Good evening.

Tonight we compare two women: Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid’s Tale, and Daniella Weiss—the only person on earth who hears “two-state solution” and thinks, “Great, I’ll take both.”

And I’m here to tell you something uncomfortable.
After hours of research, and sleepless nights, I’ve concluded that Aunt Lydia is a saint.

No, really. Stay with me.

On violence

Aunt Lydia uses electric cattle prods. Brutal. Visible. Horrifying.
But here’s the thing—she only hurts adults. And she usually stops before killing you, because dead handmaids can’t have babies.

Daniella Weiss? She uses a bulldozer and celebrates the demolition of homes with children inside

One leaves bruises. The other leaves refugees.

On body count

Let’s be honest: Aunt Lydia has directly caused maybe a dozen deaths. The rest is the system. She’s a cog.

Daniella Weiss is not a cog. She’s the engine. She has personally led settler marches that ended in shootings. She has blessed outposts that became flashpoints for wars of attrition. Every Palestinian child who grows up under military rule because “that hill belongs to us now”—that’s on her résumé.

Aunt Lydia hurts you in one room.
Daniella Weiss hurts you across generations and checkpoints and demolished wells and closed roads and settler-only highways and night raids and land theft and international law violations. Daniella breaks you in full view of the international press, then blames the UN for being biased.

Aunt Lydia ruins your week. Daniella ruins your bloodline.

On redemption arc

In the books, Aunt Lydia defects. Betrays Gilead. Tries to do one decent thing before she dies.

Daniella Weiss will never defect.
She will die at 103, on a disputed hilltop, screaming at a Norwegian diplomat that the Bible is a deed.

The closing shot

Aunt Lydia is a rookie.
Aunt Lydia is a sentimentalist.
Aunt Lydia is, by comparison, the voice of reason.

Because at least Aunt Lydia knew when to stop.
At least Aunt Lydia felt guilt.
At least Aunt Lydia’s victims could one day say, “She changed.”

Daniella Weiss doesn’t change.
She settles.
And then she settles some more.

Aunt Lydia sees a monster in the mirror and occasionally flinches.

Daniella Weiss looks in the mirror and waves.

Daniella, you’ve hurt more people, caused more suffering, and done more damage to the cause of peace than any fictional monster ever could. And the saddest part?
You’ll take that as a compliment.

Source: Original Content