The findings by a Palestinian pollster signal more difficulties ahead for the Biden administration’s postwar vision for Gaza and raise questions about Israel’s stated goal of ending Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.

Washington has called for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, currently led by Abbas, to eventually assume control of Gaza and run both territories as a precursor to statehood. U.S. officials have said the PA must be revitalized, without letting on whether this would mean leadership changes.

The PA administers pockets of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has governed Gaza until a takeover by Hamas militants in 2007. The Palestinians have not held elections since 2006 when Hamas won a parliamentary majority.

    • PugJesus@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      AZOV’S ORIGINS

      ORIGINS

      ORIGINS

      Our media’s “obsession” with the Azov Regiment (the volunteer militia the Azov Battalion no longer exists) – a single unit of the Ukrainian National Guard – is based largely on superficial or out-of-date research.

      Multiple expert assessments made in 2022 conclude the modern Azov Regiment is a fairly typical fighting unit, with little, if any, political bent.

      There isn’t space to canvas all these in a short piece, but this is the conclusion of Anton Shekhovtsov, Ivan Gomza, Anders Umland, and Vyacheslav Likhachev. For a concise summary, Likhachev’s point-by-point rebuttal of the Azov-Nazi narrative comes highly recommended.

      Read more: Cyberwar: Keeping track of the battle to keep Ukraine online

      The Azov Regiment of 2022 bears little relation to the ragtag militia the Azov Battalion of 2014, formed from a few dozen football hooligans, and – yes – far-right extremists.

      Crucially, in late 2014, Azov was absorbed into the Ukrainian National Guard, allowing greater state oversight, with considerable attention paid to cleansing the ranks of far-right elements, in what should be recognised as an example of successful deradicalisation.

      The Azov Regiment has been repeatedly reconstituted; its extremist early leaders such as the odious Andriy Biletsky are long gone, and, more recently, its fearsome, pseudo-pagan regimental emblem has been abandoned.

      Both Shekhovtsov and Gomza describe Azov as “depoliticised”, with Umland writing “its recruits now join not because of ideology, but because it has the reputation of being a particularly tough fighting unit”.

      Nonetheless, Russian state media makes endless reference to the diabolical “Azovtsy” to justify its brutal invasion of Ukraine.

      https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2022/08/19/1384992/much-azov-about-nothing-how-the-ukrainian-neo-nazis-canard-fooled-the-world

        • PugJesus@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          That said you can’t just discard the Azov origin which is only 8 years old. That’s like saying ISIS origins don’t matter. The old gang with a new name is just the old gang

          It’s literally the opposite though - it’s a new gang with the old name, which is why useful idiots keep repeating neonazi claims about Azov. Recruits have been assigned to Azov by standard Ukrainian National Guard’s standards since it’s absorption and the purging of many of its radical members in 2015. In an organization where the term of enlistment is 3 years, and not permanent, unlike, you know, ISIS, or even voluntary political parties, 8 years is a long fucking time.

          The article relies on the presumption that Western media reporting on Azov pre-2022 weren’t offering surface level analysis that anyone who actually followed the fucking situation knew was outdated by 2017. But believe what you want - useful idiots always do.