Image is the famous photograph Raising a Flag Over the Reichstag, taken during the Battle of Berlin.
On Friday is May 9th, which is the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, which Russia, among other places, celebrates as the day when the Soviets defeated the Nazis. Naturally, one of the current hotspots of fascism in the world today, Ukraine, is essentially threatening that they might strike Russia or even Moscow itself during that timeframe. Any such strike would almost certainly be symbolic and not aimed at anything too important, as I doubt even Zelensky and his American handlers would actually want to kill a world leader, not least somebody like Xi Jinping. But I would not be surprised if they tried something nonetheless, if only to disrupt the event in some way and not actually kill anybody.
And, as we're on this topic, @EllenKelly@hexbear.net has reminded me that Tuesday is the anniversary of the Nazis burning the Institut für Sexualwissenschaf in 1933, an early institute advocating for the rights of LGBT people, and which also provided early forms of gender-affirming surgeries, as well as hormone therapies. We are currently seeing a crackdown on LGBT rights throughout swathes of the imperial core (as well as countries in the periphery, to the extent that those rights existed there already), and this Nazi-inspired movement will be similarly defeated in the future.
Last week's thread is here. The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
Please check out the RedAtlas!
The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA 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.
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.
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.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
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.
Loving the trend of Trump bypassing Israel, first with Hamas, then Yemen, now Hamas again. Based precedent
What's the latest thing with Hamas?
I've been thinking about this lately, and Israel (and Netanyahu and the far-right in particular) are quite likely a diplomatic disadvantage, at least in some ways, with Trump personally versus the Arab leaders. Netanyahu isn't used to have to beg or flatter American presidents. The Israelis act like they are beneath that, while the GCC is generally very good at that sort of diplomacy, and that's the sort of diplomacy that works best on Trump. If Bibi ignores what Trump's tells him and brings him loads of laundry to clean, and Qatar asks nicely and gives him a luxurious 747 to keep after he's done being president, it's pretty easy to see who Trump personally is going to side with. The question becomes how much of the US deep state and push back against him.
“ Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha to Al Jazeera:
– "The release of soldier Edan Alexander is aimed at stopping the aggression on Gaza, allowing aid in, and launching negotiations for a comprehensive deal."
– "We expect a US announcement soon regarding the start of comprehensive negotiations that will lead to an end to the war."
– "Details of Alexander’s release will be announced in the coming days by the negotiating team."
– "We call on the US to pressure Israel and ensure it abides by what was agreed upon with Hamas." “
https://t.me/thecradlemedia/34832
Khaleel Nasrallah writes:
“As is clear, the channel the Americans previously opened with Hamas was not just a “passing episode”—today it culminated in an agreement. On the surface, it may appear limited, but in reality, it marks a significant turning point.
The Americans will use this agreement during Trump’s visit, but it cannot be leveraged unless it is implemented—meaning “Tel Aviv” will now move according to what Washington dictates.
Netanyahu now appears as merely the executor of an agreement brokered between Washington and Hamas. If he says no, it will be a disaster for him. The agreement will harm him domestically—and we will see the effects soon.
The agreement announced by Hamas, which it concluded directly with Washington and which stipulates the entry of aid, the opening of crossings, and the beginning of negotiations, constitutes a blow to the “starvation policy” pursued by Netanyahu and his team.”
https://t.me/khalill82/5770