Israel, Palestine & the Levant rolling events: Oct 23 on

that was an xp, hence the overlap

also wouldn't all the US/UK military assistance deployed in the region be the reason other countries wouldn't really fancy it? I think to credit sleepy Joe when he sleepwalking through this on the US default setting towards Israel, with playing some nuanced diplomacy game is just pure projection.

https://t.co/kejiV1SUtq pic.twitter.com/Mu0ADkEQbo

— Austin Ahlman (@austinahlman) November 22, 2023

Sorry interview already posted in the correct thread. Just another amazing interview

alas, the CIA only murder democratically elected left-wing leaders

Oh I know, I’m just speaking wishfully; several of my friends are posting about how they’d like Netanyahu to take the ceasefire as an opportunity to step down; better that Yair Lapid et al organize some kind of gtfo plan with popular support

“Other nations entering the war” is literally giving me nightmares; if you guys think it’s unlikely it is relaxing to hear. I worry that Netanyahu’s intentions becoming more obviously ghastly will cause Biden to justifiably listen to his conscience and speak up, pull out, and suddenly it’s full-tilt Iran-Jordan-Lebanon declarations; but these are my nightmares! maybe not reality

@ ufo, my “fourth option” wasn’t being presented as a preference, but as my interpretation of a most-likely outcome. Call it Overton window or call it manufactured consent, I’ve been arguing for weeks that this is Israel’s only intention and the most-likely outcome— and it’s even working on me. Personally, on Nov 21, I’d prefer to see 2m Gazan refugees than 15k more dead Gazans.

oh i wasn't suggesting you preferred it, just agreeing with it as a possible outcome and likely what the israeli government prefers. i really don't know how likely it is though - the us was originally open to it, but egypt has seriously threatened war over it and the us of course really does not want a wider war. it would also really only happen if israel secures military victory over hamas which seems like a dubious prospect?

re: escalation - hezbollah is the main threat- there's obviously conflict there but it's still not really full-on, but if they did escalate there's all sorts of potential chaos that results - the usa has obviously threatened retaliation and there's all sorts of iranian-backed militias in iraq etc. that could get further involved. i figure that at this point it is probably unlikely unless hamas is seriously in trouble, or some wider chaos breaks out for other reasons? egypt also sees the possibility of having to deal with 2 million refugees who are ideologically hostile to it as an existential threat and has threatened war if that happens. the houthis in yemen are trying to get involved as they can be from where they are but don't have the means to get more directly involved.

Reading this piece on "from the river to the sea" and it lines up with our conversation yesterday on how Israeli democracy is enabling what might have been fringe ideas to take centre stage in an eliminationist turn.

"Between the sea and the Jordan there will be only Israeli sovereignty"

https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/news/zionism-s-political-unconscious

"the central contradictions of this settler-nation have become ever harder to sustain: the state can be either Jewish or democratic, but it cannot be both. Unable to give up its commitment to the former, the need to change the demographic balance once again comes to the fore. For the radical right, that truth is easily spoken out loud. For Jewish-Israelis who consider themselves more centrist, liberal even, perhaps the opportunity offered by this war is the only way out: transfer in the name of humanitarian concern. Once out, as every Palestinian knows, they will never be allowed to return."

Following on from yesterday's discussion on Palestinian prisoner exchange.

https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/11/22/23972908/palestinian-prisoners-israel-administrative-detention

"In 2022, Amnesty International released a comprehensive report pointing to the practice of administrative detention as just one example of how the Israeli state subjugates Palestinians and cracks down on dissent. Since 1967, Israel has issued over 1,000 military orders that criminalize a range of activities in Palestinians’ daily lives, including waving political symbols like flags, being in certain areas without permits, and any kind of speech that can fit into a loosely defined charge of “incitement.” Citing decades of evidence, the Amnesty report outlined an “intentional Israeli policy to detain individuals, including prisoners of conscience, solely for the non-violent exercise of their right to freedom of expression and association, and punish them for their views.”"

