Christmas II

 

Nazareth’s fifth Liturgical Festival was held earlier than usual this year, ten days before Christmas.

“The terrible events of October 7 and the tragic events that came after have left us speechless,” said violinist Nabil Abboud Ashkar, who founded the festival, in 2019, and Nazareth’s Polyphony Conservatory.

The three days of Christmas season concerts will host musical guests from abroad, including soprano Nour Darwish, along with local Arab and Jewish musicians, all performing at Nazareth’s Salesian Church which is marking its centennial.

I invariably write something about Christmas during the ‘festive season.’

Despite the harrowing events of the war there is good reason to relate to Christmas, but in a different context.

The war has triggered widespread anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations.

Until quite recently, anti-Israel protests were often regarded as politically motivated, simply, siding with the Palestinian narrative.                                     However, they rapidly morphed into unbridled anti-Semitism.

At this juncture I want to briefly mention the nineteenth century British caricaturist and illustrator John Leech.

He was best known for his work for Punch, a humorous magazine for a broad middle-class audience, combining verbal and graphic political satire with light social comedy. Leech catered to contemporary prejudices, such as anti-Americanism and antisemitism and supported acceptable social reforms.

Leech also enjoys fame as the first illustrator of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol,

This begs the question- Who invented Christmas as we know it?                  Charles Dickens is given some credit for giving us Christmas in its more modern form, thanks to his classic novel- “A Christmas Carol.” Published in 1843, it became an instant bestseller, and changed people's view of Christmas, putting emphasis on kindness, being charitable and spending time with family.          One of his first full-length- novels, Oliver Twist is devoted to the evils of the poor-law system, introduces a Jewish villain, Fagin a corrupter of youth and receiver of stolen goods. Apart from Shakespeare’s Shylock, Fagin is unquestionably the best-known Jewish figure depicted in the traditional canon of English literature. As for his Jewishness, Dickens claimed that "that class of criminal almost invariably was a Jew," but Fagin in fact lacks any recognisable Jewish traits. Dickens was challenged about his antisemitic prejudices, and in reply, claimed that he had always felt himself to be a friend of the Jews. As if to prove this, his last complete novel, Our Mutual Friend (1864–65), featured Mr. Riah, "the gentle Jew in whose race gratitude is deep." Jews appear in other novels that Dickens wrote. Dicken’s contradictory portrayal of Jews illustrates something of the ambiguity of the Jewish image in Victorian England, and also the deep contradictions in Dickens' own complex character. Nonetheless, the debate over Shakespeare’s Shylock continues unabated.  Journalist Brandon Ambrosino wrote in an article for Smithsonian Magazine “Four hundred years later, scholars still debate whether Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’ is antisemitic.”

Illustration from  Merchant of Venice. corbis

Americans who complain about the modern-day commercialisation of Christmas may be surprised to discover that dissatisfaction with the way the holiday has been observed is by no means a new phenomenon. In 1659 the Massachusetts General Court declared the celebration of Christmas to be a criminal offense. What the Puritans were trying to suppress was a season of excess rooted in the ancient agricultural cycle - rowdy public displays of eating and drinking, mockery of established authority, aggressive begging, and boisterous invasions of the homes of the wealthy. In his seminal work “The Battle for Christmas”, Stephen Nissenbaum shows how in the early nineteenth century, with the growth of cities, these Christmas-season carnival revels became even more threatening as they turned into gang violence and even riots. Attempting to get Christmas out of the streets, a group of New Yorkers - Washington Irving among them - led a movement to transform it into a new style of celebration that would take place within the secure confines of the family circle, and be concerned especially with the happiness of children. We learn how two classic texts helped refashion the holiday: Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol.” And we are shown the child-centred Christmas epitomised by the family gatherings and gift-exchanges of the Sedgwick family in nineteenth-century Massachusetts and New York.

As Israel's Christian citizens prepared to celebrate Christmas on Sunday night and Monday, the Central Bureau of Statistics released data pertaining to the country's Christian community.

