Today is Saturday, April 13, 2024. After seeing Alex Garland’s new cautionary tale Civil War at the Kew Gardens Cinema, while Elliot saw another film at the same theater, Farewell, Mr. Haffmann dealing with a real war, the Second World War, focusing on occupied Paris between 1941 and 1942 and its effect on its Jewish residents, I later learn about the Iranian attack on Israel that occurred today. Here the day has been occupied with chords of war and destruction, though my film dealt with an imaginary – but possibly likely – scenario in the near future. What I’m hearing about this tense moment in time is that Israeli defenses have intercepted some Iranian strikes launched toward the country in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus earlier this month. A CNN team is hearing explosions as intercepts occur over Jerusalem. There are also reports of explosions and apparent intercepts across Israel, including Tel Aviv, and the West Bank. U.S. air defense systems in the Middle East also intercepted some Iranian drones, according to two U.S. officials. President Joe Biden is meeting with his national security team in Washington at this moment (in the film, the Capitol forms the backdrop of a vicious assault on the part of rebel forces, with the White House being invaded by these forces, as the president portrayed here by Nick Offerman – last of The Last of Us – is shot in the Oval Office.)

Let’s hope that this step from Iran doesn’t signal a wider escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. A number of world leaders have condemned Iran’s attack on Israel, with French foreign minister Stephane Sejourne saying that in “taking such an unprecedented action, Iran has crossed a new threshold with regard to its destabilizing activities and is risking a potential military escalation.”

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on X that Germany condemns “in the strongest possible terms the ongoing attack, which could plunge an entire region into chaos. Iran and its proxies must stop it immediately.” Baerbock wrote, “We offer Israel our full solidarity at this time.”

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said his nation “unequivocally condemns Iran’s airborne attacks against Israel.”

In a statement, Trudeau said, “We stand with Israel. After supporting Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack, the Iranian regime’s latest actions will further destabilize the region and make lasting peace more difficult.” He continued, “We support Israel’s right to defend itself and its people from these attacks.”

(These quotes are culled from instantaneous news reported in The Guardian online.)

On a more personal level, Elliot and I hope everything is well with our extended family branch now living in a suburb of Tel Aviv. These are the cousins whom we visited at least three times in the last several years, once taking my son to Israel to meet with them for the first time. They live in Hod HaSharon, which is a city in the Central District of Israel. So far, they have had no missiles landing on them during the seven-month conflict with Hamas.

Now we could possibly be entering a more fractious phase of the conflict that started for the Israelis on October 7. Who knows what other powers could be soon engaged here? Let’s hope this escalation doesn’t happen for good reason.

Try to have a good Sunday, despite this disturbing news.

Stay safe and be well.