English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For January 24/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus said to the paralyzed man: ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk
Saint John 05/01-16/:”After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids blind, lame, and paralysed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.’ But he answered them, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Take up your mat and walk.” ’They asked him, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Take it up and walk”?’Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 23-24/2022
Health Ministry: 6,381 new Corona cases, 13 deaths
Aoun to Sabbah: Lebanon keen on maintaining "best relations" with Gulf states
Speaker Berri receives Kuwaiti Foreign Minister at Ain El-Tineh
Kuwaiti FM visits Lebanon in effort to mend row with Gulf countries
Al-Rahi Warns against New 'Veiled' Taxes in the 2022 State Budget
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister presents Mawlawi with a Gulf message on the required steps to eliminate any dispute
Kuwaiti FM Meets Aoun and Miqati Carrying 'Confidence-Building Message'
Kuwaiti minister says Lebanon must not be platform for hostility/Comments are an indirect call for curbs on Hezbollah
Reports: Hariri Blames Lebanese Parties for Obstructing Rescue Plan
Hariri to Supporters: This House Won't be Closed
Mustaqbal Condemns Abuse after Hariri Supporters Insult Kingdom
Miqati and ex-PMs to Devise Plan for Post-Hariri Period
Berri, Hariri convene in Ain El-Tineh
Berri, Jumblatt convene in Ain Al-Tineh
Geagea announces re-nomination of Okais in Zahle: We place our full effort to secure victory for the sovereign change path
Penny Pinching and Power Cuts; Lebanon’s Middle Class Squeezed by Crisis

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 23-24/2022
US Navy stops ship carrying ‘explosive precursor’ from Iran on Yemen route
Iran Rejects Russia’s Proposal for ‘Interim Deal’ in Vienna
Iranian Court Prosecutes Rouhani’s Brother for Bribery
Iran claims Israel exploiting the Holocaust to justify its crimes paralyzed
Kurds, ISIS Battle after Syria Prison Attack Kills over 120, Says Monitor
Guterres Urges Western Sahara Conflict Parties to Have ‘a Stronger Interest’ in Solutions
Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Party Leader Resigns over Graft
Russia Rejects UK Claim of Trying to Replace Ukraine Leader
Russia Faces Severe Sanctions if it Installs Puppet Regime in Ukraine, UK Minister Says
Vaccine Passport Protests in Europe Draw Thousands of People

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 23-24/2022
Strategic Guile and a Coalition of Wiles Encircle Washington/Raghida Dergham/January 23/2022
Balance and Deterrence with Iran/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/2022 January 23, 2022
A Long and Costly Palestinian Journey Ends Where Ahmad Gibril Once Began/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/2022 January 23/2022
Putin as a Pirate of the Caribbean? That's Not Scary/James Stavridis/Bloomberg/January 23, 2022
Éric Zemmour: France's Last Chance for Survival?/Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/January 23/2022
Indifference to a Christian Genocide/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/January 23, 2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 23-24/2022
Health Ministry: 6,381 new Corona cases, 13 deaths
NNA/January 23, 2022
In its daily report on the COVID-19 developments, the Ministry of Public Health announced Sunday the registration of 6,381 new Coronavirus infections, which raised the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 865,229.
The report also indicated that 13 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.

Aoun to Sabbah: Lebanon keen on maintaining "best relations" with Gulf states
NNA/January 23, 2022
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Dr. Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, today at Baabda Palace.
The President told Minister Al-Sabah that Lebanon welcomes any Arab move that would restore normal relations between Lebanon and the Arab Gulf states, based on a firm Lebanese keenness to preserve the best relations between Lebanon and Arab countries.
In addition, President Aoun thanked the Minister Al-Sabah for the initiative which he conveyed, “Which reflects the distinguished relations between Lebanon and Kuwait, especially since this initiative enjoys Gulf, Arab and international support with the aim of rebuilding confidence between Lebanon and the Gulf states”.
The President also assured Minister Al-Sabah of Lebanon's commitment to implementing the TaifAccord and the relevant international legitimacy and Arab resolutions, noting that the ideas contained in the memorandum handed over by the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister would be the subject of consultations to announce the appropriate position.
Moreover, the President reiterated the strength of the Lebanese-Kuwaiti relations, and conveyed his greetings to the Kuwaiti Prince, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The President conveyed Lebanon’s thanks, as President and people, for the permanent stand of Kuwait next to Lebanon in various circumstances and all difficult situations, in addition to "Taking care of the Lebanese residing in their second country, Kuwait”.
For his side, Minister Al-Sabah had conveyed to President Aoun the greetings of the Emir of Kuwait, the Crown Prince and the Kuwaiti people, pointing out that his visit coincided with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Kuwait, and the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait, recalling Lebanon's position on the Iraqi invasion that Kuwait was subjected to.
Minister Al-Sabah also presented the memorandum, which included ideas and suggestions aimed at "Rebuilding confidence between Lebanon and the Gulf states," reiterating "The non-interference in Lebanese internal affairs, and the unwillingness of Lebanon to interfere in the affairs of other countries”.
On the Kuwaiti side, the meeting was attended by: Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab World Affairs, Minister Nasser Sanhat Al-Qahtani, Chargé d'Affairs of the State of Kuwait Abdullah Suleiman Al-Shaheen, Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister for Minister's Office Affairs Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al-Shuraim, Adviser in the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Fawaz Abdullah Bouresli, and Second Secretary, Salem Ali Abu Hadideh.
On the Lebanese side: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Abdullah Bou Habib, former Minister, Salim Jreissati, Director General of the Presidency of the Republic, Dr. Antoine Choucair, and advisers, Rafic Shelala, Antoine Constantine and Osama Khashab.
Word in the Honor Record:
At the end of the meeting, Minister Al-Sabah wrote the following speech in the honors record:
“I had the honor this morning, Sunday, January 23, 2022, to meet His Excellency the President of the brotherly Lebanese Republic.
I conveyed to him the greetings of his brother, His Highness, the Emir of Kuwait, the government and people of Kuwait, and the best wishes for Lebanon to enjoy more stability, security and prosperity”.
Statement:
After the meeting, Minister Al-Sabah made the following statement:
“I had the honor this morning to meet His Excellency the brotherly President of the Republic of Lebanon.
I conveyed to him the greetings of His Highness, the Emir of the State of Kuwait, His Highness the Crown Prince, the government and people of Kuwait, and wishes for more security, stability and prosperity for Lebanon. I also conveyed the main reason for my visit to Lebanon, where I carry a message Kuwaiti, Gulf, Arab and international measures and ideas proposed to “build confidence again with Lebanon”.All these ideas and proposals are derived, and their basis are the international legitimacy resolutions and the previous resolutions of the League of Arab States. Thankfully, I have now conveyed them to His Excellency the President, and they are now in the process of deliberation and study, and, God willing, we will have a response to these proposals soon”.
Questions & Answers:
In response to a question about whether the Gulf states that have taken measures against Lebanon will monitor what is said, after what was said yesterday that Lebanon would not be a platform for “verbal aggression” the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister replied “What we asked for is that Lebanon not be a platform for any verbal or physical aggression. We want Lebanon as it has been for more than 73 years: radiant, iconic and a distinctive symbolism in the world and in the Arab Mashreq.
Lebanon is a place of hope for all, a refuge for intellectuals, artists, writers and all human sciences. The Lebanon we know is not a platform of aggression. This is the main issue in this matter.
I renew that there is never any tendency to interfere in the internal affairs of Lebanon. We intend to build trust, and we hope it will be dealt with in a way that is beneficial to all”.
Asked if Kuwait was ready to lead a new dialogue in Lebanon under the title of implementing the TaifAccord, “Which includes addressing the concerns you raise,” Minister Al-Sabah replied: “In short, we do not interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs. In the folds of the question there is the answer: it is only implementing what has been done.” It was agreed upon in advance, including the Taif Accord, and if there are some commitments that have not been implemented so far, God willing, by implementing them tangibly, we will reach the goal which concerns everyone”.
Concerning Lebanon’s ability to implement Resolution 1559 in light of the clear political division, Minister Al-Sabah said: “This is a matter which concerns the Lebanese themselves, and not something that belongs to Kuwait. But all the decisions of international legitimacy are binding on all countries of the world. God willing, Lebanon and all those who are concerned with this particular decision will reach a matter that is compatible with the resolutions of international legitimacy”.
Asked about the truth of what the media agencies reported about his presentation yesterday to the Prime Minister with a ten-point paper, and what these points include, Minister Al-Sabah stated: “These are ideas and proposals that were presented yesterday, and I mentioned them today to His Excellency the President. I do not find it useful to discuss these points in the media. These points are left to the Lebanese officials, and they see whether they want to discuss them in the media or not. But we are waiting for a response”.
Regarding the official invitation he made to Premier Mikati to visit Kuwait, and what about the visit of the Lebanese Foreign Minister to Kuwait, in light of the severing of diplomatic relations, the Kuwaiti Minister replied: "Firstly, diplomatic relations with Kuwait were not severed, the ambassador was summoned for consultations. Secondly, the invitation of the Lebanese Foreign Minister to Kuwait comes through an Arab consultative meeting that will be held at the end of this month in Kuwait, given that Kuwait is now chairing the Council of Foreign Ministers of Arab countries. We host nearly 50,000 Lebanese, who are happy in their developmental role, and welcome Lebanese of all levels to visit Kuwait. The foreign minister's visit is bilateral, but mainly as part of the Arab move”.

Speaker Berri receives Kuwaiti Foreign Minister at Ain El-Tineh
NNA/January 23, 2022  
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri received in Ain al-Tineh today, Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah. After the meeting, Al-Sabah spoke to reporters, saying that Speaker Nabih Berri's visit came within the framework of exchanging ideas and the issue of bilateral relations between Kuwait and Lebanon and the challenges they are going through regionally and internationally, and that the basis of his visit to Lebanon is to establish measures to build confidence again between Lebanon and its regional and international surroundings. In response to a question about the coincidence of his visit with the preparations for the elections and the reluctance of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to participate in them, he said: "First, there is no interference in Lebanon's internal affairs, and the Gulf countries do not interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs, and secondly, the visit does not deviate from the three messages that I conveyed yesterday. The first message is sympathy, solidarity, synergy and devotion for the brotherly Lebanese people. The second point is the implementation of the policy of disassociation and that Lebanon should not be a platform for any verbal or physical aggression, and the third point is everyone's desire that Lebanon be stable, secure and strong, whereby the strength of Lebanon is a strength for all Arabs, and this matter becomes a reality through the application of the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Arab resolutions in this field.” He denied relaying to Speaker Berri any message to "Hezbollah", saying: "The visit is only to present the same ideas that I presented yesterday to PM Mikati and in the morning to His Excellency President Aoun, and then presented them to Speaker Berri, and once again it is based on some ideas and proposals to build confidence between the countries of the region and Lebanon.”

