[Sundaycommunity] Fwd: Israel at War: Making sense of this week's news

Mon Feb 12 09:07:33 PST 2024

Thank you, Helena, for this.  I'll be forwarding it to a few folk who would
otherwise be unlikely to come across it.  Rosemary

On Sun, Feb 11, 2024 at 10:42 AM H. Burns via Sundaycommunity <
sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:

>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> *From:* JSpaceCanada <info at jspacecanada.ca>
> *Date:* February 9, 2024 at 17:15:13 EST
> *To:* Helena Burnstein <helena.burnstein at sympatico.ca>
> *Subject:* *Israel at War: Making sense of this week's news*
>
> 
> Shabbat news and update round up
>  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
>
> DONATE NOW
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/donate?e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=1>
>
> Dear Helena,
>
> Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu *ordered the IDF
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=qyDi432GwqzcezEbr9kAv93ma8qo7fzX-WkOcu3UzcizasMY2O7etTx9_Ma-gatLb-zHwvLrXyuQworCYrwHbUC_sGgiwylfbb0gaR95Zy3kUC3ZWtlFV5vm-laNpnGgJecCkrkFwC1zHrhiz8Z9Zg&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=2>*
> to prepare to evacuate civilians from Rafah, in the south of Gaza, in
> anticipation of expanded military operations in the region.
>
> Rafah, designated as a safe zone for Palestinians fleeing the fighting in
> the strip, is now a temporary "home" for more than 1.5 million displaced
> Gazans.
>
> Bibi initially rejected taking control of all of Gaza, as some IDF
> officials had suggested, and instead focused on a limited area in the
> north, with a stated goal to eliminate Hamas and return the hostages.
>
> What we are seeing now, in this snap and rash decision by the Israeli
> government, is evidence of a panicked Netanyahu, knowing the army will soon
> have to stop the fighting as a result of ongoing ceasefire and hostage
> release negotiations, gasping for his political survival while utterly
> failing to provide any image of victory for his people.
>
> He is likely hoping for a short-term "win" in the south, the killing of
> key Hamas leadership, to sell to a public that is losing patience with him
> by the day. What will likely happen is an existing humanitarian catastrophe
> that will only get worse, as civilian damage in the region grows
> exponentially.
>
> All this rests on the backdrop of an operation in the north that, while
> definitely causing damage to Hamas' ability to operate in the strip, has
> not "eliminated Hamas" as Netanyahu promised, but in fact, has in recent
> weeks seen *a reemergence of Hamas' power in the north
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=FECXgvVBAH18GBWRCy8D9TxiJHR_qe-cvAEDYaeIKXalf1mYx57RhvImHpNtBp0hXvMU-KO1ZXAPoNaxOuUPa2CJFqNNv18NtvoUkChozcDQshnlcGf1a56B7SMnW7sx9b1Kemo911eopdGTuv8WQxUcVOUo72gVUlMrMDs4GV3I8mzMVv9-gPiBPCG7mrgHikofzsaXVvVaAoUdj-u7LlyZ0veiUSxmeaiR98ZHdPpOnZhkukLRRdzpjz1epzvdmaN9xlWFSiwg_djquERajA&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=3>*.
> And of course, no additional hostages have been returned, and reports of *hostage
> deaths are growing
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=zknsI8pcSlWeZ2MxAO0HgKH4JJarLVvDsZQBBZlz2NobrVWDXEI8YZNUhdXWphXxO0cKCfvBUdX6L0NS9hppeEAtIzuGI5-8yTNTYyLC-WY5Hhv8ryH8f5u2d5GDf4h9C4xExqlZaBzqxKyg1X5BiC6T5ajxk1ACbBIYkG_81g9muBVK-TJcCjsdk9A6eijwsqKNU6l2VH5d1b3H_hFDoVHjx7op6gw8J-8X7CqF3mGaE40gICgw7_M3prKIg8l-OOXFYy8WkM1ksV-7OGaV7HftZ0l5vAIngqYTV19dw3FyIoUepMlxjhl_qTDgqvZvmO0hpUM7-w20AgFtVr4ppw&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=4>*
> .
>
> As this tragedy continues to unfold, now in its fourth month, it is
> becoming increasingly clear, and *being voiced by experts in Israel and
> abroad
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=YqgukYA3Mrlri-dqG7I8TolIxKrLZZEollTYNA06UuW_dDpGoAWhC6vPY7AK4yAJWVtLE0jSq_8lOgz0G72ESw&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=5>*,
> that the goals of entirely eliminating Hamas and releasing the hostages are
> wholly incompatible.
>
> The choices that need to be made now are not easy. Though the anger with
> Netanyahu expressed by large swaths of the Israeli public is absolutely
> righteous, conducting a war against a terrorist organization, as over 100
> of your citizens are held captive in a rapidly deteriorating situation is
