#israel is a terrorist stare

[okjuuzu]

Israelis in the past: we must conserve our european identity and values

Israelis today: our national dish is flafel 😆

[jaythelay]

My thoughts on Kamala/Walz and Palestine involve the Absolute Pants Shitting amount of propaganda and ignorant adoration of genocide by so fucking many, and that Biden was weak as shit while Kamala/Walz feels like they're playing the game and aiming for the end while Biden just told Israel "Yeah sure I'll lie about headless israeli babies that you'll eventually make out of palestinian babies."

Straight up feels like they know they can't just come out and say "Genocide Bad No Matter Who" or risk an absolute plummet in every possible sector, that'a not including the media either who'd flip so damn hard on her for daring to say Genocide Bad No Matter Who.

Seriously I wouldn't flub this election up pointing out the moral obvious when half of all dems, and all but 10 politicians (all dem it was bipartisan that Genocide Good) are just so extatic to defend a Genocide. Imo, and it's all we'll have mind you, an opinion, they'll make progress. Biden, most dems and all but 10 dem politicians, and Dump, are on the same level on this issue.

Just saying, she's talking with groups and called for ceasefires. Biden lied every fucking time Israel shot up a hospital or school or church on christmas, without an ounce of scrutiny, simply regurgitated horrific propaganda that instantly backfired literal days to weeks after the lie.

Kamala hasn't. Not as hard at least, since running as pres. Our efforts are being heard and it's why I fucking lost all respect for anyone who chooses not to accept the reality of Genocide Bad No Matter Who just to feel safer in an election with a guy WE ALL TOLD YOU WAS SHIT and lo and behold? He was! Just not as shit as dump, his literal, only legacy and reason to vote for him.

When even Kamala is doing more than you fucks, I don't want to hear aaaanything ya got to say on any issue. Dems being radically republican about EASILY SOURCED INFORMATION will never not be such a Permanent massive fucking turn off to the entire dem party for me.

Imagine pushing away potential dem voters because you refuse to call a Genocide Bad, while Kamala is making progress to stop it, progress that ya'll sabotaged the absolute whole entire god damn way up every step of the way not missing one potential beat.

Fuck off Pro-Genociders, yur shite and almost cost us the election. Thank fuck for Kamala, and Genuinely not any one of you weak genocide enablers.

[kvtnisseverdeen]

after 9/11, my mom had her hijab ripped off her head. muslim-american communities were shattered due to the american government suspecting every muslim in america of terrorism and subjecting them to interviews and even deportation. i was in school afraid to embrace my religion because islam was being equated to terrorism. i was bullied for being a muslim and constantly called a terrorist. and let's not forget the millions of muslims that were killed and displaced because of the war on terror. MILLIONS.

it took years for muslims to feel "normal" again. of course, we still felt the uncomfortable stares and the subtle islamophobia. but it was so subtle. we almost forgot it was there.

and now, we're back to straight-forward, blatant islamophobia:

a 6-year-old muslim palestinian boy was stabbed 26 times

rashida tlaib is being censured and her colleague openly said 'all of them’ when a democrat asked how many dead palestinians will be enough?

van jones said to take a stand against muslims at a pro-israel rally

there were 1,283 reports of anti-arab and anti-muslim bias since oct 7 which is a 216% percent increase from last year

pro palestinian protestors are being called terrorists and terrorist-supporters

celebrities like amy schumer, brett gelman, karlie kloss, noah schnapp + more are spreading lies and propoganda against muslims

this is why its so frustrating to me when celebs like noah schnapp and amy schumer are sitting in there million dollar penthouses saying they're "scared." no, you have nothing to be afraid of. the world governments are clearly standing with YOU and protecting YOU. muslim women wearing a hijab are scared. muslim mothers and fathers are scared. muslims that can't openly practice their faith are scared.

muslims have been suffering in their own countries AND in america. we've always been afraid. how can we not when a muslim child was stabbed 26 times, simply because he was muslim? how can we not when people are asking to take a stand against muslims? how can we not when a genocide is happening and no one is doing anything to stop it?

[the-red-planet-mars]

4 Days Until May 14 1948

This date marks the 76th year of the Israeli oppression against Palestine. This date marks the day Israel drove out over 750, 000 people from their homeland to establish its "state".

This heinous event was called al-Nakba (the catastrophe, the disaster). This heinous event was the start of this genocide.

It did not start on October 7th 2023. It stared on May 14 1948. It. has. still. not. ended.

The Nakba did not end in 1948. It is still happening today, right at this very second.

The numbers are growing. Every. Second.

This is the day you remember the corporations that fund the genocide. This is the day you remember the governments that cheer-on the genocide. This is the day you remember how the west instigated hate-crimes towards Arabs. This is the day you remember how the west and Israel are the terrorists. This is the day you remember the millions of people who had been killed for ethnic cleansing.

This is the day you always remember. This is the day you never forget.

This is the day you cry for Palestine. This is the day you scream for Palestine.

This is the day you remind everyone of the country of Palestine. You must never stop talking about Palestine. Never.

Palestinian lives matter. Stand up for the ones that died and the ones that live. Show us you care.

Do not dare forget:

May 14 1948

If you want to help Palestine with financial aid, but don't have any money, there's a website called arab.org that donates for you with just one click of a button.

Please, do your part for Palestine.

[jewish-sideblog]

Genuinely at this point if you’re shouting “Ceasefire Now!” you should be staring daggers at Gazan leadership, not Israel or the US. There was a ceasefire on October 6th. Israel didn’t break it, Hamas did. Israel has been bringing significant concessions to the negotiating table, and those concessions are being brought because of pressure from so-called “Genocide Joe”. Israel has been clear since the start that when the hostages are released, their military activities in Gaza will stop.

Today Hamas said they would not trade convicted terrorists for the innocent civilian hostages that they kidnapped, brutalized, and trafficked across an international border. They’ve been told exactly what to do to stop the deaths in Gaza. Release 130 civilians who have been held hostage for months. That’s it. They refused. They’ve said time and time again that the second the opportunity presents itself, they’ll repeat October 7th. How are you supposed to negotiate a ceasefire under those circumstances? What else are you supposed to do under threat of constant pogroms?

If you want peace, and you’re not getting it, stop blaming Biden. Stop blaming Israelis. At this point, don’t even fucking blame Bibi. Blame Haniyeh, blame al-Hayya, blame Mashal. They are the ones who care more about killing Jews then about saving the Palestinians they are supposed to be governing.

[cimerran-714]

Question to all those who support Palestine:

Do you admit that the incident in October was a terror attack, or do you think it's just "resistance"? Because I haven't met a single pro-Palestine supporter who has condemned Hamas terrorists killing innocent civilians (including children), and raping/murdering women.

If you don't denounce that & simply resort to blaming Israel, then yeah, you are just an anti-semite.

Including if you deny that something like this never happened, by the way. There's a lot of evidence staring at you in the eyes.