Kuwaiti FM visits Lebanon in effort to mend row with Gulf countries
The Arab Weekly/January 23/2022
Kuwait’s foreign minister handed Lebanese officials Saturday a list of suggestions for confidence-building measures with Arab Gulf states after relations between the two sides deteriorated dramatically over the past months. The visit by Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah is the first by a senior Gulf official to Beirut since an unprecedented diplomatic row between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and its neighbours, which was triggered by remarks made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi who called the war in Yemen "futile" and said it was an "aggression" by the Saudi-led coalition. Following Kordahi’s televised comments, the kingdom recalled its ambassador from Beirut and banned all Lebanese imports, affecting hundreds of businesses and cutting off hundreds of millions in foreign currency to Lebanon. Several Arab countries followed Saudi Arabia’s step.
Kordahi, who made his comments before taking his post, resigned in December, a move that did not lead to improved relations between the two sides. But the crisis goes deeper than Kordahi’s comments, which were aired in late October. It is rooted in Saudi Arabia’s uneasiness about Hezbollah's dominance over the Lebanese political scene and Iran's interference in the region, including in Lebanon, once a traditional Saudi ally and recipient of financial assistance from the oil-rich kingdom. Sheikh Ahmed told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Najib Mikati that his visit to Beirut is part of international efforts for confidence-building measures “with brotherly Lebanon.”He added that such steps for "confidence-building" measures do not happen “overnight but they should be the result of tangible steps that are felt by all sides.” He added that based on that “things will move forward.”
The Kuwaiti official said he handed Mikati and his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bouhabib the demands and “now the brothers in Lebanon should study them and know how to deal with these matters and move ahead.” He refused to elaborate on what the demands are.
In the weeks that followed Kordahi’s resignation, tensions between Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia continued to rise. In late December, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman called on the Lebanese in a speech “to end the terrorist Hezbollah’s control” of Lebanon.
In early January the leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah launched a verbal attack against the kingdom, accusing Riyadh of spreading extremist Islamic ideology. Days later, several Saudi Shia opposition figures held a conference in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut in which they attacked the kingdom. Sheikh Ahmad said that in order for the initiative to be successful there should be no interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries in general, and specifically Gulf states. Lebanon should “not be used a launching pad for oral or active aggression against any country,” he added. Mikati’s office said the prime minister told the Kuwaiti guest that Beirut wants excellent relations with all Gulf states.

Al-Rahi Warns against New 'Veiled' Taxes in the 2022 State Budget
Naharnet/January 23, 2022
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday warned against passing, in the 2022 state budget, new financial decisions similar to the new wage scale. "We warn against trying to pass financial decisions that are more like a new veiled version of the new wage scale," al-Rahi ssaid. He also advised against imposing "camouflaged" taxes and fees. "Imposing taxes must take place in the phase of recovery and growth, not in the phase of collapse," the Patriarch said, adding that "it must happen within the framework of a reform plan."Al-Rahi stressed that "such decisions would aggravate the economic collapse, without increasing the purchasing power of families." "It would be a fatal blow to the free economic system in Lebanon," he concluded. Prime Minister Najib Miqati, in a press interview, had promised there won't be new taxes in the 2022 state budget, but rather facilities. "Any increase will be smooth and gradual because we feel with the citizen.”He also said that the government will discuss in its upcoming session increasing transportation allowances and disbursing social grants. Cabinet is expected to convene this week to discuss the 2022 state budget and other vital issues. Meetings with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund will start on Monday, Miqati said. Passing the state budget is a prerequisite for launching the talks with the IMF.

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister presents Mawlawi with a Gulf message on the required steps to eliminate any dispute
NNA/January 23, 2022  
Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, received today Kuwaiti Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, accompanied by the Chargé d'Affairs at Kuwait's Embassy in Lebanon, Abdallah Sleiman al-Shaheen. The Kuwaiti official presented the Interior Minister with a Gulf message bearing on the procedures and steps to be taken in order to eliminate any dispute. Mawlawi welcomed the visit by the Kuwaiti Minister and Charge d’ d'Affairs, and praised Lebanon’s relations with its sisterly countries that are devoted to Lebanon and the Lebanese people. “I confirmed to His Highness and His Excellency the position of Lebanon, and the position of the Ministry of Interior over all matters occurring inside Lebanon which could constitute verbal or physical harm to the State of Kuwait or the rest of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council,” Mawlawi said, adding, “I presented all the measures taken in this context, especially with regards to controlling the borders, detecting and controlling drug networks and preventing their smuggling, and also pertaining to the verbal harm that could befall the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Lebanon.” Mawlawi said he confirmed the application of the Lebanese laws and emphasized utmost commitment to what lies in the interest of Lebanon, particularly in terms of preventing any evil or harm of any kind that could befall the Arab countries that have demonstrated all affinity and support for Lebanon historically and in all its stages and crises, and in every aggression against Lebanon. “These are our duties and we believe in building the state, which is what our brothers in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries desire, and as they have always helped us, they will help us in building the state,” he maintained. In turn, the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister said: "I was pleased to meet my brother, His Excellency the Minister of Interior in brotherly Lebanon and outlined all matters, the first of which is related to Lebanon as being the distinguished icon of human civilization in the Arab Orient. Lebanon is a center and a platform for culture, literature, art and science, and this is not achieved through Lebanon being exploited by any party to carry out any aggression, verbal or physical act, and His Excellency assured me in this regard and reviewed the actual measures taken by the Lebanese authorities and his personal endeavor to put an end to these incidents so as not to be repeated in the future.” "We are appreciative of this matter, and there is a responsibility on the Lebanese state, and God willing, we will see more actions in this respect,” Minister Al-Sabah continued, commending Minister Mawlawi’s efforts especially during the past four months in addressing some of the gaps in the security fields and finding solutions to them, which are appreciated by the Gulf countries.

Kuwaiti FM Meets Aoun and Miqati Carrying 'Confidence-Building Message'
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/January 23, 2022
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser al-Mohammed Al-Sabah met Sunday morning with President Michel Aoun in Baabda, hours after he arrived in Beirut and met with Prime Minister Najib Miqati. After the meeting, the Kuwaiti minister said he is "carrying a Kuwaiti, Gulf, Arab and international message containing measures and ideas to build confidence again with Lebanon."The Lebanese officials "will not study it, and God willing we will receive an answer soon," Sheikh Ahmed said. "Lebanon is an arena of hope for everyone, not an arena for aggression. We have demanded that Lebanon not be a platform for any verbal or actual aggression. It should be a bright element and a special icon in the Arab Levant and there is no inclination to interfere in Lebanon's affairs," the minister added. Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib will visit Kuwait at the end of the month, Sheikh Ahmed said.
Miqati was also invited to visit the oil-rich emirate, he added, without specifying a date. The visit by Sheikh Ahmed is the first by a senior Gulf official to Beirut since an unprecedented diplomatic row between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and its neighbors broke out in October.
The crisis was triggered by televised remarks by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi in which he described the war in Yemen as futile and an aggression by the Saudi-led coalition. Following Kordahi's comments, the kingdom recalled its ambassador from Beirut and banned all Lebanese imports, affecting hundreds of businesses and cutting off hundreds of millions in foreign currency to Lebanon. Several Arab countries followed Saudi Arabia's step. Kordahi, who made his comments before taking his post, resigned in December but the move did not lead to improved relations between the two sides.
The crisis goes deeper than Kordahi's comments aired in late October. It is rooted in Saudi Arabia's uneasiness over the rising influence of Iran in the region, including in Lebanon, once a traditional Saudi ally and recipient of financial assistance from the oil-rich kingdom. Sheikh Ahmed told reporters after meeting Miqati that his visit to Beirut is part of international efforts for confidence-building measures with Lebanon. He added that such steps for confidence-building measures do not happen "overnight but they should be the result of tangible steps that are felt by all sides." He added that based on that "things will move forward." The Kuwaiti official said he handed Miqati and his Lebanese counterpart Bou Habib the demands and "now the brothers in Lebanon should study them and know how to deal with these matters and move ahead." He refused to elaborate on what the demands are. In the weeks that followed Kordahi's resignation, tensions between Hizbullah and Saudi Arabia continued to rise. In late December, Saudi Arabia's King Salman called on the Lebanese in a speech "to end the terrorist Hizbullah's control" of Lebanon. In early January, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah launched a verbal attack against the kingdom, accusing Riyadh of spreading extremist Islamic ideology. Days later, several Saudi Shiite opposition figures held a conference in a Hizbullah stronghold in Beirut's suburbs in which they criticized the kingdom. Sheikh Ahmed said that in order for the initiative to be successful there should be no interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries in general, and specifically Gulf states. Lebanon should "not be used a launching pad for oral or active aggression against any country," he added. Miqati's office said the prime minister told the Kuwaiti guest that Beirut wants excellent relations with all Gulf states.

Kuwaiti minister says Lebanon must not be platform for hostility/Comments are an indirect call for curbs on Hezbollah
Reuters/January 23, 2022
Lebanon must not be a platform for hostile acts or words, Kuwait's foreign minister said on Sunday during a visit to Beirut, an indirect call for curbs on the Iran-backed group Hezbollah to improve strained ties with Gulf Arab states. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al Sabah spoke after meeting President Michel Aoun in Beirut, during the first visit by a senior Gulf Arab official since a diplomatic rift last year. Sheikh Ahmed said he had delivered confidence-building proposals to Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and that his trip was coordinated with Gulf states. “We asked that Lebanon not be a platform for any aggression, verbal or actual,” he said after meeting Mr Aoun on Sunday. “I presented ideas and thoughts and we are awaiting a response.”Long strained by the influence of the heavily armed militant group Hezbollah, Lebanon's ties with Gulf Arab states were plunged into a new crisis in October by comments by a former Lebanese minister criticising Saudi-led forces in Yemen. Kuwait was one of several members of the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, that responded to George Kordahi's remarks by expelling the Lebanese ambassador and recalling its envoy to Beirut. Mr Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, said in a tweet on Sunday Lebanon was keen to maintain “the best relations” with the Gulf Arab states and that the Kuwaiti proposals would be discussed before an appropriate position was announced. Lebanese governments have long declared an official policy of disassociation from wars in the Middle East, but Hezbollah has become involved in regional conflicts, deploying fighters to Syria to help President Bashar Al Assad. Gulf states also accuse Hezbollah of lending military support to the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen.

Reports: Hariri Blames Lebanese Parties for Obstructing Rescue Plan
Naharnet/January 23, 2022
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri reportedly said, while chatting with journalists, that "sometimes, one should step back to be able to step forward again."Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, on Sunday, also reported Hariri blaming other parties for the lack of cooperation in a plan to rescue the country. “We won in previous parliamentary elections, but what is the meaning of winning if other parties won’t join our efforts to achieve political and administrative reforms,” Hariri said, according to an MP from al-Mustaqbal bloc. The lawmaker anonymously told Asharq al-Awsat that Hariri accused his partners in politics of obstructing the CEDRE conference “that was supposed to save Lebanon from its financial and economic crises.”The ex-PM also reportedly said that he’d had to step back from forming a government “because some parties had refused a rescue government consisting of specialist, non-politicized and independent ministers,” as French Minister Emmanuel Macron had suggested in his initiative back then. “Some parties have wasted many chances to rescue the country,” Hariri reportedly said. The MP added that Hariri considers that Hizbullah along with other parties have not abided by the ministerial statements they had committed to, by violating Lebanon’s policy of staying out of regional affairs and others’ conflicts
.

Hariri to Supporters: This House Won't be Closed
Naharnet/January 23, 2022
Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri on Sunday addressed crowds that flocked to the Center House from Akkar to express their rejection of his likely boycott of the upcoming parliamentary elections. “You are all in my heart. I know that these days are difficult, but this house will remain open to you and to all Lebanese,” Hariri told the supporters. “Rafik Hariri was not martyred so that we close our house,” the ex-PM added. “I thank you for your feelings and for your presence here. Today I listened to you, and I want you to listen to me tomorrow, and I reiterate to you that this house will not be closed,” Hariri went on to say. He is scheduled to deliver a speech at 4:00 pm Monday to announce his final stance on participation in the elections.

