this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2025
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Image, sourced from this article, is of George Bush in 2002 meeting with María Corina Machado, who was even then being trained as a figure to oppose Venezuelan socialism, and very briefly succeeded with the Carmona Decree. Now the latest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, she has begged the Zionist entity to drop bombs on the Venezuelan people.


As of me writing these sentences, it appears that the ceasefire in Gaza is underway. Zionist ceasefires are, of course, an oxymoron - not only in the grand sense that their work to continue genocidal atrocities against others locally and regionally will not cease until the Zionist entity's occupation of Palestine is overthrown and Palestinians can resume the governance of their territory - but also in the literal sense; that bombings and shootings are often only merely reduced, and rarely cease entirely (as was/is the case on their northern border with Lebanon). Nonetheless, hopefully the population can receive some aid, and the long process of rebuilding can begin.

On the other side of the world, it seems increasingly likely that a new war is set to begin. Because the US is eschewing the usual process of generating pro-war propaganda and casus bellis (aside from a laughably transparent Nobel Peace Prize award) and seems content to just skip straight to the "bomb and depose" step, it's quite hard to predict what precisely they want to do. Anything seems to be on the table - from freely striking Venezuelan territory where "drug dealers" are to try and prompt a Venezuelan response, to assassinating Maduro and/or his generals and hoping a power vacuum can be filled with compradors, to attempting to outright invade Venezuela and establish direct American control over important government sites. All appear to be possibilities, though as of right now, the most drastic measures seem unlikely due to their difficulty.

We know that the US has almost totally abandoned diplomatic communication with Venezuela, and that the US has deployed warships, a nuclear submarine, F-35s, surveillance planes, and at least 4,000 military personnel to the Caribbean, with some sources putting the numbers higher. Some people have suggested that the point is to try and force Maduro into a situation where he must begin hostilities, or be seen as weak and perhaps overthrown from within. It is at least encouraging that Maduro is not like Allende in Chile, and is taking this situation extraordinarily seriously; the masses are being trained and mobilized in the event of an invasion, and military drills are ongoing. Venezuela has no real capacity to stop the US from attacking and bombing them, but it is much more possible to prevent a West-friendly puppet from gaining meaningful control of the country. A comprador might be able to make a brief statement or decree in a Venezuelan city saying that Chavismo is over, but actual power will hopefully prove very elusive.

2020, and particularly 2022, has clearly become a turning point for the Western imperial system, in which increasingly aggressive and reckless moves are required to keep the system functional (stability is, at this point, out of the question). Unfortunately, this has also resulted in the deaths of many long-lasting, inspiring figures, such as Nasrallah, and many more will certainly die before the empire collapses. If Maduro is assassinated - and I'm having trouble imagining how he won't be doggedly pursued in the days. weeks, and months to come - I have hope that a successor will rise to continue to lead the Bolivarian Revolution.


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.

The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine

If you have evidence of Zionist 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 the temporary Zionist entity. 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.


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[–] plinky@hexbear.net 65 points 6 months ago (4 children)

mini-trumpo, bettting yesterday on crypto doggirl-grin

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[–] SickSemper@hexbear.net 65 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (15 children)
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[–] Boise_Idaho@hexbear.net 65 points 6 months ago (6 children)

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will cut hundreds of jobs this week as part of a workforce restructuring plan, JPL Director Dave Gallagher announced:
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/nasa-jet-propulsion-lab-to-lay-off-hundreds

[–] Coolkidbozzy@hexbear.net 64 points 6 months ago (3 children)

It was so inspiring as a kid thinking that in 30 years we'd send humans to mars, and have soil return missions, and probably send probes to all the moons that might have life, and probably return to the moon in some capacity

Sucks that children can't have that anymore

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[–] 3rdWorldCommieCat@hexbear.net 64 points 6 months ago (2 children)

The Virgin Islands have passed a law allowing trans and intersex people to change their gender markers on legal docs! https://transitics.substack.com/p/the-us-virgin-islands-finally-legalises

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[–] Parzivus@hexbear.net 64 points 6 months ago (4 children)

🚨 BREAKING: Drop Site’s Ryan Grim reports U.S. officials knew within hours that the Rafah explosion – which Netanyahu used to justify halting all Gaza aid and resuming airstrikes – was actually caused by an Israeli settler bulldozer running over unexploded ordnance, not a Hamas tunnel attack.
Despite that, Netanyahu blamed Hamas, suspended aid, and ordered new bombings.
After Washington told Israel it knew the truth, Netanyahu quietly announced he would reopen the crossings “in a few hours.”