According to the CBS, around 187,900 Christians live in Israel, composing 1.9% of the population. This represents a 1.3% growth from the year before.

Three-quarters (75.3%) are Arab Christians. They make up 6.9% of the total Arab population.

This increase contrasts to most countries in the Middle East where Christian populations are declining, and there is "horrifying growth" of Christian persecution, according to the organisation ‘Open Doors,’ which puts out an annual "World Watch List" of where Christians suffer very high or extreme levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.

A spokesman for Israel’s finance ministry estimated that the ongoing war with Hamas is expected to cost Israel around $13.8 billion in 2024, assuming that high-intensity fighting in Gaza will come to an end in the first quarter of the new year.

Overall budgetary spending for 2024 is expected to balloon to $155.44 billion from the  $141.88 billion that was approved in May. Meanwhile, government revenue, mainly tax income, is likely to fall short of forecasts due to a slowdown in the economy during the war period.

The Finance Ministry expects the economy to grow at a pace of 1.6% next year, slowing further from the 2% forecast for 2023, and after fast growth of 6.5% in 2022. That’s amid expectations for a continued slowdown in private consumption, real estate deals, and corporate earnings due to the repercussions of the war.

Higher-than-planned expenditure and expectations for lower government income will lead to a budget deficit of 5.9 percent of gross domestic product in 2024, up from the planned ceiling of 2.25%, the Finance Ministry estimated.

Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron has in recent weeks urged lawmakers to make adjustments and cut expenses in the 2024 budget that are not related to the war effort or that do not promote growth, to balance rising war costs, while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

The call for fiscal restraint comes as the central bank is concerned that the government’s management of the higher security spending burden could harm Israel’s standing in international markets and negatively impact future decisions by credit rating agencies, which in turn could lead to higher costs for raising debt.

 Columnist Anshel Pfeffer wrote, “As the year draws to a close, the IDF is well on its way to destroying Hamas’ military capabilities in Gaza. Hamas’s rule of the coastal strip now extends to barely a third of the territory and is being squeezed daily. Whether these key objectives of the war - along with the release of nearly 130 hostages still being held in Gaza - can be achieved remains to be seen in 2024. But when the Hamas leaders in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa the masterminds of the massacre finally meet their overdue deaths in the new year and Hamas plays no part in the day-after solutions for Gaza, they will still have succeeded in putting the Palestinian issue back on both the Israeli and international agenda.”

In preparing this blog I resort to a fair amount of plagiarism. Most of it is open-source material. I chop, change rephrase, and of course cherry-pick to suit my needs. At the same time, I’m careful no to infringe on copywrite limitations.

 

Take care,

 

Beni,

28^th of December, 2023.

Imagery.

 “Long before the Israel-Gaza war, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the Palestinians had missed—or were about to miss—their historic opportunity to ever achieve a fully independent state. Their never-ending rejection of every possible peace proposal, along with Israel’s ongoing expansion of settlements, meant that a two-state solution was, at very best, in its last throes. All crises create new opportunities for change, and it is not inconceivable that some life can still be breathed into a two-state solution, but the likelihood of this happening has decreased exponentially.

One clear conclusion is that Israel cannot continue to ignore the Palestinian problem indefinitely,” wrote Professor Chuck Freilich, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies affiliated with Tel Aviv University (INSS).                         

I was about to conclude that he is just another “Peace Now” advocate, but I was wrong. “Rarely in recent decades have Israel’s wartime objectives been so straightforward: destroy Hamas as a coherent fighting force, topple it as the governing body in Gaza, and bring home as many of the hostages as possible. Hamas is not an existential threat, but if this war ends without its destruction, it will conduct similar attacks in the future—as it has already proclaimed publicly—as will Hezbollah and Iran, and a non-existential war may become one. For them, it is part of a long-term strategy designed to bring about Israel’s ultimate destruction through ongoing attrition.” Chuck Freilich warned and added that we could thwart this threat by changing the intercessors, preferring Riyadh to Doha.