Mustaqbal Condemns Abuse after Hariri Supporters Insult Kingdom
Naharnet/January 23, 2022
Al-Mustaqbal Movement on Sunday condemned verbal attacks on Saudi Arabia, after social media videos showed supporters of ex-PM Saad Hariri shouting insults against the kingdom during a solidarity rally outside the Center House. “Sides with known motives and intentions resort to social networking websites to attack the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its leadership under the excuse of showing solidarity with ex-PM Saad Hariri,” al-Mustaqbal said in a statement. “These acts are rejected and condemned, regardless of their source and objectives, and the kingdom will remain the compass of honorable people in Lebanon,” the Movement added. “What harms it harms us, and those who attack it would be stabbing Harirism in the heart,” Mustaqbal warned. Mustaqbal supporters have been rallying at the Center House since Saturday after reports and politicians said that he is inclined not to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Media reports have said that Hariri, in closed-door meetings, has cited the lack of Saudi financial backing as one of the reasons behind his decision.

Miqati and ex-PMs to Devise Plan for Post-Hariri Period
Naharnet/January 23, 2022
Prime Minister Najib Miqati and ex-PMs Fouad Saniora and Tammam Salam have held a meeting to discuss “the developing political situation in light of ex-PM Saad Hariri’s decision to refrain from running in the elections,” a source from the so-called club of ex-PMs said. “There are preparations to devise a joint paper by the ex-PMs in agreement with Miqati to confront the period that will follow Hariri’s exit,” the source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday. This aims to “fill the political vacuum that will result from al-Mustaqbal Movement’s absence from parliament,” the source added.
“The ex-PMs along with Miqati will hold open-ended meetings once Hariri finishes reciting his statement” on Monday, the source went on to say.

Berri, Hariri convene in Ain El-Tineh
NNA/January 23, 2022  
House Speaker Nabih Berri met this afternoon at Ain al-Tineh Palace with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, in the presence of his Political Aid Ali Hassan Khalil and Hariri's Advisor Hani Hammoud. During the meeting, which lasted for more than an hour and a half, discussions touched on the general situation in the country and the latest developments. Hariri then left without making any statement.

Berri, Jumblatt convene in Ain Al-Tineh
NNA/January 23, 2022  
House Speaker Nabih Berri received this evening at Ain Al-Tineh Palace, the Head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, in the presence of Speaker Berri’s Political Aid, MP Ali Hassan Khalil, and former Minister Ghazi al-Aridi. The meeting was devoted to discussing the general situation and latest political developments.On emerging, Jumblatt left without making any statement.

Geagea announces re-nomination of Okais in Zahle: We place our full effort to secure victory for the sovereign change path
NNA/January 23, 2022  
Lebanese Forces Party Chief, Samir Geagea, announced Sunday the re-nomination of MP George Akais for the Catholic parliamentary seat in Zahle, stressing that “LF Party is communicating in Zahle with some independent figures in order to form a ballot list that is sovereign, transformational and anti-corruption par excellence, and able to put the necessary effort in order to build our aspired state.”Geagea's words came during a preparatory seminar for the elections in Zahle held by the LF Party branch in the city attended by various partisans in the region. Speaking to the attendees via “Zoom” application, Geagea reiterated that “these elections are crucial, since their outcome will determine whether Lebanon will continue with its current downfall, or whether this deterioration will stop and the desired rescue process will begin.” He stressed that "each of us must believe that his/her voice is capable of changing everything, because the will to change is a personal will above all, and this belief must be translated in the elections in Zahle and all of Lebanon."

Penny Pinching and Power Cuts; Lebanon’s Middle Class Squeezed by Crisis
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 23 January, 2022
Lebanese school teacher Sara Wissam and her husband were comfortably off before a run on the local currency decimated the value of their salaries and dragged them towards poverty. The plight of the Beirut couple is common across Lebanon's middle class, which has been forced to make once unthinkable choices by the worsening economic crisis: cutting back on food, cancelling trips or applying to emigrate for good. "It used to be that our income lasted a month," the mother of three told Reuters. "Now it's not enough for one trip to the supermarket to buy essentials," said Wissam, describing how she rarely buys meat, has cut back on cheese and chooses even the smallest treats for her young kids carefully. Ayman Hadad, a 28-year-old university graduate who found a job in a shop, earns the equivalent of $125 a month and wants to join friends who have emigrated. He has applied to go to Canada. "Enough of Lebanon. We lost hope," he said. Lebanon's descent into financial ruin began in 2019, the result of a poorly managed spending binge that pushed up debt, political paralysis as rival factions squabbled and foreign lenders' reluctance to bail the country out unless it reformed. The World Bank ranks the crisis as among the most severe globally since the mid-19th century, devastating a country once seen as a wealthy and liberal outpost in the Middle East before civil war broke out from 1975 to 1990. About 80% of the population of 6.5 million are considered poor; in September, more than half of families had at least one child who skipped a meal, UNICEF said, compared with just over a third in April. The currency has lost more than 90% of its value and banks have locked savers out of accounts. By some estimates, state debt reached 495% of gross domestic product in 2021, far above levels that crippled some European states a decade ago. Adding to people's frustration is the government's failure so far to tackle the problems. Caretaker administrations have led Lebanon for much of the last three years, and since the cabinet quit after a devastating Beirut port blast in 2020, politicians have been fighting over who should lead an investigation into who was to blame. Meanwhile people see signs of social and economic collapse. The state telecom firm shut the Internet in parts of Beirut for lack of fuel in recent days and an armed man took hostages at a bank demanding access to his trapped savings.
'Fridge empty'
Lebanon's national power grid was creaking before the crisis, with rolling cuts across the country. Now, a bankrupt government can barely run its power plants and homes often receive only an hour of state electricity a day. Yola al-Musan, who manages a supermarket in Beirut, uses electricity from a shared neighborhood generator to keep the lights on at home. When the national grid does fire up, Musan races to switch on the washing machine as only then does she have a strong enough current. For school teacher Wissam, putting enough food on the table for her family has become tough, even though she and her husband both have steady jobs. Before the crisis, Wissam and her husband's combined salary was 3 million Lebanese pounds a month, which at the exchange rate at the time of 1,500 to the dollar was around $2,000. Now their combined earnings are worth the equivalent of $140, even after Wissam's modest wage hike. The currency has plummeted to 25,000 to the dollar, sending the price of imported goods and local products soaring. "Lebanon's leaders amuse themselves insulting each other and accusing each other of corruption. In fact, they are all corrupt and thieves," she said, echoing widespread public and international criticism of how the crisis has been handled. Politicians, some former militia leaders and others from families who wielded influence for generations over the nation's Christian and Muslim communities, acknowledge corruption exists but deny they are responsible and say they are doing their best to rescue the economy. But a lengthy and continuing dispute over who should preside over the port blast inquiry has contributed to delays in talks with the International Monetary Fund, seen as vital to unlocking overseas support led by France. Gulf donors stepped back years ago, voicing anger at Iran's rising influence in Lebanon through Hezbollah. Najib Mikati, the billionaire prime minister, has tried to mend Gulf ties. Hezbollah, in turn, stepped up criticism of Gulf states and hosted conferences for domestic opponents of the monarchies. Meanwhile, the cabinet is expected to hold its first meeting in more than three months on Monday to discuss a draft budget it hopes will ease financial pressures and quell public anger. "If each one of them donated a small amount of their wealth to the poor, there would be no poor in Lebanon," said Shadi Ali Hamoud, 39, after returning home to his family from work in a restaurant kitchen. "Look at the fridge, it's empty."

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 23-24/2022
US Navy stops ship carrying ‘explosive precursor’ from Iran on Yemen route
AFP/23 January ,2022
The US navy said Sunday it had stopped a ship carrying 40 tons of a fertilizer that can be used to make explosives as it travelled from Iran along a route previously used to smuggle weapons to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia. The navy said it boarded and searched the ship - which last year was caught carrying thousands of weapons - and handed the vessel to Yemen’s coast guard, after intercepting it in international waters in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday. A US guided-missile destroyer and patrol ship “interdicted the stateless vessel transiting from Iran... along a route historically used to traffic weapons to the Houthis in Yemen,” the Bahrain-based US 5th Fleet said. “US forces discovered 40 tons (36,300 kilos) of urea fertilizer, a chemical compound with agricultural applications that is also known to be used as an explosive precursor,” it added. The seizure comes at a time of high tensions in the region after a deadly drone-and-missile attack on Abu Dhabi by the Houthis prompted the Arab Coalition to launch air strikes on Yemen this week. The same “stateless fishing vessel” was found to be carrying thousands of AK47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launches and other weapons when it was stopped last February, the US Navy said. The coalition and its allies, including the US, regularly accuse Iran of providing military support to the Houthis, claims that Tehran denies.

Iran Rejects Russia’s Proposal for ‘Interim Deal’ in Vienna
London, Vienna, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 23 January, 2022
Tehran rejected a Russian proposal in the Vienna talks to conclude an “interim deal” that includes restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for the release of its frozen assets, NBC News reported, citing US officials. The network quoted US officials as saying that Iran and Russia discussed, on the sidelines of the Vienna talks, the proposed temporary agreement, with the knowledge of the United States. However, senior Biden administration officials distanced the US from the Russian effort, it added. Under the Russian proposal, “Tehran would be required to stop enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity and dispose of its current stockpile, possibly by exporting it to Russia, along with other restrictions. In exchange, the Iranian government would receive access to billions of dollars in oil revenues frozen in foreign bank accounts, including in South Korea,” NBC news reported, citing the US officials. However, the official IRNA agency said that Iranian officials “did not enter into any discussion about the interim agreement,” and that Iran has led the talks in the right direction, and “now it is the United States’ turn to prove its seriousness by making political decisions.” The Vienna meetings continued at the bilateral and multi-level discussions on Saturday. The state-run ISNA news agency said that Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani held talks with the European Troika delegation in the presence of the talks’ coordinator, Enrique Mora. A senior Biden administration official was quoted by NBC News as saying: “Though we cannot speak for any discussions that may have taken place between Russia and Iran, at this stage we are certain that no such interim arrangement is being seriously discussed.” He continued: “Regarding an interim deal, we will not negotiate in the press or comment on specific claims about the negotiations. Our timeline is based on a technical assessment of Iran’s nuclear progress rather than a temporal clock.”The report noted “a growing concern” within the Biden administration that time was running out in negotiations between Iran and world powers over a return to mutual compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, warning that Iran’s nuclear program “advances to a point where Tehran would have enough fissile material to build an atomic bomb.” Experts and former officials argued that the Russian version of the interim agreement could “diminish Tehran’s leverage in broader negotiations.” “An interim arrangement with only limited sanctions relief also could be politically damaging to Iran’s new hardline government, which has portrayed the previous Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, as too ready to compromise with the West and failing to deliver economic benefits to Iran,” the report noted.

Iranian Court Prosecutes Rouhani’s Brother for Bribery
London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 23 January, 2022
Hossein Fereydoun, the brother of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, has returned to the Iranian judiciary, this time facing charges of taking “a bribe from a manufacturer of auto parts” to finance the election campaign in 2012. Quoting the Iranian Judiciary, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported that the fourth branch of the Special Court for Economic Corruption had initiated the first trial sessions of the former president’s brother, for taking a bribe and receiving a brokerage commission from a company that manufactures spare parts.No comments were issued by the former president’s office or his brother’s law firm. Fereydoun is being tried based on a report by the Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) intelligence service. The IRGC report notes that the man had received 16 billion Iranian riyals from the auto parts company. He is also facing charges of obtaining up to 18 billion riyals to spend on activities in the ninth parliament elections, one year before Rouhani’s victory in the presidency. Fereydoun is currently serving a five-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of taking bribes in a massive bank debt case. Earlier this month, Iranian lawmakers agreed to investigate the performance of the presidency during Rouhani’s tenure, based on the report of the Internal Affairs Committee. The investigation includes senior officials in Rouhani’s office for their possible role in rampant corruption. Part of the investigations targets the former Iranian president’s brother for his interference in the nuclear negotiations. Fereydoun served as Rouhani’s special representative in the nuclear talks.

