A Bundle Of English Reports, News and Editorials For November 14-15/2019 Addressing the On Going Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon in its 29th Day November 14-15, 201922

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A Bundle Of English Reports, News and Editorials For November 14-15/2019 Addressing the On Going Mass Demonstrations & Sit In-ins In Iranian Occupied Lebanon in its 29th Day
Compiled By: Elias Bejjani
November 14-15/2019

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on November 14-15/2019
Alaa Abu Fakhr Laid to Rest in Choueifat
Huge funeral for martyr Alaa Abou Fakher in Choueifat
Army Intelligence Agent Referred to Judiciary over Abu Fakhr Death
Amnesty Urges Civilian Probe in Abu Fakhr Death as Taalabaya Protesters Clash with Army
Farnaud: To form a government capable of restoring confidence
Upbeat Aoun says government might see light within days
Lebanon’s Aoun hopes a government is formed in the coming days
Lebanon: Aoun’s Political ‘Confrontation’ with Protesters Takes Center Stage
Hariri Meets Aides of Nasrallah, Berri, Wants Consensus on ‘Competent’ PM Candidate
Hariri receives Italian Defense Minister
Berri tackles current situation with Bou Saab, UN’s Kubis
Reports: Hariri Agrees with Hizbullah, FPM, AMAL on Naming Mohammed Safadi as PM
Major roads reopened in Lebanon after 2-day closure
Bou Saab Says Firing on Protesters Prohibited, Slams ‘Civil War’ Scenes
Protesters Reopen Major Tunnel, other Roads after 2-Day Closure
Loyalty to the Resistance: Meeting people’s rights entails cooperation
Bassil Warns of ‘Separation Wall’
Rahi Meets Bassil: To Form Govt. Trusted by People
Rouhani: Some Want to Alter Course of Protests in Lebanon and Iraq
‘We won’t back down’: Anger mounts in Lebanon after protester shot dead and president tells anyone unhappy to leave country
AMCD Calls on Trump to Press Erdogan on ISIS Murder of Priest in NE Syria

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on November 14-15/2019
Alaa Abu Fakhr Laid to Rest in Choueifat
Agence France Presse/November 14/2019
The body of Alaa Abu Fakhr named as the “martyr of the revolution” by some was laid to rest on Thursday in his hometown of Choueifat. Abu Fakhr, 38-year-old father, was shot dead in front of his wife and son by an army intelligence agent at a protest Tuesday night in Khaldeh. His death marked the first such fatality since the economically driven demonstrations against the government engulfed Lebanon on Oct. 17. He has become an icon of the revolution. Mourners from across the country flooded Choueifat, shouting “revolution, revolution”. Carrying Lebanese flags, mourners joined his family in Choueifat for a religious ceremony and then the burial. “We are free revolutionaries and we will continue our movement,” the mourners chanted as they marched behind Abu Fakhr’s coffin, which was draped in the Lebanese flag. News of his death late Tuesday was met with shock and anger among protesters in Beirut and major Lebanese cities and towns. Demonstrators that night blocked roads and set tires and rubbish bins ablaze, then rallied for massive nationwide protests on Wednesday during which they held up pictures of Abu Fakhr. The army intelligence agent involved in the Khalde incident was referred to the judiciary on Wednesday. The Army Command’s Orientation Directorate said in a statement: “The Intelligence Directorate has referred First Adjutant Charbel Hjeil to the relevant judicial authorities after interrogating him over the incident that resulted in the martyrdom of Alaa Abu Fakhr.”
Cross-sectarian outcry
In the northern port of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second city, a street artist has painted a commemorative mural of him on the facades of a building overlooking Al-Nour Square, the main hub of the largely peaceful protests for nearly a month. Abu Fakhr is the second fatality since the start of the demonstrations. Another protester was shot by a man as demonstrators blocked the airport road.

Huge funeral for martyr Alaa Abou Fakher in Choueifat
NNA -Thu 14 Nov 2019
Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and the people of Choueifat and Mount Lebanon on Thursday mourned Martyr Alaa Abou Fakher during a huge funeral held at Dhour Choueifat. The funeral was attended by the Druze Sheikh Akl, Naim Hassan, at the head of a delegation from the community, and Caretaker Ministers Akram Shehayeb and Wael Abou Faour, as well as Head of the “Democratic Gathering” MP Teymour Jumbaltt. “Democratic Gathering” bloc MPs were also present. Also attending the funeral had been a large number of spiritual, army, party and political delegations, most notably Caretaker Minister May Chidiac and MPs George Edwan and Anis Nassar, representing “Lebanese Forces” leader Samir Geagea. Alaa Abou Fakher’s coffin was covered with the Lebanese flags and flower wreaths, surrounded by his family members, wife and children, amidst feelings of grief and sorrow.
In his delivered word, MP Teymour Jumblatt said today was the day to pay loyal tribute to a couragoeus, devoted young man who sacrificed his life till martyrdom, deeming him as “the martyr of the revolution.”
MP Jumblatt eulogized Alaa Abou Fakher, saying “We only have the country for which you have struggled for and gave up your life for its birth,” stressing the need to resort to the voice of reason and called for a just and fair judiciary to do justice to Alaa’s blood.
Jumblatt also called for continuing struggle together, peacefully and calmly, towards the future of Lebanon. In his delivered word, Sheikh Hassan eulogized the late Abou Fakher as the “martyr of the nation,” urging politicians to exercise prudence and wisdom and to regard responsibly the national supreme interests of the independent and constitutional state and fair governance.Sheikh Hassan also categorically deplored shooting as strictly prohibited,

Army Intelligence Agent Referred to Judiciary over Abu Fakhr Death
Naharnet/November 14/2019
An army intelligence agent involved in the Khalde incident that resulted in the death of the protester Alaa Abu Fakhr was referred to the judiciary on Wednesday. “The Intelligence Directorate has referred First Adjutant Charbel Hjeil to the relevant judicial authorities after interrogating him over the incident that resulted in the martyrdom of Alaa Abu Fakhr,” the Army Command’s Orientation Directorate said in a statement. Media reports said Hjeil was in a white vehicle carrying an army colonel when an altercation with protesters erupted in the Khalde area where demonstrators were blocking the road. An army statement issued Tuesday had said that military personnel opened fire in a bid to disperse protesters.

