Weekly Signals — Oct 16, 2023
Israel and Hamas Edition, Pt 2
Three articles:
A Message From Iran - The Atlantic
For Hamas and Iran, last week’s violence was a demonstration of newfound power. While Iran has already started to distance itself directly from Hamas’ actions, it is generally accepted within the intelligence community that a year’s worth of planning and spying, plus the attack itself, could not have been done without the explicit and implicit help of Iran.
The Gaza Hostage Crisis Is An American Hostage Crisis - The Tablet
Israel’s 9/11? How Hamas Terrorist Attacks Will Change The Middle East - War On The Rocks
The ramifications of Hamas’ actions, and its underlying posture, have 2nd and 3rd order effects, which Hoffman and Ware start to outline.
Questions to ask:
Doesn’t Egypt share a border with this “open air prison” that is described? Why won’t Egypt open its borders?
Why is Hamas raping and beheading children?
Why doesn’t Hamas spend humanitarian aid on building basic infrastructure instead of on terrorism? Why does Hamas lack its own electric grid?
Why are global protests pro-Hamas if Hamas is starving its citizens?
Why won’t Hamas release hostages?
Why are Gazans allowed to work in Israel but not vice versa?
Person to follow:
My friend Bryce Butler gave a talk on this a couple of weeks ago during a get-together, and it was so well-received that he wrote a post elucidating his thoughts in an even clearer format. Worth a read.
As always, enjoy and let these marinate.