Hello again and welcome to this week's batch of Laura's Links.
I didn't think last week that I would be writing in the past tense about the "Twelve Day War", about America having bombed Iranian nuclear sites and a fragile ceasefire holding between Israel and Iran. I've also been hearing about direct negotiations between Israel and Syria and Lebanon, and saw that Steve Witkoff has been hinting about possible news coming up with respect to the Abraham Accords and still praying for a future Cyrus Accord.
It's an insane amount of information and almost too much to conceptualize. I'm still actively mentally processing the events of the past week, but I'm still pretty much in Donald Rumsfeld territory. I'm feeling some knowns and lots of known unknowns about everything, so I'm going to wait a bit for more information to come out before talking too much about it. I'm going to cling to hope that my own, personal ideas of the best case scenario will prevail, that the ceasefire holds and that there are many good things ahead. In general, I feel a great relief that a great number of the people closest to me are not under missile fire anymore and I hope for good news about the hostages.
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As Mark noted earlier this week, the real problem for those of us in the West, is the home front. You'll find a number of stories below in the North American section that paint a picture of where we are at, and it's not a pretty picture. I've been reading a lot about the political disaster unfolding in New York. It's kind of hard to summon much pity for the city, and certainly - I'm not surprised at all that, as Michael Malice put it, the city that once endured 9/11 is now voting for it. Alas, this was entirely predictable, yet also entirely avoidable. So New York, a once great city, will go the way of London - both with their smooth-talking, progressive Muslim mayors presiding over the final nails in its cultural and economic coffins. Does anyone think London is a better city now than it was previously? How has diversity and stuff worked out there? Mayor Zohran Mamdani clearly is what the voters of New York deserve and they are going to get what they want, good and hard.
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A few months ago, before it was trendy or glaringly obvious, I wrote here that I was concerned about what I saw as some rising tides of subtle, highbrow, rather polite antisemitism coming from the political right. At that time, I couldn't really put my finger on it but it's come into much clearer view now. It comes out as vitriolic anti-Zionism or wildly disproportionate anti-Israel sentiment and find it a bit unsettling. It's unsettling not because I have any desire whatsoever to censor it, to demand that anyone be censored or to call for anyone to be cancelled, no matter how odious I find their views. And I'm certainly not interested in "fighting antisemitism"; whatever that means. I see it as an unfortunate poisoning of the soul that never, ever works out for the individual at hand, and certainly never works out for their society. The antidote to antisemitism is being more Jewish, leaning more into faith, and that's what I am going to continue to do and be and so will my children and their children. I will not be making any apologies about that, nor for the fact that the Jewish people have a state, and an army, and certainly a very good friend in President Trump and the members of his administration.
The haters can keep hating, I couldn't care less.
We, the Jews, are the indigenous people of Israel and are eternal.
Miracles are happening in front of our very eyes, and will continue to happen around us. It's impossible to count the towers and cranes in Jerusalem/Zion. The Psalms are speaking to us.
And yes, those who curse us will be cursed and those who bless us will be blessed.
The guardian of Israel never sleeps nor slumbers.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and choose peace for your soul.
See you in the comments.
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North America:
OH I SEE, but hey just a few bad apples, etc.
What Trump's Critics Still Don't Understand About Iran. Not sure if they don't understand or they don't want to understand.
This is fine (comments are funny).
But it was a mostly peaceful chant of "Death to America".
Destroying the "magic dirt" theory.
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Jews and Israel:
Jew-hatred is a form of ideological brain worms.
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The Formerly Great Britain:
Say whatever you want about Israel and Jews, who cares? I don't. The question for the UK is are you happy with this look? Is this what you want your (already crappy) NHS system, and all the medical professionals of the BMA to be focused on? Pathetic.
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Europe:
"This is really an admission..."
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Iran:
"Iran-The Cradle of Islamo Leftism".
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The Great Walkbackening, Reckoning and Accounting:
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Middle East:
As they promise, first the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.
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South America:
Like Mark says, when leftists get elected, they are in power. When conservatives get elected, they are in office. "Left" and "right" don't really mean much anymore, but you get the idea. Trump has flipped the switch on the default flaccidity of the "right" considerably, though.
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Down Under:
"Three cannot be identified due to their ages, but the 19-year-old is Middle Eastern".
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Misc:
As women across the world cross their legs and squirm in sympathy.
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Human Grace:
"The Boy Who Came Back: The Near Death and Changed Life of My Son Max".
"A Farewell to Legs". First of all, the title alone is reason to read this essay from Julie Burchill. It resonated with me on a number of different levels, but one of the parts I loved the most is this exchange:
"'Would you like to talk to one of our mental health team?' a young woman asks me.
'Will it make me walk again?' I snap ungraciously.
'It might help you come to terms with...'
'If it won't make me walk again, there's no point,' I point out.
This is my approach to therapy. I know there are lots of success stories out there, and many "good" providers of various types of therapy, but I find excessive talking about depressing things even more depressing so it's not for me. Perhaps you have a different opinion about therapy?
It's open thread time! Log into SteynOnline and let Laura know what you think of these stories or other happenings from the week that was. Commenting privileges are among the many perks of membership in The Mark Steyn Club. While going off topic is permitted on Laura's Links, do stick to the other rules as you engage: no URLs, no profanity, and no ad hominem attacks.