#Middle East politics

[luminalunii97]

Leftist on Twitter and Tumblr praising the Islamic republic of Iran for not targeting Israeli citizens is so funny to me! It compels me to pull my hair out!

Oh yeah, the IR regime of Iran is so noble and good they wouldn't hurt civilians! Really? where were you when Iran's regime was slaughtering thousands of Syrian revolutionaries in their own country, shaking hands with Bashar Assad? Where were you when they were opening fire on hundreds and thousands of us, Iranian citizens, in every protest for the last 30 years?

The thought of the IR giving a fuck about jewish lives in israel is laughable in a painful way. The regime that is notoriously antisemite! The regime that butchers its own citizens like it's nothing, is now a noble war hero! Y'all aren't funny!

Now let me give you alternative, logical reasons why no Israeli was killed:

Israel has strong defense means

Jordan helped stopping the missiles

Iran's offense military equipment is not that accurate and powerful

Iran's regime can't really afford a full scale war against Israel, who has a lot of support from west. That's why their tactic is proxy war through Hisbullah and Hamas

I'm not defending Israeli government actions or war crimes in any capacity. Civilian casualty shouldn't be dismissed like an unimportant number! But freedom for Palestinians doesn't come through a terrorist regime like Iran's. Considering some of the missiles hit Palestinians villages, it should give you an idea about how much IR cares about people's lives and freedom!

[edenfenixblogs]

Preface: Death is always a personal tragedy.

Even evil people who die are tragedies because they’ve wasted their lives toiling in hatred rather than loving others.

Which is why I will never celebrate a death. Even if someone is terrible. However, I will not make myself mourn for such people either. Please nobody comment here with either “oh? Are you sympathetic to a dictator?!” Or “I bet you’re sooooo pleased he’s dead.” Please do not read intent into my words that is not there.

I will only say as I have said of other men who have cause great harm to many: I mourn the loss of life and the waste of potential to do good in this world. But I do not mourn the man, nor do I rejoice at any death.

Post:

Is it confirmed that the president of Iran is dead? If he is dead, what does that mean internationally? Will his death create a power vacuum? And, if it does, is it likely to be filled by whichever extremist is most aggressive and violent? Or do experts think this will sufficiently destabilize the regime enough for the populace to take control?

Terrorist cells are known for being resilient and being able to rapidly reconstitute from within. But The Islamic Republic of Iran has been funding and supporting Hamas and trying to undermine the PLO for quite sometime. I think people are prone to think that the destabilization could be good for limiting Hamas’ attacks and funding.

But I’m really worried that the people who rise to power after this will instead make their names by being even more ruthless and channeling rage to the levant. I mean, TIR is really closely allied with ISIL, which, for those unaware, stands for rhetoric Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

I’m really concerned for what this means for the safety of everyone in the Levant. Anyone have insight into this?

[mysharona1987]

[hussyknee]

Transcribed Twitter thread by Mouin Rabbani about why Israel has suddenly stopped equating Hamas with ISIS.

About a week ago the US and Israeli suddenly stopped comparing Hamas to ISIS. The term “Hamas-ISIS” had become de rigueur among Israeli officials in their public statements, and along with their partners-in-crime in Washington they often insisted Hamas is worse – much worse even – than ISIS. It’s a familiar playbook. In 2001 the Twin Towers had barely collapsed and Ariel Sharon immediately began insisting the PLO was no different than Al-Qaeda and that Yassir Arafat was worse than Usama Bin Laden. Israel’s flunkies and apologists immediately and dutifully followed suit.

But “Hamas-ISIS” is no longer. Israel’s acolytes have for the most part yet to receive the message, and continue parroting a line that has gone out of style with their leaders, but will probably follow suit at some point within the next 24 months.

So, what happened? Most obviously, the US and Israel have been negotiating, concluding, and implementing a series of agreements with “Hamas-ISIS”. It’s not a particularly good look to be in intensive discussions with, and make one concession after the other to, a movement that is purportedly more vicious and brutal than an organization that not only the West but also the international community considers entirely beyond the pale. Especially at a time when a broader agreement, extending beyond an exchange of captives, is reportedly being discussed in Doha by the CIA and Mossad chiefs – the city where not only the Qatari mediators but also Hamas’s current and former political leaders, Ismail Haniyyeh and Khalid Mashal, also reside.

The fact that Hamas is negotiating exchanges of captives and releasing not only foreign but also Israeli Jewish civilians, rather than slitting their throats in gruesome snuff videos also doesn’t help the cause. Nor do testimonies by released captives that, the violence and abuse of their initial seizure notwithstanding, they have generally been treated humanely. Of course, no civilian deserves to be held captive unless convicted of a specific crime by legitimate authority, yet the contrast between the testimonies of released Israeli and Palestinian civilian captives is enormous. Released Palestinian women and children speak of constant physical and verbal abuse, particularly since 7 October; all manner of deprivation; and an escalation of abuse once it became apparent they would be released. Furious at Palestinian joy at the release of their own captives, rampaging Israeli forces have also shot and killed several Palestinian well-wishers, enveloped most others in clouds of tear gas, and raided the homes of receiving families to evict journalists and warn against celebrations or even “expressions of joy”.