Iran claims Israel exploiting the Holocaust to justify its crimes paralyzed
Jerusalem Post/Sunday, 23 January, 2022
“The fake Zionist regime has constantly tried to use the victims of World War II and the Jews as a justification for its shameless and aggressive actions.” Iran accused Israel of exploiting the death of six million Jews during World War II to justify its crimes against the Palestinian people after the UNGA passed a resolution to combat Holocaust denial. “The fake Zionist regime has constantly tried to use the victims of World War II and the Jews as a justification for its shameless and aggressive actions,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday. “The regime and its leaders have committed all kinds of crimes, especially crimes against humanity, against the Palestinian people and the regional people, in violation of international law,” it stated. “Genocide, assassination, ethnic cleansing, destruction of homes and human siege are among the crimes that the Zionist regime is constantly committing,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said. The resolution on Holocaust denial was approved by consensus. Iran was the only country to speak out against the text, but it has limited powers to act in the UNGA because of its unpaid dues. It has attempted to argue that its opposition has meant that the text was not approved by consensus, even though the UN has publicized the passage of the resolution. Israel Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz tweeted in response: “Only one country rejected the UN resolution condemning Holocaust denial. The same country bent on destroying the Jewish state. The same country now aspiring to develop nuclear weapons.”
Separately, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett posted on his Facebook page on Friday that “the State of Israel is not ours ‘thanks’ to the Holocaust, but because the Land of Israel has always been the home of the Jewish people.“Only a State of Israel that is strong, secure, independent, vibrant, diverse, free and united, will ensure the existence of the Jewish people,” Bennett stated. He did not mention Iran in his post.

Kurds, ISIS Battle after Syria Prison Attack Kills over 120, Says Monitor
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 23 January, 2022
At least 120 people have been killed in Syria including seven civilians as battles between US-backed Kurdish forces and ISIS group fighters raged for a fourth day, a war monitor said Sunday. Fighting began late Thursday with an assault by more than 100 ISIS fighters on the Kurdish-run Ghwayran jail in Hasakeh city -- which housed the largest number of jihadists in the country -- marking the group's most significant operation since its so-called "caliphate" was declared defeated in Syria nearly three years ago. Ongoing battles have seen ISIS fighters free fellow extremists and seize weapons stored at the jail, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in what experts have described as a blatant regrouping attempt. "At least 77 ISIS members and 39 Kurdish fighters, including internal security forces, prison guards and counter-terrorism forces have been killed" in violence inside and outside the prison since the start of the attack, the Observatory said.At least seven civilians have also been killed in the fighting, according to the monitor.
Weapons and captives
Battles continued for a fourth consecutive day on Sunday as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by coalition strikes, closed in on ISIS targets inside and outside the facility. "Fierce clashes broke out overnight Sunday... as part of an ongoing attempt by Kurdish forces to restore control over the prison and neutralize ISIS fighters deployed in surrounding areas," said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria. The war monitor said that Kurdish forces have managed to recapture more than 100 ISIS detainees who had tried to escape but many more remain on the run. Their exact numbers remain unclear. In a statement released on its Amaq news agency overnight, ISIS claimed that it took over a weapons storage room in the prison and freed hundreds of fellow extremists since the operation began with a double suicide bombing.
A video it released on Amaq purported to show ISIS fighters carrying the group's black flag as they launched the attack on the facility and surrounded what appears to be a group of prison guards. A second video also released on Saturday showed several men that ISIS said it had abducted as part of the attack on the jail, including some dressed in military fatigues. AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage. Commenting on the video, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said the captives were "kitchen staff" from the jail. "Our forces lost contact with them during the first attack," the SDF said in a statement, without elaborating.

Guterres Urges Western Sahara Conflict Parties to Have ‘a Stronger Interest’ in Solutions
Rabat - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 23 January, 2022
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all the parties involved in the Western Sahara conflict to have “a stronger interest” in resolving the conflict. Guterres said on Friday, in statements quoted by the United Nations website, that “the time has come for the parties to the conflict to understand the need for dialogue and to seek a solution, and not just to maintain an endless process, without hope for a solution.” His statement came in response to a question about the UN Envoy to Western Sahara, Staffan De Mistura’s first visit to the region. He added: "I hope that the political process will develop again," saying it is a "problem that has been going on for several decades in a region of the world in which we see very serious security problems, where we see terrorism proliferating in the Sahel and increasingly near the coasts. It is in everyone's interest to solve the problem of Western Sahara once and for all."
De Mistura embarked on his regional tour by visiting Morocco on Jan. 13. Morocco reiterated support for "the resumption of the political process" under the leadership of the UN. It also insisted on the need for direct and clear dialogue between it, Algeria, the Polisario Front, and Mauritania. De Mistura had visited the Polisario Front refugee camp in Tindouf, Algeria, and met with Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front.

Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Party Leader Resigns over Graft
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 23 January, 2022
The leader of Israel's largest ultra-Orthodox Jewish party submitted his resignation from parliament Sunday, after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors in a tax fraud case. Aryeh Deri, who served as ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu's interior minister, leads the Shas party, the third largest bloc in Israel's fractured parliament with nine of the Knesset's 120s seats. Last month Deri reached a plea deal with Israel's attorney general that is set to be validated in court this week, which will see him admit to minor tax offenses. Under the deal, Deri will avoid prison but pay a 180,000 shekel ($57,000) fine and resign from the Knesset. Knesset spokesman Uri Michael told AFP that Deri had submitted a resignation letter to speaker Mickey Levy on Sunday morning, and that it would take effect on Tuesday. Deri is however expected to remain the leader of Shas, a party that represents Israel's ultra-Orthodox Sephardic Jews, whose roots are in southern Europe and North Africa. Support from Shas, along with United Torah Judaism, the second largest ultra-Orthodox Jewish party, was crucial to sustaining Netanyahu's record tenure as premier, which ran from 2009 until June last year. Netanyahu's legal team is also in talks with the attorney general's office on a possible plea agreement in his alleged corruption case, in which he is accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust but denies any wrongdoing. In Netanyahu's case, prosecutors have reportedly insisted that Netanyahu admit to "moral turpitude," which would bar him from elected office for seven years, terms that were not imposed on Deri.

Russia Rejects UK Claim of Trying to Replace Ukraine Leader
Associated Press/Sunday, 23 January, 2022
Russia's Foreign Ministry on Sunday rejected a British claim that Russia was seeking to replace Ukraine's government with a pro-Moscow administration, and that former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev was being considered as a potential candidate. Britain's Foreign Office on Saturday also named several other Ukrainian politicians it said had links with Russian intelligence services, along with Murayev who is the leader of a small pro-Russia party that has no seats in the parliament. The U.K. government made the claim based on an intelligence assessment, without providing evidence to back it up. It comes amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over Russia's designs on Ukraine. "The disinformation spread by the British Foreign Office is more evidence that it is the NATO countries, led by the Anglo-Saxons, who are escalating tensions around Ukraine," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging app Sunday. "We call on the British Foreign Office to stop provocative activities, stop spreading nonsense."British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the information "shines a light on the extent of Russian activity designed to subvert Ukraine, and is an insight into Kremlin thinking."
Truss urged Russia to "deescalate, end its campaigns of aggression and disinformation, and pursue a path of diplomacy," and reiterated Britain's view that "any Russian military incursion into Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake with severe costs."Britain has sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine as part of efforts to bolster its defenses against a potential Russian attack.Amid diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace is expected to meet Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for talks in Moscow. No timing has been given for the meeting, which would be the first U.K.-Russia bilateral defense talks since 2013. The U.S. has mounted an aggressive campaign in recent months to unify its European allies against a new Russian invasion of Ukraine. The White House called the U.K. government assessment "deeply concerning" and said it stands with the duly elected Ukrainian government. "This kind of plotting is deeply concerning," National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said. "The Ukrainian people have the sovereign right to determine their own future, and we stand with our democratically-elected partners in Ukraine."The assessment came as President Joe Biden spent Saturday at the presidential retreat Camp David outside of Washington huddling with his senior national security team about the Ukraine situation. A White House official said the discussions included efforts to de-escalate the situation with diplomacy and deterrence measures being coordinated closely with allies and partners, including security assistance to Ukraine.

Russia Faces Severe Sanctions if it Installs Puppet Regime in Ukraine, UK Minister Says

Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 23 January, 2022
Russia will face severe economic sanctions if it installs a puppet regime in Ukraine, a senior UK minister said on Sunday after Britain accused the Kremlin of seeking to install a pro-Russian leader there. Britain made the accusation late on Saturday, also saying Russian intelligence officers had been in contact with a number of former Ukrainian politicians as part of plans for an invasion. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the comments as "disinformation", accusing Britain and NATO of "escalating tensions" over Ukraine. "There'll be very serious consequences if Russia takes this move to try and invade but also install a puppet regime," Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News on Sunday. The accusations come at a time of high tensions between Russia and the West over Russia's massing of troops near its border with Ukraine. Moscow has insisted it has no plans to invade. In a statement late on Saturday, the British foreign ministry declined to provide evidence to back its accusations. It said it had information the Russian government was considering former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhen Murayev as a potential candidate to head a pro-Russian leadership. "We will not tolerate Kremlin plot to install pro-Russian leadership in Ukraine," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Twitter. A foreign ministry source said it was not usual practice to share intelligence matters, and the details had only been declassified after careful consideration to deter Russian aggression. Murayev, 45, is a pro-Russian politician who opposes Ukraine's integration with the West. According to a poll by the Razumkov's Center think tank conducted in December 2021, he was ranked seventh among candidates for the 2024 presidential election with 6.3% support. "You've made my evening. The British Foreign Office seems confused," Murayev told Britain's Observer newspaper. "It isn't very logical. I'm banned from Russia. Not only that but money from my father's firm there has been confiscated." The British claims came a day after the top US and Russian diplomats failed to make a major breakthrough in talks to resolve the crisis over Ukraine, although they agreed to keep talking. Russia has made security demands on the United States including a halt to NATO's eastward expansion and a pledge that Ukraine will never be allowed to join the Western military alliance. US National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement: "This kind of plotting is deeply concerning. The Ukrainian people have the sovereign right to determine their own future, and we stand with our democratically-elected partners in Ukraine."Britain, which this week supplied 2,000 missiles and a team of military trainers to Ukraine, also said it had information that Russian intelligence services were maintaining links with "numerous" former Ukrainian politicians, including senior figures with links to ex-President Viktor Yanukovich. Yanukovich fled to Russia in 2014 after three months of protests against his rule and was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in jail on treason charges in 2019.

