A Bundle Of English Reports, News and Editorials For March 27-28/2020 Addressing All That is happing In the Iranian Occupied & Oppressed Lebanon Compiled By: Elias Bejjani March 28/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 27-28/2020 Coronavirus: Lebanon death toll rises to 7, total of 391 infections Lebanese Ministery Of Public Health (MoPH): 391 confirmed cases, one death RHUH: 72 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases, one death Patient with coronavirus escapes hospital in Bouar Health Minister, Palestinian delegation discuss anti-coronavirus measures in refugee camps Lebanon extends country lockdown until April 12 Diab meets World Bank Regional Director, Kubis Saad Hariri: Amnesty should include Islamist prisoners Wazni meets World Bank Regional Director Information Minister thanks Lebanese media for relentless efforts raising awareness on COVID-19 Education Ministry refutes news about early end of scholastic year or cancellation of official exams Foucher urges French nationals to respect Lebanese government’s actions to combat coronavirus Berri calls for extraordinary session to reconsider expatriates’ rightful return to Lebanon Diab inspects Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH): Lebanese must remain united and in solidarity regardless of sectarian or political affiliations World Council of Churches calls for solidarity amid COVID-19 spread Beirut Airport to Remain Closed until April 12 as Algeria Expands Curfew Lebanese Drivers Stranded on Iraqi-Turkish Borders For 40 Days Lebanese Order of Physicians on Coronavirus: Don’t Hide It Don’t fall for Hezbollah’s coronavirus con/Tony Badran and Jonathan Schanzer/Washington Examinar/March 27/ 2020 Lebanon: Pandemic on Regime’s Side Against the Uprising/Hussam Itani/Asharq Al Awsat/March 27/2020 Lebanese volunteers launch heroic effort to help health workers battle coronavirus/Nicholas Frakes/The New Arab/March 27/2020 Pope’s Urbi et Orbi Blessing in Light of Coronavirus: ‘Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?’/Zenit/March 27/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on March 27-28/2020 Coronavirus: Lebanon death toll rises to 7, total of 391 infections
Tamara Abueish, Al Arabiya English/Friday 27 March 2020
Lebanon reported its seventh coronavirus-related death in the country, as the total number of infections in the country rose to 391. The latest death is of an 80 year-old who suffered from chronic illnesses, the ministry said. The Ministry of Health reported 23 new cases of coronavirus on Friday. Lebanon announced that it will impose an overnight shutdown from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting from March 27, as the country steps up its measures to prevent the virus from spreading further. Violators will face legal action, the Internal Security Forces said on Friday. The health ministry urged citizens, residents, and tourists to adhere to the regulations published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to prevent getting infected with coronavirus.
Lebanese Ministery Of Public Health (MoPH): 391 confirmed cases, one death
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
The Ministry of Public Health issued its daily report on COVID-19, which states: “To date (March 27, 2020) the number of laboratory-confirmed cases at the Hariri University Hospital and other accredited university hospital laboratories, in addition to private laboratories, has reached 391, marking an increase of 23 cases since yesterday. A coronavirus patient in his eighties, suffering from chronic diseases, was pronounced dead at the Saint George University Hospital. The Ministry stresses the need to comply with all the preventive measures, especially the full commitment to home isolation, which has become an individual and societal moral responsibility that must be shouldered by every citizen. Non-compliance will lead to legal prosecution.”
RHUH: 72 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases, one death
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
In its daily report on COVID-19 updates, the Rafik Hariri University Hospital indicated in a statement on Friday that the number of laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases had reached 72, 4 of which had been transferred to other hospitals. Also, 4 patients have fully recovered as they tested negative twice, taking the total number of recoveries to 27. The RHUH added that one death had been recorded in its intensive care unit.
Patient with coronavirus escapes hospital in Bouar
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
A Syrian diagnosed with coronavirus has escaped the Bouar Governmental Hospital where he was admitted for treatment, National News Agency correspondent reported on Friday. The fleeing patient had reportedly headed to his friends’ place in Nahr Ibrahim, which police have cordoned off.
Health Minister, Palestinian delegation discuss anti-coronavirus measures in refugee camps
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Minister of Public Health, Hamad Hassan, met Friday at his office in the ministry with a delegation of the Palestinian factions, chaired by Fathi Abu Ardat. Talks reportedly touched on the means to coordinate measures preventing the spread of coronavirus inside the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. “The protection of the Palestinian community is that of the Lebanese, and vice versa,” the Minister said following the meeting.
Lebanon extends country lockdown until April 12
AFP/March 27/2020
DUBAI: Lebanon has extended nation lockdown to April 12 and the closure of institutions and supermarkets from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. with some exceptions due to the coronavirus outbreak, local press reported on Thursday. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Lebanon has jumped to 368, an increase of 35 cases within 24 hours. There are also 360 suspected cases and 944 quarantined people. Two deaths have been recorded for patients who suffered from chronic diseases, raising the number of COVID-19 deaths in Lebanon to six.
Diab meets World Bank Regional Director, Kubis
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab met this morning with the World Bank Regional Director of the Mashreq Department, Saroj Kumar Jha, in the presence of the Minister of Defense, Zeina Akar. Talks featured high on the support the WB is ready to offer to Lebanon to fight coronavirus.
