Image, sourced from this article, is of George Bush in 2002 meeting with María Corina Machado, who was even then being trained as a figure to oppose Venezuelan socialism, and very briefly succeeded with the Carmona Decree. Now the latest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, she has begged the Zionist entity to drop bombs on the Venezuelan people.

As of me writing these sentences, it appears that the ceasefire in Gaza is underway. Zionist ceasefires are, of course, an oxymoron - not only in the grand sense that their work to continue genocidal atrocities against others locally and regionally will not cease until the Zionist entity’s occupation of Palestine is overthrown and Palestinians can resume the governance of their territory - but also in the literal sense; that bombings and shootings are often only merely reduced, and rarely cease entirely (as was/is the case on their northern border with Lebanon). Nonetheless, hopefully the population can receive some aid, and the long process of rebuilding can begin.

On the other side of the world, it seems increasingly likely that a new war is set to begin. Because the US is eschewing the usual process of generating pro-war propaganda and casus bellis (aside from a laughably transparent Nobel Peace Prize award) and seems content to just skip straight to the “bomb and depose” step, it’s quite hard to predict what precisely they want to do. Anything seems to be on the table - from freely striking Venezuelan territory where “drug dealers” are to try and prompt a Venezuelan response, to assassinating Maduro and/or his generals and hoping a power vacuum can be filled with compradors, to attempting to outright invade Venezuela and establish direct American control over important government sites. All appear to be possibilities, though as of right now, the most drastic measures seem unlikely due to their difficulty.

We know that the US has almost totally abandoned diplomatic communication with Venezuela, and that the US has deployed warships, a nuclear submarine, F-35s, surveillance planes, and at least 4,000 military personnel to the Caribbean, with some sources putting the numbers higher. Some people have suggested that the point is to try and force Maduro into a situation where he must begin hostilities, or be seen as weak and perhaps overthrown from within. It is at least encouraging that Maduro is not like Allende in Chile, and is taking this situation extraordinarily seriously; the masses are being trained and mobilized in the event of an invasion, and military drills are ongoing. Venezuela has no real capacity to stop the US from attacking and bombing them, but it is much more possible to prevent a West-friendly puppet from gaining meaningful control of the country. A comprador might be able to make a brief statement or decree in a Venezuelan city saying that Chavismo is over, but actual power will hopefully prove very elusive.

2020, and particularly 2022, has clearly become a turning point for the Western imperial system, in which increasingly aggressive and reckless moves are required to keep the system functional (stability is, at this point, out of the question). Unfortunately, this has also resulted in the deaths of many long-lasting, inspiring figures, such as Nasrallah, and many more will certainly die before the empire collapses. If Maduro is assassinated - and I’m having trouble imagining how he won’t be doggedly pursued in the days. weeks, and months to come - I have hope that a successor will rise to continue to lead the Bolivarian Revolution.

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

If you have evidence of Zionist crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

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.

  • Tervell [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    37·
    11 hours ago

    archive.ph/4YiBI

    Secret Israeli military bunker located under Tel Aviv tower struck by Iran, analysis shows

    The Grayzone has geolocated the underground bunker of an important military command and control center nestled within a densely populated Tel Aviv neighborhood. Known as ‘Site 81,’ the U.S.-built facility houses a hyper-secretive intelligence base.

    more

    When Iran struck a series of targets in the heart of north Tel Aviv with ballistic missiles on June 13, Israeli authorities immediately cordoned off the area to prevent journalists from filming the damage. “The building on this compound was just hit,” Trey Yingst of Fox News reported as he arrived that evening at the site of HaKirya, Israel’s Defense Ministry headquarters, and the nearby Azrieli Center. But within seconds, Israeli police officers arrived to aggressively shunt Yingst away from where he was standing, just north of the HaKirya Bridge on the west side of Menachem Begin Road. That day, Iranian missiles struck the north tower of the Da Vinci apartment complex roughly 550 meters southwest of Yingst’s location. The Grayzone has determined that the building sits immediately south of the “Canarit” / “Kannarit” Israeli Air Force towers and above an underground military intelligence bunker jointly administered by the US and Israeli militaries. According to an analysis of leaked emails, public documents, and Israeli news reports, the location is host to a highly secretive, electromagnetically shielded intelligence facility known as “Site 81.”

    Israel aggressively censors information relating to its urban military and intelligence facilities while simultaneously accusing its adversaries of engaging in ‘human shielding’ – a practice of protecting military targets with civilian populations that is prohibited by international humanitarian law. While the existence of a U.S. Army project to expand Site 81 to a 6,000 square-meter facility was widely reported from government records circa 2013, the specific location remained unknown. A photo taken outside of Site 81 has now been geolocated to the grounds of the Da Vinci apartment complex, which one resident decried as a shield for the Israeli military headquarters. Leaked emails from a former Israeli military Chief of Staff further indicate that Site 81 is an important command and control node. The Jerusalem Post also reported that an Iranian missile that struck the Da Vinci towers was “just a stone’s throw from Netanyahu’s office,” which was then known as “Building 22.” The prime minister’s office began undergoing renovations just weeks after the 2025 Twelve Day War between Israel and Iran, and is rumored to have been damaged in the strike. The Israeli military has constructed a larger underground command center in Kirya known as the “Fortress of Zion,” extending an older command center known as “The Pit.” Given its temporal, spatial, and functional proximity, it is likely that “The Pit” was connected to Site 81. Journalists from Israel Hayom and The New York Times have visited the Fortress of Zion but not revealed its precise location or that of its entrance.