“How do we rescue the normalisation of relations with the Saudis that would have had a transformational effect on Israel’s standing in the region and on the region as a whole, especially the critically important attempt to prevent Iran from crossing the final threshold to operational nuclear capabilities? How can the Saudis be prevailed upon to play a constructive role in the peace process and the reconstruction of Gaza?” He asked.

Other ME affairs analysts agree that Saudi Arabia is preferable to Qatar, though both lack human rights credibility.

The references to Professor Freilich quoted here are from his article posted last week in the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs. However, I have resorted to ‘cherry-picking’ again, choosing what I believe is relevant to the limited scope of this week’s post.  

“Israel is extraordinarily fortunate to have as deep and committed a friend in the White House as President Joe Biden. His response to the crisis has been nothing short of extraordinary: steadfast support for Israel’s right to defend itself and for the destruction of Hamas; rejection of a ceasefire that would in essence cement a Hamas victory.” ……..” Unsurprisingly, the administration is under growing international and domestic pressure to try to force Israel into curtailing its operations completely, or at least doing so in ways that would render them largely ineffective. From the outset, the president has continually emphasized the need for Israel to demonstrate maximal concern for humanitarian considerations and to minimize casualties. A deeply traumatized Israel, reeling from the barbaric attack of October 7 and galled by the thought that it should dispense humanitarian assistance at a time when so many Israelis were in Hamas captivity, initially opted for a more traditional siege approach. As justified as this may have been, it was inappropriate for the mood of the times and detrimental to the preservation of Israel’s international standing and, most importantly, Biden’s ability to continue providing unreserved long-term support.

It remains to be seen whether American defense officials have any concrete proposals to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza that do not both significantly diminish the effectiveness of Israeli operations and greatly increase the number of Israeli casualties. American support for Israel is a critical strategic consideration at all times, and it is always incumbent upon Jerusalem to do whatever it can to address Washington’s concerns. Nevertheless, it must accord overarching priority to IDF lives, and an Israeli failure to achieve its military objectives would also constitute a significant setback for US policy.”

And although Professor Freilich wants to change the intercessor, Qatar is still ’calling the shots.’

According to multiple reports in Israeli news outlets Mossad chief David Barnea met on Monday with CIA director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Warsaw to discuss efforts to reach a new hostage deal with Hamas.

Barnea was previously widely reported to have met with Al Thani in Norway on Friday night.

Cairo is another venue where talks are taking place to reach a new hostage deal with Hamas.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Egyptian officials said that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are demanding that Israel halt military operations in the Gaza enclave before they’ll discuss a potential deal. Under the terms of the rejected proposal, Hamas would also free elderly male hostages who require urgent medical care. In exchange, Israel would halt air and ground operations in Gaza for a week and allow increased aid into the coastal territory. But Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad reportedly told Egyptian mediators Israel must pause its offensive in the Gaza Strip before they will discuss any potential deal. Furthermore, the report said Islamic Jihad demanded that Israel free all Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages. In response, Israel is reported to have stated that it will not halt its military campaign, and that the pre-negotiation conditions laid down by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have effectively precluded the negotiations.

There’s more bad news.  Much to our chagrin, the elusive Muhammed Deif is in a much better physical shape than previously thought. The Hebrew language daily Maariv daily cited video evidence of Deif apparently found recently by IDF troops in Gaza. In the clips the arch-terrorist is seen walking, albeit with a slight limp.  Little is known of Deif, but repeated reports in Israel for over a decade have described him as missing both his legs an arm, and an eye. The injuries were allegedly caused by seven failed Israeli attempts to assassinate him. Unlike many other Hamas leaders Deif has lived his life in the shadows, and pictures or videos of him are extremely rare.

The Shin Bet security service “wouldn’t recognise him if they passed him on the street,” investigative journalist Shlomi Eldar told The Economist recently. That being said, IDF Radio reported that the army was not surprised by the discovery. Citing two unnamed Israeli sources, it said the IDF has known about Deif’s condition for several years. Nevertheless, camera-shy Mohammed Deif managed to maintain a low profile until recently.

Let’s continue on the topic if imagery, but this time from the profane to the sacred.