Vaccine Passport Protests in Europe Draw Thousands of People
Agencies 23 January/2022
https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3429946/vaccine-passport-protests-europe-draw-thousands-people
Thousands of people gathered in European capitals Saturday to protest vaccine passports and other requirements governments have imposed in hopes of ending the coronavirus pandemic. Demonstrations took place in Athens, Helsinki, London, Paris and Stockholm. Marches in Paris drew hundreds of demonstrators protesting the introduction from Monday of a new COVID-19 pass. It will severely restrict the lives of those who refuse to get vaccinated by banning them from domestic flights, sports events, bars, cinemas and other leisure venues. French media reported that demonstrators also marched by the hundreds in other cities. In Sweden, where vaccine certificates are required to attend indoor events with more than 50 people, some 3,000 demonstrators marched though central Stockholm and assembled in a main square for a protest organized by the Frihetsrorelsen - or Freedom Movement. Swedish media reported that representatives from the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement attended the action with a banner. Police closely monitor the group, which has been associated with violent behavior at demonstrations. Swedish security police had warned that right-wing extremists might take part in Saturday's protest. No major incidents or clashes were reported by late afternoon. A similar demonstration with some 1,000 participants was held also in Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city. The Finnish government authorized local and regional authorities just before Christmas to introduce “extensive and full measures” in response to rising virus cases involving the omicron variant. The restrictions included limiting or prohibiting events, moving university classes online, limiting restaurant service and closing venues where people have a higher risk of exposure. Restaurants and events are allowed to require vaccine passports. Police said some 4,000 people marched Saturday through the streets of central Helsinki to protest. A group called World Wide Demonstration organized the demonstration. No unrest or violence was reported to police.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 23-24/2022
Strategic Guile and a Coalition of Wiles Encircle Washington

Raghida Dergham/January 23/2022
Freezing the Ukraine crisis to avoid a military escalation between Russia and NATO powers could be the only pathway to containing a large conflagration and stalling for time until comprehensive European security arrangements can be formulated, and the United States and Russia can reach a broader agreement. US and Russian diplomats are formulating the logic for freezing the crisis to buy time, but military preparations and punitive measures are still on the table and still active on the ground. Meanwhile, an agreement on the Ukraine question and NATO membership is extremely complex if not completely out of the question. It is possible that the Russian President Vladimir Putin felt compelled to host his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi a few days ago despite the ongoing crisis with the West because of Tehran’s insistence on not postponing the visit, but if not, the outcome is the same: The visit was a historic milestone in Russian-Iranian relations, marked by an agreement to activate mechanisms to achieve a strategic leap in their alliance and collaboration at all levels in what an informed source called a “new, and unique unity”. As such, Russia will become a strategic partner of the Islamic Republic of Iran through a permanent, sustained, and long-term procedural mechanism agreed on by the two leaders.
Iran may very well become Russia’s main stick in the strategy of bringing pressures on the United States and the West in general. But for Russia, the dilemma will be in the Middle East region, where Tehran has expansionist provocative ambitions that embarrass the Kremlin, which has sought to formulate distinguished economic and political relations with the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and play a role in the Yemeni issue with them.
According to insiders familiar with the climate of the meeting between Putin and Raisi, Russia and Iran agreed to closely coordinate in Syria, including jointly standing up to Israel – albeit without immediately acting on this because of the crisis with Ukraine. The Russian president wanted to avoid appearing to open the Iranian and Israeli fronts at the height of the standoff with the United States, the European powers, and Ukraine. For his part, Raisi reaffirmed Tehran’s usual position vis-à-vis Israel to Putin, saying it was Iran’s permanent enemy that threatens regional stability and thus Iran shall always stand against Israel.
President Putin did not discuss with President Raisi in any strong terms the developments that coincided with the visit, namely the Houthi militia’s attack using drones – probably supplied by Iran – against Abu Dhabi airport, which was met with broad international condemnation. Putin did not expand on the Yemeni issue with Raisi, but according to the informed sources, raised the issue of Houthi attacks on the UAE as a ‘destabilizing’ development. This term, in the Kremlin’s lingo, means it does not bless what happened, if it is not dissatisfied and anxious about it. Yet Putin did not dig deeper and stopped there, and did not ask his counterpart and Iran to stop supplying Houthis with weapons that destabilize the UAE or Saudi Arabia. He did not ask his strategic partner to help end the war in Yemen by curbing his Houthi allies and partners in escalation.
The US President Joe Biden does not appear to be firmer on this issue than his Russian counterpart – both assign a higher priority to relations with Iran and are hesitant about pressuring Tehran on the Yemeni issue, albeit for different considerations: While Putin is paving the way for strategic relations with Iran similar to the pact the latter signed with China spanning the next 25 years, Biden is still putting his full weight and creditability behind securing a nuclear deal with Iran.
Washington has vowed to hold the Houthi militia accountable for the Abu Dhabi attack, but the US president and his administration are still divided about what to do with the Houthis. Biden said that redesignating the Yemeni militia as a terror group is being considered, but also that resolving the crisis requires including both sides into the peace process. In reality, the Biden administration has tied the hands of its envoy for Yemen Timothy Lenderking on account of the divisions within it and within the US establishment regarding the conflict. Yet imposing sanctions on the Houthis is a necessary step whose time has come, as it may incentivize the Houthis to agree to the US-UN-Gulf proposal that accepts them as a party to the peace process and in a future government formed through negotiations.
The Houthis have a choice. Either submit to Iran and Hezbollah’s pressures to reject the peace plan and the UN-US roadmap approved by the Gulf states, and thus invite sanctions and terror redesignation; or break free of these pressures and join the peace process. This would give it the right to participate in government with Gulf recognition, which will eventually end Yemen’s tragedy through a project to rescue its people and rebuild its infrastructure.
It will not be an easy decision for the Houthis. The pressures from Iran and its proxy Hezbollah are huge. They see any change in Yemen that would establish partnership and power sharing through a political solution that ends the war in Yemen as a project for Houthi abandonment of their agenda and for the encirclement of Iran and Hezbollah in Yemen. For this reason, they have resisted the peace offer, inciting the Houthis to reject an end to the war in Yemen and even to expand the conflict into the Gulf countries, as happened with the attack on Abu Dhabi.
The responsibility of President Biden and his administration requires matching words with deeds, with a decisive, rational, and serious policy liberated from the fearful obsession with the fate of the Vienna talks and the nuclear deal with Iran. Submission to Iran’s agenda backed by Hezbollah in Yemen, based on the clear challenge to the US stated commitment to the security of the UAE and other Gulf countries, will only lead to further Iranian investment in the humiliation of the Biden administration, the exposition of its weakness, and the capitalization on its fear and anxiety over the fate of the JCPOA.
Therefore, President Biden must free himself of this weakness that is undermining him, even if the weakness is only in the imagination of others. This requires bold measures and policies vis-à-vis Iran, including its role in Yemen. Iran is a sharp instrument in the Russian hand right now, at a critical phase that affects many geographical hotspots. The destruction of the fabric of US relations with the Gulf is a significant component in the plans of Russia’s angry policies. This where the benefit in the Iranian-Houthi escalation in Yemen and the UAE lies for Russia, as it reveals the weakness and hesitation of the Biden administration towards its friends and allies, a benefit of high value in the time of strategic preparations for a new cold war.
The US-Russian relations have reached a critical phase in the view of the Russian Foreign Ministry. In Moscow’s view, this requires establishing a coalition of US adversaries with China, Iran, and perhaps even North Korea. The centrality of Iran in this Russian policy must be taken seriously in Washington and the Biden administration, because Iran is unpredictable. And even if the Biden administration gives Iran everything it wants in the Vienna negotiations, there is no guarantee that Iran will stay away from joining such an anti-American coalition. After all, Iran is always ever so proud of its strategic shrewdness.
With the alliance with Russia reaching a new threshold, the leaders of the Iranian regime intend to showcase their skills in the service of the anti-American coalition, from Venezuela and the Caribbean to the Middle East, the Gulf, and the former Soviet Republics via Africa and Europe. For Iran, there is an opportunity for a militarized duel in the era of militarized diplomacy. Tehran’s henchmen, led by the IRGC – the de facto rulers in the name of the Supreme Leader – are mobilized and ready.
As for the Kremlin and the Russian military establishment, they too are keen to militarize the political duel with the United States and NATO. The US president has sought to tone down the language threatening dire consequences for the Russian confrontation of the West, choosing – even if by misspeaking – to differentiate between a Russian invasion and a Russian incursion in Ukraine. In reality, the situation could get much worse if the two sides do not back down. For example, Russia could pull back a part of its forces stationed along Ukraine’s eastern border, while the United States could enter into substantial talks with Russia regarding NATO membership and the Ukrainian crisis. The meeting between Putin and Raisi launched a mechanism for a permanent and sustained political, military, economic, energy, and nuclear cooperation between Russia and Iran. The details of the mechanism have not been shared with the Russian public, because Putin wants to avoid appearing as through using Iranian ammunition against the Biden administration prematurely. For his part, Raisi will leverage the huge success of his visit to Moscow to move to implement Iran’s plans for escalation, and to consolidate the ties with Russia and China.

Balance and Deterrence with Iran
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/2022 January 23, 2022
In May 1990, I was one of the journalists who covered the Arab Summit conference in Baghdad. I remember what then-President Saddam Hussein said during that summit, holding his pen between his fingers as if lecturing the attending leaders and chiefs of states. He spoke about changes in the region and what he called “the void that we must fill.” I don’t think anyone understood what he meant, especially because it had only been two years since Iraq barely came out of its war with Iran.
That war had started in 1980 because of Saddam’s misjudgment that the fall of the Shah regime left a power vacuum, so he jumped at the chance to attack his neighbor, making both countries pay dearly. Then, 10 years later, here was Saddam believing that the Soviets’ withdrawal from areas under their control with the end of WWII means that the United States would not care for what happens, especially between friendly countries. And so, two months after his speech about the “void,” Iraqi tanks crossed the border into Kuwait and overtook the capital city.
Void, or the illusion thereof, is a driver for regimes like Iran’s to expand their control. In my previous article, I explained how certain realities emerged from developments and ushered in a new historical era. The previous regional structure was the fruit of several factors: the post-WWII agreements that defined borders, the division of the world into two poles during the Cold War, and Washington’s prioritization of oil as one of its higher national interests that it must defend with military force, which gave the Gulf region seven decades of protection.
However, all these factors have expired today. The United States is currently the biggest oil producer in the world. The strategy guaranteeing the flow of oil is no longer important to Washington; instead, what matters now is the face-off with China in the Middle East, its number one source of energy. As such, America will stay in the region as part of the balance game, but probably with less commitments.
Iran, like all the countries in the region, is observing developments and making decisions accordingly. This explains Tehran’s unprecedented audacity to expand its military operations abroad. Ten years ago, Iran was content with running the southern suburb of Beirut. Today, its influence covers Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Sanaa in Yemen.
Iranians have done nothing for their country apart from improving its maritime and ballistic military capabilities. They do not calculate their possible losses in terms of industrial or economic assets in any potential war in the future, because Iran’s losses will be limited compared to its rivals.
This article is not related to the Baghdad, Vienna, or other negotiations currently underway, and I hope it is understood as only a personal opinion. It rather discusses Iran’s medium- and long-term relations with its neighbors, including Gulf states. I believe that even if the new endeavors succeed, and even if Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states establish diplomatic relations with Iran and snapshots of handshaking and exchanged smiles fill the front pages, the Iranian danger will remain as long as its motives and mechanisms remain.
It is unlikely that the Vienna negotiations will manage to mend this anomaly, because Western negotiators tend to have different priorities. Still, the potential Vienna agreement to freeze Iran’s nuclear weapon project can be counted as a gain for us in the Gulf, first because it gives us more time, and second because it may lead in the future to a comprehensive peaceful solution with Iran.
Current developments have obsoleted the concepts of previous policies built on the balances of the Cold War and the centrality of oil in the US defense policy.
Today, it is imperative to reconsider the concept of deterrence and the regional and national defense policies in place, given the geopolitical and technical developments. Weaving the diplomatic project with alliances and developing defensive powers will make Iran realize there is no vacuum. I understand the viewpoint that rejects the idea of balance and deterrence because they will only burden our economies and increase tensions and wars in the future. But is there an alternative? We cannot rely on good faith with Iran. Achieving a balance will be a driver that pushes Tehran to agree to a regional peace project whereby each state respects the borders and sovereignty of its neighbors and sets rules to prevent armed aggression.
A relevant discussion: Iran on the inside.

