Gaza

Eyes On the Prize

Well,

even if 

the Nobel’s

the sell,

let’s make

a deal

that’s finally

real.

No one denies

his eyes

on that prize

as a motivator

to broker

a peace

deal.

I feel 

potential relief

and cautious

belief

that the bad

guys

who strong

arm 

and justify

real harm

may begin

to end

this two-year

war.

The exchange

of each prisoner

for each hostage

remain

is the main-

stay of the 

first part 

of the deal.

The real

test for peace

in the mideast

will be in

the rest

of the 20-

point plan.

For each

Palestinian

and Israeli,

this war

has been

torture

for 2 years

daily,

while the

world

has watched

in horror,

appalled,

until the bad

guys called

for a peace plan.

I think 

of Ireland.

It seemed

unbelievable.

So too,

Palestine

and Israel.

It’s certainly

possible,

when the bad

guys

prioritize

peace,

with their

eyes 

on the prize.

Remains to be Seen

The release

of remains

was made

by Hamas

of Shiri Bibas

33,

and her sons,

Ariel 

who was 4

and Kfir 

who was

nine months old,

we are told,

at the time of their

capture.

Also released

among the dead,

was Oded 

Lifshitz, 84.

All were

taken hostage

on 

that day 

of carnage,

October 7th

2023.

Hamas maintains

that the remains

were from

them being 

killed

in Israeli

air strikes

during 

the Gaza War.

Shiri’s husband,

Yarden,

was let go

a few weeks

ago,

alive,

but the rest

of his family

did not

survive. 

Oded Lifshitz,

a retired

journalist

who volunteered

with 

Road to Recovery,

drove 

Palestinians

who were

not citizens

to hospital 

appointments

in Israel

and the West 

Bank.

The wife

of Oded,

Yocheved,

was also 

in captivity,

and freed

after

about two

weeks.

Throughout

the war,

the symbol

of the hostage

struggle

in Israel

was found

in the photo

posted

all around

the country.

The young

family

with the

red head

tots

generated 

lots

of anguish 

and anger,

but also

hope

for a return

home.

The remains

of the day

today

will be seen

by forensic

pathologists

to identify

them.

But the pathology

remains.

Gaza 

won’t be

a Trump 

Plaza.

It’s the hate

that lives

after

the remains

are returned

home.

It remains

to be seen

how much

will get

buried. 

Clearly Marked Vehicles

Oops.

Sorry.

My bad.

Mea culpa.

Shit happens.

Collateral damage.

War is hell.

Casualties 

of war.

Fog

of war.

Misidentified

target.

A grave mistake.

A very complex 

condition.

It shouldn’t

have happened.

Starving

for power.

Starving 

for peace.

Starving

for supper.

Starving

to death

without

aid.

First, 

protect

the starving

victims

and the ones

who feed

them.

Now the world

is starving

for peace

and freedom.

And the 

basics.

For some

reason,

it’s too

difficult

to see 

clearly

marked

vehicles.

Poison Ivies

There’s something

toxic

in the climbing

ivy

all the way

to the top

of the higher

education

totem pole.

Three ivies’

presidents

we heard

as defendants

of free speech

on their private

campuses

regardless

of threats—

documented

effects—

of anti

semitic

rhetoric.

No counter

to the hate

expressed.

No one

suggested

context

or debate;

just hate.

Why not

call out

those who

shout

genocide

as a remedy

for 

decades of war?

Unacceptable

admissions

of tolerance

that would

not

be tolerated

if other groups

were targeted.

Free speech

can be

ugly.

But why no

expression

of condemnation?

Isn’t education

supposed 

to develop

the ability 

to envelop

new ideas

and hold

more than

one view

at a time?

This war

in Gaza

has made

the campus

a plaza

for hate.

No longer

a 2 state

solution

discussed,

but disgusting

intentionally

careless

speech

that promotes

violence 

as much

as freedom.

Free speech

can be hateful,

so when grateful

for the right

to verbally smite,

the intention

is inspiration

for action.

And what action

follows

hate?

Legislate?

The lesson

from the Ivy

Presidents’

defences

is that 

the poison

released

is sickening

and could

prove deadly.

It’s not merely

the verbal

venom

spewed,

it’s the silence

ensued

in response

to free speech.

Daylight Savings Time

Lindbergh baby

John Paul Getty III

Patty Hearst.

Munich

Entebbe 

Iran 

Lebanon

Gaza.

Black September

Idi Amin

Ayatollah Khomeni

Hezbollah

Hamas.

Gilad Shalit

Daniel Pearl.

What could be darker

than kidnapping

and holding

hostages?

This fall 2023,

Hamas’ kidnapping 

of 250 

people

of all 

ages,

has the world

reeling.

Somehow,

the conversation 

quickly shifted

from unspeakable

atrocities

on October 7th,

and the hostage

taking

for nearly a month

now,

to the deliberately

triggered,

hideous

war,

conceived

to decimate

innocents—

the ones 

just trying

to live

above

the tunnels—

the innocents 

who are

supposed

to be liberated

and recognized

to live in

a self-determined

nation state—

intentionally 

doomed 

to suffer 

and die

at the hands

of the

enemy

(Israel),

subjected

to the brutality

of war

just

as Hamas

calculated

along with

massacring 

a kibbutz,

a peaceful

community

across 

the border.

As the world

watches

the horror

in horror,

and diplomats

quietly

seek

negotiations,

profound 

destruction

and devastation

persists

in retaliation.

Hostage taking

works

to call attention

and change

the narrative,

to gain

status,

power,

money.

How quickly 

the conversation

has become

about 

Israeli brutality

against innocent

Palestinian

people

living 

now suffering

and dying

in Gaza. 

Even nonviolent

hostage taking

works:

Tommy Tuberville

Matt Gaetz

Donald Trump.

Who wouldn’t

do anything

to save

lives

and restore

families

and normalcy

and peace?

Hostage takers.

So much 

of politics

is hostage 

taking.

The gun lobby.

As profoundly 

broken

and helpless

as 

we feel

right now,

real

hostages

kidnapped 

from their homes

are still 

in captivity

as bombs

drop

around them.

To those

who struggle

with 

the politics

of everything,

channel

the struggle

to release

and support

those

kidnapped

and held

in captivity

and the families

of the massacred

and hostaged.

Insist on

and contribute to

humanitarian

aid

to innocent

civilians.

We need 

to fall back

to daylight

not add

to the darkness

with political

slogans

and hostile

rhetoric.

I get it.

Our world

feels

out of control

and spiraling

further

away

from all 

that we 

cherish.

Indeed,

too much

is too 

awful.

But we 

have to

begin

to figure out

less damaging

resistance

and build

greater

resilience

because there

will always

be turbulence.

It’s Daylight

Savings Time.

It always 

starts

in the middle

of the night.