From the Drop Site News twitter. Another source in the thread says it was an IOF tank hitting an IED.

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 63 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Trump is threatening Spain with extra tariffs because they aren't buying enough US/NATO weapons. Very cool.

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[–] EnsignRedshirt@hexbear.net 63 points 6 months ago (6 children)

Sorry if this is a little too inside-Canadian-baseball, but I think this situation is kind of interesting.

China will remove canola tariffs if Canada scraps EV levies: ambassador

Canada put a 100% tariff on Chinese EV imports, and China retaliated with tariffs on some Canadian agricultural products. The reason for the EV tariff was ostensibly to protect Canadian auto manufacturing, but the reality is that Canada was just aligning policy with the US. That move made (some) sense prior to Trump's trade war when the assumption was that there would be another boring Democratic administration and everyone would go along to get along as usual. However, since Trump got into office, the status quo for Canada-US trade and diplomatic relations has been disrupted. The US is no longer a reliable trade partner, which calls into question how closely aligned Canada needs to be to the US in its own foreign policy.

Dropping the EV tariffs in exchange for the agricultural tariffs would be good for the agricultural sector, good for Canadian consumers, good for propagation of EVs, and would represent a meaningful divergence from US policy, which is a major reason the current government was elected. If Canada wants to be less reliant on US trade then it's going to need to actually do more trade with other markets instead of just whining that Trump isn't being fair. And no, doing more trade with Europe isn't going to cut it. I'm not convinced that they'll actually take this offer seriously, but there are very good arguments to go for it, and very real consequences of turning it down. It probably won't happen, but it's a thing that actually could happen, even in a world where nothing ever happens.

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[–] Kieselguhr@hexbear.net 63 points 6 months ago (19 children)
[–] EpicKebabEater@hexbear.net 63 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Turkish government to play out the last part of the LGBT discrimination threats leaked one year ago. The 11th Amendment to the Criminal Code, to be voted on this month, contains changes to:

-Obscenity laws(the ones that ban public sex) to increase the penalty to 1 to 3 years. It will also now include "actions incompatible with biological sex, encouraging or praising such actions" and (symbolic) gay wedding ceremonies.

-Legal reassignment. The minimum age is now 25 and "scientific necessity" must be proven. This is in a country where legal transition is nearly impossible due to lack of professionals and absurd expectations from doctors. Any "changes to an individual's gender" outside of the law is punishable by 3 to 7 years.

Here is a good English source: https://kaosgl1.org/en/single-news/11th-judicial-package-prison-sentences-for-lgbti-s-gender-reassignment-age-raised-to-25

I assume nobody will want to take this part out in order to not be seen as "friendly towards gays". None of the bans before this got any attention except from LGBTQ orgs.

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[–] plinky@hexbear.net 62 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (22 children)

jesus fucking christ gold is at 4350 already

to update on the real game in town, #beanwatch beanis :

cocoa crashed to 6k (rip sweet dreams sadness )

coffee still at 400 (no change for a month)

soybeans still haven't crashed past 1000 (smh, crash those kulaks)

i also wonder, like oil is at 60 dollars already, the fuck usa oil porkies plan to do/arab sheikhs as well?

(oil rigs dropped from 480 to 420 since february, okay that makes sense. saudis cashflows are harder to understand)

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[–] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 62 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Israeli warplanes carry out a new airstrike on Rafah, southern Gaza, violating the ceasefire.

@PressTV

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[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 61 points 6 months ago (6 children)

https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/1o8bnei/83_year_old_republican_senator_mitch_mcconnell/ 83 year old Republican Senator Mitch McConnell just tripped and fell while being asked about ICE

should have gone with the head into shell defence mechanism instead

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 61 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

NYT;

The Trump administration has decided to repatriate two survivors of a deadly U.S. strike on suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea rather than prosecute or hold them in military detention, people with knowledge of the matter said.

I mean, what were they going to charge them with? Not stepping closer to the incoming US rocket attack location? Just kind of surprising that they didn't send them to Gitmo.

