Biden's trip and the errant rocket

Notes on the News

Middle East 101

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of you who wrote to say you’d be keen to join the Middle East 101 class! There’s definitely enough of you to make this worthwhile. I was definitely right to think that readers would welcome a chance to learn more about the history of this conflict. I’m delighted that so many of you are interested. I promise that studying this will reward your effort. I’m also gratified to see that there’s genuine demand for what CG exists to do: Readers really do want a broader and deeper perspective on the news.

Don’t worry if I haven’t yet replied to your message. I’m just going to spend a day or two thinking about the best way to organize this. You’ll get a confirmation email from me over the weekend, with a schedule and a reading list.

Some of you asked whether there’s a fee for the class. No, it’s included in the price of your subscription. I’m not charging separately because this is experimental: I’ve never tried to teach a class this way before, and I’ll be making it up—my teaching method, that is—as we go along. You’ll be my guinea pigs. If it goes well and I get good at it, maybe next time I’ll charge for it. But for now, it’s a bonus for our subscribers. If you’d like to become a subscriber and join us, you’re more than welcome:

---

Notes on the news

A rocket exploded near a hospital in Gaza, causing terrible casualties. Major newspapers, around the world, immediately took Hamas’s word that 500 people had died and Israel was to blame. This journalistic irresponsibility triggered massive protests throughout the Middle East and the cancellation of the Jordanian president’s scheduled meeting with President Biden.

As by now I’m sure you’ve heard, all evidence suggests the rocket was fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad—and Hamas knew this full well. This isn’t a complex matter, forensically: You can see for yourself. There are photographs, videos, audio recordings, and more: