LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 06/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.april06.19.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since
2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered
to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have
done
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17/07-10: “‘Who among you
would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in
the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”?Would you not
rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while
I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Do you thank the slave for doing
what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to
do, say, “We are worthless
slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” ’
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese
& Lebanese Related News published on April 05-06/19
Report: Donor Countries Say Lebanon Government Reforms 'Insufficient'
STL President Meets Lebanese Officials, the Legal Community in Beirut
Serhan Suspends Judge Occupying 'Sensitive Post'
Ministerial Panel OKs Electricity Plan, Cabinet to Meet Monday
Armed Dispute Erupts in Ain el-Hilweh Refugee Camp
Nizar Zakka’s Son Meets Pompeo, Urges Lebanon's Help in Releasing his Father
from Iran
Aoun: No Domestic Threat, President Powers Practiced Fully
Berri Rounds Off Iraq Visit, Meets Officials in Baghdad
Bustani Announces Second Licensing for Offshore Oil
Former Presidents, MPs Cost Lebanon $20 Million Annually
Lebanon Announces New Blocks for Offshore Energy Work
Kataeb MP Nadim Gemayel Proposes Draft Law to Help Young Entrepreneurs
Former President Amine Gemayel Calls for Strict, Practical Policy to Fight
Corruption
The Trump Administration Is Making Hezbollah Stronger
Weak Links in a Sea of Extremism and Counter-Extremism
Tokyo Court Approves Prosecution's Request to Detain Ghosn for 10 Days
Titles For The Latest
English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on April 05-06/19
Netanyahu Calls on Putin to Pressure Iran Out of Syria
Zarif: Iran Will Continue Pressing Europe on Nuclear Deal Commitments
Trumpets, Bugles Sound at Russian Ceremony for Returning Remains of Missing
Israeli Soldier
Germany Repatriates ISIS Children from Iraq
Opposition Candidate Says he Remains ahead in Istanbul Vote Recount
UN Chief Flies East to Meet Libya’s Haftar as Security Council to Convene
West, UN Exert Pressure to Avert Battle in Libya’s Tripoli
Eritrea Accuses Qatar, Turkey of ‘Subversive Acts’
Statement on second anniversary of the chemical weapons attacks in Syria
Canada appalled by Brunei’s imposition of severe punishments under its Sharia
penal code
Israel’s Arab minority urged to boycott election over divisive law
Armed Clashes Flare South of Libya's Tripoli
Huge Demos as Algerians Urge Bouteflika Allies to Quit Too
Britain, EU Set Out Competing Brexit Delay Dates
Sudan police fire tear gas at protests in the capital: Witnesses
Titles For The Latest
LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on April 05-06/19
The Trump Administration Is Making Hezbollah Stronger/Anchal Vohra/Forign
Policy/April 05/19
Weak Links in a Sea of Extremism and Counter-Extremism/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al
Awsat/April 05/19
The Floods, the Mullahs and the Cinderella in Boots/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/April
05/19
Bouteflika’s Ousting Reminiscent of Mubarak/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al
Awsat/April 05/19
Striking the Right Balance: Creating Jobs in a Fast-changing Middle East
Business Landscape/Omar Fahoum/Asharq Al Awsat/April 05/19
CNN, Qatar and the Targeting of Saudi Arabia/Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/April
05/19
Turkey's Elections: What Do They Mean for Turkey and Erdoğan/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone
Institute/April 05/19
Iranian IRGC-Affiliated News Agency Tasnim: Iran's Recent Rains, Flooding Are
Caused By Foreign Manipulation – As Part Of U.S. Plan To Control Global Climate/MEMRI/April
05/19
A Lesson for Pope Francis on Walls and Muslims/Raymond Ibrahim/PJ Media/April
05/19
Analysis/Netanyahu Has Cunningly Navigated the Mideast. Israeli Voters Will
Reward Him/Amos Harel/Haaretz/April 05/19
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese
Related News published
on April 05-06/19
Report: Donor Countries Say Lebanon Government Reforms 'Insufficient'
Naharnet/April 05/19/Authorities in Lebanon are struggling at this
delicate economic stage to take various reformative steps in order to reduce the
budget deficit, and to promote economic and financial efforts in an attempt to
give some positive signals to the international community, the group of donor
countries and international institutions, al-Joumhouria daily reported on
Friday. However, these countries and institutions, led by France and the World
Bank, are unconvinced that the reforms undertaken by the Lebanese authorities
are sufficient, according to information obtained by the daily. They believe
that the Lebanese government “is trying to circumvent reforms through some
reformist headlines,” it added. It said the French government has not encouraged
the visit of a senior Lebanese official to Paris to discuss investment and
economic affairs, linking it to the need to achieve real reforms approved by the
authorities.
STL President Meets Lebanese Officials, the Legal Community
in Beirut
Naharnet/April 05/19/The President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)
Judge Ivana Hrdličková visited Beirut this week. Hrdličková and Vice President
Ralph Riachi met with Lebanese Minister of Justice Albert Serhan, Minister of
Interior and Municipalities Raya el-Hassan and Head of the Beirut Bar
Association André Chidiac. President Hrdličková and Judge Riachi also met
representatives of the diplomatic community. During the mission, Judge
Hrdličková and Judge Riachi also visited Tripoli, where they met with First
President of the Court of Appeal Judge Rida Raad and Head of the Tripoli Bar
Association Mohammed Mrad. They also participated in two outreach events: a
briefing on the work of the Tribunal to lawyers of the Tripoli Bar Association
and a presentation on “The STL in the context of International Criminal Justice”
at the Mawlawi Cultural Center. “After productive meetings with officials in
Beirut, I was delighted to conduct my first visit to Tripoli to meet with the
legal community there. I was encouraged by the support and interest the Tribunal
enjoys amongst the lawyers, judges, officials and civil society, with whom I
discussed the Tribunal’s achievements and progress to date”, said Judge
Hrdličková.
Serhan Suspends Judge Occupying 'Sensitive Post'
Naharnet/April 05/19/Justice Minister Albert Serhan on Friday suspended a judge
occupying a “sensitive post” after he was previously referred to the
disciplinary council of judges. “As part of the investigations being conducted
by the Judicial Inspection Commission, the Commission's council issued a
resolution on April 4, 2019 to refer a judge to the disciplinary council of
judges,” a statement issued by Serhan's office said. “Today, the justice
minister, as per his legal jurisdiction (Article 90 of the judiciary's law), has
taken a decision to temporarily suspend the aforementioned judge pending a
ruling by the disciplinary council, following a recommendation by the Judicial
Inspection Commission's council,” the statement added. “Investigations are still
ongoing and the Judicial Inspection Commission is following up the case and the
appropriate decisions will be taken in due time,” the statement said. LBCI
television meanwhile reported that the judge occupies a “sensitive post.”
Ministerial Panel OKs Electricity Plan, Cabinet to Meet Monday
Naharnet/April 05/19/A ministerial panel on Thursday adopted a plan proposed by
the energy minister to resolve the country's chronic electricity problem,
referring it to the Cabinet. LBCI television said the panel finished its
meetings “without resolving a lot of points of contention.”“It decided to
postpone them to a Cabinet session that will be held on Monday,” LBCI added.
Ministerial sources meanwhile told MTV that President Michel Aoun and Prime
Minister Saad Hariri will hold consultations ahead of the session. Information
Minister Jamal al-Jarrah meanwhile told reporters that the plan seeks to “lower
the technical wastage” of electricity, adding that electricity fees will be
hiked when power supply reaches the 20-hour threshold. “The plan is
comprehensive and it serves the main goal of slashing deficit and boosting
production,” Jarrah said. “There are two choices for the tendering process and
have left the decision to the government,” he added.
Armed Dispute Erupts in Ain el-Hilweh Refugee Camp
Naharnet/April 05/19/An armed personal dispute erupted
overnight in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, the
National News Agency reported on Friday. Heavy gunfire was heard in al-Tahtani
street in Bustan al-Yahudi area, NNA said. The dispute was later contained and
no casualties were reported. No further details were obtained.
Nizar Zakka’s Son Meets Pompeo, Urges Lebanon's Help in Releasing his Father
from Iran
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 April, 2019/The son of Nizar Zakka, a
Lebanese national imprisoned in Iran, appealed on Thursday to Lebanese
authorities to exert efforts to release his father. Omar Zakka called on all
“capable parties to help and follow the lead of the Donald Trump administration
and help in releasing my father.”He made his remarks after meeting in Washington
with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the US diplomat’s invitation. He also
met with several senior members of the administration. Zakka’s family said that
Omar met with Pompeo and thanked him and his team for their efforts in releasing
the detainee.It remarked that Pompeo has been spearheading efforts throughout
the world to release Nizar from prison even before he became secretary of state.
Omar explained to Pompeo and American officials at the State Department the
conditions of his father’s detention. He revealed that he had traveled to Iran
in September 2015 where he met Vice President Shahindokht Molaverdi, who had
officially acknowledged to him his father’s detention. She also admitted that
his imprisonment was a mistake and that it had harmed her country. “I am certain
that if Lebanon performed its official duty, then my father would return home,”
Omar said. Nizar was arrested after traveling to Iran to attend a
state-sponsored conference in the capital, in 2015. At the time of his arrest,
he was the secretary-general of IJMA3, an Arab communications organization, and
had received an official invitation to visit Iran.
Aoun: No Domestic Threat, President Powers Practiced Fully
Naharnet/April 05/19/President Michel Aoun reassured Friday that the situations
in Lebanon have become “very acceptable” following the “acute divisions” that
preceded his election as president. “This has preserved Lebanon against all the
threats that were surrounding it, because the rift remained at the political
level,” Aoun told a delegation from the Maronite League led by its newly-elected
president ex-MP Naamatallah Abi Nasr. “Do not fear for national unity and we are
not facing a domestic threat. The threats come from the outside but (U.N.
Security Council) Resolution 1701 is reining them in,” the president added. Aoun
also told that delegation that the president's powers are “preserved” and that
he is practicing them “to the fullest extent.”
Berri Rounds Off Iraq Visit, Meets Officials in Baghdad
Naharnet/April 05/19/Speaker Nabih Berri concluded his official visit to Iraq by
holding more meetings with Iraqi leaders and political parties at the Prime
Minister's Guest House in the Green Zone in Baghdad, the National News Agency
reported on Friday. Berri has met with Ahmed al-Jabbouri, a leader in the
parliamentary National Axis Alliance, who said after the meeting that “Berri’s
visit to Baghdad would have positive results on all files, in terms of
completing the formation of the (Iraqi) government and on relations between
Lebanon and Iraq and with the countries of the region.”Berri also received a
delegation of the political body of the Sadrist Movement headed by Nassar al-Rubaie.
Discussions focused on the situation in Iraq and the relations between the two
countries. Furthermore, talks between Berri and Iraqi ex-PM Iyad Allawi
highlighted the latest developments in the region and cooperation between
Lebanon and Iraq. Berri, who arrived in Baghdad on Sunday, earlier met with
leading Iraqi officials including Iraqi President Barham Salih. He pushed during
talks for the restoration of an oil pipeline between Kirkuk and Tripoli that
stopped in 1982 when the war between Iraq and Iran broke out.
Bustani Announces Second Licensing for Offshore Oil
Naharnet/April 05/19/Energy Minister Nada al-Bustani announced in a press
conference on Friday the opening of the second offshore licensing for
exploration in Lebanon’s oil and gas field blocks number 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10 “in
accordance with the modernized procedures placed by the Ministry and the
commission.”Bustani said that January 31, 2020 is the deadline for applicants to
participate in the licensing course. The Minister’s announcement came one day
after the Cabinet approved the project during a meeting held on Thursday.
Bustani pointed out that the objectives of the second licensing project aims at
intensifying exploration in the Lebanese maritime waters, and increasing the
competition between companies. She said exploration in oil field number 4 will
launch before the end of 2019, and in block number 9 will start in 2020. "We
will issue and publish in turn the decisions that determine all procedures of
the second licensing bid in accordance with the laws in force,” added Bustani.
"The Ministry and the Lebanese Petroleum Administration are committed to the
rules of transparency required during all procedures,” she concluded.
Former Presidents, MPs Cost Lebanon $20 Million Annually
Beirut - Paula Astih/Asharq Al Awsat/April 05/19/Lebanese deputies and ministers
were divided on Thursday over Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil’s proposal to
cut their salaries by 50 percent as part of his plan to lower the budget
deficit. Some ministers and lawmakers welcomed the move, while others said the
issue needed to be studied further.On Wednesday, Khalil submitted his budget
proposal to Prime Minister Saad Hariri and later revealed tweeted his plan to
lower the salaries of the president, prime minister, speaker, ministers, MPs and
former lawmakers.
MP Bilal Abdullah, of the Progressive Socialist Party parliamentary bloc, was
the first politician to object the minister’s proposal. “I will not accept a
decision to reduce my salary as a deputy. The state must first reduce the wages
of some public employees and their compensations that sometimes exceed the
salaries of ministers and MPs,” he said. Abdullah’s position contradicted with
that of his party leader, Walid Jumblatt, who said earlier this week that the
World Bank is making some demands related to lowering expenditure and that some
measures should begin by reducing the salaries of former ministers and MPs.
Jumblatt revealed that as a former MP, he earns a monthly salary of around
$6,000, which he said “is not fair.” Abdullah told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday
that objecting to Khalil’s proposal was his own personal opinion and had nothing
to do with the PSP’s stance. Mohammed Shamseddine, a researcher at Information
International told Asharq Al-Awsat that the problem does not lie in the salaries
of political figures, but the compensations of former lawmakers and presidents.
