English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 10/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.august10.20.htm
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2006
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Bible Quotations For today
Take care! Be on your guard against all
kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions
“You fool! This very night your life is being
demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”So it is
with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12/13-21/:”Someone in the
crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance
with me.’But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator
over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds
of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’Then
he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he
thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?”
Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones,
and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul,
Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be
merry.”But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being
demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”So it is
with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August
09-10/2020
Lebanese Thugs In The Political Arena Must be Exposed/Elias Youssef
Bejjani/09 August/2020
HEALTH MINISTRY: 294 NEW CORONA CASES
Pope Francis Calls on Lebanese to Build 'Free, Strong Coexistence' After Blast
Int’l Donors Pledge Nearly $298 Million after Beirut Blast
Statement by Presidency of the International Conference on Assistance and
Support to Beirut and the Lebanese People
President Aoun partakes in Lebanon Donor Conference: Committed to achieving
justice, combating corruption, Beirut will rise again as always
Trump Calls on Lebanon to Hold 'Transparent Investigation' into Blast
Macron Urges Quick, Effective Aid for Lebanon, Calls for Avoiding 'Violence,
Chaos'
Macron Tells Donor Conference: 'Lebanon's Future Is at Stake'
Macron’s Call for Unity Government Is Based on US-Led International Consensus
Deputy Secretary-General Opening Remarks at International conference on
assistance and support to Beirut and the Lebanese people
Kuwaiti Prime Minister: We will allocate 30 million dollars to Lebanon to
support food security, and medical and food aid amounting to 11 million dollars
Emir of Qatar: We call on the international community to provide urgent
financial assistance to Lebanon and leave the dialogue on internal issues to the
people's awareness
UK pledges more aid for Beirut crisis at global summit
Qatari Ambassador, Army Commander inspect Qatari field hospital at St. George
Hospital
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, scales up its support to Lebanon
Esper: Unclear if Beirut Blast a Deliberate Attack or Accident
Diab Meets Ministers Seeking to Submit Their Resignations
Presidency Information Office: News about Lebanon’s refusal to receive aid is
false
Presidency Information Office: “Asas” website’s story that a dialogue occurred
between the President and Aboul Gheit is unfounded
President Aoun: “The goal of calling for an international investigation is a
waste of time, the judiciary should be swift, without rushing, to confirm who is
guilty and who is innocent”
Al-Rahi Urges Int'l Probe, Govt. Resignation, Early Polls
Open Parliament sessions at the UNESCO Palace on Thursday to discuss the Beirut
Port crime
Army: Hope of Finding More Survivors of Beirut Blast is Fading
Army Command: Casualties among army soldiers during yesterday’s protests in
downtown Beirut, rioters arrested
IDM offers fast broadband link to optimize operations of French search and
rescue teams
Lebanese Call for an Uprising After Protests Rocked Beirut
'Ammonium Nitrate' Shipment at Aden Port Creates Controversy
Lebanon: 2nd Day of Anti-Government Protests after Fury over Explosion
Christian Opposition to Aoun Mounts, His Deputies Remain Silent
Security Official Says Beirut Blast Crater 43 Meters Deep
Canada Launches a Lebanon Relief Fund
Canada launches Lebanon fund that includes group with alleged Hamas ties
NYT reveals origin of ammonium nitrate that caused Beirut blast - report
Abdul Samad Quits in First Govt. Resignation over Blast
Mouawad announces his resignation from Parliament: Enough is enough!
Helou: I will submit my written resignation from Parliament tomorrow
Coordination meeting at the Grand Serail headed by Akar to discuss the national
response and recovery plan after the port explosion
Geagea Says LF Seeking Enough MP Resignations to Force Early Polls
Clash between MP Roukoz’s companions and demonstrators in Martyrs Square
Policeman Dies during Beirut Protest after 'Assault'
Electric Night of Protests in Lebanon after Blast
Lebanon protesters storm ministry buildings over Beirut blast
It's time to listen to the Lebanese people about Hezbollah – comment/Ron Prosor/Jerusalem
Post /August 09/2020
Lebanon-What Happened/By Dr. David Wurmser/Foundation For American Security And
Freedom/August 09/2020
Lebanon protests, Macron visit highlight absurd EU policy on Hezbollah/Lahav
Harkov/Jerusalem Post/August 09/2020
Turkey and Iran concerned about Lebanese protests/Seith J. Frantzman/Jerusalem
Post/August 09/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
August 09-10/2020
Kadhimi to Make Significant Visit to Washington Next Week
Turkey Defies International Warnings, Continues Violating Arms Embargo on Libya
Turkey Sets Up Center to Coordinate Military Operations in Syria
Sudan Expresses Reservations on US Travel Warning
Ethiopia Turns Down Agreement on ‘Renaissance Dam’
‘Early Elections’ Tops Consultations to Form New Tunisian Govt
Israel Plans Settlements That Would Isolate West Bank
Libya’s GNA Factions Clash Amid Increasing 'Popular Discontent'
Despite Agreement, China Purchase of US Agriculture Lags
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 09-10/2020
Who is undermining US-backed forces in Deir Ezzor and
Euphrates area?/Seith J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/August 09/2020
Samsung Faces a Darwinian Moment/Tim Culpan/Bloomberg/August, 09/2020
3 Things to Make the World Immediately Better After Covid-19/Dambisa Moyo/The
New York Times/August, 09/2020
When Memory Becomes a Prison of Nations/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/August
09/2020
The Reverse-Colonization of France/Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/August 9,
2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 09-10/2020
Lebanese Thugs In The Political Arena Must be Exposed
Elias Youssef Bejjani/09 August/2020
Thugs in the Lebanese political arena like Geagea, Aoun, Jumblat, Berri Hariri,
bassil, frangiea etc are the ones who handed over Lebanon to Hezbollah in
exchange for power and personal gains...No one can liberate the country unless
these thugs are forced to resign and then new young patriotic leader replaces
them. I do not really appreciate much or respect any Lebanese who ignores the
cause and worships any politician, no mattar who the politician is. In fact our
real Lebanese cancer is the sin of worshipping politicians and abandoning the
cause.. These thugs must be exposed and not covered
HEALTH MINISTRY: 294 NEW CORONA CASES
NNA/August 09/2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced on Sunday the registration of 294 new
Coronavirus cases, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date
to 6,517.
Pope Francis Calls on Lebanese to Build 'Free, Strong
Coexistence' After Blast
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Pope Francis urged the people of Lebanon on Sunday to work together in the wake
of the devastating port blast to give birth to a new "free and strong"
coexistence. The pope spoke at his weekly address in St. Peter's Square as some
Lebanese called for a sustained uprising to topple their leaders and the
country's top Christian Maronite cleric, whose Church is a Catholic Eastern
rite, said the cabinet should resign. "Last Tuesday´s catastrophe calls
everyone, beginning with the Lebanese people, to work together for the common
good of this beloved country," Francis said. He said the coexistence of cultures
in the county had been made much more fragile by the blast. "But I am praying
that, with God´s help and everyone´s genuine participation, it may be reborn
free and strong." Lebanon´s fractured politics is vulnerable to foreign
interference that has long fueled domestic crises. The powerful Iran-backed
Hezbollah group, a close ally of Syria, has fought several wars with Israel and
is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and its Gulf allies. The
pope has sent a donation of 250,000 euros to the Church in Lebanon to help
victims of the explosion that killed 158 people and injured more than 6,000,
destroying parts of the city and compounding months of political and economic
meltdown.
Int’l Donors Pledge Nearly $298 Million after Beirut Blast
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
An emergency donor conference for Lebanon raised pledges worth nearly 253
million euros ($298 million) for immediate humanitarian relief on Sunday after
last week's massive blast destroyed swathes of Beirut, French President Emmanuel
Macron’s office said. The online donor conference was hosted by Macron. "The
objective today is to act quickly and effectively to coordinate our aid on the
ground so that it goes as efficiently as possible to the Lebanese people,"
Macron told the conference also attended by Lebanese President Michel Aoun, UN
aid coordinator Mark Lowcock, representatives of the World Bank, the Red Cross,
the IMF, the EU, the Arab League and several Middle Eastern leaders. Macron was
the first world leader to visit Beirut after Tuesday's devastating explosion
which killed at least 158 people, wounded some 6,000 and left an estimated
300,000 homeless. At Sunday’s conference, the EU pledged an additional 30
million euros ($35.36 million) in emergency support to Lebanon, the European
Commission said. The humanitarian funding will be distributed to UN agencies and
NGOs and its dispersal "strictly monitored". Britain said an extra 20 million
pounds ($26 million) would help provide food to the most vulnerable, in addition
to 5 million pounds already made available. Humanitarian experts from the UK are
on the ground and the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Enterprise will deploy to
Beirut. Germany also made an additional 10 million euros pledge on top of 1.5
million euros in emergency goods already deployed. Spain said it will send
humanitarian aid including medicines for mobile clinics and shelters for those
who have lost their homes. The flight, which will leave Spain on Tuesday, will
also include 10 tons of wheat. Switzerland pledged 4 million Swiss francs ($4.38
million) in direct aid at the donor conference. Switzerland had already pledged
500,000 francs to the Lebanese Red Cross and has sent disaster specialists
including civil engineers and logistics experts to Beirut. President Donald
Trump reaffirmed the United States stood ready to providing aid to help the
people of Lebanon in their recovery.
Trump agreed with the other leaders to work closely together in the response
efforts, the White House said. The "assistance should be timely, sufficient and
consistent with the needs of the Lebanese people ... and directly delivered to
the Lebanese population, with utmost efficiency and transparency," the
conference communique said. Lebanon's partners were ready to support the
country's longer-term economic recovery and required that Lebanon's leaders
committed fully to the reforms expected by their people, it added.
