# 434 – Yesterday

Yesterday, I was too exhausted to write, yet I still wrote something.  I have to write something. I don’t expect you to imagine what life is like right now. Even I tried to get on with the normalities of watching the rugby semi-final, play with the grandchildren or go for a walk. (The last one is not quite true, as I have chronic pain in one leg and have difficulty walking properly).

I have 1 million things to scream about, and yet I understand that there’s only so much you can absorb. I am very aware that in the outside world, life does go on and is not forced to focus on the horror that is going on here.

No one is expected to read the article by one of the journalists invited to view the scene at the special forensics laboratory in Tel Aviv. Suffice to say that most of them were sickened. Hundreds of bodies have yet to be identified – may never be identified. That is the depth of depravity that was carried out two weeks ago.

And now Hamas makes a ‘humanitarian’ gesture to release two hostages. How dare they use that word! And then they add to it by saying we refused to receive 2 others. How dare they! And how dare the international community give Hamas that moment of decency.

David Grossman is a very successful Israeli author of international fame. He is also one of the triumvirate of brilliant left-wing authors, the others being A. B. Yehoshua and Amos Oz.

I was forwarded an article of his yesterday. I always considered his criticism of Israel over the years to be extreme, but acceptable in peacetime. But right now, we need his version of history like a hole in the head. There is no question that he loves his country, but perhaps the fact that he lost his son in the Lebanon war, blinds him.

I am not going to go over Israel’s history now. It is very complicated. But, overall, this decent country gave the Arabs every possible opportunity to build a decent land next to Israel, and it has not happened. If you don’t agree, put your hand up; or send me your question.

The current Israeli government is bad, mainly because, for the first time in Israel’s history, it contains extremists who are ugly in every sense of the word. Bibi is responsible. He must go. He will go!

But they did not cause this war. They will be blamed for the mistakes made 2 weeks ago. Hamas bears the rest of the blame. As Yuval Harari rightly reminds, we were on the way to forming a fantastic alliance with the moderate Arab countries, which unquestionably would pull the Palestinians along with them. Hamas has tried to destroy that process. We cannot, must not let that happen.

Finally, because this letter is becoming too long, the summary:

I personally do not want one foot soldier to enter Gaza, although it seems inevitable. Everyone is aware of the dangers. I also do not want another innocent Gazan to die. While they are given refuge, Hamas and Gaza must be eradicated. The Gazan refugees MUST be given sanctuary; Egypt is a disgrace for not offering help.

The UN, with currently around 5 1/2 million Palestinian refugees under their very comfortable and expanding wing should be capable of handling this.

I have already suggested to some of you to watch Yuval Harari’s interview, in which he expands on this…

https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tTP1TewzEouK1ZgNGB0YPBir8wvLSlNSgUAUQAG7g&q=Yuval%20Harari%20site%3Ayoutube.com&oq=you&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqEwgCEC4YgwEYxwEYsQMY0QMYgAQyBggAEEUYOTINCAEQLhiDARixAxiABDITCAIQLhiDARjHARixAxjRAxiABDIGCAMQRRhBMgYIBBBFGDwyBggFEEUYPDIGCAYQRRhBMgYIBxBFGEHSAQg2MzAyajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ved=2ahUKEwiQjJPAoIqCAxWtUaQEHSj4AtkQ2wF6BAgIEAE&ei=w2U1ZdCeCK2jkdUPqPCLyA0#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:56f775bd,vid:1D-7pJjyNds,st:0

Yuval even hints that Israel could/should temporarily give a home to the Gazans in the Negev while Gaza is being ‘re-designed’. (Most of the Negev has become a ghost town for the foreseeable future).

Of ALL the stuff I have seen, Harari’s words ring truest. He has reinforced my optimism that there is still a way forward here – when everything ‘settles’.

(Remember, officially, the ‘moderate’ Palestinian – Fatah etc. – hates Hamas. They lost a civil war to them in Gaza).

In the meantime, thank-you Biden, Sunak, Schulz and some others. You have shown guts.

Stephen