> an incredibly difficult situation to be in.
>
> Any decisions being made now come with heavy consequences, and none of
> them erase the trauma inflicted on the region and its people. But these
> decisions must come.
>
> First and foremost, as we have been saying for over two months now - *negotiations,
> not bombs, save lives
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=YqgukYA3Mrlri-dqG7I8TjTxser3dtRbJxwURtNdKthaM_VRN6mqQ3rKFAZ38y7GiFxHRfNRJGgcDFVDf2YGOw&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=6>*
> .
>
> There will be no return of the hostages, no defeat of Hamas, no peace for
> Israelis and Palestinians through prolonged fighting.
>
> And while calls for a ceasefire in early days, when such an action would
> all but guarantee a return to an untenable pre-October 7 status quo, were
> premature and lacked safety guarantees for Israelis and Palestinians alike, *it
> is now time for the fighting to stop.*
>
> For those concerned with how Israel will protect itself from additional
> attacks should the war end, the answer lies not in violence but in dialogue.
>
> Hamas will only be eliminated when an alternative option is available to
> the Palestinians in the form of independent statehood.
>
> The hostages will only come home when a deal for their release is signed
> and agreed upon.
>
> And the constant bloodshed, pain, loss, destruction, trauma, and fear will
> only come to an end when both Israelis and Palestinians can realize their
> own self-determination and sovereignty on their land through a negotiated
> two-state solution.
>
> This is what JSpaceCanada was founded upon, this is what JSpaceCanada
> continues to fight for. When there is no shortage of trauma to go around,
> when our pain feels unbearable, when empathy is in short supply and
> extremism is on the rise, it is harder to engage in this fight. But it is
> also precisely when it is most necessary.
>
> For all those still with us, we thank you. *When peace in the region is
> realized, it will be because of you, because of this work, because we
> refused to give up.*
>
> *In Haaretz, Anshel Pfeffer challenges Netanyahu's refrain of "total
> victory" against Hamas as a fantasy.*
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=Po9_7fe3x4fOY6l6R7zOdfwqngvEBKGkaOoWIReBYJBCDf_dGrYNzZHYsLY5m0AfFDVbFmiz8HwyrachmyfKHY6vYrpXAdkAzTU_83uOny1_COtCuGMArayAhoLoL7kxWuTYvPiY-tfMcQXOOlXoXxh1_AF3cVaUqwfNn60l92rN7b88Z6W8g-hTeVTOx7sqybeYK5GmT8VQQVnpZSGaU4WyFqR_U545ST_qemy95o4&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=7>
>
> *On how the international community can provide a better future for Gaza,
> in the Atlantic by Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib.*
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=Ad-pzZpZoRYVMb-dTcQz7s8A1OYoSr1OCnhJGLqcuZynmmiug2JYZdiSACAJ47Hiz741r5abwDXnTEwepUY9WUM7icciygzHjAVcY6wtYD5FH18lmUVW4Z3tpoNqjNyH6h4kIYcPPOgM3pYoy9gRME7vA6IMeXfvByvHUy8rdMtOyoyLa246Yingzj5nisMCPzrbTPH_gtt80vDXNbLnOMrKVmzS6irQkT6lSgbRVIXTXPX6RI4onXN1z4v-AqDpKbUU4aN_90dFyLfJKI07zA&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=8>
>
> *WATCH: Our Interim Board Chair, Maytal Kowalski, spoke to CBC Vancouver
> about her experiences as an Israeli living in the diaspora as the war rages
> on.*
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=zknsI8pcSlWeZ2MxAO0HgM6Fh2ZA8OyjmFp5mL7VOMwdEl0jSoZgbGMsbHB6DlzJ&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=9>
>
> *Palestinian-British writer Samir El-Youssef writes in the Guardian that
> until Israelis and Palestinians see each other as more than a "faceless
> enemy," there will never be peace.*
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=FECXgvVBAH18GBWRCy8D9STfn5_obmJT_ymll8hPaHK27m8S95fOqF7uqherCeQfdEHqhqPt3hjI6F9K19nBRhEik5raJtcr-Qon-Z1wHUyCWbSuB3S-PVPTrO0vJKEVYVUnJaSfW8cwcIyzv9mJ8w&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=10>
>
> *In the New York Times, instead of numbers and statistics, portraits of
> Gazans affected by the war.*
> <https://www.jspacecanada.ca/r?u=PiInCVHjZg_Lhb0RQ-dhd40SRkJi4ysm15JROmNi4bGCok8sPUohMiOxfldHU6tFttg2FaPrvs8mcZPReYjVFH20ZDHeRGnoVLWcRBbSYJs&e=e01a8ccbbbe0751f0a6034ddfd2979fa&utm_source=jspace&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=shabbatemail_feb92023&n=11>
> JSpaceCanada
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