The Dura-Europos synagogue was an ancient synagogue uncovered at Dura-Europos, Syria, in 1932. The synagogue contains a forecourt and house of assembly with painted walls depicting people and animals, and a Torah shrine in the western wall facing Jerusalem. The last phase of its construction was dated by an Aramaic inscription to 244 CE, making it one of the oldest synagogues in the world. It was unique among the many ancient synagogues that have emerged from archaeological excavations as the structure was preserved virtually intact, and it had extensive figurative wall-paintings, which came as a considerable surprise to scholars. These paintings are now displayed in the National Museum of Damascus. They are by far superior to images depicted in the mosaic floors of early sixth century synagogues.

The Catholic church also values images of its saints, especially its popes. It counts 265 popes starting with the apostle Peter. Although there are many images of St. Peter, it’s unlikely that any of them could be considered portraits. The same could be said for most if not all of the popes for the first two or three hundred centuries after St. Peter.            

While kings, noblemen and even a few commoners were able to commission artists to paint them, Oliver Cromwell's instruction to portrait painter Sir Peter Lely was the most precise of all. “Remark all these blemishes, pimples, warts, and everything as you see in me, otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it.”

The painting is on display at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place​
London. It’s not for sale, but admission to the gallery is free.

 

Have a good weekend.

Beni,

21^st of December, 2023.

 

 

 

Gaza on my mind.

 

“Gaza on my mind”

 

Twelve years ago, I wrote something about Gaza, Hamas and other villains.

I’m recycling the title only, even though the protagonists haven’t changed.

 

Invariably I write something about Hanukkah. However, this year I’ve been preoccupied with the war In Gaza. So, instead I decided to include an adapted version of what I wrote in 2010.

“Like all our festivals Hanukkah commemorates an event that happened here in our region.  A late comer, not included in the Hebrew canon it is, nevertheless one of the most widely celebrated festivals in our calendar.                                                                                            Hanukkah commemorates the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire in 165 BC.

The root causes of the revolt are still disputed by historians. Suffice to say that a power vacuum created in the context of the rising Parthian Empire and the Seleucid Empire’s conflict with Ptolemaic Egypt, opened a window of opportunity for our ancestors. Some people see the success of the revolt as an act of Divine intervention. The result was a brief 103 years of Jewish Independence. This was but one of the Hanukkah miracles. The miracle of the flask of oil that lasted for eight days instead of one, is perhaps referred to more than the military actions and battles.

However, the authors of the Books of Maccabees omitted to mention the flask of oil and its miraculous attribute. The Jewish historian Josephus Flavius mentions a “festival of lights” but overlooks the flask of oil.

Hundreds of years later we find the first reference to the flask of oil in the Talmud. It appears that the miracle of the flask of oil was imbedded in the Hanukkah narrative at a later date.

That being said, I think we should accept the miraculous flask of oil as a welcome latecomer. The oil of course was none other than olive oil.

There’s no better description of the olive than Lawrence Durrell’s wonderful account -

“The entire Mediterranean seems to rise out of the sour, pungent taste of black olives between the teeth. A taste older than meat or wine, a taste as old as cold water. Only the sea itself seems as ancient a part of the region as the olive and its oil, that like no other products of nature, have shaped civilizations from remotest antiquity to the present."

A sharp transition to the present day.

The German news outlet Deutsche Welle reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “Neither military losses nor waning international support would impact Israel’s course of action.” Meanwhile US and German politicians are visiting Israel with the intention of getting up-to-date information regarding the situation in Gaza.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is due to arrive in Israel today. Sullivan is scheduled to meet with the prime minister and other Israeli leaders. 

According to White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby, Sullivan will hold "extremely serious" and "constructive" talks with Israeli officials. Sullivan is expected to discuss the next phase of the Gaza war.

The visit comes after US President Joe Biden criticised Netanyahu's right-wing government and said it is engaging in "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza.

Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder arrived here yesterday. Söder emphasised that his visit to Jerusalem was very important for him personally, but also for the Bavarian government, to show solidarity with Israel and the victims of the Hamas terror attacks on October 7.

