Are you a Hirschian?

Article from Haaretz:

Repeat: There is no starvation in Gaza. If the Israeli government could have hypnotized all of its citizens with this mantra, it would have.

But it might not even need to. A new poll carried out by the Israel Democracy Institute showed that a vast majority of Israeli Jews – 79 percent – say they are "not so troubled" or "not troubled at all" by the reports of famine and suffering among the Palestinian population in Gaza. An almost exact mirror image appears among Israel's Arab public, where 86 percent said they are "very troubled" or "somewhat troubled."

This sad statistic is precisely what the government wants: How can Israelis be troubled by something they've either chosen not to believe, or aren't allowed to?

If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had his way, the Israel Democracy Institute would have been shut down for even having the temerity to ask people their opinion on such an "antisemitic blood libel."

It seems the government's highest priority is to silence those who dare to mention verified reports that Israel's months-long blockade on humanitarian aid has caused starvation in Gaza. The country is now vowing to punish artists who dared to sign a now-infamous petition against the war and Israel's policies of starvation. On Tuesday, the Knesset's coalition whip, Ofir Katz, said those "traitors" have "no place in the country," vowing to cut state funding to anything related to them. A Likud minister, May Golan, said the artists "stuck a knife in the backs of our soldiers."

At the same time, Israel is diplomatically fighting international allies that dare to raise the allegation of starvation. On Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry reprimanded the Polish ambassador over what it called "unacceptable" statements made by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Tusk, on X, had reaffirmed Poland's support for Israel in its fight against Hamas but said it "will never be on the side of politicians whose actions lead to hunger and the death of mothers and children."

But not all Israelis are buying the government's influence operation against them, even though they know it may not be safe to do so. On Monday, a fundraiser in Tel Aviv by Israeli artists in support of Gazans was forced to change to a secret venue following concrete threats from right-wingers with accusations of "donating to the enemy." After a right-wing mob stormed a synagogue in central Israel that screened an Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony in April, no one is taking chances.

There are small signs that the unofficial censorship of suffering in Gaza may be beginning to crack. On Wednesday, a popular Tel Aviv club, Phi, put up a sign outside and posted a short message: "End the war now. Bring back the hostages. Stop the killing and starvation in Gaza." For few, it was welcome and overdue, drawing some praise online. But most comments were livid. One wrote, "Disgusting. I'll never set foot in your place again."

While a small number of people, mostly in Tel Aviv and some in Haifa and Jerusalem, are trying to act against starvation and war in Gaza, they remain under threat from those who actively deny it and a government that fosters that denial.

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Are you a Hirschian? Where would you land in the survey?

Mary Elmes

 In 1942, a Jewish boy and his family are trying to escape to Switzerland. They almost succeed, but the Nazis capture them. They are sent to Rivesaltes, a brutal camp in France. Then the boys are taken away from their parents. No notice is given. They are just gone.

Years pass. The boy matures but forgets some things. He recalls that there was a priest named Father Louis Bezard who put them in a sack and escorted them through a station. He recalls being brought up as a Catholic in Marssac. He recalls encountering his mother again. His father did not survive.

However, he has one recurring question. How did they manage to escape Rivesaltes?

Years later, he learns. A clerk in the records office tells him about Mary Elmes. She was there at the camp. She sneaked the boys into the trunk of her car and drove past Nazi guards. No reinforcements. No recognition. Just courage.

She assisted many children. Got in trouble. Served time. And then just faded into normal life. Never wanted credit.

She was recognized Righteous Among the Nations in 2013. First Irish individual ever.

https://www.quora.com

Shiur about our dual mission

 Here's a shiur by Rav Boruch Horovitz about Avraham starting the special mission of the Jews to be an elevated nation and to set an example for all of human kind. He elaborates here about our private mission and our mission to help the human race. 

and now David Grossman, one of Israel's most prominent authors

 

ROME - David Grossman, one of Israel's most prominent authors, told Italian daily La Repubblica he has decided to start using the word "genocide" to describe the situation in Gaza.

"For years, I refused to use the word 'genocide.' But now I can't hold back from using it, after what I've read in the newspapers, after the images I've seen and after talking to people who have been there", he said in the interview published in the paper's print edition on Friday.

Grossman said coming to the realization that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza was an extremely painful process on a personal level, but that he now found such conclusion inescapable.

"I want to speak as a person who has done everything he could to avoid having to call Israel a genocidal state. And now, with immense pain and a broken heart, I have to say that it is happening before my eyes. Genocide," he said.

In mid-July, an opinion piece titled "I'm a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It" in the New York Times by Professor Omer Bartov, an Israeli professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University, made the case for the use of the word genocide.

Ah, that explains it

 So I'm in the supermarket buying food to break the fast and at the counter is a cashier who doesn't look like he's from these parts. He has a pony tail, piercings, a hipster light beard, and tattoos. I hesitated going to his counter for a moment because his look, in this religious neighborhood, shocked me a bit. I avoid non-religious Israelis because much of the time they are aggressive and impatient. Just the other day, the one at the package pickup truck that goes to a parking lot for just 2 hours a week shouted at me because I didn't say my name loudly enough. 

But this guy was nothing like that. Quite to the contrary, he seemed refined and conscientious in his dealings with the customers. "Is this yours too?" he asked in Hebrew. He made sure the groceries between customers didn't get mixed up as they often do since Israeli supermarkets don't offer those little portable dividers, and people don't wait for one another to finish. It's a big jumble. 

But he cared that everyone bought what they wanted to and not other people's stuff. He helped with the credit card machine when it failed to read people's cards. Usually, Israelis don't care, don't help. On a good day, they shrug their shoulders rather than snap in impatience. 

I thought to myself, "See, there are some nice ones. Of course, they are few, but they exist."

When my turn came, I needed to enter a code since the purchase was above 500 NIS. And I messed it up which means he'd have to touch something on his screen to make the amount appear again on my screen. Even though this young man had been pleasant with people, I feared that I was about to get yelled it because I have had so many experiences like that here.

And then it happened. Of course, of course. He spoke to me in perfect American English, figuring out somehow that I was an English speaker even though I hadn't spoken a word, maybe because I hadn't spoken a word. He said something like "Please try again." And I did and it worked, and he said, "Have a great day."

Instantly, I sized up the situation. Why was he here in this religious neighborhood? Most likely, he's an oleh, or a child of Anglo olim. He went to religious schools, and went off the derech. 

I feel confident saying that because I have met several like that in this town. You wonder, why are they working here. It's too far a commute from non-religious areas to work in a supermarket. 

It's because their parents live here. Maybe they just got out of the army and haven't set up an apartment yet in Tel Aviv. So they live home and work in the supermarket.

Two questions: 1) Why nearly always when an employee in a store is helpful and polite is he or she an Anglo, not an Israeli. (I witnessed this once in Meah She'arim of all places. 2) How can you bring your children to this country when so many leave the religion? I poskin that nobody of child bearing age is allowed to move to Israel. What? I'm not a posek. On this topic I am.