Exploring the once-familiar streets of my city, now barely recognizable in the Zs' destruction. Every step is a journey through memories, anger and nostalgia. https://t.co/l50FRoCDYy

— Dr. Mustafa Elmasri (@Gaza_Psych) November 24, 2023

If Israel lost support/funding/land/whatever, and Hamas gained land/support/funding/land/whatever, wouldn't they just ramp up their attacks

I think a relevant factor here is that when people have something, they have something to lose.

I just want to say in passing that if I'm on the Facebook app and scrolling, it'll regularly display "hey here's some stuff from Threads" and it's usually about this conflict, and when it is, it's always the most uninformed ahistorical nonsense (sadly not confined to one side) - I just want to say that this thread is doing really well and I'm proud of us.

Yeah my suggested Threads content is stunningly bad - “how dare you call for a ceasefire” vs “how dare you have a holiday meal celebrating another settler genocide”

oh yeah it's absolutely trash and the issue is if you click on a single one of them, you will get 10,000 more.

Meet Marah Bakir. She is from Jerusalem. She was 16 when she was arrested and detained by Israel. Today she was released. She is 24 years old. Her lawyer proved that she had done nothing wrong but still she was sentenced to prison.
Freedom feels good. pic.twitter.com/zwKKPPVn9g

— Dima Khatib (@Dima_Khatib) November 24, 2023

Yeah, judging from the other accounts in the comments, that doesn't seem to be a particularly accurate summation.

That summation is fine enough for me. And one of many children locked up and forgotten about till today.

Remi Kanazi
@Remroum
What a "pause" looks like for Palestinians:

~Palestinians shot at when returning home to the North, injuring dozens

~Israel fires teargas at prisoners set to be released at Ofer prison

~Israel storms the home of a Palestinian set to be released, harassing their family

it does sound like she tried to stab some people to death. I'm not sure what the trial was like or what proof was shown though.

Right.

The WaPo story was the one I found the most tragic/sad. She allegedly stabbed or attempted to stab a solider, was in turn shot by the police during her arrest, then an Israeli solider (whose father was recently killed by stone throwing Palestinians) rushed to apply first aid, saving her life. Circle of violence.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/10/16/her-dad-was-killed-by-palestinian-stone-throwers-weeks-later-she-saved-a-suspected-stabbers-life/

Soldiers, border guards and cops in occupied lands are fair game IMO.

rasha abdulhadi
@rashaabdulhadi
·
4h
As we watch 150 of more than 10,000 kidnapped Palestinian hostages be released:

Remember that Palestinians can be taken by the settler apartheid state for no reason or any reason, can be held without charge or "trial" for any amount of time, & no "international law" intervenes

An Israeli soldier from the Combat Engineering Corps dedicates to his daughter on her birthday by detonating an entire building in Gaza shortly before the commencement of the ceasefire.#GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/J76wjK9jlL

— Hani Siliman Salamah 🇵🇸 (@HaniSiliman) November 25, 2023

Pelham
@Resist_05
Israel makes those imprisoned serve their full sentence in prison even if they’re dead…

142 Palestinians that have died in prison (mostly children) are kept in refrigerators as a form of collective punishment and psychological torture against their families

wtf!!

Come on, what even is that claim

https://www.thenation.com/article/world/israel-postmortem-detention/

Thank you, wasn’t taking the word of a random Twitter account

i had similar reaction, did similar search, and found the same nation article. that shit is monstrous.

At what point does Israel become the US's worst ally? Like, Saudi Arabia's still on top, right? But how long can that last?

That tweet has a video from an Al Jazeera interview.

Hard to guess that without a link to the tweet!

Yeah I think it’s okay for us to post links here they can be useful.

Should've just said that a video was posted. Forgot on that occasion.

This is a thread. And the bombing will begin again soon.

---

corey robin
@CoreyRobin
·
22h
1/ "Israel’s assault is different. Experts say that even a conservative reading of the casualty figures reported from Gaza show that the pace of death during Israel’s campaign has few precedents in this century.

