The year 2023 saw too many conflict.

I hope that 2024 year will be more peaceful.

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Wherever you are -  I wish all of you a happy new year.

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.

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.

Last week's post on Moon of Alabama:

• December 24 – Merry X-mas

Palestine:

• December 28 – Biden Needs To Come To Israel's – And His Own – Rescue
  Related:
  – The Israel Supporter And The Sandwich – Caitlin Johnstone <— Recommended!
  – It’s Time to End the ‘Special Relationship’ With Israel – Foreign Policy
  – For the Safety of Jews and Palestinians, Stop Weaponizing Antisemitism – Harvard Crimson

  – IDF fighting new kind of war, making military history – Ynetnews
  – Scoop: Biden in "frustrating" call told Bibi to solve Palestinian tax revenue issue – Axios
  – Israel's Netanyahu bows to far right's demands on postwar Gaza as US frustration grows – AL-Monitor
  – Egypt proposal to end Gaza war would see Hamas relinquish control to technocrat government – Majallah
  – Netanyahu says Gaza war on Hamas will go on for ‘many more months,’ thanks US for new weapons sales – AP

Ukraine:

• December 28 – U.S. Is Pushing Kiev Into Admitting Defeat
• December 30 – Ukraine SitRep: Strikes On Ukrainian Weapon Production – Air Defense Lacking
  Related:
  – Putin lifts the fog of war in Ukraine – Indian Punchline<
  – Russia Retakes Some Land Hard Won by Ukraine During Counteroffensive – New York Times
  – Russia’s electronic warfare tactics are helping it turn the tide against Ukraine (archived) – Telegraph
• The Russian Armed Forces deliberately hit a Kharkov hotel where a meeting of American generals and intelligence was planned – Pravda EN

This WSJ journo is staying at interesting places –>

Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof – 18:09 UTC · Dec 30, 2023

By now, seven hotels where I stayed and four restaurants where I had eaten in Ukraine have been struck by Russian missiles. Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Pokrovsk …

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Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – OT 2023-323

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

The current open thread for other issues is here.

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Yesterday Russia has send swarms of missiles to strike Ukraine:

Russia fired more than 150 missiles and drones at Ukraine on Friday in one of the largest bombardments of the war, officials said, hitting schools, parks, homes, a hospital and other civilian infrastructure, and rupturing the relative calm of an otherwise quiet winter on the conflict’s static front lines.

The scale of the attack confirmed what many in Ukraine have feared for months — that Russia was conserving its missile stocks throughout the fall for massive strikes in the winter.

It were however not schools, parks, homes or hospitals that were the targets.

As Strana writes (machine translation):

Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny said that "critical infrastructure, industrial and military facilities were attacked."

Indeed, judging by many sources, this missile attack was directed primarily at military enterprises and warehouses. Or on other infrastructure. At the same time, unlike last year's massive strikes, the current attack did not focus on energy facilities.

The Economist confirms the targeting of weapon production facilities:

Cont. reading: Ukraine SitRep: Strikes On Ukrainian Weapon Production – Air Defense Lacking

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The current open thread for other issues is here.

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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.

Two such articles on the same day are not a coincidence.

• Ukraine Doesn’t Need All Its Territory to Defeat Putin – New York Times – Dec 27 2023
• The Biden Administration Is Quietly Shifting Its Strategy in Ukraine – Politico – Dec 27 2023

Ukraine's war aim is to regain all of its land up to the 1991 borders.

The appearance of those pieces means that the U.S. is now trying to push Kiev into admitting defeat.

But there are powerful forces in Ukraine, previously nurtured by the U.S., which will resist to do so.

It may thus require a civil war in Ukraine to achieve that aim.

For now Israel seems to lose its war against the Palestinian resistance.

The October 7 attempt to gain hostages by Hamas and Islamic Jihad was successful. Israeli outrage about it should have been directed against the Israeli government and its army for their chaotic response. They likely killed more Israelis than Hamas did.

But outrage was instead instigated against the external enemy. In this case all Palestinians.

