So what if Sinwar won Khan Yunis? In Ayala Hasson’s eyes, he’s “yuck”
The Israeli TV presenter wanted to revel in the sight of the ruins in Khan Yunis: a destroyed wasteland, a grey concrete sea of rubble, as if after a nuclear explosion, blackened windows staring out a handful of buildings that remained standing. “We left a total destruction there,” she boasted in admiration, “the IDF did a proper job there, left no stone unturned”
By Rogel Alpher • Translated by Sol Salbe
“Amazing,” Ayala Hasson marvelled in a conversation with yet another of those former Shabak secret service interrogators who are tireless in telling anecdotes from their encounters with [Gaza Hamas Leader Yahya] Sinwar. “You sat with him like this?” “Yes,” he boasted. “Like this, a spitting distance away?” she asked to make sure. “Closer, he bragged with a smile. “Yuck,” declared the infantile presenter, a worthy candidate for the Israel Prize in Media from the Netanyahu regime. “You’re right,” her interlocutor hastened to align himself up, as if confessing his guilt for not thinking to say it himself. In the poker-patriotism game played on Hasson’s studio panel he saw Hasson’s remark, and then raised her. “Disgusting and repulsive person,” he snapped.
So what if Sinwar won the war in Khan Yunis, and the IDF withdrew without achieving its goals? He’s yuck and that’s that. And the yucky person, as all the panellists pointed out, has no incentive to go for a swap, no reason to release the abductees. Another infantile panellist emphasised that “militarily we showed who’s the boss.” Indeed, a worthy military achievement. It too will be taught at West Point. Who’s the Boss, a good name for war. “The IDF did a job there,” all the loyal sycophants concurred. It was a big boss.
Nevertheless, warned one of the participants there is a fly in the ointment. “Even when we, including on your channel, have a caption that says ‘destruction in Khan Yunis,’ we play into their hands. The misery, the tear-jerking.” At that point, I nearly switched channels, as is required of a patriot, until Hasson countered that “when the citizens of Israel see the destruction,” and then added something ridiculous that I couldn’t quite decipher. Moreover, everyone was unanimous that this was “a very strong message to Lebanon,” and that Nasrallah was probably asking himself “whether he wants Beirut to look like this way.”
Allow me to answer on his behalf: He doesn’t want to, but he asks himself how is it possible that an Israeli TV channel still doesn’t understand that if this is what Beirut would look like, it means that another boss would have had a go at Tel Aviv as well. Either way, Hasson wanted to revel in the sight of the ruins in Khan Yunis: a destroyed wasteland, a grey concrete sea of rubble, as if after a nuclear explosion, blackened windows staring out a handful of buildings that remained standing. “We left a total destruction there,” she boasted in admiration, “the IDF did a proper job there, left no stone unturned” (by the way, she fully deserves the Israel Prize in mangling the Hebrew language, it’s her life’s work).
Hasson was disappointed by the extent of the destruction seen from the screen. The few structures that maintained a shape reminiscent of a building, she called “another neighbourhood that remained standing.” Real disappointment. Yuck. “I’ve seen more dramatic pictures,” she complained. “Yes, yes,” someone was quick to reassure, “there are even more pictures… With much more destruction.” Well, how is that supposed to make us happy if we are not shown the image? FFS don’t the people deserve to be a little happy. What should an Israeli who wants catharsis do? Watch Al Jazeera, maybe?
