I'm not gonna lie to you - I thought Israel would have started shit with Hezbollah by now which would have derailed whatever megathread theme I had planned, so I didn't bother planning one.
If you want a decent couple pieces going over what Hezbollah has done to Israel, then have a look at How 'Israel' Has Lost The North and Hezbollah's Quarterly Report. It's not exactly the most professional analysis, as you'll see if you read it, but it gets the point across and relies on evidence. In essence, Hezbollah has pushed the Israelis back tens of kilometers and decimated their border infrastructure, all while unveiling anti-aircraft missiles that have forced Israel to reconsider bombing runs. They still probably have the ability to turn various towns and cities in Lebanon to rubble, but Hezbollah can do massive damage back to Israel in turn. This has gone on so long with so little meaningful opposition by Israel that border settlements are going a little haywire and tentatively declaring independence from Israel and saying they don't want IDF troops there anymore. I don't take these terribly seriously from a military standpoint but it is indicative of the Zionist settler mindset crumbling over the last 9 months.
We're now at the point where Israel kinda has to go to war against Hezbollah or the entire Zionist ideology of military deterrence and expansion via illegal settlements simply no longer functions, but that war will also lead to massive destruction for military and civilian facilities (ports, power stations, war factories, etc) which is a massive problem for Israel's continued existence. Hamas continues to function inside Gaza despite the surface occupation of significant areas, including the Gaza-Egypt border, and attrition there is leading to big materiel and psychological losses for Israel too. And Yemen has, for all intents and purposes, prevailed against America's failed attempt to thwart their blockade - with some in the army claiming it's the most intense naval battle America has faced since WW2 - and missile strikes are tentatively beginning to hit or at least threaten ships in the Mediterranean Sea.
Nukes are still lurking quietly in the background, of course, but the Resistance is perfectly aware of that and still seems confident to go ahead with operations, so I can't really do anything but shrug and say that I trust them to do what's right.
The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.
The Country of the Week is Lebanon! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Please check out the HexAtlas!
The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week's thread is here.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA daily-ish 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 (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
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.
Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.
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.
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.
My country is COTW again let's goooooooooooooooooooo
Free AMA for all the Hexbearians today. Ask me anything about Lebanon (and Syria, hell even Iraq because my wife is from there and I've spent lots of time there)
what is the general perception of this conflict in those countries right now?
Iraq = strong desire in most people to not get heavily involved, as the country has gone through enough shit. Shia miltias will inevitable be drawn into the conflict though, especially if Lebanon kicks off.
Syria = rock bottom already, so people aren't too against getting involved if there's a wider regional conflict. Strong sympathy in government-controlled areas. Disinterest in Rojava. Split in Idlib between principled jihadists who want to fight Israel, and realpolitik jihadists who want to team up with Israel to hurt Assad. Golan front could be interesting if Iraqi militias and Hezbollah enter through there.
Lebanon = shias want to all get martyred, sunnis have the same principled vs realpolitik split as in Syria, christians are kinda split also but mostly anti-involvement. Some traitors actively support Israel due to rabid liberal brainworms
Between those three countries, who makes the best breakfast?
Syria and Lebanon are basically the same. I rate Syrian/Lebanese over Iraqi, Iraqi breakfast is way too sweet and fat, while Syrian/Lebanese is balanced and nutritious
yankkkee imperialism rears its ugly head again
Death to America
A colleague of mine is Lebanese and last week told me that they're (hopefully) going back to see their kids for a few weeks this summer. I tried to keep the conversation away from politics or current events, but they eventually made it clear to me that they are very anti-Hezbollah. Could you say anything about the general feeling in Lebanon towards Hezbollah?
This person is in the US and doing STEM, so that will definitely impact their perspective, but I'm curious what the broader opinion might be.
I mean yeah, most Lebanese, especially upper class ones despise Hezbollah. Most maronites hate Hezbollah, most Sunnis hate Hezbollah, and a large section of other minorities also dislike Hezbollah. Most of the diaspora also hate Hezbollah. Maybe that will change when Hezbollah actually defend Lebanon against zionist attacks again, but the liberal brainworms have deeply penetrated this country.
On god Arabs are the dumbest group of people on the face of the earth (source: I'm Arab)
We're gonna Balkanize ourselves straight into the greatest genocide since the Holocaust, mfs won't figure out the game being played until Greater Israel is parked in Amman, Damascus and Beirut, hell maybe even Cairo, why not at this point lmao
That makes sense, thanks for the insight!
Which of those three countries would you say have the best future prospects in terms of their national football sides
Definitely Iraq. Huge football-loving population, amazing football infrastructure with fresh new stadiums and academies, an organised forward-thinking football federation and also a strong diaspora that plays lots of football in countries like Germany and the UK. Iraq is already miles ahead of Lebanon and Syria, and I expect the gap to keep getting bigger in coming years. Iraq will make the World Cup I think, Asia is getting more spots and the team is around 5th-6th best in the continent right now
I really enjoy mujadara, the contrast of rice, lentil onion and pomegranate syrup is
I really like that contrast of flavours. What other vegan dishes should I make that use pomegranate syrup?
Also, what are common kid foods in Lebanon? I mean, it seems like in every culture there are dishes that kids always love, like what grandparents make as a treat. Like maple syrup, apple pie, cheese in canada. What are things like that in Lebanon? Are there things you are really looking forward to sharing with your son to be because you enjoyed them as a kid?
Tbh you can sprinkle that beautiful pomegranate syrup on anything. We have lots of vegan flexibility in our food, people are eating lots of vegan stuff these days because meat is so absurdly expensive. My unpopular favorite is kibbeh filled with potatoes, it's amazing. You can also sprinkle huge amounts on fattoush and vegan sfihas.
Kid foods that I loved are the potato kibbehs and also just plain kaak, especially from Kaak Abu Arab in Beirut. Shawarma is for all ages, but a small one with just chicken and fries is amazing. I also loved the "Lebanese Burger" with thick fries inside in the bun.
Fesenjan. Delicious Iranian Pomegranate & Walnut stew - make it vegan with aubergine.
Also get the horny police to release the Aubergine emoji.
Absolutely love mujadara. Cheap, filling, deep, and vegan. Add some greens and vegan yogurt and you have a very comforting staple.
Yes it's really good. Eating mujadara really feels healthy, like your body knows it's getting balanced nutrients without a bunch of crap.
Comforting too. It feels nice like a warm hug does.
mujadara sounds good, i ought to try cooking it sometime
What video games are popular there?