Amnesty Urges Civilian Probe in Abu Fakhr Death as Taalabaya Protesters Clash with Army
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 14/2019
Amnesty International on Thursday condemned the killing of Lebanese protester Alaa Abu Fakhr and said it must be investigated by civilian and not military prosecutors. “Only a fully independent court can bring justice to Alaa and his family,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director. Abu Fakhr is the second fatality since the start of the demonstrations. Another protester, Hussein al-Attar, was shot early on in the movement as demonstrators blocked the airport road.
On Thursday, protesters clashed in at least two places with security forces attempting to re-open blocked roads. Television network LBCI aired video footage appearing to show protesters in Taalbaya in the eastern region of Bekaa, throwing rocks and plastic chairs at soldiers, who do not respond.
In the evening, army troops scuffled with protesters trying to re-block the Jal el-Dib highway, reportedly making several arrests. The protest movement first erupted in opposition to a proposed tax on calls made via free phone apps, but it has since grown into a cross-sectarian outcry against everything from perceived state corruption to rampant electricity cuts.

Farnaud: To form a government capable of restoring confidence
NNA – Thu 14 Nov 2019
Director of the Department of North Africa and the Middle East at the French Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Christophe Farnaud, on Thursday highlighted the necessity to swiftly form an efficient and active government that would be able to restore confidence and fulfil the aspirations of the Lebanese people.
“The hardships Lebanon is witnessing are critical and they are a matter of concern for everybody,” Farnaud told a news conference at the French Embassy in Beirut. “France has always stood by the side of Lebanon in both the good and bad times, and we are aware of the current crisis, which is an economic, political and social one,” the French envoy said. “The goal of visit us to hear and understand what the Lebanese want and not to impose solutions,” he explained, adding that his mission “comes within the frame of the deep friendship between the two countries and the respect of Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

Upbeat Aoun says government might see light within days
NNA -Thu 14 Nov 2019
President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, on Thursday affirmed that contacts in a bid to form a new government “have come a long way”, expressing hope that a new cabinet would see the light within the coming few days “now that designation and cabinet formation obstacles have been eliminated.”The President’s words came before a visiting delegation of economic bodies in Lebanon to whom he highlighted the importance of cooperation dealing with the repercussions that have ensued as a result of the current situation. “The security forces have begun to open roads, which facilitates movement among regions and reboots the economic wheel, even if gradually,” Aoun said. In turn, the delegation of economic bodies, which included Caretaker Minister of Telecoms, Mohammad Choucair, Secretary General and head of Beirut Traders’ Association, Nicolas Chammas, and President of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, Fadi Gemayel, briefed the President on the circumstances of the commercial, industrial, and contractors’ establishments as a result of the recent developments and the damage caused by the ill-fated events, as well as the material losses suffered by workers in these sectors. On the diplomatic scene, President Aoun met with Canadian Ambassador, Emmanuelle Lamoureux, Norwegian Ambassador, Lenny Natasha Lindh, and Swiss Charge d’Affaires, Simon Aman, who conveyed their countries’ concern vis-à-vis the political and security developments in Lebanon, as well as the popular protests and their resonance. President Aoun explained to the three diplomats what was happening within the political and security arenas, and the circumstances that have taken place in recent weeks. “Work is underway to address these events, especially with regard to the economic situation and the formation of a new government,” Aoun said. He pointed out that the demands made by protesters were the subject of follow-up, and would top the agenda of the future government. The three diplomats expressed hope that “the coming days will witness more stability and security in Lebanon.” On the other hand, President Aoun received Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon, Nazih al-Najari, who paid him a farewell visit marking the end of his diplomatic mission in Lebanon. The President hailed the efforts exerted by Ambassador Al-Najari to strengthen and develop Lebanese-Egyptian relations in all fields, wishing him success in his new responsibilities at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Lebanon’s Aoun hopes a government is formed in the coming days
Reuters, Al Arabiya EnglishThursday, 14 November 2019
Lebanon’s President Michael Aoun on Thursday said on his official Twitter account that he has hope in the possibility of the formation of a new government in the coming days. The demands of the protesters will be among the first goals of the incoming government, Aoun said. “We’re following up on the demands of the protesters and it will be an integral goal of the government which we are working on forming soon,” the first of Aoun’s three tweets said.

Lebanon: Aoun’s Political ‘Confrontation’ with Protesters Takes Center Stage
Beirut – Mohamed Choucair/Asharq Al Awsat/November 14/2019
Lebanon ushered in a new political stage after recent statements made by President Michel Aoun in a televised interview, a senior government official said. The official, who was not identified, noted that the president has entered in a “political confrontation” with protesters, putting the government crisis in second place after it was the main concern of the Lebanese. The official told Asharq Al-Awsat that Aoun should not have placed himself at loggerheads with anti-government demonstrators, especially since journalists Sami Kulaib and Nicolas Nassif, who conducted the interview, tried to create the appropriate atmosphere for him to address protesters with flexibility. But, instead, the president’s remarks ignited further street protests and a rally near the Baabda presidential palace. The official also stressed that resolving the government crisis was no longer a priority at least in the coming hours, adding that contacts on the cabinet formation froze.He revealed that the president’s remarks did not serve efforts to boost binding consultations that Aoun has yet to call for following the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Oct 29. The official also emphasized that Aoun’s comments on Hariri did not encourage the caretaker PM to reconsider his decision on his appointment to form the new government. He noted that he was surprised by recent comments by the head of the FPM, caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, about “positive and encouraging atmospheres” regarding the consultations.
“Where this optimism derives from?” he asked. He said that Bassil, who is Aoun’s son-in-law, was seeking to send a message to the people that he was still a top decision maker, despite being heavily criticized by the anti-government protesters. The government official noted that the Shiite duo, formed by the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, was showing flexibility and openness with Hariri. He added that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s insistence on Hariri’s return to the premiership reflected his understanding with his Shiite ally about Hariri’s key role in dealing with the international community. The source stressed that Aoun was on an understanding with the Shiite duo that the distribution of ministers between technocrats and politicians must be fair. Despite his call in the interview for the formation of a cabinet made up of technocrats and politicians, the protesters have stuck to their demands for a government of experts.