Statement by Presidency of the International Conference on
Assistance and Support to Beirut and the Lebanese People
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Convened in immediate response to and support in the aftermath of the August
4th explosion in Beirut, the “International conference on support to Beirut and
the Lebanese people” met virtually on August 9th at the invitation of the
President of the French Republic and the Secretary-General of the United
Nations. This emergency Conference gathered: [Liste des Etats et organisations
internationales participants].
The Beirut explosion on August 4th, which struck the city in its very heart, was
a shock to all of Lebanon’s people, friends and partners abroad. The
participants to today’s Conference stood in solidarity with Lebanon. They
extended their most heartfelt condolences to the residents of Beirut, many of
whom have lost family members and colleagues and friends. The participants to
today’s Conference also wished a swift recovery to the wounded and traumatized.
The participants have commended the remarkable courage of first-responders,
medical teams, search and rescue teams and all Lebanese and international
personnel dispatched in Beirut to assist the victims and provide emergency
efforts, notably the Lebanese Red Cross and Lebanese civil defense teams.
The international community, Lebanon’s closest friends and partners, will not
let Lebanese people down.
The participants decided to act resolutely in solidarity to help Beirut and the
Lebanese people overcome the consequences of the August 4th tragedy. They agreed
to put together in the coming days and weeks major resources in order to best
answer the immediate needs of Beirut and the Lebanese people. As assessed by the
United Nations, needs are particularly visible in the medical and health sector,
education, food sector and urban rehabilitation, which will be prioritized in
international emergency assistance programs.
The participants agreed that their assistance should be timely, sufficient and
consistent with the needs of the Lebanese people, well-coordinated under the
leadership of the United Nations, and directly delivered to the Lebanese
population, with utmost efficiency and transparency.
Upon request of Lebanon, assistance for an impartial, credible and independent
inquiry on the explosion of August 4th is immediately needed and available.
Further to emergency assistance, partners stand ready to support the economic
and financial recovery of Lebanon, which requires, as part of a stabilization
strategy, that Lebanese authorities fully commit themselves to timely measures
and reforms expected by the Lebanese people.
In these horrendous times, Lebanon is not alone. The international community,
including Lebanon’s most crucial partners gathered together with France and the
United Nations, standing alongside Beirut and the Lebanese people and will
continue to do their utmost to answer to their most urgent needs. ---
[Presidency Press Office]
President Aoun partakes in Lebanon Donor Conference:
Committed to achieving justice, combating corruption, Beirut will rise again as
always
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, participated Sunday via
video-conferencing in the international donor conference devoted to providing
aid and support to Lebanon and the Lebanese people, in wake of the tragic Beirut
Port explosion.
In his detailed address, the President of the Republic said:
“Your Excellencies,
At the onset, I would like to express my acknowledgement to my friend President
Emmanuel Macron of France and the UN Secretary-General Mr. Antonio Guterres for
taking the initiative of holding this conference to support Lebanon.
I also wish to extend my thanks to the participating Presidents and heads of
State who share the true desire to support this country.
I will not be long in explaining what has been caused by this disaster in
Beirut, at all humanitarian, social, health, educational and economic
perspectives, which have left scars in every house and every family.
This earthquake has hit us while we were amid economic and financial crises and
a massive displacement that has cost Lebanon to date more than thirty billion US
dollars, in addition to the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic. Facing the
fallout of this tragedy therefore goes beyond the capacity of this small
country, and its people, despite the spirit of solidarity they have
demonstrated.
In my own name and on behalf of the Lebanese people, I can only express my high
appreciation for your international solidarity.
Many officials and international relief teams who rushed to Lebanon have
inspected first-hand the scale of the tragedy that has affected all the sectors,
especially those included in the four priorities listed in the invitation letter
to your conference, namely: health, education, reconstruction and food supplies.
Rebuilding what has been destroyed and restoring the glow of Beirut require a
lot. As you know, dear friends, needs are tremendous and we have to speedily
provide for them, especially before wintertime, whereas the suffering of the
citizens who have lost their houses shall increase under all these pressing
circumstances. As for the intended donation fund, I stress that it be placed
under the management of this conference.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I have undertaken before my people to achieve justice, for justice alone can
give some comfort to afflicted parents and to every Lebanese. I have also
committed that no one is above the law and that every person whose involvement
has been proven shall be held accountable according to Lebanese laws.
I have also pledged to fight corruption and undertake reforms; and despite all
the obstacles, concrete measures have been put on track, on top of which the
financial forensic audit which will not be limited to one institution but will
rather encompass all institutions.
Dear friends,
This is not the first time that Beirut is demolished; but every time, it rises
from the ashes. This time too, I have faith that our Beirut shall rise.
Yes, Beirut shall rise, with your help, and with the resolve of its people and
all the Lebanese.
Thank you.” ------- [Presidency Press Office]
Trump Calls on Lebanon to Hold 'Transparent Investigation'
into Blast
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 09/2020
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called for Lebanon to conduct a "full and
transparent investigation" into the huge explosion that hit Beirut, and
expressed his support for protests demanding reform in the country. Trump "urged
the Government of Lebanon to conduct a full and transparent investigation, in
which the United States stands ready to assist," according to the White House,
after he participated in a virtual conference on the international response to
the disaster. "The President called for calm in Lebanon and acknowledged the
legitimate calls of peaceful protesters for transparency, reform, and
accountability," the White House added. The Lebanese army said Sunday that hopes
have dwindled of finding survivors at the blast site following days of
search-and-rescue operations. The explosion that hit Beirut's port devastated
large parts of the Lebanese capital, claiming over 150 lives and wounding some
6,000 people.Most Lebanese authorities say Tuesday's explosion was triggered by
a fire in a port warehouse, where a shipment of ammonium nitrate, a chemical
that can be used as a fertilizer or as an explosive, had languished for
years.World leaders, international organizations and a seething Lebanese public
have pressed for an international probe, but President Michel Aoun has said that
calls for such an investigation are a "waste of time."
Macron Urges Quick, Effective Aid for Lebanon, Calls for
Avoiding 'Violence, Chaos'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 09/2020
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called for speedy international
backing for disaster-struck Lebanon and urged its leaders to prevent "chaos" as
he opened an emergency aid conference following Beirut's deadly port blast.
Macron hosted U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders for the
virtual conference to drum up aid for Lebanon, as the U.N. said some $117
million will be needed over the next three months for the emergency response.
"The objective today is to act quickly and effectively to coordinate our aid on
the ground so that it goes as efficiently as possible to the Lebanese people,"
Macron told the conference also attended by President Michel Aoun, U.N. aid
coordinator Mark Lowcock, representatives of the World Bank, the Red Cross, the
IMF, the EU, the Arab League and several Middle Eastern leaders.
Macron was the first world leader to visit Beirut after Tuesday's devastating
explosion which killed at least 158 people, wounded some 6,000 and left an
estimated 300,000 homeless. Lebanese people enraged by the official negligence
blamed for the explosion have taken to the streets in anti-government protests
that saw clashes with the army. Macron said it was "up to the authorities of the
country to act so that the country does not sink, and to respond to the
aspirations that the Lebanese people are expressing right now, legitimately, in
the streets of Beirut.
"We must all work together to ensure that neither violence nor chaos prevails,"
he added. "It is the future of Lebanon that is at stake."
Macron also warned that "those who have an interest in this division and chaos,
it is the powers that would somehow want to put the Lebanese people at risk." He
did not name names. Macron added that the Lebanese people want a comprehensive
probe into the catastrophic explosion.
- Millions of dollars needed -
The French president repeated his call for political and economic reforms, which
he said "would allow the international community to act effectively side by side
with Lebanon for the reconstruction."Prime Minister Hassan Diab said Saturday
that he would call for early elections. An "emergency response framework"
drafted by the United Nations said $66.3 million was needed for immediate
humanitarian aid, including health services for the injured, emergency shelter
for those whose homes were destroyed, food distribution and programs to "prevent
further spread of COVID-19."Phase II of the plan will require $50.6 million to
rebuild public infrastructure, rehabilitate private homes and prevent disease
outbreaks.
It said at least 15 medical facilities, including three major hospitals,
sustained structural damage in the blast, and extensive damage to more than 120
schools may interrupt learning for some 55,000 children.
Thousands of people are in need of food and the blast interrupted basic water
and sanitation to many neighborhoods. Speaking in Beirut after his visit on
Thursday, Macron said clear and transparent governance will be put in place to
ensure all international aid "is directly chanelled to the people, to NGOs, to
the teams in the field who need it, without any possible opacity or diversion."
- 'Everyone wants to help'-
Trump, confirming his attendance at the conference, tweeted Saturday that
"everyone wants to help!"Iran which wields huge influence in Lebanon through
Hizbullah was not on the list of participants. Key Arab states in the Gulf,
including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and the UAE were represented, as were
Britain, China, Jordan and Egypt. Macron, who hosted the conference from his
summer residence on the Mediterranean, has said he would return to Lebanon on
September 1 to check progress.
Macron Tells Donor Conference: 'Lebanon's Future Is at
Stake'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
World powers have a duty to support the Lebanese people after a massive blast
devastated their capital as the country’s future is at stake, French President
Emmanuel Macron told an emergency donors conference on Sunday. Lebanon’s
debt-laden economy was already mired in crisis and reeling from the coronavirus
pandemic before the port explosion, which killed 158 people. But foreign
governments are wary about writing blank cheques to a government perceived by
its own people to be deeply corrupt. In opening remarks to an online donor
conference he co-organised, Macron said the international response should be
coordinated by the United Nations in Lebanon. “Our task today is to act swiftly
and efficiently, to coordinate our aid on the ground so that this aid goes as
quickly as possible to the Lebanese people,” Macron said via video-link from his
summer retreat on the French Riviera. The president said the offer of assistance
included support for an impartial, credible and independent inquiry into the
Aug. 4 blast, which has prompted some Lebanese to call for a revolt to topple
their political leaders. The explosion gutted entire neighborhoods, leaving
250,000 people homeless, razing businesses, and destroying critical grain
supplies. Rebuilding Beirut will likely run into the billions of dollars.
