I have been thinking for a long while about writing a post describing my views about the war in the Middle East. It’s not something I could toss off easily because my views are complicated.

As a Jew, I support Israel because I am painfully aware of the many centuries of Jew-hatred. My father’s father and mother fled Poland in the mid-19th century. All the Jews in their hometown (Lomza) were subsequently murdered by the Nazis. My mother and her immediate family (parents and sister) fled Bessarabia (now Moldova) in 1914 after a pogrom. Not one member of the families they left behind survived the Holocaust. Not one. Jews know in their bones that nowhere is truly safe from anti-Semitism.

After World War II, Israel became that one place where it was safe to be Jewish. A tiny speck of a nation but besieged by its neighbors, who were determined to destroy it on the first day of its existence. Surrounded by neighbors who did not believe it had the right to exist. Egypt and Jordan have made peace, and four others established diplomatic relations in 2020 (Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan), but other Muslim nations have not. Saudi Arabia was about to recognize Israel before October 7. Hamas does not accept Israel’s right to exist: that’s the literal meaning of “from the river to the sea.”

I was in Berlin on October 7. It was a horrifying day as news of the atrocities filtered out. First reports said that 70 people had been murdered, then the numbers grew, as did stories of parents murdered in front of their children, entire families slaughtered, women brutally raped and murdered, grenades thrown into bomb shelters where people were hiding, homes burned with their occupants inside, hundreds of young people murdered at a dance concert, scores of people—elderly people, even babies—taken hostage. It got worse by the minute. The killers videotaped their atrocities and their joy as they murdered.

As I watched the reports on television, I learned that one of my grandsons was in Israel, visiting friends at a dive resort in Eilat where he had worked for two years as a marine photographer. I worried about him getting out safely, and he did, a week later. He told me that he had plans to go to the SuperNova concert but the friends who offered him a ride had a quarrel and broke up, so he didn’t go. Thank God.

Hamas lured Israel into a trap. Hamas expected massive retaliation and was willing to accept mass casualties of their people. Hamas not only blocked Saudi recognition but managed to put the Palestinian cause on the front pages and make themselves the victims, not the Israelis. Days after the Hamas attack, Timothy Snyder warned that acts of mass terror are a trap and warned Israel not to fall into it.

He wrote:

Terror can be a weapon of the weak, designed to get the strong to use their strength against themselves. Terrorists know what they are going to do, and have an idea what will follow. They mean to create an emotional situation where self-destructive action seems like the urgent and only choice.

When you have been terrorized, the argument that I am making seems absurd; the terrorists can seem to you to be raving beasts who just need punishment. Yet however horrible the crime, it usually does not bespeak a lack of planning. Usually part of the plan is to enrage.

Netanyahu took the bait.

I hold Hamas responsible for the egregious atrocities that ignited the war.

I hold Netanyahu responsible for ignoring multiple warnings of an imminent attack, including those from the unarmed young women in the IDF who served as observers (“spotters”) at the border and saw Hamas militants practicing for the assault (most of the spotters were murdered in the first wave of attacks).

I hold Netanyahu responsible for imagining that Hamas had become moderates as they collected hundreds of millions from friendly Arab nations. Hamas spent the money building elaborate tunnels and stockpiling weapons, not on building a good economy and public services for the people of Gaza.

I hold Netanyahu responsible for placating Hamas to prevent the creation of a Palestinian nation, which is the only just solution to the endless subjugation of Palestinians by Israel.

I hold Netanyahu responsible for encouraging Israelis to build settlements in the West Bank on land that should be part of a Palestinian state and treating those settlers as superior to the native Palestinians.

I hold Netanyahu responsible for the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, which is killing thousands of innocent men, women, and children and reducing cities, towns, and communities to rubble. In the meantime, this ruthless campaign is making Israel a pariah state and endangering the remaining hostages.

Since October 7, I have subscribed to Haaretz and learned a great deal about the widespread antipathy towards Netanyahu. Most Israelis agree that Netanyahu must go. Close to 80% oppose him. I want him to resign or stand for election as soon as possible. I hope he is soon replaced by a leader devoted to pursuing peace with the Palestinians and a genuine two-state solution, as the UN envisioned 75 years ago. Genuine leadership would withdraw all the settlements from the West Bank, as they were withdrawn from Gaza in 2005. Genuine leadership would plan for a future of peace and prosperity for the region, not only for Israel.

