— Feature, Musings —06.13.2025 12:55 PM
My latest: why israel had no choice
We were beside the border with Gaza, in Israel’s South, when the artillery shell hit. The explosion was pretty big, and it landed behind where I was standing.
I was there with a mostly-American film crew to shoot our documentary, The Campaign. It’s about the propaganda war against Israel and the West. At the moment the shell exploded, I had been relating how Hamas took out communications and warning systems on October 7, 2023.
The explosion shook the ground, and members of the crew dove for cover. I didn’t really think about what I did, until afterwards, when one of the film’s producers sent me the clip of the moment.
I didn’t move. I just stood there. Kind of dumb, I know, but I figure I had become an unofficial Israeli at that moment.
I know this from spending several weeks in Israel over the past year. When you are there, sirens go off pretty regularly, and everyone starts to hustle – or, increasingly, stroll – towards a bomb shelter. The shelters have lots of different names: mamad, miklat, merhav mugan, migunit, and quite a few others. Like, you know, the Inuit have many different words for “snow” – because there is so much of it.
[To read more, subscribe here]
I’m a tit. Send me emails of poop.
MannySb1952@gmail.com
Warren,
With respect, Netanyahu is playing the look here distraction game: the pressure is already white-hot from the remaining hostage families not to mention red-hot when it comes to Bibi and Sara in the courts, so this is just another clever tactic to change the channel. Israel has at least one hundred nukes versus the insignificant number that Iran has that are now operational. Iran was never going to nuke Israel. That would be beyond suicidal. So in the end, it’s about a means to an end: Netanyahu staying in power indefinitely thanks to his coalition in the Knesset. That scourge on Israel will do just about anything to hold onto power. God help Israel. Horrible times lie ahead in the Middle East and as usual, it will be innocent civilians on both sides who will pay the most consequential price. How I hate that bastard. I also loathe the Iranian leadership as well.