My back hurt, but I continued to walk my dog, only stopping to have a one-sided dialogue with the leadership of Hamas as they hid behind the night sky.

“Hamas, on October 7, what the fuck were you thinking?

Were you high on drugs?

How could you launch a surprise attack on Israel with a few thousand Hamas soldiers and civilians and expect a victory?

Have you no regard for the lives of Palestinians?

Yes, you captured a couple of hundred hostages and yes, you killed 1,200 Israelis.

And yes, you will declare victory. But that’s not how you win a war.

Yes, you lulled Israel’s security network into sleep mode. They believed you posed no or little threat to Israel’s security.

And yes, the IDF or was it Mossad labeled your surprise attack plan as ‘aspirational.’

But you knew the power and the size of  the IDF.

But you knew the power of the Israeli Air Force with its fighter jets, drones and bombs.

Yes, you gave Israel a bloody nose, a black eye and two fists to the kidneys.

But you knew that within hours of landing those blows, thousands of Gazans would die.

Did you think that praying to Allah or Putin or Iran or the UN to perform some sort of a miracle would work to rescue a bunch of murderers, rapists and kidnappers?

Maybe you thought the pope would issue a ceasefire edict preventing the total destruction of Gaza?

Maybe you thought the United States would not support Israel and not send munitions, weaponry, aircraft carriers and intelligence?

Maybe you thought Egypt would open its border and allow you to escape into the Sinai?

Maybe you thought Hezbollah or Assad’s Syrian army would jump into your fight?

Maybe you thought Abbas would create a second front on the West Bank?

But you knew that wars were not won on maybes.

Maybes lead to bloodletting exercises that are doomed to failure and shirtless surrenders.

Doomed to death, destruction and suffering.

You studied the history of  the Jewish/Arab conflict for the last 100 years.

You understood that almost nothing has changed in those 100 years, except that Israel became a first-rate powerhouse and you are at best third rate.

You read Bibi Netanyahu’s Wiki page.

You knew when it came to the death of Israelis by terrorists, Bibi turns into a vindictive animal:

A bear poked in the eye with a stick, who rages with his claws into the faces of his adversaries;

A pit bull, who sinks his canines deep into your skin and muscles and never lets go.

A bloodhound who knows how to sniff out the hiding spots of rapists and killers of children.

You knew that your invasion would melt Bibi’s brain and make his blood boil.

You knew that Bibi was brought up old school, part of a generation that mandates two eyes for every one.

You knew that this old-school warrior loves teaching tough lessons like:

Terrorists must pay for their crimes with their lives;

Jewish lives must never be cheap;

Terrorists must pay a price for hiding behind the apron strings of their mothers or wives or grandmothers or in the prayer rooms of a mosque or under children’s hospitals;

Don’t shot your rockets from your own backyards;

That the media, no matter how hard it tries, will never intimidate or manipulate Israel’s war plans;

That the masses—who never gave a shit about Jews—will never be allowed to dictate Israel’s actions,

Your plan never made any sense:

Even with a major tunnel network, your plan was only a suicide mission.

A kamikaze attack that killed 1,200 Israelis, but caused the total destruction of Gaza.

Even with thousand of rockets hidden in miles of tunnels and under hospitals and mosques,

Your plan made no sense.

Even with your guns and knives hidden in teddy bears and incubators, your plan made no sense.

I stopped ranting and started walking. I felt the pain grow in my back. And as my dog pulled me, I remembered how for eons people made stupid decisions about going to war. Rash decisions made out of desperation. Decisions made with little thought to their consequences. And again, I asked the night sky, “Hamas, what the fuck were you thinking?”

The mind of a man and AI meet to create this unique poem.