Hariri Meets Aides of Nasrallah, Berri, Wants Consensus on ‘Competent’ PM Candidate
Naharnet/November 14/2019
Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri wants the new government to be led by a figure who can confront the economic challenges, a media report said. “Consultations over the alternative are ongoing and Hariri wants to be a partner in facilitating things through securing consensus on a competent figure who can confront the economic challenges,” MTV quoted Center House sources as saying on Thursday evening. “Reports that the camp concerned with the designation of a premier is awaiting answers about suggested candidates are baseless, because Hariri’s answers have been passed on to the presidency,” the sources added. OTV meanwhile identified three figures nominated for the premiership as Mohammed Safadi, Osama Mekdashi and Walid Alameddine. TV networks later reported that Hariri was meeting with Hizbullah secretary-general’s aide Hussein al-Khalil and Speaker Nabih Berri’s aide Ali Hassan Khalil. “The meeting tackled the governmental situation after Hariri’s insistence on heading an exclusively technocrat government to address the social and economic crisis, amid calls for forming a political government containing some technocrats that largely resembles the current government,” LBCI TV said.

Hariri receives Italian Defense Minister
NNA -Thu 14 Nov 2019
Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri received this evening at the Center House the Italian Minister of Defense Lorenzo Guerini and a high-level delegation from the ministry headed by the Italian Chief of Defense Staff General Enzo Vecciarelli, in the presence of the Italian Ambassador to Lebanon Massimo Marotti, former Minister Ghattas Khoury, and Hariri’s advisor for military affairs, Brigadier General Maroun Hitti. The meeting focused on the bilateral relations and the military cooperation programs between Lebanon and Italy.

Berri tackles current situation with Bou Saab, UN’s Kubis
NNA -Thu 14 Nov 2019
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Thursday received at his Ain Tineh residence Caretaker National Defense Minister, Elias Bou Saab, with whom he discussed the current political and security situation in the country. On emerging, Minister Bou Saab said he discussed with Speaker Berri the security situation in the country since the eruption of the popular movement. Bou Saab also offered condolences on the martyrdom of Alaa Abou Fakher, calling on the concerned judiciary to hold swift and transaprent investigation into the painful incident. The Minister also indicated the recent attempt to build a wall in Nahr Kalb was very dangerous and an outright reminder of the civil war. “The Lebanese Army and security forces cannot be compassionate with anyone who tries to drag us back to this stage,” he added. Later, Speaker Berri met with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jan Kubis, with whom he discussed the general economic situation in the country and the issue of the government formation. On the other hand, Berri cabled his Tunisian counterpart, Rachid Ghannouchi, on the occasion of his election as the Speaker of the Tunisian Parliament.

Reports: Hariri Agrees with Hizbullah, FPM, AMAL on Naming Mohammed Safadi as PM
Naharnet/November 14/2019
Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has agreed with Hizbullah, the AMAL Movement and the Free Patriotic Movement on nominating ex-finance minister and businessman Mohammed Safadi for the premiership, several Lebanese TV networks reported late on Thursday.
The reports emerged after a Center House meeting between Hariri and the political aides of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Speaker Nabih Berri. Center House sources meanwhile told the Hariri-affiliated Mustaqbal Web news portal that the discussions tackled consensus on Safadi’s nomination but not the shape of the new government or al-Mustaqbal Movement’s participation in it. Social media activists meanwhile erupted in anger over the news as a protest got underway outside Safadi’s house in Tripoli.

Major roads reopened in Lebanon after 2-day closure
News Agencies/November 14/2019
BEIRUT: Lebanese troops reopened major roads around Lebanon Thursday after a two-day closure triggered by a TV interview with President Michel Aoun in which he called on protesters to go home. The roads linking Beirut with the country’s south and north were opened shortly before noon Thursday, as well as others around the country. Protesters have been holding demonstrations since Oct. 17 demanding an end to widespread corruption and mismanagement by the political class that has ruled the country for three decades.
Aoun said Thursday that the demands of protesters are being followed adding that “they will be among the top priorities of the government that we are working on forming in the near future.”Aoun expressed hopes in comments released by his office that a new Cabinet “will be formed in the coming days” after removing obstacles that have been delaying the formation. Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned his government on Oct. 29, meeting a key demand of the protesters. Since then there have been disagreements over the new Cabinet as Hariri insists it should be made up of technocrats who will concentrate on solving Lebanon’s worst economic and financial crisis in decades while other politicians, including Aoun, want it to be a mixture of technocrats and politicians. “Dealing with the developments should be based on national interests that need cooperation from all sides to achieve pursued goals,” Aoun said.
Caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil tweeted that the priority is to form a “salvation government” and prevent anyone from taking the country into a confrontation. Bassil is Aoun’s son-in-law and close aide. The opening of the roads came a day after protesters started building a wall inside a tunnel on the highway linking Beirut with north Lebanon leading to an outcry by the public who saw it as a reminder of the 1975-90 civil war. In the town of Jal Al-Dib, just north of Beirut, troops pushed away protesters from the highway and removed barriers that had been blocking the road since Tuesday night. In the town of Choueifat south of Beirut, thousands of people attended the funeral of a 38-year-old father who was shot dead by a soldier at a protest Tuesday night. Alaa Abou Fakher’s death marked the first such fatality since the economically driven demonstrations against the government engulfed the country last month.
That protest was ignited by comments made by Aoun in a televised interview, in which he said there could be further delays before a new government is formed. Abou Fakher’s coffin was carried through the streets of Choueifat as women dressed in black threw rice on it from balconies in a traditional Lebanese gesture. Bank employees announced they will continue with their strike on Friday for the fourth day amid concerns for their safety as some of them have been subjected to insults by bank clients who were not allowed to withdraw as much as they wanted from their accounts. The country’s lenders are imposing varying capital controls that differ from bank to bank, fueling the turmoil.