Despite the United Nations' call for a cease-fire, Söder has supported Israel's actions against Hamas in Gaza. "Of course, we also sympathise with the people in the Gaza Strip, with the civilian victims," Söder said shortly before his departure from Munich. "Nevertheless, we believe that Israel has a right to self-defence and that it is now necessary to give priority to security," he added. 

Söder’s schedule includes a meeting with President Isaac Herzog, and a visit to a kibbutz on the Gaza border.

The Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research (generally a reliable polling centre) reported that public support for Hamas is increasing, more so in the West Bank.

The poll appears to indicate anger over the war's toll boosting Palestinian support for Hamas, particularly in the West Bank where Hamas has no official standing.                              

Some 44% of respondents in the West Bank said they supported Hamas, compared to just 12% three months earlier. 

The change in Gaza was more muted, with 42% saying they supported Hamas against 38% three months earlier. 

Meanwhile, a majority of respondents in both areas said they believed Hamas would emerge from the conflict with continued control over Gaza. A smaller majority also said this would be their preference, albeit with Gaza residents very divided on the question.

Fewer than one in 10 respondents said they believed Hamas assailants had committed war crimes like abducting, raping and murdering Israelis during their October 7 assault, despite clear evidence to the contrary including footage uploaded from Hamas assailants own body cameras.

Satisfaction figures for Fatah and Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas, already near rock bottom, plummeted to a 90% disapproval rating. Abbas and his administration are often criticised at home for perceived corruption and inefficiency.

The figures show how difficult the solution advocated by much of the international community — namely Abbas and the PA taking charge in Gaza with a view to resuming efforts towards a two-state solution — might be to achieve once the fighting ends. 

Leading Israeli officials have said "international pressures" will not halt their military campaign against Hamas in Gaza. 

In a radio broadcast to IDF units Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "We're continuing until the end, until Hamas is annihilated." Netanyahu’s radio address came at the end of a terrible day. An IDF spokesman reported the deaths of ten soldiers in the space of 24 hours, its worst losses in a day since late October. 

"I say this in the face of great pain but also in the face of international pressures. Nothing will stop us," Netanyahu said. 

Although Israel's closest ally, the United States, has continued to vote in our defence at the UN, even Biden administration officials have repeatedly and publicly urged Israel to do more to limit civilian casualties. Biden warned on Tuesday that the "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza was causing Israel to lose international support.

I encountered difficulty while reading a transcript of President Biden’s campaign speech, mainly with its coherency in general. In particular, his reference to indiscriminate bombing got me wondering if it was an unintentional ‘slip of the tongue’, or was he paying lip service to the broad UN gallery. Surely Biden knows that even the Israel air force’s surgically accurate bombing can’t always avoid incurring “collateral damage”, especially when Hamas uses Gazans as human shields.

Regardless of Biden’s apparent censure we are going to finish the job!

Freelance journalist Cathrin Schaer and many observers and analysts are wondering who is going to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza.

Ms. Schaer wrote, “The violence continues but wrangling over reconstruction has already started. The problem is that funding for Gaza and other Palestinian territories and projects has always been about more than money.

Even as the fighting, dying and destruction continue, the arguments about money have started.

“The human toll of the conflict in Gaza is incalculable. But the costs of rebuilding Gaza are not. Early estimates suggest they may be as high as $50 billion.

Israel has not yet laid out a plan for who would govern Gaza if it succeeded in its goal of destroying Hamas, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out any transfer of power to the Palestinian Authority.

Nonetheless, he has already addressed the topic of Gaza's reconstruction. This week, Israeli news outlets reported that he told fellow politicians that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would be willing to foot the bill. It has also been suggested that Europeans will pay: The EU, and Germany in particular, have been major, long-term donors of humanitarian aid for Gaza and the Palestinian Authority. The US is also one of the biggest donors and would likely be involved in the funding of reconstruction.

However, Cathrin Schaer says, in both the US and Europe, insiders report that, behind the scenes, decision-makers are already asking why they should once more pay millions in taxpayers’ money to rebuild infrastructure likely to be bombed again in the near future.

Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator at the Financial Times wrote this week,"I have heard senior EU officials say unequivocally that Europe will not pay for the reconstruction of Gaza. (The sums of money required by Ukraine are already mind-boggling)," "The US Congress also seems to be turning against all forms of foreign assistance." Rachman added.

There have also been calls for Israel to pay for the damage it has done during its current campaign in Gaza, with some arguing that because it is considered by the UN, the EU and other international organisations to be the main occupying power there, it should shoulder rebuilding responsibilities. And there is a precedent. In 2010, Israel did agree to compensate the main United Nations' agency working in Gaza — the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, commonly known as UNRWA — $10.5 million for buildings destroyed during its far smaller 2009 operation in the Gaza enclave. However, that appears to be the rare instance when Israel has agreed to pay compensation.

As a result of Israel’s response to the vicious pogrom-like October 7 Hamas assault, over half of all of Gaza's housing has been destroyed — up to 50,000 housing units, with over 200,000 more damaged. In addition, scores of schools, mosques and government buildings have been severely damaged or destroyed. Many were built with funding from international donors. Before blaming Israel, the generous international donors should review indisputable evidence that Hamas fired missiles from these facilities targeting Israel cities, towns and rural communities prior to and after the October 7 assault.  

"The level of structural damage and destruction is unprecedented," Marta Lorenzo, director of the UNRWA Representative Office for Europe said of the current conflict. "It's not comparable to any other war in Gaza." "So right now, it's very difficult to know how much it will cost, but it won't be the responsibility of just one donor," Lorenzo said.

In an interview with Deutsche Welle (DW) Ms. Lorenzo said that what is most likely to happen when violence abates, is that there might be a pledging conference, "during which we expect the international community to share responsibility." So, who is most likely to foot the huge — and still growing — bill for all this? The answer is difficult because funding for aid and reconstruction in Gaza, as well as for the Palestinian Authority and other Palestinian-related projects, has been politically fraught for decades. The fact that Hamas has been ruling the enclave since 2007 has been problematic for donors, who have questioned how to get aid and money to those who need it, without also financing Hamas' military activities. 

A 16-year blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt, as well as years of neglect by the enclave's rulers, Hamas, has led to the degradation of the Gaza economy. According to UN sources in 2022, an estimated 80% of people in Gaza were dependent on aid. UNRWA provided a lot of that aid before the current crisis, including social welfare services, schools and health clinics; it is Gaza's second-largest employer. It has also regularly had to fend off criticism of bias. Senior ministers in the Israeli government have said they want to get rid of UNRWA altogether.

Another example of the kind of controversies around reconstruction is the so-called Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, or GRM. Created in 2014 as a temporary measure to prevent Hamas getting its hands on "dual purpose" building materials with which they could, for instance, build tunnels. It ended up becoming a complex, overly-bureaucratic system, one that led to significant delays in getting building materials into Gaza. It also increased building costs by up to 20%, leading to charges that Israeli contractors were gaming the system for profit. Gaza builders even boycotted GRM-approved materials at one stage.

“These controversies are not about to go away simply because of the greater need and exceptional destruction,” predicts Nathan Brown, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East programme. “In fact, it's going to get worse,” he noted.

"Funding is not going to be the issue, politics is," Brown told Deutsche Welle. "If tomorrow, all the actors — Israel, the Palestinians, regional actors, Western actors — said 'here is the future, it will look like this,' whether a two-state solution or a one-state solution or whatever, then money wouldn't be a problem."

“Plenty of donors would be willing to donate if they were convinced the problem was about to be resolved once and for all.” Brown said.

“Right now, there are too many unanswered questions,” added Dr.Yara Asi, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Centre Washington DC. "If there's no legitimate governance in Gaza, will donors be comfortable sending tens of millions of dollars?" Asi asked. "I would imagine they would want some guarantee of a different kind of political future before they send all this money, all over again."

 

Notwithstanding that, I remain an incorrigible optimist.

 

Take care.

 

Beni

 

14^th of December, 2023