A united Israel urged its government to wage revenge. The government's announced aim is to remove Hamas. That however is impossible to do to a social movement with deep roots in its society. The real aim is to remove all Palestinians from Gaza, to either kill them or to dump them in some foreign land. This would be followed by an attempt to remove all Palestinians from the West Bank before capturing and annexing the south of Lebanon.

However no foreign country is likely to support such a genocide and to take up the burden of millions of unruly refugees.

The Israeli government still wants to satisfy its people but has no way to achieve that.

Meanwhile the resistance against Israel, which has been built by Iran over several decades, is increasing its response. It aims to press Israel into conceding defeat and to liberate the Palestinians from their Zionist occupiers.

Cont. reading: Biden Needs To Come To Israel’s – And His Own – Rescue

Hi all.

I am still absent, but soon will be on my way back home.

Starting tomorrow will again post regular pieces.

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.

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.

For some, this will unfortunately not be a merry one.

Still, all good to them and their families.

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‘If Jesus was born today, he’d be born under the rubble’: Bethlehem set for forlorn Christmas

May peace be with you.

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.

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.

Last week's post on Moon of Alabama:

Ukraine:

• December 18 – The Total Defeat Of Ukraine Is Coming Into Sight
• December 20 – Ukraine 2023
• December 21 – Zelenski For Sales
• December 22 – The Fantasy Of Missile Defense In Ukraine
  Related:
  – NATO is a mess and the Russians are winning – Asia Times
  – Patrick Lawrence: What? Ukraine Is Not Winning the War? – Scheerpost
  – U.S. and Europe Eye Russian Assets to Aid Ukraine as Funding Dries Up – New York Times
  – Elements of an Eventual Russia-Ukraine Armistice and the Prospect for Regional Stability in Europe – Rand / Stimson Center – Dec 21, 2023

This flight from Moscow to DC and back stayed on the ground for some 54 hours. Those were looong negotiations.

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It is likely not by chance that this somewhat positive New York Times piece appeared soon after the flight had left.

• Putin Quietly Signals He Is Open to a Cease-Fire in Ukraine – Dec 23, 2023 – New York Times

Palestine:

• December 19 – "America is something that can be moved easily."
  Related:
  – It’s Time for the U.S. to Give Israel Some Tough Love – New York Times
  – Israel is losing the war against Hamas – but Netanyahu and his government will never admit it – Guardian
  – Analysis | The Unbridgeable Gulf Between Israeli Politicians' Rhetoric and the Reality in Gaza (archived) – Haaretz

  – Israeli Military Advisors Arrive In Socotra Island On UAE Plane – ISW News
  – Spain, Italy, France Decline US Command Of Red Sea Operation Prosperity Guardian – GCaptain

  – Israeli airstrike kills Gaza aid worker and 70 of his extended family, UN says – Guardian
  – In unprecedented slaughter of Gaza civilians, US claims Israel is the “victim” – Aaron Maté
  – Israel’s military campaign in Gaza seen as among the most destructive in recent history, experts say – AP
  – A Times Investigation Tracked Israel’s Use of One of Its Most Destructive Bombs in South Gaza – New York Times

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Other issues:

Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – OT 2023-315

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

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Another demonstration of U.S. hypocrisy:

Readout of President Biden’s Call with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority – White House – October 14 2023

President Biden condemned Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel and reiterated that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination.

At UNGA, India votes for Palestinian right to self-determination – India Times – December 22 2023

India has voted in favour of another resolution at the UN General Assembly this week that backs the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

While 172 members supported the resolution, the US and Israel were the only countries that voted against it.

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

Three recent piece of many show demonstrated that the narrative about the war in Ukraine has drastically changed.

• Weary Ukraine fears war is ‘extremely unlikely’ to end in victory – (archived) – The Times
• With Western aid stalled, Ukrainian troops run low on artillery shells (archived) – Washington Post
• Ukraine’s Front-Line Troops Are Getting Older: ‘Physically, I Can’t Handle This’ – (archived) – Wall Street Journal

Use open Ukraine thread …

Over the next days I will visit friends and family and will therefore be mostly off-line.

I plan to turn in once a day to clean the spam queue and to tend to the comments as good as I can.

Please behave 🙂