Bou Saab Says Firing on Protesters Prohibited, Slams ‘Civil War’ Scenes
Naharnet/November 14/2019
Caretaker Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab on Thursday said he has called on the judiciary to carry out “speedy and transparent investigations” into the incident that resulted in the death of the protester Alaa Abu Fakhr, urging a “comprehensive probe” not limited to the detained army intelligence agent who opened fire. “This is rejected and we can never accept gunfire against the protesters or any bloodshed,” Bou Saab said after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh. “We also tackled the tensions that surged over the past two days, especially what happened in Jal el-Dib, the attempts to build walls in Nahr al-Kalb and on the road leading to the South, and the blocking of roads, which reminded us of civil war and of what happened in 1975,” the minister added. “This is dangerous and security agencies can no longer be lenient with any person who might think of going back to that period, which we do not want and which the Lebanese do not want to remember,” Bou Saab went on to say. Acknowledging that the protest movement’s demands are “rightful” and that protesters “have the right to demonstrate and express their opinion,” the minister noted that the protest movement is “not responsible for what happened.”“But what is not accepted is the attempt by some parties to exploit such circumstances to score points or take political positions in order to strengthen themselves in negotiations taking place somewhere else,” Bou Saab added.

Protesters Reopen Major Tunnel, other Roads after 2-Day Closure
Associated Press//Naharnet/November 14/2019
Major roads around Lebanon have been reopened after a two-day closure triggered by a TV interview with President Michel Aoun in which he called on protesters to go home. The roads linking Beirut with the country’s south and north were opened shortly before noon Thursday, as well as others around the country. The opening of the roads came a day after protesters started building a wall inside Nahr el-Kalb tunnel on the highway linking Beirut with north Lebanon leading to an outcry by the public who saw it as a reminder of the 1975-90 civil war. In Nahr el-Kalb, protesters embarked on a cleaning campaign scrubbing the tunnel’s walls with soap and water as a good will gesture. They even decorated it with flowers. Protesters have been holding demonstrations since Oct. 17 demanding an end to widespread corruption and mismanagement by the political class that has ruled the country for three decades.

Loyalty to the Resistance: Meeting people’s rights entails cooperation
NNA – Thu 14 Nov 2019
“Loyalty to the Resistance” parliamentary bloc on Thursday called on the Lebanese to beware the dangers of the current stage, “which requires adherence to the preservation of unity and civil peace, as well as solutions to the severe financial and economic crises.””Meeting the rightful demands of the honest Lebanese entails cooperation and convergence, not to mention keeping the doors open and dialogues in place,” the parliamentary bloc said, stressing the need to save the national economy and protect internal stability. The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc also called on all blocs to contribute to the adoption of laws that help to fight corruption, calling on the judiciary to assume its responsibilities and to hold those corrupt accountable and recover looted funds. The bloc then rejected “US interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs” and condemned “the statements of US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.”

Bassil Warns of ‘Separation Wall’
Naharnet/November 14/2019
Caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on Thursday described a wall constructed and later removed by protesters under Jounieh’s Nahr el-Kalb bridge as “isolation wall.”“The priority today is to form a government of salvation and prevent destructive thought from taking the country into a clash. Beware of the walls of segregation that drag people into infighting,” said Bassil in a tweet. He added addressing his Free Patriotic Movement partisans: “You must not make any reaction because the conspiracy is starting to unfold and the good people among demonstrators and people at home will bring it down. ”On Wednesday, protesters inside Jounieh’s Nahr al-Kalb tunnel removed a cement wall they were constructing earlier.

Rahi Meets Bassil: To Form Govt. Trusted by People
Naharnet/November 14/2019
Maronite Patriarch Beshara el-Rahi emphasized during talks with caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil the “need to form a government that people trust,” the National News Agency reported on Thursday.
He said a “new government must be formed as soon as possible and it must be trusted by the people,” he told Bassil. NNA said discussions focused on the latest developments in Lebanon.Earlier, reports said that in the last few hours Rahi and Bassil held several contacts and the two agreed to meet.

Rouhani: Some Want to Alter Course of Protests in Lebanon and Iraq
Naharnet/November 14/2019
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States of fueling protests in Lebanon and Iraq, Iranian media said on Thursday. Rouhani was quoted as saying that “some plan to turn the demonstration in Lebanon into a civil war.” “Iraqi people took to the streets to defend their rights. Who deflected this popular movement? The same is true in Lebanon,” he said. Rouhani reportedly accused the United States of seeking to exploit the wave of demonstrations in Lebanon and turn it into an internal war. He said in a statement: “America is no longer an invincible power, its strength today is not greater than before.”

‘We won’t back down’: Anger mounts in Lebanon after protester shot dead and president tells anyone unhappy to leave country
Gemma Fox/Independent/November 14/2019
President told demonstrators that they should ’emigrate’ as protest movement is threatening Lebanon’s interests
Demonstrators burnt tyres and barricaded main roads across Lebanon on Wednesday, incensed by the news that a soldier had killed a protester in what is the first casualty of the weeks-long civil disobedience. Protesters were also marching on the presidential palace, outraged at President Michel Aoun’s call for those taking part in the rallies to emigrate, else risk plunging the country into “catastrophe”.The country has been gripped by 28 days of protests with tens of thousands taking to the streets to voice their anger at perceived government corruption, inefficiency and the worst economic crisis since the 15-year civil war in 1990. Banks and schools remained closed for a second straight day. They have been shut for much of the four weeks since the start of the protests. Alaa Abou Fakher, a local official and supporter of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), was shot on Tuesday evening in Khalde, south of Beirut, when soldiers tried to disperse protesters blocking the road. The soldier has been arrested and the army said it was launching an investigation. PSP leader Walid Joumblatt, however, urged his supporters to remain calm as he visited the hospital where Abou Fakher had been taken.
Tributes have been pouring out on social media to the father of three, described as a “martyr of the revolution”. In Tripoli, which has been home to some of the largest rallies, a mural was painted in commemoration. “He is Lebanon’s martyr … his blood is the responsibility of everyone occupying a post from the president on down,” one demonstrator in Khalde told Reuters news agency. “Today, here, it is civil disobedience.”

