Goddamnit: if a wider war breaks out use this thread for context

[PSOL]

The Ilkhwan has switched sides. My sides!

Lmao, those losers are crawling to Iran after years of irrelevance in hitching themselves to the other rejects the GCC propped up. And for what, because the Houthis had populist economics? Because Ajamis are agents of Shaytan?

[PSOL]

https://twitter.com/ME_Observer_2/status/1559955718232481795

[PSOL]

thanks to Hezbollah intervention, Lebanon has not caved in the negotiations, but there’s been a request for an extension

[dead0man]

thanks to Hezbollah intervention, Lebanon has not caved in the negotiations, but there’s been a request for an extension

Israel is trying to make a deal, the Hezzies are threatening violence if they don't get their way, meanwhile, the Lebanese, stuck in the middle, are suffering



the more things change, the more they stay the same!

[PSOL]

thanks to Hezbollah intervention, Lebanon has not caved in the negotiations, but there’s been a request for an extension

Israel is trying to make a deal, the Hezzies are threatening violence if they don't get their way, meanwhile, the Lebanese, stuck in the middle, are suffering



the more things change, the more they stay the same!

If by making a deal you mean complete capitulation, then it really is the same old style where the maronites are trying to sell out.

[PSOL]

I really wish people wouldn't defend those in power in Lebanese Islam.

They are not the ones being persecuted in Lebanon or the rest of the Arab-Islamic world.

(hint: it is atheists, people who want to leave Islam and not be murdered for it, Muslim women who don't want to be second class citizens or be killed if they anger a male relative, trade unionists, LGBTIQ+ people)

Lebanon legalized gay relations under this government lol.

You done hand wringing?

[dead0man]

I really wish people wouldn't defend those in power in Lebanese Islam.

They are not the ones being persecuted in Lebanon or the rest of the Arab-Islamic world.

(hint: it is atheists, people who want to leave Islam and not be murdered for it, Muslim women who don't want to be second class citizens or be killed if they anger a male relative, trade unionists, LGBTIQ+ people)

Lebanon legalized gay relations under this government lol.

You done hand wringing?

you say that is if they are good on LGTB right and that it's the end of the discussion.  I know you hate to cite things (for obvious reasons), let me do it for you.

LGBT Rights in Lebanon

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) persons living in Lebanon may face difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT residents, though they are considerably more free than in other parts of the Arab world.

and that's one of the lowest bars to hurdle in the entire world, but hey, congrats!

Various courts have ruled that Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which prohibits having sexual relations that "contradict the laws of nature", should not be used to arrest LGBT people.

hey that's great, the state can't hassle gay people even though they contradict the laws of nature.  What a country!

Nonetheless, the law is still being used to harass and persecute LGBT people through occasional police arrests.

what?  Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo



it's telling that you picked LGBT out of Paul's list too, you knew the others were an even harder fight.

[PSOL]

I really wish people wouldn't defend those in power in Lebanese Islam.

They are not the ones being persecuted in Lebanon or the rest of the Arab-Islamic world.

(hint: it is atheists, people who want to leave Islam and not be murdered for it, Muslim women who don't want to be second class citizens or be killed if they anger a male relative, trade unionists, LGBTIQ+ people)

Lebanon legalized gay relations under this government lol.

You done hand wringing?

you say that is if they are good on LGTB right and that it's the end of the discussion.  I know you hate to cite things (for obvious reasons), let me do it for you.

LGBT Rights in Lebanon

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) persons living in Lebanon may face difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT residents, though they are considerably more free than in other parts of the Arab world.

and that's one of the lowest bars to hurdle in the entire world, but hey, congrats!

Various courts have ruled that Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which prohibits having sexual relations that "contradict the laws of nature", should not be used to arrest LGBT people.

hey that's great, the state can't hassle gay people even though they contradict the laws of nature.  What a country!

Nonetheless, the law is still being used to harass and persecute LGBT people through occasional police arrests.

what?  Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo



it's telling that you picked LGBT out of Paul's list too, you knew the others were an even harder fight.