Economists forecast the blast could wipe up to 25% off of the country’s GDP.
Many Lebanese are angry at the government’s response and say the disaster
highlighted the negligence of a corrupt political elite. Protesters stormed
government ministries in Beirut and trashed the offices of the Association of
Lebanese Banks on Saturday.
TRUMP: “EVERYONE WANTS TO HELP”
Macron visited Beirut on Thursday, the first world leader to do so after the
explosion, and promised humanitarian aid would come but that profound political
reform was needed to resolve the country’s problems and secure longer term
support. “I guarantee you, this (reconstruction) aid will not go to corrupt
hands,” Macron told the throngs who greeted him. There has been an outpouring of
sympathy for Lebanon from around the world this week and many countries have
sent immediate humanitarian support such as a medical supplies, but there has
been an absence of financial aid commitments so far. Macron said the
international community had a duty to help. “Our role is to be by their sides,”
he said. “Lebanon’s future is at stake.”A Macron aide declined on Saturday to
set a target for the conference. Emergency aid was needed for reconstruction,
food aid, medical equipment, and schools and hospitals, the official said.
Israel and Iran were not taking part in the video-link conference, the Elysee
Palace official said. US President Donald Trump will participate. “Everyone
wants to help!” he tweeted.
Macron’s Call for Unity Government Is Based on
US-Led International Consensus
Beirut- Mohammed Shukair/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Political circles said that the solidarity visit of French President Emmanuel
Macron to Beirut opened the door to increasing regional and international
contacts to provide medical and food aid to the stricken Lebanese capital. The
world has responded to France’s call for an international conference in Paris
this Sunday, which is aimed at rallying aid and providing all forms of relief to
the people of Beirut.
The conference, however, does not intend to secure the necessary financial
support for the reconstruction of affected neighborhoods, which seems to be
linked to the formation of a national unity government, as the international
community is refusing to deal with the current government as the competent
administration to undertake such a task. Political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat
that Macron’s initiative was preceded by a phone call between the latter and US
President Donald Trump, who reportedly gave his French counterpart the green
light to launch his initiative.
Trump will also participate in the international conference on Sunday. According
to the sources, Macron’s call for a national unity government is based on an
international consensus led by Washington, given that Paris is the most capable
of communicating with the parties concerned with its formation, including
Hezbollah. The same sources said that the disaster that struck Beirut resulted
in an international warning that the collapse of Lebanon would inevitably lead
to the fall of its political forces, and there would be no winner if the country
was not saved. The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Macron was not against
holding early parliamentary elections, but that those must be done through a
constitutional mechanism. They added that the French president was convinced
that the current priority was to save the country, even if only temporarily,
otherwise the collapse would be inevitable. In this context, Macron called on
the Lebanese decision-makers not to involve Lebanon, at least in the foreseeable
future, in the Iranian-Israeli conflict. Although the sources did not have any
information about whether the French president was in contact with Tehran before
his visit to Beirut, they did not rule out the presence of intermittent
negotiations between Iran and the United States.
Deputy Secretary-General Opening Remarks at International
conference on assistance and support to Beirut and the Lebanese people
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
The following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Jane Mohammed’s opening
remarks at the international conference on assistance and support to Beirut and
the Lebanese people: “Let me start by bringing you greetings from
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has asked me to express his solidarity
and strong commitment for the wellbeing of the people of Lebanon. He regrets not
being able to join you today at this critical Conference. We are grateful for
the leadership of our co-convener, President Macron, in ensuring we could
organize this high-level gathering only few days since the tragedy, underscoring
our strong sense of urgency. The explosion in Beirut last Tuesday shocked the
world. Neighborhoods flattened, at least 150 lives lost, a large part of the
country’s grain reserves obliterated, six hospitals damaged or destroyed,
hundreds of thousands have been made homeless - many of them children.
I offer my condolences to those who lost loved ones, and a full recovery to the
thousands of injured. Above all, I give my pledge that the United Nations is
committed to helping the people of Lebanon in every way we can.
Since the blast, the UN system has been working around the clock, delivering
medical supplies, shelter kits and food parcels, and helping reunite separated
families.We are grateful to the donors whose funding has enabled us to do this.
Financial support leveraged in record time – in particular from regional
partners – is already making a difference. But of course, this is just the
beginning. Much more will be needed. First, recovery and reconstruction.This
will require a sense of urgency, large-scale activity and considerable funding.
The damage to homes and public infrastructure is significant – and the response
must match it. This will need to go beyond the UN’s humanitarian system and
involve a wider range of UN organizations and other partners.
To help Lebanon overcome the tragedy and recover better, we will need all hands
on deck. The faster we act, the better we can reduce human suffering, in Lebanon
and beyond – – – let us not forget that the port that was destroyed also serves
humanitarian needs in Syria.Second, anticipating and responding to the ongoing
crisis.As the dust settles, the deeper and longer-term impacts will become
visible. Led by our Resident Coordinator in Lebanon, the UN development system
has been mobilizing in full emergency mode to support the Lebanese authorities.
The United Nations will help strengthen safety nets for vulnerable people
against the socio-economic crisis, and we are well equipped to do this. A focus
on the long-term is essential to ensure this latest tragedy will mark a turning
point for Lebanon.
It would be a mistake to underestimate the cost of this work, or its value. This
blast will have deep social and economic impacts. Not least because it came when
Lebanon was already dealing with economic hardship and the coronavirus outbreak.
Lebanon is also a generous host to large refugee communities. To the people of
Lebanon, I say this: the United Nations family is here for you and will stand by
you throughout. To Lebanon’s many friends and partners: The Secretary-General
and I count on you to rally together, and provide all the financial, material
and political support you can.
The people of Lebanon need to rebuild. We must focus our support on four
priority sectors – health, food, the rehabilitation of buildings and the
rehabilitation of schools. We must also remember the importance of the
Government of Lebanon implementing the reforms that will address the needs of
the Lebanese people for the longer term. The Lebanese people deserve a stable
and secure future.With determination and solidarity, we can help them reach that
long-sought goal.”—UNIC
Kuwaiti Prime Minister: We will allocate 30 million dollars
to Lebanon to support food security, and medical and food aid amounting to 11
million dollars
NNA/August 09/2020
Kuwaiti Prime Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled, headed today the Kuwaiti
delegation participating in the “International Conference to Aid and Support
Beirut and the Lebanese People”, which was held through video-conferencing at
the joint invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron and UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in which Kuwait Foreign Affairs Minister,
Sheikh Ahmed Al-Nasser, participated online. Sheikh Al-Khaled delivered a speech
in which he expressed his "sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of
the victims in brotherly Lebanon," wishing the injured a "speedy recovery." He
added: “The State of Kuwait, based on its standing in solidarity with brotherly
Lebanon, and under the directives of His Highness the Deputy Emir and Crown
Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad, has provided relief aid to brotherly Lebanon since
the explosion occurred by establishing an air bridge.”
The Kuwaiti Prime Minister announced his country’s "readiness to provide support
in the face of this disaster, with prior commitments pertaining to the Kuwaiti
Fund for Development that will be reallocated to Lebanon in the amount of nearly
thirty million dollars,” adding that “Kuwait will coordinate with the Lebanese
authorities to support food security, in addition to urgent medical and food aid
amounting to eleven million dollars, in addition to the donations of Kuwaiti
charitable associations."
Emir of Qatar: We call on the international community to
provide urgent financial assistance to Lebanon and leave the dialogue on
internal issues to the people's awareness
NNA/August 09/2020
The Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, revealed in his
speech at the "International Conference for Aid and Support for the Lebanese
People" that Qatar will announce in the coming days its contribution to the
reconstruction of Beirut through the programs that will be approved.
“Qatar, with its people and institutions, was quick to respond to the call of
the brothers in Lebanon and to provide them with urgent relief aid in the amount
of 50 million dollars, as our contribution to relief operations to alleviate the
suffering of the Lebanese people and overcome their extremely difficult
circumstances,” said the Qatari Emir, adding that they also dispatched a team
equipped with the Qatari search and rescue group and established field
hospitals. Thanking the conference organizers, he asserted that the convening of
"this important conference has reflected the determination of the international
community to stand by Lebanon in order to overcome the disaster caused by the
terrible explosion in the port of Beirut."“Lebanon cannot surpass this painful
circumstance on its own. Confronting this crisis and its dangerous negative
repercussions is dependent on strengthening national unity, unifying and
intensifying governmental and societal efforts in Lebanon, and the international
community’s extending all necessary forms of aid, from relief to restoration and
reconstruction,” the Qatari Emir underlined. He concluded by stressing that the
brotherly Lebanese people are looking forward to what will emerge from the
conference, appealing to the international community to provide urgent financial
assistance and contributions that will help Lebanon overcome the painful
conditions it is going through, while leaving the dialogue on domestic issues to
the Lebanese people and their awareness.
UK pledges more aid for Beirut crisis at global summit
NNA/August 09/2020
The UK will step up its commitment to helping Lebanon’s most vulnerable today,
by pledging a further £20m in urgent humanitarian support:
1-UK package of £20 million will help provide food for the most vulnerable in
Lebanon, including those affected by the Beirut explosion and its aftermath
2. As one of the biggest donors to crisis so far, UK commits to “stand by the
Lebanese people”
3. This is on top of £5 million already made available to the response by the
UK, including support for the British Red Cross for the emergency relief effort
The UK will step up its commitment to helping Lebanon’s most vulnerable today,
by pledging a further package of £20m in urgent humanitarian support at a
virtual summit of world leaders (Sunday, 9 August).
The UK is one of the biggest donors to the crisis, and at the ‘International
conference on assistance and support to Beirut and the Lebanese people’,
convened by French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Deputy Secretary-General
Amina Mohammed, International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan will
pledge £20 million on behalf of the UK to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP).