PM Diab also received UN Special Coordinator to Lebanon, Jan Kubis, with whom he discussed latest developments and means to boost bilateral cooperation to better fight coronavirus. — Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Saad Hariri: Amnesty should include Islamist prisoners
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that coronavirus is not a door for discrimination in judicial decisions, stressing the need for the amnesty law to include the Islamist prisoners.
He said on twitter: “It is a good thing for the amnesty to include those whose sentence ends in six months, but what is more important is the fate of hundreds of Islamist prisoners who are paying the price of the slowdown in trials or have been held under preventive detention for years.”
He added: “In time of coronavirus, these should be pardoned first. We have previously rejected a proposal for a general amnesty law that unfairly deals with this case. Today there is an epidemic that has limitless risks on the lives of citizens, and a general amnesty has become an urgent demand that is more important than all narrow calculations, and political considerations are no longer acceptable.” —-Hariri’s Press Office
Wazni meets World Bank Regional Director
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Finance Minister, Dr. Ghazi Wazni, me this Friday in his office at the Ministry with the World Bank Regional Director of the Mashreq Department, Saroj Kumar Jha.Talks reportedly touched on an array of matters, including the WB’s support to Lebanon in the fight against coronavirus.
Information Minister thanks Lebanese media for relentless efforts raising awareness on COVID-19
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Information Minister, Manal Abdel Samad, on Friday restored to twitter to thank the Lebanese media for their dauntless endeavors raising awareness on the novel Coronavirus. “I salute the efforts of tens of media soldiers who have devoted their time, in an act of solidarity, to spread awareness nationwide amid the prevailing tough circumstances, and to tell everyone: for your own sake, and for the sake of those you love, stay home and limit the spread of Coronavirus,” Abdel Samad tweeted.
Education Ministry refutes news about early end of scholastic year or cancellation of official exams
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Education and Higher Education Ministry’s Press Office issued a statement this Friday, in which it stressed that all circulated news through media and social networks regarding the early end of the current scholastic year or the cancellation of official exams is “absolutely groundless.”
The statement called on citizens to solely rely on news officially issued either by the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Tarek Al-Majzoub or by his media office, pointing out that promoting rumors is penalized by law.
Foucher urges French nationals to respect Lebanese government’s actions to combat coronavirus
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
French Ambassador, Bruno Foucher, called on the French community in Lebanon to “respect the measures taken by the Lebanese government to combat the outbreak of coronavirus, as it constitutes the only deterrent against the rapid spread of the virus, which may exceed the capabilities of the Lebanese health services.””The French community in Lebanon should be exemplary, and we French and Lebanese must stand side by side to [achieve] victory. From this standpoint, France was the first country to send to Lebanon medical equipment to combat coronavirus, and we will continue to stand with our Lebanese friends in the spirit of friendship that binds our two countries,” he pledged. Foucher also called on French nationals to restrict their international travel as much as possible.
Berri calls for extraordinary session to reconsider expatriates’ rightful return to Lebanon
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Speaker of the Parliament, Nabih Berri, called on the government to hold an “exceptional session at the soonest possible, in order to reconsider the issue of Lebanese expatriates who face the threat of a pandemic in their countries of residence all over the world, some of which lacking hospitals and the most basic health care services.”Berri criticized the cabinet for acting contrary to all the countries of the world, with regard to the choice of repatriating its sons who live abroad. “All these countries are seeking after their citizens to bring them back to their countries. As for us in Lebanon, we have forgotten that these people were originally pushed by the neglect of the State towards leaving the country, and yet they still enriched it with their love, loyalty, and the fruit of their labor.””Was it not enough to try to waste, if not steal, their deposits through Capital Control? Is this an attempt to steal their nationalities?” he asked.
Diab inspects Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH): Lebanese must remain united and in solidarity regardless of sectarian or political affiliations
NNA/Friday 27 March 2020
Prime Minister Dr. Hassan Diab on Friday visited the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, where he thanked the Hospital’s medical, nursing, and administrative staff for the relentless efforts and sacrifices they are offering to treat patients.
In his delivered word, Premier Diab said: “I wanted to visit the Rafik Hariri University Hospital to look into the center’s situation in light of the pressure it is facing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
I would first like to commend the terrific efforts of the hospital, and to thank the medical, nursing, and administrative staff, as well as the hospital director, Dr. Firas al Abyad, for the relentless efforts and sacrifices they are offering to treat patients.
And I have good news to relay: I have signed and submitted the letter received by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, from His Excellency the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Hamad Hassan, regarding the remaining balance of the salary and grades scale, amounting to a billion and fifty million Lebanese Pounds, in addition to the 950 million pounds that have been previously settled. Every employee of the hospital will be receiving their new salary by the end of this month. As such, the employees would have obtained their rights due by the Government.
As for professional grades and compensations thereof, which is considered a strictly administrative matter, I will ensure that hospital staff will be receiving just treatment in accessing their financial rights.
I would like to thank H.E the Minister of Public Health for the considerable efforts he is employing to equip hospitals in Lebanon, and ensuring constant monitoring of this epidemic’s spread in the country.
I am aware of the extent of the worry experienced by the Lebanese people. Truly, I deeply recognize and understand their concerns. Citizens are troubled by both the present and the future. They are concerned for their parents, children, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren.
