this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
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From Naked Capitalism:

...one has to wonder what the latest Blinken round of visits to the Middle East was supposed to accomplish, since all it did was expose our impotence. Even the Financial Times could not hide that the meetings with Netanyahu and then Arab leaders were a train wreck. Netanyahu rejected even any itty bitty ceasefire, branded a humanitarian pause, to get relief in, demanding that Hamas release all hostages first. The fact that Israel has welched or underperformed on its past begrudging promises to let trucks from Egypt in, would make that a non-starter even before getting to Hamas being sure to stick to its position of wanting to trade hostages for Palestinian prisoners. And of course the Arab states are not about to budge. Blinken got a more pointed version of what he was told before.

Antony Blinken faced intense pressure from regional allies to facilitate an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, laying bare the stark gap between US support for Israel and the outrage in Arab capitals over the siege and bombardment of the strip….

Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian foreign minister, demanded an unconditional ceasefire, a commitment that Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly rejected after meeting Blinken on Friday.

Blinken had been expected to “brainstorm” with Arab diplomats the future of Gaza, home to 2.3mn Palestinians, after the war ends. Safadi bluntly rejected those talks as premature. “How can we even entertain what will happen in Gaza when we do not know how Gaza will be left?” he asked Blinken. “Are we going to be talking about a wasteland? Are we talking about a whole population reduced to refugees?”

This comes off as the sort of thing someone who had just read classic texts on negotiating trying to put in practice: “Gee, let’s get a dialogue going! Let’s get to ‘Yes’ on some less fraught issues to pave the way for further agreement!” In addition, “brainstorming” is cringemakingly American. You don’t do that with people who are mad at you. You don’t do that in a crisis. Between independent entities, you do not do that at the top level. You have low level people or emissaries float ideas. So why this exercise? The worst is that Biden and Blinken come off as so disconnected from reality that they though they might get someone to accommodate US needs.


Friendly reminder: when commenting about a news event, especially something that just happened, please provide a source of some kind. While ideally this would be on nitter or archived, any source is preferable to none at all given.

If you have evidence of Israeli crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.


Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:

UNRWA daily-ish reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.

English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis.

English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.

Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.


The Country of the Week is still Lebanon! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.



Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.

You're going to have to (hex)bear with me on the update this week. Have you been feeling generally pretty terrible this last month or so? So have I, and doomscrolling and archiving it all is my quasi-job at this point. Not good, folks, more and more people are saying it. I'll get over it eventually.

Links and Stuff


The bulletins site is down.

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists

Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Add to the above list if you can.


Resources For Understanding The War


Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.

Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.

Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.

Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.

On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.


Telegram Channels

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

Pro-Russian

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.

https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.

https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.

https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.

https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.

https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.

https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.

https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.

https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine

Almost every Western media outlet.

https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.

https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.


Last week's discussion post.


(page 17) 50 comments
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[–] iByteABit@hexbear.net 34 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Work and the time changing makes me want to take up smoking

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[–] the_kid@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

@SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net

thanks for linking that segment with Amal Saad, I started reading her book on Hezbollah and it's fascinating. I'm not too far into it, but here's some interesting passages so far:

passages

"The roots of Shi’ite political mobilisation, and hence the formation of Hizbu’llah, lie in the community’s radicalisation by Arab nationalist, socialist and communist organisations. The loss of Palestine in 1948, signalled the inception of a Shi’ite political Consciousness."

...

"The common denominator between the oppressed Muslims and Christians is their ‘humanitarianism’ and their rejection of oppression as reflected in their political stands, behaviour and intellectual identity. More specifically, it is the attitude to Zionism and the West – America in particular – that differentiates the oppressors from the politically and culturally oppressed. Anyone who is ‘free’, who ‘resists Zionism’ and who ‘may be exposed to danger’ as a result of his beliefs, qualifies as an oppressed person. Conversely, all those who side with the ‘greatest abominations in our era’, America and the Zionist ‘enemy’, are the oppressors who must be confronted by Hizbu’llah.”