“A sum of $20 million is allocated every year to pay the compensations of 210
former presidents and former deputies and the families of 104 deceased
presidents or lawmakers,” he said. According to the researcher, there are more
than 120 jobs in public institutions where employees are paid more than the
salaries of deputies, such as the Central Bank Governor, who is paid a salary of
more than $26,600 for 16 months every year, in addition to employees at the
Casino du Liban and some ambassadors. In Lebanon, the president is paid a
monthly salary of $8,300, the prime minister and speaker are each paid $7,883
while a deputy earns a maximum of $7,400. Several deputies have presented draft
laws to parliament suggesting lowering the wages of deputies and ministers.
Lebanon Announces New Blocks for Offshore Energy Work
Reuters/Friday 05th April 2019/Lebanon announced on Friday five offshore blocks
to be included in its coming bidding round for energy exploration and production
licences, including four along disputed maritime borders. Offshore energy
development has been a central ambition for successive governments in
cash-strapped Lebanon, but political paralysis has caused years of delays.
Blocks 8 and 10 both include waters also claimed by Israel, while blocks 1 and 2
include waters claimed by Syria. One of the two blocks for which licences were
awarded last year, block 9, is also on the disputed maritime border with Israel.
Energy Minister Nada Boustani announced details in a televised news conference
of the upcoming licensing round, which she said on Thursday had been approved by
the cabinet and would have a bid deadline in early 2020. A consortium of
France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek won the first licensing round
last year for blocks 4 and 9 and plans to drill its first exploration wells by
the end of this year. It has said it will avoid disputed waters. “We expect
greater participation in the second round of licensing,” Boustani said, adding
that representatives from Russia’s Lukoil, Spain’s Repsol and Britain’s BP had
visited Lebanon in the last few weeks. “For sure Total and Eni are still
interested,” she added. Lebanon is on the Levant Basin in the eastern
Mediterranean where a number of big sub-sea gas fields have been discovered
since 2009 in waters off Cyprus, Israel and Egypt. Beirut tried to launch its
first offshore exploration in 2013, but domestic political problems delayed it
until 2017. For this round, it has merged the prequalification process for
licence bidders into the bidding process. Pro-transparency group, the Lebanese
Oil and Gas Initiative, urged the government to reconsider the decision, saying
it might make the process more opaque.
Kataeb MP Nadim Gemayel Proposes Draft Law to Help Young Entrepreneurs
Kataeb.org/Friday 05th April 2019/Kataeb MP Nadim Gemayel, who also serves as
president of the Parliament's Information Technology Committee, submitted a
draft Law for a new type of companies, called SAL-T, which can tackle many of
the challenges facing young entrepreneurs in Lebanon. The draft law, according
to Gemayel, will facilitate the legal environment of start-ups, allowing every
new and existing entrepreneur to focus on innovation and creativity instead of
wasting time and getting lost in legal procedures.
Former President Amine Gemayel Calls for Strict, Practical
Policy to Fight Corruption
Kataeb.org/Friday 05th April 2019/Former President Amine Gemayel voiced concern
over the current situation in Lebanon, deploring the quasi-obstructed state
institutions, the worrisome economy, the missing development and the incomplete
sovereignty. "Despite all that, we are still counting on the will of the
Lebanese who still believe in their country and are eager to live in freedom and
dignity," Gemayel said upon arriving in Melbourne as part of his Australia tour.
Gemayel stressed the need for a strict and practical policy to curb corruption,
saying that it must be steered clear of populism. "Corruption is eating the
State off to the point of bankruptcy," he warned. "The State institutions need
rationalism and transparency."Gemayel was received in Melbourne by the consul of
Lebanon in Victoria, Dr. Ziad Itani, along with Kataeb partisans and
representatives of different Lebanese political parties.
The Trump Administration Is Making
Hezbollah Stronger
Anchal Vohra/Forign Policy/April 05/19
By threatening collective punishment over Lebanon’s most disruptive force,
Washington is weakening the rest of its society.
At the press conference that concluded his visit to Lebanon in late March, U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listened with a grin as his Lebanese counterpart,
Gebran Bassil, described in the usual diplomatic parlance the importance of the
longstanding U.S.-Lebanon relationship. Pompeo, however, didn’t spend much time
on ceremonial cliches. Instead, he quickly issued a warning: Contain Hezbollah
or else.
Pompeo attacked the group for carrying out Iran’s agenda in the region at the
expense of Lebanon’s domestic order and “the prosperity of future generations.”
He added that the Lebanese had a choice between Hezbollah—and its backer Iran,
which sends hundreds of millions of dollars to the group every year—and the
United States, which provided $800 million to Lebanon in assistance just last
year. Pompeo concluded by seemingly encouraging an uprising against Hezbollah
when he said, “It will take courage for the nation of Lebanon to stand up to
Hezbollah’s criminality, terror, and threats.” Pompeo’s threat was clear: If
Lebanon fails to limit Hezbollah’s political and military power, it would risk
not just losing U.S. aid but also a more severe response, possibly in the form
of debilitating national sanctions.
If the United States follows through on this plan to inflict collective
punishment on Lebanon over Hezbollah, the results are likely to be the opposite
of what administration officials intend.
Lebanon’s politicians reacted to Pompeo’s remarks with the world-weary
defensiveness they regularly deploy against Westerners who they believe
misunderstand their political system. They tried to explain to Pompeo that
Lebanon’s sectarian political system forbids treating Hezbollah, which has a
parliamentary faction legitimately elected into office, as an illegal entity.
They also pointed out that the military power of Hezbollah, with its Iranian
weapons and training, is superior to that of the Lebanese Armed Forces. It has
successfully branded itself to the Lebanese public as capable of standing up to
Israel in ways that the Lebanese army manifestly cannot. Even Lebanese officials
critical of Hezbollah dismissed Pompeo’s calls to directly challenge the group,
warning that were they to follow his advice, the country could descend into a
second civil war. That assessment may be overly dire. The United States,
however, is undoubtedly risking Lebanon’s basic stability in ways that may
ultimately benefit Hezbollah.
The United States already has sanctions in place against Hezbollah leaders and
Hezbollah-affiliated businesses. To contain the group further, Washington is
expected to target banking institutions that facilitate the flow of funds to the
group. It may also sanction Hezbollah’s allies in parliament, including
Lebanon’s largest Christian party, the Free Patriotic Movement.
Political insiders in Lebanon have been abuzz for weeks about what transpired
during Pompeo’s visit, including behind closed doors. At the dinner organized
for Pompeo, he allegedly warned multiple officials—including President Michel
Aoun and Bassil, the foreign minister, who are the Free Patriotic Movement’s
leaders, as well as the speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri of the Shiite Amal
Movement, another current Hezbollah ally—that they were potential personal
targets of sanctions. Pompeo, in an interview with a local television channel,
said that the United States was prepared to sanction “particular individuals”.
Makram Rabah, a history lecturer at the American University of Beirut and a
vociferous supporter of sanctions against Hezbollah, said he expected the United
States to impose more sanctions under the Hizballah International Financing
Prevention Act, which could include Lebanese state institutions if the United
States thought Hezbollah was using them to bypass Iranian sanctions. “If
Hezbollah bypasses American sanctions on Iran or on itself, then the U.S. will
sanction Lebanon, and it can sanction under” the act, he said. “Maybe they will
sanction Lebanon’s health ministry, which is under Hezbollah’s control, or maybe
all of Lebanon as a country.”
Pompeo left no doubt that U.S. policy had radically changed toward Lebanon and
that it had withdrawn what has been famously described as the “Lebanese
exception”—the idea that because of its fragile democracy and multi-sectarian
identity, the country should be given some leeway despite Hezbollah’s
designation as a terrorist entity by Washington. Sami Nader, a Lebanese
political analyst, said this shift came as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s
reversal of his predecessor’s Middle East policy toward confronting Iran. “Now
the U.S. says, ‘Hezbollah is your problem.’ As in a Lebanese problem that
Lebanon must sort out and not America,” Nader said. The Lebanese government
isn’t sure how to deliver on Pompeo’s wishes. It can neither take on Hezbollah
militarily nor stop it from accessing its share of government resources.
According to Aoun, Hezbollah scored two-thirds of Shiite votes in the last
elections. That’s make it entitled, under Lebanese convention, to offer services
and jobs to its constituents, just as Sunni, Druze, and Christian parties do.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/04/the-trump-administration-is-making-hezbollah-stronger/?fbclid=IwAR1YN4U90bOFQb1HdYBME3zeZgWNgB6bKw9pNMdzuQUhvfmsVp2ltQdjeNE
Weak Links in a Sea of Extremism and
Counter-Extremism
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/April 05/19
The outcome of the US Secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s visit last month to
Lebanon was more than expected, despite the ‘theatricals’ long mastered by
Lebanese politicians, and the widely known ‘esoterism’ of American diplomacy.
The Lebanese ‘stop’ in the ex-CIA director’s Middle East tour came after several
significant regional decisions by President Donald Trump; the most important, no
doubt, being moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and officially
recognizing Syria’s occupied Golan Heights as an ‘Israeli territory’!
Interestingly, the two aforementioned decisions were taken as the Trump
administration was reiterating that two central targets in its Middle East
strategy were defeating ISIS and confronting Iran.
In spite of the ambiguity surrounding the idea of ‘confronting’ Iran, the
escalation of the current Republican US administration marks a shift away from
the former Barack Obama’s Democratic administration which treated defeating ISIS
as something contradictory to confronting Iran. This was why Obama had
effectively sought to make the Tehran regime an ally, and had given it a free
hand in the region under the pretext that the most vital battle – indeed, the
only battle – was that to get rid of ISIS.
Well, these days Washington is celebrating the defeat of ISIS in Syria at the
hands of ‘Syrian Democratic Forces’ the Kurdish-dominated militia that was
originally founded, sponsored, and supported (militarily, logistically and
politically) while shunning and letting down the real nationalist Syrian
opposition.
What we now witness is, no doubt, an ‘achievement’; but what are we to expect
next?
At the moment there is a vast Syrian area east of the Euphrates, inhabited by an
Arab majority population, rich in oil, and constitutes an invaluable geographic
location that makes it a vital segment in Iran’s mega-regional plan. This area
is now dominated by two players:
- A militia, which is virtually Kurdish, and which may postpone its secessionist
plans temporarily, but would most likely keep them alive
- A regime that is going through a period of having to make difficult decisions
between being subservient to Tehran or becoming a client of Moscow
The presence of ISIS in that part of Syria confused the situation for a few
years. But, perhaps, this was all along the true aim of the powers that aided
and abetted ISIS - directly or indirectly-, worked hard to exploit it at various
decisive crossroads in the Syrian Crisis, and use it as a cover for its
maneuvers and changing priorities.
For the Obama administration, ISIS was the excuse for aligning with Tehran.
For Ankara, it was a cover that helped Turkey enter the Syrian arena as an
influential player speaking for ‘political Sunni Islam, and posing as an
indispensable agent qualified to check and control ‘extremists’.
For Moscow, it was a reason to save a despotic Syrian regime whose people rose
against, and hence, maintain Russian interests in Syria.
For Tehran, it was a golden opportunity to ‘present its credentials’ both as a
friend and as a partner in the ‘fight against terrorism’, while it accelerated
the process of annexing Syria to its ‘Highway to the Mediterranean’ connecting
Tehran and Beirut through Baghdad.
ISIS was all that and more…
It was a ‘requirement’. Indeed, most of those claiming that their priority was
to fight, never dealt with it as their top target, simply because it was the
excuse, the cover, the reason, and the opportunity.
Now, however, it has been finished off – at least, inside Syria – because it has
outlived its usefulness. In light of this development, the next step in Syria
would most likely come from Washington. This would gain extra importance, with
the increased tension between Moscow and Tehran, the continued disharmony
between Washington and Ankara, and the almost complete duplication between
Trump’s policies and those of Israel’s Likud.
This is the tense arena where Lebanon finds itself these days. Realistically, it
is a prisoner of Iran’s political and military hegemony and is suffering a
socio-economic crisis aggravated by Hezbollah’s policies and military
adventures. Furthermore, it shares a border with Syria, making it a victim of
the complicated problem of Syrian refugees who were displaced through
intentional demographic change. It also shares borders with Israel, which in
addition to old demographic and water resources calculations is now in open
dispute over the division of offshore oil and gas of the eastern Mediterranean.
Western governments, led by Washington, are well aware that the Lebanese
political ‘governing’ setup is a fragile and interest-based temporary team. Its
political rhetoric merely aims at gaining time and postponing deadlines in the
absence of easy choices.
During his visit to Lebanon Secretary Pompeo met several Lebanese leaders. My
guess is that he knew beforehand what he would hear; and later, was convinced
that what they say in the open differs from what they express behind closed
doors. On the other hand, I believe that the wise among Lebanon’s politicians
also knew enough what already Washington knows about them, their circumstances,
and what it expects from them. Thus, in the absence of firm American positions
regarding the future map of the Middle East, it was natural that any wise
politician in a small and fragile country, like Lebanon, would keep his/her
options open.
Moreover, it is clear to both the Lebanese and the rest of the Arabs, that there
are two extremist offensives gathering pace in the Middle East, and each
benefitting from the other:
- The first is the Iranian offensive, with all its expansionist military and
demographic displacement contents, launched in the name of Islam, and attempting
to outbid the Arabs on the issues of protected Islamic shrines in Palestine and
“liberating Jerusalem”.