A Long and Costly Palestinian Journey Ends Where Ahmad Gibril Once Began
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/2022 January 23/2022
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could, at any moment, start liberating Palestine. This is the impression one gets from the current consensus among Palestinians, moderate and radical, Islamist and secular, left-wing and right-wing. They are all in agreement on Assad and his invaluable contribution to “the cause” and the need to approach or integrate the Assad regime.
This long journey rife with blood, sacrifice, debates, and defections, which ended at the point at which Ahmed Jibril had begun, should never have been taken. The secretary-general of Fatah’s Central Committee, Jibril Rajoub, recently visited Damascus, announcing that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will also visit the Syrian capital. In a press conference he held there, Rajoub said: “This visit and its delegation will be a true starting point for reformulating Palestinian affairs amid unprecedented escalation by the Israeli occupation to end the Palestinian cause.” In another instance, Rajoub considered that Syria being outside the Arab League is “a shame upon Arabs. It is a founding member of the Arab League and must regain its membership.”
In parallel, those close to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah are keen to remind everyone of Mahmoud Abbas’s “remarkable role, as part of Arab efforts in recent years, to reinstate Damascus into the Arab League,” adding that correspondence between Abbas and Assad has not ceased “during the Syrian crisis.” Meanwhile, we were also reminded that PA has always refused to “take part in isolating the Syrian regime.”
In 2014, Abbas sent a telegram to the Syrian president that gained notoriety at the time. In it, he congratulated Assad on being re-elected president and described his election as “embodying the preservation of Syria and her sovereignty” and “contributing to Syria’s emergence from its current crisis of confronting terrorism.” Only a few months had elapsed, at the time, since the chemical weapons massacre in eastern Ghouta, in which 1,500 people were killed and more than 11,000 were injured.
This is the state of “moderate secularists.” As for “radical Islamists,” their story is more exciting. In 2014, as news about an Iranian mediation between Damascus and Hamas was breaking, Khaled al-Qaddoumi, the Hamas representative in Tehran, remarked that Syria has been a haven for the Palestinian resistance under Bashar al-Assad. Then, in 2015, Khaled Meshaal, the chairman of Hamas’ politburo at the time, called upon “all the parties fighting in Syria to point their rifles towards Palestine instead.”
In 2018, Ismail Haniyeh, who replaced Meshaal as politburo chairman, described what happened in Syria as “mutiny” that culminated in “the settlement of international and regional accounts.” When a reporter from the Russian agency Sputnik reminded him of contradictory stances he had made previously, Haniyeh described claims that he had stood behind the Syrian revolution as “inaccurate.” He confirmed that his movement, Hamas, “has never been hostile to the Syrian regime, which has stood alongside us at important junctures and contributed considerably.” In turn, Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, wished “that the domestic crisis in Syria would end,” and an opportunity “to mend our relations” would open. One Hamas leader, Mousa Abu Marzouk, in a famously bizarre statement, claimed that “the first item on the agenda of the Palestinian Dialogue Conference is preventing the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.”
However, in the aftermath of the war in Gaza last year, leaders in Hamas volunteered thanks and gratitude to Assad and Iran for their stance of support for the movement, one of whose leaders, Osama Hamdan, praised Bashar al-Assad’s “support of Palestinian resistance.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian Islamic Jihad has chosen Damascus to host its headquarters, and it holds annual celebrations marking the anniversary of its founding there. Two years ago, it held in Damascus a funeral for one of its most prominent leaders, Ramadan Shalah. Its current secretary-general, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, is considered a prominent socialite in the city. Despite tensions mounting between Hamas and Damascus from 2011 till 2014, no such tensions emerged between Islamic Jihad, which is more closely affiliated with Iran and the Syrian regime.
These have been the positions and stances of “faithful Islamists.” What about the “atheist Marxists”?
Damascus is also the headquarters of the two fronts, the “Popular Front” (Habash - Sa’adat) and the “Democratic Front” (Hawatmeh) ... “for the Liberation of Palestine,” of course. Deputy general secretary of the “Popular Front,” Abu Ahmad Fouad, did not miss the opportunity last May to attribute a pledge by Assad that “Syria’s doors are open to all factions of the resistance, regardless of their names.” This statement was made after Fouad participated in a meeting between Assad and the “Palestinian factions.”
Since 2013, Layla Khaled, member of the PFLP’s politburo, whose aptitude for hijacking airplanes propelled her to the position, said she “supports the people’s demand for freedom and democracy” but that “what happened in Syria was different to what happened in all the other countries.” While she acknowledged that the regime made mistakes, in the beginning, she immediately pointed to “the plan to end Syria, not the regime - as they did in Iraq but with local tools.” She added, with hair-raising melodrama: “When Syria is targeted with this unjustified assault aimed at ending its role and it as a people and country, then yes, we are with Syria and against all terrorism coming from abroad and intends to eradicate our camps.” Of course, the Yarmouk Camp must have slipped her mind.
As for the eternal relic Nayef Hawatmeh, last year, he dispatched a telegram to the Syrian president congratulating him on his “reelection” to a fourth term, affirming that “the Palestinian people stand alongside the Syrian Arab people in their path to reclaim the unity of their country, every inch of it, and the unity of its official institutions, preserve the unity of its military and counter all schemes and plans targeting Syria’s sovereignty, independence and regional role.”
Other Palestinian organizations such as As-Saiqa-General Command and the Popular Struggle Front must not be overlooked. It is true that they are “chump change,” as they say, and they may have been created by the Assads, father and son, who breathed life into the clay that they had been, animating them into bodies with names. Despite this, or because of it, these factions, as it turned out, proved to deserve their place as the vanguards in dictating the policies of the Palestinian cause and Palestinian liberation. They are like religious references to be followed and emulated.

Putin as a Pirate of the Caribbean? That's Not Scary
James Stavridis/Bloomberg/January 23, 2022
When I was going through the confirmation process in 2006 to be commander of US Southern Command — in charge of all joint military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean — I was often asked about the Monroe Doctrine. Issued in 1823 by President James Monroe, it warned European nations against further colonization in the Americas, and was expanded by subsequent administrations to essentially establish an exclusive sphere of influence for the US across the Western Hemisphere.
While Secretary of State John Kerry publicly declared that the “the era of the Monroe Doctrine is over” in a speech at the Organization of American States in 2013, it was subsequently invoked by President Donald Trump’s administration regarding Russian and Iranian influence in propping up the Venezuelan regime. Most analysts feel that some version of the doctrine is still viable in terms of US regional diplomacy, and I agree, but it should be considered in a more multilateral way — through the mechanism of the Organization of American States, not as a unilateral tool of American policy.
Last week, as part of his saber-rattling over Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened increased military deployments to the Americas, mentioning Venezuela and Cuba. How should the US respond?
Let’s take a deep breath. This is probably not going to turn into another Cuban Missile Crisis. This wouldn’t be the first time we would see Russians in the Caribbean or Latin America. Over past decades, the Soviet Union and then Russia deployed ships, aircraft, military trainers, intelligence officers, communication teams and cyberwarfare experts to not only Venezuela and Cuba, but to Nicaragua as well. While they have not had large, permanent contingents, there is really nothing new in the idea of rotational deployments, which is what Putin seemed to be threatening.
In addition, the impact of conventional Russian forces would be negligible in terms of regional politics. Operationally, the threat of such forces being used against the US, or even its close allies in the region, is essentially zero. They might be employed for suppression of internal dissent. But at the moment the authoritarian leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua seem to have repression of the population under control, so high-end Russian military units aren’t going to change anything.
When I led Southern Command, I had tens of thousands of troops and plenty of ships and planes at my disposal — vastly outpacing anything foreign rivals could throw at the Americas. Today, US Southern Command, from its headquarters in Miami, is closely monitoring Russian force levels and does not feel insecure, believe me. When I asked one recent head of the command about the potential for increased Russian deployments, he said it was “bluster” from Putin, not militarily important, and that it would be expensive for the Russians to maintain such deployments, so “let him waste the resources.”
However, there is one very serious consideration worth pointing out: a permanent deployment of Russian medium-range nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, something the Kremlin has done in the heart of Europe in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave sitting between Lithuania and Poland.
Given the reduction in warning time compared to intercontinental missiles, and the proximity of very important targets — US energy refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, military bases in the southern states, big cities like Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans and Galveston — placement of cruise missiles would have a major destabilizing effect. Such a move by Putin would probably demand an escalation of forces in Europe and additional US cruise missiles in North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries.
None of this should cause the US any hesitation in its continued support of Ukraine. If Putin makes good on his threatened invasion, the US and its allies should respond by sharing with the Ukrainians additional defensive but lethal weapons (especially antitank and handheld anti-air missiles); defensive and offensive cyber-capabilities; top-grade intelligence; and electronic jammers to direct against Russian battlefield communications. This aid should be combined with massive new economic sanctions (against the broad Russian economy, the oil and gas sector in particular, and the overseas accounts of Putin’s oligarch cronies) and additional US ground-troop deployments (but not nuclear systems) closer to Russia within NATO borders.
If Russia really decides to deploy significant troops in the Western Hemisphere, the US military shouldn’t overreact. Providing additional surveillance resources to Southern Command is a good place to start, including unmanned aerial assets and intelligence-collection warships. Working with partners and friends in the OAS, Colombia in particular, to share intelligence and conduct regional military exercises makes sense.
Absent a significant nuclear deployment, we should largely shrug off Putin’s threat to become a pirate of the Caribbean. He can’t really afford it, and what forces he could deploy wouldn’t alter the military balance in the Americas.

