NOTHING IS THE SAME AFTER OCTOBER 7TH

Gaza’s sky is black but Qatar is always sunny.

Light in the Darkness - Mass lighting of Chanukah Candles

A friend sent me the link to watch the above program. Several journalists spoke from the Jerusalem Post, the Forward.com, and two British publications. It ended with a satirical piece on the leadership of Hamas from an Israeli satirist.

Dollar Bills, Dollar Bills

Eretz Nehederet" ("A Wonderful Country) is a satirical television show by the Israeli Broadcaster Keshet.

ISRAEL HAMAS WAR: THOUGHTS

I recently watched a Documentary called Hate Among Us. I watched it twice on the Jewish Broadcasting Service, jbstv.org. It is also on YouTube. It contains black and white film footage showing anti semitism and hatred of Jews going as far back as the 1920’s, including the formation of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928. It contains footage of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem sitting beside Hitler who hoped the Arabs would kill all the Jews so he didn’t have to. From that perspective, it seems that Iran has picked up where Hitler left off. They are funding proxy wars including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi’s in Yemen to annihilate Israel. “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” does not mean Hamas wants to end the occupation of Gaza, it means the entire State of Israel ! 

If Roby was here, I know he would have a lot to say and write. While I am not as eloquent as him, I must write about this. 

A poll was recently conducted in the West Bank, showing the majority population support Hamas ! See Times of Israel, timesofisrael.com. It posts news from Israel in real time. 

Ceasefire ? Israel should negotiate with a Terror Organization which calls for the annihilation of Israel and all Jews written in their Charter ? I don’t think so. Please read it. 

I will find links to the above references and post them. I also called my U.S. Rep., Jake Auchincloss, asking him to do everything possible to bring the hostages home !

I found and agree with some remarks from former Brooklyn rabbi, Andy Bachman from a talk at Hunter College, part of CUNY:

“Had he not been shouted down, Bachman wrote, “I might have had a chance to condemn the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and his criminal settler enterprise, which I have persistently done; I might have had a chance to articulate my position of ceasefire twinned with a full return of hostages, the removal of Hamas and the removal of Netanyahu’s government; I might have had a chance to state my belief that most Israelis and most Palestinians still prefer peace and coexistence to war, bloodshed and mass death.”

Nothing is the same after October 7th. 

Now I know how my Bubbie and Zaidy felt when they fled Ukraine/Russia in 1910. I grew up in the Golden Age of Judaism in America, the Promised Land. Nothing happened when I went to UMass or UC Berkeley. Not one anti-Semitic incident. Now we live in a different America. 

This is tough stuff. I understand the use of satire as an outlet for the emotionally charged, somber new reality in Israel.

PS. I am writing this on an iPad which has a terrible interface with Blogger. I don’t know why a grey background shows up with the text. Working on it. If anyone has any tips, let me know.