This support will help the country’s most vulnerable through the existing
economic uncertainty and additional suffering caused by the explosion by going
directly to those families most at risk to cover essential survival needs,
including access to food and medicine. At today’s conference, world leaders will
gather virtually to support Lebanon after the explosion put the country’s
already-strained economy and food security under extra pressure.
Speaking ahead of the global conference International Development Secretary
Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: "The devastation we have seen in Lebanon this week
has left people without homes, medical care and wondering how long it will be
until the country’s food supplies run out.
Today the world is coming together to stand by the Lebanese people, and as one
of the biggest donors to this crisis so far, the UK is pledging more urgent
support to help all those affected by this terrible disaster.
The UK has already made £5 million available to the response, £3 million of
which will go to the British Red Cross for the emergency relief effort following
Tuesday’s devastating explosion, which has left over 250,000 people homeless".
A British team of specialist medics funded by UK aid flew to Lebanon on Friday
to assess health needs on the ground and identify what more the UK can do to
help following the devastating explosion. Humanitarian experts from the UK are
also on the ground and the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Enterprise will deploy to
Beirut.
Since the start of the Syria Crisis, the UK has provided over £740 million to
help promote stability and support for refugees and vulnerable people in
Lebanon. Since 2011, DFID has supported sustainable water and sanitation
facilities to over 1.1 million refugees, provided education to 300,000 children,
helped create 1,400 new jobs for both Lebanese and Syrian communities, and
improved infrastructure and services in over 200 municipalities. ---- [British
Embassy in Beirut – Press Release]
Qatari Ambassador, Army Commander inspect Qatari field
hospital at St. George Hospital
NNA/August 09/2020
The Embassy of Qatar in Beirut indicated, in an issued statement on Sunday, that
Qatari Ambassador Mohammad Hassan Jaber Al-Jaber and Lebanese Army Chief Joseph
Aoun visited today the Qatari field hospital set up at Al-Roum Hospital in
Beirut, in the presence of diplomats and a delegation from the Army Command.
Head of the Qatari team briefed Ambassador Al-Jaber and General Aoun on the
construction and building process, indicating that the Qatari field hospital,
which is being equipped with full medical supplies, will begin receiving the
wounded and the affected starting next Tuesday.
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, scales up its
support to Lebanon
NNA/August 09/2020
In response to the horrific explosion that devastated parts of the Lebanese
capital, Beirut, on 4 August 2020, the United Nations Population Fund, Arab
States Regional Director, Dr. Luay Shabaneh, and all staff express solidarity
with the people of Lebanon and all who were impacted by this disaster.
Latest reports indicate at least 160 fatalities and around 6,000 wounded, with
21 still missing. This figure is likely to rise as rescuers continue to search
the port and surrounding areas for survivors. Preliminary data shows that the
explosion impacted an estimated 13 primary health care facilities and between 6
to 10 hospitals. More comprehensive information will be available as the
on-going assessments are completed.
UNFPA is scaling up its efforts to meet the emerging needs of nearly 84,000
women of reproductive age, 48,000 adolescents among the 300,000 who have been
displaced due to the catastrophe. An estimated 3,478 women who are currently
pregnant will be in need of ante-natal and delivery care services.
UNFPA’s life-saving response will focus on the most immediate needs of the most
vulnerable women and girls among the directly and indirectly affected. As an
estimated 300,000 have lost their homes, and as health care facilities have been
completely or partially destroyed, we will need to ensure the continuity of
life-saving reproductive health care services including maternal health care. An
estimated 84,000 women of reproductive age (15 - 49 years) among those displaced
will need support to meet their menstrual hygiene needs and overall sanitation
and hygiene needs. As people are displaced and economically suffering, gender
based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse pose a serious risk. And with
the active Covid-19 pandemic all service providers need to be protected with
adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) along with those seeking services.
UNFPA is mobilizing all available financial, logistics and human resources to
respond to expected repercussions, especially in the areas of sexual and
reproductive health (SRH) and Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care, by
providing medical supplies and equipment. In addition, UNFPA is scaling up
support to partners to address gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual
exploitation and abuse, given the increased risks and vulnerabilities during
humanitarian crises, and as a result of the ongoing Covid19 pandemic.
UNFPA is also contributing to the joint rapid assessments of hospitals and
primary health care facilities to determine the extent of the damage to sexual
and reproductive health and maternity departments. Efforts are currently focused
on procuring medical equipment and supplies for maternity departments and
affected health facilities, in addition to supporting the related provision of
25% of procurement requirements for the next six months as identified by the
World Health Organization (WHO). To ensure continuity of services, UNFPA will
recruit and deploy additional surge personnel including midwives to health
facilities at the request of the Ministry of Public Health. Furthermore, the
agency is scaling up SRH service provision through existing and new implementing
partners and will avail more health personnel and ensure wider services beyond
the immediate sexual and reproductive health needs.
This crisis is further compounded by the existing threat of the COVID-19
pandemic. UNFPA warns of a worsening epidemiological situation due to the mass
exodus of people to small crowded areas. UNFPA plans to purchase 25% of PPE
needs for all affected health facilities and to procure Inter-Agency
Reproductive Health (IARH) kits to support lifesaving reproductive health
services.
Given the traumatic nature of the incident and its repercussions, mental health,
psychological first aid and psychosocial interventions will be addressed. In
this regard, UNFPA will engage a team of psychologists to work with IPs in the
hope of ensuring that mental health is adequately mainstreamed in the service
package. Even before the explosion, UNFPA and its implementing partners had
registered a notable increase in intimate partner violence. The massive economic
implications of such large-scale devastation may further exacerbate the risks of
gender-based violence. UNFPA, as co-lead of the inter-agency GBV coordination
group, will support a rapid assessment to determine immediate vulnerabilities
and needs. Moreover, UNFPA will procure dignity kits targeting the most
vulnerable women and girls among the displaced population.—UNIC
Esper: Unclear if Beirut Blast a Deliberate Attack or
Accident
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has said that it remained unclear whether a
deadly blast in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, was a deliberate attack or an
accident. "It's just devastating and I just mourn for the people," Esper said
during an appearance on Fox News' "Justice with Judge Jeanine” on Saturday
night.
Some 158 people were killed in Tuesday's monster blast at Beirut Port. The
explosion that devastated the city and ignited unprecedented popular rage was
blamed on government negligence. A local investigation is underway on how
ammonium nitrate was allowed to rot for years in a warehouse at the port. Esper
said he already has planes lining up to deliver emergency supplies to the
Lebanese people. “We want to do everything we can to help” them. The degree to
which corruption might have factored in the blast was not clear, Esper said.
"The bottom line is, we still don't know," he said. "You know, on the first day,
as President Trump rightly said, we thought it might have been attack. Some of
us speculated it could have been, for example, a Hezbollah arms shipment that
blew up. Maybe a Hezbollah bomb-making facility."Esper also criticized some in
the media, claiming they were trying to divide Trump administration officials
amid speculation about the explosion. "I commented that it was looking more like
an accident. And it's regrettable that some in the media ... [are] trying to
draw divisions within the administration between maybe me and the president and
others," Esper said. "Simply not true. I mean, the fact of the matter is, it's a
great tragedy. Under the president's leadership, we're going to do everything we
can to help the Lebanese people and to do what's right."
Diab Meets Ministers Seeking to Submit Their Resignations
Naharnet/August 09/2020
Prime Minister Hassan Diab held a meeting Sunday with several ministers seeking
to submit their resignations in connection with the catastrophic blast that
rocked Beirut.
According to media reports, Environment Minister Demianos Qattar submitted a
written resignation to Diab and efforts were being exerted with him to withdraw
or suspend it. The reports also said that Economy Minister Raoul Nehme has
expressed desire to submit his resignation. Information Minister Manal Abdul
Samad had announced her resignation in the morning. Industry Minister Imad
Hoballah of Hizbullah meanwhile said: “Our responsibility is to fight corruption
from inside… and we won't evade our responsibility.”Annahar newspaper reported
Sunday that the government “may resign today or more likely tomorrow during
Cabinet’s session.”It also said that “a political decision has been taken to
topple the government in parliament” during a session that will be held on
Thursday.Seven MPs -- Sami Gemayel, Nadim Gemayel, Elias Hankash, Paula
Yacoubian, Marwan Hamadeh, Neemat Frem and Michel Mouawad -- have meanwhile
announced their resignation from parliament.
Presidency Information Office: News about Lebanon’s refusal
to receive aid is false
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
The Information Office of the Presidency of the Republic confirmed that there is
no truth to what is reported in some media and social media outlets that Lebanon
has refused to receive aid from Arab and international bodies dedicated to
supporting those affected by the explosion that occurred in Beirut port last
Tuesday. The Information Office states that the relevant official authorities
continue to receive aid and refer it to relevant references.The Presidency media
office stated that such fabricated news exposes its promoters to legal
accountability.