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago (13 children)

Donald Trump threatens attacks against Colombia to “close drug distribution centers.” Trump claims that the country's president, Gustavo Petro, “is a drug trafficking leader” and suspends subsidy payments to Colombia. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says Latin American drug cartels are the new “Al-Qaeda” and “will be destroyed just the same.”

Donald Trump: "President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Colombia. It has become the biggest business in Colombia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America."

"AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLOMBIA. The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc."

"Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President Donald J. Trump"

Gustavo Petro responds to Trump's threats: “The United States wants oil from Venezuela and Guyana, and greed for oil is what's behind the missiles targeting fishermen.”

“The American people are not our enemy. The problem is Donald Trump... Trump doesn't understand the concept of humanity.”

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[–] Boise_Idaho@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago (5 children)

https://nitter.net/yourpartyNR/status/1978840214920446216

This is a statement by multiple members of the Your Party Norfolk proto-branch concerning the assembly that’s being pushed through by National on Sunday, with no consultation with us, no deliberation and we still haven’t been told what any of this is for.

"There are weeks where decades happen." - Me referring to Your Party imploding before even doing anything and Mamdani capitulating to Zionists before even getting elected

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[–] qcop@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago (9 children)

I'm currently researching the Madagascar protests due to personal closeness with the cause of ex French colonies.

What I can say from my personal experience is that the current president is a puppet of the french, he already "fled" once there (that's when he got the French nationality a few years ago in 2014). The guy only does anything after it has been vetted by the French.

He was also saying the movement was caused by foreign interference (ie Russian) as is the playbook of western aligned government. The current movement is asking for access to basic necessities such as access to education, healthcare, water and electricty.

They are not really organizing through discord. From what I’ve seen (that’s where I'm currently at and where my understanding is thin) they have a central committee and are forming local chapters in various parts of the country to organize their movement.

They have a manifest (in french) there: https://www.gen-z-madagascar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GENZ-MANIFESTO_251003_090913.pdf

I've translated a small part of the document to highlight what they say they are against (looks like basic leftist revendications to me):

Alarmed by the violent repression of protests, arbitrary detentions, recurring cuts to essential services, and the increasing risk of famine, we stand against:

  • Systemic corruption caused by deregulated capitalism,
  • The misappropriation of public funds and the awarding of public contracts based on corruption and favoritism,
  • Failures in access to basic services (water, electricity, health, education, etc.),
  • The failure of the education system for the general population,
  • The dictatorship of a minority over politics in Madagascar to the detriment of the interests of the vast majority of the Malagasy people, workers and farmers,
  • The absence of true democracy where local officials and citizens have real political power

I’m still investigating who are the members of the committee and checking some stuff by people I trust on the subject of french colonies who have links with people over there.

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[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

kkkanada a few intersecting items on Canadian fearmongering about China. only the last of these is new, but elements of each of these stories was new to me.

The Two Michaels

spoilerrecently Michael Kovrig, one of the infamous "Two Michaels" wrote a dumbass oped about China bad. The oped is not worth reading unless you want to see citations needed foreign policy trope words. However, this stupid bullshit reminded me that the two Michaels still exist so I wanted to see what happened since they were released.

Background on the two Michaels was that in 2018 Canada arrested the Huawei CEO Meng Wanzhou at the behest of the US. China then retaliated by arresting the two Michaels (both diplomat/lanyard types) in China for spying. 3 years or so later in 2021, Meng was released and shortly after, so were the Michaels. During this period there was all kinds of righteous indignation and histrionics from Canadian media and politicians across the major Canadian political parties about how eeeevil and authoritarian the Chinese government is to arrest poor smol bean diplomats.

The new to me element of this story is that subsequent to his release, Michael Spavor sued the Canadian government for making him accessory to espionage in China and successfully settled out of court for about $7m CAD. His case was basically that he was used as an unwitting dupe, sharing information about the DPRK to the other Michael and on to Canada. This particular issue of Canadian policy putting diplomats in a grey area where they are doing espionage while under diplomatic cover (i.e. spying in contravention of the Vienna Convention) was the subject of a government watchdog report (article summarizing report) about how much Canada fucked up on this. This report was completed in 2021 but wasn't publicly released until end of 2023, long after the story had died down.

In short, the two Michaels were definitely spies, albeit one unwittingly so. This is evidenced by Canada settling for millions of dollars with the unwitting Michael out of court and is supported by a report authored by a Canadian watchdog organization that is part of the federal government. All the fearmongering and histrionics about China arresting spies was bullshit and nonsense, as demonstrated by the statements and actions of the Canadian federal government. This whole incident was incurred by Canada embracing a vassal relationship with the US, not because of Chinese perfidy.

