Palestine Open Thread 2023-300

Only for news & views directly related to the war in Palestine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

Ukraine Open Thread 2023-299

Only for news & views directly related to the war in Ukraine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

The MoA Week In Review - OT 2023-298

Last week's post on Moon of Alabama:

Palestine:

• December 4 - Right Before Hamas Attacked Someone Shorted Israeli Stocks And Funds
• December 5 - Who Is Really Behind The Mass Slaughter In Gaza?
• December 6 - Bombing Gaza
• December 8 - RIP Refaat in Gaza
  Related:
  - Refaat Alareer was assassinated by Israel - Electronic Intifada
  - Aid groups warn of starvation in Gaza after U.S. vetoes cease-fire call - Washington Post
  - Speaking Up for Palestine Can Be Hard, but It’s Never Been More Necessary - The Nation
  - Bloodshed, fear, hunger, desperation: Palestinians try to survive war’s new chapter in southern Gaza - AP
  - Opinion: We must prevent humanitarian aid from being used as an instrument of war - Philippe Lazzarini (UNRWA) / LA Times
  
  - ‘Israel-Hamas War’ Label Obscures Israel’s War on Palestinians - FAIR
  - ‘Buying Quiet’: Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas - NY Times
  - Israel Is Losing this War - Tony Karon, Daniel Levy / The Nation
  - Ten Myths About Israel By Ilan Pappe (2017) - Archive.org
  - America’s undoing - Samuel Moyn (Historian, Yale) / Prospect Mag
  > Triumphant at the end of the Cold War, the United States pledged to lead humanity in a new world order. Two conflicts—in Gaza and in Ukraine—have exposed that it has never been weaker <
  

Ukraine:

• December 5 - The War In Ukraine Is Done
• December 6 - U.S. Is Withholding Aid To Push Ukraine Towards Negotiations With Russia
• December 8 - Biden Administration Fearmongers Over Article 5 Event
• December 9 - How The Biden Administration Messed Up Its Own Foreign Aid Request
  Related:
  - “No NATO” for Ukraine, Ukrainian Politician Says - Naked Capitalism
  - Ukraine cracks down on draft-dodging as it struggles to find troops - Washington Post
  - All rights for the Russian language were removed from the law on national minorities (in Russian) - Strana

---
Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review - OT 2023-298

Palestine Open Thread 2023-297

Only for news & views directly related to the war in Palestine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

How The Biden Administration Messed Up Its Own Foreign Aid Request

Biden administration has tried to push large foreign aid funds for Ukraine and Israel through Congress. They were held up over immigration issues, a domestic foreign policy issue that has nothing to do with the other funds.

I had wondered how that had happened. I had assumed that the Republicans had inserted the issue into the vote on the funds.

But it now turned out that it was the Biden administration itself which put all three issues into one package. This led to the failure of all three measures.

Biden Tied Ukraine Aid to Border Security, and It Backfired on Him - NY Times - Dec 7, 2023

When President Biden sent his request to Congress last month for aid to Ukraine and Israel, he included a request for more money to help with security at the border with Mexico, a sweetener intended to both address a crisis and win over support of Republicans.

But the move has now left Mr. Biden in a box.

By putting the issue on the table, he ignited demands from the right for broad changes to border policy, leaving his own party divided on a topic that many Democrats see as a political vulnerability heading into 2024 and further complicating prospects for top foreign policy priorities.

The White House had negotiated with itself. It had come up with a 'sweetener' to goad the Republicans into agreeing to the fund measures. But that sweetener was not big enough for the Republicans. It thereby proved to be toxic for the whole deal.

What a huge policy failure.

Why put one issue, immigration, that has for decades been disputed between the two parties, into a package with politically unproblematic funds for Israel and only slightly problematic funds for Ukraine? That did not make sense.

Cont. reading: How The Biden Administration Messed Up Its Own Foreign Aid Request

Biden Administration Fearmongers Over Article 5 Event

Stoltenberg is a mediocre salesman:

NATO chief says Ukraine will join the military alliance, subject to reforms, after the war - Yahoo / Euronews - Nov 28, 2023

Ukraine will become a member of NATO subject to reforms after the war, the military alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Monday.

He was speaking ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, at which the alliance is expected to reaffirm its support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Whatever Stoltenberg might say, it is not going to happen. There is no purpose for Ukraine to be integrated to NATO except for U.S. self-aggrandization. Some assume that NATO membership would protect Ukraine from further attacks by Russia. It would not.

The U.S. itself does not believes that NATO membership protects any country from being attacked by Russia:

Cont. reading: Biden Administration Fearmongers Over Article 5 Event

RIP Refaat in Gaza

Sad news:

Muhammad Shehada @muhammadshehad2 - 19:52 UTC · Dec 7, 2023

Israel killed Prof. Refaat al-Areer, one of Gaza's most prominent writers, poets & activists who spent his life trying to get Gaza's voice to the outside world.

He was killed in a targeted airstrike on his sister's home that also killed his brother, sister & her 4 kids...

Refaat's pinned tweet:

Refaat in Gaza 🇵🇸 @itranslate123 - 13:01 UTC · Nov 1, 2023

If I must die, let it be a tale.

#FreePalestine
#Gaza

bigger

Refaat's last tweet:

Refaat in Gaza 🇵🇸 @itranslate123 - 5:00 UTC · Dec 4, 2023

The Democratic Party and Biden are responsible for the Gaza genocide perpetrated by Israel.

Quote
Vice President Kamala Harris ...
Embedded video

His writing:

Cont. reading: RIP Refaat in Gaza

Palestine Open Thread 2023-296

Only for news & views directly related to the war in Palestine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

Ukraine Open Thread 2023-295

Only for news & views directly related to the war in Ukraine.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

Open (Neither Ukraine Nor Palestine) Thread 2023-294

News & views (not related to the wars in Ukraine and Palestine) ...