Today, we are all faced with great challenges. And these challenges and risks do not merely target a single group, a single region, a single community, nor a single political group. This risk is facing all citizens of Lebanon. Consequently, we, the Lebanese, must remain united and in solidarity, regardless of our sectarian, political, or regional affiliations, regardless of any other consideration, as we are all confronted with the same danger. Coronavirus, much like the livelihood crisis, makes no distinctions among citizens. This is not the time to outbid nor to settle political scores.
The Ministry of Public Health, the medical and nursing personnel, hospital services, and the Red Cross are all at the service of every citizen with no exception. Therefore, the Lebanese people must, in their turn, overcome this challenging situation through unity and cooperation, through these qualities they have always proven to possess in moments of crises and when danger threatens their nation.
Today, we rely on this spirit of unity. Believe me, if we remain united, if we work hand in hand, victory can only follow.
I would like to grasp this opportunity to call on all Lebanese people to uphold this spirit of unity, to commit to the State and preserve it, as the State is the sole patron of unity. If the State collapses, God forbid, so will our stronghold. The State is a refuge to every one of us, and our trust in the State is a starting point to restoring our resilience in the face of health, financial, and political scourges affecting our country.
Based on the aforementioned, I call upon the Lebanese to commit to the measures adopted by the Government in view of protecting citizens against the spread of Coronavirus. The Government is employing great efforts to fulfil its responsibilities before the people, and will do everything in its power to comfort citizens and challenge the social consequences of this crisis. I am aware that expatriates wish to return to their country, as they have found that the measures taken by the Government are better than those adopted by the numerous countries in which they reside. We are glad that the Lebanese are expressing more trust in their home country. I know that families of expatriates are concerned. You are well aware that we have granted a four-day period to citizens wishing to return before having closed the airport. In fact, we are unable to make any exceptions before the conclusion of general mobilization period, for two reasons:
1-To protect those who wish to return. If one passenger on the plane returning to Lebanon is infected with Coronavirus, they could transmit it to numerous, if not all, passengers.
2-To curb the spread of the epidemic in the country, as a great number of infections was due to travelers who have transmitted it into the country.
The best that expatriates could do at the present time is to remain in place, in isolation, and under protection. This is for their own good.
In either case, we are looking into repatriation possibilities, and we will have a clearer idea before April 12.
God willing, we will overcome these difficult times with the least possible damage, in order to continue treating other chronic diseases suffered by Lebanon and the Lebanese.
I would like to assure our citizens that the Government is following all international developments to overcome this epidemic, and we will always be prepared to respond to any new development.
Given that this matter is the Government’s priority at this time, we have allocated approximately 60 million dollars to confront Coronavirus, to ensure the necessary equipment, material, medication, and apparatus relative to coronavirus, and to provide the necessary care to affected people in compliance with the established norms.
These are difficult times. We all wish to cooperate and rally around the State to regain the trust of the people in their country.
In fact, in lacking trust, we destroy the upholder of our immunity as a nation and as citizens. Allow me once more to thank the Minister of Public Health, and the administrative, medical, and nursing staff at the Rafic Hariri University Hospital in Beirut. May God bless your efforts.” –Grand Serail Press Office
World Council of Churches calls for solidarity amid COVID-19 spread Annahar/March 27/2020
The religious leaders also stressed on the necessity to give greater attention to the needs of the homeless, the incarcerated, the elderly and those already suffering from social isolation. BEIRUT: Representatives of Regional Ecumenical Organizations and the World Council of Churches shared called for solidarity amid the challenges that communities around the world are facing due to COVID-19. The religious leaders urged people to take precautions to avoid transmitting the virus. “It is important and urgent that we adapt our modes of worship and fellowship to the needs of this time of pandemic infection, in order to avoid the risk of becoming sources of viral transmission rather than means of grace. Our faith in the God of life compels us to protect life by doing all that we can to avoid transmitting this virus,” they said in a statement. The religious leaders also stressed that restricted movement should not lead to spiritual isolation. “Physical distancing does not mean spiritual isolation. This is an opportune time for the churches all over the world to review their role in society by safely ministering to, providing for, and caring for the poor, the sick, the marginalized, and the aged –all those who are most at risk due to COVID-19,” the statement said. The religious leaders also urged people to give greater attention to the needs of the homeless, the incarcerated, the elderly and those already suffering from social isolation. “We recognize the need for responsible leadership by the state, communities, and faith leaders alike. Governments at all levels must ensure access to correct and timely information, address the situations due to loss of livelihood and employment, especially to provide access to clean water and sanitizers and soap, to safe shelter, and to compassionate care for the most vulnerable, while aware that some of these remain challenges for many across the globe. This is also a time for profound reflection on the common good, good governance, and ethical values rooted in our traditions,” the statement added.