[matan4il]

911 ep 702 first watch reactions

Man, IDK. Maybe I shouldn't be writing about this. I'm an Israeli. I'm currently living a continuous trauma. The end of 701 already felt a bit difficult for me. The start of 702 was even more so. And maybe I don't have the right to speak about this, being Israeli and watching a show that is American.

But then I think... yeah, it's an American show, but it is made knowing it will be aired internationally, including in Israel. It's an American show, and plenty of American Jews have family and friends in Israel, maybe they had a similar reaction to mine. It's an American show, and I am not American, I am probably not someone they keep in mind when they make it, but I am a human being, and as such, I have the right to share my experience. Even if it is unique, and not one single other viewer felt the way I did when watching 702, even if no one else reads or gets this. We are all valid as human beings, with our unique experiences, and that does include me.

It was hard for me, seeing civilians being held hostage at gun point, when 134 of our hostages are still kept in captivity, and when I heard so many testimonies from people about the many hours they spent staring down the barrel of a gun, or being under siege.

It was hard seeing people made to kneel with rifles pointed at their heads, then Norman, a character we've gotten to know more than the average vic on this show, being shot. There's a specific vid from Oct 7 that this made me think of. It was CCTV footage, showing a girl who was fleeing Hamas terrorists, and they ended up with one catching up to her, she was on her knees, the terrorist was aiming his rifle at her head, and she was begging for her life. He let her go on like that for several long and excruciating to watch seconds, where it was like... maybe it won't happen, maybe he won't shoot. Then he shot her anyway, and her body fell back from the impact of the shot, and then to the ground.

It was hard seeing Hen's decision in the field being questioned, by others and at times herself, while thinking of all the soldiers and commanders who are being questioned, and are questioning themselves, on whether they made the right calls on the day of Hamas' massacre, and the days leading up to it, which enabled the brutal, torturous murder of so many. I've even seen civilians do that, like Rami Davidian, who's being interviewed by many for being a hero, driving into the scene of carnage repeatedly to save others, most of them strangers, and at least once I heard him saying he feels guilty and sorry for all the people he failed to save.

It was hard watching Bobby and Athena saying their last goodbye to each other, when I have spent almost half a year listening to people sharing their last conversations with their loved ones, and watching too many saying their last goodbye at funerals. I just recently wrote about Libby Cohen Meguri's last phone call to her family, when she had already been shot, and all she wanted was to tell them that she loves them, but her mom was too in denial.

I feel like I should say something about the storytelling, about how great the show is again, how this is a multi-ep disaster done right, with the correct balance between the regular emergencies, the big one, and the personal lives of our protagonists with their familial love for each other, with a great build up, both from one ep to the next, and within the eps themselves... A part of me does notice and is happy about that.

But most of me just can't. That's trauma for you, I guess. And to borrow the words of one Eddie Diaz, I'm scared that I will never feel normal again.

[depressedgarbages-stuff]

All posts of the situation of 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 I saw today (Wed, Apr 24.):

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/748203339992481792/graffiti-spotted-in-quebec-city?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/the-lady-maddy/746583699892666368?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/747854223816966145/the-destruction-of-gaza-by-usa-weapons?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/748204492863995904/if-you-dont-like-graffiti-look-away-like-you-do?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/depressedgarbages-stuff/748588586030497792/all-posts-of-the-situation-of-i?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/i-am-aprl/746168816210444288/this-is-the-last-memory-she-will-have-of-them-we?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/748622707350011904/free-palestine-death-2-us-imperialism-seen-in?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/tamarrud/747842227970228224/the-fact-there-are-mass-graves-being-discovered-at?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/the-bastard-king/745992305559879680/so-even-if-you-think-it-isnt-enough-remember?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/good-old-gossip/747202677764669440/at-the-same-time-allegations-involving?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/thekeypa/748713116812066816/you-can-not-bomb-your-way-to-peace-and-peace-is?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/deadespeon/748713054089445376/i-want-to-do-a-donation-i-dont-know-how-much-i?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fuzzythememe/748712806889717760/donate-to-help-ali-and-his-family-to-get-out-of?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/soon-palestine/748712321894006784/us-refuses-to-back-un-calls-for-probe-into?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/zarathelonewolf/748711797359575040/today-is-an-important-day-today-79-years-ago?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/soon-palestine/748712183432658944?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/thebusylilbee/748711317948497920/oh-my-fucking-god-im-listening-to-a-jewish-lawyer?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/furrysinthematrix/748711115101487104/moroccan-drug-dealers-refuse-to-sell-to-israeli?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fuckyeah-bears/748711306410000384/is-it-really-any-wonder-that-people-who-support?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748711113378660352/this-is-why-they-really-want-to-ban-tiktok?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748711038961205248?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/ryuu-from-the-grave/748710814961270784/liar-liar-pants-on-fire-hope-hes-found-hanging?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748710214339035136/united-states-israel-would-call-this-kid-a?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748710141885579264?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sevenoctober7/748709757321347072/the-us-is-turning-into-a-mini-israel-idf-usually?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/the-secret-garden1/748709618656722944/palestine-update-day-200-of-the-genocide-this?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748709629501046784/ex-israeli-pilot-our-army-is-a-terrorist?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/lunarr-stuff/748709101297696768/the-bulldozer-kept-coming-a-girl-stares-down?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/slavacocaine/748709536464093184/the-head-of-the-hamas-politburo-ismail-haniyeh?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/wearemerelyplayers/748709462800498688/hello-there-my-family-needs-to-leave-gaza-out-of?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/forthesakeofthefuture/748709005657014272/certain-people-tell-you-to-not-believe-terrorists?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/redvelvetwishtree/748708913758814208/hello-there-im-sorry-if-i-am-bothering-you-but-i?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/twst-charity/748708895247171584/some-updates-about-the-protests-and-subsequent?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fullmetal-angelgrace/748708414729945088/cal-poly-humboldt-april-24th-2024?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/noctomania/748708545812463616/fuck-yes?source=share

[beardedmrbean]

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, fired back at pro-Palestinian protesters of Israel's war in Gaza as they interrupted her speech during a Wednesday night campaign rally in Detroit.

"You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking," Harris said with a long stare, drawing loud cheers from supporters in the crowd before chants of, "Not going back!"

The exchange was a reminder of the lingering divisions among Democrats over the war in the Middle East that pose challenges for Harris in her race against former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

As Harris spoke, a group of protesters interrupted the vice president about halfway through her remarks: "Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide! We won’t vote for genocide,” they shouted.

Harris initially responded: “I’m here because I believe in democracy. I believe everyone’s voice matters. But I’m speaking now. I am speaking now." But the interruptions continued as Harris tried to discuss the ramifications of a second Trump presidency.

More than 15,000 people attended the Harris rally held at a Detroit airport hangar with Air Force Two in the background − the type of campaign setting Trump has made a staple during his three runs for president.