The "Secret Chinese Police Stations"

spoilerAnother idiotic anti-China story in Canada was the so-called secret police stations, where the idea was that Chinese consulates and cultural centers were used by the see see pee to secretly intimidate and do law enforcement against ethnic Chinese people in Canada (Canadian citizens or otherwise). The RCMP, the federal Canadian police originally formed to implement genocide against Indigenous people, recently closed their investigation into this in Montreal with no charges laid. "The force recently confirmed it has closed the investigation into the Montreal centres, and is not recommending that charges be laid for the moment. RCMP have not confirmed whether the investigations are still ongoing in Toronto or Vancouver."

Yet again, the news here is that a Canadian federal body is explicitly admitting that this is nothing. more fearmongering and bullshit. Good thing they endangered a bunch of Chinese Canadians though.

finally, Stellantis and tariffs

spoilerContinuing in its service as a US vassal, Canada has followed the US in anti-China tariffs, with the message that tariffs on Chinese EVs are there to "protect the Canadian auto industry". How's that going? Well, yesterday Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) announced that they are moving major production lines from Brampton, Ontario to the US in response to US tariffs and US demand for domestic investment. 3 years ago, the Canadian feds & the province dumped $1b into this specific factory to support automaking in Canada . What an awesome private public partnership that clearly helps Canadians. The message from Stellantis is that "they have plans" for the plant. Sweet. Meanwhile, tariffs on Chinese EVs remain, so Canadian residents get fucked on both sides: no cost effective Chinese EVs and continued sacrifice of Canadian manufacturing jobs on the altar of US vassalage.

these stories aren't directly connected, but I think they help illustrate how Canadian politicians baselessly fearmonger about China and make it harder to actually improve the lives of Canadians, while getting absolutely fucked by the US over multiple administrations.

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago (9 children)

Someone needs to make this flag as an emoji.

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[–] Outdoor_Catgirl@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago (7 children)

2x B52s flying near Venezuela. Transponders on, so looks like this is a threat/show of force rather than them doing any actual attacks.

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[–] ColombianLenin@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago (12 children)
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[–] grandepequeno@hexbear.net 59 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (6 children)

possum Aaaaaaand Burqa ban just passed in Portugal. Pretty clean Left-Right cleavage here with the whole right voting in favour, the whole left against and the 2 "syncretic" parties, each with 1 MP, abstaining.

Nothing really noteworthy to say, the debate was the same as everywhere else it took place, the reasons for the right to push this now the same, the actual visibility of women in burqas in portuguese society being 0.01% (I don't think I EVER saw one, and even if someone does it'd only be in a handful of places in Lisbon) just as everywhere else where burqas where banned.

It only got me thinking how because of the dominance of the socialist party for almost 10 years after 2015 we basically dodged, or weren't greatly affected by, some moral panics that other countries went through in that period, so we're getting them in full force now, with anti-migrant sentiment being the most prominent. Dunno which one is next, if I had to take a bet I'd say the far-right could try to push some anti-trans legislation

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[–] plinky@hexbear.net 59 points 6 months ago

rat-salute to bravest soul in the world sinwar-victory rat-salute-2

[–] Tervell@hexbear.net 59 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

https://xcancel.com/witte_sergei/status/1978189702131003621

At the Philadelphia Navy Yard, a parade of ships was to celebrate the US Navy's birthday on October 13th. However, in December, the shipyard there was sold to a South Korean company and is now the "Hanwha Philly Shipyard." The South Koreans initially wanted to build 12 ships in Philadelphia, but later had to back off and order several of the ships from yards in South Korea after concluding that the Philly yard didn't have the capacity. Today, China announced new sanctions of Hanwha - collateral damage in the trade war.

A perfect concatenation of stories for America's strategic crossroads.

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 59 points 6 months ago (7 children)

Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela

The development comes as the U.S. military is drawing up options for President Trump to consider, including possible strikes inside the country.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/politics/trump-covert-cia-action-venezuela.html

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 59 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Colombian TV interviews the sister of one of the men killed in US attacks in the Caribbean. According to RTVC, Alejandro Carranza was a fisherman and was adrift due to technical problems with his boat. He had no connection to drug trafficking.

