Image is a map of the Western Sahara, sourced from this article in the Middle East Eye. Much of the information in the preamble also came from there, as well as this article.
November 6th marked the 50th anniversary of Morocco, under King Hassan II, beginning the invasion and occupation of much of the territory of the Western Sahara. Today, approximately 80% of the territory of the Western Sahara is controlled by Morocco, with the Polisario Front - the government of the Sahrawis - controlling the rest, hugging the border of Mauritania. Between them lies one of the longest walls and one of the largest minefields on the planet, of which construction began in the 1980s.
The legitimacy of Morocco’s control over the Western Sahara is one of those long-lasting diplomatic issues which ultimately doesn’t seem to matter very much in terms of on-the-ground realities, and reveals the eternal uselessness of the United Nations especially in regard to actually helping oppressed people. Up until about 2020, the US and certain other Western countries did not formally recognize Morocco as having sovereignty over the whole territory, but in terms of providing genuine opposition to Morocco, it seems that Algeria is the major player in the region. While American, European, and Moroccan corporations exploit the fisheries and phosphate minerals of the region, protected by their minefields (and claims of merely advancing the cause of renewable energy development, AKA greenwashing), Algeria provides what aid they can to support the displaced Sahrawi people, many of whom have been forced to live in refugee camps.
On October 31st, the US put forward a resolution in the UN Security Council which was adopted (Russia and China abstained) and provided major support to Morocco, urging the Polisario Front to adopt the 2007 “autonomy plan”, which would, despite its name, be synonymous with an end to their independence movement. Such a plan was met with much jubilation in Morocco, with King Mohammed VI remarking "From now on, there will be a before and an after October 31, 2025.” Such a date was also the catalyst for the PF intensifying their guerilla struggle against Morocco, as legal avenues for autonomy and basic human rights are running out as the imperialists grow more desperate.
Last week’s thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
Please check out the RedAtlas!
The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against the temporary Zionist entity. 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.
All Posters are Beautiful, but not all posts are effort posts. DM me to feature effort posts in the newsmega/newscomm here (including your own posts)
@[email protected] on Venezuelan communes as actually existing socialism and a book by Chris Gilbert
Subthread on Chinese tourism in Japan between @[email protected], @[email protected] and several others.
These are the posts I come to Hexbear for, and its kind of crazy how hard they are to find. That Venezuela thread should have like 50 comments and have been on the front page but I never even saw it. These highlight posts are definitely something I hope continue.
I’m glad you find them useful. Please link more good posts and threads as you see them. Probably over winter holidays I will sort and consolidate notable posts in a separate index post.
maybe we could use the “best of hexbear” comm to catalogue them, afaik it’s not doing much otherwise and this seems like a good use
All Commenters Are Beautiful
Are comments abundantly bountiful?
All communists are based 🫡
How do we solve this? My idea: A government law that mandates that all devices older than 24 months are remotely bricked, resulting in line go up.
Edit: 24 months after the device is released, not after purchase. Obviously.
Interesting thread about a potential split in the Venezuela opposition:
https://xcancel.com/OllieVargas79/status/1992219728899981393🚨🧵There’s a serious split within the Venezuelan opposition and among US sponsors.
It’s a conflict between some 🇻🇪 political leaders who want to cancel Maduro era debt after invasion vs. US finance capital (bondholders) who want to start looting as soon as Maduro is gone. (1/6)
There are numerous US-based bondholders of 🇻🇪 debt who bought at big discounts and expect a Machado govt to honour it. Regime change would boost their bond values and allow them to cash in when state assets are “restructured” (sold off/looted).
The right-wing @HRF (attached to opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez) has started attacking these bondholders and claiming that the debt they hold is illegitimate (since it was issued under Maduro govt) and that it should be canceled post-war so the country can rebuild.
The Lopez faction is trying to frame the bondholders as “pro-Maduro” because they would lose more if debts were cancelled than if Maduro stays. But obviously, the real prize for bondholders is a Machado govt for full looting, they can’t touch state assets while Maduro stays.