AMCD Calls on Trump to Press Erdogan on ISIS Murder of Priest in NE Syria
WASHINGTON, DC, USA, November 13, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ — On President Erdogan’s visit to the White House today, the American Mideast Coalition for Democracy (AMCD) is urging president Trump to forcefully bring up the murder of Armenian Catholic Father Hovsep Bedoyan and his father in Northeast Syria – the area from which US forces withdrew allowing Turkey to invade.
“President Erdogan assured the US that Turkey would prevent any ISIS resurgence in the area,” said AMCD co-chair Tom Harb. “So Turkey must be held ultimately responsible for this horrific murder for which ISIS has claimed responsibility.”
It has long been suspected that Turkey actually aided ISIS in Syria (both by allowing ISIS fighters transit over Turkish soil, and by indirectly supplying arms). Indeed the Muslim Brotherhood-allied militias operating under Turkish auspices differ little from ISIS in terms of ideology.
“President Trump must insist on the protection of minorities in what is now Turkish-controlled territory in Northeastern Syria,” stated AMCD co-chair, John Hajjar. “The murder of this innocent priest cannot be swept under the carpet of major power politics.”
Rebecca Bynum
The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy

Titles For The Latest Lebanese LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 14-15/2019
From 2006 Archive/Michel Aoun: A psychotic Lust For The Presidency
Elias Bejjani/December 22/06
Analysis/As Protests Refuse to Abate, Lebanon Is on the Verge of a Financial Abyss. Here’s How It Got There/Zvi Bar’el/Haaretz/November 14/2019
Lebanon uprising: the road to reform?/Christina Farhat/Annahar/November 14/2019
A Cacophonous Revolution: When pans and pots become the voice of the protests/Nessryn Khalaf/Annahar/November 14/2019
Suppression is Tehran’s Next Step in its new Colonies/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/November 14/2019
The Lebanese revolution must abolish the kafala system/Joey Ayoub /Aljazeera/November 14/2019

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 14-14/2019
From 2006 Archive/Michel Aoun: A psychotic Lust For The Presidency
Elias Bejjani/December 22/06
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/elias.english06/aoun.elias9.e.21.12.06.htm
Analysis/As Protests Refuse to Abate, Lebanon Is on the Verge of a Financial Abyss. Here’s How It Got There
Zvi Bar’el/Haaretz/November 14/2019
Lebanon’s central bank, once the symbol of stability, is beginning to look like the main reason for the economic failure Hariri is running away from
A few years ago, Banque du Liban, the Lebanese central bank, asked the publishing company of the As-Safir newspaper to write them a book called “50 Years: The Bank Responsible for the Stability of the Nation and the State.”
During the same period, the Lebanese national airline was showing an advertising video on its flights describing what Banque du Liban was doing for the public and the state. It wasn’t an optional film. Like the safety instructions that are screened, passengers couldn’t switch channels. They were a captive audience for the propaganda of the bank that for more than a quarter century has been headed by Riad Salameh.
Banque du Liban has historically been considered a stable and stabilizing influence on the Lebanese economy. Since its founding in 1964, it has been a symbol of orderly government that conveys financial capability, the reason Lebanon was known as the Switzerland of the Middle East in the financial sense of the term. But it seems as if Salameh is the only senior economist who understood that the Lebanese economy could not rely merely on a stable bank as a gatekeeper.
Economists are now trying to understand how and why Lebanon is on the verge of a financial abyss, with a national debt that’s 155 percent of the gross national product and stormy demonstrations that filled the streets and brought down the government. Both Salameh and the bank he heads are starting to look like the main reason for the economic failure. It’s true that seven years ago Salameh started to warn against the distorted situation in which the average household’s debt was 55 percent of its income. Most families had no choice but to take more and more loans to make ends meet, to buy cars or apartments, or to pay for their children’s schools.
Data quoted last week in the Al-Akhbar newspaper from central bank reports show that the public over the years has taken consumer loans totaling $21 billion. This does not include housing loans, which total $13 billion. The public is paying $1.5 billion in interest on this debt, a sum that comes at the expense of savings. It also reduces consumption and undermines growth.
Under other circumstances, these loans could have been a way to increase growth and strengthen at least the homebuilding industry as a springboard for development. The problem is that even with mortgages, Lebanese have a hard time buying an apartment or upgrading their housing situation because of prices that have skyrocketed as the bank heaped money on borrowers. Now many of the borrowers can’t pay back the loans, while others have spread out their payments.The economic burden on all households has increased because of the general rise in prices and the limited number of jobs, especially among the weaker populations that are being forced to compete with cheap Syrian labor.
The decrease in revenues as well as widespread tax evasion have caused state tax revenues to fall in 2015 from 75 percent of total revenues to a low of 50 percent, at least according to official data. As a result, the state is unable to pay its debts without dramatically increasing taxes, but doing so could lead to a civilian revolt.
Theoretically, Lebanon has a funding source available — the $11 billion in aid promised to it by donor countries. However, this aid comes with conditions that include political stability and deep economic reform. Political stability does not exactly describe the situation in Lebanon after Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri resigned, and it isn’t clear how and when a new government will emerge.
As for economic reforms, many were already proposed by Hariri on the eve of his resignation. Among the reforms he suggested was a deep cut in the salaries of senior officials like ministers and MPs, the allocation of $160 million to aid the needy, doubling the taxation on bank profits and most importantly – a demand from the central bank and banks to help fund the deep budget deficit.
According to the draft budget, no new taxes will be imposed on the public. Hariri’s government continues to manage the state as a transitional government and it could be that he might even agree to be reappointed prime minister. But it’s doubtful that he’ll be able to move his reforms forward. Lebanese banks are owned by veteran families that won’t allow the political elite who depend on them (and some of whom own banks or bank shares) to undermine their profitability.
It’s the banks which have traditionally helped Lebanese governments out of financial crises by giving them generous loans, for which they collected an inflated amount of interest that only deepened the governmental debt. These banks are working together with the central bank, but in fact, dictate fiscal policy to its governor.
Hariri is now aiming for the banks to bankroll a portion of the national debt’s interest this year. By doing so, he could present a budget with a low deficit and convince donor countries to open their wallets. As in the past, the banks may agree once again to pay for some of the government debt’s interest, but it will be interesting to see what payment they will demand down the line. Hariri seems to be hoping to show profits from offshore oil and gas drilling within a year. And yes, there are also protests which refuse to dissolve.