Éric Zemmour: France's Last Chance for Survival?
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/January 23/2022
When French President Emmanuel Macron speaks, it is only about the pandemic. Political analysts think that if he manages to avoid all other topics, his reelection will be a certainty. If he does not, everything could turn out any which way.
"No, the great replacement is not a fantasy". — Éric Zemmour, candidate in France's upcoming presidential election, YouTube, December 15, 2021.
"Four hundred thousand Muslim immigrants enter France each year. In five years, that makes two million more Muslims. These Muslims go to live in the Muslim areas and do not integrate... What do you think that means?" — Éric Zemmour, YouTube, December 15, 2021.
"We see violence in our cities and towns.... We see hatred of France and its history becoming the norm... You abandon, without reacting, entire districts of our country to the law of the strongest... if a civil war breaks out, the army will maintain order on its own soil.... No one can want such a terrible situation... but yes, once again, civil war is brewing in France and you know it perfectly well". — Open letter in Valeurs Actuelles, signed by thousands of professional soldiers who asked that their names not be made public, May 9, 2021.
Éric Zemmour, a leading candidate in France's 2022 presidential elections. (Photo by Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images)
Paris, December 18, 2021. The Algerian national soccer team wins the Arab Cup in Qatar. Tens of thousands of Algerian supporters, waving Algerian flags, rush onto the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Shop windows are smashed. The unrest lasts until nightfall. Slogans are shouted: "Long live Algeria", "By Allah, the Koran!" -- and also "Fu*k France!" and "Fu*k Zemmour!" The police are ordered not to intervene. They are attacked anyway.
The next day, Jean Messiha, a former member of the National Rally Party, notes on television: "The great replacement and the ethnic hatred, we can see them".
Éric Zemmour, a Jewish candidate for the French presidency, does not comment. He simply states in an interview: "sadly banal scenes".
Ten days earlier, December 8, in Nanterre, a few miles east of Paris, a Catholic procession organized to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception was assaulted by young Muslims, who shouted insults and threats. The Catholics were called kuffar ("infidels"). "Wallah [I swear] on the Koran, we will cut your throat", a young man shouted to a priest, then spat on him. "This is the land of Allah", others shouted; "go away."
Incidents such as these have become common in France. Even more violent ones have taken place in the recent past. France is the only country in Europe where a teacher on a street was beheaded with a butcher's knife because a student accused him of disrespecting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. France is also the only country in Europe where a priest was murdered in a church while saying mass. In the post-WWII era, France is the only country in Europe where Jewish children were murdered in the courtyard of a Jewish school. France also has the largest number of "no-go zones" (more than 750) in Europe.
France is now a country where Christians and Jews are insulted and assaulted so frequently that the newspapers only report it if someone is killed or wounded.
France's no-go zones should be called "shariah zones." They are ruled by radical imams, and Muslim gangs who live off theft and drug trafficking. Although most of the residents are French citizens, most do not define themselves as French, but as citizens of the Middle Eastern countries from which they come. They do not accept any Jewish or Christian presence, and most of the Jews and Christians who lived there left to live elsewhere years ago. The police do not enter, and the authorities even consider it dangerous when fire engines and ambulances enter.
For at least four decades, successive French governments have avoided talking about the situation or have said that the problem was poverty, which could be solved by welfare payments or sending in psychologists and sociologists. However, the situation has only gotten worse. Those in charge avoid talking about Islam or say that Islam "has its place" in France and is now a "French religion."
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he wants to do more than his predecessors and has promised to fight what he calls "Islamic separatism". He says that all the troubles come from a small handful of Islamists, whom he defined as followers of "radical movements unrelated to Islam", and who have been incited to live apart from other French people by dangerous troublemakers who are betraying the Muslim faith. Macron therefore continues to refuse to face anything "inconvenient".
According to a poll published in September 2020, 74% of French Muslims under the age of 25 said the laws of Islam were more important than the laws of the French Republic. Another poll published two months later showed that 57% of French Muslims under the age of 25 wanted to live under Islamic sharia law. The polls also showed that Muslim gangs who live in the no-go zones and engage in the drug trade also carry out theft and looting operations against businesses run by non-Muslims close to those zones. The lawlessness spurs these non-Muslims to sell their businesses to Muslims, who risk neither looting nor threats. The gang members say that when they steal and loot, they only "take the jizya", an Islamic "protection" tax levied on non-Muslims in territories ruled by Islamic law.
For years, those who dared explicitly to describe the situation have been taken to court, accused by anti-racist organizations of "Islamophobic racism", then sentenced to heavy fines. Ten years ago, in 2011, the author Renaud Camus published a book, Le grand remplacement ("The Great Replacement"), which said that Muslim civilization was replacing French civilization and that this substitution was accompanied, for non-Muslims, by violence and a lack of security. Camus did not just pay fines. He was no longer invited on radio or television, and all French publishers said they would no longer publish his books. He now self- publishes. Another author and journalist, Éric Zemmour, also wrote the same thing and was often sentenced -- also for "Islamophobic racism" -- to heavy fines . His books, however, were best-sellers, and the talk shows that invited him had enormous success -- which protected him. Radio and television stations, and the newspaper that published his views, did not fire him.
This in the context in which Zemmour's decision to run for the presidency of France needs to be understood.
La France n'a pas dit son dernier mot ("France Has Not Said Its Last Word"), the book Zemmour published in September 2021, describes his disappointing conversations with French political leaders. No one has disputed a word he wrote. He organized meetings throughout the country to explain what he thought needed to be done and declared his candidacy on November 30, by posting a video on YouTube.
What Zemmour said contrasted sharply with that of his competitors. He did not try to please or water down any facts. He spoke of the destruction of France:
"France is no longer France, and everyone sees it... The third-worlding of our country and our people impoverishes as much as it disintegrates, ruins as much as it torments".
He emphasized the lack of courage of French politicians:
"I saw that no politician had the courage to save our country from the tragic fate that awaits it. I saw that all these supposed professionals were, above all, impotent".
Explaining his decision, he said:
"I have decided to ask for your vote to become your President of the Republic, so that our children and grandchildren do not know barbarism. So that our daughters are not veiled and our sons are not forced to submit".
Zemmour created a political party and called it Reconquest, seen by some as a reference to the Reconquista, the reconquest of Spain by Christians after centuries of Muslim occupation.
For a few weeks, he succeeded in placing the question of the survival of France and of its civilization at the center of every debate. Each time the media invited him to speak, he tirelessly repeated that what is at stake the survival of France, and that the election of 2022 could be the last chance to save the country. He spoke of the risk of a civil war: "I do not want France to become a Lebanon on a large scale", he said.
The other presidential candidates were then forced to raise the same questions he was asking but they did not answer them. Marine Le Pen, president of the National Rally Party, said that Zemmour was too pessimistic and divided the French. Valerie Pecresse, the candidate chosen by the moderate right-wing party, The Republicans, simply said that "Éric Zemmour is an accomplice of the far right. I belong to a right which has built a dike against the far right". The left-wing candidates refused to answer altogether and said that Zemmour was a "fascist".
The French mainstream media who invited Zemmour also had to raise the questions he was asking; almost all said that he was excessive, obsessive, and that France was not in danger.
Today, "anti-racist" and French Muslim organizations continue to describe Zemmour as a racist. Francis Kalifat, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), said that no Jew should vote for Zemmour, and Yonathan Arfi, CRIF's vice-president, wrote, "As Jews, we are of course not responsible for what Éric Zemmour says. But we have a responsibility to stand in their way". Haim Korsia, the Chief Rabbi of France, even declared that Zemmour, who defines himself as a "Berber Jew", is an "anti-Semite".
President Macron never speaks of Zemmour, but members of the government and leaders of The Republic on the Move, the party created by Macron in 2017, do -- and in strong words. Minister of Health Olivier Veran said that "Éric Zemmour embodies rejection, racism and xenophobia", and is in a "permanent state of delirium". Former Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner said that Zemmour "insults the French people every day".
The presidential elections in France take place in two rounds. In the first round, there are many candidates -- officially 24 candidates for the presidential election of 2022, most of whom will get 1%-2% of the vote. In the second round, only the two leading candidates compete.
Until Zemmour declared his candidacy, the polls indicated that in the second round, President Macron would face Marine Le Pen, and easily win. Her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was several times condemned for anti-Semitic remarks. Even though she has done her best to show that she is totally different from her father and not at all anti-Semitic, she still bears his name, which seems to be an insurmountable handicap. In an effort to change her image, she even watered down her positions, evidently to no avail.
From September to mid-December 2021, polls showed that in the second round of the election, Zemmour could well be Macron's opponent. Since mid-December, however, the polls have changed, and Marine Le Pen, Valerie Pecresse and Éric Zemmour are tied. It is therefore possible that Le Pen could make it to the second round. If that happens, the result is the same one expected before Zemmour's candidacy – and Macron will be re-elected. If Valerie Pecresse makes it to the second round, Macron will also be reelected: her positions are close to Macron's, meaning that the voters wishing a more conservative policy will probably not vote for her. "Valerie Pecresse has the same ideas as Emmanuel Macron and is unable to defeat him", said Guillaume Peltier, vice president of The Republicans Party on January 10. "Only Eric Zemmour has a chance". The day before, on January 9, Peltier left The Republicans to join the Zemmour campaign.
If Zemmour makes it to the second round, Macron still stands a good chance of being re-elected. Macron whips up the fear of Covid-19. The rules imposed on the French population are still extremely strict. France is in a state of "health emergency," and police who enforce compliance have extensive powers of control. A vaccination passport has been put in place; only fully vaccinated people can go to restaurants, cafes, movies or take a train. The police can ask for vaccination passports and identity documents everywhere, except in one's home. Every day, the front pages of newspapers are devoted to the pandemic and the number of cases. People hospitalized and deaths are shown in large print. Television news is also largely devoted to the pandemic. When Macron speaks, it is almost only about the pandemic. Political analysts apparently think that if he manages to avoid all other topics, his reelection will be a certainty. If he does not, everything could turn out any which way.
A recent poll shows that a large majority of French people -- 60% --approve of the use of the vaccine passport and the strict rules in place. The fear of illness and death remains intense.
The polls, however, also show that the ideas at the heart of Zemmour's campaign are widely shared by the French. One polling institute recently asked a sampling of French people:
"Some people speak of the great replacement, European, white and Christian populations being threatened with extinction following Muslim immigration from the Maghreb and black Africa. Do you think such a phenomenon will occur in France?"
67% of respondents answered: Yes. The poll then asked whether respondents worry about the possibility of a great replacement. 67% of people answered: Yes. 63% per cent responded that that they thought Islam was a danger for France.
Journalists who commented on the poll said, "The great replacement is a fantasy". Many French people clearly disagree.
Zemmour said during a recent radio show, "No, the great replacement is not a fantasy". He gave figures:
"Four hundred thousand Muslim immigrants enter France each year. In five years, that makes two million more Muslims. These Muslims go to live in the Muslim areas and do not integrate... What do you think that means?"
Instead of answering, the journalists interviewing him changed the subject. The figures he gave are taken from official documents; they are exact.
He also spoke about his own experiences. On October 25, 2021, TV host Jean-Marc Morandini invited him to meet the inhabitants of Drancy, a small town in the eastern suburbs of Paris where Zemmour had spent his childhood. In the 1960s, Zemmour recalled, French middle-class people, and many Jews who had left Algeria in 1962 at the end of the French-Algerian War, had lived there. At the time, he continued, life in Drancy was calm and peaceful. Now, Morandini said, there is no longer a single Jewish family in Drancy; it is today a predominantly Muslim city, like many towns around, and that in 2017 there had been riots accompanied by claims of "police brutality". In Aulnay-sous-Bois a neighboring town of Drancy, a young criminal of African descent, Theodore Luhaka, had violently resisted the police officers arresting him and accused them of sexual assault. The entire eastern suburbs of Paris were on fire for a week. The police officers were fired, charged, then cleared by the judiciary. Then President François Hollande supported Luhaka, not the police.
Zemmour was only able to walk around the city protected by a dozen armed police officers. He met just a few people, all hostile. A crowd shouting "Zemmour go away" and "Allahu Akbar" followed him. When he entered a Muslim butcher shop and asked the butcher if there was a non-Muslim butcher shop in the city, the butcher replied: "A French butcher shop? I think there is one left in the French quarter". "There is still a French quarter in Drancy?" Zemmour said.