Bondholders are hitting back at Lopez faction and calling them wreckers, because if financial interests are spooked by possible debt cancellation post-Maduro, then US capital will stop lobbying for regime change, meaning it won’t happen and Maduro stays.
Another piece of context is that Maria Corina Machado is an extremist to the right of the traditional opposition leadership around Lopez etc. She’s happy to let the country be gutted (I would say r*ped) by US finance capital, but not everyone in opposition is on board.
‘British intelligence has a saying that if there is a left-wing movement in Britain bigger than a football team our man is the captain or the vice captain, and if not, he is the referee and he can send any man off the field and call our man on at any time he likes’
- Gordon Winter, former apartheid South Africa intelligence forces, specifically the Bureau of State Security, or BOSS
I wonder who this applies to today. Events in the British left over the last few years has me wondering. Starmer is obvious given he has a history as a literal cold war spy but I dunno about others in marxist groups.
Looks like Rubio is offering what would internationally be seen as favorable conditions to Russia in exchange for Russia abandoning Venezuela and to focus the US solely on the Venezuela invasion (something that Rubio cares about a lot).
Where the hell are all the new comments in this thread
A Republican congresswoman just admitted something totally unsurprising to any of us, but still interesting that she actually came out and said it:
“GOP Senators trying to destroy Trump’s peace deal between Russia, the United States, and Ukraine who have stock portfolios heavily invested into the defense contracting industry is a prime example of why insider-trading cannot continue in Congress and yes, it’s happening even though it’s super illegal.” – Anna Paulina Luna
An Airbus A340 aircraft belonging to the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa flew directly from Moscow to Caracas. Before going to Moscow, the same aircraft made a stop in Tehran, the capital of Iran. There is speculation that Shared/Geran drones were delivered to Venezuela.
- Telegram
In an official statement, Hezbollah mourns Commander Haitham Ali al-Tabtabai, assassinated by Israel:
"In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
“Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with God; some of them have fulfilled their vow, and some are still waiting — but they have never changed in the least.”
With pride and honor, Hezbollah announces to the people of the resistance and to our Lebanese people the martyrdom of the great jihadi commander Haitham Ali al-Tabtabai (Sayyed Abu Ali), who rose to martyrdom in sacrifice for Lebanon and its people following a treacherous Israeli attack on Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburb.
This great commander has now joined his fellow martyrs after a long wait to meet God Almighty, following a life filled with jihad, sincerity, devotion, firmness on the path of resistance, and tireless work confronting the Israeli enemy until the very last moments of his blessed life. He never knew exhaustion or hesitation in the defense of his land and his people, dedicating his life to the resistance since its earliest days. He was among the leaders who laid the foundational stones that made this resistance strong, dignified, and capable — defending the nation and achieving victories.
God has honored him with the noble medal of martyrdom. His great martyrdom will bring renewed hope, determination, and strength to his brothers in the resistance, just as he was, in life, a source of power and inspiration for them. The fighters will carry his pure blood, as they carried the blood of every martyr commander before him, and they will move forward with steadfastness and courage to thwart every project of the Zionist enemy and its patron, America.
We extend our condolences and congratulations to the Master of the Age (may God hasten his reappearance), to his fellow fighters and resistance members, to our steadfast and patient resistance supporters, and to all free people in the world on the martyrdom of this great jihadist commander and the martyrs who rose with him. We also address their honorable families, asking God Almighty to grant them patience and comfort, and to grant the wounded a speedy recovery."
Lebanon’s Hezbollah mourns its fighters, Mustafa Asaad Berro, Qassem Hussein Berjawi, and Rifaat Ahmad Hussein, who were assassinated alongside Chief of Staff Haitham Ali Tabtabai in Israel’s strike on Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburb.
