Oct 7 War Diary, Day 365
Oct 7 War Diary, Day 365
No quiet on any front.
Dear Diary,
The evil that burst out of hell on this day last year is burning the world, and changed my life forever. The genie is out the bottle, the cat’s out the bag, the masks are off —choose you metaphor—nothing will ever be the same. As Leonard Cohen the High Priest, said: Everybody knows.
Now we know. On October 6 some of us still thought Amnesty International meant amnesty for us too. That the Red Cross, those angels of mercy, were for everyone, even Zionists. Who knew that the World Court had become a sham? Remember Me Too? Black Lives Matter? Not for us, and we don’t matter. Thought the Ivy League was about higher learning? How naive.
They sprung the trap: there’s a firing squad of academics, human rights activists, international lawyers and prosecutors, bureaucrats, Special Rapporteurs, actors, musicians, and journalists —so many journalists—have lined us up and taken aim.
Genocide in Gaza. Urbancide in Beirut. Oct 7 wasn’t just a surprise attack across the Gaza border. It was a multi-front, multi-dimensional, multi-generational, multinational and non-governmental stab in the face for the ages.
But now we know. There is Oct 6 hubris, and there is Oct 7 humility. Whenever we are not humble, whenever we think we have things figured out, the moment we say “everything will be OK”, we’re back in Oct 6 Lalaland. We need to tie reminders of this on our hands and bind them on our foreheads, write them on the doorframes of our houses and on our gates. Above all, we need to impress this on our children. The children are everything.
Think about it: had Hezbollah launched its Conquest of the Galilee plan on October 8, we would have been doomed. It would have been an open invitation to every able-bodied murderer, rapist, and thief in the Middle East to strap on their Go-Pros and join in the savagery, spill all the blood they could stomach, and take whatever spoils they could lay their hands on. A zombie movie where all the Jews die but everyone else seems weirdly OK. This is where “I shudder to think” is most apt. Everyday I’m shuddering over what almost happened. We were this close. We’re not out the woods yet, by a long shot.
And now, for an interlude, here’s a quick and dirty geopolitical analysis:
Gaza: Hamas is still standing. Well, more like hunching, because you can’t really stand upright in a tunnel. This Gaza Underground, this Metro, this incredible feat of digging, building, maintaining, and fighting from some 500 km of tunnels underneath the Gaza Strip. It’s one of the Terror Wonders of the World. Modern day Pyramids of Giza, except underground. Inside this Taj Mahal of terror--which took decades and billions of dollars to build, they really put their minds to this -- Hamas is running a classic guerrilla insurgency, and holding 101 hostages, more than half of whom are dead. Still no sign of a political day-after solution.
Lebanon: Hezbollah, the world’s most heavily armed, largest, most feared and dangerous terrorist mega-army, is being ripped to pieces, literally. Heads, fingers, eyes, and testicles. Operation Grim Beeper —the exploding pagers and walkie-talkie attack that’s killed hundreds and maimed thousands of Hezbollah operatives —was epic, biblical even. There are now thousands of mutilated, blind, castrated, frustrated and angry terrorists out there itching for revenge, or just itching. The systematic decapitation of Hezbollah’s entire leadership and general staff shows what Israel is capable of. Beirut’s Hezbollah stronghold suburb (which other city in the world has its own terrorist suburb?) is being bombed into Gaza. The real battle now is in the mountains, forests, and tunnels of southern Lebanon, and the eastern Beka Valley, where Hezbollah is from, it’s their territory and the war will be ugly. What are the chances that the Third Lebanon War is the last Lebanon war?
Syria: A wasteland, torn apart by war, war crimes, famine, chemical weapons, smuggling, drug production and distribution, one of the worst places on earth, on our doorstep. It’s a black hole. Mordor after Sauron’s defeat. Total bedlam, gangs of evil men rule their patch. Calling Syria a failed state would be an upgrade.
The West Bank: The closest front to my home; I was here during the other big war we had here from 2000 to 2004. Guns, germs, and steel. Suicide bombers and stabbers. Millions of people who just want to get on with their lives and build a better life for their children. Like psychopaths. It’s the hardest nut to crack, harder by degrees than Gaza and Lebanon. Two States for Two Peoples is a fine idea on paper. But the truth is, neither they nor us can deliver one state each and negotiate in its name. The Palestinians themselves have 2 states —zealots and pragmatists— and so do the Israelis —zealots and pragmatists. A zealot is someone unwilling to compromise for the greater good. A pragmatist is someone who is willing to. But I’m putting the cart before the horse. 365 days into the war that started in Gaza, one-third of the Israeli army is fighting in the West Bank, trying to keep a lid on the boiling, bubbling, spewing pot of war that’s just around the corner from my home.
Yemen: I would say we should just destroy it, but there’s nothing left of Yemen to destroy. We wouldn’t be bombing them back to the Stone Age, they’re already there. TBD.
Iran: We’re officially, out-in-the-open at war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Persia. 90 million souls. The 17th biggest country in the world. We’re no bigger than New Jersey. The equation seems simple enough: we fight them now before they acquire nuclear weapons, or we get into a nuclear war with them. I don’t believe there is another way. Nuclear deal with a theocratic zealot Supreme Leader who really believes Israel is a cancer? What are we doing here, chemotherapy? Something will have to give on this. And it is likely to “give on this” within the next 365 days. I shudder to think.
International diplomatic, legal and humanitarian institutions: An overwhelming anti-Israel majority, about 100:1 on a good day, at every global organization. The United Nations, the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, UN Human Rights Council, you name it. We have a skeleton diplomatic corps, on a skeleton budget, run by a guy that looks and acts like Nero if Nero had X (formerly Twitter).
<end of interlude>
On a personal level, it has been the worst year of my life. Not the “most challenging” or “toughest”. The worst. Nothing comes close. A heavy, cold, sinking feeling in my chest for 365 days straight. It’s still hard to believe we’re in this movie.
The good news is that the dread-on-the-chest feeling isn’t constant. It’s there, but it’s more like a rollercoaster. Sometimes the rollercoaster goes up and down hard and fast, and other times it’s gentler.
Some moments I’m up and secure-- the army is crushing it/them/they were. Some moments I’m down --there’s too many of them, the enemy won’t stop until we’re all slaughtered, they want to slit my son’s throat and make me watch; rape my wife and daughters and carry them off, give them Jihadi babies with names like Tawfiq.
Still, life goes on, day by day. The regular rollercoaster rhythm, what in these parts is called shigrat hirum, or routine emergency, is as apt a description of life here over the past 365 days as I can find. I shouldn’t complain. I’d much rather have shigrat hirum than FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition), like it was in the first 60 days.
Things could be worse. Our little rollercoaster carriage could catch fire. The rollercoaster scaffolding track itself could be breaking apart. Who knows, nothing is OK and the unthinkable becomes normal.
The past 365 days have made everything clear. The next 365 days are unclear.
<ends>