Something bad happened (figure 1).
Fig. 1. The now empty nest by my front door. Photograph by author, May 5, 2024.
I stopped by my apartment to pick up a package the delivery person had left exposed to rain—with rain in the forecast—and grab some lunch (my main meal of the day) which that delivery made possible (I subsist on Huel freeze dried meals). I picked up the package and was immediately confronted by an enormous amount of bird poop.
The robin’s nest, built in what I had thought was an impossible location, a location I thought impregnable to predators, is now empty except for the black against the far wall. There had been three eggs and I had seen three imprudent beaks poking up from the nest.
The parents were still defending their nest when I had arrived. They’ve been giving me a ration of shit every time I go in or out my front door (the only access to my apartment). I was hauling out buckets of water to wash down my balcony deck. When I came back home this evening, they left me alone. And I wasn’t seeing the beaks peeking up from the nest. To be honest, they’d been hassling me less lately; I think they were desperately trying to find food for their babies.
But tonight, I decided I should reach up and take a photograph (figure 1) to see what was going on. I can’t say this looks good.
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.
Nobody is commenting on a report that the Biden administration held up an ammunition shipment to Israel. So while the Axios story makes it sound like Joe Biden might actually finally be reining in Binyamin Netanyahu, we don’t have confirmation,[2] we do not know what’s actually going on.
My presumption at this point is that anything Biden does is about getting re-elected, not about doing the right thing. I am unimpressed.
Deutsche Welle, “UN court rules German military aid to Israel can continue,” April 30, 2024, https://www.dw.com/en/un-court-rules-german-military-aid-to-israel-can-continue/a-68956989
Lazar Berman, “Netanyahu tells Blinken he will not agree to end war on Hamas as part of hostage deal,” Times of Israel, May 1, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-israel-blinken-blames-hamas-for-hostage-deal-holdup-gaza-humanitarian-crisis/
J. Brian Charles, “After Negotiations Collapse, Police Sweep Through Columbia U. and Arrest Dozens,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 1, 2024, https://www.chronicle.com/article/after-negotiations-collapse-police-sweep-through-columbia-u-and-arrest-dozens
Stephen Collinson, “Student unrest ratchets up an already tense election year,” CNN, May 1, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/30/politics/student-protests-election-year-analysis
Erin Gretzinger, “Unrest Has Gripped Campuses Across the Country. These 3 Colleges Struck Deals With Their Protesters,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 1, 2024, https://www.chronicle.com/article/unrest-has-gripped-campuses-across-the-country-these-3-colleges-struck-deals-with-their-protesters
Abigail Hauslohner, “House passes antisemitism bill over complaints from First Amendment advocates,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/01/antisemitism-awarness-act-campus-protests/
Ishaan Tharoor, “The delusions behind Biden’s plan for Middle East peace,” Washington Post, May 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/05/01/middle-east-peace-biden-plan-delusions/
Stefan M. Bradley, “Columbia University protests look increasingly like those in 1968 as police storm campuses nationwide,” Conversation, May 2, 2024, https://theconversation.com/columbia-university-protests-look-increasingly-like-those-in-1968-as-police-storm-campuses-nationwide-228851
Rollie Atkinson, “Campus protest redux,” Moral Dilemmas: First Drafts and Commentaries, May 3, 2024, https://rollieatkinson.substack.com/p/campus-protest-redux
Gabriel Debenedetti, “It’s Not 1968 to Joe Biden,” New York, May 3, 2024, https://apple.news/Am-BcQkVNQ86yBoySWEPzOw
Times of Israel, “Hamas indicates it may agree to deal; Israeli official insists truce won’t end the war,” May 4, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-indicates-it-may-agree-to-deal-israeli-official-insists-truce-wont-end-the-war/
Barak Ravid, “U.S. put a hold on an ammunition shipment to Israel,” Axios, May 5, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/05/05/israel-us-ammunition-shipment-hold
Stephen Zunes, “Don’t Buy the Right-Wing Disinformation Campaign on ‘From the River to the Sea,’” Truthout, May 5, 2024, https://truthout.org/articles/dont-buy-the-right-wing-disinformation-campaign-on-from-the-river-to-the-sea/
- [1]Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [2]Barak Ravid, “U.S. put a hold on an ammunition shipment to Israel,” Axios, May 5, 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/05/05/israel-us-ammunition-shipment-hold↩