Beirut Airport to Remain Closed until April 12 as Algeria Expands Curfew
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
Lebanon will keep Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport closed for both private and commercial passenger flights until Apr. 12, the transport ministry said on Friday, extending a shutdown that began this month due to the coronavirus outbreak. Lebanon has recorded 391 cases of the coronavirus and seven deaths. It registered 23 cases on Friday. The latest casualty was a man in his 80s who was suffering from a chronic illness, reported the National News Agency. The airport will remain open only for flights for the military, air ambulance service, cargo, diplomatic delegations, international organizations and oil and gas drilling workers. Lebanon also extended its national lockdown by two weeks to April 12 on Thursday and announced stricter measures, banning people from leaving their homes and shutting nearly all businesses. The country has already been hit by a crippling financial crisis, and health officials have warned that the healthcare system is ill-equipped to confront a surge in cases. In the Palestinian territories, the government announced Friday that seven virus cases were registered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Health ministry spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said five cases were reported in the village of Bidu and two in Bethlehem, bringing the total cases in the Palestinian territories to 73. The ministry reported one death and 17 recoveries. Officials said the Palestinian Authority is suffering from a shortage of coronavirus test kits. The PA declared on Sunday a 14-day curfew in the West Bank in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus.
Iraq orders military to Sadr City
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, in his capacity as commander of the armed forces, ordered on Friday the deployment of military troops to Baghdad’s Sadr City to enforce a curfew in the area. Iraq reported 382 virus cases, 36 deaths and 105 recoveries as the infection spread throughout the country, including the Kurdistan region. The military has locked down areas where the virus has been detected and dispatched additional troops to the Najaf province to enforce the curfew. The cabinet extended on Thursday the lockdown until April 11, as religious figures appealed to the public to stay home.
Algeria expands curfew
Algeria, meanwhile, announced it will impose a night curfew in nine more provinces to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the prime minister’s office said on Friday. Earlier this week the government imposed a night curfew in the capital and a full lockdown in the neighboring province of Blida.
The country has so far reported 367 cases of the illness, with 25 deaths. Most cases have been in Blida, south of Algiers. The curfew extension, to be enforced from 7 pm to 7 am will include central, eastern and western provinces where coronavirus cases have been rising. There have been no reported effects on the country’s oil and gas production.
Lebanese Drivers Stranded on Iraqi-Turkish Borders For 40 Days
Beirut – Paula Astih/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
Maher Ayyash, one of the fifty Lebanese drivers stuck at the Khabour crossing on the Iraqi-Turkish border, bitterly recounts the difficult conditions they’ve been living under for 40 days now after the Turkish authorities closed the border as part of measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus. “Many drivers are lacking sufficient money to buy food and water, after spending all that they had in the past weeks. Restrictions imposed by banks have made it difficult and often impossible for their families in Lebanon to send them money,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat. Ayyash noted that drivers from other nationalities, including Greeks, and Bulgarians were stranded along with the Lebanese on the border. “But their countries’ embassies quickly interfered with Ankara, which allowed them to return to their country, unlike what is happening with us,” he explained. “Although we reached out to the Lebanese embassies in Ankara and Baghdad, and contacted a large number of Lebanese officials, our crisis has not yet come to an end,” Ayyash stressed. The head of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc, MP Taymor Jumblatt, intervened to help the stranded drivers. He contacted the Turkish ambassador to Lebanon, who explained that the entry ban was linked to measures to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, promising to make all efforts to find a solution to this issue. Saleh Hadifa, Information Officer at the PSP, said that the Turkish ambassador to Lebanon proposed a way out, saying that Turkish drivers could drive Lebanese trucks to Mersin port, to be transported onboard a ferry to Lebanon, provided that the Lebanese drivers return to Iraq until the crisis ends. However, this proposal does not seem to be a satisfactory solution for truck owners. Muhammad Breidi. The owner of nine trucks told Asharq Al-Awsat that the return of the Lebanese drivers to Iraq was costly, given that it would require that they stay in hotels for an unlimited period. “We are not able to incur any additional costs,” he emphasized.
Lebanese Order of Physicians on Coronavirus: Don’t Hide It
Beirut – Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 27 March, 2020
The head of Lebanon’s Order of Physicians, Charaf Abou Charaf, has called on the Lebanese to come forward if they have any doubts of being infected with the coronavirus even during their quarantine at home. “Everyone is responsible,” he said Thursday, adding “it’s not a shame to test positive.”“We should all cooperate to rescue ourselves, our surroundings and our country,” he stated. Abou Charaf revealed of several cases at hospitals after patients hid their symptoms of the COVID-19 disease. He said such behavior has caused great harm to Red Cross volunteers, nurses and hospital employees, who were forced to self-isolate for 14 days. On Thursday, the Ministry of Public Health indicated in its daily report on the coronavirus, that there were 35 new lab-confirmed cases, taking Lebanon’s tally to 368. “Until 26/3/2020, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases at the Rafic Hariri University Hospital, the accredited university hospital labs and private laboratories, there were 368, with an increase of 35 cases compared to the day before,” the MoPH reported. The Rafic Hariri University Hospital said Thursday that the total number of laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in patients isolated in the hospital has reached 72, including six patients transferred from other hospitals. Three new patients have fully recovered. Their PCR tests came negative twice, and all their symptoms have gone, it said. Meanwhile, the General Directorate of General Security announced it “is conducting patrols across Lebanon to ensure the compliance of citizens and residents with the general mobilization measures aimed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.”
