Image is of the King of Morocco meeting with John Kerry (a species of demon that plagued Hexbear in the misty past).
This preamble comes courtesy of @[email protected]:
Morocco (Al Maghrib), or more officially the Kingdom of Morocco (Al Mamlaka al Maghribiya), is a country located in the northwestern edge of the African continent. The name Morocco comes from the Spanish name Marruecos, which itself comes from the name of the city of Marrakesh. In Turkish for example, Morocco is known as Fas, mainly because Turks knew the land of Morocco through the city of Fes. Morocco is regarded as part of the Arab World and Arabic is the main language amongst the population, with French and Berber languages also widely spoken in the country.
Morocco was the home of mostly Berber tribes until the Muslim conquest and the subsequent Arab migrations in the 700s under the Umayyads drastically changed the character of the country. A Berber commander, Tariq ibn Ziyad, would later cross the Strait of Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq) from the northern shores of now-Morocco and conquer Andalusia, which remained under Muslim rule for nearly 800 years. The country emerged as a significant regional power during the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties in the medieval period, known for their contributions to architecture, philosophy, and trade across North Africa and southern Europe. The current ruling dynasty of Morocco, the Alaouite dynasty, came to power in the late 1600s. The Alaouites claim descent from the Prophet Muhammad through his grandson Hasan ibn Ali, giving them religious legitimacy and political authority in the region. Despite the Shia-coded claim to legitimacy, the Moroccan royal family and the population mostly follow the Maliki school of Sunni Islam.
In the early 20th century, the Treaty of Fez (1912) created the French Protectorate of Morocco, negotiated largely without input from the Moroccan people. Moroccan lands were completely divided under French and Spanish zones, with thousands of colonists pouring into the country. The royal family frequently collaborated with colonial powers, suppressing local resistance movements and prioritizing European interests. Prominent anti-colonial uprisings, like the Rif War (1921–1926), were met with brutal crackdowns, enabled by Western-backed forces. Post-independence in 1956, Morocco maintained close ties with its former colonizers, fostering economic dependence on France and Spain. The monarchy’s alignment with Western geopolitical interests often undermined Pan-African and Arab unity movements.
During the Cold War, Morocco positioned itself as a staunch ally of the West, marginalizing leftist and nationalist factions within the country. The Green March of 1975 was a Moroccan state-organized movement to assert control over Western Sahara, a territory decolonized from Spanish rule but still awaiting self-determination. This march, supported by Western powers, particularly the United States, is often criticized as a colonial expansion disguised as a popular movement. By settling Moroccans in the disputed territory, the march disregarded the Sahrawi people’s right to sovereignty. U.N. resolutions on Western Sahara have seen limited enforcement, largely due to Morocco’s Western alliances shielding it from accountability. Western-backed security and intelligence partnerships continue to be the cornerstone of Morocco’s repressive nature towards any anti-colonial and leftist movements. In 2021, Algeria again severed diplomatic ties with Morocco, citing hostile actions and concerns over Morocco’s ties with Israel, which Algeria views as a betrayal of pro-Palestinian solidarity. The two countries have mostly clashed over the issue of Western Sahara other than a short war in the 60s over a border dispute, with Algeria continuing to support the Sahrawi independence movement.
Morocco’s relations with Israel have historically been discreet but significant, rooted in the presence of a large Moroccan Jewish diaspora in Israel. Former King Hassan II played a significant behind-the-scenes role in fostering covert ties between Morocco and Israel during his reign. King Hassan II is reported to have allowed Israeli intelligence access to critical information from a meeting of Arab leaders in Casablanca in 1965, which may have helped Israel prepare for the Six-Day War in 1967. His government provided a platform for discreet diplomatic exchanges and intelligence-sharing, including Morocco’s facilitation of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Israel in the 1970s. In 2020, Morocco formally normalized ties with Israel through the Abraham Accords, brokered by the United States, in exchange for U.S. and Israeli recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. Diplomatic and trade relations have since deepened, with agreements in fields like defence, agriculture, and technology. Despite official ties, Moroccan public opinion remains largely sympathetic to Palestinians, but such opinions are rarely considered by the royal family.