- The Second, in the opposite direction, is the almost daily gratuitous presents
gifted by Washington to Iran’s fake propaganda in every shape and form.
There is nothing more precious to Tehran’s propaganda organs than weakening the
credibility of any rational and realistic Arab approach to a just and permanent
peace. Unfortunately, this is exactly what Washington is doing through fully
endorsing Netanyahu’s policies even against the Israeli ‘generals’ bloc’ which
is trying to end a ‘state of demagoguery’ long accused of corruption, and
well-versed in escaping forward albeit at a high human and political cost.
We do understand that US sanctions against Iran have been proven effective for
some time. Proof of that has been Tehran’s political, security, and economic
maneuvers with its Arab neighbors as it feels it is strong enough to impose its
partnership on them.
However, it is high time Washington political strategists realize that insisting
on confronting Iran’s extremism while supporting Israeli extremism is a highly
risky strategy.
Tokyo Court Approves Prosecution's Request to Detain Ghosn
for 10 Days
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 April, 2019/A Tokyo court approved on Friday a request
by prosecutors to detain Carlos Ghosn for 10 days for further questioning. The
ousted Nissan boss will be held until April 14. The decision was widely expected
after prosecutors arrested Ghosn for the fourth time at his Tokyo apartment on
Thursday. Ghosn’s lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, told reporters the defense team
would file an appeal on Friday against the detention. Authorities are looking
into new allegations that Ghosn transferred some $15 million in Nissan funds
between late 2015 and mid-2018 to a dealership in Oman. They suspect around $5
million of these funds were siphoned off for Ghosn's use, including for the
purchase of a luxury yacht and financing personal investments. Prosecutors say
Ghosn "betrayed" his duty not to cause losses to Nissan "in order to benefit
himself."In a statement released on Thursday, Ghosn said he was innocent of the
“groundless charges and accusations” against him. The once-feted executive, who
has said he is the victim of a boardroom coup, also called the latest arrest an
attempt to silence him. Stephen Givens, an American attorney practicing law in
Japan since 1987, told AFP the latest allegations were the most serious yet. "If
the facts are true... that is stealing from the company, that is embezzlement,
that is terrible," said Givens, who is not connected with the Ghosn case. The
Ghosn scandal has rocked the global auto industry and strained ties between
Nissan and its global alliance partner Renault. It has also shone a harsh light
on Japan’s judicial system. Thursday’s arrest came some 30 days after Ghosn had
been released on $9 million bail from a Tokyo detention center. Legal experts
have characterized the move as rare for someone already released on bail. Under
Japanese law, prosecutors can seek an extension of another 10 days of detention
before they must either bring formal charges against the suspect or let him go.
Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita, a former Tokyo prosecutor himself, hit back
at growing criticism of the justice system, sometimes described as "hostage
justice" due to long detention periods for suspects aimed at forcing a
confession. "I understand that it is being handled appropriately in accordance
with the stipulation of the code of criminal procedure. So the criticism is not
warranted," Yamashita told journalists. Ghosn launched a counter-attack in an
interview with French channel TF1, recorded just before his dawn arrest on
Wednesday.
Describing himself as "a combative man and an innocent man", he vowed to "defend
myself to the bitter end". And he voiced concern that he would not be given a
fair trial, with around 99 percent of trials in Japan resulting in a conviction.
"I have doubts over the way the judgment will take place. If there is a fair
ruling, I am very confident but if it is not fair, I am worried about what will
happen," said Ghosn. He lashed out at the conditions in the detention center,
saying he was deprived of his watch, forced to sleep with the light on and
forbidden from contact with his loved ones. "I wouldn't wish what I have
suffered on my worst enemy," he said. Ghosn spent 108 days in the detention
center in northern Tokyo before being dramatically released on bail. He had
since lived in a court-appointed apartment in Tokyo without commenting on his
situation despite huge international and Japanese media interest in his case
that has shocked and surprised from the beginning. However, just as reports
began to surface that he could be re-arrested, Ghosn emerged on Twitter to
announce plans to hold a news conference on April 11. With this now impossible,
his lawyer Hironaka said Ghosn had pre-recorded a video but refused to give
details of the contents or when it would be released.
Latest LCCC English
Miscellaneous Reports & News published
on April 05-06/19
Netanyahu Calls on Putin to Pressure Iran Out of Syria
Moscow - Tel Aviv - Raed Jaber and Nazir Magally/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5
April, 2019/Russian President Vladimir Putin met Thursday with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria and ways
to foster cooperation. The two leaders also tackled Iran’s role in Syria.An
Israeli official said that Netanyahu called on Russia to use its influence in
Syria to prevent Iran from securing a lasting presence in the country. Putin
stressed the special significance of keeping communication between the two
countries. As for Netanyahu, he invited Putin to Israel in May for the unveiling
of a monument on Leningrad during World War II. Netanyahu's visit to Moscow was
his second this year. Although the two leaders didn’t reveal details of their
discussions, Kremlin sources indicated that talks mainly focused on military
cooperation in Syria. Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov also told
journalists that they discussed events in Syria but that Netanyahu did not
present any concrete plan to solve the Syrian crisis. Reports said that the
Israeli PM called on Putin to warn Lebanon of Iranian and Hezbollah plans to
build a secret factory that produces weapons. “We will discuss events in Syria
... and the regular and special coordination between our armies as well as other
important issues for Israel,” Netanyahu said before departing to Moscow. The
major topic discussed by Netanyahu and Putin was the constant pursuit by Iran to
establish a military structure that enables it to open a front in the northeast
against Israel, military analyst Ron Ben-Yishai, who accompanied Netanyahu to
Moscow, told Yedioth Ahronoth. Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander
Qassem Soleimani has responded to previous Russian pressure and moved Iranian
forces away from the border with Israel, Ben-Yishai said. Meanwhile, a senior
Kazakh official said the next round of the Astana-format Syrian settlement talks
has been planned to be held in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan on April 25-26.
Kazakh First Deputy Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi said: “I have recently
been in Brussels at the Syrian conference organized by the UN and the European
Union. The new UN special representative for Syria has expressed interest in
participating in the Astana process. His participation is possible, of
course.”Further, Russian FM Sergei Lavrov stressed in an interview that the war
on terrorism in Syria “hasn’t finished yet”, underlining the necessity of
eliminating terrorist organizations completely. “It is important for us to
completely crush hotbeds of terrorism, and one of the most important of them
which raises concerns is Idlib as there are still several thousands of
terrorists in it,” he added. He reminded of Putin’s proposal in his speech at
the UN in 2015 on establishing a real international front for combating
terrorism.
Lavrov said dialogue against terrorism was resumed with the US after its long
attempts to avoid it, adding “we will resume dialogue with the European Union.”
Zarif: Iran Will Continue Pressing Europe on Nuclear Deal
Commitments
London - Adil Al-Salmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 April, 2019/Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif has raised doubts on the ability of European
powers to bypass sanctions imposed on Tehran by the US after it withdrew from
the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. "The Europeans at first viewed the JCPOA (nuclear
deal) as an achievement, but maybe they were not prepared to, and certainly they
were not capable of standing up against US sanctions," Zarif said on Thursday in
an interview with Khamenei.ir, the official website of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei.
"We will continue pressing the Europeans to implement their commitments. Europe
must know that they cannot shy away from their responsibilities with a few
statements and some unaccomplished plans," he added. Speaking last month on the
occasion of the Iranian New Year, Khamenei said: "Once again the Europeans have
stabbed us in the back, they have betrayed us.”Although he was slamming
Europeans, his words included direct blame to President Hassan Rouhani’s
government in dealing with them. Zarif said in the interview on Thursday that
Iran would continue to pressure the Europeans to act on their obligations within
the nuclear deal. His remarks came hours after slamming three European countries
for sending a letter to UN chief Antonio Guterres, asking him to "report fully
and thoroughly on Iranian ballistic missile activity" in his next report, which
is expected in June. Zarif said the UK, France and Germany would rather seek to
appease US President Donald Trump by pressuring the UN to provide the report on
Iran’s missile activities than defy Washington’s measures.
Trumpets, Bugles Sound at Russian Ceremony for Returning
Remains of Missing Israeli Soldier
Moscow – Raed Jabr/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 April, 2019/Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu received a valuable gift from the Kremlin which is meant to
boost his standing only days ahead of upcoming Knesset elections. Putin, in his
address to Netanyahu, who flew to Moscow five days before the election, revealed
that it was Russian soldiers in Syria who had discovered the remains of Staff
Sargent Zachary Baumel, which were returned home on an El Al flight. Baumel had
been listed as missing in action since Israel’s first war in Lebanon, in 1982.
At least 20 Israeli soldiers were killed, dozens wounded and six – including
Baumel – went missing in the battle near the Lebanese village of Sultan Yacoub
in the Beqaa valley. “Two years ago, I asked you to help us find the bodies of
missing Israeli soldiers and you responded in the affirmative,” he said to
Putin. “I want to thank you, my friend, for what you have done,” Netanyahu said
in gratitude, proclaiming that the two countries have “shared values.” Netanyahu
also thanked the Russian defense ministry and soldiers. On Friday, the Russian
Defense Ministry had published a video showing footage of the handover ceremony
to Netanyahu. The ceremony took place at the Russian Defense Ministry and in the
presence of senior military commanders, led by Russian Chief of General Staff
Valery Gerasimov. Russian media focused on how important of an achievement this
is for Netanyahu, who is fighting hard to defeat his rivals in the April 9
elections. Baumel’s remains aren’t Moscow’s first gift to Tel Aviv. Back in
2016, Moscow returned a Magach tank to which the three missing soldiers had been
assigned. It was captured by Syrian forces in the battle of Sultan Yacoub. The
tank was gifted to Russia by Syria, and has been housed in a military hardware
museum in Moscow Region for several decades. Handing in the Magash was a strong
signal for boosting Russian-Israeli cooperation.
Germany Repatriates ISIS Children from Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 April, 2019/Germany has repatriated from Iraq several
children of jailed militants, the foreign ministry said Friday, as the war
against ISIS draws to a close. "The number of minors already brought back to
Germany has reached a high single-digit figure," the foreign ministry source
said, adding that the returns were carried out with the consent of the
children's parents. They are now in the custody of their relatives in Germany,
the source told Agence France Presse. Among the first young returnees to Germany
were three children who arrived with their 31-year-old mother at Stuttgart
airport on Thursday, their lawyer Mahmut Erdem said in a statement. They were
taken into custody immediately, the lawyer said. According to the foreign
ministry, at least eight Germans were jailed in Iraq, after they were convicted
over their membership of ISIS. The foreign ministry said it was aware of cases
of German nationals in custody in northern Syria, but added that it did not have
direct consular access to them as the embassy in Damascus has been closed.
Nevertheless, the government is looking for ways to repatriate the German
nationals, it added. With the collapse of the last ISIS bastion in Syria last
month, the fate of foreign militants and their families has become a significant
problem for governments. The German interior ministry has said the children are
innocent victims, paving the way for their return. France last month took in
five orphans and is dealing with returns on a case-by-case basis.
Opposition Candidate Says he Remains ahead in Istanbul Vote
Recount
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 April, 2019/The main opposition candidate in Sunday’s
Istanbul local elections said on Friday he remained ahead after a recount of
invalid votes. Republican People’s Party (CHP) mayoral candidate Ekrem Imamoglu
told Turkey’s Fox TV that he was leading by 18,742 votes after a recount of 17
of the city’s 39 districts. He added that he did not expect the gap between his
party and the AKP to change substantially when the recount in the country’s
largest city was completed. “From what I see, it should end this weekend. It
will fall into a 18,000-20,000 range, that’s what all the simulations show.
These are very tight numbers,” he said. He said 119,652 invalid votes had been
recounted, with 2,184 votes added in favor of the AKP and 785 added for the CHP.
Late on Thursday, election officials expanded the vote recount in Istanbul,
broadcaster CNN Turk said, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party pushed
its appeal against its shock election defeat there. It was unclear how many
districts would ultimately see recounts. The AK Party said it would also demand
a wider check on votes across the capital Ankara, which, according to initial
results, it also narrowly lost in Sunday’s nationwide municipal vote. Those
losses, if confirmed, would be particularly painful for Erdogan, whose party and
its predecessor have dominated the two cities for 25 years. He launched his
political career in Istanbul and served as the city’s mayor in the 1990s.On
Wednesday, Turkey’s High Election Board had ordered a full recount in three of
Istanbul’s 39 districts and a recount of just invalid ballots in 15 districts.
However, late on Thursday the board decided there would be a full recount in
those 15 districts as well, CNN Turk said.
UN Chief Flies East to Meet Libya’s Haftar as Security Council to Convene
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 April, 2019/UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres flew
to eastern Libya on Friday for talks with commander of the Libyan National Army
(LNA) Khalifa Haftar, days after he launched a military offensive to capture the
capital Tripoli. He will first head to Tobruk, another eastern city, to meet
lawmakers of the House of Representatives that is allied to Haftar. The UN chief
had arrived in Libya on Wednesday and spent the night in the in the heavily
fortified UN compound in a Tripoli suburb. Guterres was in Tripoli to help
organize a reconciliation national conference later this month. “My aim remains
the same: avoid a military confrontation. I reiterate that there is no military
solution for the Libyan crisis, only a political one,” Guterres wrote on
Twitter.Late on Thursday, the assembly president, Aguila Saleh, issued a
statement welcoming the offensive, a spokesman said. In New York, diplomats
revealed that Britain had requested Thursday that the UN Security Council
convene to address the Libyan crisis. LNA forces on Thursday took Gharyan, a
city some 80 km (50 miles) south of Tripoli. The renewed confrontation is a
setback for the United Nations and Western countries which have been trying to
mediate between Haftar and Government of National Accord (GNA) head Fayez al-Sarraj
, who met in Abu Dhabi last month to discuss a power-sharing deal.