It was the largest rally yet for the still-young Harris campaign as she conducts a multi-state blitz with her new running-mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, this week.

Throughout the year, protesters have regularly followed President Joe Biden at his public events but the demonstrations have been less of a reoccurrence for Harris, who launched her campaign after Biden dropped out of the race July 21.

Pro-Gaza group seeks meeting with Harris to push demands

Dearborn, Michigan outside of Detroit is home to a large Arab American and Muslim population that has criticized the Biden administration's support for Israel's war against Hamas following the militant group's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

In Michigan's Democratic primary in February, a majority of primary voters in Dearborn, 57%, chose "uncommitted" over Biden in a protest over his position on Israel's war in Gaza.

Before the rally started, two members of the Pro-Palestinian group "Uncommitted" − co-founders Layla Elabed and Abbas Alawieh − said they spoke briefly with Harris and Walz as they took photos and shook hands with supporters. They asked for a formal meeting with Harris to discuss their demands, which include a U.S. arms embargo in Israel and a permanent Gaza cease-fire, and said Harris "expressed an openness to a meeting."

“Since October 7, the Vice President has prioritized engaging with Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian community members and others regarding the war in Gaza," Harris campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said in a statement. "In this brief engagement, she reaffirmed that her campaign will continue to engage with those communities."

Hitt reiterated Harris' long-held position on the war in Gaza. "The Vice President has been clear: she will always work to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups."

She added that Harris is "focused on securing the ceasefire and hostage deal currently on the table. As she has said, it is time for this war to end in a way where: Israel is secure, hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”

Michigan, with 15 electoral votes up for grabs, is a critical battleground state that Biden carried in 2020 en route to his election victory over Trump.

Although Harris, like Biden, has remained steadfast in her backing of Israel, she helped take the lead in the administration's criticism of Israel for the number of Palestinian casualties in Gaza. "Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed," Harris said last December. “Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating."

Harris last month told reporters, "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent."

[eretzyisrael]

by Suzanne Downing

In an era marked by women’s rights militancy, a deafening silence looms over the savage atrocities experienced by Jewish women and girls at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

The United Nations commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Saturday, while a blatant contradiction stared the world right in the face: The systemic rape and murder of Israeli women and children by Hamas terrorists, in what appears to have been a preplanned part of the terror campaign launched by Hamas on Oct. 7.

The systematic dehumanization of Jewish women and children challenges the selective activism that plagues the global women’s rights network. The failure to even acknowledge these war crimes contrasts with the movement’s relentlessly shrill stance on other women’s issues. Whatever happened to “Believe All Women”? (RELATED: BRYAN LEIB: The World Is On Fire And Biden’s Spineless Foreign Policy Isn’t Helping)

Do the women’s organizations not believe the account of a survivor, who hid during the Oct. 7 raid on Israel, but could see from her hiding place a girl who had been captured and was being passed from Palestinian to Palestinian terrorist, who took turns defiling her?

“As I am hiding, I see in the corner of my eye that [a terrorist] is raping her,” the witness recounted to Times of Israel. “They bent her over and I realized they were raping her and simply passing her on to the next [terrorist],” the woman recounted. Her story is not isolated.

Such accounts should catalyze immediate outrage and action, from the White House to the United Nations, yet there remains a baffling silence, a betrayal of the very principles that women’s rights movements say they believe.

On Oct. 13, even though the torture of Jewish women had already been documented, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres equated Hamas’s brutalities with Israel’s self-defense.

Guterres said of the situation in Gaza that Hamas had killed more than 1,200 people and injured thousands, but, on the other hand, Israel had killed 1,800 people in response and injured thousands. He went on to say that Israel was being unreasonable to call on Palestinians in Gaza City to move to the south of the territory within 24 hours.

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Jews are now afraid to walk about freely in London. This isn't just an effect of the miltant, pro-terrorist Palestinian cause; it's an effect of dramatic immigration into the capital city.

We allowed millions in, without checking whether the numbers were reasonable, and more importantly, without checking whether these people would be able to live within British societal norms.

The long-term result of this madness has been the nurturing of anti-British factions who feel totally empowered to abuse our civilisation and democracy in order to intimidate, coerce, and threaten other British people into supporting a jihadist agenda.

These pro-Palestinian protesters aren't interested in human rights, else they would have called for Hamas to be added to the international terrorist list and demanded the prosecution of its terrorists for October 7 before criticising anything Israel did in response.

Their call for a ceasefire is inane, seeing as Hamas had a ceasefire in operation from around April 2023 to October 2023. Hamas chose to violate this ceasefire not with its customary rocket attacks, but with the most savage attack on Jews since Hitler's Holocaust.

Therefore, these pontificating mobs have zero evidence that Hamas would adhere to any further ceasefire. They're also deliberately ignoring Hamas' open theft of the humanitarian aid that they so foolishly believe is going directly to Palestinian civilians.

More importantly, pro-Palestinian protesters are deliberately ignoring the fact that a substantial number of Palestinian civilians are on video participating in the October 7 terrorist attack, celebrating it, supporting Hamas even more since the attack, and therefore being incited enough to commit further terror attacks should they be given the opportunity.

This destroys their narrative of Israel heartlessly killing innocent civilians, which is nothing more than a blood libel copied and pasted from the Middle Ages.

These inconvenient realities expose the fact that the Palestinian cause is part of the wider Islamist jihadist agenda, which has always prioritised extermination of the Jews to win victory for the Muslims, followed by conquering and destroying Western civilisation. This is why Palestinian clerics repeat the same calls to terrorism and genocide heard by Islamic terrorists in al-Qaeda, Islamic State, the Taliban, the Ayatollah's regime, and others.

In fact, Hamas didn't even use a Palestinian state as the official justification for their attack (contrary to the false claims made by venal terror apologists like Francesca Albanese), but the al-Aqsa mosque.

The few people in Britain who are familiar with Middle Eastern history will understand the significance of this claim, for it was in 1929 that the Arabs launched an especially murderous riot against the Jews, based on whipping up hysteria over Jews 'attacking' the al-Aqsa mosque.

Israel hadn't been rebuilt then, so how do pro-Palestinian terror apologists like Francesca Albanese explain the exact same rationale being used to motivate anti-Jewish attacks in the 20s and 30s, and now?

Islamic terrorism, built on its concept of jihad, is the issue here. Not the lack of a Palestinian state. If the Palestinians were so concerned about obtaining statehood, they 1)-would have accepted the many propositions for one during the last 70 years, and 2)- wouldn't have committed a terror attack so heinous that almost all Israelis now permanently oppose a Palestinian state, including Israelis who openly supported one beforehand.

It is through wild, reckless immigration policies that Britain has imported teeming masses of people who hate this country and want it subverted through aggressive and even terrorist means.

Nobody dares to point this out in public. But the truth is staring everyone in the face, and it won't go away.