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[–] SickSemper@hexbear.net 58 points 6 months ago

An exceptional photo in Cairo: the special Unit 101 of the Al-Qassam Brigades reunites today after years of separation.

From the right: Freed prisoners in the Wafa al-Ahrar deal Mahmoud Atoun, Mousa Akkari, Mahmoud Issa (freed yesterday as part of the Toufan al-Ahrar exchange) and Majid Quteish.

These are four young men from Jerusalem entrusted with the mission of capturing soldiers in order to liberate Palestinian prisoners from occupation jails. They kidnapped Corporal Nassim Toledano in 1992 with the aim of exchanging him for Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was imprisoned at the time, but they killed him due to the occupation's refusal to engage.

They were arrested after six months of interrogation and search and imprisoned for up to 32 years, as in the case of Mahmoud Issa.

Today, they are reunited, liberated, at the hands of the Resistance and the steadfastness of the Palestinian people of Gaza.

https://t.me/samidoun_network/6542

[–] ClathrateG@hexbear.net 58 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwvr2xpkz0o Prominent Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti attacked by guards, family says

along with all the genocide, apartheid, torturing etc the zios still find time to be sore losers

They used the pic lol barghouti-resistance

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is in charge of the prison service, denied Barghouti had been assaulted, but said he was "proud" Barghouti's prison conditions had worsened.

It's been said a million times by smarter people but if this was a high-ranking minister in any other country the international-community-1international-community-2 would be blasting it and this on the front page of all their media organs

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[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 58 points 6 months ago (5 children)

caption: "Guy Gilboa-Dalal at the hospital following his release from captivity on October 13, 2025. (Government Press Office)"

Look how worried all those doctors and nurses appear. Umm.. not at all.

Compared to everyone else in gaza, here is the change in this man's appearance over the course of the genocide:

I summarize/editorialize the account of Tal Shoham, until he was release Feb 2025, was cellmate of Gilboa-Dalal:

Israeli prisoner's guards were “not soldiers” actually "normal people" who gave him favors and kindnesses when they could. While lots of the Palestinians he met were secular, he did learn that "Islam has rules for how to treat captives" which were generally adhered to by all.

When asked, he was not able to name any specific bad thing that happened to him. Except that he had little food during a time of generalized starvation. Later, as the famine worsened, Hamas decided they should avoid the appearance of neglecting their captives upon their eventual release, so they gave him lots of food.

His overall conclusion from the evidence is that the people were "so brainwashed and full of hate".

source


Actual full text is here: direct TOI , archive.org

He Tal Shoham, released Feb 2025 went on to say that his Hamas captors boasted about stealing humanitarian aid.

“I saw with my own eyes that they stole boxes and boxes and boxes of humanitarian aid from Egypt, from Turkey, from the Emirates, but they didn’t agree to give us any of this food in the tunnels,” he said.

But after the February release of Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami, all of whom were severely malnourished, his captors began giving “much, much more food,” he said, adding that it was dangerous because they were suffering from malnutrition. “It could have killed us.”

Shoham said his time in captivity included “a lot of torture and cruelty.” Asked to describe one of the worst moments, Shoham declined, saying “disconnecting from the experience” helped him keep on fighting.

“I don’t want to go there,” he added.

Citing unnamed sources, Israel’s Channel 12 News on Sunday evening said the government has assessed that some of the living hostages set to be freed on Monday have undergone torture.

The Red Cross reported that it had seen some of the hostages and found some in serious condition, according to Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman.

Shoham described his captors as “so brainwashed and full of hate” but for some of them, it didn’t stem from religious motives.

“Some of them [were] religious, but some were only there because this is the popular thing to do. They can take all sadistic thoughts and actions not just against Israelis but also Gazans.” He recounted one incident he had witnessed, in which a Hamas operative shot a Gazan man in the knees because he “looked suspicious,” and later, when the injured man was being attended to by an ambulance, he was executed outright because “they decided that he should die.”

There were moments of humanity, he said — noting that Islam has rules for how to treat captives — but they were “very rare,” and cited instances in which his captors brought him smuggled food and a message from his wife.

He went on to say that most of them were “not soldiers.”

One of the guards was a first-grade teacher, another was a lecturer at a university, and another was a doctor. These are normal people becoming terrorists,” he said.

Captivity, Shoham said, “forced me to go inward.”

