Image is of fires in northern Israel set off by Hezbollah, to force settlers to retreat from their occupied areas, in response to attacks on civilians in Lebanon.

I’m not gonna lie to you - I thought Israel would have started shit with Hezbollah by now which would have derailed whatever megathread theme I had planned, so I didn’t bother planning one.

If you want a decent couple pieces going over what Hezbollah has done to Israel, then have a look at How ‘Israel’ Has Lost The North and Hezbollah’s Quarterly Report. It’s not exactly the most professional analysis, as you’ll see if you read it, but it gets the point across and relies on evidence. In essence, Hezbollah has pushed the Israelis back tens of kilometers and decimated their border infrastructure, all while unveiling anti-aircraft missiles that have forced Israel to reconsider bombing runs. They still probably have the ability to turn various towns and cities in Lebanon to rubble, but Hezbollah can do massive damage back to Israel in turn. This has gone on so long with so little meaningful opposition by Israel that border settlements are going a little haywire and tentatively declaring independence from Israel and saying they don’t want IDF troops there anymore. I don’t take these terribly seriously from a military standpoint but it is indicative of the Zionist settler mindset crumbling over the last 9 months.

We’re now at the point where Israel kinda has to go to war against Hezbollah or the entire Zionist ideology of military deterrence and expansion via illegal settlements simply no longer functions, but that war will also lead to massive destruction for military and civilian facilities (ports, power stations, war factories, etc) which is a massive problem for Israel’s continued existence. Hamas continues to function inside Gaza despite the surface occupation of significant areas, including the Gaza-Egypt border, and attrition there is leading to big materiel and psychological losses for Israel too. And Yemen has, for all intents and purposes, prevailed against America’s failed attempt to thwart their blockade - with some in the army claiming it’s the most intense naval battle America has faced since WW2 - and missile strikes are tentatively beginning to hit or at least threaten ships in the Mediterranean Sea.

Nukes are still lurking quietly in the background, of course, but the Resistance is perfectly aware of that and still seems confident to go ahead with operations, so I can’t really do anything but shrug and say that I trust them to do what’s right.

The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you’ve wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don’t worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.

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

Please check out the HexAtlas!

The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week’s thread is here.

Israel-Palestine Conflict

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. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

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.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

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.

Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:

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

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 Telegram Channels:

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.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    34·
    4 days ago

    Brazilian President Lula da Silva meeting with Noam Chomsky and former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) (Liberal).

    Meeting with Chomsky

    Lula tells Chomsky he wants to bring together world democratic leaders. The meeting, which lasted around 40 minutes, was marked by demonstrations of respect and admiration.

    President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) met linguist Noam Chomsky on Monday (24) in São Paulo, in a meeting that lasted around 40 minutes. During the visit, the two held hands and treated each other with admiration. Lula even joked about rubbing 95-year-old Chomsky’s forehead and head. “You’re older than me, but you have a lot more hair,” said the president, who is 78.

    “I came here to see my friend and to repay the visit you and Valeria paid me when I was in prison,” said the president. “I’m glad you’re doing so well, because you have a lot to give to improve humanity. Not a week goes by that Celso Amorim and I don’t talk about you.”

    Chomsky suffered a stroke in June 2023, in the United States, and was brought to São Paulo, where he was admitted to the Beneficência Portuguesa Hospital. He was discharged last Tuesday (18).

    During the meeting, Lula told Chomsky that he is organizing an international meeting of democratic leaders to discuss ways of confronting the advance of the global far right.

    Lula also said he was confident that, when he leaves office, the country will be closer to the ideal of justice for which Chomsky works. "I always say to [Fernando] Haddad [Finance Minister], who is also a friend of yours, that we need to be patient, but without moving away from our purpose.

    Meeting with FHC

    President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party) visited former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Social Democrat Party of Brazil - PSDB) this Monday (24) at the latter’s residence in São Paulo. The meeting lasted approximately half an hour.

    In the early afternoon, Lula arrived at FHC’s building by car and left without talking to the press. Before the President’s visit, the PSDBist (Neoliberal/Liberal) also received former Finance Minister Pedro Malan and economists Gustavo Franco and Pérsio Arida - all involved in the creation of the Real Plan (Brazil’s current currency), which turns 30 in 2024.

    FHC, who was Lula’s opponent in the 1994 and 1998 elections, declared his support for the PT candidate in the 2022 presidential election. At the time, FHC said he would vote for Lula because of “a history of fighting for democracy and social inclusion”.

    In São Paulo, the Chief Executive also met the American philosopher Noam Chomsky, 95, and the Brazilian writer Raduan Nassar, 88. Last Tuesday (18), Chomsky was discharged after a period of hospitalization at the Beneficência Portuguesa hospital.

    As the meetings are of a personal nature, they are not on the president’s official agenda. Lula is due to return to Brasília on Monday afternoon.

    It seems Lula da Silva also visited former Brazilian President Jose Sarney recently.

    • ziggurter [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      29·
      4 days ago

      Lula told Chomsky that he is organizing an international meeting of democratic leaders to discuss ways of confronting the advance of the global far right.

      I think I can pass on Chomsky-esque scolding of everyone to vote for Genocide Joe again, actually.

      Glad Chomsky is alive/“well” and that he and Lula have some comradery going, though.