Don’t fall for Hezbollah’s coronavirus con
Tony Badran and Jonathan Schanzer/Washington Examinar/March 27/ 2020
ملخص دراسة لطوني بدران وجوناثان شانزر نشرتها أمس واشنطن اكسامينار/عنوان الدراسة: نحذر الجميع من مغبة الوقوع في خداع حزب الله تحت ذرائع مساعدة لبنان في مواجهة فيرس الكورونا https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/84609/tony-badran-and-jonathan-schanzer-washington-examinar-dont-fall-for-hezbollahs-coronavirus-con-%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%a9-%d9%84%d8%b7%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%af%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%88/
تلخيص الياس بجاني بتصرف وحرية كاملين/27 آذار/2020
نحذر الجميع من مغبة الوقوع في خداع حزب الله تحت ذرائع مساعدة لبنان في مواجهة فيرس الكورونا فالحزب يحتل البلد ويهيمن على كل شيء فيه بالقوة والفرض وذلك خدمة للمشروع الإيراني.
دراسة معمة وعلمية وشاملة تبين تفشي حزب الله السرطاني في كل مؤسسات الدولة وتحكمه فيها والسيطرة عليها واستغلالها خدمة للمشروع الإيراني الإرهابي والتوسعي.
كما يبين بالوقائع والإثباتات تسلل الحزب الإرهابي إلى القطاع المصرفي ونخره من الداخل واستغلاله مما أدى بالخزانة الأميركية إلى وضع بنكين من البنوك اللبنانية على قوائم العقوبات والحظر مما تسبب بإقفالهما على خلفية تبيضهما الأموال لمصلحة حزب الله.
الدراسة تحذر الدول والصناديق الدولية المالية من أخطار الوقوع في خداع حزب الله المتذرع بمعالجة ومواجهة مرض فيروس كورونا لأن أي مساعدة مالية للبنان دون قيود وشروط وإشراف ومتابعة وإصلاحات وفقط عن طريق البنك الولي وصندوق النقد الولي ستكون وسيلة لبقاء وترسيخ احتلال الحزب وهيمنته على لبنان وعلى حكمه ومقدراته، وأيضاً لإنعاش الطبقة السياسة النتنة والفاسدة التي تغطي احتلال الحزب وهو بدوره يحميها ويحافظ على بقائها في السلطة.
كما تحمل الدراسة حزب الله وإيران مسؤولية إدخال فيروس الكورونا إلى لبنان عن طريق طائرة إيرانية كان على متنها اناس مصابون بالمرض.
وتشير الدراسة إلى عجز إيران عن مساعدة حزب الله مالياً كما كان الحال سابقا بسبب الأزمة المالية الخانقة التي تواجهها مما دفع حكامها الملالي ولأول مرة لطلب المساعدة من صندوق النقد الدولي في حين حزب الله يمنع هذا الصندوق من مساعدة لبنان وانتشاله من أزمته المالية لأنه أن فعل فسوف ينكشف أمره وتنفضح كل أعماله اللاشرعية التي تشمل السرقات والنهب وتهريب وتبيض أموال وتزويرها وغيرها الكثير.
Don’t fall for Hezbollah’s coronavirus con
Tony Badran and Jonathan Schanzer/Washington Examinar/March 27/ 2020
*The Lebanese system is built on graft. Its political class is corrupt beyond redemption. And at the center of it all is the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.
* Decades of corruption and mismanagement saddled Lebanon with insurmountable debt
* if Lebanon opens the books, the IMF would see how Hezbollah’s illicit finance has infected the entire economy.
*The Jammal Trust Bank in Lebanon that was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury last year “facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions through the Lebanese financial system” on behalf of a Hezbollah company
*With no one willing to foot the bill, organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank are among the few options left. But the genuine reform they require would undermine the very system on which Hezbollah and its partners depend
*Iran and Hezbollah are directly responsible for the spread of the virus. The Lebanese government has allowed flights from Iran to Beirut International Airport, even after the virus began to spread like wildfire in Iran, thereby increasing Lebanon’s exposure to COVID-19
***
Lebanon announced this month it was defaulting on all of its outstanding debt payments for the year, including $1.2 billion in eurobonds due in March. There are another $3.4 billion worth of eurobonds coming due after that. Those, too, will go unpaid.
It’s a burgeoning crisis that deserves attention — but it does not warrant the blind bailout that Beirut is trying to secure.
The defaults come as no surprise. The foreign currency reserves of Lebanon’s central bank are running on fumes. Beirut must now negotiate with bondholders to restructure its debt. Desperate for cash, the government seeks billions of dollars in assistance and handouts from international donors, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
The suffering of the Lebanese people will be featured in the headlines in the coming weeks, particularly as COVID-19 continues to claim victims across the Middle East. The people of Lebanon should get the medical support they need and request. But the Lebanese government should not be granted a lifeline. Nor should any future government, without an overhaul of the existing system. The Lebanese system is built on graft. Its political class is corrupt beyond redemption. And at the center of it all is the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.
There are those who question, even challenge, this assessment. Their arguments are reminiscent of the gaggle of analysts who have advocated for the Islamic Republic of Iran since the ill-conceived interim nuclear deal of 2013. They assert that with Western funding and encouragement, “moderates” can challenge and ultimately overcome “hardliners.” It didn’t work then for Iran, and it won’t work now for Lebanon.
The facts speak for themselves. Since October, Lebanese people from all sects and regions have taken to the streets to denounce the entire political class. As a crippling financial and economic crisis deepened, banks restricted people’s access to their own cash. Citizens can withdraw only meager sums, as little as $100 weekly. The lira, Lebanon’s currency, is pegged to the dollar and is steadily losing its value.
