In which the pond ends up with Jennings of the fifth form and Our Henry ...

 

This is a day to tread on eggshells, because the reptiles really made a meal of a terror attack in Manchester, recalling the line wrongly attributed to Stalin, Aber das ist wohl so, weil ein einzelner immer der Tod ist — und zwei Millionen immer nur eine Statistik.

Put it another way, three dead in Manchester and c. 68.3k and counting dead in Gaza.

Observe how it is done ...

By way of contrast, this was how it was noted in Al Jazeera today ...

If you squint, you can see the news, but the pond's beat is the lizard Oz, so back to the reptiles ....

You can see how the killer did a great favour to Benji and the lizards of Oz. 

Swept from view was any talk of the illegal detention of boats on international waters, or a protest in Sydney streets about same, or the ongoing genocide in Gaza, or anything else outside the hive mind, or if you will, Plato's cave.

Instead the reptiles served up an insensitively titled ...

HOLY HORROR
Three dead, ‘multiple’ injured in terror attack on Manchester synagogue
Manchester police say alert members of the Jewish community prevented an even bigger tragedy after a car rammed a crowd outside a synagogue on Yom Kippur, killing two people before the attacker was shot dead.
by Jacquelin Magnay

The reptiles went the full hog, with the blame game cranked into high gear ...

RiSING ANTI-SEMITISM
‘Today is the day we feared’: UK Jews knew an attack was inevitable
Israeli leaders say Keir Starmer must share the blame for the Manchester synagogue terror attack as UK Jews say they had long feared such an assault amid rising anti-semitism.
By Jacquelin Magnay

The malignant Magnay scored a trifecta at the top of the page, as if her blame gameslant wasn't already apparent ...

COMMENTARY by Jacquelin Magnay
Starmer’s stoking underscores synagogue horror
Critics are blaming Keir Starmer’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests and stoking of political tensions for sparking Britain’s first deadly synagogue attack that left its Jewish community reeling.

This is how it works: a terrorist massacre of three prevents any mention of the terrorist massacre of many.

What else?

Well the trans jihad continued apace ... and Jack the Insider joined in ...

Harry Potter and the Celebrity Storm puts trans rights before victims
In normal circumstances, this unseemly feud would be best left to the confines of a social get-together where, after a few after-dinner stickies, matters would descend into wailing and gnashing of teeth.
by Jack the Insider
Columnist

Jack tried to dress it up as a celebrity feud, but it was the same old trans hysteria on parade.

The hysteria continued over on the extreme far right ...

There, another in the murmuration, another participant in the jihad ...

Women at greatest risk of Allan gender ideology injustice
Most Australians have no idea that a convicted male sex offender who identifies as a woman is currently serving a sentence at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a women’s prison in Victoria.
By Stephanie Bastiaan

The pond isn't going to be trolled by TG bigotry and hate - it's far too unhealthy and best left to the archive cornfield - though the workings are there for any correspondent to observe...

Instead, on to a discussion of Gaza, and unfortunately it involved leaving Killer Creighton aside for a late arvo post, and a contemplation of Jennings of the fifth form v. Our Henry.

First the lightweight ...

The header: Little hope in Gaza peace plan better than no hope at all, Trump's Gaza peace plan hinges on international backing and Hamas disarmament, but faces major hurdles from Palestinian ideology and regional reluctance for peacekeeping.

The caption: A Palestinian woman hugs a pair of shoes as she mourns outside Deir al-Balah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Picture: Bashar Taleb/AFP

The pond usually doesn't pay any attention to Jennings of the fifth form, and only offers this outing as an experiment, to see if there's any light or air between him and Our Henry ...

Donald Trump’s so-called “comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict” rests on a slim hope that it will generate international and regional support.
In order to be optimistic about this plan one would need to have no knowledge of the history, culture or ideology of the Palestinian people or the Israelis.
For example, the people of Gaza over decades have shown no interest in the economic and development opportunities that so motivate President Trump.
Hamas remains wildly popular in Gaza and the West Bank, even after close to two years of heavy fighting, showing the strong ideological support the terror group has from ordinary Palestinians.

"Wildly popular"? Does he have any receipts? 

Depends upon the ancient poll you reference or the rag, as per this in the AFR...

The Islamists are isolated at home and regionally: in Gaza many blame Hamas for bringing down on them the destructive might of Israel’s military machine. The group’s leaders are also being pressured by Arab and Muslim states, including the more friendly Qatar and Turkey, to accept Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire and post-war plan for Gaza.

Exhausted Gazans traumatised by war and loss are desperate for an end to the fighting and a chance to rebuild their lives. Many have urged Hamas on social media to accept Trump’s plan.