[ltghosty]

Stone cold (Simon "Ghost" Riley ﾒ John "Soap" MacTavish)

A/N: this is my first fanfic like ever, hope you enjoy it :)

Summary: Soap loses himself to the job and Ghost realizes he had taken his training too far

Inspired by this edit: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMF3PAjMn/ + the comments

Warning: blood, murder, cursing, angst, cold-hearted Soap

Wordcount: 3.7k

"What now, Lt.? I'm not Johnny anymore?"

Everything was pitch black in the room. The air was dusty and warm around the man who was tied to the chair. His sweat was mixed with his blood and tears as he fought for air. He had completely lost track of his time.

One minute they were winning the battle, in the next moment brought miserable pain as bombs tore the ground and the buildings apart. The screams were still echoing in his head.

He could still feel the smoke in his nose and see the sparks blinding his eyes before a skull face appeared in his sight and everything went dark.

He knew what was waiting for him, it was only a matter of time before his fate would reach him. The only thought that kept him sane and hold onto life was his daughter. He didn’t want to work under the hands of a terrorist but sometimes life didn’t give much of a choice.

In order to save his daughter and to provide for her safety, he couldn’t do anything but do as he was told. He didn’t want to be a bad person, he wanted to be a good father and a great role model for his daughter who was too young to understand his position and fear.

He was debating whether to tell the team anything that captured him. He knew Elazar Gavrilov would kill him if he’d say a word but he also knew that he couldn’t let his daughter be in danger. If Elazar would be captured then what would it matter anyway?

The door creaked painfully as it was pulled open. The light sneaking into the lifeless room was so bright that the tied man had to turn his head away.

Ghost’s heavy steps could be heard as he was pulling a chair behind himself. He was still as a rock and silent. His dead glare let the prisoner know that he didn’t come here to chat.

Ghost breathed as he dropped himself down, his legs spreading as he leaned forward. The light behind him made him look like the messenger of death.

”I hope you’ve had enough time alone in here to think about what happens next, Nakar.” Ghost’s raspy voice cut through the silence like a knife.

Nakar stared into the dark eyes of the soldier who looked intimidating and terrifying even when he was sitting. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that if somehow he’d break free, he wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

”What do you want?” Nakar asked, his mouth dry.

Ghost lingered his gaze on the prisoner before leaning back so casually that it was more than scary.

”I want to know where Elazar is,” Ghost ordered, his voice cold.

Nakar felt his shoulders tense, he truly didn’t know where the terrorist was and the hardest part about it was making him believe that he was telling the truth.

Ghost was ready to spend the whole day in this room, this wasn’t the first or the last time he’d have to investigate someone but sometimes his patience was too thin.

Like now. Right before the explosion happened, he ordered Soap to take down the snipers which ended in Soap detonating a car nearby.

Ghost was furious that Soap disobeyed him like that. John MacTavish had never been the kind of person to break the rules or turn against his lieutenant.

But lately, something was different about Soap. At first, Ghost had thought that he was overthinking the sergeant’s change of heart but the more time he had spent with him, the more obvious it all became.

Soap cracked fewer jokes than usual, that was the first thing everyone noticed. There was even a time when he scolded Gaz for being too sarcastic during a mission before they were sent to Israel to eliminate Elazar.

Ghost wished that he had seen the signs of Soap turning into something that he never wanted to be.

First, the mood changes and all the stoic glares he was giving everyone, now the detonation that was his own choice.

When he confronted Soap about his actions, Soap just told Ghost that they couldn’t let anyone away, so he had to make sure that the building was cleared.

It was such a short-temperated answer from someone like Soap that Ghost felt uneasy whenever they were in each other’s presence since then. It wasn’t a sight he wished to see, an old teammate, a friend, losing himself to the job, forgetting that he used to have a heart.

Ghost thought how ironic his mind became now. Years ago he wouldn’t even acknowledge Soap more than just a sergeant. He hated to admit but something changed when they were betrayed by Graves and Shepherd.

He could still remember how scared and worried he was for Johnny when he got shot and didn’t answer his calls right away. That night changed Ghost forever. He still didn’t show his feelings but Johnny taught him that it wasn’t wrong to accept them.

Just as Ghost cleared his mind from his puzzled thoughts, he heard someone approaching the door. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Soap’s familiar posture blocking the light.

”I don’t know.”

Soap let out a tired sigh and crossed his arms over his gear.

”It’s always fascinating to see how people forget everything all of a sudden when they are faced with the threat itself.” Soap’s voice echoed through the small room.

Nakar’s bloodshot eyes found Soap standing behind Ghost’s still body. Looking at the two soldiers, he couldn’t help but think of them as the devil and his right hand.

”I’m telling the truth,” Nakar’s voice was shaky. He didn’t want to die, especially as a monster.

”Aye, of course,” Soap was losing his patience already.

Nakar took a painful breath.

”I swear, I didn’t want any of this to happen,” Nakar pleaded, panic taking over his fractured body.

Ghost examined the bloodstains and the dark circles under his eyes. They didn’t touch him at all, just locked him up until they secured the buildings nearby. It looked like Nakar has already had several injuries before the explosion.

Possible scenarios ran through the lieutenant’s mind. Working with Task Force 141 for many years now, he had learned how to read the body language or to find the truth in a single side glance from a person they had captured.

He made a statement that Nakar must have been forced to join the terrorist or was just a really good actor.

It would only take him a few seconds to find out which one was true anyway.

”I swear, they only told us to take over and shoot everyone on sight.”

”Even the civils,” Soap added with a stoic face.

Nakar stayed silent, sadness shooting through his chest now that he had come to the realization that he would probably never see his daughter again.

”They escorted Elazar somewhere else, we were left here to fight back.”

Soap clicked his tongue. ”You really think that we’d believe that you were left here to be the decoy of your leader?”

The colors of Nakar’s face disappeared.

”I didn’t want any of this, I didn’t have a choice.”

”Clatty,” Soap murmured before pushing himself away from the wall, and heading to the prisoner. ”You dare play the fucking victim after you killed how many men?”

Nakar shook his head, flinching in pain. ”I wish I could go back but I know I can’t…”

”You know how many men I killed?” Soap leaned down, glaring at the man. ”To be honest, I don’t even know the number but I’m sure I can decorate this fucking town with all the bodies that I’ve left behind. All of them unlawful pieces of shit just like you.”

Ghost felt something change in the air. Soap’s voice was dripping from venom and anger.

”Please… They have my daughter, they didn’t give me a choice, I had to do what Elazar ordered us to do.” Nakar became more and more desperate.

Ghost noticed the familiar spark in Nakar’s eyes. The desperation that no one could fake, the real terror hiding in those tired irises of a man who wasn’t begging for his life but for his daughter. His family.