The conference the United Nations is helping to organize is aimed at forging
agreement on a roadmap for elections to resolve the prolonged instability in
Libya. The Kremlin meanwhile, said it was not involved in the current
developments in Libya. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Moscow supported a
negotiated political settlement to Libya’s problems that ruled out any new
bloodshed. “We are closely following the situation in Libya,” he told reporters.
“Of course we consider that the most important thing is that (military)
operations there do not lead to bloodshed. The situation should be resolved
peacefully.” The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) expressed its concern about the military escalation in the Libya. It
called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and avoid any armed
escalation that could lead to chaos. The OIC urged all parties to exert efforts
to safeguard Libya’s security and stability and set as a priority the unity of
its people and land. Dialogue is the only way to resolve disputes, it added,
stressing its support for UN efforts to achieve comprehensive national
reconciliation.
West, UN Exert Pressure to Avert Battle in Libya’s Tripoli
Cairo – Khaled Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 April, 2019/France, Italy, the
United Arab Emirates, Britain and the United States called on Thursday for an
end to the military escalation in Libya, hours after Libyan National Army (LNA)
commander Khalifa Haftar announced an operation to march on the capital,
Tripoli. “At this sensitive moment in Libya’s transition, military posturing and
threats of unilateral action only risk propelling Libya back toward chaos,” they
said in a joint statement released in Washington by the State Department. “We
strongly believe that there is no military solution to the Libya conflict.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who had arrived in Tripoli on
Wednesday, expressed his grave concern over the development. “I want to make a
strong appeal to stop... the escalation,” Guterres told reporters at the UN
compound in Tripoli on Thursday.
Libya needed a political, not a military, solution, he added. The UN chief was
in Libya to help organize a reconciliation national conference. Haftar had
announced the Tripoli operation on Thursday, saying that his forces had entered
the cities of Sorman, to the capital’s south, and Gharyan, to its west. They
also advanced on the city of Sirte without facing any resistance from the
Government of National Accord (GNA) forces of Fayez al-Sarraj. In an address to
his troops, he declared that the operation was aimed at eliminating remaining
terrorist groups in the western region. “We are today heeding the call of our
people in our valuable capital,” he added, saying that he will remain true to
his vow of ridding the country of “oppressors.”The GNA forces went on military
alert soon after the LNA announced its operation. Pro-GNA factions in the
coastal city of Misrata vowed that they will confront the LNA’s march on
Tripoli. Armed groups from Misrata moved to Tripoli to defend it, residents
said, according to Reuters. The offensive is a setback for the UN and Western
countries which have been trying to mediate between Haftar and Sarraj, who met
in Abu Dhabi last month to discuss a power-sharing deal. The conference the UN
is helping to organize is aimed at forging agreement on a roadmap for elections
to resolve the prolonged instability in Libya.
Eritrea Accuses Qatar, Turkey of ‘Subversive Acts’
Cairo - Jamal Jawhar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 5 April, 2019/The Eritrean
government accused Turkey and Qatar on Thursday of seeking to obstruct and
derail the peace process with Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region. The
sporadic acts of subversion conducted by the Turkish Government, (under the
auspices of the ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP), against Eritrea are
well known to merit elaboration here,” the Eritrean Information Ministry said in
a statement published Thursday. It added that these futile acts are perpetrated
through the funding and operational services of Qatar, as well as the collusion
of the Sudanese regime, which has allowed its territory to be used for the
nefarious aims. The Ministry said those acts have been ratcheted up especially
in the past year with the singular aim of obstructing the peace process and
positive developments in the ties between Eritrea and Ethiopia in particular and
the whole Horn of Africa region in general. “The Turkish government has opened,
at the beginning of this year, an Office for the Chairman of the obscure
“Eritrean Muslim League” under the mantle of “Eritrean Ulama’s League/Eritrean
Rabita-i Ulama,” it explained. Mohamed Abdel Qader, Director of the Turkish
Affairs Unit at Al-Ahram Center for Regional and Strategic Studies, told Asahrq
Al-Awsat that the Turkish-Qatari move aims to expand the specter of their
influence in Africa, after having tense relations with Saudi Arabia, the UAE,
Bahrain and Egypt, the four countries that have cut ties with Doha. Abdel Qader
said the move also aims to exploit the fragile situation in counties such as
Libya, Sudan and Somalia. For his part, Dr. Ayman Abdel-Wahab, an expert in
African affairs at the center, said: “The reconciliation between Ethiopia and
Eritrea restored a lot of balance in the region although it faced some
interference from forces such as Qatar and Turkey, partly linked to the
situation in Somalia and competition over ports in the Red Sea.”
He described Thursday’s statement by the Eritrean Information Ministry as
“daring and very strong.”Last year, Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace
agreement supported by Saudi Arabia and the UAE after decades of hostility.
Statement on second anniversary of
the chemical weapons attacks in Syria
April 4, 2019 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
Global Affairs Canada today issued the following statement on the second
anniversary of the chemical weapons attack in Khan Shaykhun, Syria:
“Canada continues to be outraged by chemical weapons attacks in Khan Shaykhun in
April 2017 and in Douma (Ghouta) in April 2018, which killed civilians and
caused extreme suffering.
“We condemn the Assad regime’s repeated and morally reprehensible attacks on the
people of Syria, including through its use of chemical weapons.
“We strongly support efforts to ensure perpetrators of such crimes are held to
account. Today, we are announcing $2 million to the Organisation for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to support its work in assigning responsibility
for chemical weapons use and its investigative efforts in Syria.
“Canada is committed to upholding the international rules-based order, including
the prohibition on chemical weapons, and stands with the international community
against those who seek to undermine it.”
Canada appalled by Brunei’s imposition of severe punishments under its Sharia
penal code
April 5, 2019 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
Global Affairs Canada today issued the following statement:
Canada is appalled by Brunei’s imposition of severe punishments under its new
Sharia penal code, which include corporal punishment and the death penalty.
These inhumane provisions will affect women and members of the LGBTQ2 community
in particular.
“Human rights are universal. Canada condemns violence and discrimination against
any persons based on gender, gender identity or sexual orientation wherever they
occur.
“We have raised our concerns directly with Brunei and we urge Brunei to suspend
the implementation of its new penal code and to make changes to ensure that it
is consistent with international human rights obligations.”
Israel’s Arab minority urged to boycott
election over divisive law
Reuters, Haifa/Friday, 5 April 2019/Some of Israel’s young Arab citizens are
calling for a boycott of Tuesday’s parliamentary election, dismayed by a recent
law which they say reduces them to second-class citizens. The pro-boycott
activists, many of whom identify as Palestinian, have tried in the past to
persuade others among Israel’s Arab minority not to vote. But this time, they
say, they are tapping into anger over the 2018 law that declares only Jews have
a right to self-determination in the “nation-state” of the Jewish people.
Leaders of Israel’s main Arab parties are pushing for their voters to turn out,
fearing a boycott would weaken the 21-percent Arab minority’s representation in
parliament, and boost Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election chances.
Ignoring the party leaders, dozens of activists from the “Popular Campaign to
Boycott the Zionist Knesset Elections” have been handing out leaflets in the
northern Israeli port city of Haifa, which has a mixed Jewish and Arab
population, and in smaller Arab towns and villages. “This is an attempt to
boycott the body that actively tries to erase our Palestinian identity,” said
Joul Elias, a student from Haifa who turned up to distribute flyers in Wadi
Nisnas, a majority Arab neighborhood in the city. Israel’s Arab minority
comprises mainly descendants of the Palestinians who remained in their
communities or were internally displaced after the 1948 war that surrounded
Israel’s creation. According to figures released by Israel’s Central Bureau of
Statistics, there were 1.9 million Arabs in Israel’s roughly 9 million
population at the start of 2019. Most were Muslims, Christians or Druze. Jews
made up 74.3 percent of the population.
Wake-up call
Despite holding Israeli citizenship, many Arabs say their communities, from the
fertile Galilee in the north to the Negev desert in the south, face
discrimination in areas such as health, education and housing. Netanyahu’s
ruling Likud party counters that its 15 billion shekel ($4.19 billion)
investment plan for the Arab sector “is the largest such commitment in Israel’s
history,” according to Eli Hazan, Likud’s foreign affairs director. But
Netanyahu rekindled Arab resentment in March when he wrote on Instagram that
“Israel is not a state of all its citizens.” It was a reference, he said, to the
new law, and the country being the homeland of the Jewish people.Many in the
Arab community saw the Instagram post as an echo of divisive comments he made in
the 2015 election. Hours before the polls closed on election day that year,
Netanyahu said that Arabs were flocking “in droves” to cast ballots. This was an
attempt to prod any complacent right-wing supporters to get out and vote for
him. “The nation-state law was like a wake-up call for many people, making them
realize this country will never be a country for all its citizens,” said
Muhannad Abu Ghosh, 42, a pro-boycott activist from Haifa.But Ayman Odeh, an
Arab legislator who heads the Hadash party, says that engagement is key to
bringing about political changes that will benefit the Arab minority. “Our
challenge, number one through five, is to increase the number of people who
vote,” he said. He said some Arabs would, as they have in the past, vote for
non-Arab center- or left-wing parties, but that even those votes “play a
significant role in fighting right-wing extremism in Israel.”
Arab legislators
Arabs have served in Israel’s parliament since the country’s founding, but low
turnout and other factors have typically left them under-represented in the
120-seat body.No Arab party has served in a governing coalition, meaning they
have little say in shaping Israeli policies. In the 2015 election, Israel’s four
Arab-dominated political parties united to form a “Joint List” that won 13 seats
- their biggest representation yet. But this time around they are divided, which
is likely to further deter an already dismayed electorate from voting, say
political analysts. Arab voter turnout is expected to be just 51 percent, down
from 64 percent in 2015, according to a recent poll from the Konrad Adenauer
Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation at Tel Aviv University. The poll projects
nationwide turnout of 70 percent. “The majority of Palestinians in Israel
consider the Knesset election as a practical tool. If it helps them, they will
go and vote,” said As’ad Ghanem, a professor of political science at the
University of Haifa.“This time, with the collapse of the Joint List and
frustration with discriminatory practices, voter turnout will be low.” Ahmad
Tibi, a veteran Arab legislator whose Ta’al party has forged an alliance with
Odeh, says Arab parties are likely to lose two Knesset seats in this election.
But he doesn’t see the nation state law or political division as a reason to
boycott the vote.
“You can be a critic, you can have reservations, you can be angry at Arab
parties or Arab,” Tibi said. “But to be nonchalant and to sit aside is not the
solution,” he added.
Still, the boycott movement’s members, many of whom voted in previous elections,
believe that grassroots activism is a more effective agent of change than
voting.
Rula Nasr-Mazzawi, 43, a former activist with the Arab party Balad, says she
left the faction and joined the boycott out of frustration with Arab parties’
divisions in the face of what she described as Israel’s “racist policies.” “The
parties stopped working for the people. They are just clinging onto their own
seats and their own power,” she said. Israeli polls forecast Netanyahu win
Meanwhile, Final authorized opinion polls published on Friday just days ahead of
the Israeli general elections showed Netanyahu heading for a fifth term in
office, leading a right-wing coalition.The polls revealed the rival centrist
Blue and White list led by former military chief Benny Gantz was running
virtually neck-and-neck with Netanyahu’s Likud ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
But while most polls saw Gantz’s list as scooping slightly more votes than
Likud, neither party was predicted to win more than 25 percent of seats in
parliament. And the polls were unanimous in forecasting that Likud would be able
to build a viable ruling coalition to beat off Gantz’s challenge.
None gave a figure for undecided voters, although the number is reportedly high
enough to swing the outcome. “Past polls have shown that nearly one out of every
six-seven voters makes a decision only in the last two days before the
elections, and it isn’t clear what will be the dynamic of the coming few days,”
Maariv daily wrote Friday. A poll by Smith Research for the Jerusalem Post
published Friday showed Gantz’s Blue and White, picking up 28 seats in the
120-member Knesset, with the right-wing Likud at its heels with 27, according to
AFP.
But it found that overall the right and center-right would control 68 seats
compared to 52 from the center and left. Friday is by law the last day on which
surveys can be released before the ballot boxes open on Tuesday morning.
A poll published late Thursday by public broadcaster KAN gave the right a
narrower, although still decisive, lead of 64 to 56. The daily Yediot Aharonot
put the gap as narrower still, at 63-57.
Armed Clashes Flare South of Libya's
Tripoli
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 05/19/Armed clashes broke out Friday south
of Libya's capital Tripoli between a pro-government alliance and forces loyal to
eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar, sources on both sides said.
A unity government source said the fighting struck regions less than 50
kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital. The press office of Haftar's force
said there had been "violent fighting on the edge of Tripoli with armed
militias."
Huge Demos as Algerians Urge Bouteflika Allies to Quit Too
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 05/19/A vast crowd of protestors flooded the
streets of Algiers Friday, the first mass demonstrations since the resignation
of ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and a show of strength by those pushing
demands for reform. Activists chanted slogans demanding key Bouteflika loyalists
follow his lead and quit, after social media calls for "joyful demonstrations"
to "peacefully bring down a dictatorial regime."