“The humanitarian situation is disastrous, and we know Trump has given Israel a green light to continue if the plan is rejected,” said Mustafa Ibrahim, a political analyst in Gaza. “People hope Hamas will accept it even if it is a bad deal.”

In a social media post, the Gaza-based poet Nima Hasan said Hamas should agree this time. “It knows its adventure has come to an end. Killings continue in Gaza and the bombing has not stopped for a moment. Accepting now means the losses would be less than later,” she said.

And so on, and it's likely that genocide, mass starvation and ethnic cleansing isn't that "wildly popular", but the pond digresses, and must race ahead to get to Our Henry ...

When a society sees more benefit using women and children as human shields to sustain terror attacks against Jews, the hope of redeveloping Gaza is not going to gain many supporters.
For its part, Israel rightly sees Hamas as an existential threat. Jerusalem will not compromise on its security even while backing Trump’s peacemaking attempt.
American military power, diplomatic heft and, above all, money are the critical differences that might lend this peace process some forward momentum.
What will be vital in coming days is whether any Middle Eastern country is prepared to sign up to the peace process. Article 15 of the plan says Jordan and Egypt will be consulted on how to provide support to “vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza”.

The reptiles interrupted with a snap, proposing a shameless misrepresentation of Palestinian people, The people of Gaza have shown no interest in the economic and development opportunities that motivate President Donald Trump. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

It's true that few Palestinians showed any interest in moving to a desert, so that after their eviction, King Donald might erect a new Riviera, a grand tourist destination (no bearded black servicemen or Palestinians allowed), but that's hardly the same as saying the Palestinian people have no interest in economic and development opportunities or a good life.

Must press on, the siren song of Our Henry is calling ...

The plan will create an “International Stabilisation Force to immediately deployed to Gaza”.
No Middle Eastern country has been prepared to do peacekeeping in Gaza. If Trump persuades some Muslim countries to step forward that will be a Nobel Peace prize-worthy outcome. There will be pressure on Trump to use the American military. After two decades of the “Global War on Terror” there is little American appetite for deploying military forces to the Middle East. To avoid that the United States will have to dig deep to fund non-American military, aid and redevelopment support.
Article 9 of the plan says “Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic apolitical Palestinian committee responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services for the people of Gaza”. Finding and funding such people will be hard, but Trump’s personal commitment should not be faulted. He will chair a Board of Peace to “set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program”.
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair will be on the Board of Peace. Here is an opportunity for Anthony Albanese. 

Stop right there? Joining with Tony Bleagh, the butcher of Baghdad, is an opportunity?

Dear sweet long absent lord, fond memories of the colonial mindset...

How British colonialism killed 100 million Indians in 40 years, Between 1880 to 1920, British colonial policies in India claimed more lives than all famines in the Soviet Union, Maoist China and North Korea combined.

What good training for the monstering of Iraq, and now perhaps Gaza, but sorry, it's another digression, and the pond must race on to get closer to Our Henry ...

After a lifetime of performative theatrics on the Palestinian cause, Albanese should step forward to directly assist in the transformation of Gaza. The Prime Minister could ask for a role on the Board of Peace.

Ah yes, we could show what we've done at Bondi.

Australia could link its own so-called “conditions” for recognising Palestine to the Trump plan. This offers a means to reform the Palestinian Authority, hold elections, disarm Hamas and reform education in Gaza. Supporting Trump’s plan could transform an otherwise uninspiring current political relationship between Australia and the United States. How Hamas responds to this proposal is another unknown factor. Article 13 says “Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form”. The peace plan requires Hamas to hand over its weapons to be destroyed, along with giving up “military, terror and offensive infrastructure including tunnels and weapons production facilities”. Hamas cannot accept these terms; it has been fighting to entrench its control over Gaza, not to make peace.
Article 6 of the peace plan allows Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence to receive an amnesty: “Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.” No country will want to accept these terrorist fighters. Qatar was happy to house the Hamas political elite. It will be considerably more wary of receiving dozens of combat-hardened jihadis. Could Albanese offer to Trump the possibility of relocating Hamas fighters to Australia? Perhaps they could be greeted at Sydney Airport, as Gazan refugees were this week by Immigration Minister Tony Burke. I do not seriously make that suggestion.
Australia should resist under all circumstances providing safe haven to former terrorists, even those “granted” amnesties.

