Image is from the Wikipedia article on the Sudanese Civil War.
Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur (a little east of that deep red zone in the west of the megathread map), is the last major holdout of the Sudanese government in that state, and is currently under siege by the RSF. Losing it would be a significant blow to the SAF, though given how the conflict lines are shaping up, it seems increasingly plausible that there will be a de facto - if not de jure - partition of Sudan, unless the military situation substantially changes. This is because the RSF have been pushed out of central Sudan, while the SAF are being pushed out of Western Sudan - although, the situation is pretty complex and has been known to change rapidly before.
As has been a constant feature of the Sudan Civil War - perhaps the single worst humanitarian crisis on the planet right now when measured by numbers - the civilian situation pales in comparison to the military situation, with hundreds of thousands of children dead from famine, and tens of millions of people experiencing extreme food insecurity.
Al-Fashir has been the destination of many thousands of refugees fleeing genocide, and food and aid supplies into the town are being explicitly blocked by the RSF, resulting in scenes similar to what is happening in Gaza right now. The big difference is that fleeing from major battle zones is at least somewhat of an option, though people are often caught and robbed or enslaved or trafficked while moving to neighbouring towns and cities - and these cities are often experiencing similar conditions to places that refugees are leaving.
Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
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The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
Israel'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.
Imagine: There is a huge flood and you are about to die. But just in time, a rescue helicopter comes and you start climbing on the ladder. Before you are allowed into the helicopter, a FEMA lawyer presents a contract to you that requires you to invest $50k in Israeli companies. You refuse. The rescuers kick you off the helicopter and into the raging waters, where you die.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-links-19-billion-state-disaster-funds-israel-boycott-stance-2025-08-04/
The US is such a fucked up place it's mind blowing lmao
Well if the federal government denies aid in natural disasters, then I am sure it would only be fair if those taxes remain at home.
This is the question that normie-liberals need to face: "If Trump is dismantling the US government, what's the point of even participating in all this shit anyway?". It may be the first time they're actually thinking "outside the box" ever, since there isn't any canned reply that they've been fed by the media or other sources (yet).
Among comrades I think it provokes an interesting and nuanced discussion about what the consequences of that sort of move would be and what form it should or could take. For the normie-liberals (not or lightly online, no formal power) it's just going to have to be beaten over their heads until they start to get that the existence of the US is holding them back from everything they want and more.
As for "what is to be done?" couldn't say cause all paths toward actual secession lead to civil war, and the left loses that 100/100 times without decades of preparation. However, any amount of internal disunity toward the US stretches the empire thinner and gives more room for the global south to make some moves.
depending on how narrow you want to be about "all this shit", the federal government falling apart doesn't mean everything goes away immediately. Your state and local governments will continue to function in some capacity. people will still buy groceries with dollars (for a while anyway). People are used to these structures and will for the most part maintain them out of habit. It doesn't really get interesting until the food or utilities stop, people don't get paid, or banking collapses.
Agree, although in the "among comrades" discussion we should understand that the free trade that comes from open internal borders is what keeps most state and local economies functioning. Disrupting this could cause issues, but that's not to say that it shouldn't happen and can't be managed if it did happen.
yeah if the ports shut down and racist militias occupy border checkpoints it would hasten everything else. Have to look at other countries that have collapsed and figure out what makes logistics people keep working or not if somebody wanted to go through the whole rat maze.
As a Democratic socialist account my hope is that the US can transition to democratic socialism (or more likely, social democracy) in a managedd way. There will be no revolution here, and socialism will arrive last at the imposition of a socialist global order.
I understand that this is off topic but I cannot help but point out that "cascadia" and that flag are deeply deeply rooted in white supremacy and have origins with the Pacific Northwest imperative that was a movement to create a new white ethnostate in the pacific northwest. Not only is it a dumb cracker fantasy even without those origins it is extremely offensive to indigenous people specifically especially those that are working to assert their sovereignty in those regions.
This is the original flag of the "Northwest Imperative" it's just been slightly rebranded to appeal to a broader segment of white libertarian weirdos and obscure it's neo-Nazi roots:
The Doug Flag as it is known is a misguided attempt by some white lib with a fundamental misunderstanding of anti-racism and very suspiciously chose the exact colors of the explicitly white supremacist flag that preceded it.