"The Israelis have released 117 Palestinians in the last 3 days & in that same time they've detained 116 new Palestinian prisoners.. across the occupied West Bank" pic.twitter.com/QiJfMFNrtR

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) November 27, 2023

Here’s a personal story about Palestinian child prisoners:

- In 2012, I was arrested in Hebron while participating in a march to open Shuhada street, which was a main market street for Palestinians until the Israeli military shut it down, and made it for Israeli settlers only.…

— Fadi Quran (@fadiquran) November 26, 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/28/israeli-military-had-warning-of-hamas-training-for-attack-reports-say

so the leak points at the attack being meticulously planned rather than them being surprised at the lax security and killing more/taking far more hostages that they expected was possible.

Rohan Talbot
@rohantalbot
·
4h
Incredibly, Shifa Hospital has reportedly been able to restart dialysis services today for patients needing it in the north

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/28/israeli-military-had-warning-of-hamas-training-for-attack-reports-say

― Tom D has a right to defend himself (Tom D.), Tuesday, November 28, 2023 9:24 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

so the leak points at the attack being meticulously planned rather than them being surprised at the lax security and killing more/taking far more hostages that they expected was possible.

― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Tuesday, November 28, 2023 9:48 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Everything I've seen from the outset suggests the attack was meticulously planned for a long time. It's possible that both things are true, i.e. it was both meticulously planned and even more devastating than Hamas expected and they were able to take more hostages than expected. I also don't think "warning" means Israel knew with any certainty that an attack was imminent, and there were circumstances particular to the timing of the attack that meant security was even more lax than normal due to the holiday and the movement of extra troops to the West Bank.

I think pretty much everyone in Israel agrees that Bibi's govt was at a minimum grossly negligent, and some feel that he was extra careless because the people in the area attacked are mostly center-liberal to left and not Likkud voters.

Mariam Barghouti مريم البرغوثي
@MariamBarghouti
🚨large scale invasion of Jenin, north of the West Bank (11:00 local. At least 1,000 Israeli soldiers on the invasion and 120 armored vehicles (which is a parade of military power around 480 meters long)

🏥hospitals are being besieged and it’s premises taken over by Israeli forces.
🏥 ambulances being searched by the Israeli army and obstructed according to the Red Crescent.

Two days ago four Palestinians were killed in Jenin. The week before that, on November 17th there was a large scale invasion that killed three Palestinian men, but also left the refugee camp of Jenin destroyed.

- since last year at least 4 massacres happened in Jenin refugee camp. Beyond that, extrajudicial assassination of Palestinians suspect of confrontation with arms has been a constant occurrence. Often these assassination missions were also tasked with killing as many civilians and minors as possible, these constituted most of the killings in Jenin.

Right now, as the world stayed silent across every massacre and invasion of Jenin, 1000 soldiers are attacking the small camp.

The Israeli army cannot get enough of hospitals. Really love to fuck them up.

I can't remember if this has already been noted, but Israel has arrested nearly as many Palestinians as they've released over the past four days: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/28/arrests

Noted it in a tweet above. It's horrendous

Utterly depressing and yet necessary reading:

https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/

It's hard not to find allegory in this story. Hamas terrorists shot and killed three civilians (a pregnant woman and two elderly men) at a bus stop in Jerusalem. An armed Israeli civilian helped to stop the attack from going further. An extremist settler IDF member outright executed him after he had dropped his gun and put his hands up, presumably thinking he was one of the Hamas shooters.

https://x.com/BenzionSanders/status/1730489255816839608?s=20

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/01/birth-and-death-intertwined-gaza-strip

"On November 9, Israeli airstrikes hit Al-Nasr Medical Center in Gaza City, cutting off the neonatal intensive care unit’s oxygen supply. The attack forced staff to evacuate the next day, leaving babies that could not be transported alone in intensive care, according to Doctors Without Borders. On November 28 during the ceasefire, doctors were able to return and found five babies dead."

I just noticed Mehdi Hasan's show has been cancelled by MSNBC.

In a note to staff quoted by the publication The Hill, MSNBC President Rashida Jones said the reshuffle aims to “better position” the network as it heads into the 2024 US elections. MSNBC did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

bullshit, in other words

Rami Jarrah
@RamiJarrah
BREAKING:

Professor Sufian Tayeh, who headed the largest university in #Gaza, killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp.

He was ranked among the top 2% of researchers globally & was appointed UNESCO chair for Physical & Astrophysical sciences in Palestine.