“Only a few people mattered to me — my family and a few close friends,” he said, adding that hearing of his wife and children’s release on the 50th day of their captivity was “tremendous” in helping him get through his ordeal.

The experience also intensified his faith. “I have a lot of gratitude for life. My faith in humanity and in God only increased. It is much more spiritual and religious than before.”

He credited the state with steady support once he came home. “I felt a lot of support from the government — I have a psychologist, financial support — anything that I needed was taken care of. I personally felt a lot of gratitude to my country in these days.”

Asked if he felt any misgivings towards the government for not securing a deal earlier, Ilan Dalal also struck a conciliatory tone.

“Of course, we would have wanted it to be much earlier,” he said. “But the Israeli government also needs to think about the security of Israel. Probably there were a series of processes that needed to be completed before we got to this point.


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[–] aanes_appreciator@hexbear.net 58 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Welsh Independence March today in Rhyl, Northern Wales.

Some brilliant comrades of the Welsh Underground Network (and its parent org the Welsh Communist Party) are joining the procession.

If you're a brit comrade, they're worth a close follow because I genuinely think they're the nucleus of the next stage of revolutionary struggle on TERF island.

Notably, the "YesCymru" org, which was spawned from the "YesScot" movement, isn't the lead organiser of these recent marches. Following its effective collapse in the early 2020s thanks to fascists (TERFs, Nazis, you name it) co-opting the org early on. (NB it's still mentioned around the place but imo its influence has waned significantly).

The organisation that takes up the mantle of independence for Celtic nations is now "All Under One Banner" (AUOB) which, despite what the name may suggest to some, has much less tolerance to these opportunist elements. Scotland and Cornwall are seeing a resurgence of liberationism to counter English-style national-chauvinism, too.

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[–] xiaohongshu@hexbear.net 57 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (16 children)

It’s been a while since I posted anything about Russia’s economy, because, well, there isn’t much going on.

The whole window of opportunity afforded by the early stages of the Ukraine war for economic transformation has already closed, and nothing will change because of Neoliberalism(TM).

The following telegram post summarizes pretty much everything that you need to know about the Russian economy at this stage:

Recently, we commented on the causes of inflation in Russia. We have three theses:

  1. Inflation in Russia is structural, not monetary, in nature, meaning it is linked to the specific structure of our economy.
  2. The Central Bank is fighting inflation with monetary methods, which is a fight against the consequences, not the cause.
  3. The Central Bank's policy may temporarily slow inflation, but it cannot stop it. Moreover, at a certain point, monetary policy becomes pro-inflationary.

Briefly, the main problems of the Russian economy today are a shortage of qualified personnel, low labor productivity, and the absence of a domestic investment mechanism. These factors lead to rising wages and increased demand, which domestic production cannot meet for various reasons, including the Central Bank's strict policy.

Inflation can be suppressed by expanding supply (this is difficult, as the task rests on a shortage of personnel and the absence of an investment mechanism) or by monetary pressure on demand, or, more simply, by slowing the economy. The Central Bank chose the second option because it simply has no other instruments. Furthermore, the Central Bank is not responsible for the country's economic growth, which completely absolves it of responsibility for virtually all decisions.

From a certain point on, the Central Bank's tight monetary policy becomes a pro-inflationary factor, as a high key rate drives money supply growth and increases production costs. Simply put, the Central Bank creates excess income for a small portion of the population by stifling the economy and lowering the standard of living for the majority. Excess income flows into the stock market, but also into consumption. The market reacts only by raising prices.

The Central Bank's leadership is convinced (or pretends) that, in addition to a high key rate, the inflation problem can be solved by raising taxes, tariffs, and cutting spending. But these measures will only lead to higher inflation.

TL;DR: High interest rate monetary policy from the central bank killed the government’s attempt to spend fiscally while still wanting to balance its deficit. You cannot have it both ways.

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 57 points 6 months ago (6 children)

He is more self-aware than most rightwingers;

TRUMP: " I think I'm not maybe heaven bound ... I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to make heaven."

https://x.com/kenklippenstein/status/1977769910273999208

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[–] SickSemper@hexbear.net 57 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

The resistance carries out the death sentence against a number of agents and outlaws in Gaza City.

https://t.me/QudsN/627328

[–] SickSemper@hexbear.net 57 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Over 30 strikes north of the Litani River in Lebanon

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[–] LeninWeave@hexbear.net 57 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (7 children)

Palestinian presidency condemns Hamas’s field executions in Gaza

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s office has “strongly condemned” the killings as “heinous crimes”, saying they “claimed the lives of dozens of citizens outside the framework of the law and without fair trials”.