Last Thoughts

I think of all the places I’ve seen

The wonders and beauty, the chaos and peace

The mountains and oceans, the forests, and fields

The cities and villages, the cultures, and beliefs

I think of all the lessons I’ve learned

The wisdom and folly, the grace and sin

The courage and fear, the faith and doubt

The kindness and cruelty, the silence and sound

I think of all the moments I’ve shared

The happiness and sadness, the calmness and stress

The birth and death, the love and hate

The friendship and betrayal, the fate and choice

I think of all these things and more

And wonder if I’ve lived enough

If I’ve given enough, received enough

If I’ve fulfilled my purpose, my dreams

I think of all these things and sigh

And feel a tear roll down my eye

I wish I had more time to live

But I know this is the end of it

I close my eyes and say goodbye

To all the things that made me alive

I thank them for being part of me

And hope they’ll remember me fondly

I close my eyes and drift away

Into the darkness, into the light

I don’t know what awaits me there

But I hope it’s something beautiful.

The night before their congressional hearing, three presidents from prestigious American universities (Harvard, MIT and Penn) met in the penthouse suite in Washington’s Dupont Plaza Hotel. They had set up this meeting to brain-storm, to coordinate their talking points and to plan their strategy on how to avoid sounding like antisemities.

Over merlots and martinis, they tried to drink away their fears. And as they nibbled on hors d’oeuvres they wondered, “Is my career in jeopardy?”

Harvard: Ladies, thank you for agreeing to meet tonight. My staff has put together this list of  historical subjects about our schools that we should  try to avoid talking about. You know, the less said, the better. My staff has gone the extra mile by also suggesting answers, if we’re asked questions on these subjects.

Harvard read aloud:

1. Our school’s history of discriminating against Jewish students and faculty in the 1920s through the 1950s. That’s when our universities had a 10% quota on Jews.

Possible answer: That was a long time ago. We don’t have quotas today. Our university has plenty of Jewish professors and students.

2. The amount of money Arab countries are channeling into our Middle Eastern Studies programs.

Possible answer: Without divulging numbers, say, “When it comes to donations or grants, our schools don’t discriminate. All money is green to us. Further, we don’t let donations interfere with any of our decision-making processes.

3. Our school’s embracing and pushing eugenics (Inferior races, blacks and Jews, should be eliminated) in the 30’s and the fact that even Adolf Hitler in letters to our faculty commended and appreciated our eugenic studies;

Possible answer: Only a limited number of our professors pushed the elimination of the mentally changed or disabled from having children by sterilizing them.

4. Our schools continued to run joint study with German universities after the Nazis expelled Jewish students, fired Jewish professors and burned books written by Jewish faculty members;

Possible answer: At the time, we didn’t know Hitler was going to kill six million Jews.

MIT: Thanks for those pointers. But what about if members of the congressional delegation ask us, “If the calling for the genocide of Jews violates our codes of conduct?”

Harvard: Play lawyer on them, just add a qualifier, like, “That depends on the context.” Talk about freedom of speech. Many of the folks on the congressional delegation didn’t attend an Ivy. Therefore, they’re unable to think on their feet.

Penn: Very funny but how do we explain our lack of concern for the safety of Jewish students on campus?

MIT: We can plead ignorance. We can advise them that we’ll be more than willing to look into the matter and take affirmative steps.

Harvard: I like these proposed answers but what are you ladies wearing to the hearings?

MIT: I’m thinking about an outfit in my school colors and a yellow silk scarf embossed with my school’s insignia.

Penn: I’m thinking blue skirt with a white blouse. It’s a twofer. They’re Hanukkah colors and the colors of the  Israeli flag. I’ll accent my outfit with one of those cute little joint  Israeli/ American flag pins. I’ve used that outfit when I’m trying to land rich Jewish donors. It works.

Harvard: I’m thinking blood red, representing the blood of the Palestinians. None of the committee will get the symbolic nature of my outfit. I’ll accessorize it with a red, white and blue American flag broach. Those clowns in Congress love wearing American flag jewelry. You know what they say, “When in Rome…”

MIT: Ladies, thanks for coming to this meeting. Try to get a good night’s sleep. See you in the morning. Remember ladies, no show of emotions. We don’t want the Jews to think, we really care about them. And I don’t think I have to say this, but I’m going to say it anyway. Above all, let’s not “F” this up. Let’s not embarrass ourselves or our universities with any stupid answers. Remember we’re the best. We’re Ivys.