Ghost thought about how different Nakar and his father were. While Nakar was the definition of someone trying to be the savior of his child, Ghost’s father was the one that always made others terrified. He remembered how hard he could breathe when his father approached him or dragged him somewhere. How fast his heart was ready to break through his ribcage when he saw the storm of rage in that man’s eyes. The pieces of his childhood started to linger in front of his eyes, causing him to close them for a brief moment.

Ghost knew Nakar was telling the truth and that he was just another victim, being dropped to the bottom of this ladder, and being forced to do horrible things so that his leader wouldn’t get blood on his hands.

Soap let out a dry laugh that sounded empty even for Ghost’s liking.

”And now you have a daughter?” Soap repeated. ”That’s just even better.”

”Look at my wallet then,” Nakar kept trying to hold into the thin piece of hope that was left in his body.

Soap looked down at Ghost who didn’t say anything then stepped over to the chair and searched Nakar’s dirty pockets.

Ghost tried to ignore the pleading stare that Nakar was giving him as Soap received his wallet and flipped it open.

”There is no guarantee that this is your wallet or your daughter, pal.” Soap said after a few moments of silence.

Nakar’s eyes perfectly mirrored his inner breakdown.

”I’ll do anything…”

”He asked you where Elazar was,” Soap nodded toward Ghost. ”And I didn’t hear you giving him an answer.”

”I’d tell you if I knew, I swear,” Nakar said with fear in his eyes. ”I swear, I don’t know anything…”

Soap dropped the wallet to the concrete and grabbed his knife. Hearing the sharpness of the blade breaking free made Ghost alert.

”Soap…” Ghost said in a warning tone but Soap didn’t even hear him or just didn’t want to.

”Now, you either will tell us everything or…” Soap lowered his tone and pressed the blade against Nakar’s bruised neck.

Nakar held his breath back as Soap walked behind him, positioning his arm above his chest.

”I don’t know anything… I just want my daughter safe… I swear…”

The shakiness in his voice annoyed Soap while Ghost stood up from his seat.

”That’s enough, Sergeant.”

Soap gave Ghost a glare that burnt every bridge down that had ever connected the two men to each other. That was when Ghost realized that Johnny was gone.

The man who was glaring at him was just an empty memory of the sergeant. They had the same face and voice but they were two people.

”We have a mission to finish, Lt.”

”And I’m your lieutenant in case you forgot.” Ghost said in a cold tone, returning to his old, distant state that he used to love so much. It kept him covered and no one dared say a word to him.

”Where is the next target?” Soap whispered, his eyes still glaring at Ghost.

Nakar hissed as the blade deepened in his skin, leaving a few drops of blood behind. ”They didn’t tell us anything. The other team was headed north, that’s all we know. We were told to stay behind and hold our backs against the special forces.”

Soap’s eyes were hazed by many thoughts that crossed his mind. Ghost never expected to not be able to read him like a book, like he always had.

”Please, let me go. I told you everything I know.” Nakar begged tears prickling in his eyes. ”My daughter needs me, I have to save her.”

Soap let go of the man, leaving him to breathe in relief. Ghost watched Soap carefully, getting ready to intervene if shit hit the fan.

”Kids got to learn the hard way that life isn’t fair…” Soap grumbled so low that at first Ghost couldn’t even hear him.

Then with one fast movement, he turned back while his arm was already lifted and sliced the blade into Nakar’s throat. Nakar’s eyes widened as blood flew down Soap’s hand and his knife.

Ghost turned away with a scoff as he heard Nakar drown in his own blood before his head dropped. It wasn’t the blood or the sight of a dead body that made him turn away, it was the fact that this person whom Soap just killed wasn’t fully evil.

Yes, Nakar wasn’t innocent but there was a difference between someone who wanted to build a throne of bodies and someone who was blackmailed to do something to keep his daughter alive.

Johnny would have never done something like this. He would be sick if he saw what he has turned into.

The most scarring about it was the fact that in the beginning Ghost had thought that he’d be the one ending up like this. Forgetting whom he was, turning into a killing machine.

Witnessing the downfall of someone who was close to him made him a complete wreck.

”What? Elazar would have killed him anyway.” Soap wiped the blood off his knife.

”I know.” Ghost said even though he wished there was something he could bring up. Those people who were captured by them and then released after interrogation were always killed by their leaders. They wouldn’t have believed that they didn’t say anything.

They knew that they must have said something if they were released later. And none of them was the forgiving type.

Soap put his knife away and walked out. It didn’t take long for Ghost to hurry after him, walking out of the sieged building, under the cloudy sky.

”We have to go north, that’s our best shot, Lt.” Soap breathed as he stared into the distance.

How did we get here? Ghost wondered while looking at the sergeant who was nothing like the annoying but fierce young man he got to know many years ago.

”You’re not coming with us.” Ghost said, holding back his frustration.

Soap furrowed his eyebrows and turned back to Ghost who didn’t move an inch. Disbelief took over the Scottish man’s features that slowly turned into anger.

”What is the craic?”

”Stop with your stupid Scottish phrases, MacTavish. I’ve had enough of your shit.” Ghost’s voice shook his chest.

”Why? Because I’m doing my job?” Soap asked sharply.

”Because you don’t take orders.” Ghost answered without hesitation.

Soap took a deep breath. ”We are at war, Lt. There is no time to fuck around.”

”You think that I’m giving you orders because I want to fuck around?” Ghost narrowed his eyes.

Soap huffed. ”I mean, sometimes there is just no time to think things through. We have to act before it’s too late.”

Ghost didn’t want to believe what he has just heard. ”Improvisation and recklessness won’t get you anywhere but to the nearest graveyard, Sergeant.”

Soap didn’t want to hear anything Ghost was about to say. He didn’t want to be lectured like a kid, those years belonged to the past.

”You’re cutting me out because I got the information we need?” Soap pointed to his chest. ”Are you sure you are the right person to be a lieutenant? You are not the same, Ghost.”

”Neither are you.” Ghost replied, ignoring his attempt to make him doubt his position.

Soap spread his arms. ”Well, I hate to break it to you but this is what happens with soldiers like us. We fight and die for other people and yes, it might be a fucking surprise, but it changes people.”

Ghost knew that PTSD was one hell of an inner demon for soldiers, crawling through their bodies and occupying their minds, leaving nothing but dark and disturbing thoughts behind but Soap was too far gone on that track.

”You made me like this, Lt.” Soap lowered his tone and something shifted in Ghost’s chest. Perhaps it could be his heart tightening at the thought of being the reason for Soap’s coldness.

”Me?” Ghost echoed and stepped closer, his body tensing under his gear and guns. ”I trained you to…”

”To be a fucking soldier, to be someone who wouldn’t get taken down so easily, you taught me everything you knew about combat and even showed me your guerilla tactics.” Soap finished.

Ghost couldn’t say anything for a moment because everything that Soap said was right. He trained him to be the best soldier because he didn’t want to relive the kind of fear and worry that cut into his heart when Soap was shot and wandered alone on the streets of Las Almas or when Hassan had got his hands on him.

