Imperialism
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[1] fair use.
Playing innocent,
“We are now at a fork in the road,” Eylon Levy, spokesman for the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Wednesday. “Either Hezbollah backs off from the Israeli border, in line with U.N. Resolution 1701, or we will push it away ourselves.”
“Hezbollah and its Iranian warlord patrons are dragging Lebanon into a totally unnecessary war, into the war that Hamas started,” Levy said. “Our region does not deserve a broader war.”[2]
Spare me. Ministers in the government have been desperate—Joe Biden’s administration has had to restrain them—for a wider war,[3] blatantly to forestall an election which they know they will lose. They are so desperate for a war they can prolong indefinitely they can taste it.
And there should be no mistake: This is a chosen war.
Summer Said, Margherita Stancati and William Mauldin, “Hamas Rejection Sours Israeli Bid to Revive Hostage Talks,” Wall Street Journal, December 20, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-offers-one-week-cease-fire-in-exchange-for-more-hostages-336ae59a
Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel is struggling to destroy Hamas, but it’s destroying Gaza,” Washington Post, December 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/20/israel-battlefield-gaza-defeat-hamas/
Julian Borger, “US says it is ready to support amended UN resolution aimed at boosting aid to Gaza,” Guardian, December 21, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/22/un-security-council-resolution-boosting-aid-gaza-usa-america-support
Louisa Loveluck et al., “The case of al-Shifa: Investigating the assault on Gaza’s largest hospital,” Washington Post, December 21, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/21/al-shifa-hospital-gaza-hamas-israel/
Paul Rogers, “Israel is losing the war against Hamas – but Netanyahu and his government will never admit it,” Guardian, December 21, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/21/israel-losing-war-against-hamas-netanyahu-idf
Andrew Silow-Carroll, “What is antisemitism? At a Jewish studies conference, scholars use the archives as a guide — and a warning,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 21, 2023, https://www.jta.org/2023/12/21/ideas/what-is-antisemitism-at-a-jewish-studies-conference-scholars-use-the-archives-as-a-guide-and-a-warning
Emma Graham-Harrison and Julian Borger, “UN security council backs resolution on large-scale aid to Gaza but not ceasefire,” Guardian, December 22, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/22/un-security-council-backs-resolution-on-large-scale-aid-to-gaza-but-not-ceasefire
James Politi and Felicia Schwartz, “Biden’s troubled Gaza strategy: ‘the US looks feckless,’” Financial Times, December 22, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/edebf6ef-155e-4aad-a41b-7e31016cad96
Robin Stein et al., “A Times Investigation Tracked Israel’s Use of One of Its Most Destructive Bombs in South Gaza,” New York Times, December 22, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/21/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-bomb-investigation.html
Adam Taylor, “More than 20,000 dead in Gaza, a historic human toll,” Washington Post, December 22, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/22/gaza-israel-war-20000-dead/
Deborah Danon, “‘The safest place to be Jewish’: 2,600 people have moved to Israel since Hamas invaded,” Times of Israel, December 23, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-safest-place-to-be-jewish-2600-people-have-moved-to-israel-since-hamas-invaded/
Evan Hill et al., “Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars in Gaza,” Washington Post, December 23, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/israel-war-destruction-gaza-record-pace/
Vivian Salama, Dion Nissenbaum, and Benoit Faucon, “Biden Convinced Netanyahu to Halt a Pre-Emptive Strike Against Hezbollah,” Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/how-biden-averted-a-second-front-by-convincing-israel-not-to-attack-hezbollah-on-oct-11-e14a0a3b
Neri Zilber, “Benjamin Netanyahu vows to fight on despite mounting Gaza death toll,” Financial Times, December 24, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6e7a8788-6a30-4686-abd4-0b7496e86bff
Polina Ivanova, “Benjamin Netanyahu visits Israeli troops in northern Gaza and tells them war will not stop,” Financial Times, December 25, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/40c6e678-eeca-4346-9c1b-83d90e38f823
Neri Zilber and Raya Jalabi, “Israel warns of regional conflict risk as Iran tensions increase,” Financial Times, December 26, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6932a369-f3f6-46e5-be1f-ce47e14e5ece
Bethan McKernan, “Israel widens offensive in central Gaza as Netanyahu refuses to discuss postwar plan,” Guardian, December 27, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/27/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-refuses-to-discuss-postwar-plan-for-gaza-strip
Shira Rubin and Ruby Mellen, “Israel’s war in Gaza threatens to spill into Lebanon and beyond,” Washington Post, December 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/27/israel-lebanon-gaza-hamas-palestinians/
Polina Ivanova, “Israel’s Benny Gantz threatens to intensify military action against Hizbollah,” Financial Times, December 28, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/dd48d1c3-da86-4e52-a934-c76fc31e63e1
Human Science
Inquiry
Quantitative
Artificial intelligence idiocy
Fig. 1. Image credited to David Blaikie from Hampshire, UK, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Angela Palumbo, “Microsoft and OpenAI Are Sued by New York Times for Copyright Infringement,” Barron’s, December 27, 2023, https://www.barrons.com/articles/microsoft-openai-new-york-times-ai-lawsuit-a32dd304
Illiberalism
Israel
Fig. 1. “Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu signing the visitors book, at Teen Murti Chowk, in New Delhi. . . . The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi is also seen.” Photograph credited to Prime Minister's Office (GODL-India), January 14, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India.
Jeremy Sharon and Michael Bachner, “Bombshell leaked draft ruling shows High Court set to nix key judicial overhaul law,” Times of Israel, December 28, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/high-court-said-set-to-nix-key-judicial-overhaul-law-bombshell-leaked-draft-ruling/
- [1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [2]Shira Rubin and Ruby Mellen, “Israel’s war in Gaza threatens to spill into Lebanon and beyond,” Washington Post, December 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/27/israel-lebanon-gaza-hamas-palestinians/↩
- [3]Polina Ivanova, “Israel’s Benny Gantz threatens to intensify military action against Hizbollah,” Financial Times, December 28, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/dd48d1c3-da86-4e52-a934-c76fc31e63e1; Shira Rubin and Ruby Mellen, “Israel’s war in Gaza threatens to spill into Lebanon and beyond,” Washington Post, December 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/27/israel-lebanon-gaza-hamas-palestinians/; Vivian Salama, Dion Nissenbaum, and Benoit Faucon, “Biden Convinced Netanyahu to Halt a Pre-Emptive Strike Against Hezbollah,” Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/how-biden-averted-a-second-front-by-convincing-israel-not-to-attack-hezbollah-on-oct-11-e14a0a3b; Times of Israel, “National security adviser indicates war against Hezbollah likely once Hamas is defeated,” December 9, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/national-security-adviser-indicates-war-against-hezbollah-likely-after-defeat-of-hamas/; Neri Zilber and Raya Jalabi, “Israel warns of regional conflict risk as Iran tensions increase,” Financial Times, December 26, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6932a369-f3f6-46e5-be1f-ce47e14e5ece↩