Morocco’s future is split between ambitious global aspirations and permanent domestic issues. The country’s co-hosting of the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Spain and Portugal is seen as a significant opportunity to showcase its shiny infrastructure and global presence. However, these achievements are often overshadowed by criticisms of its political culture, including the monarchy’s ceremonial practices, such as the humiliating tradition of publicly kissing the crown prince’s hand. Allegations surrounding King Mohammed VI’s personal behavior, including incidents of public drunkenness and alleged homosexuality continue to be a hot topic within opposition circles.
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 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.
Reactionary Islamist elements in Bangladesh are being given free rein under Yunus.
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/hasnat-sarjis-demand-immediate-ban-iskcon-3762921
article text
Student movement coordinators Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam today called for an immediate ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), accusing the organisation of inciting unrest.
The demand was raised during a protest rally organised by the anti-discrimination student movement at the Tiger Pass intersection in Chattogram this afternoon.
The rally also sought justice for the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, urging authorities to apprehend the killers within 24 hours.
Addressing the rally, coordinator Hasnat Abdullah said, “ISKCON is acting as an agent of the Awami League, attempting to destabilise the country. This extremist organisation is behind the brutal killing of Saiful Islam.”
“Bangladesh is a land of coexistence, and extremists of any kind have no place here. Students will never tolerate such barbarity, and we demand an immediate ban on ISKCON,” he added.
Sarjis Alam said, “Ordinary Sanatanis in the country are peace-loving, but the agents of the dictator Hasina are trying to create an unstable situation in the country by inciting ISKCON. However, we will not let that happen as long as we are alive.”
Sarjis further said, “The students will stand against fascism, just as they did in July and August. We will not let any forces destabilise our country.”
Speakers at the rally demanded that those involved in Saiful’s murder, both directly and indirectly, be brought to justice without delay.
Earlier in the day, the student leaders attended the second namaz-e-janaza for Saiful Islam at Jamiatul Falah Mosque in the city’s Wasa intersection.
Following the prayers, a procession marched to the Tiger Pass intersection, where the rally continued until 1:00pm.
…
ISKCON is a cult. However, Bangladesh’s arrest of a Hindu monk has nothing to do with that. They just want to attack minorities.
If death of one person is enough to get the organization banned why did the Yunus Government unban Jamaat-e-Islami?
That feel when you’ll never get Hezbollah swag:
https://xcancel.com/TVFreePalestine/status/1861686023282930002Sussy shit happening in Namibia. US wants to replace SWAPO with a more pro-West one. Not that SWAPO is a based communist party anymore but still.
The opposition is running on anti-corruption alone which in the absence of anything else is just a way for the right to capture power.
Locals order audit of shameless criminal:
https://africanstream.media/niger-orders-audit-of-aid-to-eus-chagrin/November, Niger claimed the EU ambassador allocated $1.36 million to international NGOs without consulting with the Nigerien government. Despite the devastating floods that have claimed over 300 lives and displaced more than 1.1 million people, Niger stated it did not request EU aid and would address the disaster’s aftermath using its resources. The EU recalled its ambassador to Brussels and announced it would replace him following Niger’s request.
Can someone fill me in on what’s happening in Pakistan? Heard the government has massacred over 100+ protestors. What’s going on??
Some quick uneducated observations on the Lebanon ceasefire:
- The Zionists were unable to achieve their military goals. In combination with the Al-Aqsa Flood this has effectively shattered the myth of the invincible high-tech master race. Zionists are incompetent loss-averse cowards. They can be beat.
- The zionists have no inhibitions to terrorism and barring occasional good but largely impotent measures like the ICC warrants the west and their “rules-based international order” is not going to rein their zionist dogs in. Rather they will support them materially, politically and diplomatically.
- Outside of settler society in occupied Palestine, zionism is an elite project. It has no popular support. Even in the imperial core where Islamophobia runs rampant and zionists are portrayed as humanised victims, most normal people sympathise with Palestine. The zionists are getting away with a lot but they have alienated a generation. Going forward they will have a harder time spreading their propaganda.