And so to a pictorial ultimatum... The peace plan represents not the best hope but the only hope for peace in Gaza. Picture” (sic) Bashar Taleb/AFP

Some peace ...but now to praise King Donald and Benji (not the movie star):

Trump deserves credit for articulating a plan, even in sketchy terms, about the future of Gaza and for adding the weight of the American administration to its implementation.
Trump goes where Middle East experts fear to tread. Courage and audacity are surely needed to find a solution to an otherwise intractable problem.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu understands where his country’s fundamental strategic interest rests, which is ensuring the US supports it. In his past two visits to the White House, Netanyahu has looked bemused. He knows that if Hamas rejects the deal that will strengthen his use of the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza.
The peace plan represents not the best hope but the only hope for peace in Gaza. It is a faint hope at that. But the international community should get behind it in the absence of any better solutions.
That means Australia should embrace the plan and work out how best to support it. Albanese should engage his friend President Prabowo of Indonesia: How could Australia support an Indonesian military role for the International Stabilisation Force?
Australia could help train Indonesian peacekeepers, as we have done in the past, and provide logistic and sustainment support.
A prominent role for Indonesia could lift Jakarta’s international standing, not least in Washington DC. It could become the basis for a rejuvenated defence relationship with Australia.
Albanese has long declared there is no place for Hamas in Gaza. Backing Trump’s plan would test that claim, giving Australia a supporting role in reforming the Palestinian Authority, disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza, while strengthening ties with Washington and Jakarta. It is not perfect, but it is the only plan on offer. It deserves our support.

Time to pause to celebrate with the immortal Rowe, as this day the reptiles at the top of the digitral edition entirely ignored King Donald's skill with a pillow ...

Done and dusted, or perhaps smothered in delight, and not a mouse stirring ...

When at last the pond got to Our Henry, there was incredible disappointment:

The header: President’s peace plan blows PM aside, Thanks to Donald Trump, the reality principle at last intervenes. It’s high time our government too got real about the Middle East.

The caption: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the United Nations headquarters on September 24. Picture: AP

Why was the pond shattered?

The pond searched high and low for the usual historical references, but they were hard to find. There was one, but best to avoid blinking.

Perhaps Thucydides might not have been relevant, but surely the Roman plans to turn Carthage into a new Riviera might have been mentioned?

Whatever, there was much celebration of King Donald and Benji (not the movie star):

Were they not so blatantly misleading, Anthony Albanese’s claims that Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza “focuses” on Palestinian statehood, and that the recognition conference he attended “played a role in building momentum towards peace”, would be nothing but risible.
In effect, displaying a far greater grip on reality than Albanese showed at the United Nations, the plan makes even the Palestinian Authority’s involvement in the future governance of Gaza conditional on completing fundamental reforms. And, while setting those reforms as a necessary condition, the plan explicitly limits itself to noting that they “may” open the road to eventual recognition of Palestinian statehood.
That hasn’t stopped the plan’s widespread endorsement by Muslim-majority countries. Unfortunately, their approval doesn’t ensure the plan will be accepted by Hamas, any more than does the immense relief a cessation of hostilities would bring to the people of Gaza. As far as Hamas is concerned, Gazans’ terrible suffering is hardly a cause for regret. It is, on the contrary, Hamas’s supreme asset in its campaign to gain sympathy, and hence protection, from the world’s useful idiots.
But regardless of how Hamas responds, this much is certain: Trump’s plan, which makes it clear that Hamas faces a choice between its terms and destruction, sets the ground for achieving the goal Benjamin Netanyahu announced immediately after October 7 – ending the threat Hamas poses to the ability of Israelis to live in peace.

At this point the reptiles inserted an audio interruption, already deployed in other stories, and again reduced to a screen cap and merely noted for the record ...

Our Henry was in full triumphalist mode ...

The progress Israel has made towards that objective has defied all expectations. Hezbollah has been crippled; as well as being expelled from Syria, Iran has been battered on its home ground; Hamas has been decimated. The political map of the Middle East has been redrawn.
But not a single one of those achievements would have been secured had Netanyahu heeded our government’s verbiage. The victims of October 7 had not even been buried when it urged restraint; within a month, with Hamas still largely intact, it began to clamour for a ceasefire.
Nor did it get any better after that. Rather, on the very morning before exploding pagers shattered Hezbollah’s ranks, opening the road to the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, it demanded that Israel take no action that could extend the conflict to Lebanon.
And literally as the US’s B2 bombers were preparing to take off, it expressed “alarm” over the developing conflict with Iran and called “on all parties to refrain from actions that would further exacerbate tensions” – a call it shamefacedly tried to retract once the American operation was announced.
But Netanyahu, for all his faults, knows one big thing: that the aim of war is victory. Aristotle put it well, centuries ago, when he defined victory as the “telos” of military science; that is, the animating purpose that must be held if the lives of a nation’s young men and women are to be put at risk. For victory not only demarcates the threshold between war and peace, it also suggests the possibility of an end to violence, and the prospect of a better future.

"For all his faults"? 

A cunning aside, because you won't find any alleged faults listed here, you'll just have to settle for that mention of Aristotle ...