Presidency Information Office: “Asas” website’s story that
a dialogue occurred between the President and Aboul Gheit is unfounded
President Aoun: “The goal of calling for an international investigation is a
waste of time, the judiciary should be swift, without rushing, to confirm who is
guilty and who is innocent”
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020 The following statement was issued by the Information Office of the Presidency of the Republic on Sunday: The "Asas" website published false information about the meeting of the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit. The media reported this information about the position of the President of the Republic regarding Arab or international parties undertaking the investigation of the big explosion in the Beirut port.The Information Office of the Presidency of the Republic affirms that there is absolutely no truth to the "Asas" story, because the president's position was stated during the dialogue with the media last Friday, where he considered that the demand for an international investigation into the port issue "is aimed at wasting the truth," stressing that "the verdict has no meaning if its issuance is prolonged, and the judiciary must be swift" because delayed justice is not fair, rather it must be immediate and without haste to ascertain who is a criminal and who is innocent. It must be emphasized that His Excellency the President did not issue except this stance, on the subject of the international investigation, so correction was required. --- [Presidency Press Office]
Al-Rahi Urges Int'l Probe, Govt. Resignation, Early Polls
Naharnet/August 09/2020
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday called on the entire government to
step down over the August 4 explosion, a blast widely seen as shocking proof of
the rot at the core of the state apparatus. Al-Rahi joined the chorus of people
pressing Prime Minister Hassan Diab's cabinet to step down over a blast he said
could be "described as a crime against humanity." "It is not enough for a
lawmaker to resign here or a minister to resign there," al-Rahi said in a Sunday
sermon. "It is necessary, out of sensitivity to the feelings of the Lebanese and
the immense responsibility required, for the entire government to resign,
because it is incapable of moving the country forward." Al-Rahi echoed calls by
Diab for early parliamentary polls -- a long-standing demand of a protest
movement that began in October, demanding the removal of a political class
deemed inept and corrupt. He also joined world leaders, international
organizations and the angry Lebanese public by pressing for an international
probe into an explosion authorities say was triggered by a fire in a port
warehouse, where a huge shipment of hazardous ammonium nitrate had languished
for years.President Michel Aoun on Friday rejected calls for an international
investigation, which he said would "dilute the truth." He reiterated his stance
on Sunday, noting that an international probe would “waste time” and urging
Lebanon’s judiciary to conduct a swift investigation. Information Minister Manal
Abdel Samad quit Sunday in the first government resignation since the
catastrophic blast. MP Neemat Frem also announced his resignation as Lebanese
Forces leader Samir Geagea said his party is trying to secure enough parliament
resignations in order to force early elections as soon as possible. At least six
lawmakers have quit since the explosion.
Open Parliament sessions at the UNESCO Palace on Thursday
to discuss the Beirut Port crime
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, announced on Sunday that open sessions by the
Parliament will be held starting 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 13, 2020, at the
UNESCO Palace, "to deliberate with the government over the extensive crime
inflicted on the capital and the people.”
Army: Hope of Finding More Survivors of Beirut Blast is
Fading
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
The Lebanese army said on Sunday that hope was fading of finding more survivors
from Tuesday's explosion at Beirut Port which left thousands of victims. The
health ministry on Saturday said 21 people were still missing following the
explosion, which destroyed parts of Beirut, killing at least 158 people and
injuring about 6,000. Officials have said the blast was caused by 2,750 tons of
ammonium nitrate, a substance used in manufacturing fertilizers and bombs, which
had been stored for six years in a nearby warehouse without adequate safety
measures.
The families of the missing say the rescue response has been too slow and
disorganized and that whatever chance there was for finding them alive is being
lost. The army also denied Sunday news reports that a Lebanese organization has
established tunnels under Beirut’s port. It said the grain silo that was
destroyed at the port has an underground operations room used by workers.
Army Command: Casualties among army soldiers during
yesterday’s protests in downtown Beirut, rioters arrested
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
The Lebanese Army Command - Orientation Directorate issued a communiqué on
Sunday, indicating that while the army units were carrying out their duties
during the protests that took place in Central Beirut, soldiers were hit with
stones, large fireworks and Molotov cocktails, which resulted in 105 injuries,
including 8 wounded officers, 2 of whom are in critical condition. The
communiqué added that four person were arrested for partaking in riot actions,
infringing on public and private properties, storming into the buildings of the
Foreign Affairs, Energy and Water and Environment Ministries and the Banks
Association building, and setting fire to a building located in the vicinity of
the Parliament and Le Gray Hotel in downtown Beirut. An investigation has begun
with the arrested under the supervision of the concerned judiciary.
IDM offers fast broadband link to optimize operations of
French search and rescue teams
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
IDM, the internet service provider offered a 100-megabit per second high-speed
broadband link. The installation was made in a record time and was put at the
disposal of the French search and rescue teams working on the operation sites in
the aftermath of the massive explosion in Beirut. The broadband link is a key
element in supporting, accelerating and optimizing the search and rescue
operations led by the French teams. Those teams are launching search missions to
find the survivors and victims in the ruins at the Port, with trained dogs and
individuals equipped with cameras, to take photos and videos to be directly sent
through the broadband link to a specialized operations room in Paris where they
will be studied and analyzed, in order to give guidelines to the operational
field teams.
Lebanese Call for an Uprising After Protests Rocked
Beirut
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Some Lebanese called on Sunday for a sustained uprising to topple their leaders
amid public fury over this week’s devastating explosion in Beirut, and the
country’s top Christian Maronite cleric said the cabinet should resign.
Protesters have called on the government to quit over what they say was
negligence that led to Tuesday’s explosion. Anger boiled over into violence
scenes in central Beirut on Saturday. Christian Maronite Patriarch Bechara
Boutros al-Rai said the cabinet should resign as it cannot “change the way it
governs”. “The resignation of an MP or a minister is not enough (..) the whole
government should resign as it is unable to help the country recover,” he said
in his Sunday sermon. Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said she was
resigning on Sunday, citing the explosion and the failure of the government to
carry out reforms. Dozens of people were injured in Saturday’s protests, the
biggest since October when thousands of people took to the streets in protests
against corruption, bad governance, and mismanagement. About 10,000 people
gathered at Martyrs’ Square, which was transformed into a battle zone in the
evening between police and protesters who tried to break down a barrier along a
road leading to parliament. Some demonstrators stormed government ministries and
the Association of Lebanese Banks. Demonstrators defied dozens of teargas
canisters fired at them and hurled stones and firecrackers at riot police, some
of whom were carried away to ambulances. One policeman was killed.
The Red Cross said it had treated 117 people for injuries on the scene on
Saturday while another 55 were taken to hospital. Soldiers in vehicles mounted
with machineguns were stationed beside Martyrs’ Square on Sunday.
“People should sleep in the streets and demonstrate against the government until
it falls,” said lawyer Maya Habli, as she surveyed the demolished port where the
blast erupted. The explosion killed 158 people and injured more than 6,000,
destroying parts of the city and compounding months of political and economic
meltdown. Twenty-one people were still reported as missing. The prime minister
and presidency have said 2,750 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, which
is used in making fertilizers and bombs, had been stored for six years without
safety measures at the port warehouse. The government has said it will hold
those responsible to account.
GUTTED NEIGHBOURHOODS
French President Emmanuel Macron was hosting US President Donald Trump and other
political leaders on Sunday for a UN-endorsed donors’ conference by video to
raise emergency relief for Lebanon. The explosion hit a city reeling from
economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. For many it was a dreadful
reminder of the 1975-1990 civil war that tore the nation apart and destroyed
swathes of Beirut, much of which has since been rebuilt. “I worked in Kuwait for
15 years in sanitation to save money and build a gift shop in Lebanon and it was
destroyed by the explosion,” said Maroun Shehadi. “Nothing will change until our
leaders just leave.”The explosion gutted entire neighborhoods. “Look at this,”
said Eli Yazbak, the manager of a fashion company whose 10-story headquarters
was destroyed in the blast. “This has set us back 50 years. We face crisis after
crisis in Lebanon. It’s time for the government to step down and let capable
people run the country.”
'Ammonium Nitrate' Shipment at Aden Port Creates Controversy
Aden- Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Yemeni media reports sparked widespread controversy after claiming a shipment of
ammonium nitrate was stored in Aden port three years ago, twice the amount
stored at Beirut port that caused the massive explosion. Aden port authorities
denied the claims, however, Yemen’s Public Prosecutor, Ali al-Awash, ordered a
quick probe into reports about tons of ammonium nitrate abandoned in the city’s
seaport for several years. Judicial sources stated that Awash directed Aden’s
Chief of the Appeals and a member of the Supreme Judicial Council to investigate
the case, given the risks posed to the safety of the port, the city, and its
residents. The sources stated that the Attorney General ordered one of the
public prosecutors to go to the port and investigate the issue in accordance
with the law. Yemeni residents expressed their concerns after recent online
reports about the shipment, fearing they’d face a fate similar to Beirut, where
a shipment of ammonium nitrate exploded killing over 100 and injuring thousands.
Meanwhile, the Yemen Ports Authority denied the existence of any shipment
containing ammonium nitrate in the ports, according to a statement carried by
Saba News Agency. The authority's media department described the allegations of
140 containers loaded with ammonium nitrate in the port as fake news and
falsifications of facts. Under rules and laws regulating Aden port's facilities,
it is prohibited to handle or store any shipments of explosives, flammables, and
radioactive materials, added the statement. The statement admitted there are old
cargoes in the container terminal, but they contain 46 percent organic urea
which is used as agricultural fertilizers, and are not explosive nor radioactive
materials. It asserted that storing or transporting such materials is not
illegal or banned, urging everybody to seek accuracy before publicizing
information, and avoid spreading panic among civilians. On Friday, Yemeni
lawmakers demanded an immediate investigation into allegations of stranded
containers of ammonium nitrate. MP Ali Ashal sent a letter to the government
requesting clarifications about the presence of 130 40-foot containers of
ammonium nitrate abandoned in Aden seaport, and the reasons for importing them.
Lebanon: 2nd Day of Anti-Government Protests after Fury
over Explosion
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Lebanese police fired tear gas to try to disperse rock-throwing protesters
blocking a road near parliament in Beirut on Sunday in a second day of
anti-government demonstrations triggered by a deadly blast that destroyed
swathes of the capital.
Fire broke out at an entrance to Parliament Square as demonstrators tried to
break into a cordoned-off area, TV footage showed. Protesters also broke into
the housing and transport ministry offices. Riot police wearing body armor and
carrying batons clashed with demonstrators as thousands converged on Parliament
Square and nearby Martyrs' Square. Tuesday's blast of more than 2,000 tons of
ammonium nitrate at Beirut Port killed 158 people and injured more than 6,000,
compounding months of political and economic collapse and prompting furious
calls for the government to quit. Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said
she was resigning on Sunday, citing the explosion and the failure of the
government to carry out reforms. Environment Minister Damianos Kattar followed
suit, saying the government had lost a number of opportunities to reform. Media
reports said the economy minister is also expected to resign, adding to the woes
of Prime Minister Hassan Diab. Several lawmakers have also resigned.