It was all foreseeable. Decades of corruption and mismanagement saddled Lebanon with insurmountable debt. It happened in slow motion, as the international community refrained from pushing for structural reform and instead indulged the corrupt politicians, who they believed were partners against Hezbollah. In fact, they were Hezbollah’s junior partners.
In February, the government, formed by Hezbollah and its allies, asked the IMF for technical assistance. Lebanon’s finance minister has announced a need to restructure the Lebanese banking sector, which holds a sizable chunk of the debt. Following the default, the capital of many private banks could be wiped out.Yet the government so far has rejected the IMF’s conditions for assistance. This obstinacy stems mainly (though not only) from Hezbollah. As Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, put it, the group is not opposed to IMF assistance “in principle.” However, “Lebanon must not fall under anybody’s trusteeship or hand over its financial and economic administration” to outside parties. To put it another way, if Lebanon opens the books, the IMF would see how Hezbollah’s illicit finance has infected the entire economy.
The Lebanese are fond of emphasizing the importance of foreign workers who send cash home from the diaspora. But it’s Hezbollah’s illicit finance that accounts for a significant source of foreign currency for the Lebanese economy. The Jammal Trust Bank in Lebanon that was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury last year “facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions through the Lebanese financial system” on behalf of a Hezbollah company. And this is not new. The now-defunct Lebanese Canadian Bank was at one point laundering as much as $200 million a month in narcotics proceeds. That bank was sanctioned in 2011 — the year Lebanon’s slide began, setting the stage for its current implosion.
Since then, U.S. sanctions have increasingly constrained Hezbollah’s ability to launder money through Lebanon’s banks, leading to a precipitous drop in the flow of foreign currency. The terrorist group initially tried to keep a lid on the crisis by pumping dollars from its reserves into the market while doing its best to continue paying employees across all of its operations, military or otherwise.
Yet the economic crisis is taking its toll. COVID-19 is exacerbating it. As is the case around the world, people are losing their livelihoods. To top it off, strict capital controls are denying Lebanese access to their savings.
Hezbollah’s prominence in Lebanon’s economy and politics has also led to a complete halt of cash injections from Lebanon’s longtime patron, Saudi Arabia. After years of throwing good money after bad, the Saudis could simply not justify keeping Lebanon solvent when it had so clearly become an Iranian satrapy. Senior Saudi officials say this decision will not be reversed any time soon, even as Lebanon’s economy craters.
Other patrons are also unable to step up. Iran, struggling under crippling U.S. sanctions and now a coronavirus crisis, continues its support to the group, but cannot fill the void. Nor can the French, who have expressed some willingness to help but lack the means.
With no one willing to foot the bill, organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank are among the few options left. But the genuine reform they require would undermine the very system on which Hezbollah and its partners depend — a fact evident in the Lebanese demand that any IMF program “not negatively affect the political situation in Lebanon.”
Beyond increased taxes, any worthwhile reforms would include downsizing the bloated public sector, which Hezbollah and the other sectarian barons use for patronage. The same would apply to other nontransparent tools of patronage, including the various “councils” and “funds” (e.g., the Council for the South, the Council for Development and Reconstruction, the Higher Relief Council, and the Fund for the Displaced) that the chiefs use to dole out services and shady contracts (often financed by international grants) and to enrich themselves and their partners. This is to say nothing about public utilities and ports of entry, such as the Beirut International Airport, and the Beirut seaport, where Hezbollah smuggles in whatever it pleases.
In other words, real, structural reform would undercut the instruments through which the political elite, in partnership with Hezbollah, maintain power. More to the point, it would require Hezbollah and the political elite to commit political and financial suicide.
As the crisis worsens, Lebanon’s bankers and ruling elite will be pleading for a bailout. They hope to put to the world a binary choice: saving their system or ignoring the suffering of some 6 million people. They will almost certainly cite the coronavirus as a precipitating factor, following Iran’s example.
The Iranian regime, for its part, has launched a loud public campaign to extract cash from the IMF and gain sanctions relief from the international community under the pretext of combating the coronavirus. Of course, these activists tend to ignore the fact that the current sanctions already offer an exception for humanitarian goods, granting Iran continued access to medicine and medical equipment. In fact, Iran’s imports of pharmaceuticals in the first half of 2019 increased compared to the year prior.
The Iranian people are undoubtedly suffering from the effects of COVID-19. But the regime is only interested in getting its hands on cash. This is why the regime rejected American offers to provide medical aid to the Iranian people. In addition, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has noted, regime officials have already stolen more than $1 billion the Europeans intended for medical supplies and “continue to hoard desperately needed masks, gloves, and equipment for sale on the black market.”
In Lebanon’s case, Iran and Hezbollah are directly responsible for the spread of the virus. The Lebanese government has allowed flights from Iran to Beirut International Airport, even after the virus began to spread like wildfire in Iran, thereby increasing Lebanon’s exposure to COVID-19. In addition to personnel, these flights from coronavirus-afflicted Iran carry arms shipments. These are deadly precision weapons that neighboring Israel is now openly threatening to destroy. And a war with Israel would be far worse than anything the country is now enduring.
Lebanon’s crisis, once again, is of its own doing.
