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

On October 28 I posted (with the author's permission):

An Interview On Gaza With Dominique De Villepin (As Translated By Arnaud Bertrand).

There is a new interview with Dominique De Villepin which has also been translated by Arnaud Bertrand.

Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand – 1:22 UTC · Nov 8, 2023

Another masterful interview on Gaza of Dominique De Villepin, former Prime Minister of France, who IMHO is the best diplomat the West has produced in decades.

Again I believe that his words are so important and so rare among Western leaders today, that I decided to translate it in full (the bold parts are emphasis Villepin himself made when speaking):

One does not have to agree with De Villepin. But one has to acknowledge that he is one of the few European politicians who has put real thoughts into the issue and who points to a potentially sensible end:

What follows is Arnaud Bertrand's translation:

— Begin of translation —

"The Israeli government, Benjamin Netanyahu, failed on October 7th and failed doubly. Firstly, in its ability to ensure the protection of the Israeli people by allowing massacres that are an abomination to occur. He bears direct responsibility for what happened. And his second failure is having encouraged a policy of occupation and colonization, which continues at this moment in the West Bank and constitutes another threat to Israel if a second front in the West Bank were to open.

"The Israeli government, Benjamin Netanyahu, failed on October 7th and failed doubly. Firstly, in its ability to ensure the protection of the Israeli people by allowing massacres that are an abomination to occur. He bears direct responsibility for what happened. And his second failure is having encouraged a policy of occupation and colonization, which continues at this moment in the West Bank and constitutes another threat to Israel if a second front in the West Bank were to open.

Cont. reading: Another Interview With Dominique De Villepin On The Conflict In Palestine (As Translated By Arnaud Bertrand)

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The recent publications about Zelenski's egomania in Time and the war 'stalemate' as claimed by General Zaluzny in The Economist have led to a conflict between the political and military sides of Ukraine:

There are sure signs that the divide between the political and military leadership in Ukraine is growing. President Zelenski, on request of his new defense minister, just removed the commander of Ukraine's special forces and installed a new one:

Major General Viktor Khorenko does not know the reasons for his dismissal from the post of Commander of the Special Operations Forces. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, did not submit a request for his dismissal.

It is very unusual to fire an officer without a request from his superior commander.

There are also shots fired against Zaluzny himself:

President's Office advises Commander-in-Chief of Ukrainian Armed Forces not to publicise situation at front – UA Pravda – Nov 4 2023

Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President, commenting on the article by Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, for The Economist, has said that the military should not bring to the public what is happening at the front.
…
Zhovkva also stated that "one of the heads of the leaders' offices" called him after the mentioned article was published.

"And they simply ask me in a panic, ‘What should I report to my leader? Are we really at a stalemate?’. Are we trying to achieve this effect with this article?", the President’s Office representative said.

Zaluzny is seen as a potential candidate for president should the Ukraine decide to hold elections.

He recently 'liked' (in Russian) a Facebook post by the ex-adviser to the president Alexey Arestovich, who is now a public critic of the Zelenski regime. Arestovich has reportedly moved to Austria out of fear of being arrested or worse. He is also a well known potential presidential candidate.

Yesterday an aide to General Zaluzny was killed by what seems to have been a package bomb:

Cont. reading: Ukraine SitRep: Assassinations, Election Talk, Language War

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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.

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Last week's post on Moon of Alabama:

Palestine:

• October 30 – Biden Forced To Call Off His Plans For Ethnic Cleansing Of Gaza
• November 1 – Economist Fakes Political History Of Gaza
• November 3 – Nasrallah Speech On Gaza
  Related:
  – Imperial Designs – New Left Review
  – Israel’s ‘Total War’ Strategy in Gaza – Tikun Olam
  – Israel admits airstrike on ambulance in Gaza – CNN
  – What the BBC fails to tell you about October 7 – Jonathan Cook
  – A Dangerous Conflation of anti-zinoism and anti-semitism – N+1
  – Chartbook 251: Israel's national security neoliberalism put to the test – Adam Tooze
  – Far-right minister: Nuking Gaza is an option, population should ‘go to Ireland or deserts’ – Times of Israel

  – Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah's Speech on War in Palestine – Full Transcript – Sott
    This speech was only part 1. Another Nasrallah speech will follow on Nov. 11 2023. It will reveal more of his plans.
  – INTERVIEW: Hala Jaber – ‘Nasrallah Speaks + Gaza Update & Analysis’ (video) – 21st century wire
  – There Might Be No Day After in Gaza – Carnegie Endowment

> There will be efforts to devise arrangements, to be sure. But the most notable diplomatic fallout from the fighting might be that diplomacy becomes even more difficult. The coordination necessary to make any arrangements for governance functions may be extremely difficult to achieve.
…
Gazans will live in the surviving buildings and makeshift structures for a while. Any rebuilding will exclude significant portions of Gaza. Commerce, manufacturing, agriculture, and other businesses will be effectively destroyed, rendering Gazans completely dependent on humanitarian aid. Once a “besieged enclave,” Gaza will be reduced to a “supercamp” of internally displaced persons. <

Sam Heller | سام هيلر @AbuJamajem – 6:51 UTC · Nov 5, 2023
My (belated) takeaways from Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah's speech Friday, which I think mostly elaborated on what we've understood to be Hizb's posture and calculus since October 7 🧵: 1/8
…

Ukraine:

• October 31 – The War Is Lost – Zelenski Will Leave – The White House Has Failed
• November 2 – Ukraine SitRep: Technologies And Stalemate – Zaluzny's Failures
• November 4 – The Ukraine Peace Talk Trial Balloon
  Related:
  – Russia must protect Zelensky – RT
  – 'We're losing': Ukrainians reel from war chief's stalemate warning – AFP
  – Zelensky Rebuke of Top General Signals Rift in Ukrainian Leadership – NY Times
  – Top Ukrainian general’s gloomy view of Russia war fuels military aid debate – Politico
  – A competitor to Zelensky? How Zaluzhny's article sparked rumors about his presidential ambitions (in Russian) – Strana

—
Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – OT 2023-260

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A trial ballon has gone up on the NBCnews website. It is testing the public reaction to the upcoming U.S. and NATO acknowledgment of their defeat in Ukraine:

U.S., European officials broach topic of peace negotiations with Ukraine, sources say – NBCnews – Nov 03 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. and European officials have begun quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war, according to one current senior U.S. official and one former senior U.S. official familiar with the discussions.

This comes the same week that saw a Time piece about Zelenski's unwillingness to consider the real situation on Ukraine and to admit defeat. The same week the Economist interviewed General Zaluzny who optimistically spoke of a stalemate at the front even while his army is on the cusp of disintegration.

Taken together the three pieces might well be part of a U.S. administration campaign to concede its defeat in Ukraine while blaming its Ukrainian proxy forces for the results of its blunder.

Back to the NBC piece:

Cont. reading: The Ukraine Peace Talk Trial Balloon

Speech by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during the ceremony honoring the martyrs on the road to Al-Quds (as noted down incompletely while listening to AlJazeerah's live translation):

Congratulation to those in Lebanon, Gaza and West Bank who have fallen in the fight since October 7.

Condolence and blessing to their relatives, condolence to the people of Gaza and the West Bank.

Four issues were caused by the stupid Israeli government:

• Thousands of Palestinian are prisoners of Israel.
• Al Aqsa and what has been happening there before October 7.
• Unjust siege of 2 million people for more than 17 years in an open concentration camp in Gaza.
• Expanding settlements in the West Bank.

The world and its organizations were silent about those points. This while the enemy had become more ferocious and extreme.

A big even was needed to refocus the world: the glorious al-Aqsa Flood operation of October 7.

