Who Is Served by a Ceasefire?

Kamala Harris called on Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal on the table saying, “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks.”

Anyone who would have proposed a cease-fire with Germany without the complete surrender of the Nazis would have been considered insane. Today he is considered a human rights fighter.

Palestinian civilians are suffering in southern Gaza, and Israel should agree to a very short humanitarian intermission — but not to an armistice.

Biden’s latest call for a “temporary” ceasefire at the U.N. while continuing to provide blanket financial and diplomatic support to Netanyahu is far too little, far too late.

Who Is Responsible for the Humanitarian Aid Crush in Gaza?

Last week, an incident involving aid trucks, a stampede, and shots fired by the IDF into a crowd led to the death of dozens of Palestinians, though many different narratives about what happened and in what order are being disseminated.

The Israel Defense Forces tried to distribute the aid, and Hamas staged an attack on one food delivery and a riot at another in order to be able to maintain control over aid. The two incidents are unlikely to be a coincidence. Which means they were the work of Hamas.

The first goal is to facilitate the delivery and collection of humanitarian aid by residents, preventing any potential accusations against Israel for hindering this process. Additionally, these humanitarian breaks provide the population with short periods of respite and access medical help.

As yet, we have no knowledge of what exactly happened, though it seems unlikely that Israel was directly responsible for most of the deaths last Thursday. Deliberately killing Gazan civilians is certainly not one of Israel’s war aims, unlike Hamas, which sent its terrorists across to the Gaza border communities on October 7 to torture, rape, and kill as many Israeli civilians as possible.

Would the Jon Stewart Peace Plan Work?

Last week, on his third episode of the Daily Show after a decade-long absence, Jon Stewart offered his own peace plan for Israel and Palestine, calling on an “Arab NATO” to come and form a demilitarized zone between Israel and a future Palestinian state.

To claim that actors which hate each other — as Qatar and the UAE do — would get together and form an Article 5-like security commitment is delusional. To fail to mention Iran even once in his segment, with its support for Hamas and other terror proxies throughout the Middle East, is a fatal omission.

While tongue-in-cheek, Stewart’s solution isn’t a new concept, experts on the Middle East told Business Insider. Most said an “Arab NATO” is unlikely to take root — even if it might do wonders for the region.

[Yair] Rosenberg mentioned how Arab countries may pay lip service to Palestinian freedom, but would likely be unwilling to protect it with boots on the ground.

Does “Gender Affirming Care” Save Lives?

A recent study conducted in Finland suggests that the implementation of “gender-affirming care” for minors does not necessarily result in a decrease in suicidal tendencies, contrary to common assertions. However, trans activists have raised concerns about the methodology and findings of the study.

…the researchers concluded two things: One, that suicide deaths were higher, but still rare in gender-distressed young people. And two, that this group’s higher suicide rate was tied to the fact that they had a higher rate of severe psychiatric problems, not to their gender distress.

Much of the public confusion about the suicide issue stems from a simple correlation-causation fallacy. While there is evidence that teenagers who identify as transgender have elevated rates of suicide and suicidality… there is no evidence that their elevated risk is because of unaffirmed gender identity or that social and medical transition will reduce their risk for self-harm.

The reality is that study after study establishes the benefits of gender-affirming care, which include increased body satisfaction, improved social functioning, hope for the future, and lower rates of depression, eating disorders, self-injury, and suicide.

Where Is Kate Middleton?

Kate Middleton, wife of Prince William, has been conspicuously absent from public appearances since Christmas Day. Since then, the public has been unable to catch a glimpse of her. This disappearance has sparked numerous conspiracy theories regarding the reasons behind her absence.

The lack of princess pictures isn’t much of a surprise. After Kate’s planned abdominal surgery in mid-January, Buckingham Palace announced that “based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”

“I need to know everything.” These five words have become the unofficial catchphrase of the internet. On social media, posting “I need to know everything” is often an innocent way to signal an intense interest in something new and a desire to get lost in the lore, details, and endless theorizing that the internet helps provide.

Perhaps she was in real danger of dying. Perhaps she was in an induced coma. Perhaps her marriage to William was on the rocks, and she was in hiding. Perhaps she’d been killed and would be replaced by a body double. As the story took off, the joke theories began to take up more space: Kate was waiting for bad bangs to grow out…

What’s New & Delicious in Jewish Cuisine?

Here are three takes on what’s cooking in the world of Jewish food:

March is National Pasta Month! Yes, that’s a thing. To celebrate here are three fabulous, filling kugel recipes.

“My mom used to put [sugar-frosted flakes] on top of the kugel,” chef and restaurateur Susan Feniger (Border Grill, “Too Hot Tamales”) told the Journal.

T’bit is the Iraqi/Babylonian version of cholent, a wonderful slow cooked chicken and rice dish. Traditionally, Iraqi women would make “hashwa” whereby they would skin a whole chicken and stuff it with rice. As a little girl, I remember sitting with my grandmother on Friday mornings as she would make her t’bit.

After Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt to Mount Sinai, they were said to miss leeks so much that it was written in the Bible (Numbers 11:4-5) that they wept and said, “We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now our soul is dried away: There is nothing at all, besides this manna before our eyes.”

Today’s Hot Issues

Who Is Served by a Ceasefire? Who Is Responsible for the Humanitarian Aid Crush in Gaza? Would the Jon Stewart Peace Plan Work? Does “Gender Affirming Care” Save Lives? Where Is Kate Middleton? What’s New & Delicious in Jewish Cuisine?