Christian Opposition to Aoun Mounts, His Deputies Remain Silent
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
The resignations of a number of deputies reflected a growing Christian
opposition to President Michel Aoun. Four Christian MPs resigned on Saturday.
Two of them are from Beirut’s first district, Nadim Gemayel and Paula Yacoubian,
while the two others are Sami Gemayel and Elias Hankash from the Kataeb party,
in addition to former Minister and MP Marwan Hamadeh, who had announced his
resignation last week. On Sunday, MP Neemat Frem announced his resignation
during a visit to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai. The same day, Information
Minister Manal Abdel Samad withdrew from the Cabinet, to become the second
minister to leave after Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti. The Lebanese Forces
deputies also hinted at the possibility to withdraw from Parliament. MP Michel
Daher, for his part, said that he would no longer belong to the FPM’s Strong
Lebanon bloc and would join MP Shamel Roukoz as an independent deputy. MP Michel
Mouawad is also expected to make a similar decision. Speaker Nabih Berri will
hold a legislative session, during which he is supposed to recite the letters of
resignation before the deputies. The resignation becomes legally binding as soon
as it is read out in the session and opens the door for the by-elections to fill
the vacant seats within sixty days of the announcement. According to Lebanese
law, Parliament is considered resigned with the withdrawal of half of its
deputies. For the first time in Lebanon’s modern history, two Christian seats in
Beirut’s first district and two Maronite seats in the district of Metn become
vacant. Sources said that the possibility of holding by-elections under the
current circumstances would not be easy. The sources believe that the growing
Christian resentment against Aoun is due to the fact that the Christian street
considers itself the most affected, and has paid a heavy price for the lassitude
of the state. Meanwhile, the deputies who still belong to Aoun’s Free Patriotic
Movement (FPM) are maintaining silence for the first time and refraining from
launching campaigns in support of the president.
Security Official Says Beirut Blast Crater 43 Meters Deep
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
The huge ammonium nitrate explosion in Beirut's port that devastated much of the
city left a crater 43 meters deep, a security official said Sunday. "The
explosion in the port left a crater 43 meters deep" Tuesday, the official told
AFP, citing reports by French experts conducting an assessment of the disaster
area. Tuesday’s blast at the port devastated much of the city and killed nearly
160 people. Dozens were still missing and nearly 6,000 people injured. Documents
that surfaced after the blast showed that officials had been repeatedly warned
for years that the presence of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate at the port posed
a grave danger, but no one acted to remove it. Officials have been blaming one
another, and 19 people have been detained, including the port’s chief, the head
of Lebanon’s customs department and his predecessor.
Canada Launches a Lebanon Relief Fund
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 09/2020
The Canadian government has announced the launch of a Lebanon relief fund,
calling on citizens to give generously to victims of the massive explosion that
killed more than 150 people and injured 6,000 in Beirut. "Every dollar donated
by individual Canadians between August fourth and 24th will be matched by the
government of Canada... up to a maximum of Can$2 million," or US$1.5 million,
said International Development Minister Karina Gould at a news conference. The
money will go to the Humanitarian Coalition, which brings together a dozen
Canadian humanitarian organizations on the ground in Lebanon, she said. It will
use its expertise to distribute the aid in areas such as water supply,
sanitation, food and shelter. "I encourage Canadians to donate to the Lebanon
Matching Fund to help save lives and meet the urgent needs of the affected
population," said the minister, adding it was the best way for citizens to help.
The assistance is part of the Can$5 million aid package announced earlier this
week by Ottawa. A group of Lebanese-Canadian businessmen has announced plans to
raise at least $2.5 million to help the disaster-stricken population. Tuesday's
massive explosion leveled Beirut port and killed at least 158 people. A fire at
the port had ignited a large stock of ammonium nitrate, triggering an explosion
that was felt as far away as Cyprus and destroyed entire neighborhoods.It was
widely perceived as a direct consequence of corruption and incompetence, an
egregious case of callousness on the part of an already reviled ruling elite.
Canada launches Lebanon fund that includes group with
alleged Hamas ties
Cody Levine/Jerusalem Post/August 09/2020
The charity accused of Hamas ties, Islamic Relief, is among a dozen of charities
announced as partners in the Canadian government's Lebanon Matching Fund. The
Government of Canada has launched a new aid fund consisting of numerous partner
charities aimed at relieving suffering in Beirut, Lebanon, following an
explosion that has left thousands of people homeless and over 150 dead, which
includes a charity accused of links to the Hamas terrorist organization based in
the Gaza Strip. The announcement was made in a press release on Saturday.
The charity accused of Hamas ties, Islamic Relief, is among a dozen charities
announced as partners in the Canadian government's Lebanon Matching Fund aid
package given to the "Humanitarian Coalition," a grouping of charities that
accordingly participate in "established UN-led humanitarian coordination
processes," as highlighted in the press release. The Humanitarian Coalition has
thus far received money from the Canadian government, at least $3.5 million CAD,
while an additional $1.5 million has been given to the Lebanese Red Cross.
Islamic Relief has long been accused of connections to Hamas and the Muslim
Brotherhood by the Israeli government and by other countries. In December 2014,
then-Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon signed a decree banning Islamic Relief
Worldwide from operating in Israel, when he accused the charity at the time of
being "another source of funds for Hamas, and we have no intention of allowing
it to operate and assist terrorist activity against Israel.”“This is another in
a series of steps that we are taking against Hamas in Judea and Samaria and the
pressure we are applying, the goal of which is to harm the organization’s
leadership and rank-and-file as well as its civilian infrastructure. These serve
as the foundation from which Hamas operates among the local population,” he
added in 2014. Earlier that year, in November 2014, the United Arab Emirates
banned Islamic Relief due to alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood, which
Hamas originated from as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the
late 1980s. The Muslim Brotherhood, a conservative Islamist organization which
operates in many Arab Sunni countries throughout the Middle East, has been
accused by countries in the region of challenging state rule.
In 2016, HSBC, a multinational investment bank, also severed ties with Islamic
Relief, while the government of Bangladesh barred the organization from
providing relief to the embattled Rohingya people, who fled from persecution in
Myanmar, out of concern for encouraging radicalism and funding militants.
Similarly, Germany also alleged in 2019 that Islamic Relief has "significant"
personal ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. Beyond the alleged ties between
Islamic Relief, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, the charity has been under
fire as recently as July 2020 after Heshmat Khalifa, director of Islamic Relief
Worldwide (IRW), resigned from his position following the surfacing of Facebook
posts that referred to Jews as the "grandchildren of monkeys and pigs."Likewise,
in 2014 and 2015, Khalifa referred to the Egyptian president as a "Zionist
pimp," while also praising Hamas, calling it "the purest resistance movement in
modern history." He later apologized for his remarks on social media, and
resigned from his post as director.
NYT reveals origin of ammonium nitrate that caused Beirut blast - report
Jerusalem Post/August 09/2020
The Times said it was a rusty ship, "The Rhosus," that made an unscheduled stop
at Beirut Port. Days after a massive explosion turned large parts of a once
bustling port city of Beirut into a fuming pile of rubble, a reporter for The
New York Times managed to trace the origin of the cargo that exploded.
Ammonium nitrate, a white chemical substance that often comes in the form of
small crystal balls and is used as fertilizer as well as for bomb making, was
inappropriately stored in a warehouse in the port. But where did it come from?
The Times said it was a rusty ship, the Rhosus, that made an unscheduled stop at
Beirut Port. The ship left for its final voyage from the port of Batumi, in
Georgia, in September 2013 with the aim of reaching Mozambique in Africa. The
ship never made it to Mozambique, however, as its captain had been requested to
make an additional stop at Beirut in order to load additional cargo that was
meant to be taken to Jordan. When the unexpected ship made its appearance at the
port, it was seized by the local authorities due to unspecified deficiencies.
The crew was ordered not to leave the vessel. Eventually, in August 2014, the
crew was released but the ship was left docked at the harbor. The deadly cargo
was moved to a nearby warehouse where it was stored until it exploded last week.
According to the Times, with its crew dispersed, the ship was left to gather
seaweed until it was towed to a different location in the port and its rusty,
old carcass sank to the bottom of the pier in 2018.
Abdul Samad Quits in First Govt. Resignation over Blast
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 09/2020
Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad on Sunday quit in the first government
resignation since a deadly port blast killed at least 160 people and destroyed
swathes of Beirut. "After the enormous Beirut catastrophe, I announce my
resignation from government," she said in a statement carried by local media,
apologizing to the Lebanese public for failing them.
The resignation comes as public anger is mounting against the ruling elite,
blamed for the chronic mismanagement and corruption that is believed to be
behind the explosion in a Beirut Port warehouse. Hundreds of tons of highly
explosive material was stored in the waterfront hangar, and a blast sent a shock
wave that killed at least 160 people, wounded nearly 6,000 and defaced the
coastline of Beirut -- destroying hundreds of buildings. Abdul Samad said in her
resignation letter that change remained "elusive" and she regrets failing to
fulfill the aspirations of the Lebanese people.
"Given the magnitude of the catastrophe caused by the Beirut earthquake that
shook the nation and hurt our hearts and minds, and in respect for the martyrs,
and the pains of the wounded, missing and displaced, and in response to the
public will for change, I resign from the government," she wrote.
The disaster fueled angry demonstrations Saturday where protesters set up
gallows and nooses in central Beirut and held mock hanging sessions of cut-out
cardboard images of top Lebanese officials.
Demonstrators held signs that read "resign or hang." The protests quickly turned
violent when the demonstrators pelted stones at the security forces, who
responded with heavy volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets. One police officer
was killed and dozens of people were hurt in confrontations that lasted for
hours.
