# 431 – It’s Safer Here

Note that I do not try to update you on situations. You get enough of that from your news sources.

Yesterday, Joe Biden (not the most popular President in history) was here to show his 100% support for Israel. Today, Rishi Sunak (not the most popular British PM in history)  made the same gesture. These visits were/are most greatly appreciated. There are of course some buts –

1. Much as Bibi has experience on the international front, he will not be the leader of this country when this is over. If I am wrong, then I shall blame the stupidity of today’s electorate who, around the World, become so easily infatuated by ‘the wrong way’.

2. ‘International Law’ was mentioned several times. That’s fair enough, as long as it’s a balanced statement. How does one react ‘lawfully’ to such crimes as Oct 7?

1. ‘We support the efforts to release (our) hostages’. Well thanks. I do hope that, behind the scenes, away from the microphones, you tell it like it is. ‘Cos, right now, those hostages do not stand a chance. And, right now, I do not want to see the life of one more Israeli soldier lost in vain.

The INSS is perhaps Israel’s foremost think tanks. Its HQ is just ‘down the road. One of its senior advisors and researchers in our neighbour 1 floor down, and some-time tennis partner. The following was published yesterday by the INSS, written by Kobi Michael –

“The explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip is another event that shows how deep is the fixation among much of the international media and certainly many intellectual elites in the Western world.

The tendency, in the name of empathy with the weak, to accept every Palestinian report, especially from Hamas, as if it were divinely uttered, bespeaks the loss of a moral compass, cowardice, intellectual shallowness, and above all burning hatred toward Israel and the Jews – antisemitism at its best.

Even had the IDF Spokesperson succeeded in presenting the facts unequivocally minutes after the event, he would not have been able to stop the flow of reports, shockwaves, and condemnations in the international media, including the premier among them. Even after it was clarified and proved beyond any doubt that the hospital was hit by a failed rocket launched by Islamic Jihad from a cemetery adjacent to the hospital, no condemnations were heard against Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

No sharp criticism was leveled at them for using civilian facilities and civilians as human shields. The fact that Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, serves as a headquarters for Hamas above and below ground does not particularly concern the international media.

The mandatory lesson is that alongside the IDF’s adherence to the laws of war and alongside a supreme effort to avoid harming innocent civilians, Israel must fight the war in the international arena and against the international media. The hypocrisy, prejudices, and danger to the peace of the free world must be exposed and rebuffed. This will never be easy and the achievements will not necessarily be immediate, but we may not ignore such problematic and clearly unethical conduct.

The latest event is nothing less than a wake-up call to the leaders of the state and the IDF regarding the nature and meaning of the cognitive war. Experience teaches the importance of the cognitive campaign – the war in Ukraine is a war of cognition on a grand scale, waged in parallel with the kinetic war. We need nothing else for us to regroup and learn to mobilise the best of our resources and talents for this important war – and the sooner the better”.

My daughters are due to spend next week in London with their 2 daughters. The trip has been planned for months. Everything has been arranged; shows have been booked. Should they go? (My daughters are both over 18).

The concerns are obvious. The signs were there 30-40 years ago, and now the time has come. Fanatical Islamists are now the norm.

The extremists among them are no longer a minority. They hold British (French, German, Swedish, American) passports, although they have not yet accepted Christmas. Here in Israel, most of the Israeli Arabs (Muslims, and some Christians) have grown accustomed to the presence of the Jewish people. They know that life here is OK. They do not threaten us. We feel safe here.

‘Never again’ was the cry of the fanatical Jewish Defence League. They were referring more to the need for the Jewish people to defend themselves. But for me, it is a wake-up call. What happened almost a century ago – to civilisation – is repeating itself. Horrors, dictatorships, loss of human respect etc. It’s happening, even in the quiet countryside of Norway. It is flamed by technology, social media, AI etc. But at the core, we are seeing humans behave inhumanly, while the crowds applaud.

And….CNN are understandably making a big deal about a young ‘Palestinian’ (Israeli Arab), aged now 27, who is not only an ‘Israeli reporter’ on TV’s Channel Kan-11, but who is now an occasional anchorman. Suleiman Maswadeh grew up in East Jerusalem, an educated and interested young man. He decided, at 20, to learn Hebrew. Speaks today perfectly, with the normal Arab accent. I could go on, but I love Aviva’s reaction when I told her this. “So what? That’s quite normal”.

There are many Israeli Arabs who are Israeli journalists, pharmacists, doctors, lawyers, upstairs neighbours and so on.

Apartheid? Give me a break!

Stephen