Palestinians are not ruled by the Israeli government in the same sense that Israelis within the pre-1967 boundaries are. Rather, they are subject to military government, effectively an Israeli military dictatorship whose rule is best described as totalitarian. It has for example banned flags, even particular color combinations (in clothing and painting for example), and in 2023 also “expressions of joy”.

Hamas videos of the release of their captives, in which they assist the elderly, provide water bottles, and wave goodbye (not quite ISIS-friendly optics) have been criticized as political theatre and propaganda. Fair enough. But it is still quite the contrast with the scenes outside Ofer Prison where Israel releases Palestinian captives. There, the best that Israeli propaganda can achieve is clouds of tear gas, intimidation of journalists, live ammunition, and bullet-ridden corpses. (And, for good measure, arresting more civilians than it releases.)

So not only did the US and Israel want to avoid the accusation they were negotiating with ISIS, the available imagery is also unconducive to the narrative. Joe Biden will go to his grave insisting he has seen videos of infants beheaded by Hamas, but it’s gotten to the point where even poor Jill rolls her eyes. Other Israeli and US claims have also drawn the short end of the stick. For example, the Israeli authorities recently reduced their tally of Israelis killed on 7 October from 1400 to 1200. The reason is that 200 corpses, burned beyond recognition, belonged to Palestinians rather than Israelis. This suggests Hamas was not systematically setting fire to live humans. Similarly, Israeli intelligence (or what’s left of it) has now concluded that Hamas did not have prior knowledge of the rave organized close to the boundary between Israel and the Gaza concentration camp. Therefore this could not have been a premeditated atrocity. I am of course not claiming no atrocities were committed on 7 October, but rather that as more facts become available the “Hamas-ISIS” propaganda line becomes increasingly untenable.

If we put aside Biden’s hallucinations and take Netanyahu off endless repetition for a moment, the ideological, organizational, and political relationship between Hamas and ISIS remains a legitimate field of inquiry. It’s also pretty conclusive. Hamas and ISIS are indeed both Islamist movements. But that’s pretty much where the comparison ends. To suggest they are equivalent or identical is akin to claiming there is no difference between constitutional and absolute monarchies because their heads of state acquire office in the same manner. Hamas is the Palestinian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, a regional Islamist movement formed almost a century ago. Its various national branches have sought to achieve political power through mass mobilization, and as such have formed political parties; provided social services; participated in elections, coups, and uprisings; engaged in armed campaigns against domestic autocracy and foreign domination; and in a number of cases formed internationally-recognized governments. It’s a fundamentally different template than that pursued by ISIS.

Hamas was established in the cauldron of the Israeli occupation, and like other Palestinian organizations actively participated in the struggle to end Israeli rule. In 2006 it participated in Palestinian legislative elections, fully certified by the Carter Center, which it won. In 2007 Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip after a year during which its various domestic and foreign adversaries, to put it politely, actively worked to undermine it. In the intervening years it has in addition to attacks which have garnered global headlines developed relations with states as diverse as Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and Qatar; negotiated prisoner exchanges and ceasefires with Israel; freed and released foreign hostages (including BBC journalist Alan Johnston) abducted by rivals and criminal gangs; endorsed a two-state settlement with Israel; and cooperated with a variety of UN agencies and international organisations. Its governance of the Gaza Strip years has, to varying degrees, been hegemonic and repressive, but like its politics and policies defies any comparison to that experienced under ISIS’s self-styled caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

ISIS has in fact been bitterly critical of Hamas, and considers the group in its entirety, as well as its individual members, “apostates” and “polytheists” – its most serious transgressions of all. This is on account of, among other mortal sins, Hamas’s participation in democratic elections, its failure to govern solely in accordance with shari’a (Islamic law), relations with Iran and other regional states, and prioritization of Palestinian liberation. Perhaps for this reason Hamas made short shrift of attempts by the Islamic State movement to establish a foothold in the Gaza Strip, primarily in Rafah, during 2015-2016.

END. Postscript: @rao2of has kindly pointed out a significant oversight on my part: that in its efforts to normalise relations with Egypt after initial post-Sisi coup hostility, Hamas began cooperating with Egypt's anti-ISIS campaign in Sinai, drawing even greater fury from it.

[authormohamedcherif]

Chris Sidoti: Israeli Army Is One Of The Most Criminals Armies In The World.

