November 21, 2023

Joseph Zitt's [as if in dreams] 2023-11-21

Hi. I'm Joseph Zitt. I moved from the US to Israel in 2017. This is my newsletter about more-or-less daily life in my city in the shadow of war. You can select these links to subscribe or unsubscribe. There are more links at the bottom. Here we go...

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Our city's namesake, Theodor Herzl, looks down on us from the water tower. While I can't tell for sure, I think the silhouette is made out of metal. It's several meters tall. It looks like an extreme black and white photo, except that the parts that would be white have been removed. Clouds and blue sky pass through him.

The city has placed a yellow banner on the tower just below him. In Hebrew, black type says, "Herzliya is waiting for you." In English, "Bring them home now."¹

By the time that you read this, there may or may not be a deal to release some of the hostages. It may or may not include children, mothers, or all of the women. It may or may not involve a pause in the fighting. We may also pause surveillance. Different durations have been reported. It may or may not involve the release of prisoners on our side. Word has it that those released may include political prisoners, but not murderers.

A worldwide amateur choir released a moving video yesterday. Groups from around the world, including a contingent from the families of the hostages, sing Madonna's "Like a Prayer." When I heard it was happening, I was dubious. I wouldn't have thought of using that song. Then I looked at the lyrics. It works.²

Another more strident video also dropped yesterday. A group of children, supposedly from the evacuees, sing a harsh song looking favorably at the violence we're inflicting across the border. It is said to have been made by a public relations firm on our side, but I have only seen it spread by media who are against us.³ (Whether to link it here was a tough call.)

The top song on our streaming charts⁴ is equally fierce. It's a hip hop track, apparently calling out various leaders on the other side and celebrities supporting them. After listening to it several times, the rapid fire vocals and extensive slang leave me understanding only one out of every ten words. Unlike the other two videos, this one doesn't have subtitles.⁵

I heard about the song on the Times of Israel's English-language "Daily Briefing" podcast, which I listen to every day on the way home from work.⁶

In the same episode, the newspaper's senior analyst suggest why our public diplomacy has been, frankly, lousy. He says that rather than explaining our side to the worldwide audience, they're targeting their messages at the enemy, and trying to sound as badass as possible. (I guess if you're going to impress a Klingon, you have to shout like a Klingon.⁷)

In a sign of how small a country this is: the senior analyst's father went to school with some of my family. Everyone is connected somehow to everybody else.

Otherwise, it's been a quiet day here. No booms that I know of. No rain either, after the torrents yesterday. The snails are all snug in their bushes. The cats are content in their boxes. Herzl, atop his tower, is gazing off toward the sea. Time for me to wind down and see if there's good news tonight.

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Here’s an archive of past newsletters.

You can find me via email, Bluesky, Mastodon, Facebook, and, just out of inertia, X/Twitter. There's more about me and my books, music, and films at josephzitt.com.

The newsletter’s official mailing address is 304 S. Jones Blvd #3567, Las Vegas NV 89107. (I’m in Israel, but if physical mail comes to me there, it’ll get scanned and emailed. I don’t expect that to happen much. If you want to send me physical mail, ask me for a real address.)

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L'hitraot.