robbo203
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Interesting article suggesting that a Russia-Ukraine peace deal could have been reached in the spring of 2022, thus avoiding the catastrophic loss of life that followed. It was apparently the US regime that torpedoed the deal and news of their opposition to the deal was conveyed to Zelensky by the UK messenger boy, B Johnson.
Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was privy to all the wheeling and dealing and provides some insight into this in this articleThis is a pretty powerful indictment of that hospital bombing. There is little doubt about whodunit or the fact that they have attempted to conceal this
Alarming or alarmist?
“The world is mustering for war. Conflict is already raging in Europe, with Russian and Ukrainian forces locked in offensive and counteroffensive. The aftermath of the Hamas terror attack upon Israel could now see the Middle East ignited.
Whether or not it does rests in part with Iran, the funder and political master of both Hamas and Hezbollah, which is now moments away from potentially plunging the world into a third world war.
The Iranian foreign minister has warned Israel that if the war is not stopped “immediately”, then “anything is possible at any moment, and the region will go out of control”. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has warned of a very real risk of “significant escalation” of attacks on American forces and civilians.
He has good reason to be concerned. Tehran is not confining its hostility to words; its regional proxies seem determined to entangle the US further, attacking American forces with drones and missiles at the Ain Al-Asad airbase in Iraq and al-Tanf in Syria.
Iran is not shying away. Already, a US warship has shot down three cruise missiles launched by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen. Heading north, these missiles were potentially targeting Israel. If successful, such an attack would have far-reaching consequences for Iran, with almost certain Israeli retaliation potentially triggering a direct war – and US involvement.”
I would not put my hands in the fire for anyone of them, I could have been launched by either side because Hezbollah also have large missiles provided by Iran, and Israel have large missiles provided by the USA, and either side could have launched a faulty missiles, or could have done it intentionally,
………………………..In theory, yes, but don’t forget we are talking about Hamas not Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hamas is apparently nowhere near as strong or as well-armed as Hezbollah. Actually, according to Israeli accounts, it is not even Hamas but a group of Islamic Jihadist militants, allies of Hamas, that are supposedly responsible for the hospital outrage.
While one has to keep an open mind I think it is fair to say that a preponderance of evidence points to Israel as culpable
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-culture-of-deceit
Very good analysis of the situation by Simon
There is also this
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/19/what-hit-ahli-hospital-in-gaza
https://www.channel4.com/news/who-was-behind-the-gaza-hospital-blast-visual-investigation
https://twitter.com/MihajlovicMike/status/1714384179230580916
Although to be fair to the BBC one of its reporters did actually suggest the missile might have been fired by the Israeli side and so incurred the wrath of the Israeli regime:
“The Israeli government has accused the BBC of perpetuating a “modern blood libel” in its reporting of the catastrophic explosion at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident on Tuesday evening, a BBC reporter suggested that Israel was likely to be at fault. This was likened by the official Israeli government account on X, formerly known as Twitter, to the antisemitic lie that Jews have murdered Christian boys to use their blood for religious rituals.
It’s difficult to believe anything about this conflict. Were there a number of babies beheaded by Hamas or is this like the First World War propaganda about Germans bayoneting kids? That´s powerful stuff and of course, any decent human being is going to be sickened and repulsed but we have to be wary about accepting anything that comes from the MSM
In relation to the baby beheading incident, I’ve come across which strongly suggests it was made up and spread by Chinese whispers
From the same source there is also this
I came across this on the “Moon of Alabama” site. Quite interesting background information on the likely triggers of a wider regional war and how it might evolve. The bit about the US launching an attack on Syria is concerning and the prospect of drawing Russia as Syria´s ally into the conflict. But I wonder if that´s likely
“The Split In Israel And The War Of Al-Aqsa
What is the reason for the ‘Al-Aqsa Deluge’, as Hamas had named its terror operation against the Zionists?”https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/10/the-split-in-israel-and-the-war-of-al-aqsa.html#more
Another development. Apparently, Israel has bombed Damascus & Allepo airports. According to this article
“Syria’s Damascus and Aleppo airports not only handle civil aviation but also host military bases, which are reportedly transit points for Iranian arms sent to Hezbollah – a militant group which is powerful in both Syria and Lebanon.”
Perhaps it’s in anticipation of Hezbollah getting involved in the conflict once the Gaza invasion commences….
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67093081
Maybe that´s also why US and UK warships are on the scene….
This development involving Russia and Turkey sending humanitarian aid to Gaza is curious. Anybody know anything more about this?