No, the others are quite easy. It isn’t Hezbollah who invaded the country back in the 80s and have many progressive activists detained without trial in its prisons, that was Israel and the conservative Maronite government, of whom the SLA the Israelis still back. It isn’t Hezbollah who threatens Lebanese sovereignty and forces the country to give up vital resources it needs to keep the lights on.

Israel ultimately feeds into Hezbollah’s popularity and is responsible for the negative weight of the group. It’s brutalizing of the country scarred and birthed the movement by blood and fire in the 80s in the first place. That’s blowback

https://twitter.com/IranIntl_En/status/1561428805054603265?s=33
The Kurdish liberals are united. They are the fourth largest thorn currently in the country aside from the MEK and two Kurdish groups—Komalahs and the Iranian PKK branch PJAK. There’s also the wider left with close relations to the Komalahs.

[dead0man]

No, the others are quite easy. It isn’t Hezbollah who invaded the country back in the 80s and have many progressive activists detained without trial in its prisons, that was Israel and the conservative Maronite government, of whom the SLA the Israelis still back. It isn’t Hezbollah who threatens Lebanese sovereignty and forces the country to give up vital resources it needs to keep the lights on.

Israel ultimately feeds into Hezbollah’s popularity and is responsible for the negative weight of the group. It’s brutalizing of the country scarred and birthed the movement by blood and fire in the 80s in the first place. That’s blowback

well thank Og the terrorists Hezbollah are there or else Lebanon would be a real mess!

Also, not sure how any of that addressed Paul's points, but ok.  I guess Israel could be causing Muslim men to be mean to Muslim women in Lebanon, seems more likely to come from another...ahem...."source" (pbuh).

[PSOL]

It's kind of adorable that you think Muslim clerical leadership in the Arab world supports almost anything western progressives do. 

Oh I don’t, I just realize that the United States and Israel both view them as more of a major threat and act on it sooner to take them out. This is why the political factions most invested in the country and not serving a foreign master bands up after every aggression from the west or the south, as is a common trend in the region. Israel propped up Hamas in the first place to go after the progressive and secular forces after all, as they did with the SLA then and LF now.

[PSOL]

The notion of Islamophobia is neo-Orientalist. I will rarely praise a POS like Hoxha, but his breaking the hold of Islamic clerics and culture on Albania is undoubtedly a positive thing for the country's people when looked at in the long term.

And yet you supported the same forces that backed Islamists over progressives, how curious.

[All Along The Watchtower]

What’s with this notion that Hezbollah is anything other than a malevolent sectarian presence in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq?

Didn’t realize that the IRGC Qods Force was the legitimate political representative of the Lebanese people.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Isn't it strange how between 1949 and 1967, when there was plenty of time to create an Arab state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it never happened?

No pressure from Arab or Islamic organisations, no motions at the UN against Egypt and Jordan condemning them for "occupying Palestinian territory".

Funny old world, isn't it?

None of the Arab countries, nor Iran, have ever actually wanted an independent Palestinian state.

[dead0man]

What’s with this notion that Hezbollah is anything other than a malevolent sectarian presence in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq?

Didn’t realize that the IRGC Qods Force was the legitimate political representative of the Lebanese people.

of course.  It's those dirty Jews Israelis that are the real force for evil in the Middle East.  Iran just wants to get along with everyone, but every time they come to the west, hat in hand, we just push 'em in the dirt and laugh. Blowing up buses full of Jews in Bulgaria or South America is their only recourse.  They don't want to have to do it, but what other option do we give them?

[CumbrianLefty]

The notion of Islamophobia is neo-Orientalist.

What does this even mean?

There is plenty of genuine - and often highly nasty - anti-Islamic prejudice about.

You don't even have to *like* the religion (or indeed any other) to see this.

[Comrade Funk]

What’s with this notion that Hezbollah is anything other than a malevolent sectarian presence in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq?