...

“Lest this be construed as an indication of Hizbu’llah’s countenance of Arab secularists only, on account of their stance towards Israel, it must be stressed that any oppressed secular group or state is not only condoned but also morally supported by the party. Hizbu’llah sympathizes with secular Christian and even Marxist Third World Leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Daniel Ortega and Fidel Castro because of their countries’ oppressed status. Castro, for example, is ‘respected’ for preserving Cuba’s independence from US influence and for confronting the US’ hegemony over South America.”

...

“Occupation of one’s land by Israel or any other foreign power emerges as a principal determinant of oppression and, like all oppressed people, those whose land is occupied will be afforded Hizbu’llah’s ‘automatic’ support. But even an oppressed people whose land has been subjected to foreign occupation does not win Hizbu’llah’s total sympathy if its rejection of oppression hinges on Western support. According to this logic, the Afghan mujahidin’s recourse to American aid in their resistance to the Soviet occupation detracted from their moral integrity as an oppressed people. By compromising their independence, they became the ‘American mujahidin’, a highly pejorative epithet in Hizbu’llah’s lexicon.”

pro-Palestine anti-Ukraine geo-politics understanders

[–] the_kid@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago (7 children)
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[–] TheGamingLuddite@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago (8 children)

Prediction: Larouchism will supplant the currently dominant strains of American conservatism in no less than 20 years.

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[–] SoyViking@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Danish succdem prime minister Mette Frederiksen who is famous for her full-throated embrace of far right islamophobia, is concerned about antisemitism. She has sent the following letter to the (also succdem) minister of justice:

Dear minister of justice

Hamas' terrifying attack on "Israel" and the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza is having impact and causing division in Denmark. In recent times we have witnessed disturbing behaviour here at home that is fed by the conflict. It clearly shows that there are persons in Denmark who have not adopted our Danish values. It causes me great concern. And I have noticed that several parties in parliament shares this concern.

On that basis I am requesting that the ministry of justice prepares a report on how police and prosecution utilises the penal safeguards against among other things incitement to and sympathising with terror etc. connected to recent protests and public statements related to the conflict in "Israel" and Gaza.

Some points:

  • The zionist entity was the victim of a "terrifying attack" with a clearly labelled culprit. Palestinians in Gaza are merely experiencing a "humanitarian situation". What happens to Palestinians in the West Bank and inside the zionist entity is not important enough to mention.

  • The thing about "adopting" an alleged set of "Danish values" is a dog whistle for coding the "disturbing behaviour" as foreign. The terrorist-sympathising antisemites are not white Aryan Danes but scary dark-skinned foreigners. The statement should be seen in connection to her 2020 claims that an alleged increasing antisemitism was caused by "immigrant communities and parts of the left wing".

  • Making an intellectually honest analysis of the zionist entity's settler-colonial nature and inherent illegitimacy is beyond the pale for Danish rulers. They were fine with Nazis marching in the streets and creating international hubs for distributing Nazi propaganda literature. They were fine with Nazis burning Qurans and running for parliament on a programme that could best be described as subjecting Muslims to an even crazier version of the Nuremberg laws. But supporting the national liberation of Palestine, that is where the freeze peach runs out and the police state is deployed.

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[–] Eldungeon2@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

An oldie but a goodie , this 2007 Rebel Diaz 😎 Viva Palestina https://youtu.be/8Dr05tXktSo?si=-Wml2XgnRyQh-EgG

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[–] fever@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Apparently something is going to happen tomorrow, a Houthi X account posted the number 1111 and comments are speculating it means November 11. Also an Iranian news agency said Nasrallah is doing a speech tomorrow, can anyone confirm that?

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[–] SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (8 children)

Okay, so there's the pro-Russia/anti-NATO and pro-Palestine/anti-Israel people.

Then there's the pro-NATO/anti-Russia and pro-Israel/anti-Palestine people. I'm lumping all the dipshit "Free Palestine from Hamas" people in with anti-Palestine.

