Author: Paul

  • Continuing trauma, attacks and our existential defence

    Continuing trauma, attacks and our existential defence

    In a week marked by jarring conversations about narratives surrounding Gaza and Israel, I realised something. A report about the traumatic events at Nahal Oz base, where Israeli soldiers were murdered, highlight a deeper, ongoing trauma. This fuels a collective existential defense among Israelis and Jews, uniting us against global criticism and varied threats.

  • Calling for genocide is not context-dependent

    Calling for genocide is not context-dependent

    Renny Grinshpan published a video recently that left me utterly gobsmacked. People running top-tier universities seem to describe calls for genocide of Jews (you know, “From the river to the sea …”) as only being problematic based on the context. 🤯

  • Now posting from Mastodon too

    I just discovered a gem of a plugin by @alex that enables me to connect my Mastodon app to my #WordPress site and post from here. 🎉

  • Hope, Miracles and Perseverance

    Hope, Miracles and Perseverance

    This Chanukah is complicated. To me, this is a festival about hope and perseverance in the face of overwhelming danger. It is also a festival about miracles. This year, Chanukah has even more meaning as the war continues, and as we continue to hope and wait for the return of our people.

  • My blog is 19 years old

    My blog is 19 years old

    My son pointed out to me that my site just turned 19. 🎂 My first post was way back on 6 December 2004. 19 years just creeps up on you when you least expect it!

  • The false equivalency of “extremists on both sides” in the Israel-Hamas war

    The false equivalency of “extremists on both sides” in the Israel-Hamas war

    I talked with James on Mastodon, comparing the “unacceptably” bad governments of Israel and Gaza, suggesting they both harbor extremists. This implies a false equivalency, which I aim to address here.

  • Better sources of news about Israel

    Better sources of news about Israel

    A recurring theme whenever there is a conflict involving Israel is that international media can be pretty unhelpful, bordering on pathologically biased against Israel. Here is a list of English-language news sources that we rely on for the most part.

  • Israel Memories – My New Project

    Israel Memories – My New Project

    I have a new project that I decided to kick off this afternoon. It’s called Israel Memories, and it is a WordPress site that I am going to share my memories of Israel, my home, in photos and videos that I have accumulated over the years.