No official figures were immediately available on the size of the rally, but it
was at least as big as those held on previous Fridays leading up to Bouteflika's
departure, said AFP journalists at the scene. Opponents of the old regime have
called for a massive turnout, targeting a triumvirate they dub the "3B" --
Senate speaker Abdelakder Bensalah, head of the constitutional council Tayeb
Belaiz and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui. The veteran Bouteflika loyalists
have been entrusted with overseeing the political transition after the veteran
leader finally stepped down at the age of 82. Bouteflika resigned late on
Tuesday after weeks of demonstrations triggered by his bid for a fifth term in
office. After two decades in power, he had lost the backing of key supporters
including armed forces chief Ahmed Gaid Salah.
Bensalah, speaker of the upper house of parliament for 16 years, is to take the
reins as interim president for three months until elections are organized.
Belaiz, a minister for 16 years, was named by Bouteflika as head of the
Constitutional Council which will regulate the elections. Before his appointment
as prime minister, Bedoui had served as interior minister -- or, as the
French-language El Watan newspaper put it on Thursday, "chief engineer of
electoral fraud".
'Partial victory'
Opponents say all three are tarnished by their long years of service under
Bouteflika and should follow his lead and resign. Even hours before the rally
started, several hundred demonstrators had gathered outside the main post office
in central Algiers, which has been the epicenter of the protest movement. Some
shouted "we will not forgive!" in reference to an open letter Bouteflika issued
after his resignation, apologising to the Algerian people for "mistakes made."
Said Wafi, a bank worker from the nearby city of Boumerdes, had arrived at 5:00
am in hope of being "the first demonstrator against the system." "Bouteflika
leaving means nothing if his men continue to run the country," the 42-year-old
said. Samir Ouzine, 19, a student, agreed.
"Bouteflika was very sick. He wasn't really governing, and nothing will change
if he alone leaves and his men stay." One of the leading voices of the protest
movement, lawyer Mustapha Bouchachi, has called for the demonstrations to
continue "until they have all gone." "Our victory is partial," he said in a
video posted online. "Algerians will not accept that symbols of the regime...
lead the interim period and organize the next elections."But protestors
expressed hope that the system would see real change.
Zoubir Challal, who like many young unemployed Algerians had considered a
dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean to seek a better life in Europe, carried
a sign bearing the slogan: "For the first time, I don't want to leave you, my
country."
- 'Delicate phase' -
Protesters are calling for new transitional institutions to be set up to
implement reforms and organize free elections. "Sticking with the constitution
would probably be met with quite a bit of protest, as protesters may be wary of
elections not being fair, competitive and free," said Isabelle Werenfels of the
German Institute for International and Security Affairs. "One option would be to
name an independent and broadly accepted head for a transitional body," she
said. Hamza Meddeb, an independent analyst in Tunisia, said Algeria was entering
"a very delicate phase, because the street and the institutions are at risk of
diverging". The army's intentions are a key question, according to analysts.
Despite abandoning his patron Bouteflika who named him army chief in 2004,
General Gaid Salah is still seen by protesters as a key defender of the "system."But
protestors on Friday chanted: "The army and the people are brothers!"Said
Zeroual, 75, said he hoped Algeria would regain "our freedom and our
sovereignty.""I hope to live long enough to see democracy in my country," he
said.
Britain, EU Set Out Competing Brexit Delay Dates
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 05/19/Prime Minister Theresa May asked the
European Union on Friday to delay Britain's departure until June 30 while
Brussels suggested that it might be best to postpone the split for up to a year.
The competing visions of how to unwind Britain's 46-year involvement in the
European project will be hashed out again at an EU summit in Brussels on
Wednesday and EU leaders have already reacted sceptically to May's request. The
current Brexit deadline of April 12 has already been pushed back once from March
29 because of the UK parliament's repeated failure to back the deal May signed
with the other 27 EU leaders in December. May's formal request to EU Council
president Donald Tusk said Britain thinks the delay "should end on June 30 2019"
-- the same date she asked for and was refused at the last EU summit last month.
"If the parties are able to ratify (the withdrawal agreement) this date, the
government proposes that the period should be terminated earlier," May wrote in
a letter released by Downing Street. A senior EU official said that Tusk's own
idea for a "flexible" 12-month extension "will be presented to member states
today."
But a source in French President Emmanuel Macron's office said it was
"premature" to consider the request without "a clear plan" from May about what
she intended to do with the extra time. German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass said
May still had "many questions" to clarify. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte --
seen as one of May's closer European allies -- also said the letter "doesn't
answer" important concerns.
'Political cover' -
May said Britain would start preparing for European Parliament elections in case
it is still a member of the bloc when they begin on May 23.
The idea is deeply unpopular with Britons who voted to quit the EU and chart
their own future in a 2016 referendum whose arguments are still being waged to
this day. Political analysts in London said May probably knew that her new
deadline will be rejected because EU leaders do not think she can get her deal
through parliament any time soon. May is under intense pressure from the right
wing of her Conservative Party to pull Britain out of the bloc as soon as
possible -- with or without a deal. "I think that Theresa May is looking for
political cover because she is asking for an extension she knows she can't get,"
said King's College European politics professor Anand Menon. She wants Brussels
to "force her to do something else so that at least she won't get accused of
selling out."The first response from leading Conservative euroskeptics to the
idea was very critical. "If a long extension leaves us stuck in the EU we should
be as difficult as possible," Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg tweeted.
- 'Fight to save Brexit' -
The other 27 EU nations must give unanimous backing to any deadline extension.
Some EU leaders fear that Britain's participation in the European Parliament
vote will help boost the standing of anti-EU parties due to their popularity
among Brexit-backing Britons. UK far-right leader Nigel Farage called on his
supporters Friday to vote for his Brexit Party in the European election. "The
fightback to save Brexit has begun," Farage tweeted.
Unlikely breakthrough -
May's team is currently negotiating with leaders from the main opposition Labor
Party in a bid to find a compromise that can pass parliament in the coming days.
Downing Street on Friday called the talks "constructive and an ongoing process."
May's letter said the talks' failure would likely see the two parties jointly
produce several options that would be put up for a series of parliamentary
votes. Labor is pushing May to accept a much closer post-Brexit alliance with
the bloc that includes its participation in a customs union.
May had previously dismissed the idea because it bars Britain from striking its
own trade deals with global giants such as China and the United States. But
analysts said it was not in Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn's political interests to
help get May's agreement over the line. "If they come to an agreement, that's
quite dangerous for him," University of Nottingham political history professor
Seven Fielding said. "I would be surprised if he doesn't walk away."
Sudan police fire tear gas at protests in the capital:
Witnesses
AFP, Khartoum/Friday, 5 April 2019/Sudanese security forces fired tear gas at
anti-government protesters in Khartoum on Thursday, witnesses said, even after
President Omar al-Bashir acknowledged that demonstrators had “legitimate”
economic concerns. Protests have rocked Sudan since December, with demonstrators
accusing Bashir’s government of mismanaging the economy and causing soaring food
prices as well as regular shortages of fuel and foreign currency. Demonstrators
chanting “Freedom! Peace! Justice!” have continued to rally despite a state of
emergency announced in February, although in recent weeks they have been largely
confined to Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman. On Thursday protesters
demonstrated in areas of Khartoum and Omdurman, including in the capital’s
districts of Burri and Jabra, where they were confronted by riot police with
tear gas, witnesses said. Protesters chanted anti-government slogans and urged
residents to join them, a witness told AFP, without revealing his name for
security reasons. Late on Thursday, police said they had dispersed “illegal
gatherings” in several areas of Khartoum state.
Some policemen and citizens have also been wounded, police spokesman General
Hashim Abdelrahim told the official news agency. “Some who threatened public
safety and created disturbances have been detained,” he said, adding that some
had been jailed by special emergency courts. Protests first broke out on
December 19 in response to a government decision to cut vital bread subsidies,
but since Bashir imposed a nationwide state of emergency in February to quell
the demonstrations, their scale and intensity have shrunk. Bashir told
parliament earlier this week that the economic concerns raised by demonstrators
were “legitimate”.“The economic crisis has impacted a wide section of our
people,” Bashir said on Monday. While the protests were initially focused on
bread prices, demonstrators soon began to demand that Bashir resign after three
decades in office. Bashir swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989.
Analysts say has the protest movement has been the biggest challenge ever to his
iron-fisted rule. Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence,
while Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at 51, including children and
medics. Protest organizers have called for widespread protests on Saturday.
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on April 05-06/19
The Floods, the Mullahs and the Cinderella in Boots
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/April 05/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73555/amir-taheri-asharq-al-awsat-the-floods-the-mullahs-and-the-cinderella-in-boots-%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%88/
It may take weeks if not months before the full facts of the current nationwide
floods in Iran are established. But we already know that the floods represent
one of the biggest natural disasters Iran has suffered in half a century.
According to provisional data from the Islamic Red Crescent the floods struck in
over 300 towns and cities in 22 of Iran’s 31 provinces, affecting 18.5 million
people, almost a quarter of the nation’s total population. Some 1.2 million
people have been made homeless, at least temporarily.
The damage done to infrastructure across the nation is equally massive. With 141
rivers in flood and some 500 landslides over 3,000 kilometers of roads and
highways connecting thousands of villages and 78 medium or large cities have
been partly or totally destroyed.
Also destroyed are 87 bridges, 160 dams and over 1,000 kilometers of railway
lines. The floods have put over 18,000 factories and workshops out of action
while the damage done to farming is described as “incalculable.”
From a broader point of view perhaps, the natural disaster has also revealed
some of the fundamental weaknesses of a dysfunctional system that, having
devoted its principal resources and much of its energies to promoting a weird
ideology, seems to be incapable of coping with basic tasks of a normal
nation-state.
It took the parallel authorities that coexist in Tehran more than 48 hours
before they realized what was going on, giving the state-controlled media the
green light to report on it.
Then it took another two days before the various duplicating organs of the
state, decided who was supposed to do what. President Hassan Rouhani, spending a
weeklong holiday in the island resort of Qishm appeared beyond reach. “Supreme
Guide” Ali Khamenei, too busy with a poetry gathering, was unavailable for days,
and found it unnecessary even to comment.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), often boasting about its imaginary
conquests in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen and promising to hoist the flag of
Khomeinism in Washington, was forced to intervene not to save the stricken
citizens but to protect some of the infrastructures it has built and runs as
businesses.
It was soon revealed that those infrastructures, including railway lines built
in traditional flood channels and dams hastily erected in wrong places and wrong
rivers massively contributed to the floods.
The IRGC has built over 300 crude dams to divert waters of various rivers to
land it had seized and transferred to active and/or retried officers.
In a strategy that recalls that of the Chavista in Venezuela, the IRGC has also
helped many peasants, seen as part of the regime’s support base, to cut down
large tracts of forests, further raising the risk of flood.
More than a week after the disaster had struck, using thinly veiled words,
Rouhani put the blame on IRGC’s cowboy style “social” building projects and
profiteering schemes. IRGC chief General Muhammad-Ali Aziz-Jaafari riposted by
accusing Rouhani’s Cabinet of incompetence and poor leadership.
The failure of the official government led by Rouhani and the unofficial one led
by Gen. Jaafari, both under Khamenei’s ultimate control, at least theoretically,
provided a space for other actors to jump in.
The first to do so was the national army which, since the mullahs seized power
in 1979, has been treated as a Cinderella in boots.
Iranians watched in amazement as special units of the regular army moved to save
lives, prevent floods from spreading further, reopen roads and even start
repairing some of the damage. Buoyed by the presence of regular army units
thousands of volunteers also poured in to help deal with the disaster. Contacts
across Iran describe the solidarity shown by average citizen as “exemplary”,
implying that Iran deserves a better government.
The IRGC reacted by ferrying in dozens of ”Madaheen”, professional reciters of
religious chants whose patron is Khamenei. The “Madaheen” jumped into flood
waters chanting “Suffering makes us strong!” and “We are not afraid of death”
while beating their chests the way they do when they mourn the martyr Imam
Hussein at Muharram.
In some places they were accompanied by women who attend Muharram mourning
sessions as “tear-shedding assistants.”
The parallel governments also spent time debating whether or not to appeal for
outside assistance.
While the official foreign ministry awaited instructions regarding contact with
the International Red Cross and other aid agencies, the unofficial foreign
ministry, located in Khamenei’s office, decided that “those who know how to
mourn Hussein” need not humiliate themselves by shaking a begging bowl at
”Cross-Worshippers and Zionists.” In the Bam earthquake in 2003 over 60
countries rushed to help Iran cope with the disaster.
The façade government, led by President Muhammad Khatami had welcomed foreign
aid. That had angered the “Supreme Guide”.
“How could we humiliate Islam in the face of the Infidel?” Khamenei had
demanded.
This time, however, the façade government, headed by the hapless Rouhani, dared
not defy the “Supreme Guide”. Rouhani’s First Assistant Eshaq Jahangiri had this
to say: “A country as rich as the Islamic Republic has no need of foreign
assistance.”
However, to fool his American apologists, Muhammad Javad Zarif, the man who
plays the role of foreign minister, still had to blame the United States for
lack of any foreign assistance or even sympathy.
“American sanctions prevent help from reaching Iran,” Zarif’s spokesman said
last Monday.
However, everyone knows that humanitarian aid as well as food and medicine and
other items of trade with no probable military use are not covered by the US,
the European Union and the United Nations sanctions.