Are there any significant groups of people who are pro-NATO and pro-Palestine? Or pro-Russia but also pro-Israel?

[–] SoyViking@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (7 children)

Gunther Fehlinger, the most pro-NATO man alive, has tweeted this:

Israel 🇮🇱 must be dismantled as punishment for her moral neutrality against the Russian genocide against Ukrainians #ExIsrael @netanyahu @Israel @IsraelinAustria

He has also, however, called for the zionist entity to join NATO and called for Hamas to end the war by surrendering.

Gunther thought is complicated and takes a keen mind to understand.

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[–] nat_turner_overdrive@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago (6 children)
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[–] Ideology@hexbear.net 33 points 2 years ago

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/11/new-attacks-hit-us-bases-iraq-syria-iran-ups-threats-over-gaza

https://archive.ph/SSJ4U

New attacks hit US bases in Iraq, Syria as Iran ups threats over Gaza

WASHINGTON — US troops in Iraq and Syria came under a spate of new rocket and drone attacks over the weekend, as the Pentagon sent an Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine into the region to join two aircraft carrier strike groups in a bid to deter Iran and its proxies from exploiting Israel’s war in Gaza.

US troops at the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq’s Anbar province and at three separate bases in Syria have shot down at least six separate one-way attack drones directed at their positions since Friday, a defense official revealed to Al-Monitor on Monday.

On Sunday alone, US troops shot down drones in three attacks targeting the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq and one each targeting separate US bases at al-Tanf and Tal Baydar in Syria. US forces at al-Asad airbase shot down two attempted one-way drone attacks Sunday morning and afternoon before responding a third barrage of multiple drones and rockets Sunday night, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Pentagon officials did not say which groups were behind the latest attacks but have blamed Iran-backed militias for previous such incidents, many of which have been claimed by a media front associated with such militias. White House and Pentagon officials have said they will hold Iran accountable for attacks by its proxies and reserve the right to respond in self-defense. No US troops were reported injured and no damage incurred in the latest attacks, Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Monday.

Nor have any US troops been injured in the attacks since President Joe Biden authorized airstrikes targeting two facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and associated groups in eastern Syria on Oct. 26, one US military official told Al-Monitor. But the number of American personnel reporting traumatic brain injuries resulting from prior attacks, including two that hit the Ain al-Asad air base and the Al-Tanf garrison on Oct. 17-18, have doubled, the Pentagon revealed on Monday.

A total of 46 American personnel have reported injuries from those attacks, Ryder said, marking a significant uptick in reports of concussive injury symptoms which were first reported by Al-Monitor. In all, US troops in Iraq and Syria have come under attack 38 separate times since Oct. 17, he said.

Coalition troops successfully thwarted most of those attacks thanks to "robust defenses," the US defense official told Al-Monitor.

Why it matters: Iran-backed groups are threatening to increase their attacks on American troops in the region as Israel’s war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip grinds on into its second month.

The continued attacks suggest the militias are signaling they do not intend to stand down. Asaib Ahl al-Haqq on Sunday released a statement threatening to target the US Embassy and bases in Iraq. The so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a suspected media front for IRGC-backed militias in Iraq, claimed on social media on Monday to have unveiled a new missile resembling previously known Iranian models. Iran’s Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani on Sunday publicly warned that Americans “will be hit hard” if Washington does not “immediately halt the war in Gaza and implement a cease-fire,” Iran International reported.

President Biden and other US officials have repeatedly warned Iran and Iran-backed groups not to launch opportunistic attacks on US troops or their allies.

"We will continue to adjust our force posture in the region to make sure we can protect our troops and our facilities on the ground and continue to send a strong deterrent message," White House National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Monday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a stop in Baghdad to meet with Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani, as Washington seeks Iraqi security forces’ support in cracking down on the attacks. Blinken’s stop in Iraq, which came amid a wider diplomatic tour of the region, was not announced prior to his arrival, underscoring Washington's concerns about security.

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