The statement came after Hamas published a video online showing its fighters executing eight blindfolded and bound men in the street.

It said those killed were “collaborators and outlaws in Gaza City”.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/10/15/live-israel-restricts-aid-into-gaza-hamas-releases-bodies-of-4-captives

Quisling condemns partisan execution of Nazi-affiliated militia members.

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[–] Tervell@hexbear.net 56 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

archive.ph/4YiBI

Secret Israeli military bunker located under Tel Aviv tower struck by Iran, analysis shows

The Grayzone has geolocated the underground bunker of an important military command and control center nestled within a densely populated Tel Aviv neighborhood. Known as ‘Site 81,’ the U.S.-built facility houses a hyper-secretive intelligence base.

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When Iran struck a series of targets in the heart of north Tel Aviv with ballistic missiles on June 13, Israeli authorities immediately cordoned off the area to prevent journalists from filming the damage. “The building on this compound was just hit,” Trey Yingst of Fox News reported as he arrived that evening at the site of HaKirya, Israel’s Defense Ministry headquarters, and the nearby Azrieli Center. But within seconds, Israeli police officers arrived to aggressively shunt Yingst away from where he was standing, just north of the HaKirya Bridge on the west side of Menachem Begin Road. That day, Iranian missiles struck the north tower of the Da Vinci apartment complex roughly 550 meters southwest of Yingst’s location. The Grayzone has determined that the building sits immediately south of the “Canarit” / “Kannarit” Israeli Air Force towers and above an underground military intelligence bunker jointly administered by the US and Israeli militaries. According to an analysis of leaked emails, public documents, and Israeli news reports, the location is host to a highly secretive, electromagnetically shielded intelligence facility known as “Site 81.”

Israel aggressively censors information relating to its urban military and intelligence facilities while simultaneously accusing its adversaries of engaging in ‘human shielding’ – a practice of protecting military targets with civilian populations that is prohibited by international humanitarian law. While the existence of a U.S. Army project to expand Site 81 to a 6,000 square-meter facility was widely reported from government records circa 2013, the specific location remained unknown. A photo taken outside of Site 81 has now been geolocated to the grounds of the Da Vinci apartment complex, which one resident decried as a shield for the Israeli military headquarters. Leaked emails from a former Israeli military Chief of Staff further indicate that Site 81 is an important command and control node. The Jerusalem Post also reported that an Iranian missile that struck the Da Vinci towers was “just a stone’s throw from Netanyahu’s office,” which was then known as “Building 22.” The prime minister’s office began undergoing renovations just weeks after the 2025 Twelve Day War between Israel and Iran, and is rumored to have been damaged in the strike. The Israeli military has constructed a larger underground command center in Kirya known as the “Fortress of Zion,” extending an older command center known as “The Pit.” Given its temporal, spatial, and functional proximity, it is likely that “The Pit” was connected to Site 81. Journalists from Israel Hayom and The New York Times have visited the Fortress of Zion but not revealed its precise location or that of its entrance.

Geolocating ‘Site 81’

Despite the end of U.S. legislation banning its publication, Google Maps continues to blur satellite imagery containing any hint of sensitive Israeli strategic information. At the section of Leonardo da Vinci St. directly in front of the Da Vinci Towers, Google took its pro-Israel censorship a step further, refusing to offer street view images of the location. The area east of Leonardo Da Vinci St. and west of Azrieli Center is also censored by the Moscow-based Yandex Maps, with both satellite imagery and metadata of the Da Vinci towers completely blocked. A photo of Site 81 published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in February 2013 as part of a corrosion test of the underground structure’s concrete overlay and galvanized steel plating can be geolocated to what is now the site of the Da Vinci apartment towers, with the southern of the two 18-story Israeli Air Force Kannarit towers just meters away.

...