It's not much, but it'll have to do ...and the pond resisted the chance to throw in Plato's allegory of the cave, wherein Socrates (the main speaker) explains to Plato’s brother, Glaukon, that we all resemble captives who are chained deep within a cavern, who do not yet realize that there is more to reality than the shadows they see against the wall.

Or, if you will, readers trapped in the lizard Oz hive mind.

Cue a snap designed to terrify, Supporters gather at the site where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Israeli air strikes in September 2024, a day before the first anniversary of his death, in the Haret Hreik suburb south of Beirut, Lebanon. Picture: AP

The pond yearned for more Aristotle, but was disappointed by the names Our Henry trotted out ... though to be fair, there was yet another celebration of Western Values (as seen in places such as India and the Belgian Congo)...

No less importantly, victory has a moral dimension because the contestants represent utterly different views of what the world should look like – and it is the victor’s values that will frame the new status quo. Joe Biden’s precipitate retreat from Afghanistan allowed the Taliban to impose Islamism’s barbaric worldview on hapless Afghanis, condemning them to medieval backwardness; disarming Hamas and Hezbollah, and containing Iran, won’t eradicate the Islamist death cult but they are a vital step in the process.
Trump seems to understand that. And he and JD Vance clearly understand that there are, in the struggle to defend the West’s values, lifters, such as Israel, and leaners, who want protection delivered to them on a plate.

Ah couch molester JD. The pond had wanted to link to a splendid Wired story about JD, Thiel and the rest of the barking mad Catholic fundamentalists, but will save that for the late arvo Killer edition.

Back to Our Henry ...

That we are among the leaners is beyond doubt. There are no perfect ways of measuring the relativity between the burdens countries bear in providing collective security and the benefits they derive from its joint provision. But a measure, first devised by Mancur Olson (who later won a Nobel memorial prize in economics) and Richard Zeckhauser, and subsequently extended by Todd Sandler and Keith Hartley, has influenced every American administration since that of Lyndon Baines Johnson.
The results of bringing that indicator up to date are stark. The extent of European free-riding on the US alliance is even larger today than it was in 1966. And while the US bears 65 per cent of the West’s defence burden and reaps no more than 35 per cent of its collective benefits, Australia secures 7 per cent of the benefits in exchange for picking up only 2-3 per cent of the tab.

To help our Henry in war monger mode, there was a snap of some splendid destruction, teaching them what for, Smoke rises following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Picture: AP

That sent Our Henry off on a final apocalyptic rant, a yearning for oblivion, a mighty smiting and smoting ...

Yes, there are areas where we top the league table: but they are hardly worth vaunting. We have nearly four times as many senior officers relative to the size of our defence force as the US. Moreover, our senior brass, although they have less than half the combat experience of their US counterparts, are paid twice as much, and are even more richly compensated compared to their battle-hardened Israeli colleagues.
Those are, however, just symptoms of the underlying problem – which is the deeply ingrained assumption that, no matter how pitifully little we do or how petulantly we bleat, the US will always need us at least as much as we need it. Israel, for all the benefits it derives from its American alliance, has never made that assumption. Judaism commends, and the Talmudic sages command, wars of one type and one type only: those in defence of “the land of Israel”.
And if Jews have learned anything from the past it is that they must be able to assure that defence on their own. Nor does Judaism sugar-coat the heart-wrenching sacrifices that demands: the tragedy of war, say the rabbinic texts, cuts wide and deep, tearing “even a bridegroom from his chamber and a bride from her canopy”.
This week, those words resonated with special force. As Jews worldwide marked Yom Kippur, the holiest of Judaism’s High Holy Days, scores of Israeli families mourned the loss of sons and daughters, friends and neighbours. Day after day, the Islamists have rained missiles on purely civilian targets, ranging from hospitals to childcare centres. And day after day, Israelis, young and old, have huddled in bomb shelters, divided on many things but united in love for their country and pride in its achievements.
Whether the Trump plan, with its promise of a better life for Israelis and Palestinians alike, will crown those achievements remains to be seen. That the grounds for pessimism are always apparent, and those for hope always clouded, scarcely needs to be said.
But there are times when the past, rather than pulling history back, suddenly presses it forward, making it possible to open a new chapter in the book of life. If Hamas once again chooses death over life, destruction over reconstruction, war over peace, Australia must, on this anniversary of October 7, give Israel its unqualified support in consigning it to the darkness of oblivion.

Total oblivion, so that a new Riviera might be born.

In the end, was there much difference between Jennings of the Fifth Form and Our Henry?

Perhaps a sliver, perhaps just a solitary reference to Aristotle...

So goes the days in the pond's life, and in the meantime, not a single excuse for the pond to segue to an infallible Pope to wrap up proceedings ...