check, then them telling me phase 2 was cancelled and I need to send them a cashier’s check for the difference. I can also imagine their check bouncing immediately after, leaving me out $3400. I am not going ahead with this, as it smells bad.

Middle East Peace

There are only two ways to reach a peace settlement in the Middle East. One is for the Palestinians to have their own independent country. The other is for Israel to give Palestinians citizenship in Israel. 

In the case of the latter, pretty quickly Palestinians would be a majority, and Jews a minority, so that is pretty much a non-starter for Israel. Binyamin Netanyahu has now explicitly said he opposes creation of an independent Palestinian state. 

This is no shock to many of us who knew that was his position long before he said so. That being the case, Bibi will continue to have Israel rule over the Palestinians without giving them any rights. That will mean continued violence in the Middle East. 

This is unacceptable to many Jews and people of conscience. Several years ago, I said Bibi was not interested in peace and was called an anti-semitic asshole for saying so. I was right then and am right now in opposing any support for the existing government in Israel. 

I want Israel to continue as a state for the Jews, I also want peace in the Middle East and that will not happen with the current right wing government in Israel.

Donald Trump's Appeal

 I think I understand why some folks like Trump. He is aggressive and blustery, refuses to back down, and slams minorities. Most of his followers would like to be able to get away with the way Trump acts. When they do that, they get called out for bigotry, unless they are only with like minded people. 

Trump always slams people who criticize him and his followers wish they could too. He plays to their fears and hatreds and calls anyone who disagrees with him someone who hates America. 

They want to hearken back to a time when straight white Christian people controlled everything, and others had to stay in their 'place'. They see it all as a zero-sum game, and any time something goes to blacks, latinx, lgbtq, Muslims, etc, they feel they are losing out. What they have lost is privilege, and they want that privilege back.