Offering Lebanon help with COVID-19 testing kits and other medical gear is one thing. But a bailout without structural reform will mean perpetuating Lebanon’s corrupt system, on which Hezbollah’s criminal enterprise depends. Underwriting pro-Iranian political orders is not in the U.S. interest. This is as true during a public health crisis as when there is none. Washington’s priority must be to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its regional allies from Tehran to Beirut.
*Tony Badran is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
*Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is senior vice president for research.
Lebanon: Pandemic on Regime’s Side Against the Uprising
Hussam Itani/Asharq Al Awsat/March 27/2020
The coronavirus pandemic has already exacerbated the suffering of the Lebanese people. Fear of the spread of the virus forced private and public institutions to stop working and interrupted the academic year. It has also deepened the economic crisis which has made life extremely difficult for millions of citizens and refugees in Lebanon. However, there is more to the infection’s effect politically, as it helps the dying regime get a better grip over the public life, which has become restricted for the majority of the Lebanese and obstructs demanding reforms.
The economic and political paralysis, from which the country has been suffering for many months, was added to the lack of trust in the failed and bankrupt state’s capacity to simultaneously control two intersecting and dangerous crises, the socioeconomic crisis and the pandemic. The truth is that both of these crises are feeding each other and are providing each other with reasons to persist and spread.
There has been no severe rise in cases until now, however, medical bodies, especially public institutions [which alongside the public university and public schools were top targets of austerity policies set by subsequent governments marking comic tragedies that the Lebanese have lived for decades] are still capable of conducting the necessary tests, accommodating the ill and providing them with reasonable medical services. Private hospitals, however, stand in the backbenches wanting to generate more profits from those suffering. This is another issue, however.
This partial control over the disease in Lebanon and the shifting of work of many companies, schools and universities remotely, has provided the political authorities with an opportunity to take a breath and recommence its interests in the issues that led to the uprising last October. The current government seems to be working at a fast pace to issue a series of laws and procedures that will have long-term economic and political implications, such as restructuring the debt, instituting “capital control” and putting restrictions on foreign currency. This could change the nature of the entire Lebanese economic system and may reach a point where it is excluded from the global (or western banking system as some would like to call it) constructing an alternative cash-based system following the suit of countries such as Iran, Syria, and Venezuela. It is no secret that a change of this kind, regardless of its social implications in a country that is organically connected to the global economy, will pose many questions about the function of the economy and how it will provide the Lebanese with their income and the markets that will receive their products. There are also many other mazes that Lebanon will enter, and it is in its worst state in terms of being able to formulate the necessary policies to make large alterations in its regional role.
It cannot be denied that the pandemic has halted all revolutionary activities that opposed the approach that forced the country to hit rock bottom.
The pandemic is taking the side of the regime by stopping demonstrators from taking to the street or conducting any activity. On the other hand, it is facilitating the bureaucratic nature of the regime in carrying on without any obstacles. Relying on telephone and remote orders by using telecom phone networks and the internet allows the regime to maintain some effectiveness without posing any risk of infection to politicians or officials. This is contrary to the revolutionary activities that are based on crowded demonstrations, which have been banned by the government. This will set the regime loose.
The situation, which the regime seems to take advantage of to impose a fait accompli in procedures and laws that would not have passed had the public sphere been open as it was between October and December, will draw new facts that will be very difficult to change later on. Especially that these new factors will be consecrated by legal texts and a large imbalance of powers favoring traditional parties and movements, whether for those taking part in the current government or hoping to return to the frontline.
The new pandemic was a huge blow to the attempts of political and economic change in Lebanon and has put citizens in front of very harsh choices, such as continuing to protest and spreading the virus, or stepping aside and watching how things will unfold under a confused administration that is relying on the lack of alternatives and vacuum as primary elements in overcoming the regime that many Lebanese believed was close to being overthrown.
Lebanese volunteers launch heroic effort to help health workers battle coronavirus
Nicholas Frakes/The New Arab/March 27/2020
Hospitals have been unable to secure basic medical supplies such as masks and gloves.
With Lebanon’s coronavirus outbreak worsening by the day, attention is focused on dwindling medical supplies which are desperately needed by medical staff in order to treat their patients, as well as maintain their own safety. A recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has shed light on the growing issue of a lack of medical supplies in Lebanon, where over 360 people have tested positive for Covid-19.
The report states that due to the country’s dollar shortage, hospitals have been unable to secure basic medical supplies such as masks and gloves.
“The COVID-19 outbreak has placed additional strain on a health care sector already in crisis,” HRW’s Deputy Middle East Director Joe Stork said. “The Lebanese government has taken swift and broad measures that bought it time, but its ability to manage the outbreak will depend on how it uses this time to secure necessary supplies and provide health care workers with the resources they need.”
Lebanon Response Team
Within the health sector, the fear of running out of medical supplies is widespread, with staff trying to ration what available items they have.
“It will be a big problem,” Atef Akoum, a medical intern at Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH) where coronavirus patients are being quarantined, told The New Arab.
“Especially if the N95 [mask] is missing, because in some settings, like incubated patients or CPR or nebuliser, the coronavirus becomes aerosol.”
Multiple groups, such as the Lebanon Response Team (LRT), have responded to this chronic shortage of supplies by doing what they can to help hospitals.
Consisting of over 300 people, the LRT works remotely from home and is made up of people from various professional backgrounds who are using technology such as 3D printing to make medical supplies for hospitals.