THE SILENCE OF THE BEARS – RUSSIA IS REORIENTING TOWARDS THE ARABS
There is also the risk that the much stronger and better-armed Hezbollah group could attack Israel from the North. This article suggests that the expected invasion of Gaza might be the trigger. The conflict would then widen considerably
The ICT has put out a statement on the situation in Israel/Gaza. What it says is not dissimilar to what the SPGB would say
For example
“In the same way, anyone who supports only Palestinian workers and ignores the Israeli working class, jumps from the frying pan into the fire. They think that the former clashing with the latter is not important because the latter is just a slave to the ultranationalist policy of its government. But the Palestinian working class, in its turn, is under the thumb of a bunch of capitalists who have no hesitation about siding with the imperialism of the ayatollahs: one of the most vicious set of rulers when dealing with internal opposition. Thus both sets of workers are trapped in the logic of capitalism, nationalism, and imperialism, where war is the only solution and not liberation from wage slavery.”
Not a bad article. Makes some valid points, I think. Gawd knows what the future holds, mind you…
It seems like the momentum to curtail free speech is gathering pace
I love the bit about “disinformation”. My intray is literally bursting with rancid pro-Ukraine articles pumping out obvious fake news all the time. But will our “freedom-loving” authorities do anything about that? You bet they won’t
Then there is this from Braverman the Minister for Stamping Out Dissent
People are getting fired from their jobs or are being publicly ridiculed for even daring to criticise the Israeli state on such transparently dishonest grounds that this is anti-Semitic. “1984” is not so much behind us as looming ahead
“No essential difference then to the approach taken by religious zealots, except that the “hereafter” promised in this case is socialism and not heaven.”
_____________________________________When someone starts making these sorts of comments you just know they have run out of useful arguments or else have little to no understanding of what the socialist position on the matter is.
Of course, we don’t urge Palestinian workers to “turn the other cheek” in the face of all the provocations they face. On what grounds did Lizzie45 dream this up? However, just as important as having a view on what we think workers should do is having a view on what we think workers should NOT do.
Firstly, whatever tactical victory Hamas believes it has achieved in catching the Israeli military off guard, the slaughter of hundreds of Israeli citizens has whipped up such a bloodlust, such a thirst for revenge, that you can be certain that the situation facing Palestinian workers, bad as it is now, is going to get much worse. Hamas has done them no favours at all.
Secondly, we vigorously oppose nationalism and anything to do with the idea of creating another capitalist state. I have been arguing with a Trot on another forum who maintains that Palestinian workers should be allowed to own their own state. But they would no more own that state than Israeli workers own the Israeli state. The state is an instrument that allows a ruling class to rule. In advocating for a state, workers are advocating for their own servitude and submission to this state.
I don’t know if Lizzie45 is a Trot but she certainly sounds like one. There is not much that socialist-minded Palestinian workers can do in the face of all this whipped-up hysteria and nationalist bloodlust but, if it were possible, one of the things they could do is forge links with like-minded Israeli workers. There are people in Israel who have a lot of sympathy for the people in Gaza and the West Bank. Unfortunately, one of the outcomes of the Hamas atrocity is that the voices of these people are likely to be dimmed if not silenced for the time being
It looks like things are going to get worse judging by comments like this:
“And it is these scenes which are galvanising resolve here in Israel. Rabbi David Fendel, who is delivering aid to Michel, says there can be no peace now. “We have to keep bombing until they can’t lift their heads,” he adds.”
and
“To pile on further pressure, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant also declared a “total siege” on the strip, an act human rights groups said would amount to collective punishment and may violate international law. There are concerns a total blockade will spark a devastating humanitarian catastrophe for the more than two million people who live in the strip. Almost half of them are children.
“No power, no food, no gas, everything is closed,” Gallant said. “We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly”
The hypocrisy of the Israeli regime stinks but then both sides have got blood on their hands. Both sides are equally deluded in thinking that an escalation of the violence is the solution. The only thing that might restrain the Israeli regime from carrying out what Gallant suggests it does is the fact that Hamas has some 130 “hostages”, as I understand it, who they have threatened to callously execute one by one if things get worse for Gaza – that and maybe pressure from the EU and even the US who might be concerned about the bad image and the implications for relations with the Arab countries. But that hasn’t yet stopped Israel from expressing its bloodlust by bombing Gaza which it has just done
What a goddamn awful situation this all is! The disease of nationalism seems to have driven people crazy and turned them into raving lunatics
“This double standard perfectly illustrates the mainstream media’s approach on how to distort the crisis. First, twist the actual reports, with one-sided language and biased framing. But second, and arguably more importantly; ignore any of the history of Israel/Palestine, so that the attack from Gaza looks like an inexplicable, unprovoked spasm of violence and Jew-hatred.”
______________________________
True enough but there are double standards on both sides of the debate. The cold-blooded murder of 260 young partygoers at the Supernova festival in Southern Israel can no more be justified or rationalised away than the cold-blooded murder of hundreds of people in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military. BOTH spring from the same sociopathic mindset that the death cult of nationalism fosters. BOTH need to be unequivocally condemned for the disgusting vile acts they are.
Anyone who imagines that committing such acts is going to advance their cause by one iota is deluded in the extreme. All it has done is to stoke up the hatred both sides feel for each other and strengthen the divisions of nationalism. Sadly, the outcome is going to be yet more deaths more pain, and more misery…