The pursuit of peace requires both sides to negotiate in good faith. Spokesmen for Hamas have vowed to attack Israel again and again in the future. Hamas cannot be trusted to negotiate in good faith. They are terrorists and proud of it. No Israeli government can endure a terrorist regime on its borders. Other Arab nations will have to commit themselves to stopping Hamas terrorism. They must stop funding Hamas and collaborate to build a functional government for any new Palestinian state, a government that forswears terrorism and is committed to providing security, economic development, and public services for its people.

I stand with Israel. I oppose terrorism. I hope for a day when the Jewish state lives free of the fear of terrorism and of war, side by side with neighbors that respect its borders and that share in regional prosperity. If that day ever comes, the people of the Middle East will enjoy a new world of peace.

I know. I said I was taking off the weekend, but this post is an exception. I just read Peter Greene’s Thanksgiving message, and I can’t post it next week because it will be dated. Peter is a wonderful writer, and I think you will enjoy his reflections about gratitude.

For those who don’t know Peter, he retired after 39 years as an English teacher in Pennsylvania. He has two sets of children. The first set is from his first marriage, and they are adults. The second set, from his second marriage, are toddler twins. You will see a picture of them watching their first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on television. I wouldn’t normally mention the personal details of Peter’s life but he refers to his twins as his “board of directors.”

Speaking of gratitude, I forgot to tell you something that fills me with gratitude. I have four grandsons, and one of them, who is in his late 20s, was in Eilat, Israel, on October 7. He was visiting friends at a dive resort where he worked a few years ago as a marine photographer. About 15 people from the staff went to the Supernova dance, about an hour away. He made plans to go but the couple who offered him a ride broke up the day before and decided not to go. Some of the young people from the resort who went to the dance were murdered. Thank whatever gods there be that he didn’t go. I’m so grateful for his safety.

Today is a day to take a break and reflect gratefully on the good people in our lives and on the reasons each of us has to be grateful. I’m grateful for my family and friends. I’m grateful for good health. I’m grateful to you for reading my blog and sharing your thoughts.

I started the blog in April 2012. In the years since then, I have never gone dark, even when I was traveling abroad, even when I was recovering from knee surgery in 2014, even when I was recovering from open heart surgery in 2021.

But today I’m planning to turn off the blog for the weekend. If anything momentous happens, I’ll sign on. Otherwise, keep sending in your comments and links, as I will read them all.

Enjoy your day and your weekend.

See you again on Monday, November 27 at 9 am EST.

Diane

Our river cruise stopped in Linz (think Linzertorte, a busy industrial town, and we went by bus to Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart. It is a beautifully preserved city, with a city center that has no autos, only bicycles and carriages. To call it spotlessly clean would be an understatement, although it’s full of tourists like us. Our guide was a charming woman who knew every last detail of “The Sound of Music.” She told us what the movie got right, what it got wrong. For example, when the Trapp family hikes off into the mountains to escape the Nazis, they were heading towards Germany! Oops, wrong direction. And of course, we had to see the beautiful church where Captain Trapp and Maria were “married.” Like so many churches in Austria, overflowing with beautiful ornamentation. We went to a beer garden for lunch, where we had weisswurst and beer. There are no high rises in the center, and the houses all look as though they were painted yesterday.

By the way, higher education is tuition-free in Austria and Germany but students must pass an exam to enroll.

Salzburg

I have never been on the Danube before. We are on a river cruise that goes very slowly to interesting places in Austria and Germany. The photo here is Durnstein, a beautiful Austrian village. Here’s news: the Danube is not blue. It’s green. We expected cool weather but it has been 75-80 degrees every day (so far). Because of prolonged drought, our cruise will not make it to Nuremberg because the water levels are low. Today we went to Salzburg, which is a beautiful town with immaculate streets, beautiful churches, and lots of attention to native son Mozart.

Hi! Just arrived in Vienna! 80 degrees here. The blogging will not be interrupted!