Lebanon uprising: the road to reform?
Christina Farhat/Annahar/November 14/2019
LIFE is a worldwide membership organization of Lebanese professionals based in the diaspora and was founded in 2009
BEIRUT: The Centre for Lebanese Studies and Life co-hosted a discussion titled Lebanon Uprising: the road to reform, delving into the small Mediterranean country’s economic woes while offering solutions moving forward.
LIFE is a worldwide membership organization of Lebanese professionals based abroad and was founded in 2009 with the aim of providing a platform to channel the influence of Lebanese executives active in fields related to finance worldwide through its three pillars: CONNECT, NURTURE, PROMOTE.
Maha Shuayb, Director of the Center for Lebanese Studies, stressed that sectarianism alone can’t be blamed for the civil war, and the current state of Lebanon, citing inequality, at the education level, as playing a significant role.
“There was a misdiagnosis of the root cause of the civil war. It’s socioeconomic. The misdiagnosis that it was sectarian was cited as the common term: ‘it’s a deeply divided society.’ Is it because of sectarianism, or is there another reason? 26% of Lebanese attend public primary schools or state schools, many of them don’t make it to university. 30% of the total student population is enrolled in public schools.” Shuayb said.
Jackson, Nicks enter hall with encouragement for women
Paul Raphael, Executive Vice-Chairman of UBS bank and founder of Life, compared the current economic situation of Lebanon to being akin to a family with “high credit card debt and high-interest rates.”
“If you liken Lebanon to a family that has racked up a lot of debt, what happens in these sorts of households is what needs to happen in Lebanon. There’s no one solution, and there are no easy solutions.” Raphael said in the discussion.
Raphael stressed that adopting a sustainable fiscal consolidation plan is necessary for moving forward. “The first thing you do is stop spending. The state spends more than it receives…We feel strongly that whatever you do needs to be sustainable, a one-time tax isn’t helpful. We need a fiscal consolidation plan that’s sustainable. In any way you look at it there will be a social cost; ideally, this would tax the public the least.” Raphael said in the discussion.
Life has also released an in-depth economic paper that includes a number of policies and suggestions aimed at stopping Lebanon from drifting towards an economic meltdown, which can be viewed here.

A Cacophonous Revolution: When pans and pots become the voice of the protests
Nessryn Khalaf/Annahar/November 14/2019
BEIRUT: Cookware cacophony has been the spotlight of the Lebanese protests during the past few days, as protesters resorted to banging their pots and pans to denounce the country’s endemic corruption and escalating crisis.
The phenomenon known as “cacerolazo,” which originates from “cacerola” -the Spanish word for pan or cooking pot, is a rampant form of protest in Latin America that resurfaced outside the continent in the past few years and gained prominence around the world.
It was first reported as a form of manifestation in Chile in 1971 when people used their empty pots and pans to protest the country’s atrocious food shortages under President Salvador Allende’s government. The same empty pans whose grievous banging sounds filled the streets of Chile later became tumultuous revolutionary weapons in Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Syria, Turkey, and now Lebanon.
“While my pans may be empty because my family can barely afford to bring food home anymore, the unanimous sound of our unity and pleas is anything but void,” explained Zeina Hammoud, an elderly protester living in Zarif who bangs her pans every night when she hears her neighbors doing it.
She told Annahar that while her deteriorating health has prevented her from joining everyone else in the streets, banging her pans to protest has been her way of expressing her dissent and disapproval of the government’s performance.
“My kitchenware is the dearest to my heart, and now I can finally use my favorite utensils to make a political statement,” she added.
While many believe the phenomenon to be futile, Lebanese demonstrators have managed to unanimously incorporate it into their daily protests in an amusing and pacific way.
“If only a few people were doing it, then even I would have found it useless and irritating, but since thousands of us are banging our pans as a harmless form of protesting, then it’s only a matter of time before this is observed nationwide,” Sara Tawil, a university student protesting in Riad al-Solh, told Annahar.
The people’s desire to feel part of something much bigger than themselves is what drives them to find new means of protesting collectively, and the “cacerolazo” is their paragon of unity. Most citizens who could not previously leave their homes can now protest in their most personal spaces- their balconies and windows.“Having a newborn at home is the only reason why I haven’t demonstrated in the streets yet, but now my neighbors and I bang our pans every night in solidarity with the thousands whose cries are tantamount to our screaming pots and pans,” explained Lina Khatib, a Lebanese housewife from Ras El Nabeh. However, creating harmonious music out of the banging sounds has also been observed, as protesters in Tripoli’s al-Noor Square and Beirut’s Riad al-Solh were seen beating their kitchenware to produce popular Lebanese Dabke tunes and well-known melodies by Fairouz. After all, what is a Lebanese revolution without a touch of pop culture? Now people at home can also partake in the ardent protests and make them even more blaring with the noise of their banging pans. The people are no longer cooking just food with their pans, for now they also boil with the ardor and zeal of the burgeoning Lebanese revolution.