Ghost wanted to make sure nothing like that happens ever again.

”I told you you wanted to be better than me.” Ghost said, remembering his advice from those times. ”But that didn’t mean that you can go running around, ignoring my orders just because you think you are so fucking smart. You seem to forget who is superior from the two of us.”

Soap wanted to say so many things, his eyes gave his irritation away but also there was something else hiding in him as Ghost reminded him of where they have come from.

”So, what, that is it?” Soap asked. ”You’re going to send me away for becoming someone who you always wanted me to be?”

”I wanted you to be a better man than I ever could be.” Ghost raised his voice as he was losing his patience. ”But now you are—”

”What?” Soap snapped. ”Am I what, Lt.?”

Ghost debated whether he should say what has come into his mind.

”You are stone cold, John.” Ghost said quietly.

Soap’s face flinched just a little, both because of Ghost’s words and the name he just called him. A haunting, sad but bitter smile made its way to the sergeant’s lips.

”Oh what now, Lt.? I’m not Johnny anymore?” Soap’s words were a mixture of sadness and disappointment.

Ghost’s heart ached at Soap’s question. He hated to admit that he missed Johnny, his annoying Scottish phrases, and unnecessary side remarks. Without them, the missions were all gray and silent. Too silent.

It was sad how much Johnny used to annoy Ghost, then fight for a place in the lieutenant’s heart but now the man standing in front of Simon Riley wasn’t Johnny anymore. Only a small piece of him. Something that Johnny needed to survive but in the end, it took control over him.

Like an unstoppable hurricane, memories attacked the fragmented and crowded mind in Simon’s head. He couldn’t help but dwell a little on how different Johnny was in the beginning.

”Let’s get ourselves a win, yeah, Lt.? Save ya a seat, sir.”

”If you have a shot, take it.”

”You called it, Lt.”

”You have a heart?”

”A cold one.”

”If he barks, shoot him and repo quickly- Don't get compromised...”

”You’re stone cold, Simon.”

”Be careful who you trust, Sergeant. People you know can hurt you the most.”

”Good advice, Lt. I wanna be like you when I grow up.”

”You wanna be better than me, Johnny.”

”I will be.”

”Good man.”

”All right, Johnny… You made it.”

”We made it, Lt.”

”And that’s why I love the Ghost.”

”Perfect shot, Lt.”

”You called it, Sergeant.”

He couldn’t expect any of his team to not change despite all the terror and horror they have seen and been through but facing his worst nightmare was leaving a suffocating feeling inside him.

Ghost wished every day that he would never see someone ending up like his father. Cold-hearted, heartless, and full of anger for the world.

But now as he was looking at Soap, he felt his stomach turn in a nervous way which was a rare reaction from him. He didn’t like what he was seeing, he didn’t want to face whom Johnny had become under his watch.

Was he right? Did Ghost make him into this heartless monster? Someone who would kill a family man without any guilt or remorse?

”You were right, Simon.” Soap continued. ”Feelings only make things worse. There is no use for them.”

Ghost wished he had never said anything like this. He wished he wasn’t that firm, beating the thought into Soap’s head.

He had taken Soap’s training too far. He focused so much on helping Johnny become the best version of himself that he didn't realize he was pushing his feelings into a deep black hole. Yes, feelings would only hold a soldier back but they also made them human.

And for the first time in his life, he was praying in silence that somehow things would go back to how they used to be.

”There is no room for feelings on the field, Simon.” Soap said and bumped his fist against Simon’s chest. ”Thank you for teaching me that.”

Ghost watched Soap leave while a million thoughts crossed his mind. His throat tightened as his gaze lingered on the man who used to bring light and joy into his life.

Johnny MacTavish broke down the wall that he had spent so much time pulling up just to isolate himself from people. And now he was the one pulling one up between them, pushing Simon away.

Ghost’s anger was long gone, instead, sorrow took over his body. Sorrow for the close bond he used to have with Johnny. Then it turned into guilt. Guilt for his friend who became a cold man because of him and only him.

It was his fault that Soap ended up like this and to hell with him if Simon Riley will not going to try to drag Johnny out of the darkness and remind him who he was.

It will be hard as hell because Soap was already losing his patience with him but Johnny didn’t give up back then trying to remind Ghost that he had a heart. Now Ghost wouldn’t give up either. He couldn't.

He was the reason darkness extended in the sergeant that consumed his heart and now it was time to chase the shadows away. He had to fix this. He will fix this.

[israeli-hasbara]

Apparently, the Antisemites Are Justifying 9/11

For those who don't know, they found Bin Laden's letter to America, where he states that the US's support of Israel was a reason to his horrific terrorist attack.

I just keep imagening how they came to defending 9/11.

I just keep imagening them a group of influencers going through their checklist of of atrocities to defend, realizing they've run out. They gathered to eat pearl couscous and discuss new ways to fear monger Jews. However, the more they brain-stormed, the clearer it became that they've done everything. They justified their mass r*pe, burning down their houses, their kidnaps even when it's directed at babies. Hopeless, they were done eating and went on their way while taking down "kidnapped" posters.

But before they could separate, they heard a drunk, poorly clothed individual mumbling loudly "7/11 is oka—🤢 7—🤢 because the letter—🤢 it was the Je—". As he puked all over himself and choked on his own filth, they stared at each other, knowing exactly what to do.

[apollo-enthusiast]

Come to Israel, Greta, and tell the world what you saw

A translated letter to Greta Tunberg

Shaked Shefi Cohen, ynet article - translation

Hello Greta,

We don't know each other personally, but we both share the same ideology - or at least we did until a moment ago. My name is Shaked Shefi Cohen and I'm the mother of Ya'ar Rei, who will celebrate in two weeks his fourth birthday, married to Roni and a member of Kibbutz Nir Am, in the Gaza Envelope. Neighbour of Hamas and the people you support on one side, and of the "colonizing" city Sderot on the other.

In routine times I work around the clock as VP of the Israeli Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, promoting the agendas you know and lead closely for years, around the important and righteous environmental struggle. But today I'm nothing more than a tried mother, a refugee in my homeland, homeless, without security and without air, trying to protect, physically and mentally, my family and myself from the chaos we live in.

For two weeks I've been dead - alive. A zombie among other zombies. Alone among hundreds of dear people. More horror stories. More missing, more murdered, more funerals. More hollow stares. More helplessness. There is nothing. Not words. Not emotion. Not tears. Nothing. Only numbers: over 100 missing, 203 kidnapped - among them about 30 children and about 20 elderly, 301 injured, and about 1400 murdered - most of them friends and colleagues, from the community I live in. Their overwhelming majority - civilians.

Shaked and Ya'ar, two days before the war.