- The zionists’ sense of security has been shattered. The Al-Aqsa Flood might have been stopped and Hezbollah might cease their operations but the sense of impunity is gone. Zionist installations and infrastructure is much more vulnerable to strikes from Iran, Hezbollah or even Yemen than before. Settlers can no longer expect war not to affect them personally.
- The Nazification of settler society combined with the lack of physical security is making settler life a lot less attractive if you’re not a howling stormtrooper. Going forward the illegal zionist entity will find it harder to recruit new settlers and settlers who have viable options outside of occupied Palestine might choose them. It is a lot more fun being a a doctor in America than having your house bombed and your kid drafted to get blown up in a Merkava in occupied Palestine.
- Zionism is now perceived as a lot less safe investment by capital than before and they will face long-term economic consequences.
- Hezbollah failed to stop the genocide in Gaza. Without the Lebanese front to distract me the zionazis I am extremely worried about what they are going to do
- There has been some talks about a Gaza ceasefire being in the works. I doubt it. Genocide is baked into the zionist entity and the external pressure to stop it just decreased significantly. It is very hard not to be a doomer about it.
from Al Mayadeen (breaking news feed):
Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades: The ceasefire between the two fronts of the struggle in Lebanon and the Zionist entity would not have been possible were it not for the steadfastness of Hezbollah fighters.
The US enemy is the entity’s partner in all its crimes and must pay the price for that sooner or later.
One side of the Axis of Resistance taking a break will not affect the unity of the battlefields, rather new parties will join in to boost the arena of the sacred struggle.
We will not abandon our people in Gaza, no matter how great the sacrifices, regardless of the enemies’ threats, their treachery, and their criminality.
My guess - Iran is unwilling to continue escalation when they lack nukes and Trump is coming in to power, and Hzb leadership is unwilling to fight on without Iranian backing.
To add to the pile of takes being posted about this ceasefire, here is a quick writeup Derek Davidson from Foreign Exchanges/probably the most frequent Chapo guest sent out tonight. I am just posting this because it gets delivered to my inbox:
While I am technically on vacation I did want to send a brief update on the ceasefire that Joe Biden announced earlier today between Israel and Hezbollah. Momentum had been building toward this for several days now, despite outward appearances as the Israelis maintained and arguably intensified their bombing campaign. Indeed, they continued bombarding Lebanon throughout the day on Tuesday, while Hezbollah kept up its rocket attacks on Israel, everybody getting in a few last licks before the ceasefire goes into effect at 4 AM Wednesday local time. If all goes well this will mark the end of a conflict that started shortly after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack in southern Israel, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel. That conflict has killed nearly 3800 people in Lebanon and nearly 130 in Israel, while displacing upwards of 1.2 million in Lebanon and some 46,000 in Israel.
The deal in its most basic form opens a 60 day window, during which Hezbollah and Israel will attempt to implement the terms of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Lebanon War. That means Hezbollah will withdraw its military forces, or at least its large weapons that are capable of striking Israel, north of the Litani River or about 30-ish (give or take) kilometers from the Israeli border. The Israelis in turn will withdraw from southern Lebanon. If those two conditions are met then the 60 day window will turn into a full-fledged ceasefire—at least until the next time Israel and Hezbollah go to war. Israel’s security cabinet approved the deal on Tuesday prior to Biden’s announcement. The Lebanese government had already signaled its approval, which came along with Hezbollah’s indirect approval.
There are mechanisms in the deal that aim to ensure Hezbollah’s compliance. The most immediate of those involves the Lebanese military, such as it is. As the Israeli military (IDF) and Hezbollah withdraw, Lebanese forces will deploy to the area between the Litani and the Israeli border where they will function in concert with the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) to police the ceasefire. This is where the United States and France enter the picture. They’re apparently committed to supporting the Lebanese military and improving its capabilities so that it’s able to fulfill this mission, as well as to unspecified measures to improve the wrecked Lebanese economy.
The US and French governments will also join the Israeli and Lebanese governments, and UNIFIL, in overseeing the deal. This is a significant development considering that as recently as Sunday the Israeli government was refusing to have anything to do with Paris because Emmanuel Macron had recognized the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Lebanese government had conversely insisted on French participation, presumably reasoning that the French government might actually try to constrain future Israeli military action where the United States is barely even a rubber stamp anymore on that front. That’s important because the main thing the overseers will be doing is determining whether/when the Israelis are entitled to resume their military campaign in Lebanon.