    Geolocating ‘Site 81’

    Despite the end of U.S. legislation banning its publication, Google Maps continues to blur satellite imagery containing any hint of sensitive Israeli strategic information. At the section of Leonardo da Vinci St. directly in front of the Da Vinci Towers, Google took its pro-Israel censorship a step further, refusing to offer street view images of the location. The area east of Leonardo Da Vinci St. and west of Azrieli Center is also censored by the Moscow-based Yandex Maps, with both satellite imagery and metadata of the Da Vinci towers completely blocked. A photo of Site 81 published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in February 2013 as part of a corrosion test of the underground structure’s concrete overlay and galvanized steel plating can be geolocated to what is now the site of the Da Vinci apartment towers, with the southern of the two 18-story Israeli Air Force Kannarit towers just meters away.

    …

    The Kirya complex situated among human shields

    A detailed report from France 24 regarding Israeli censorship of reporting on the Iranian strikes concluded that coverage of the attack on the 42-story Da Vinci Towers had likely been purposefully delayed, stating that “it looks like censorship is at play.” The outlet noted that “Israeli newspaper Haaretz waited until June 29 to mention this strike in an article – a full two weeks after the attack took place, even though the images of it had already circulated online.” When recounting the incident to Israeli media weeks later, one resident recalled being informed of the tower’s true purpose in a conversation with a friend, who asked: “Brother, don’t you get that they approved the construction of all those towers to protect the Kirya?” “Today, I realize I’ve been paying 12,000 shekels [$3,650 USD] a month to protect the Kirya,” the resident explained, using the common shorthand for the Israeli military headquarters.

    The geolocation of the Site 81 photo suggests that the Da Vinci Towers are also protecting the secretive underground intelligence facility. The bunker is apparently located less than 100 meters from a children’s playground, alongside a large community center which opened at the base of the towers in July 2023. By situating some of its most sensitive military installations in the heart of a civilian area, Israel has engaged in the human shielding practice it routinely accuses Palestinians of exploiting. The tenants of an eight-story commercial building nestled inside the Da Vinci complex also enjoy direct ties to military intelligence. The Israeli generative artificial intelligence company AI21 Labs, which was founded by veterans of the IDF’s signals intelligence arm, Unit 8200, earlier this year confirmed the participation of AI21 employees in developing a ChatGPT-like military AI tool targeting Palestinians. AI21 – which has also been affiliated with Stanford University – announced its lease of space on the fourth and fifth floors of the Da Vinci office building in late 2023.

    Israeli-American capital finances the towers

    Next door to the Da Vinci complex, the Kannarit towers were built by the major Israeli construction company Danya Cebus, which said the work was carried out as part of a joint venture with another firm known as Solel Boneh. The controlling stake of Soleh Boneh’s parent company, Shikun & Binui, was passed from Shari Arison, formerly Israel’s richest woman, to the Los Angeles-based real estate developer Netanal H. “Naty” Saidoff in mid-2018. Saidoff has overseen several Israeli government-affiliated nonprofits in the Los Angeles area, including by chairing the Likud-oriented Israeli-American Council (IAC) and underwriting the legal program of StandWithUs, a pro-Israel training group. Saidoff’s fellow board member at Shikun & Binui, Sagi Balasha, was the first CEO of both the IAC and the Israeli government-funded propaganda initiative, Concert/Voices of Israel.

    …

    Public US contracting records show that the Plano, Texas-based branch of the German engineering solutions company M+W Group – now known as Exyte – began a $7.4 million contract for Site 81 in June 2011, spanning the company’s support for the Army Corps study. The much larger ‘Phase 2’ of the Site 81 project was subsequently awarded to the controversial Oxford Construction of Pennsylvania for $29.6 million in August 2013, with the contracts being shifted to Oxford Federal after a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2017. In 2018, Oxford Construction was slapped with a lawsuit accusing its owners of racketeering, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. A final $758,461 payment to Oxford Federal for its ‘Phase 2’ work on Site 81 was processed on February 26, 2019.

    Leaked emails highlight Site 81’s use for “command and control”

    A previously unreported leaked email exchange between ex-NATO commander James Stavridis and former Israeli military Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi appears to confirm the presence of a command and control network operating inside the Site 81 bunker – smack in the middle of a densely populated civilian area.

    “Hi Gabi,” Stavridis wrote to Ashkenazi on September 1, 2015. “I am working with an exciting company called Think Logical here in the USA. They build command and control networks, and just won a big contract out at Site 81 with the IDF [Israel Defense Forces].” The Grayzone discovered Ashkenazi’s email in a leaked archive from an apparently Iranian-linked hacktivist group known as Handala, which was curated by the American nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets. “I am enjoying my new job as Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy here in Boston — a top school of international relations,” stated the email from Stavridis, which sought Ashkenazi’s assistance in recruiting “someone to help [Thinklogical] navigate in Israel” as a consultant – ideally, “a retired IDF 1-star” general. Following a request for comment from The Grayzone, Stavridis appears to have included his wife and executive assistant in an accidental reply which read, “Just seeing this? Are you sure!? He is ending.” The message was accompanied by a lengthy footer describing Stavridis’ current roles as vice chairman of global affairs of The Carlyle Group and chairman of the board of The Rockefeller Foundation. Gen. Ashkenazi and Mr. Pajer did not respond to requests for comment. The Israel Defense Forces also neglected to reply to requests emailed to three separate spokesperson addresses.