On November 26, 2021, Zemmour tried to visit Marseille. Everywhere he went he was greeted with cries of "Allahu Akbar". Young Muslims verbally threatened him. The restaurant where he was to have lunch was totally ransacked. The police did not try to protect it. Marseille's population is now 40% Muslim. Analysts predict that in less than a decade, Marseille -- the second-largest city in France -- will be predominantly Muslim.
The public meeting Zemmour organized to launch his campaign on December 5, 2021 was protected by hundreds of police officers. The people who came were greeted by groups shouting, "Allahu Akbar" and "Zemmour the fascist". A man in the large hall where the meeting took place assaulted Zemmour and tried to strangle him. Zemmour's bodyguards handed him over to the police; he was charged with intentional bodily harm. Thirteen thousand people were present. In his speech, Zemmour told them, "They hate me because they hate you".
Journalist Ivan Rioufol wrote in Le Figaro, "What is the candidate saying except that it is urgent to try to save dying France and listen to the concerns of the despised French people?"
"If Macron is re-elected," Zemmour said on television on January 13, "civil war is almost certain. Many French people know it".
On April 21, 2021, 1,200 professional soldiers, including 20 generals, published an open letter in the weekly Valeurs Actuelles, saying the same thing. Macron did not react, but Minister of Defense Florence Parly announced that the signatories were "irresponsible" and would be heavily sanctioned. Many of those still active were relieved of their duties. A month later, on May 11, Valeurs Actuelles published another open letter, signed this time by thousands of professional soldiers who asked that their names not be made public. The text is explicit:
"We see violence in our cities and towns. We see communitarianism taking hold in the public space, in public debate. We see hatred of France and its history becoming the norm... You abandon, without reacting, entire districts of our country to the law of the strongest... if a civil war breaks out, the army will maintain order on its own soil.... No one can want such a terrible situation... but yes, once again, civil war is brewing in France and you know it perfectly well".
Valeurs Actuelles made the open letter into a petition. Within a few hours, thousands of French people had signed it. Again, Macron did not react. To date, he has not changed his position. He does not speak of the crisis in France.
Mainstream media journalists and political enemies of Zemmour, however, scrutinize every word to find excuses to attack him. On January 15, during a meeting with teachers and students' parents, Zemmour said he thought that disabled children should be educated in special establishments and added: "these children are completely overwhelmed... So I think we need specialized teachers who take care of them". Rather than taking into account the real difficulties of which he was speaking, Sophie Cluzel, the Secretary of State in charge of People with Disabilities accused him of wanting to "remove disabled children from the schools of the republic" and to "reject differences". Marine Le Pen accused Zemmour of "attacking children weakened by a disability". Valerie Pecresse said: "my project is more inclusion for disabled children". Zemmour, on January 15, replied that he had received the support of thousands of parents of disabled children who said they had felt abandoned by the government. He accused his critics of hypocrisy and lies, and stressed that he intended to remedy the lack of schools specializing in the care of disabled children.
Other attacks will undoubtedly follow whatever statements he makes. On January 17, a judge sentenced Eric Zemmour to a fine (10,000 euros, $11,350) for "incitement to racial hatred" for having said on September 29, 2020, on a television talk show that foreign "unaccompanied minors" in France are neither isolated nor minors, and commit many crimes. Police reports show that to be correct. Zemmour had not talked about race. The sentence will doubtless be overturned, but for a few days France's mainstream media had the opportunity to say that Zemmour had been sentenced again for "racism".
When Zemmour was a journalist, he was universally hated by advocates of political correctness. They tried relentlessly to destroy him, without success. Now that he is a candidate for the presidency, those who hated him appear to hate him even more and are ready to redouble their efforts to destroy him. When the French presidential campaign begins in earnest in February, the attacks will most likely intensify.
Despite them, other serious politicians have been signing on. Guillaume Peltier was only the first: Jérôme Rivière head of the National Rally faction in the European Parliament came on board on January 19, as did Gilbert Collard, one of the leaders of the National Rally, on January 22. Perhaps a trend is taking shape?
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27 books on France and Europe.
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Indifference to a Christian Genocide
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/January 23, 2022
On November 17, 2021, the U.S. State Department removed Nigeria from its list of Countries of Particular Concern.... despite several human rights organizations characterizing the persecution meted out to Nigeria's Christians as a "genocide."
Worse, not only did the Obama State Department for eight years refuse to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern; during Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State (2009-2013), she, too, refused to designate Boko Haram in Nigeria as a "terrorist" organization... despite [its] being a jihadist group whose adherents have murdered more Christians and bombed more churches than the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria combined.
Her refusal persisted despite the urging of the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and more than a dozen senators and congressmen for her to designate Boko Haram.
"The one thing she could have done, the one tool she had at her disposal, she didn't use. And nobody can say she wasn't urged to do it. It's gross hypocrisy... The FBI, the CIA, and the Justice Department really wanted Boko Haram designated, they wanted the authorities that would provide to go after them, and they voiced that repeatedly to elected officials." — A "former senior U.S. official," quoted by Josh Rogin in the Daily Beast, May 7, 2014.
Apparently such is the official unwavering and consistent response, whether under Obama/Clinton or now under Biden: Nigeria is not a "country of particular concern" — even as a genocide continues to be waged against its Christians.
On November 17, 2021, the U.S. State Department removed Nigeria from its list of Countries of Particular Concern.... despite several human rights organizations characterizing the persecution meted out to Nigeria's Christians as a "genocide." Pictured: The smoldering ashes of structures in the village of Badu, Nigeria on July 28, 2019, after Boko Haram terrorists attacked a funeral procession there, murdering 65 people. (Photo by Audu Marte/AFP via Getty Images)
A recent and ostensibly insignificant "label change" by the U.S. Department of State sheds light on both President Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama, as well as on a potential presidential candidate for 2024, Hillary Clinton.
On November 17, 2021, the State Department removed Nigeria from its list of Countries of Particular Concern, that is, nations which engage in, or tolerate violations of, religious freedom. It did this despite several human rights organizations characterizing the persecution meted out to Nigeria's Christians as a "genocide."
According to an August 2021 report, since the Islamic insurgency began in earnest in July 2009 — first at the hands of Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist organization, and later by the Fulani, Muslim herdsmen also motivated by jihadist ideology — more than 60,000 Christians have either been murdered or abducted during raids. The kidnapped Christians have never returned to their homes, and their loved ones believe them to be dead. During the same time, approximately 20,000 churches and Christian schools have been torched and destroyed. Nigeria was also the nation with the most Christians murdered (3,530) for their faith in 2020. According to another tally, at least 17 Christians were murdered every day in the first half of 2021 alone. As for those Christians who survive the jihadist raids, millions of them are currently internally displaced people.
Irrespective of these abysmal statistics, the U.S. State Department does not believe that Nigeria should be categorized as a Country of Particular Concern; and that nations such as Russia, which was included on the list, is a worse violator of religious freedom than Nigeria. In removing Nigeria from the list, the Biden administration has demonstrated a sheepish continuity with a previous administration. Despite jihadists having slaughtered and terrorized Nigeria's Christians all during President Barack Obama's eight-year tenure (2009-2017), and despite the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom having repeatedly urged that Nigeria be designated as a Country of Particular Concern, the Obama administration obstinately refused to acquiesce. It was only in 2020, under the Trump administration, that Nigeria was placed on that list — only to be removed again just recently.
To his credit, President Donald Trump also forthrightly asked the current Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari (whom many Nigerian officials insist Obama helped bring to power), "Why are you killing Christians?"
Needless to say, many observers have slammed the State Department for its recent decision again to let Nigeria literally get away with mass murder.
As Sean Nelson, Legal Counsel for Global Religious Freedom for ADF International, noted:
"Outcry over the State Department's removal of Country of Particular Concern status for Nigeria's religious freedom violations is entirely warranted. No explanations have been given that could justify this decision. If anything, the situation in Nigeria has grown worse over the last year. Thousands of Christians, as well as Muslims who oppose the goals of terrorist and militia groups, are targeted, killed, and kidnapped, and the government is simply unwilling to stop these atrocities. Blasphemy cases are regularly brought against religious minorities, including humanists, in the North. Removing Country of Particular Concern status for Nigeria will only embolden the increasingly authoritarian government there. We call on the U.S. government to rectify this inexplicable decision, and instead continue America's long tradition of standing up for those who are persecuted worldwide."
Similarly, the Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Nadine Maenza, said:
"USCIRF is especially displeased with the removal of Nigeria from its CPC designation, where it was rightfully placed last year.... We urge the State Department to reconsider its designations based on facts presented in its own reporting."
John Eibner, president of Christian Solidarity International, frankly said:
"The State Department's decision to de-list a country where thousands of Christians are killed every year reveals Washington's true priorities.... Removing this largely symbolic sign of concern is a brazen denial of reality and indicates that the U.S. intends to pursue its interests in western Africa through an alliance with Nigeria's security elite, at the expense of Christians and other victims of widespread sectarian violence.... If the U.S. CPC list means anything at all—an open question at this point—Nigeria belongs on it."
Worse, not only did the Obama State Department for eight years refuse to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern; during Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State (2009-2013), she, too, refused to designate Boko Haram in Nigeria as a "terrorist" organization — despite Boko Haram (which roughly translates to "Westernization is forbidden") being a jihadist group whose adherents have slaughtered more Christians and bombed more churches than the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria combined. Clinton's refusal persisted despite the urging of the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA, and more than a dozen senators and congressmen for her to designate Boko Haram. Instead, Clinton took the position that "inequality" and "poverty" are "what's fueling all this stuff" — a reference to ideologically charged Muslims of Boko Haram terrorizing and murdering Christian "infidels" — to use the words of her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, from 2012.
Her callousness — as with her response to the murders of Americans at Benghazi, Libya: "What difference at this point does it make?" — was particularly visible in 2014, when Boko Haram, a group she had long shielded, abducted nearly 300 schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria. It was an incident that made headlines and therefore required a response. Publicly, Clinton bemoaned the lot of the kidnapped girls: "The seizure of these young women by this radical extremist group, Boko Haram, is abominable, it's criminal, it's an act of terrorism and it really merits the fullest response possible." Meanwhile, as a 2014 report pointed out,
"The State Department under Hillary Clinton fought hard against placing the al Qaeda-linked militant group Boko Haram on its official list of foreign terrorist organizations for two years. And now, lawmakers and former U.S. officials are saying that the decision may have hampered the American government's ability to confront the Nigerian group that shocked the world by abducting hundreds of innocent girls."
Indeed, two years earlier, in 2012, when Clinton was actively shielding Boko Haram from the terrorist label, a spokesman for the group announced that they were planning on doing something just like they did at Chibok — to "strike fear into the Christians of the power of Islam by kidnapping their women" — though that too had fallen on Clinton's deaf ears. Notably, although news media initially presented the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls as Muslim, it later came out that they were Christian, at which point the media quickly lost interest.
Being placed on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations is important: it helps to ostracize and stigmatize malign groups and makes it illegal for any U.S. entities to do business with them. Most importantly, it allows U.S. intelligence and law enforcement to use certain tools and take certain measures that otherwise might not be legal, such as those offered by the Patriot Act: more surveillance, more efficient interagency communication, and so on.
Discussing Clinton's failure to apply the terrorist designation onto Boko Haram — while simultaneously condemning them for engaging in "an act of terrorism" in regards to Chibok, 2014 — a former senior U.S. official said soon after:
"The one thing she could have done, the one tool she had at her disposal, she didn't use. And nobody can say she wasn't urged to do it. It's gross hypocrisy... The FBI, the CIA, and the Justice Department really wanted Boko Haram designated, they wanted the authorities that would provide to go after them, and they voiced that repeatedly to elected officials."
Apparently such is the official, unwavering, and consistent response, whether under Obama/Clinton or now under Biden: Nigeria is not a "country of particular concern" — even as a genocide continues to be waged against its Christians.
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again and Sword and Scimitar, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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