Gaza and Lebanon.

 Last week a friend in Melbourne asked me to mention comments made by her granddaughter in this week’s blog. They concerned the rise of antisemitism in many parts of the world. I fully intended to include her remarks along with other items on the same topic. Unfortunately, events in Gaza and Lebanon have taken precedence over less pressing news items. Just the same, I will include a brief summary of some of the things she wrote: -   

“Over the last 6 months, Jews around the world have been alluding to an exponential increase in antisemitism, synonymous with that which was witnessed in 1930s Europe.  I wrote some of these sentiments off as melodramatic. How can we possibly compare our progressive 2024 to pre-WW2 Germany and the shadows of the Holocaust?

Over the weekend, the Jewish school I attended for the entirety of my schooling years had its front gates graffitied with the words ‘Jew Die’”.

 

Associated Press (AP) reported recently on the launching of a US lobbying blitz

to promote a Gaza cease-fire plan to Hamas through Arab and Muslim nations.

“The Biden administration has launched an intense drive to persuade Hamas and Israel to accept a new cease-fire proposal in the nearly eight-month-old war in Gaza while it also presses Arab nations to persuade Hamas to agree to the terms of the proposal.

However, Netanyahu has to consider far-right coalition members that have threatened to bring down his government if he agrees to the new cease-fire proposal, which Biden announced on Friday as an ‘Israeli plan.’ Since then, Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan have all made calls to regional leaders. In addition, Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, will be heading to the region this week to persuade hitherto ‘waverers’ to support the deal. The plan would aim to free remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas and lead to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza in phases.

Since Friday, Blinken has spoken with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Algeria, according to the State Department. Blinken also spoke over the weekend with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet member Benny Gantz.

Biden spoke on Monday with the Emir of Qatar — whose country, along with Egypt, has played a major role in trying to negotiate a truce and persuade Hamas to accept one.

That was followed quickly by a joint statement from the leaders of the Group of Seven advanced democracies calling “on Hamas to accept this deal, that Israel is ready to move forward with, and we urge countries with influence over Hamas to help ensure that it does so.” The G7 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S.

Sullivan also spoke with his Turkish counterpart about the “urgent need for Hamas to accept Israel’s proposal.”

A Biden administration official repeated that McGurk, who has been shuttling between Washington and Middle East capitals throughout the war for talks with key regional stakeholders, would be returning to the region this week.

U.S. officials say Hamas has yet to respond to the proposal.

Netanyahu has said there are certain “gaps” in how Biden laid out the proposal and Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire until “the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.”

In the Time Magazine interview conducted on May 28, three days before he announced the cease-fire proposal, Biden was asked about critics in Israel suggesting that Netanyahu was extending the war for political preservation. Biden initially said he wasn’t going to comment then noted that “there is every reason for people to draw that conclusion.”

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday that the president's comments in the interview were “referencing what many critics have said. For our part, though, he and Prime Minister Netanyahu do not agree on everything.”

But Kirby said the U.S. would keep working with its ally to combat Hamas and get the cease-fire plan approved.

At this juncture, paging down through what I have written I don’t know how anyone can fathom it out. I myself find it mind-boggling.

Justifiably, Netanyahu has threatened an “extremely powerful” response to attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanon, which have escalated in recent days.

A few hours after Netanyahu spoke, drones fired by Hezbollah  from Lebanon struck Hurfeish, in the Upper Galilee region, which has a largely Druze population, injuring 11 Israelis, one critically. There were several explosions and reports that air raid alerts failed to detect the drones.

Earlier this week Hezbollah launched a wave of attacks that set off substantial fires, which were fanned by dry and powerful winds. Television footage from the area of Kiryat Shmona showed firestorms engulfing nearby forests. Emergency services struggled for two days to bring the fires under control.

The dramatic and widely viewed images underscored the increasingly vocal complaints from community leaders in the area bordering Lebanon, largely evacuated at the beginning of the war with Gaza.

On Tuesday the Israeli war cabinet discussed the situation on the Lebanese border amid a flurry of visits by senior officials to the area. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, said on a visit to the north on Tuesday: “We’re approaching the point at which we’ll have to make a decision. The IDF is ready for an offensive.”

The EU’s diplomatic service issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was increasingly concerned about “the ever-growing destruction and the forced displacement of civilians on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border”.

Calling on all sides to exercise restraint, it added: “Nobody stands to win from a broader regional conflict.”

While Hezbollah has indicated it is not seeking all-out war with Israel, the current position on both sides of the border is becoming untenable.

Searching for something more uplifting to contrast with our northern border situation, I called to mind something I wrote in 2011.

“Our relations with Lebanon weren’t always bad. By and large our ancestors regarded our northern neighbour favourably. I’m told that in the Bible alone there are 71 references to Lebanon.

Solomon's relations with Hiram were better than those of the present leaders of Israel and Lebanon, but that was a long time ago and Hiram of Tyre was a Phoenician.

Reciprocal relations between the two countries were generally good. The best-known exception was the bad deal Ahab got with his Phoenician bride, the infamous Jezebel.

Nowadays some enterprising Israelis import brides from the Ukraine. In biblical times Lebanese girls were in vogue:

"Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shnir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards." Song of Solomon 4:8.

The author, according to tradition Solomon himself, provides an erotic description of the new girl in the harem:

"Your lips distil nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon." Song of Solomon 4:11

Some biblical scholars claim the texts should be interpreted allegorically.

However, most of us accept them literally.”

 

Take care.

 

Beni,

6th of June, 2024.