As other indigenous comrades put it, the movement is at best tone def and has done very little to seek indigenous input and seems to be more a reorganization of colonial power than a rejection of it, and at worst it is used by cryptofascists to try to reignite the white separatist movement. If such a breakaway state were created today it would have one of the whitest demographics in all of North America.
The native cultures of that region have probably some of the coolest looking art I've seen, tons of stuff that would look great on a flag, and could show their long history in that land, and they go for this? "Ocean on one side, trees on the other, whites in the middle"
As if Oregon wasnt explicitly founded as a white-only utopia enough.
Also these flags are far more prettier than the cascadia one. I know the reddit-style minimalist flags are currently all the rage (look at the ugly minnesota flag)
Or this one based on salish woven baskets.
Those are absolutely way cooler and more meaningful, if I had an actual platform it would be the first order of business to pick one of these.
Actually, it would be the second order of business after establishing relationships with indigenous leadership. Demographics mean that a socialist PNW movement will be very white, and we can't just appropriate shit and move on without the underlying relationship.
Might change my avatar to something like this, but at the same time I like stirring the controversy (gently) and getting the whole discussion out there. This isn't the first time someone has brought up the region's white nationalist background (I brought it up myself in the first post on this account!), and every discussion is an educational opportunity for the observer.
Maybe I'll make another account with a cool fish flag avi that always calls out this account from the left as a bit.
Not exactly off topic comrade, and important to discuss. I've noted most of my thoughts here, maybe start with the last couple sections, as they relate to your post: https://hexbear.net/comment/5576727
My use of "Cascadia" imagery has a lot more to do with appropriating this:
Than the white nationalism part ofc.
Agree, all valid. I personally have strong anti-colonial convictions and a strong inclination toward indigenous liberation. I spend more time talking about these topics than I do talking about "Cascadia" itself. To me, I am using it as an offramp from Americanism and an onramp to democratic socialism (something, something. Allende), anti- colonialism (the US can't help themselves but exploit, this makes it both dangerous and unethical to take part in the imperial system), and indigenous rights ("a key part of a 'Cascadia culture', were it to exist, would be respect for indigenous people and stewardship of the environment, wouldn't it?").
I actually think that all these topics are super important to our region, I'm tired of it always being "Trump's bullshit of the day" and :vote:ing. In a way I'm happy that there is some entanglement with the white nationalist history because it offers an opportunity to discuss!
You may disagree with the approach, but I hope you at least see where I'm coming from. Also I'd love to toss out the flag and the name and start over with the "People's Federated Socialist Republic of the Salish lands", but people see the Doug flag at soccer games and whatever so it's an easier starting point.
Then why not start by just not using it?
It's like trying to reclaim the swastika or confederate flag.
Have you actually consulted with indigenous people on this matter? Cuz I feel like if you had you just wouldn't be trying to do this.
I'm curious if you live in the region yourself. It would make more sense if you do.
Not correct at all, it's much more similar to reclaiming the US flag. I know that's not popular with this community either, and it's something that I think is extremely cringe as well (seeing liberals carry it around and such), but it also isn't the same as a swastika. Nobody perceives it that way besides a dozen kkk boomers out in baker city. Local urbanites don't have a single clue about it (which is not a good thing).
Furthermore, the flag has never represented an actual movement or country in the way of Nazi Germany or the CSA. It's known as a "flag people fly at soccer games" unless you dig through Wikipedia or you live in "greater Idaho". It actually is eligible to be reappropriated, in this case.
No because this isn't a movement, it's a rhetorical tool as far as I'm concerned. If someone were to approach me and try and make it real, I'd immediately adopt your perspective and continue the discussion form there.
If tomorrow I were made the chair of the Cascadia Workers' Party in some alternate universe, it would of course be my responsibility to approach indigenous leadership, develop relationships, and offer them representation.
A rhetorical tool to do what?
In a conversation with people who are left of liberal, it offers an easy off ramp from the discussion being contained by the "US American" framework. It offers them to consider "the US is shit, and anything good (universal healthcare, student loan forgiveness to start) goes to Washington DC to die, what i lived in a country worth fighting for?".
Immediate follow up would be: "remember though in an actual civil war situation we (anyone left of Reagan) all fucking die, so we aren't actually doing this" also "I'm down to rework the flag, but I'm glad we're having this conversation instead of arguing about voting for Kamala".