[alex51324]

Very important & informative article about developments in the Middle East peace process.

The key takeaway is that Saudi Arabia is close to being ready to offer Israel something they've wanted for a long time--normalization of relations between the two countries--in return for "meaningful steps toward a Palestinian state."

If you're in the US and thinking about the November elections, a key takeaway here is that Biden's strategy of trying to stay on Netanyahu's good side is still yielding some progress.

And it's absolutely vital to remember that it is a strategy: you can disagree about whether it's the right strategy, but he isn't just doing nothing. Biden has a lot of experience in middle-east diplomacy, and he thinks he'll get more results with soft power than with saber-rattling. I frequently have my doubts, but I certainly know a great deal less about it than he does, and every so often something like this story filters up into public knowledge, and shows that he is getting somewhere and isn't necessarily crazy to remain committed to this strategy--even though saber-rattling would get him some cheap publicity.

For everyone in general, who is trying to keep up with this topic, in all its complexity, what's under discussion here is the two-state solution, which both international experts and Palestinians who are not extremists generally agree is the most realistic path to peace.

"From the river to the sea" is not going to happen--it just isn't; there are whole books about how and why it isn't going to happen--but there could be an internationally-recognized country of Palestine, probably small, but completely separate from Israel. The US would presumably be involved, with some kind of agreement to enforce the agreed-upon borders: that is, if either country tries to grab more territory, the US will take the other one's side.

The two-state solution has seemed close before; what usually happens is that extremists on one side or another throw a fit and derail the process. With the US and Saudi Arabia involved, there are actually four separate countries whose extremists might decide that peace in the middle east would be bad for their personal brand--so, watch for that to happen, and pay close attention to who started it, if it does.

[exoid-the-locomotive-monarch]

I think Israel has lost the plot on how to get Liberal democracies to support their settler campaign when even the progressive left in response to drone strikes from a Conservative Shia Theocracy went “I’m not getting fooled here, that was a reactive response to you bombing their embassy and desecrating the lands of native peoples.

Like at this point Israel is running out of public international support so the war has moved on to “move fast and break shit”

[etccsy]

CSIORS Senior Advisor Issam Khoury Discusses Impact of Lebanon's War on Syria on CNBC

During a CNBC interview, Issam Khoury discussed Lebanon's ongoing conflict and its repercussions on Syria. Khoury highlighted the influx of refugees from Hezbollah-controlled areas into Syria, raising concerns about regional stability.

Date: October 21, 2024 Issam Khoury, Senior Advisor at the Czech-Slovak Institute of Oriental Studies, provided an in-depth analysis on the recent developments in Lebanon and their repercussions on Syria during a televised interview with CNBC. The segment aired on October 21, 2024, where Khoury discussed the strategic and humanitarian consequences of the ongoing Lebanese conflict and its broader…

[lightningmonarchda3]

france: iran, don't get involved in the current israel-gaza war

*one hour and a half later*

iran: if isreal doesn't stop, we WILL get invovled

[girlactionfigure]

The Birth and the Evolution of the Palestinian Cause

emetonline

[commiedervish]

With conflicts resolving and relations being reestablished between neighboring countries, this year's Arab Summit marks a turning point in the future of our region, and so far the largest nail in the coffin of America's foreign policy toward destabilizing the Arab region in turning it into a battlefield for its own interests.

[awesome-fangirl33]

Lol love how Biden is taking the credit for sending humanitarian aid to Gaza when it's Egypt that's been fighting them to send it since before mid October. Like, love the hypocrisy.

I can't imagine the audacity he has for him to take credit for something like that while sending more missiles, bombs, and funding for Israel to continue their genocide all in the same breath.

Source

[nezreblogz]

[mymainstreamblog]

I just woke up and I need to cook something. Before I drift back to the sleep, I would like to hear a nice bedtime story.

I wish to hear the story of one, 1, Palestinian family who has resisted the genocide, escaped Gaza and rebuilt their lives. Tell me about a family who does not have to live in the slums of Egypt, forever stuck without statehood or work permits. A family that escaped beyond a refugee camp where the only improvement is lack of bombing, everything else just as miserable as before. A family who has income other than begging or illegal work. Tell me about a single child who got shrapnel removed from them before it was too late. A child who is not denied education for being Palestinian. Or just someones grandma crossing to a country that does not let Palestinian refugees die to treatable cancers. Just some place with basic human decency, a place where Palestinians are allowed to live.

I wish there is a single light in the darkness.

[narrative-theory]

U. S. Middle East Strategy: Burning the Region Down? – Brian Berletić

[latestnews-now]

The International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant have triggered a major political clash in the United States. Republicans are outraged, calling for sanctions on the ICC, while Democrats stay mostly silent, with a few exceptions. Watch our detailed analysis of the reactions and what it means for international law and US-Israel relations.

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