Suppression is Tehran’s Next Step in its new Colonies
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/November 14/2019
I am not sure how true or accurate was the report published by some Lebanese newspapers about a visit by the Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem Al-Freij to Tehran, a few years ago.
In that visit the Iranian leadership allegedly told Al-Freij that Tehran had already invested more than 20 billion US Dollars and would want “collateral” for its human, political and military “sacrifices”: a vast swathe of land extending from northern to southern Syria.
According to that report, and upon the minister informing Bashar Assad of Tehran’s demands, Russia’s intervention began to take a more direct nature short of an open confrontation with Iran, its tactical ally.
Russia began massive deployment in northwest Syria including the Alawite Mountains and the Valley of the Christians (also known as Wadi Al-Nadhara). Later, the Russians extended their military presence southwards in the shape of the Fifth Brigade.
Russia’s intervention in the northeast was obliquely intended to protect the Alawite and Christian minorities none of which would entertain living under the influence of the “Vali e Faqih”. The Fifth Brigade also provided a third religious minority, the Druze, a tiny chance of protection against Iranian expansion led by the Hezbollah militia. Indeed, the latter now holds sway in the Hawran region (southern Syria), as it works on establishing the “Tehran – Beirut Corridor”.
The above is quite relevant given what is taking place in Iraq and Lebanon, and the impending de facto partition of Syria.
It seems obvious that the Iranian leadership – which is fully dependent on the might of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) inside Iran – would never relinquish the hegemony it has gained throughout the Arab world since 1979.
It is unimaginable that Tehran would forego the billions of dollars it has spent on expansions and on entrenching its occupation of Arab lands. It is also impossible Tehran that would let go of its current successful historical “revenge” which constitutes the ethos of the political and sectarian Iranian regime, even if the price was rivers of blood of Shiite Arabs, after mass displacement of Sunni Arabs, without sparing even Christian Arabs!
The challenge to Iranian hegemony in Iran, spreading from Karbala to Nasseriyyah, Al-Najaf, to Al-Amarah, and Al-Hillah to Basra; all of which in the Shiite heartland is no mean feat. This is something that neither the IRGC’s Qasem Soleimani nor his Iraqi henchmen could keep quiet about.
The scene is similar in southern and northeast Lebanon. The Shiite towns of Nabatiyeh, Tyre, Kfar Rumman and Baalbeck have joined the popular uprising, as the TV appearances and implicit threats of Hezbollah’s Secretary General have become as frequent as soap operas.
Back in Iraq, as its uprising gathers pace as does confronting it with bullets, security forces have escalated its measures by attempting to limit demonstrations in the capital Baghdad to the Tahrir Square in the Rasafa bank of River Tigris. Technically, this means stifling the uprising and turning it into a “folkloric scene” before the media, but politically, this attempt reflects the insistence of the Iraqi government and its pro-Iran security apparatus on separating the social and political demands. In this they want to claim that financial and political corruption have nothing to do with the state of hegemony that prevents accountability, and subsequently, punishment.
The same is also true in Lebanon. It is unthinkable that rampant corruption involving billions of dollars would exist in a normal and genuine state, run by proper governments, and held accountable by a representative parliament. However, this is exactly the case!
In both Iraq and Lebanon, Iran, through the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and Hezbollah, runs the political and security scene, and dominates the civil service and judiciary. Thus, no corruption exists away from this status quo, and those who benefit from, cooperate with and are protected by it!
So far, however, there are some differences between the Iraqi and the Lebanese cases, including:
1 – Suppression in Iraq has been bloody, unlike what has been seen so far in Lebanon where Hezbollah – the only armed militia in the country – has not started an “all-out war” on its opponents.
2 – The fast collapsing economic situation is keeping Lebanon’s protesters focused on social issues and corruption, rather than openly touching on Hezbollah’s de facto “occupation”. Although most wise Lebanese realize the direct link between the “occupation” and corruption. They would prefer, at this stage, to avoid provoking the excessive force of the pro-Iran militia, and pushing it to go for a damaging bloody suppression.
3 – While the governmental power in Iraq is openly and clearly in the hands of the Shiite political and pro-Iran militia leaderships, Lebanon’s constitution is pluralistic. Lebanon boasts an influential Christian president and a Sunni prime minister, whose sectarian status allowed him to resign in an indirect challenge to Iranian threats delivered by Hezbollah.
4 – Unlike Iraq, Lebanon borders Israel, which demands Iran’s special attention and calculations.
Still, Iran may eventually decide on opting for a military solution. It may think that the time is right as Syria advances towards realistic partition – albeit in a federal cloak – and as regional and global sectors of influence are being created on Syrian soil. Also in the background are Turkey’s miscalculations, Israel’s continued governmental crises fueled by the now familiar bickering and a foggy global scene made ever more dangerous by American chaos, Russian encroachment and European confusion.
According to Tehran’s calculations, the world community on whose divisions on the nuclear agreement it has gambled successfully would be unable to agree on a strategy to contain its onslaught against its opponents.
Despite this scenario, there is still room for optimism. The “Iranian plan”, which has demonized the Sunni Muslims through accusing them of being an incubator of ISIS and presenting Tehran as a “partner” in the “war on terrorism” (Sunni, of course) with external collusion, has been dealt a strong blow from within the Shiite heartlands.
It has been brought down by the Shiites before all others; indeed, from Karbala with all its sectarian symbolism!
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi may say whatever he wants, and theorize as he pleases, in defending an abnormal situation. Likewise, the Secretary General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah may continue to bet on imposing his will on the Lebanese people by threatening them with civil war and pushing his allied president to obstruct any political solution.
Both may do what they want, but there is no guarantee anymore that Iran would succeed in suppressing its new “colonies”!