I read your words, and the empathy you showed to Gaza and Hamas, and I have no anger, I really don't. Only deep sorrow and pity. Pity for the painful blindness you and many and good like you sin in. A blindness that comes from a lack of knowledge and relying on media that is incorrect, misleading, inciting and most of all - violent and based on political and economical motives.

I, unfortunately, don't have to read the newspapers or listen to the news, and don't have to check the facts, because I was there and saw for myself. What I haven't experienced, dear brothers and sisters did, who are still experiencing 24/7 of war and trauma that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

This time the siren didn't stop

Let me tell you where I was on Saturday the 7th of October 2023 at 6:29 in the morning and for the next 17 hours after that damn time, while you were in a safe place and your and your darlings' lives weren't in existential peril.

I woke up to the sound of the "red alert" siren. These two words are very familiar to us, residents of the Envelope; we get "drippings" of rockets as a matter of routine. We're "used" to it. The siren in the Envelope is similar to the one in the rest of the state, only shorter - 8 seconds pass from the moment it sounds until the moment the rockets start - rockets who don't tell apart soldiers, women, babies and the elderly. Rockets that are just shot randomly to murder and create terrorism and horror on my "side".

During this time, of the "red alert", we have to go into the saferoom - the Mamad. We must. I invite you to wake up from your sleep, take the little kid lying down next to you in your arms, and run to a different room in your house. Actually, I'll save you the attempt - it's not possible.

That's how our morning started on October 7th. Very stressful, but we still had hope that in a moment the Iron Dome system will intercept the rockets - not a great wake up call, but we'll continue soon. Only this time the siren didn't stop. In less than an hour hundreds of rockets and PMR bombs were launched at us. Hundreds. At the same time there were gunshots. Lots of gunshots. We got a chilling message from the Kibbutz's emergency team: "there is a penetration of terrorists, lock yourselves in your homes". And a power outage. No communication. No internet. Long hours alone. No protection. No army. Cut off. The saferoom's door doesn't lock from the inside. So we held it. For many hours. Helpless. In the meantime, a strong scent of burning came from under the door. Roni and I looked at each other terrified and realised - this Saturday we could end dead.

How could I lie to my child?

I'll cut it short for you and reach the end, or actually the middle of this nightmare, I'll get to the here and now that has long lost grasp of time: my family and I got out of the inferno. We are no longer locked in the saferoom between non stopping sirens, gunshots, explosions, smoke and a child that holds my shaking hand too tightly. "Mommy and daddy are here with you. Everything's okay. Everything's alright".

I'm no longer peeking between the shutters to check if the army finally arrived or if the Kibbutz and we are under the control of terrorists. We're no longer running away amidst volleys of Kassam rockets, burnt cars, the bodies of innocents in the middle of the road and pulled out guns, just not to wake up in the morning kidnapped. Fear. Freezing fear. Driving with the foot stepped down on the gas all the way. Flying through. Terrified. The sky on fire.

We survived, what a "miracle". But the guilt over staying alive is unrelenting. And we're not alive. Everything loses meaning. The security is lost. There is nothing. And around us the inferno in all it's ugliness.

I'm waiting to wake up from this nightmare, sweating, with a face washed by tears, waiting to understand that I had a bad dream again. To breathe out the horrible scenario I hallucinated and to hear - "Come on Shakshuk, you and your imagination. There are some things that just can't happen. Relax".

To wake up, look aside and see Roni and Ya'ar sleeping peacefully near me in bed. To drink some water, to relax, to go back to sleep. In the house we had, in Nir Am. In the place I promised everyone and myself that is 99% heaven and 1% hell. When it's hell it's a little harder, but you air out for a few days or weeks in a different place, and it passed. And you go back to routine. And reality is stronger than everything. Reality is stronger than everything.

And instead of that, my kingdom, our, became 100% hell overnight. The ground disappeared. And still.

How could I (and we) look into my child's eyes again and repeat the mantra: "when daddy and mommy are near you you're always safe. You don't need to be scared of anything, we're watching over you. Always."

How do we now mediate to our nestlings this reality that is no longer stronger than everything. The crumbling reality. We are crumbling. How do we defend them from finding out we lied, that we were lied to. Where do you find the strength to keep lying?

Dancing on the wrong side of the fence

And at the same time that we were besieged in our home, while outside there were battles of terrorists against civilians from the ground and from the sky, when we didn't know if we'd die, be kidnapped or get out of this alive and scarred - other friends of ours were slaughtered , raped and murdered in front of their partners; along with the kids, babies burnt with their hands tied. Bodies that no one can identify because there aren't enough organs left.

Livnat Kotz (Z"L), a beloved colleague from my previous workplace, that led the craft house in the regional council Shaar Hanegev, was an artist and an entrepreneur, and among the rest "one of ours" - that separates and recycles bottles. She lied down hugged in the same bed with her husband and their three children when terrorists tried to break down the saferoom's door in their house in Kibbutz Kfra Azza. The terrorists didn't succeed, so they set the house on fire and burned them alive.

At the same time, Yuval Solomon Z"L, a full of life young man who celebrated his birthday just a few hours prior in the "green pub" in Kibbutz Nir Am - my best friend's bar - was murdered too. Hundreds more innocents were slaughtered in the various Kibbutzim. Not only in the Kibbutzim, the big cities too. Even in a nature party. Ziv Peppa Shapira Z"L, Tammy's son, my smiling neighbour from the kibbutz was murdered too. And all his sin was to dance on the wrong side of the fence.

Come see for yourself

You of all people, Greta, who believes in human rights, that dedicate yourself to the environment and education, who's name was mentioned not once as a nominee for the nobel peace prize - you of all people must denounce Hamas, an organisation that supports the murder of innocents, including disadvantaged minorities, an organisation that committed countless rapes in a few hours, an organisation that kidnaps babies.

Many of the people slaughtered in the most horrifying ways hell has to offer were simple people, innocent, environmental activists. You'll be surprised, Greta, many of them even resist the "occupation" and fight for peace. But this time there is no place for politics, it's not right versus left, not right versus wrong - it's evil versus good. Darkness versus light.

Of you of all people, Greta, I plead to make ths distinction between the rights of those who live in Gaza or the questionable policy of the Israeli government around the Israeli Palestinian conflict - to a murderous and despicable act of a terror organisation that doesn't fall from ISIS and the Nazis, an act that continues to take victims.

Our country is bleeding. We're fighting on a number of fronts; south, east, west and east. But there is another front that will dramatically influence the lives of me and all Israelis (and yes, also the lives of the civilians in Gaza, who are living under a terror regime that threatens them and probably doesn't leave them too many choices) - the educational front. Your words, Greate, do a great damage to the state of Israel at large and the environmental movement specifically.

The area around my home is defined as closed military grounds, but in Be'eri, in Kfar Azza, in Nir Oz, in my neighbours' house, bodies are still being evacuated. I'm not allowed to go in there. You, who report to the world - are allowed.

