Licht und Schatten

I’m under a lot of stress right now so this will be a shorter letter than usual. It has been another week with little good news; however, that makes the little good shine all the brighter. Several more Israeli hostages have been released from Hamas captivity: Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, Gadi Moshe, Ofer Kalderon, Keith Siegel, and Yarden Bibas. Additionally, five of the eight Thai nationals in Hamas captivity were released: Thenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakham, Sriaoun Watchara, Seathao Bannawat, and Rumnao Surasak.

Of this list, Keith is an American-Israeli. He’s one of us. Every American should be weeping with joy that he lives now as a free man again. But that would require certain segments of our population being capable of human empathy.

Yarden Bibas’s name and face should be familiar to all. His family are the Bibas children: Ariel and Kfir, and his wife Shiri. They were taken hostage from Nir Oz all together and then separated. Theirs were some of the most horrific kidnapping videos that were filmed by Hamas terrorists. The children—babies, really—haunt the dreams and nightmares of all decent humans on the planet. They should have been brought home all together. Justice demands that they be brought home IMMEDIATELY. The immeasurable suffering of this family must be relieved.

I am happy for all the hostages that now can begin to heal from their agonies. We must never forget that eighty yet remain the captives of brutal terrorists. Every day each much spend powerless in the hands of such monsters is an injustice of the highest magnitude. Never stop speaking up for the hostages of Hamas until they are all home safe and secure. And never, ever stop speaking up for a better future for the people of Israel. A people that have strived for peace with their neighbors in the Middle East for eighty years. A people that have been rejected and let down by the world time and time again. Let this be the last Hamas-Israel war. Let Hamas crumble in the shadows with their leadership replaced and supply lines cut. Don’t let their evil barbarity rise again. May the released hostages know only peace for the rest of their lives. God knows they deserve it.

I said last week that I was working on a historical accounting of the intertwined Nazi and Arab (Palestinian) leadership regarding British Mandate Palestine and its effect on the present day. I am still working on that, so it won’t be published now. I cannot be the only gentile that finds this history both fascinating and revelatory for our present day. The Grand Mufti getting buddy-buddy with Hitler should be a much more well-known story than it is.

Anyway, I will try to get my s—t together. I can see the path ahead. I will navigate it as best I can. Until the next.

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