By all accounts, Israeli officials wanted it written into the deal that they retain the right to use Lebanon as a free-fire zone if they decide that Hezbollah isn’t meeting its obligations. That is not, as far as I know, explicitly written into the agreement Biden announced on Tuesday, surely because it was unacceptable to Hezbollah and the Lebanese government. But the Israelis reportedly have assurances from Washington that the US will support their reentry into Lebanon should it come to that.
Based on what’s been reported so far I think we have to conclude that the Israelis have gotten much of what they wanted out of this conflict. In the main they got Hezbollah to break its “Axis of Resistance” ties to Hamas and agree to a ceasefire that has nothing to do with Gaza. That’s meaningful both in the near term, as it means in theory that the Israeli government can begin moving displaced people back into northern Israel without having to interrupt its genocidal campaign, and in the long term, if it permanently fractures the relationship between those two groups. Then there’s the damage Hezbollah has taken. Over the course of the past 13 months the Israelis were able to exploit apparently gaping holes in the internal security of Hezbollah or one of its allies to kill several of its senior leaders, including former Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, along with a larger number of mid-level officials. Those losses will take time to overcome.
That said, the Israelis haven’t gotten everything. For all the hits it’s taken Hezbollah is still standing and still seemed to be putting up a fairly robust resistance to IDF incursions in southern Lebanon—robust enough that it may have made Israeli leaders more amenable to a ceasefire. It’s also still a major force in Lebanese politics, and if we take its civilian elements into account the damage it’s suffered over the past 13 months is still significant but not debilitating. As I noted earlier the Israelis didn’t get the explicit permission they wanted to continue operating in Lebanon with impunity, though that’s more a technical setback than a real one.
This deal is hours old and as I write this it only came into effect about 30 minutes ago so I think to say much more would be to delve fully into speculation, and to be completely frank I think I’d rather go back to being on vacation. One bit of speculation that I will offer is the possibility that this deal isn’t so much going to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah as shift the locus of that fighting into Syria. The IDF has never been reluctant to attack Hezbollah targets in Syria but it’s ratcheted up the frequency and intensity of such attacks in recent weeks, and it may be worth noting that after Biden’s announcement it bombed three crossings along the Lebanese-Syrian border in northern Lebanon. We’ve also seen reports of late about IDF construction projects in the occupied Golan that may be encroaching deeper into Syrian territory.
Bashar al-Assad’s government has been scrupulous about staying out of this conflict and maybe he’s got some sort of private understanding with the Israelis, but I still think this is something to watch. I’m not saying that the Israelis will immediately shift their operations to Syria in anything like the intensity we’ve seen in Lebanon, but over time they may continue to ramp things up on that front.
55 days, 63 Merkavas
Some videos for today from Russia’s special military operation.
A Russian drone destroyed another US-supplied “Bradley” infantry fighting vehicle in Kursk oblast: https://news-pravda.com/world/2024/11/25/878599.html
A Russian ground drone destroyed a Kiev regime position: https://news-pravda.com/world/2024/11/26/881483.html
An interview with the British mercenary recently captured in Kursk oblast: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--Kursk-group-captured-this-piece-of-shit!:7
Netanyahu under a barrage of criticism after announcing a ceasefire with Hezbollah
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of the Zionist regime, following the announcement of the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, has been the target of sharp criticism from politicians and domestic media.
The absence of a clear tone in the ceasefire regarding the freedom of action of the Zionist regime army against the Lebanese Hezbollah is one of the provisions that have been criticized.
The officials of the Zionist regime had previously claimed that they wanted to include a clause in the ceasefire agreement that would allow the regime’s army to act against Hezbollah in case of a ceasefire violation. Channel 12 of the regime’s TV says that the current agreement does not contain explicit provisions in this regard.
Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition to Netanyahu’s cabinet, said that the Israeli cabinet was forced to make this agreement after a year of war with Hezbollah.
He said: “The northern communities have been destroyed, the lives of the residents have been destroyed, the army is tired and at the same time you are pushing desertion laws.”