In any case there is no sanction against a foreign leader, our dear friend
President Vladimir Putin for example, phoning someone in Tehran to express
condolences and sympathy.
The problem is that Putin wouldn’t know who to phone in Tehran: Rouhani the
mullah who plays as president or Khamenei who may feel insulted if he is told
there has been a catastrophe in his “Islamic” paradise?
Bouteflika’s Ousting Reminiscent of Mubarak
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/April 05/19
Before his resignation in 2011, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he
was not seeking to extend his presidential mandate, but would still remain in
power for more than six months. Similarly, the resigning Algerian President
Abdul Aziz Bouteflika also said he was not planning on running for a fifth term.
I would not dismiss the possibility that both presidents were sincerely
considering leaving office before the last hour. The problem, however, is no one
knows the meaning of the “right time” for leaving. In the Arab world, it is much
harder to exit such an arena than enter it.
In both situations, the families of Mubarak and Bouteflika took the blame of
planning to pass power on to relatives — the sons in Mubarak’s case and the
brothers in Bouteflika’s case. This has provoked massive street protests in
Algeria and led to the army’s intervention due to fears over national security
and order. Thus, both terms ended in a very tragic way unworthy of both
presidents. We are not quite sure if these accounts are true, but both former
presidents were initially planning on running in the upcoming elections, despite
their poor health. The intervention of family members was common knowledge, and
the presidential terms in both cases were extended to more than what was
acceptable in republics.
Well, would these ignominious changes have happened had Mubarak and Bouteflika
declared their wish not to extend their terms? This is what I and many others
believe, along with the possibility that a long term, accompanied by old age, is
known historically to end either with deposition or death.
Habib Bourguiba, the historical leader of Tunisia, ruled for 30 years, but his
power began to be questioned in the last days of his presidential term. His
pictures were even thought by the public to have been modified in order to make
him appear in good shape. Eventually, his rule came to an end at the hands of
his hand-picked prime minister Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, who ousted him and held
him under house arrest for 13 years until his death. However, Ben Ali would
later commit the same mistake; ruling for 20 consecutive years until, finally,
being ousted by protesters.
On the other hand, we cannot underestimate the dangers of voluntary exits in the
third world; where the relatives and entourage of the president may end up
paying the price of conflicts and reprisals.
Indeed, we can see that Bouteflika is a political personality close to the
hearts of most Algerians, as he took over the presidency of the country during a
critical period, and led it from violence and bloodshed to peace. He could have
ended his 20-year rule as a national hero — an icon for the present and a role
model for the future generations — but, as soon as he announced his wish to run
for a fifth term, citizens took to the streets to protest his decision.
Keeping in mind that running for a fourth term in 2014 was also widely
criticized; the situation, unfortunately, reached the point where Bouteflika had
to be ousted in his wheelchair, semi-helpless. It was probably necessary to save
the country from his relatives’ behind-the-scenes “rule,” and the almost certain
bloody conflict that would have followed. It is no use crying over spilled milk.
All that Algerians can do now is look forward to a better future since the
change has — at least — occurred without bloodshed, chaos or bitter conflicts.
It is hoped that the rest of the transition phase will also run smoothly, in an
atmosphere of unanimity, so the country will enter a new era.
Striking the Right Balance: Creating Jobs in a
Fast-changing Middle East Business Landscape
Omar Fahoum/Asharq Al Awsat/April 05/19
With the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution raising expectations
of efficiency and productivity - along with concerns of constant disruption - no
entity can remain competitive with a “business as usual” approach. This applies
to governments as well, perhaps even more so, given the critical element of
public trust and public sector employment. For countries in the Middle East,
this is a particular challenge. As the largest employer (and often the employer
of last resort) for a growing and youthful population, governments face a
daunting scenario: efficiency gains through automation and artificial
intelligence (AI), which will undoubtedly enhance their competitiveness on the
world stage, versus the potential shrinking of the government workforce, and
employment consequences for a key segment of the population.
The employer of choice
While artificially intelligent robots may not be descending on the Middle
Eastern job market just yet, countries in the region are starting to contend
with the challenges of automation and innovation brought on by the current
global industrial revolution. Technology is rapidly pervading every aspect of
the region’s business landscape, from automated immigration clearances to
banking services, compliance and media programming. The difference in the Middle
Eastern business landscape compared to other regions is the role the public
sector plays in the workforce. Government is by far the region’s main employer.
Two thirds of Saudi workers are employed by the public sector, and Jordan’s
public sector employs 55% of workers. These are two of the highest ratios in the
world. What’s more, it is estimated that over two thirds of all young Gulf Arabs
still look to governments for jobs.
But as countries are increasingly rated on the efficiency of doing business, an
inflated public sector is no longer an option if states wish to compete - among
themselves and for foreign direct investment - as well as avoid capital flight.
And just as with private entities, governments are now under pressure to become
more efficient by using Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as AI and
automation.
That could mean fewer jobs. Consider what kinds of jobs are at a high risk for
automation according to an Oxford University study: data entry, account clerks,
inspectors, tax preparers, accountants, title searchers. The study names a range
of office work, of the type often used in the public sector.
Add to this the growing population of young people now entering the workforce,
and the pressure on the public sector will only increase. According to the
International Monetary Fund, about five million workers are entering the Middle
East job market annually. And the percentage of the population under the age of
25 ranges from 25% in Qatar to 50% in Oman.
Pivoting to the private sector
Clearly, governments in the Middle East must start finding ways to employ their
workforce other than by public sector hiring.
More promising is to encourage workers to seek out employment in the private
sector. But as governments turn to the private sector, striking the right
balance is key as challenges in this changing business landscape abound.
Educating and upskilling the population is one of these challenges. To pivot
successfully to the private sector, education will need not only to emphasize
innovation and the right skills for an automated future, it will also need to
highlight the advantages of private sector work. Career advancement, creativity,
rewards for inventiveness, and the potential to make more money are all
possibilities in the private sector that can counteract the perceived stability
of public sector work. Another challenge is for governments to keep up to speed
with technological innovation so that the private sector can create the jobs
needed. The fact that technological advancement is outpacing the promulgation of
laws and regulations to govern it is a universal issue, but is even more
pronounced in the Middle East. One example is data protection. Current rules
that ban enterprise information and data from leaving the physical boundaries of
a country are just not tenable when information is stored in the cloud.
Businesses need to be able to operate on a trans-regional and global scale
without being hampered by outdated rules and regulations.
Ready to rebalance
None of this is to say that the Middle East is not eager to capitalize on
advanced technologies. Dubai’s government recently announced its intention to be
the world’s first blockchain-powered government by 2020. Vision 2030 in Saudi
Arabia and mega-projects such as Neom and Al Qiddiya also point to the fact that
the region is gearing up for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. But any next
steps in this technological journey must include a focus on how to balance the
adoption of innovative technology and the overall welfare of the citizenry. With
one of the youngest populations in the world looking for jobs, the region can’t
afford not to. This article is part of the World Economic Forum on the Middle
East and North Africa 2019, taking place in Jordan 6-7 April.
CNN, Qatar and the Targeting of Saudi Arabia
Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/April 05/19
Since the start of the crisis over Khashoggi’s death, the media targeting of
Saudi Arabia reached an unprecedented extent. Six months have passed with tens
of thousands of news, reports, analyses, articles and interviews - part of which
is a repetition of the same old stories and the other relies on anonymous
sources, hundreds of inciting articles and incredible false accounts. It was an
unprecedented campaign, clearly aimed at harming the Kingdom and its leadership.
As objectivity was lacking, analyses became information and speculations turned
into news. Much respected media institutions saw their credibility compromised
from within. Perhaps the first person to reveal this reality - despite the
world’s reluctance to believe him - was US President Donald Trump, whose
relations with a number of US media institutions witnessed a high level of
tension. On several occasions, he accused them of lying and even went on to
describe them as “the false news media.” Trump, unfortunately, proved to be
sincere and did not exaggerate in challenging those institutions.
We all remember how The Washington Post was caught up in a scandal, with the
publishing of text messages between Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and
executive director of Qatar Foundation International (QFI), Maggie Mitchell
Salem, which revealed how the QFI shaped the columns wrote by Khashoggi in the
newspaper. Maggie suggested topics and drafted the articles and pushed the late
journalist to adopt a tougher stance against the Saudi government.
Today, a new scandal emerged, but this time in the audiovisual media, on the
most popular news network, CNN. “Conservative Review” magazine published names
of people working for CNN and are very close to Qatar. It noted that many of the
national security experts, who work for CNN, have direct links with the State of
Qatar. This prompted Trump’s eldest son, Junior, to tweet that he was “shocked”
by the report.
What is important here is the link between the two scandals. Qatar uses dirty
money and illegally infiltrates media outlets for one goal - to polish its image
and target the Kingdom.
Perhaps only these two scandals became known to the public. But how many media
outlets have been soaked with Qatari money and are harming the Kingdom, without
being uncovered?
Undoubtedly, anyone who follows the American media is aware that not everything
that comes out of it is 100% true. It is no exaggeration to say that there are
countries that seek to penetrate some of these institutions. This sometimes
leads to a deliberate coverage of the abuse, as in the crisis of Khashoggi's
killing. However, despite all attempts to target the Kingdom, whether, with
Qatari or other money, the successes of Saudi Arabia have prompted a government
like Qatar to use all immoral means to attack the Kingdom repeatedly and
wrongly.
However, the bitter truth for Qatar and its allies in media targeting - whether
Iran or Turkey - is that the media campaigns have failed to achieve their goals,
and turned negatively on those who planned and executed them. Turkey is busy
with the huge loss of the sultan’s party in the elections, Iran is facing more
painful sanctions, while Qatar has not succeeded in overcoming the social,
economic and political losses resulting from the Quartet’s blockade. The
successive media scandals confirm that the Arab Quartet was right in boycotting
a country that exploited the media in the ugliest way to refine its image and
harm that of its neighbors.
Turkey's Elections: What Do They Mean for Turkey and
Erdoğan?
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/April 05/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14004/turkey-municipal-elections-results
The election results in Istanbul, now disputed by the AKP, put the opposition
candidate into the lead by a margin of 23,000 votes in a city with 10.5 million
voters.
"Though Turkey's government and many commentators are blaming the Trump
administration and foreign speculators for the country's economic downturn, the
reality is that it was already 'baked into the cake' many years ago due to the
credit bubble that formed." — Jesse Colombo, Forbes.
Simple religious Islamist conservative and ultra-nationalist populism are still
keeping Erdoğan in power, but there are signs that, if the economy keeps getting
worse, those forces may not be able to save him. There are signs that this is
taking place.
On March 31, the Turks went to the ballot box to elect mayors for their cities.
Ostensibly the election results marked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's 15th
consecutive election victory since his (Islamist) Justice and Development Party
(AKP) came to power in November 2002. The AKP won the biggest number of votes
(44%) nationwide. Its ultra-nationalist ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
won 7% of the vote. That was good news for Erdoğan. In reality, it was good but
incomplete news for Turkey's Islamist strongman.
"Who loses Istanbul [in elections] loses Turkey," Erdoğan roared in a 2018
speech, underlying the importance of big Turkish cities in municipal elections.
He may be right. Winning Istanbul and Ankara was how political Islam eventually
won Turkey. Precisely 25 years ago, in March 1994, the municipal elections
caused a series of seismic events in the then-secular Turkish political
landscape: In an altogether shocking election result the (Islamist) Welfare
Party (RP) won Ankara and Istanbul, with Erdoğan elected as mayor of Turkey's
biggest city. RP's leader, Necmettin Erbakan, Erdoğan's mentor became Turkey's
first Islamist prime minister after he won the biggest number of votes in
parliamentary elections in 1995, just a year after the party had won two of
Turkey's biggest cities.
Ironically, 25 years later, Turkey's Islamists lost Ankara and Istanbul in
another municipal election, although Erdoğan's AKP, citing vote rigging and
other irregularities, challenged the results. The claim is particularly ironic
as in all of past elections Erdogan was accused of vote-rigging, but only now,
for the first time, are they complaining about irregularities. According to the
Supreme Election Board, so far known to be a pro-Erdoğan rubber-stamp authority,
opposition candidates won both Ankara and Istanbul. Ruşen Çakır, a Turkish
columnist, said, perhaps prematurely:
"The election today is as historic as the local election in 1994. It's the
announcement of a page that was opened 25 years ago and is now being closed".
"While losing Istanbul would be a nuclear defeat for Erdoğan," said Soner
Çagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy, "losing Ankara, which is shorthand for political power and
government, is a pretty significant loss".
In addition, the opposition bloc won several big cities that had traditionally
voted for Erdoğan's AKP. With Sunday's results, the entire Turkish coastline of
the Aegean and Mediterranean seas -- as well as the capital, Ankara, some major
cities in Central Anatolia, the entire Thrace region and two provinces in
northeastern Turkey -- went to the opposition. The predominantly Kurdish
southeast was, as always, divided between the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy
Party and AKP.
What do the election results mean for Turkey and Erdoğan? A few observations:
Allegations about Erdoğan's/AKP's vote-rigging have never been unconvincing, but
the magnitude was hard to prove. It was anyone's guess: from 1% to 10%. This
author has been on the lower end of the wide spectrum. The election results in
Istanbul, now disputed by the AKP, put the opposition candidate into the lead by
a margin of 23,000 votes in a city with 10.5 million voters.