Remember that this is DemSoc shit, so there's plenty to argue and discuss from the left. I already know this because I am left of being a demsoc as well.
Once you put a a bunch of distance from the American framework, it's much easier to talk about historical revolutions and modern economic models that actually managed to achieve something.
I think Hexbear is decent at theory and material analysis, but this community has always been severely lacking at propaganda and ideological warfare. Materialism is more important and interesting anyway, but that doesn't mean there isn't a place for working within the idealist framework. It doesn't drive history, but it exists and steers it,especially in liberal settler states.
Speaking of the liberal, settler, imperial core, I think we need to keep in mind that true revolutionary socialism will not be born and bred here. A more material outlook prompts us to weaken the empire and give our comrades in the global south an opportunity to liberate themselves. What better way to weaken the empire than balkanization?(Even to a small extent) We joke about it all the time (or is it serious? Idk sometimes with this site).
Doesn’t it feel similar to appropriating the confederate flag?
It simply doesn't, that's not what pretty much anyone would understand it to be.
My perception of it is that both refer to a white separatist movement.
For you true, for me somewhat true. Do you live in the region? If you talk to the average IRL person, they are far less informed about the history than you and I are (go figure), and they don't read it that way.
A lot of people in the south US also don’t see the confederate flag as problematic / not informed about it
The answers they'll probably come to are "maintaining the dollar hegemony" and "nuclear weapons."
If they bring up nuclear weapons control, ask them if they know the name and location of the single site where American nukes are built and maintained.
Oh, folks in my area are totally on the vaporization shortlist if for some reason the US ever gets nuked. I'd assume it's fairly common knowledge but I could be wrong.
True, and I would agree the nuclear weapons aspect should be considered carefully (among comrades in a hypothetical situation where something is actually happening). I don't think "dollar hegemony" is going to come up for a normie-lib, but if it does, it at least advances the conversation outside of electoralism and "trump bad" and gives you something to work with.
this is a racket, zionist firms will be able to bully clients for inferior product and prices even when non-zionist contracts have nothing to do with BDS
even if you sign it, it's meaningless because it's coercion, but all law is fake so
everyone who is too much of a coward to stop trading with israel or give them a little extra gift Delibird style should at least do a really shitty job. even during iran's beautiful fireworks display I could see aliexpress reviews like "fast shipping to israel, good quality, but it didn't shoot rainbows for no reason and when i complained the seller wouldn't condemn khamas so 1 star" and I'm like damn why are these not at least the QC rejects
the entity fears BDS
In 5 years you will be arrested if you leave the supermarket without purchasing at least two “israeli” products
I always feel weird when I bring this up, but I feel I need to given that I think there are misconceptions about “boycott bans” that a lot of us run with. And it’s important we all understand it lest some libs dunk on us for getting something wrong.
At least as things are now, YOU can boycott Israel as an individual citizen. You can organize a boycott to get a group of people to boycott Israel. The furthest any law could TRY to go would be to outlaw organizing a boycott publicly, but even with our dogshit SCOTUS that would get shot down.
What the state and local anti-BDS laws are designed to do are prevent government entities from formally boycotting Israel. They also sometimes ban the government from banning contractors following BDS but good luck finding some petite boug construction businesses who are also following BDS. Functionally this only ever happens with universities and small municipalities. There might be some laws somewhere that disallow government employees from organizing BDS, but I can’t recall if I’m just imaging that or if it really happened somewhere.
I have a family member who is a school teacher who was forced to sign a document stating they wouldn't engage in BDS activities against Israel.
tbh, there are ways to boycott without exclusive boycott as legal entities, their administrators just don't want to. Say buying bonds with aa rating or etf which explicitly don't invest in weapons (as a whole).
Just not true. In Texas government employees. All government employees have to sign a pledge in their employment contract that says they won't boycott the zionist entity. I seem to vaguely recall a teacher or someone getting fired for it but I'm not positive it happened, just that it absolutely could today right now and all it would take is a photo of you present at a BDS, pro-Palestine rally or a post on social media saying people should boycott the entity. This is 100% legal and fine by the SCOTUS because you can just like choose not to be employed, choose to not use your teaching credential, choose to get another job because as we know good paying jobs are everywhere these days.
Death death to the IDF
The URL redirects to:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-reverses-pledge-link-disaster-funds-israel-boycott-stance-2025-08-04/
edit: wayback didn't even catch it