US removes memorial for black WW2 soldiers from US cemetery in the Netherlands, Dutch TV show places them back next to the cemetery
Translated
The TV program Even tot hier has reinstalled two information boards about black soldiers from World War II next to the American cemetery in Margraten. The American administrator had previously removed the panels, which led to much criticism.
Presenters Niels van der Laan and Jeroen Woe announced during Saturday’s broadcast that they had given the information boards a new location, just outside the cemetery grounds. They are still visible from the American memorial site.
Around them, they have built an “additional” exhibition, which was shown during the broadcast to relatives of black soldiers who fought in Limburg during World War II.
The exhibition has been given the satirical name MAGA haten bij Margraten (Hating MAGA at Margraten). The MAGA movement is the support base of US President Donald Trump. With the reinstalled panels, Even tot hier wants to tell “the honest story about the black heroes and about Trump.”
The removed panels contained information about the role of black liberators during World War II. The American administrator ABMC had removed the signs. The stories about the struggle for equality of black American soldiers “no longer fit within the memorial mission,” ABMC told the NOS earlier this week.
‘No criticism of America’
The panels about black liberators were only added to the permanent exhibition in the Margraten visitor center in 2024. One panel was about black American conscripts during World War II.
It stated, among other things, that these soldiers fought on two fronts: against the German occupiers and against racism. Due to discrimination, they often did not fight on the front lines, but were assigned to support duties.
The second panel was about George H. Pruitt, a black American who served in the army. On June 10, 1945, he was working on a telephone line across a river near the German city of Bremen. One of the other soldiers fell into the water and Pruitt tried to save him. In doing so, he himself died.
It is unclear when ABMC removed the information boards. It may have been months ago, NRC wrote earlier. Both relatives and politicians from the province of Limburg reacted with indignation and called on US Ambassador Joe Popolo to have them reinstalled.
But Popolo defended the decision to remove the panels. “The exhibitions in Margraten are not there to promote an agenda that criticises America,” he responded on social media.
The Obamaing will continue until morale improves. So far all indications are that Mamdani is a good actor and will just be another status quo mayor looking to advance within the Dem party. We will see.
A film titled Dark Horse, a biographical drama about the life of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, is in production and scheduled for a 2026 release. The movie is an American production directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and produced by Michael Davis. It is expected to portray Bolsonaro’s political rise as a “hero” story, focusing on his 2018 election victory. There is also a separate, critically acclaimed 2014 New Zealand film also titled The Dark Horse, which is a true story about a chess champion named Genesis Potini, starring Cliff Curtis. There is also a 2011 American comedy-drama film with the same title directed by Todd Solondz.
What the fuck is this? Who the fuck wants a movie about Bolsonaro but in English???
Kitten sentenced to house arrest in France for trespassing on neighbor’s property. Owner says Remi’s antics resulted in fines and damage to neighbor’s property. Dominique Valdes, from Agde on the south coast of France, said that Remi’s wanderings have already cost her €2,050 in fines and damages to her neighbor, “because the cat supposedly prevents him from enjoying his garden.” The French animal protection society fears that the decision could mean that “cats will have to be kept on a leash” to prevent them from wandering aimlessly.
According to local radio station Wave, the neighbor claims to have photographic and video evidence of Rémi repeatedly entering his property. Dominique, however, disputes this version of events and says that it was another animal, but even so, she was forced to keep her cat indoors. “He [the cat] gained weight and became aggressive. It’s as if he had been sentenced to house arrest,” said Dominique.
Israel has bombed Beirut once again. Their thirst for blood knows no bounds.
“Lebanese Ministry of Health:
“One martyr and 21 injured as a result of the Israeli enemy’s raid on the southern suburb of Beirut.””
https://t.me/thecradlemedia/46743
https://t.me/thecradlemedia/46738
☭ 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙜 𝙗𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙢𝙧𝙞𝙆𝙆𝙆𝙖, 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙜 𝙗𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙎𝙎𝙧𝙖𝙚𝙡 ☪☫
