A headline reads, “Paris’s Louvre museum closes ‘for security reasons.’” (Article here.) It is not too much to say, I think, that, in a sense, civilization itself is under attack.
• “There is no ‘Yes, but.’” Well done, Monsieur le Président.
Emmanuel Macron addressing the French on TV tonight:
"There is no ‘Yes, but’. Those who confuse the justification of terrorism and the Palestinian cause are making a strategic, political and moral error.”#Macron20h pic.twitter.com/fx9gncbFeF
— Sophie Pedder (@PedderSophie) October 12, 2023
Some more:
Hamas is a terrorist organization.
Above all, its seeks the destruction and death of Israel. It exposes, in a criminal and cynical way, the people of Gaza.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 12, 2023
• A word from the British prime minister:
I stand with you, the British Jewish community, and I will do everything I possibly can to protect you.
To those trying to stir up tensions online and on our streets with intimidating behaviour and shameful antisemitism, I say this:
Not here. Not in Britain. Not in our country.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 14, 2023
“Not here. Not in Britain. Not in our country.” Good.
• The king has stepped up:
At a time when Jews around the world are grieving following the unspeakable evil perpetrated against loved ones in Israel, I want to thank His Majesty King Charles III for expressing in person his deep concern, and his support for the Jewish community. His words of comfort and… pic.twitter.com/i8Yc9t9M1Y
— Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis (@chiefrabbi) October 12, 2023
• J. K. Rowling, the bestselling author of all time, has stepped up too. (She long has.)
We said ‘never again.’ The UK was a safe haven. Now, after the biggest massacre of Jews since the holocaust, British Jewish children are being advised to hide their identities as they walk to school, for their own safety. There should be mass outrage that this is necessary. pic.twitter.com/T8J4B6MSGe
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 12, 2023
• From EU leaders, very encouraging (and mildly surprising?):
Back in Israel.
We are here with a message of solidarity after the worst terror attack #Israel has endured in generations.
Terror will not prevail. How we respond matters.
We can – we must – stop Hamas. And do what we can to mitigate humanitarian consequences.@vonderleyen pic.twitter.com/VxMgnwi0eU
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) October 13, 2023
My impression is: The Russian assault on Ukraine has, in a general way, sobered up European minds.
• Something to be aware of:
Terror supporters in Berlin are MARKING buildings where Jewish people live as part of an antisemitic campaign of intimidation. pic.twitter.com/OmSnkbcdNz
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) October 14, 2023
There is no originality. Rotten, dangerous people do the same things, century after century, millennium after millennium.
• Speaking of no new tricks:
After 9 years of photoshopping nazi flags into photos of Ukrainians, Russian troll farms are now doing the same to Israelis even though it's completely insane. pic.twitter.com/9tTA0g8m4F
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) October 14, 2023
• A friend of mine makes a striking point: The Gulag Archipelago caused scales to fall from many eyes in the West. This was perhaps especially true in France, where lots of intellectuals had backed, or defended, the Soviet Union.
The Gulag Archipelago was a book (a great one, to be sure, in three volumes). But there was no livestreaming from the Gulag.
What do we have today? Livestreaming, by Hamas itself. Hamas livestreams the atrocities it commits. And yet, scales stay firmly, immovably, on a great many eyes.
• This fella has — pardon the cliché — nailed it:
שלח לכולם pic.twitter.com/XAHZE8VpAg
— Gad 🇮🇱 (@GadDafna) October 11, 2023
• There are many ways to point out the folly of moral equivalence (in many situations). Here is one of them:
Imagine how many lives would have been saved if Hamas had given Israel 24 hours to evacuate its civilians.
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 13, 2023