The group was started when Hisham Issa and Hussein Hamdan, both engineers, approached Dr Hussein Al-Haj Hassan about starting the initiative.
“They called me,” Hassan told The New Arab, “saying that they had this idea and asked me what I think. I said that this is something that we should go forward with. Hisham is an electrical engineer and Hamdan is mechanical, so we wanted to get help from other specialties.”
“I posted on Facebook what we needed and what we needed some help in implementing, like with 3D printing, and it went viral. Everyone was contacting me on the phone.”
One of these people was Mohammad Al-Haj, a mechanical engineering student in his last year at Phoenicia University, who said that he wanted to get involved to help Lebanon in its time of crisis.
He now manages several of LRT’s teams, including one that produces mask shields.
“I heard about it through Facebook when I saw Dr Hassan’s post,” Al-Haj told The New Arab. “I sent my name to the group and they gave me the number of Nour Alwan, who is one of the top managers. After that, I was told that I need to join the Slack team, so I joined the website and figured out that we had a lot of experts and volunteers, and even professionals.”
Due to the thousands of messages that he was receiving, Hassan spoke with another one of his colleagues about turning the small project into a larger initiative.
“Since a lot of people were contacting me, I said, ‘Why not move from a small team to a big initiative’,” Hassan said.
“I talked to my friend Nour Alwan and we created a platform and called it Lebanon Response Team. This way, everyone can talk with each other, they can form teams, so that we can work not only on ventilators, but on other stuff that the medical sector would need in Lebanon,” he added.
“We’re working remotely and we meet using online platforms that are available to everyone. When we want to transport something, we’re wearing masks, gloves and the device [that is being delivered] is sanitised, there’s a company helping us with this.”
Financial crisis
In addition to the hundreds of volunteers that have been working on various medical supplies, several companies are providing free aid. The work being done by the LRT is a non-profit project with everything being open source and implemented by anyone.
But the nationwide lockdown and financial crisis has made getting supplies much more challenging, as well as creating the need to self-fund the LRT.
“For the prototypes,” Hassan explained, “we have the support of the people inside the initiative, inside the Lebanon Response Team, they are paying from their own pocket. And when we are moving it to the second phase, people that are in that field are helping.”
“Lebanon is in a financial crisis. We all know this. And because of this, people are helping. We know that this crisis will not allow for other countries to support us”
The volunteers also rely on financial contributions from Lebanese expatriates.
In order to know what supplies are needed the most, there is a team within the initiative dedicated to contacting hospitals and finding out what they are looking for. Then, once the LRT knows what to build, they manufacture it and send a version to the hospital for testing in the field in order to have medical staff verify that it is suitable for use.
According to Al-Haj, his team working on the mask shields recently finished their prototype and sent them to RHUH.
When he heard back, they told him that the masks were useable except for a minor detail that was quickly fixed by him and his team. They plan to deliver over a thousand masks in the coming days.
“It is a plan B,” Al-Haj explained. “Right now they have enough supplies, but if the disease expands in Lebanon, then they will go to plan B. The things that they want the most are the mask shields, the sanitiser and, finally, the suit that protects them from the coronavirus for the Red Cross and for the hospitals.”
‘Help the Lebanese people’
It is not just companies, though, who have taken note of what the LRT is doing. Imad Hoballah, Lebanon’s Minister of Industry, met with Hassan after his Facebook post went viral to discuss what they were doing along with academics and industry figures.
“We had more than one meeting,” Hassan stated, “and the idea was to continue developing the solution in order to help Lebanon. So the minister [Hoballah] was actually very supportive.”
According to Hassan, the two major focuses of the initiative are time and making sure that what they are producing is useable and will not simply break down.
Because of that, they are looking at the requirements that other governments have for their medical supplies and take great lengths to ensure that everything that they make is as close to meeting those standards as possible.
“A crisis is when we run out of ventilators and the hospitals are not capable of accepting any new patients,” Hassan said.
“The biggest focus is time as well as the requirements. We are developing ventilators under the requirements set by the UK Government.”
“In Lebanon, we have a lot of talented people, but we do not have the industrial experience.”
One of the biggest challenges is that these are supplies made for the medical sector and require rigourous tests. One of the most ambitious projects that the IRT is working on is making ventilators, using 3D printers to make many of the parts for the medical device.
“This project is challenging because it is in the medical sector,” he admitted. “So it needs a lot of tests. It needs a lot of validation from several perspectives, especially from a medical perspective. The first thing that we did was conceptual and on paper. We reached the mechanical design and controls and we started developing this more advanced control.”
Since the ventilator is a much more complicated piece of technology, the initiative has been experimenting with various types of materials that they print with in order to find the most durable and reliable version of the part.
“Some of the parts are not reliable for a long time,” Hassan explained. “For now, we are testing components by creating them from 3D printing.”
While many of those working with the IRT are engineers and professionals in their fields, there are still students like Al-Haj who have had to find a balance between their work and studies, which went online following a lockdown on 15 March.
However, this has not deterred people, who still dedicate the vast majority of their day to research and developing prototypes with their teams and plan to continue this work no matter what they have to do.
“I work around 11 hours per day in order to help the Lebanese people as much as I can,” Al-Haj said.
*Nicholas Frakes is a freelance journalist who reports from London, the Middle East and North Africa.