Protesters also fanned out around the city, storming a couple of government
ministries. They briefly took over the foreign ministry, saying it will be the
headquarters of their movement. In the economy and energy ministries, the
protesters ransacked offices and seized public documents claiming they would
reveal how corruption has permeated successive governments.
Six of the parliament's 128 members have also announced their resignation since
Saturday -- the three legislators of the Kataeb Party in addition to Marwan
Hamadeh, Paula Yacoubian and Neemat Frem.
Abdul Samad's resignation comes amid reports that two government officials --
the environment minister and the economy minister -- are expected to resign,
adding to the challenges facing Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
Diab took over in January and has since been beset by crises.
The government, backed by Hizbullah and its allies, announced it is defaulting
on Lebanon's sovereign debt and has since been engaged in difficult, internally
divisive talks with the International Monetary Fund for assistance. The
coronavirus restrictions deepened the impact of the economic and financial
crisis and fueled public anger against the new government. Lebanese have
criticized Diab's government for being unable to tackle the challenges, saying
it represents the deep-seated political class that has had a hold of the
country's politics since the end of the civil war in 1990.
Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti resigned even before the blast, citing an absence
of "effective will to achieve comprehensive structural reform" and competing
leadership.
In a televised speech Saturday evening, Diab said the only solution was to hold
early elections. He called on all political parties to put aside their
disagreements and said he was prepared to stay in the post for two months to
allow time for politicians to work on structural reforms.
The offer is unlikely to soothe the escalating fury on the street. It is also
expected to trigger lengthy discussions over the election law amid calls for
introducing changes to the country's sectarian-based representation system.
The information minister's resignation comes ahead of an international
conference co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres aimed at bringing donors together to supply
emergency aid and equipment to Lebanon. Previous offers of aid have been
contingent on carrying out significant government reforms to tackle corruption.
Mouawad announces his resignation from Parliament: Enough
is enough!
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Independence Movement Head, MP Michel Mouawad, announced his resignation from
the Parliament Council this evening, saying: "We are facing a system that does
not want reform and does not want to fight corruption, and does not want
Lebanon's neutrality, and insists that it drowns the country in wars and
regional confrontations in the service of known goals."In a press conference
held at his home in Baabda, Mouawad stressed, “Enough is enough!”“They destroyed
Beirut, but we will not let them rob us of our dreams and hopes...May God
protect Lebanon," he said.
Helou: I will submit my written resignation from Parliament
tomorrow
NNA/August 09/2020
MP Henry Helou announced this evening that he will submit his written
resignation from the Parliament Council on Monday, wishing that “this will open
a window of hope for the Lebanese people, who endure disaster after disaster, in
light of the total inability of the current political system."
Coordination meeting at the Grand Serail headed by Akar to
discuss the national response and recovery plan after the port explosion
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense Zeina Akar, chaired a
coordination meeting at the Government Serail today, in the presence of a number
of general directors and representatives of public administrations, Beirut
Governor Marwan Abboud, Engineering Syndicate Dean Jacques Tabet, Civil Defense
Director General, Brigadier General Raymond Khattar, and the Secretary General
of the Red Cross, George Kettaneh, as well as representatives from the Council
for Development and Reconstruction, the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities,
the Disaster Risk Management Unit and the Project Management Unit at the
Presidency of the Council of Ministers. According to Akar’s media office, the
meeting discussed "the national response plan and the initial recovery in light
of the state of emergency administered by the Lebanese army."
Minister Akar listened to the conferees’ proposals and clarifying questions and
to a detailed explanation about the mechanisms of ministries and institutions in
terms of reconstruction and restoration works following the massive explosion,
especially with regards to homes, public and private institutions, schools,
Beirut port, and the activation of other ports acro.ss Lebanon. Conferees
stressed on "the importance of strengthening coordination between the Army
Operations Room, the Crisis Cell in the Council of Ministers, and the relevant
local and international parties.”
Geagea Says LF Seeking Enough MP Resignations to Force
Early Polls
Naharnet/August 09/2020
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Sunday said his party is trying to secure
enough parliament resignations in order to force early elections. “In addition
to the ongoing relief efforts in Beirut, we are currently working on rescuing
the republic through ridding it of this parliament,” Geagea said in a tweet.
“We are conducting the necessary contacts and carry out intensive efforts to
secure enough resignations to reach early parliamentary elections as soon as
possible,” he added. Six of the parliament's 128 members have announced their
resignations since Saturday -- the three legislators of the Kataeb Party in
addition to Marwan Hamadeh of the Democratic Gathering and the independents
Paula Yacoubian and Neemat Frem. The Lebanese Forces has fifteen seats in
parliament.
Clash between MP Roukoz’s companions and demonstrators in
Martyrs Square
NNA/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
MP Shamil Roukoz arrived this afternoon at Martyrs' Square to join the
demonstrators, announcing that the issue of resigning from the Parliament will
be "studied tomorrow with a group of deputies to take the appropriate decision,"
NNA correspondent reported. However, shortly after his arrival, clashes and a
stampede between the demonstrators and the companions of MP Roukoz occurred,
after the protesters refused the presence of any politician among them.
Policeman Dies during Beirut Protest after 'Assault'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 09/2020
A policeman died during Beirut's protests on Saturday, following an assault by
"murderous rioters," the Internal Security Forces said."A member of the Internal
Security Forces died while ... helping people trapped inside the Le Gray hotel,"
the police force said on Twitter.It "came after he was assaulted by a number of
murderous rioters, which led him to fall and die," the statement added, without
providing additional details.'
Electric Night of Protests in Lebanon after Blast
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 09/2020
Lebanese protesters stormed several ministries Saturday in apparently planned
raids after an explosion blamed on government negligence at Beirut port
devastated the city and ignited unprecedented popular rage. The day started with
funerals for some of the 158 people killed by Tuesday's monster blast but turned
to fury when the largest anti-government protest in months escalated.
With security forces focused on a large gathering at the Martyrs' Square protest
hub, a group led by retired army officers sneaked into the foreign ministry and
declared the building a "headquarters of the revolution". The stunt, which
marked a new development in the strategy of a protest camp whose October 17
uprising had lost steam lately, was facilitated by the damage the port blast
shockwave had inflicted on the building. But the takeover lasted barely three
hours. Large army reinforcements using rubber bullets and tear gas drove out the
roughly 200 protesters, who only had time to chant celebratory slogans against
the government and burn a portrait of President Michel Aoun. At one point,
protesters had stormed or taken over four key official buildings. "We are
officially at war with our government," said activist Hayat Nazer, as tear gas
filled the air in downtown Beirut.
"This is war."
- 'Lebanon is ours' -
Separate groups of protesters also stormed the economy ministry, the Association
of Banks in Lebanon and the energy ministry before being forced out by the army
shortly afterwards. The latter is the focus of particular anger from the
population, which has in recent months been subjected to worse than ever power
cuts due to the de facto bankruptcy of the state. "They ruled Lebanon for 30
years, now Lebanon is ours," said one protester speaking on live Lebanese
television broadcasts.
"We entered the energy ministry and we are here to stay."
The Association of Banks in Lebanon, another obvious target for protesters who
have routinely nicknamed their rulers "the government of banks", was ransacked,
an AFP reporter said.
By 10:30 pm (1930 GMT) however, protesters had been dispersed and security
forces deployed across the city, where the broken glass and rubble from
Tuesday's disaster mixed with the smoking remains of a night of rage.
The rallies claimed a human toll too, with one policeman falling to his death
following an "assault" by "rioters", the police said.
Dozens of people wounded during the violence also needed treatment in hospitals
already bursting with the injured from Tuesday's blast and coronavirus patients.
- Heads will roll -
On Sunday French President Emmanuel Macron will host Donald Trump in a
U.N.-backed virtual conference to drum up aid for crisis-stricken Lebanon.
Macron, the first world leader to visit Beirut after the explosion, has warned
Lebanese leaders that the billions of dollars in available aid would not be
forthcoming if the Lebanese state did not implement deep changes.
France also said it would charter a cargo ship to transport food, medicine and
reconstruction materials to the country.
Under increased pressure from the street, which wants heads to roll over the
Beirut port tragedy, and foreign partners exasperated by the leadership's
inability to enact reforms, Prime Minister Hassan Diab's government was fraying
at the edges.
A bloc of three MPs from an opposition Christian party resigned from parliament
Saturday, bringing to five the number of lawmakers to quit since the August 4
explosion.
Crippled by debt and the local currency's nosedive, and threatened by a spike in
COVID-19 cases, Lebanon can ill afford international isolation, but its
hereditary ruling class is digging its heels in.
Many Lebanese have urged foreign powers not to funnel more money into what they
say are thieving and incompetent hands.
"We call on all the anguished Lebanese people to take to the streets to demand
the prosecution of all the corrupt," said Sami Rammah, the retired general who
spearheaded the short-lived occupation of the foreign ministry Saturday.
Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit met top officials ahead of expected visits
by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and the President of the European
Council, Charles Michel. Near the massive crater caused by Tuesday's explosion,
whose shockwave was felt on the island of Cyprus, teams of Lebanese and foreign
rescuers were digging through the rubble in a push to find survivors.
According to the health ministry, at least 158 people were killed and 6,000 were
wounded by the blast, which in a few seconds levelled the port and sowed as much
destruction in some areas as 15 years of civil war had done a generation ago.
Syrian authorities said over 40 Syrians were among the dead, though it was
unclear if they were part of the Lebanese health ministry's tally.
The Netherlands also announced that its ambassador's wife had died on Saturday
of injuries sustained in the blast.
Lebanon protesters storm ministry buildings over Beirut blast
Jerusalem Post/August 09/2020
More than 110 people were wounded during demonstrations in central Beirut on
Saturday against this week's huge explosion and 32 people were taken to the
hospital.