Didn’t realize that the IRGC Qods Force was the legitimate political representative of the Lebanese people.

of course.  It's those dirty Jews Israelis that are the real force for evil in the Middle East.  Iran just wants to get along with everyone, but every time they come to the west, hat in hand, we just push 'em in the dirt and laugh. Blowing up buses full of Jews in Bulgaria or South America is their only recourse.  They don't want to have to do it, but what other option do we give them?

Aren't you the guy who played "whataboutism" when Israelis murdered a Palestinian-American journalist?

[gerritcole]

What’s with this notion that Hezbollah is anything other than a malevolent sectarian presence in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq?

Didn’t realize that the IRGC Qods Force was the legitimate political representative of the Lebanese people.

of course.  It's those dirty Jews Israelis that are the real force for evil in the Middle East.  Iran just wants to get along with everyone, but every time they come to the west, hat in hand, we just push 'em in the dirt and laugh. Blowing up buses full of Jews in Bulgaria or South America is their only recourse.  They don't want to have to do it, but what other option do we give them?

Aren't you the guy who played "whataboutism" when Israelis murdered a Palestinian-American journalist?

Whatabouting whataboutism what a strategy

[PSOL]

Baseless whataboutery won’t get you anywhere lol

[All Along The Watchtower]

The Saudi-Iranian Cold War sucks.

[PSOL]

Since the clerics terrorising Iran deserve no respect...

Both Ruhollah Khomeini and his current successor seem to enjoy the Homeless Man chic with their rubbish beards. They probably hide/hid left over KFC or the Persian version in them.

As a fellow beard enthusiast, I can safely say that would be impossible since personal grooming for men is a very big thing in Iran. You see even the most traditional of clerics with huge beards be mostly neat and well-kept.

It’s not like here in the United States where grooming and cleanliness is shunned for males, over there it is mandatory to be apart of civil culture. Even with the Islamic revolution, those standards barely loosened.

[PSOL]

Lebanon caved, but war is at least going to be avoided under the current Israeli coalition of chaos.

Note that Lebanon can’t even extract oil in their side of the demarcation without US approval. War is averted, but by and large this is an immense surrender done by the Aoun government in the midst of a parliament is still unable to elect a new president by PM Mikati.

Thank god for Hezbollah not allowing for a complete caving in of Lebanese waters.
Saudis go back to checkbook diplomacy in a bid to stay relevant. I’m not sure how long they can afford burning money willy nilly when over a million people in Jeddah alone have been displaced.
An analysis showing how paralyzed Fatah is in the face of increased opposition to Israel by grassroots activists and militant groups. Israeli aggression in just packing the West Bank with settlers and massive theft have led to many in the West Bank having enough of Fatah’s inaction, finally letting go of international “aid” they use to bribe the West Bank into subservience. Israel, too scared to face the protesters in the face of having an army overstretched and a risk of a third intifada, has been relegating the task of killing and arresting Palestinians to Fatah more often.
Basically ISIS conducted a terrorist attack in a shrine in Shiraz, leaving 15+ dead and wounded. The Iranian government, never one to pass up an opportunity of trying to pin this on protesters, have been using this attack to blame protesters on making Iran unsafe and going against god or whatever. Now, this ignores the massive massacres of innocent people that dwarf this event and others by a few unsavory elements, but there is something that has been bugging me for a long time.

The usual enemies of Iran as a state; Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United States have been using this protest as a way of geopolitical leverage and payback to recent upsets Iran has been doing regionally. There exists a whole host of proxy news media, figures, and groups who have basically used the protests to get out the mentioned state’s agenda. These range from efforts to keep a mostly united Iran under US domination; with people like Alinejad, the b•••• and the MEK, Reza Pahlavi, and Manoto TV basically wanting a fully cucked Iran—to separatists and Sunni islamists supported by a host of unsavory figures; Iran International (Saudis), P(KK/JAK) and KDP+ (the trio), Arab nationalists and Islamists (Israel and Saudis), and Baluchi separatist-Islamists (trio).

These groups are mostly irrelevant all in their own in Iran, with only the MEK and the Shah having some major support base in Iran, but they do get tons of money by their financial backers that go into guns and s•••posts on telegram. Internationally, many protests among the diaspora have been coopted with Arabs and Kurds from origins in other nations pretending to be Iranian, and the MEK having to hire paid protesters to wear their shirts and hold pictures of Maryam and Massoud Rajavi.

