Current Time.
Can anyone hear me? Can anyone see me? Who’s here? A month has passed since my last update, and I’m back at square one. I tried to link my flashbacks to the numbers, but I couldn’t find a connection that made sense. Maybe it’s not the numbers, and I need to approach this from a different angle. Either way, I’m running out of time, and wars continue to escalate. Recent days have been challenging and filled with overwhelming emotions. I miss my parents, family, friends, and even my hometown. I really hoped to visit Israel for the holiday next week, but that dream turned out to be a slippery one.
The Daily News
I’m still processing what happened a few days ago, but the one certain thing is that being Jewish and Israeli these days is an emotional rollercoaster. Since October 7th, I’ve been waking up every day to a flood of news that disrupts any semblance of normalcy. Sometimes, it’s impossible to listen to the survivors’ testimonies and the desperate screams for help of the hostages held captive in underground tunnels. When I go to sleep, I wish for an end to all this suffering so we can have a normal life again. But I don’t know if that’s even possible anymore. Reflecting on it, I realized how little I knew about what was about to come.
Darth Vader Launches a Deadly Attack
On Saturday night, Israel time, Iran launched an unprecedented attack, the most powerful ever by a sovereign nation against Israel. Never in history have so many ballistic missiles and drones been fired at a single location at the same time. The strongest attack before that was Iran's strike on Saudi Arabia in 2019, when they launched about 25 drones and seven missiles with heavy explosives.
That attack caused severe damage to several oil processing facilities and cut Saudi Arabia's oil production in half, leading to global financial market destabilization and soaring oil prices. Iran clearly believed they would have the upper hand and could destroy Israel. However, their dream backfired spectacularly.
Sony PlayStation question: If 30 missiles and drones cut the oil production of a country by 50%, what is the expected damage when firing 351 missiles and drones?
Unlike the 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia, which included about 30+ drones and missiles, Iran’s attack on Saturday included 130 ballistic missiles, 185 drones with explosives, and 36 cruise missiles. In total, 351 flying threats were launched towards Israel, one of the smallest countries in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic of Iran targeted many of the missiles towards Al-Aqsa Mosque, a holy site for Islam.
Saturday’s attack was nearly 12 times stronger than Iran’s attack on Saudi Arabia in 2019, targeting an area 20 times smaller than Iran or Saudi Arabia. Iran truly believed they could wipe Israel off the map. However, by dawn, their entire leadership had realized the need for a reality check as they faced the music the next day.
God Bless the United States of America
Israel, in collaboration with the US, England, France, and Jordan, blocked 99% of all 351 flying explosive items. The majority of the missiles and drones were intercepted before reaching the vicinity of Israel. I was glued to the TV screen throughout the entire news broadcast, mainly because I couldn’t tell the difference between traditional newscasts and news editions that looked like a TV show on Netflix.
News anchors across all Israeli TV channels aired the attack live, including a sky map showing all the missiles and drones on their way to Israel. It was more than a surreal vision. Today’s wars are broadcast live.
Israel intercepts Iran attack drones over Al Aqsa (11 Alive)
The Jews Defend the Dome of the Rock From the Evil Eye of Sauron
Similar to the maturity level of a 5-year-old child caught red-handed hitting his younger brother with a deadly weapon, then whining and feigning innocence to his parents with crocodile tears, Iran fired a deadly missile attack on one of the smallest countries in the Middle East. During the last wave of missiles launched, while the missiles and drones were on their way to Israel, they sent a UN announcement declaring a ceasefire. Very mature. Even by the standards of warfare, this constitutes a disgusting, despicable, vile, and contemptible act.
Iran was appointed to chair the 2023 UN Human Rights Council Social Forum. The country which the UN appointed as responsible for human rights launched the deadliest attack ever in history on a country 20 times smaller than it is and targeted Al-Aqsa Mosque, the holy place of Islam. What can you learn from that about the credibility, values, morals, ethics, beliefs, and behavior of Iran's leadership? Do they really care about humans? Do they really care about people? What does it mean when an Islamic country targets holy Islamic symbols in its attack, aiming to bomb them?
God Bless The Israeli, American, British, French, And Jordanian Air Forces
The Israeli Air Force, along with the US, British, French, and Jordanian air forces, protected the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian citizens of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, resulting in only one wounded and no casualties. Furthermore, the Israeli Air Force, along with the US, British, French, and Jordanian air forces, protected Jerusalem and the holy place for Islam, the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
I wonder what the Muslim leaders who are no longer with us would say if they had known that Muslims planned a deliberate attack on the holy places for Islam.
Star Wars Broadcast Live
I woke up on Saturday on the other side of the world to news broadcasts that looked more like scenes from a Star Wars movie than actual newscast editions. Hollywood is definitely lagging behind as news reports elevate science-fiction movies to a new level. When the news itself becomes a reality reflected in the wildest storylines of the movie industry, it implies that the clear borderline between imagination and our lives is blurring.
It also means that we have created the technology that directors and screenplay writers imagined in their wildest dreams about 40+ years ago. The imagination of the content creators was limited to the capacity of what they could expect from scientists and technologists of their time. But today, this capacity doesn’t scratch the required threshold. Reaching the limits of people’s ability to imagine due to a knowledge gap puts an entire industry in jeopardy.
Hollywood Fails The Test
To imagine the future, Hollywood probably needs people who have learned science, medicine, and history, along with software engineers and geopolitical experts, to be able to envision quality storylines, as current Hollywood personnel may not have the knowledge and skills necessary to dream in the digital era.
When news thrills the audience more on a live broadcast than entertainment industry productions, two acute problems arise. Firstly, it’s cheaper for news outlets to entertain the public than for Hollywood productions, which require significant time and money. Secondly, when it becomes difficult or even impossible to surpass the audience’s excitement from the current reality, who will continue to buy tickets or pay for a monthly subscription to an industry that fails to provide entertainment?
If reality surpasses imagination, is the entertainment industry at risk of extinction? If so, can society thrive without a vibrant entertainment industry? The answer might lie in the stories that current Hollywood professionals don’t know how to tell. Knowledge is the foundation of imagination and creativity. Where there is a huge gap in knowledge within an entire group responsible for global public entertainment, rookie news reporters who just graduated from college are beating an entire industry at its own game.
Thank you for reading! This story holds a piece of my soul and my reality. To unravel the story behind the stories, read the About section on my profile.
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Liat