The Kirya complex situated among human shields

A detailed report from France 24 regarding Israeli censorship of reporting on the Iranian strikes concluded that coverage of the attack on the 42-story Da Vinci Towers had likely been purposefully delayed, stating that “it looks like censorship is at play.” The outlet noted that “Israeli newspaper Haaretz waited until June 29 to mention this strike in an article – a full two weeks after the attack took place, even though the images of it had already circulated online.” When recounting the incident to Israeli media weeks later, one resident recalled being informed of the tower’s true purpose in a conversation with a friend, who asked: “Brother, don’t you get that they approved the construction of all those towers to protect the Kirya?” “Today, I realize I’ve been paying 12,000 shekels [$3,650 USD] a month to protect the Kirya,” the resident explained, using the common shorthand for the Israeli military headquarters.

The geolocation of the Site 81 photo suggests that the Da Vinci Towers are also protecting the secretive underground intelligence facility. The bunker is apparently located less than 100 meters from a children’s playground, alongside a large community center which opened at the base of the towers in July 2023. By situating some of its most sensitive military installations in the heart of a civilian area, Israel has engaged in the human shielding practice it routinely accuses Palestinians of exploiting. The tenants of an eight-story commercial building nestled inside the Da Vinci complex also enjoy direct ties to military intelligence. The Israeli generative artificial intelligence company AI21 Labs, which was founded by veterans of the IDF’s signals intelligence arm, Unit 8200, earlier this year confirmed the participation of AI21 employees in developing a ChatGPT-like military AI tool targeting Palestinians. AI21 – which has also been affiliated with Stanford University – announced its lease of space on the fourth and fifth floors of the Da Vinci office building in late 2023.

Israeli-American capital finances the towers

Next door to the Da Vinci complex, the Kannarit towers were built by the major Israeli construction company Danya Cebus, which said the work was carried out as part of a joint venture with another firm known as Solel Boneh. The controlling stake of Soleh Boneh’s parent company, Shikun & Binui, was passed from Shari Arison, formerly Israel’s richest woman, to the Los Angeles-based real estate developer Netanal H. “Naty” Saidoff in mid-2018. Saidoff has overseen several Israeli government-affiliated nonprofits in the Los Angeles area, including by chairing the Likud-oriented Israeli-American Council (IAC) and underwriting the legal program of StandWithUs, a pro-Israel training group. Saidoff’s fellow board member at Shikun & Binui, Sagi Balasha, was the first CEO of both the IAC and the Israeli government-funded propaganda initiative, Concert/Voices of Israel.

...

Public US contracting records show that the Plano, Texas-based branch of the German engineering solutions company M+W Group – now known as Exyte – began a $7.4 million contract for Site 81 in June 2011, spanning the company’s support for the Army Corps study. The much larger ‘Phase 2’ of the Site 81 project was subsequently awarded to the controversial Oxford Construction of Pennsylvania for $29.6 million in August 2013, with the contracts being shifted to Oxford Federal after a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2017. In 2018, Oxford Construction was slapped with a lawsuit accusing its owners of racketeering, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. A final $758,461 payment to Oxford Federal for its ‘Phase 2’ work on Site 81 was processed on February 26, 2019.

Leaked emails highlight Site 81’s use for “command and control”

A previously unreported leaked email exchange between ex-NATO commander James Stavridis and former Israeli military Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi appears to confirm the presence of a command and control network operating inside the Site 81 bunker – smack in the middle of a densely populated civilian area.

“Hi Gabi,” Stavridis wrote to Ashkenazi on September 1, 2015. “I am working with an exciting company called Think Logical here in the USA. They build command and control networks, and just won a big contract out at Site 81 with the IDF [Israel Defense Forces].” The Grayzone discovered Ashkenazi’s email in a leaked archive from an apparently Iranian-linked hacktivist group known as Handala, which was curated by the American nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets. “I am enjoying my new job as Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy here in Boston — a top school of international relations,” stated the email from Stavridis, which sought Ashkenazi’s assistance in recruiting “someone to help [Thinklogical] navigate in Israel” as a consultant – ideally, “a retired IDF 1-star” general. Following a request for comment from The Grayzone, Stavridis appears to have included his wife and executive assistant in an accidental reply which read, “Just seeing this? Are you sure!? He is ending.” The message was accompanied by a lengthy footer describing Stavridis’ current roles as vice chairman of global affairs of The Carlyle Group and chairman of the board of The Rockefeller Foundation. Gen. Ashkenazi and Mr. Pajer did not respond to requests for comment. The Israel Defense Forces also neglected to reply to requests emailed to three separate spokesperson addresses.

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[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 56 points 6 months ago (3 children)
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