I invite you to catch a fight to Israel, to come and visit the burnt houses. To see for yourself cut off limbs on the sides of the roads. Crushed trees. Flowers that won't bloom again. A head without a body. A shoulder. A little girl's leg. Pacifiers stained with blood. Come see for yourself. Heal the blindness. And tell the world what you saw.

Because I only saw darkness. Darkness over the abyss.

Link to the article

[fcb4]

Israel, Palestine and the Two Ravens of Odin

“Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns…” -‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭7‬:‭33‬-‭34‬ ‭

The two Ravens of the Norse God Odin are called: Hugin and Munin. The translation of these bird’s names both involve the ideas of: “thought,” “desire,” and “emotion.”

Ravens are often associated with being eaters of the dead. The unclean birds that devour the slain of battle.

A raven eating a corpse is a gruesome image. To stand and watch someone’s loved one being dismantled and consumed by black beasts is a horrific terror for the mind and heart. Yellow eyes, shrill squawking in the fields sown with hell and horror is a picture that reaches into the depths of one’s soul and unsettles and unmakes us. Our fragile worlds, without and within, are disrupted, darkened and devastated.

It is a cold and brutal reminder that war eats out mind, heart and…hope.

Death 💀 is the end of desire.

In war, all that we have hoped for in our earthly lives is savagely struck down. Dreams and visions, plans and promises ripped out of our chests and stream over the burnt earth with blood and gore.

The Raven eats the victors and the defeated alike. The flesh of soldiers and the flesh of the innocents caught between invaders and defenders.

All are food for the birds of the air and only the wise know that vengeance is not a crown of victory.

Lately I’ve been sitting with Hugin and Munin at the confessional of my soul listening to all they have seen.

Tales of Terror in:

Burma

Ukraine

Africa

and now Israel and Palestine.

I’ll never escape the image of someone’s daughter being shoved into an suv with bloodied pants from being violently raped by Hamas terrorists.

I know that more horrors are to come. Victims and victors all bloodied by the cycles of justice and injustice battering cities to ruin and rubble.

Truly the sounds of joy and gladness are silenced.

Years ago in the aftermath of an endless list of people and places ravaged by violence, I wrote a poem after trying to help my kids process the world they were becoming aware of in their young lives.

It’s a poem that will never truly be fully written because the list of events won't end until the Prince of Peace returns.

Yet again I share it here as a witness to the long defeat we all must walk until our judgments come to account.

Odin’s Eye

Last night,

after talking to you,

yet again, I wept.

Massacres, mayhem and madness,

like crows gathered above my heart.

Their twitching, golden eyes,

saw my fears openly,

pecked at my scars,

dug into my wounds,

exposing memories.

A Van Gogh slain in the streets of Amsterdam,

high school halls filled with the dead,

lady Liberty’s towers falling in fire and ash,

theaters of gunfire echoing from Colorado.

Elementary playgrounds of unimaginable horror,

nightclub music silenced in blood and tears.

Norwegian summer camp butchering,

Paris brought to her knees,

Iraq in rubble, her teashops blown open by the breath of Apollyon.

Fort Hood.

Boston,

San Francisco,

beheadings, shootings, burnings and drownings,

blood trails behind the horses of the apocalypse.

I am father,

protector, provider, way maker,

and yet,

how many demons can I swallow for you?

Two generations born,

and still the fires of gehenna

burn.

At the well of wisdom, I sit,

Odin’s eye staring back at me in the depths,

what sacrifice can I give to see a new future born?

What I have witnessed, darkens my vision.

I gouge out my eye to quench your fires,

while birds of prey feast on our sorrows,

again,

and again,

and

again.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

The attack drone that hit a school in Eilat yesterday has been determined to have been Iranian, it was launched from Syria (on Israel's north eastern border), flew through Jordan (on Israel's eastern border) in order to reach Eilat (the most southern spot in Israel) and attack there undetected.

I'm still waiting for the global outcry over the fact that Iranian and Palestinian rockets and drones are targeting Israeli hospitals (sometimes repeatedly) and schools.

Word has spread that the Abu Shaker hummus eatery in Haifa, owned by an Israeli Arab family, is being boycotted for having donated to IDF soldiers. Israelis from all over the country have been coming to the eatery, to support the family. A recent poll, conducted after the start of the war, shows 70% of Israeli Arabs identify with the State of Israel, and see its problems as theirs, too.

Antisemitic attacks continue to take place globally. Yesterday, two Jewish school were shot at in Montreal, Canada. In Los Angeles, anti-Israel protesters have attacked Jews trying to reach the Museum of Tolerance for a screening organized by Gal Gadot of some of the footage evidence of Hamas' massacre.

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Twenty four members of the US congress sent a letter to the president of UPenn to denounce the university's refusal to denounce the Hamas massacre. More and more Jewish students have been speaking up about how unsafe they feel on north American college campuses, including at Ivy League universities. Here's anti-Israel protesters referring to Concordia University in Canada, proudly cheering to the statement, "We terrified them!"

In Germany, 85 years after Kristallnacht, they projected the words "Never again is now!" in the colors of the Israeli flag. Jewish people will remember the silence of those who condoned the massacre of our people, but we will also remember those who stood by us.

Yesterday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) published a vid of two hostages, an elderly woman and a kid, 12 years old Yagel Yaacov. Once again, their texts are dictated by terrorists, so the media here is refusing to play along with this psychological warfare, and has not shown the vid. But a screenshot has been shared, showing the difference in Yagel state by comparing a pic of his from before Oct 7 (on the left) and in the vid published (on the right):

This is also a reminder that not all of the hostages were kidnapped by Hamas. While Hamas orchestrated the breach into Israel, the massacre and most of the kidnappings, other Palestinians, both terrorists and civilians, are known to have used the opportunity to infiltrate Israel, too. The PIJ terrorists are estimated to be holding at least 30 of the hostages. This makes reaching a deal that includes the release of all hostages that much harder. It's not known, but is possible, that there are others, aside from Hamas and PIJ, who are holding Israeli hostages as well.

Regarding even civilian Gazans having infiltrated Israel, as one example there's CCTV footage recovered from the entrance to kibbutz Be'eri at 12:16 on Oct 7, almost 6 hours after Hamas first tore down Israel's border fence, where you can see regular people from Gaza coming in, including even an old man with crutches:

I read an account in Hebrew by an Israeli mother of a guy who was there, during the massacre. She asked for her identity to remain anonymous. She wrote: "He's screaming every night, he calls for his friends to return, he screams that he's sorry, he stares at the sky for hours on end, he waits for them to return, my son survived, but he is not with us." Her son was one of the soldiers who fought off the terrorists on Oct 7. There are at least hundreds of Israeli soldiers currently being treating at mental health institutes after what they had witnessed during the massacre. Israel's social security estimates that there are altogether 13,000 Israelis who are being treated for mental health issues following the massacre. And that's just for the first day of the war.

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