It was the economy, not politics, that caused the average Turk, otherwise a
staunch supporter of Erdoğan, to feel bitter about the government. In 2018, the
Turkish lira hit record-low levels against major Western currencies; the
unemployment rate hit a nine-year-high; inflation spiked, and the economy shrank
by 2.4% in the last quarter of the year and 1.6% in the third quarter. Jesse
Colombo of Forbes wrote:
"Though Turkey's government and many commentators are blaming the Trump
administration and foreign speculators for the country's economic downturn, the
reality is that it was already 'baked into the cake' many years ago due to the
credit bubble that formed".
That "baking into the cake" is Erdoğan's worst nightmare. His election defeat,
coupled with a new wave of economic and financial crises (a new Turkish lira
plunge, surging bond and inflation rates, several conglomerates in the
defaulting queue, more jobless voters, price hikes, more taxes and banking
restrictions) could force Erdoğan into early presidential and parliamentary
elections (now scheduled for June 2023). Erdoğan, relying on his nationalist
partner, MHP, has played down the message of the municipal elections, ruling out
early national elections at any time. "Please do not be heartbroken with this
result," Erdoğan told party loyalists after the March 31 election results came
in. "As of tomorrow morning, we will start finding and making up for our
shortcomings," Erdogan added.
Ironically, the two "kingmaker" forces in the near future of Turkish politics
will be the two camps that have traditionally been most hostile to each other:
Turkish and Kurdish nationalists, both of which have around a 10% popularity in
nationwide elections. Until 2016, Erdoğan courted the Kurds and deeply
antagonized Turkish nationalists, including his best ally, MHP leader Devlet
Bahçeli. He then scrapped all peace talks with the Kurds, made a U-turn and
allied himself with Bahçeli -- a smart maneuver that earned him votes in the
2018 presidential race. After March 31, Erdoğan can easily calculate that his
dependency on Bahçeli has grown even bigger. Bahçeli, for his part, could be
tempted to abandon Erdoğan and, before a near-crisis has turned into a perfect
storm, call for early national elections, by citing economic mismanagement.
Simple religious Islamist conservative and ultra-nationalist populism are still
keeping Erdoğan in power, but there are signs that, if the economy keeps getting
worse, those forces may not be able to save him. There are many signs that this
is taking place.
Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the
country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is
taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
وكالة انباء إيرانية تابعة للحرس الثوري تقول
بأن الفيضانات في إيران سببها تلاعب اجنبي من ضمن خطة أميركية للسيطرة على الطقس في
العالم
Iranian IRGC-Affiliated News Agency Tasnim: Iran's Recent Rains, Flooding Are
Caused By Foreign Manipulation – As Part Of U.S. Plan To Control Global Climate
MEMRI/April 05/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73552/%d9%88%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%aa%d8%b3%d9%86%d9%8a%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%ad%d8%b1%d8%b3-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ab%d9%88%d8%b1/
In light of recent heavy rains and major flooding in northern and western Iran,
in which dozens have died so far, the Iranian news agency Tasnim, which is
affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), published a
special report titled "Are the Recent Heavy Rains in Iran Happening
Intentionally?" According to Tasnim, the catastrophic rains and flooding are
caused by manipulation of the weather by Iran's enemies – hinting at the U.S.
and Israel – causing a drastic change in the weather and flooding unprecedented
in the country's history.
This is not the first Iranian accusation of weather manipulation. In January
2010, the Kayhan daily, a regime mouthpiece, claimed that the "United States of
Zionism" had caused that month's devastating earthquake in Haiti as well as that
winter's severe cold across Europe, and that it was using sophisticated weapons
disguised as the Alaska-based U.S. High Frequency Active Auroral Research
Program (HAARP) with the aim of bringing down regimes.[1]
According to the Tasnim report, which is presented in the form of several
episodes, the Jewish-American Warner Bros. company produces its futuristic
films, such as the 2017 movie Geostorm, based on information it has about "the
U.S.'s secret plans", a U.S. plan to control global climate. It added that
senior IRGC official Brig.-Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, director of Iran's Passive
Defense Organization, was correct when he stated, in the summer of 2018, that
Israel had stolen clouds, rain and snow from Iran. It noted further that the
timing of the current flooding, which began on the eve of Nowruz (Persian New
Year) celebrations and the annual vacation taken by regime officials was no
coincidence – proving intervention by a foreign hand.
The following is the translation of the main points of the Tasnim report:
"There are reasons for the heavy rains and flooding impacting Iran in recent
days: They are the fruit of foreign climate manipulation.
"Episode A" – Warner Bros. Films Reflect America's Organized Plans For Climate
Manipulation
"In recent days, we closely reviewed the 2017 American film Geostorm produced by
Warner Bros. This company was founded 101 years ago, in 1918, by four Polish
Jewish brothers – Harry, Sam, Albert, and Jack – who immigrated to the U.S. Most
of this company's films are in the style of 'investigating the future' or
'predicting the future.' In truth, this company's network of researchers and
producers know about many of the U.S.'s secret plans; they proceed in accordance
with them, and they create the films with specific aims. The film presents an
international plan launched by the U.S. under pressure from the international
community. This plan includes the construction of a space station to impact the
climactic system of the entire earth...
"Beyond the style and content, the film conveys a special message: 'America has
organized plans for climate manipulation that will be extremely destructive in
light of their very extensive impact.' It is enough to use various types of
accelerators or stimulators to influence some of the climate factors, and to
make them extreme, in order to produce destructive results such as freezes, very
high temperatures, torrential rains, [hailstorms with] huge hailstones,
uncontrollable flooding, and unbalanced phenomena such as those caused by
climate disruption."
"Episode B" – Passive Defense Organization Director Jalali: Israel Stole Iran's
Clouds And Snow
"Gholamreza Jalali, director of Iran's Passive Defense Organization, is
undoubtedly one of the most prominent and sharpest [members of] the top regime
echelons in the sphere of Iranian strategic defense. We recall dozens of
instances in which he protected the people from various disasters when all the
other similar organizations were not [even] updated or were incapable of doing
so. As an example of his successful efforts, we can point to his pioneering
[role in warning] about matters such as genetic engineering of agricultural
produce, [the dangers inherent in] the use of smartphones by senior regime
officials, and [the need to] reinforce urban buildings against earthquakes. In
light of this, we should look at his statements about climate and reactions to
them as presented on the news:
"On July 2, 2018, Jalali said at the third national rally for passive defense in
agriculture, held at the Institute for the Production and Improvement of Seeds
and Seedlings: 'Changes in the climate in Iran are suspect, and it is feared
[that they are caused by] foreign intervention. Studies conducted in Iran's
scientific centers confirm this... Israeli teams, in collaboration with one of
the neighboring countries are neutralizing the clouds headed for Iran. Likewise,
we are encountering theft of our clouds and theft of snow'... The same day, Ahad
Vazifeh, director-general of the forecast and warning division of the Iran
Meteorological Organization, responded to this by saying, 'There is no way,
according to meteorological [science], that a certain country can steal clouds
or snow,' and added that he did not know what Jalali had based this statement
on. He continued: 'Perhaps he found some document in the matter and I have not
been brought up to date. But according to meteorological [science], there is no
way that any country can steal clouds or snow'...
"It should be noted that this point of view pleased the foreign media, which
gave it full coverage. The next day, July 3, 2018, [Iranian Environmental
Organization director] Isa Kalantari, among the opponents of the 'climate war'
[idea], responded to Jalali's statements, saying sarcastically: 'One [person]
cannot speak on all subjects... The decrease in rainfall is not a political or
an economic matter; it is a sheer technical and scientific issue.' On July 4,
2018, Davood Parhizkar, [then-] director-general of the meteorological
organization, emphasized that '[Jalali's] statements have no scientific basis,
because manipulating the weather cannot be done by man. Therefore, those who
claim that there was theft of clouds need to prove their statements at a
conference of experts.' [But] the Special Investigations Team of the Economic
Division of the Tasnim news agency has proved, in the framework of a large
project [launched] by Tasnim, called 'The Global Food War,' the reality of the
'climate war,' citing American scientist and meteorologist [Jim Lee].[2] This
American expert on climate manipulation explained, 'We [Americans] have
prevented rainfall on several occasions, such as during the Vietnam War, on the
Cuban sugarcane fields, in China, and in the USSR. In light of this, if you
think that there is no way to manipulate climate, you are simply naive.'
"Following the publication of this Tasnim investigation, there were two
important developments: One was that the political and media discussions by
opponents to the 'climate wars against Iran' theory stopped. The second was that
[Environmental Organization director] Isa Kalantari admitted in an interview
that he had no knowledge of this professional field and that he was only
reflecting statements by experts'...
"This episode [of our report] raises three questions:
Why do experts from [Iran's] meteorological organization lack knowledge about
such an important matter as the 'climate war?'
Why did [Iran's] meteorological organization conduct a media campaign in the
days after Jalali made his statements, instead of verifying [whether there was]
proof for them? It should be noted that the media uproar about Jalali's
statements was fully covered by foreign media, and that they were pleased at
this.
The Shiraz flooding took place around noon on March 25, 2019 and killed 19
Iranians. Assuming that [Iran's] meteorological organization is the body that is
expert in the climate field, why wasn't Shiraz named in the warnings it issued
before the recent heavy rains began?... "
"Episode C" – The Floods Happened Because Of Climate Manipulation By Iran's
Enemies
"There is an important point regarding the recent heavy rains that was ignored.
Let us examine things from the very beginning: Anyone who has had the occasion
to visit Shiraz knows that during Nowruz [the Iranian New Year celebrations]
there is a long line [of vehicles] at the city's entrance, and people are
occasionally held up for up to two hours. They are stuck with no way to get out.
In these particular circumstances, if huge quantities of rainfall for twenty
minutes, causing a flood, what can [these] people do?
"The floods in Golestan province were the result of a [storm] system that formed
in the Gulistan region around Sunday, March 17, 2019. But the peak
precipitation, especially in the city Aqqala, was on March 19-20, 2019 [on the
eve of the New Year's vacation]. The IRNA news agency in Golestan wrote that
'heavy rainfall in eastern Golestan has caused the Golestan dam, located 15 km
from the city of Gonbad-e Kavus, to overflow, and the region's rivers... to
overflow their banks. As the recent winter storm began, more than 300mm of rain
fell in Golestan province and the snow in the province's mountainous regions
reached a height of 1.5 meters. The overflow from the Golestan 2 and Bustan
dams, located in the higher regions, caused flooding along the Gorganrud river
and in all cities and villages in the area.' Likewise, according to a report on
the Tabnak website, 'over 315 mm of precipitation [were measured] in some
[weather] stations [during the storm], although average annual rainfall in the
district is 450 mm. In other words, 60% of the annual quantity fell in just 24
hours.'
"By March 25, 2019, the floods that continued in various parts of the country
claimed the lives of 19 people in the city of Shiraz. These floods, the worst in
100 years, occurred precisely when two conditions prevailed:
All government offices were shut [for the New Year's vacation]. The president
was vacationing on Qeshm Island and the governor of Golestan was abroad. Those
who remained at work in the meteorological forecast department of the
meteorological organization were inaccurate [in their forecasts].
The citizens were in a maximal state of defenseless in the face of these weather
changes, such as those stuck in traffic at Shiraz's Quran Gate.
"The meaning of these two points is that, under these circumstances, when the
state was at its weakest in terms of defense, a 'climate manipulation' could sow
widespread destruction. It is noteworthy that the two aforementioned conditions
are unique to these days of the year.
"Using a simple calculation based on the principles of probability, let us work
out the probability of such rainfall occurring precisely during these days.
Assuming that weight of the other variables, such as precipitation dispersion
and past rain data, approaches zero, the probability of this unprecedented
climatic imbalance occurring precisely on these seven days, when the country is
at its most defenseless, is the following:
"The meaning of these numbers is that the probability of [such] unprecedented
rainfall during these seven consecutive days in the week of March 19-25 is less
than one to 160 billion. Experts call this zero.
"In conclusion:
"1. Even admitting that there is some chance that these rains were natural – by
one calculation, a chance of 1 to 160 billion, i.e. zero – it is more plausible
and reasonable [to assume] that this was climate manipulation [perpetrated] by
the enemies, and the relevant authorities must, at the very least, put an
investigation into the matter on their agenda.
"2. Whether or not we accept that these rains were enemy actions, the important
point is that the arena of battle has long ago shifted from hard war – weapons
and rockets on the battlefield – to the economic arena. In the future the shape
of war will change [further] and will occur in arenas such as climate war [and]
genetic war, and soft and semi-soft war will be waged by artificial
intelligence, in [the fields of] politics, security, society and culture.
"Therefore, it seems that all the important bodies [tasked] with the issue of
state security – the IRGC, the army, the Passive Defense Organization, the
Intelligence Ministry, the Supreme National Security Council and the rest of the
strategic national defense organizations – must take these types of war more
seriously and attain the peak of scientific [knowledge] in these fields. True,
there are signs that these bodies are already taking this approach, but they are
still in the beginning of the road and they are not doing enough.[3]
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2782, Conspiracy Theories in Iranian Dailies:
Al-Qaeda, Taliban Are Operational Wing of the U.S.; U.S. Caused Haiti
Earthquake, January 31, 2010.
[2] See Tasnim (Iran), December 16, 2018.
[3] Tasnim (Iran), March 30, 2019.
A Lesson for Pope Francis on Walls and
Muslims
Raymond Ibrahim/PJ Media/April 05/19
https://www.meforum.org/58124/lesson-pope-francis-walls-muslims
"I appeal not to create walls but to build bridges" has long been Pope Francis's
mantra.