This agreement also has critics from within the cabinet, and Itmar Ben-Gvir, the minister of internal security of the regime, has described it as a “historical mistake that failed to achieve promises”
Can anyone send me that Barbara Pit Massacre get in the pit video? Having a hard time finding it anywhere.
Israel is continuing to bomb major cities in Lebanon (in Bekaa, Beirut, Tyre) along with the southern villages and border crossings with Syria, while continuing to release “evacuation orders” for residential buildings. The ceasefire is supposed to come into effect within the next two hours, it seems as if Israel is trying to cause maximum destruction before they won’t be able to anymore, and for the genocidal entity that means murdering as many people as possible and terrorising civilians.
I know some people have been asking about EZLN updates. A friend sent me a photo of a flyer that Schools for Chiapas recently sent out which I will transcribe, and I will link the group’s most recent blog post below. It’s not quite the update that people are looking for, I don’t think, but it’s better than nothing imo.
Another mile marker along the road. Another leg in the relay. Another year in our collective struggle for a world in which many worlds can fit. Along the way we look back at our own journey, evaluate our progress, and alter our pace, shedding the forms and the ways of being that do not serve our compassionate respect for difference, our vocation of freedom and justice, our defense of life. This year, another cycle of the politics from above comes to a close, posing new obstacles to our shared vision, shifting the terrain under our feet. But we, inspired by struggles for humanity and life around the globe, compañerxs, will remain undeterred.
The work from below and to the left continues, taking new and creative forms. The examples of indigenous communities, as ever on the front lines, weave the strands of resilience and autonomy, defying the forces that seek to divide us. We must take time to gather our strength, to nurture ourselves and our communities, to listen to one another, and to care for the seeds we have sown. And in this process, we find the next steps along the path.
As another year comes to a close, we wish you a regenerative season to do just that.
In 2024, as the Zapatista caracoles were closed to outside collaborations in order to reorganize, we expanded our accompaniment to work with other kindred communities organized in alignment with this shared vocation of justice and dignity. These relationships of mutual learning, growing organically from our collaborations over devades, offer opportunities for the co-mingling of perspectives and the synergy of skills.
This year, with you generous support, we have:
- Organized and facilitated three workshops in herbal medicine and health autonomy with the Mujeres en Rebeldía de Costa.
- Supported 2 regional gatherings of women defenders of land and territory.
- Offered over 20 workshops with community education promoters in training.
- Systematized and developed curriculum to expand our work in education to more communities.
- Provided orientation and preparation for 11 groups of BriCo volunteers in collaboration with Frayba Human Rights Center.
- Hosted biweekly public conversations on indigenous resistances in the Mexican Southeast including analysis on the current political context, migration, human rights and more in Sendas, our collaborative community space in San Cristóbal.
- Published weekly translated news updates and calls to action through our blog.
- Worked with autonomous artisans’ collectives in the development, marketing and distribution of products, both in Sendas and through our online store.
- Promoted and garnered support for displaced communities and the unjustly incarcerated and supported local calls to action through Sendas.
- Raised funds to build, and supported the construction of a new community schoolhouse.
Thank you for walking beside us, for joining us in this journey. As always, we are humbled and honored to have your support.
From the blog:
Compañerxs, this year has presented indigenous communities throughout Chiapas with extreme threats to their physical, material and spiritual well-being. On October 16th, the EZLN denounced a series of aggressions, supported by authorities from the municipality of Ocosingo, against one of its support base communities 6 de Octubre, announcing that they would be severing all communications for the foreseeable future. Then on October 20th, the murder of Padre Marcelo, a beloved priest and defender of life, delivered a knife to the heart of the people. Two weeks later 20,000 people came out in the streets of San Cristóbal to demand justice and an end to the violence.
In the organized indigenous communities of Chiapas and Mexico, we see important models of sustainable autonomy and a struggle which places the defense of territory on the frontlines of the confrontation between the plunder of the Earth and its care. Like these courageous peoples, we must organize to cultivate those spaces of support and strength both in our communities locally and internationally. We share the collective responsibility of caring for one another, and of protecting this beautiful planet we call home.
Link: https://schoolsforchiapas.org/our-work-now-after-nearly-30-years/