What I’m getting at is while most people see through their bull••••, these people have basically hijacked many demonstrations and have casted themselves as wanting to divide the pie once the Islamic Republic is gone. They have high influence in the upper echelons of twitter and US government and that’s going to be an issue later. And occasionally they do dumb s••• like this massacre at a place of worship that damages the movement.

Oh, and the usual Iranian liberal crowd is immensely sidelined both in iran and abroad. NIAC is getting a higher hate mail and messages than usual and out in Europe it isn’t better. Can’t feel too bad for them, most threw their lot with the reformists and lost their integrity outside of rich intellectuals and labor aristocrats and those in Europe are throwing their lot under US guidance, being the least supported on the ground by NED funds.

[PSOL]

Since I have no doubt the Israeli government will do something stupider than ethnic cleansing in Sheikh Jarrah, storming Al-Aqsa Mosque, or even outright annex huge amounts of the rural land/urban areas left under PA control in the West Bank—this thread will be the primary space for the hell that is to come under Bibi f•••ing things up.

Previously I indicated that war with Iran is likely given the stances of this administration, I’m more iffy on that given that I don’t think Bibi will tear up the signed agreement done by the American handlers. There’s good money to be made in finally drilling and exporting that oil to Europe that would be jeopardized if they attack Lebanon. Iran doesn’t want to start a war over Palestine because in all honesty there’s nothing economically valuable in Palestine and that front gets money to proxies more to distract Israel from Lebanon/Syria and keep the religious happy. Now in Iraqi Kurdistan that’s another story and an ever-encroaching possibility, but the next war is going to be another The Conflict humanitarian disaster.

[dead0man]

I've been hearing about a war with Iran for so long it's crazy.  I guess, eventually, one of you will be right.

here is a Joe thread from 2005-Israel could be ready for war with Iran by March

Israel readies forces for strike on nuclear Iran

Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv, and Sarah Baxter, Washington

ISRAEL’S armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed.

The order came after Israeli intelligence warned the government that Iran was operating enrichment facilities, believed to be small and concealed in civilian locations.

Iran’s stand-off with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over nuclear inspections and aggressive rhetoric from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, who said last week that Israel should be moved to Europe, are causing mounting concern.

The crisis is set to come to a head in early March, when Mohamed El-Baradei, the head of the IAEA, will present his next report on Iran. El-Baradei, who received the Nobel peace prize yesterday, warned that the world was “losing patience” with Iran.

<snip>

TEHRAN MINISTER MET MILITANTS BEFORE NEW OFFENSIVE

Iran’s foreign minister met leading figures from three Islamic militant groups to co-ordinate a united front against Israel days before a recent escalation of attacks against Israeli targets shattered fragile ceasefires with Lebanon and the Palestinians, writes Hugh Macleod in Damascus.

The minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, held talks with leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah in Damascus on November 15.

Among those who attended the meeting were Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader, and a deputy leader of Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for last Monday’s suicide bombing of a shopping mall in Netanya that killed five Israeli citizens.

Ahmed Jibril, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine- General Command, was also present. “We all confirmed that what is going on in occupied Palestine is organically connected to what is going on in Iraq, Syria, Iran and Lebanon,” said Jibril.

Seven days after the talks, Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets and mortars at Israeli targets, sparking the fiercest fighting between the two sides since Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon five years ago.

[PSOL]

Iran sets to have a closer relationship with the Taliban as the latter shuns Pakistan

the Arab kingdoms and Israel continue to strengthen ties

Turkey to partially pay for Russian gas with rubles

[Conservatopia]

Iran sets to have a closer relationship with the Taliban as the latter shuns Pakistan

the Arab kingdoms and Israel continue to strengthen ties

Turkey to partially pay for Russian gas with rubles

Why can't you just link to normal news websites instead of all these weird ones like "Left Voice" or "Workers Weekly" or "Daily Pickaxe" and so on?