Most recently, when asked last Sunday "a question about migration in general and
about U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to shut down the southern border with
Mexico," the pope pontificated in platitudes: "Builders of walls," he said, "be
they made of razor wire or bricks, will end up becoming prisoners of the walls
they build.... With fear, we will not move forward, with walls, we will remain
closed within these walls."Less than a week earlier, Pope Francis lectured the
mayor of Rome about the need to be more welcoming to Muslim migrants. "Rome," he
declared, "a hospitable city, is called to face this epochal challenge [Muslim
migrants demanding entry] in the wake of its noble history; to use its energies
to welcome and integrate, to transform tensions and problems into opportunities
for meeting and growth."
"Rome," he exulted, "city of bridges, never walls!"The grand irony of all this
is that Pope Francis lives in the only state to be surrounded by walls—Vatican
City—and most of these bastions were erected to ward off centuries of Islamic
invasions.
Most notably, in 846, a Muslim fleet from North Africa consisting of 73 ships
and 11,000 Muslims, landed in Ostia near Rome. Muslim merchants who frequently
visited Italy had provided them with precise intelligence that made the raid a
success. Although they were unable to breach the preexisting walls of the
Eternal City, they sacked and despoiled the surrounding countryside,
including—to the consternation of Christendom—the venerated and centuries-old
basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul. The Muslim invaders desecrated the tombs of
the revered apostles and stripped them of all their treasures.
Pope Leo IV (847-855) responded by building many more walls, including fifteen
bastions along the right bank of the Tiber River, the mouth of which was
forthwith closed with a chain to protect the sacred sites from further Muslim
raids and desecrations. Completed by 852, the walls were in places 40 feet high
and 12 feet thick.
Further anticipating the crusades against Islam by over two centuries—and thus
showing how they were a long time coming—Pope Leo (and after him Pope John VIII)
offered the remission of sins for those Christians who died fighting Islamic
invaders.
Such was the existential and ongoing danger Muslims, referred to in contemporary
sources as "Sons of Satan," caused for Europe—more than two centuries before the
First Crusade was launched in 1095.
Indeed, just three years after the initial Muslim invasion of Rome, "in 849 the
Muslims attempted a new landing at Ostia; then, every year from around 857 on,
they threatened the Roman seaboard," explains French medieval historian C. E.
Dufourcq:
In order to get rid of them, Pope John VIII decided in 878 to promise them an
annual payment [or jizya] of several thousand gold pieces; but this tribute of
the Holy See to Islam seems to have been paid for only two years; and from time
to time until the beginning of the tenth century, the Muslims reappeared at the
mouth of the Tiber or along the coast nearby.
Today, many Muslims, not just of the ISIS-variety, continue to boast that Islam
will conquer Rome, the only of five apostolic sees never to have been subjugated
by jihad (unlike Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Constantinople). Similarly,
Muslims all throughout Europe continue exhibiting the same hostility and
contempt for all things and persons non-Islamic, whether by vandalizing
churchesand breaking crosses, or by raping "infidel" women as theirs by right.
As for Italy, click here, here, and/or here for an idea of how Muslim migrants
behave.
And that is the point Pope Francis misses: walls should only go down and bridges
should only be extended when both parties are willing to live in amicable
peace—as opposed to making the destructive work of those who have been trying to
subjugate Europe in the name of Islam that much easier.
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries
of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the
Gatestone Institute and a Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow at the Middle
East Forum.
Analysis/Netanyahu Has Cunningly Navigated the Mideast.
Israeli Voters Will Reward Him
عاموس هاريل/صحيفة الهآرتس: نيتنياهو ببراعة ومكر توغل في الشرق الأوسط ولهذا
سيكافئه الناخبون الإسرائيليون
Amos Harel/Haaretz/April 05/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73558/%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3-%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D8%A2%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%B3-%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%88-%D8%A8%D8%A8/
Corruption takes a back seat to indisputable diplomatic achievements ■ Israeli
fake accounts network takes a page from Soviet propaganda.
The grand finale of the Likud election campaign was held in Moscow on Thursday.
It is no wonder that Netanyahu did not adopt the suggestion of his campaign
headquarters staff to hold a large rally at Rabin Square before the election –
and not only because of the fraught history of the site. In the end, it was
decided to hold a small rally in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Why worry that the square in Tel Aviv will be full of supporters when instead
there’s the option of holding a joint press conference with the president of
Russia in Moscow? As in the past several weeks, it is Netanyahu who is dictating
the rules of the game in the election campaign. He has therefore been able in
the past few days to launch a blitz of interviews, after four years in which he
saw to it not to give interviews to any media outlet that he himself didn’t
fully control.
Putin and the election
The invitation from Putin wraps up a triple play for Netanyahu in less that two
weeks: a visit to U.S. President Donald Trump, who gave him the gift of American
recognition of Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan Heights (but which was somewhat
overshadowed when Hamas forced him to cut short his visit to Washington due to
the escalation in Gaza). Then Netanyahu hosted of his new friend Brazilian
President Jair Bolsonaro in Jerusalem, followed on Thursday by the summit in
Moscow, just after the return of Baumel’s body.
Russia is going with the likely winner in the election in Israel and it is
prepared to help him, within the limits of its own interests. It is not
expelling the Iranians and Hezbollah from the Syrian Golan, and it is continuing
to prepare for the transfer of the advanced S-300 long range surface-to-air
missile batteries to full Syrian control. But if Israel is asking for a little
help on a humanitarian issue – why not? We can count on Putin to see to it that
he gets a fitting quid pro quo for his generosity at some point.
The message that Netanyahu’s Likud party wants to convey through this series of
meetings is transparent. Israeli hospitals are collapsing under the patient
load, public transportation is lagging, personal security in Gaza border
communities is shaky, but when Israel turns to the international arena,
Netanyahu, his experience and his connections have no real competition. Only
Bibi can do it.
A similar claim, incidentally, was made towards the end of the terms of office
of two of his predecessors, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert. The later basked in
affection of foreign leaders all the way to the courthouse and then prison.
Netanyahu’s record in the diplomatic and security arena is not the total
disaster that is described by his rivals. The prime minister was smart enough
early on to understand the dangers inherent in the Arab Spring.
He strengthened relations with the Sunni countries considerably, from Egypt to
the Gulf. He (usually) managed not to get involved in the civil war in Syria,
and for the most part, he took care not to get dragged into unnecessary wars in
Gaza. Even in Operation Protective Edge in 2014, he did not cave into pressures
from inside his cabinet to invade the entire Gaza Strip.
The international community’s nuclear agreement with Iran, which Netanyahu
opposed, was developed by President Barack Obama’s administration to a large
extent in response to Israel’s threat to attack Iran’s nuclear installations.
And Trump’s withdrawal from the treaty, spurred by his friend in Jerusalem,
hasn’t so far led to the disaster that he was warned about. The renewed American
sanctions have also affected European companies and have increased the economic
pressure on the regime but for the time being, they have not scuttled the
agreement itself, as Netanyahu would have liked.
Inaction on the Palestinian issue
The most persuasive claim against Netanyahu in the diplomatic-political area is
the total lack of action on the Palestinian issue. The odds of obtaining a final
status solution are minuscule (even in the opinion of his rival, Benny Gantz),
but the suspension of the peace process, along with extensive construction in
West Bank settlements, is gradually putting the kibbosh on the vision of the
two-state solution that Netanyahu momentarily adopted under pressure from Obama
10 years ago.
However, the main argument for ending Netanyahu’s long period in office has to
do with his conduct on the domestic front, not his handling of foreign affairs.
The serious suspicions against him in a string of criminal cases, along with
Likud’s orchestrated attacks on public servants and the systematic damage to the
rule of law, are sufficient to lead to the conclusion that Netanyahu has played
a key role in corrupting Israeli society over the past decade. He has surrounded
himself with unworthy people, encouraged an enterprise of flattery over him and
his family and has consistently fueled discord and hatred among various segments
of society. And all of this has accelerated and intensified, as if in some giant
centrifuge, in the run-up to the election.
The figure of Netanyahu has been with us for so many years that it is sometimes
difficult to distinguish between the original and the imitation on the satirical
television show “Eretz Nehederet,” which doesn’t appear to bother his voters at
all. The two merge into a single character: On the television show, Netanyahu is
depicted as a smiling and fraudulent schemer, who always has the upper hand even
when his efforts at deception are clearly evident to everyone. In “life itself”
as he calls it – that is, in the campaign – he acts as if he is the political
incarnation of King Midas. Any accusation from his rivals somehow becomes an
electoral asset, exploited to his benefit.
In recent months the public opinion polls gone the gamut, from a smattering of
hope for a victory by his rivals after the Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz teamed up,
and then back a clear advantage for the right-wing bloc. If the public opinion
polls aren’t wrong again, they apparently reflect what the majority of Israelis
think about their leader: In the Middle East, a manipulator is necessary. The
gravity of the criminal acts of which the prime minister is suspected is
outweighed by the feeling of security he inculcates in his supporters in facing
the dangers from outside. And by this measure, Gantz – dignified, statesmanlike,
fair, a bit awkward – who wouldn’t meet even the most elementary threshold of
swindling.
A decision on indictments
The left’s hopes of removing him from office will apparently have to again focus
on Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who is planning on holding a
pre-indictment hearing for Netanyahu’s defense lawyers this summer and to make a
decision on indicting Netanyahu at the beginning of next year. People who are
familiar with investigation material that isn’t being made public before the
election, as Mandelblit’s decided would be done, say the material is very
damaging to the prime minister’s line of defense.
The recent revelations in the case of company shares that Netanyahu received
from his cousin Nathan Milikowsky could complicate his situation further.
Waiting in the wings is also Case 3000, involving alleged corruption in Israel’s
purchase of submarines and patrol from Germany, into which the attorney general
and the police have only conducted a limited inquiry. The stench from the boats
and any possible links to the country’s natural gas deals have not yet been
fully investigated.
Going by the hints that Netanyahu has been dropping in his recent interviews,
the legislative effort to stop the clock on the investigations is expected to be
renewed after the election. The results depend on the attorney general’s
backbone, the conduct of Netanyahu’s coalition partners and the resoluteness of
the Supreme Court justices.
Alleged social media manipulation
In what appears to be inadequate media treatment, this week’s reporting on
alleged social media manipulation in service of the Likud campaign has been
buried. The pretensions of exposure of a huge digital plot was replaced by
public debate over the right to curse and vilify in social media.
The Central Elections Committee hearing on the matter became a farce, mainly
revealing the ignorance regarding internet technology on the part of the
committee and Kahol Lavan’s representatives. The left and the center came across
trying to silent dirty talk, as if that were the most urgent issue in the final
weeks of the election campaign.
Are bots being used in more distant circles, as far away as Indonesia and the
Philippines, to echo Netanyahu’s messages and those who support them? Possibly.
But what was revealed after the publication of the investigation is that at the
center of the activity are flesh and blood Likud supporters who see Netanyahu as
a last barricade, almost a divine messenger, against the return of what they
describe as “the Oslo disaster” – evacuation of settlements and exploding buses.
If indeed someone is operating another, hidden system in support of Netanyahu,
he or she was not exposed in the investigative report this week and no
connection was found between such a person and those in charge of Likud campaign
messages.
In this context, it is interesting to go back to an event that was quickly
forgotten,which took place a relatively short time before the announcement of
early elections. On November 14th of last year, Avigdor Lieberman announced his
resignation as defense minister, in protest against the government’s policy in
the Gaza Strip. Lieberman resigned from the government after Netanyahu rejected
his recommendation of a harsher response to the firing of about 500 rockets and
mortar shells from the Gaza Strip into the Negev.
A false report from Harvard
A few hours after Lieberman’s resignation, Ran Bar-Zik reported a strange story
in Haaretz. An internet site that depicted itself as the official site of the
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a prestigious research
center at Harvard University, published a report of a lecture delivered a few
days earlier by former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo.
Pardo, the report claimed, said in the lecture that Lieberman is “a Russian spy”
and that this is behind the tension between him and Netanyahu.
Pardo supposedly even anticipated a few days in advance that Netanyahu would
fire Lieberman.
A short investigation found that this was fake news of a dangerous sort. Pardo
did indeed appear at the Belfer Center, but he never said those things about
Lieberman. And although the design of the site was indeed very similar to that
of the real Belfer Center, the address was slightly different and promoted a
site that distributed a fake news item. Someone put together a fraudulent
operation here that certainly must have cost a pretty penny.
On the basis of an old and discredited rumor to the effect that Lieberman’s
origins testify to him being a Russian agent, a plot was constructed. To that
end, the story was superimposed on a lecture that Pardo indeed delivered, in a
closed forum (which required a close knowledge of the Belfer timetable), a site
was fabricated and use was made of a (fictitious but long-standing) Twitter
account from which tweets were sent to journalists to draw their attention to
the “news item” about Pardo’s remarks. The move failed because Haaretz
identified the site as counterfeit and also contacted Pardo, who denied the
statements entirely.
Whom did this fraudulent, sophisticated and relatively expensive effort serve?
It is doubtful that it was the Russians. First of all, Lieberman is not an agent
of theirs. And secondly, even if he were (entirely hypothetically), why would
they expose him? It seems there was a diversionary action involved here, which
if it hadn’t been exposed would perhaps have succeeded in drowning out
Lieberman’s criticism of the policy in Gaza. This brings to mind the old
diagnosis of Soviet propaganda: They aren’t pursuing a propaganda effort so that
we will believe in something. They are using propaganda so that we will not
believe anyone or anything.