The Lebanese revolution must abolish the kafala system
Joey Ayoub /Aljazeera/November 14/2019
Lebanese and foreign workers should be afforded a life of dignity in Lebanon.
On Tuesday, November 5, the 20th day of the ongoing uprising in Lebanon, an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Beirut arrived at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport. Its cargo was seven dead bodies of Ethiopian domestic workers who had died in Lebanon. According to Ethiopian journalist Zecharia Zelalem, “100s of family members, some from as far as Wolaita were at the airport in what became a mass mourning procession.”
Zelalem had previously published a long investigation into efforts by both the Lebanese and Ethiopian authorities to cover up Ethiopian deaths in Lebanon.
It is not known how these workers died as no investigation into the circumstances of their deaths was launched. The story garnered little attention in Lebanon.
Under the country’s kafala (or sponsorship) system, the legal status of migrant domestic workers is in the hands of their employers. If the employer terminates their contract, the sponsorship gets automatically cancelled, turning these workers into illegal aliens and putting them at risk of arrest and/or deportation. In addition, although confiscating passports is forbidden by law, even Minister of Labour Camille Abousleiman admitted that it still happens.
In effect, this means that foreign workers, most of whom are women, have very little means to defend themselves should the employer abuse them in any way or refuse to pay their salary, let them call their family back home or allow them to take breaks on Sundays.
If out of desperation they flee, they automatically become undocumented migrants. On the streets of Lebanon, they can find themselves as vulnerable, if not more so, than they were in their abusive workplace. If caught, they could be thrown in prison. In some, but by no means rare, cases, they end up killing themselves or being killed.
Currently, there are approximately 250,000 foreign workers – some facing abuse – in a country of more than five million which finds itself at a unique moment in history.
Today the Lebanese people are rebelling against their own abusers, the warlord-oligarch class that have dominated Lebanese politics for three decades since the end of the country’s civil war. Sectarianism, the system which pits the Lebanese against one another based on their religious denominations, is being actively challenged in the streets.
We are destroying sectarian barriers at an incredible speed. We are, quite literally, connecting north and south in a way that has left our parents’ generation baffled. Whatever happens next, what has already been achieved in the past month will resonate for years to come, and shape a whole generation, Generation Z, in a way that has even taken many millennials by surprise.
We now chant “all of them means all of them” to demand the resignation of the entire sectarian political class and to demand dignified lives for ourselves in our own country, the respect of human and civil rights.
But if we are calling for our rights, we need to be extending our concerns to foreign workers as well. The same system that we are seeking to change is abusing hundreds of thousands of foreign workers. This is why the Lebanese revolution must also call for the abolition of the kafala system.
According to Lebanon’s own intelligence agency, two foreign workers die on average every week. According to a 2008 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, roughly half of reported deaths are “classified by embassies” as suicides. In 2008, the rate was more than one a week.
In addition, foreign female workers have been arrested and deported for the “crime” of giving birth in Lebanon. Since at least 2014, several NGOs have been raising the alarm over the Lebanese government’s practices of deporting migrant workers and their children and sometimes their mothers. In many cases, these women were told that “they were not allowed to have children in Lebanon” and were given as little as 48 hours to leave the country.
And just last year, a Kenyan woman was deported after being brutally attacked with her friend by a mob in Beirut, leading many to highlight the dangers faced by men and women on the streets of Lebanon.
Currently, the government’s official position on the kafala system is to keep it for as long as possible, regardless of the suffering caused. In practice, this means excluding migrant domestic workers from Lebanon’s labour laws.
In 2019, Georges Ayda, general director of the Ministry of Labour, argued that the kafala system was needed because “you are putting a stranger within a family. When they work in houses there has to be somebody that is responsible for them.” Although Abousleiman himself likened it to “modern slavery”, it remains in place.
Comments like Ayda’s are fairly common in Lebanon and have been used time and again to justify the quasi-slavery-like conditions that migrant domestic workers are forced to work in. The fact that migrant domestic workers are also at risk when living with strangers, is ignored.
Today, there is a severe shortage of empathy towards these working-class women of colour across the Lebanese population, among protesters and supporters of the government, due to decades of normalised violence facilitated by the kafala system.
This is despite the fact that workers’ rights have been regularly brought up during the protests. Unlike previous large-scale protests, this protest wave has seen a very strong working-class presence throughout the country. It should thereby be relatively easy to include foreign domestic workers in our list of concerns.
There have already been efforts to address the issue. In 2014, the Domestic Workers’ Union (DWU) was established by six Lebanese workers and included, from the start, at least 350 foreign domestic workers of various nationalities.
The DWU has received the support of more than 100 non-governmental organisations since 2015, in addition to the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Trade Union Federation (ITUC), and the Federation of Trade Unions of Workers and Employees (FENASOL) in Lebanon. But the labour ministry has denounced the DWU as illegal.
Over the past month, there have been efforts to bring up the issue of the kafala system during demonstrations. They have led chants against racism during some of the marches, seeking to draw attention to the plight of both African and Asian workers and refugee Syrian and Palestinian populations.
There have also been marches organised in response to the xenophobic narrative being promoted by segments of the Lebanese political class and their affiliated media stations. Feminists, both Lebanese and non-Lebanese, are currently leading efforts to bring up the issue of discrimination and the kafala system, which is no coincidence, given the ways patriarchy, racism and sectarianism intersect.
But much more serious action is needed. The Lebanese revolution should demand the abolition of the kafala system and the recognition of the DWU, which supports both Lebanese and migrant domestic workers, as a very first step.
The sectarian system being opposed on the streets of Lebanon is inherently tied to the same patriarchal structures that oppress Lebanese and non-Lebanese women and LGBTQ+ as well as to the same racist structures that oppress women of colour, most notably foreign domestic workers.
The sooner we make these links, the better equipped we will be at countering the counterrevolutionary forces that are already feeling threatened by the ongoing uprising. Only through an intersectional framework would we be able to resist attempts to throw vulnerable groups of people under the bus while the rest of us protest for our dignity.