It was to 100% a Palestinian operation. They were silent and did not tell anyone, not even their allies.

The operation proves that decisions of the resistance factions are in the hands of the respective leaders. The Islamic Republic of Iran had no say in this.

No matter what the enemy has done and will do it can not influence the future and history of what happened and will happen. The operations has shown the fragility of the enemy.

The U.S. and EU government and media have run to the help of the Israelis. Is Israel a strong state with an invincible army when it needs so much support?

Cont. reading: Nasrallah Speech On Gaza

There are three new pieces in the Economist with the Ukrainian General Zaluzny.

The first is an interview:

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief on the breakthrough he needs to beat Russia – Economist – Nov 1, 2023

The second is an op-ed written by Zaluzny himself:

The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces on what he needs to beat Russia – Economist – Nov 1, 2023
Technology is the key as the war becomes “positional”, says Valery Zaluzhny

The op-ed is the short form of a longer essay by Zaluzny which is also available at the Economist site:

MODERN POSITIONAL WARFARE AND HOW TO WIN IN IT – Economist – Nov 1, 2023

Zaluzny's central thesis is that the war is currently at a stalemate. It has become positional, with no large maneuvers being possible. He compares it to the war in Europe in 1917. There, he says, a change only happened through the introduction of new technologies (i.e. tanks).

Zaluzny recognizes that the long term winner in a positional war will be Russia:

[D]ue to many subjective and objective reasons, the war at the present stage is gradually moving to a positional form, a way out of which in the historical retrospect has always been difficult for both the Armed Forces and the state as a whole. At the same time, the prolongation of a war, as a rule, in most cases, is beneficial to one of the parties to the conflict. In our particular case, it is the russian federation, as it gives it the opportunity to reconstitute and build up its military power. Therefore, the issues of understanding the causes of such a situation, finding possible ways out of it and changing the nature and course of this war in favour of Ukraine are of particular relevance in modern conditions.

Zaluzny thinks that the way to end the positional warfare stalemate are new technologies. His solution is to ask for, and to heavily invest in,  certain fields that might give Ukraine an advantage.

He wants masses of drones, more small electronic warfare systems, better counter-artillery abilities, better and more mine breaching technologies and last but not least more build-up of reserves.

Cont. reading: Ukraine SitRep: Technologies And Stalemate – Zaluzny’s Failures

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

The Economist is faking history:

Bibi Netanyahu is the wrong man in the wrong place – Economist – October 31, 2023

In the absence of clear government direction the Israeli defence establishment is doing all the planning. Its preferred solution is to see the PA ultimately return to Gaza, which it controlled until Hamas’s coup in 2007.

bigger

There was no 'Hamas coup', neither in 2007 nor before or after it. But there was indeed a coup attempt in Gaza. It was led by Muhammad Dahlan of the Fatah, which was also leading the Palestinian Authority, who, with U.S. support, was trying to overthrow the legally elected Hamas government of Gaza.

The Gaza Bombshell – Vanity Fair – March 3, 2008

After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, the author reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.

Then President Bush called Muhammad Dahlan 'our guy' and did everything he could to further a coup:

Vanity Fair has obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the U.S. and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, to provoke a Palestinian civil war. The plan was for forces led by Dahlan, and armed with new weapons supplied at America’s behest, to give Fatah the muscle it needed to remove the democratically elected Hamas-led government from power.

It is a long complex story. In the end the Bush administration gave up and simply tried to ignore Hamas and Gaza. That did not work either.

As the Vanity Fair piece concluded at that time:

It is impossible to say for sure whether the outcome in Gaza would have been any better—for the Palestinian people, for the Israelis, and for America’s allies in Fatah—if the Bush administration had pursued a different policy. One thing, however, seems certain: it could not be any worse.

Seeing how helpless the Palestinians are in the West Bank, where the settlers and army are torturing and terrorizing them, it is difficult to agree with that conclusion.