BEIRUT - Lebanese protesters stormed government ministries in Beirut and trashed
the offices of the Association of Lebanese Banks on Saturday as shots rang out
in increasingly angry demonstrations over this week's devastating explosion.
The protesters said their politicians should resign and be punished for
negligence they say led to Tuesday’s blast, the biggest ever to hit Beirut, that
killed 158 people and injured more than 6,000, compounding months of political
and economic meltdown
The Red Cross said it had treated 117 people for injuries on the scene while
another 55 were taken to hospital. Policemen wounded by stones were treated by
ambulance workers. A fire broke out in central Martyrs' Square.
Dozens of protesters broke into the foreign ministry where they burnt a portrait
of President Michel Aoun, representative for many of a political class that has
ruled Lebanon for decades and that they say is to blame for its current mess.
"We are staying here. We call on the Lebanese people to occupy all the
ministries," a demonstrator said by megaphone. About 10,000 people gathered in
Martyrs' Square, some throwing stones. Police fired tear gas when some
protesters tried to break through the barrier blocking a street leading to
parliament, a Reuters journalist said. Police confirmed shots and rubber bullets
had been fired. It was not immediately clear who fired the shots. Riot police
shot dozens of teargas canisters at protesters, who hit back with firecrackers
and stones. TV footage showed protesters also breaking into the energy and
economy ministries. They chanted "the people want the fall of the regime,"
reprising a popular chant from the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011. They held
posters saying "Leave, you are all killers." The US Embassy in Beirut said the
US government supported the demonstrators' right to peaceful protest and urged
all involved to refrain from violence.
The embassy also said in a tweet that the Lebanese people "deserved leaders who
listen to them and change course to respond to popular demands for transparency
and accountability."
Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the only way out was early parliamentary
elections.
'GO HOME!'
The protests were the biggest since October when thousands of people took to the
streets in protest against corruption, bad governance and mismanagement. “You
have no conscience, you have no morality. Go home! Leave! Resign, Enough is
enough,” shouted one of the protesters. “What else do you want? You brought us
poverty, death and destruction,” said another. Soldiers in vehicles mounted with
machine guns patrolled the area. Ambulances rushed to the scene.
"Really the army is here? Are you here to shoot us? Join us and we can fight the
government together," a woman yelled. Tuesday's blast was the biggest in
Beirut's history. Twenty-one people were still reported as missing from the
explosion, which gutted entire neighborhoods. The government has promised to
hold those responsible to account. But few Lebanese are convinced. Some set up
nooses on wooden frames as a symbolic warning to Lebanese leaders.
"Resign or hang," said one banner at the demonstration. The prime minister and
presidency have said 2,750 tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, which is
used in making fertilizers and bombs, had been stored for six years without
safety measures at the port warehouse.
ECONOMIC MELTDOWN
The explosion hit a city still scarred by civil war and reeling from an economic
meltdown and a surge in coronavirus infections. For many, it was a dreadful
reminder of the 1975-1990 civil war that tore the nation apart and destroyed
swathes of Beirut, much of which had since been rebuilt. Some residents,
struggling to clean up shattered homes, complain the government has let them
down again. "We have no trust in our government," said university student Celine
Dibo as she scrubbed blood off the walls of her shattered apartment building. "I
wish the United Nations would take over Lebanon." Many people denounced their
leaders, saying none of them visited the site of the blast to comfort them or
assess the damage while French President Emmanuel Macron flew from Paris and
went straight to the scene to pay his tribute. Macron, who visited Beirut on
Thursday, promised aid to rebuild the city would not fall into "corrupt hands."
He will host a donor conference for Lebanon via video link on Sunday, his office
said. US President Donald Trump said that he will join. "We don't want any
government to help us," said unemployed protester Mahmoud Rifai. "The money will
just go into the pockets of our leaders." Aoun said on Friday an investigation
would examine whether the blast was caused by a bomb or other external
interference. He said the investigation would also weigh if it was due to
negligence or an accident. Twenty people had been detained so far, he added.
'WE CAN'T AFFORD TO REBUILD'
Officials have said the blast could have caused losses amounting to $15 billion.
That is a bill that Lebanon cannot pay after already defaulting on a mountain of
debt - exceeding 150% of economic output - and with talks stalled on an IMF
lifeline. For ordinary Lebanese, the scale of destruction is overwhelming.
Marita Abou Jawda was handing out bread and cheese to victims of the blast.
"Macron offered to help and our government has not done anything. It has always
been like that," she said. "After Macron visited I played the French national
anthem all day in my car."
It's time to listen to the Lebanese people about Hezbollah –
comment
Ron Prosor/Jerusalem Post /August 09/2020
If Europe doesn't act now to save Lebanon from Hezbollah and Iran, there may
never be another chance.
The tragic explosion at the Beirut Port sent shock waves not just through
Lebanon, but through the entire Middle East and everyone who cares about the
loss of innocent lives. It should also send a loud siren to the offices of the
EU leaders, and if they truly care about the future of Lebanon and its people,
they should act now. The most effective, immediate move they can do is to send
European forces to monitor the crossings into Lebanon and ensure that any
foreign and humanitarian aid arriving in Lebanon would get to those who need it,
not Hezbollah.
For the past generation, Hezbollah and Iran have been holding Lebanon hostage.
They’ve abused the country’s political system, financial system and resources.
With Hezbollah’s military might being stronger than Lebanon’s own army, the
Lebanese people were unable to do anything against the terrorist organization
and its sponsors – the ayatollahs of Iran.
Now the tables are starting to turn. We, and the Lebanese people, don’t need a
15-year investigation, like the one that looked into former prime minister Rafic
al-Hariri’s assassination, to know that Hezbollah’s fingerprints are all over
the blast. While Hassan Nasrallah – Hezbollah’s leader – may claim that he knows
the Haifa port better than Beirut’s, he can’t deny the terrorist organization’s
tendency to hide huge stockpiles of ammonium-nitrate within civilian population
centers. They’ve already done it in Beirut’s Dachya Quarter and airport as part
of their precision missile program. They were caught red-handed doing it in the
UK and Germany – that’s Hezbollah’s modus operandi.
Last week’s tragedy may have been the final straw for the Lebanese people. They
are taking to the streets against Hezbollah, in images that are reminiscent of
the Arab Spring of a decade ago, and they call on the international community
not to give money to Lebanon’s leaders. These voices made it to Paris and other
European countries, and Emmanuel Macron, president of France, is calling for a
“New Political Order” in Lebanon. For the first time Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan
Nasrallah, is hiding not from Israel but rather from the people of Lebanon.
However, it takes time to instill a new political order and Lebanon needs help
now. The easiest thing would be to funnel money into the country and help
rebuild the damaged buildings and infrastructures. But that would also be the
worst thing that the international community can do at this moment.
The international community should send humanitarian aid – food, medicine and
clean water to Lebanon immediately. However, supplying the country with building
materials, petrol and money must go hand in hand with international control of
the borders, that would make sure that Hezbollah isn’t abusing this aid. Failure
to do that would be like giving aspirin to a COVID-19 patient. If the
international community only deals with the here and now without neutralizing
Hezbollah’s stranglehold of the country, not only will it not help Lebanon, it
might actually cause more damage in the long run.
The European Union has the ability to make a difference. EUBAM forces (European
Union Border Assistance Missions) – which operated between 2007-2015 in the
Rafah crossing to Gaza and are still active on the Ukraine-Moldova border – are
the model. They try (though not always successfully) to make sure that the
crossings don’t become war zones and to prevent smuggling of arms and illegal
supplies. A similar force can help give the Lebanese people the aid they need
and deserve, while simultaneously weakening Hezbollah’s grip of the country.
uropean forces are already there. Since 2006, German Navy vessels are patrolling
Lebanon’s territorial waters. Believe it or not, they do that at the request of
Lebanon’s own government, which asked for this assistance in order to help
enforce resolution 1701 after the Second Lebanon War.
All the mechanisms and methods are already there. What is missing is the will
and decision to implement them. We should not ask for whom the bell tolls – it
tolls loud and clear for the leaders of Europe. If they don’t act now to save
Lebanon from Hezbollah and Iran, they may never get another chance.
The writer is chairperson of the Abba Eban Institute of International Diplomacy
at IDC Herzliya, former Israeli Ambassador to the UN and the UK.
Lebanon-What Happened
By Dr. David Wurmser/Foundation For American Security And Freedom/August 09/2020
Part 1: Lebanon-What happened?
Part I of this series will review the facts of what we know has happened and an
analysis of the horrific catastrophe in Beirut on August 4 itself. Part II will
focus on the ramifications.
A few minutes after 6PM on Tuesday August 4, a fire broke out, the cause of
which the Lebanese government has said might be because of a welding accident,
in hangar 9 of Beirut’s port. Videos from the first moments afterwards show
black smoke, indicative of a grease or other material fire. A few minutes later,
a second fairly large explosion (assuming there was a small explosion which
caused the first fire) expanded the blast area into hangar 12 and set the stage
for the third and final explosion about 20 minutes after the first and about 30
seconds after the second.
What we know about the blasts
We have no idea what caused the first fire or blast, if even there was a first
blast since none of the videos so far provided captured those first few seconds.
But the remaining smoke was moderate and blackish, consistent of an industrial
fire. It appears some small munitions, or some claim fireworks, began erupting
soon after causing a whitish-grey smoke to be added. One film, apparently taken
from an adjacent building (no information on the fate of the photographer,
although highly unlikely he survived), shows crackling and popping occurring
before a much larger second blast. This could be fireworks, as the government
has claimed.
The second explosion was much more significant, and produced thick whitish-grey
“dirty” smoke, consistent with some high explosives and even rocket fuel.
Several witnesses of the second explosion insisted at first they heard airplane
engines, but closer examination by analysis of several videos and the commentary
by eyewitnesses themselves on the ground ultimately place the source of that
roaring sound within the fire, further suggesting that rocket engines were being
set off rather than planes flying overhead.1 Smaller continuing explosions
persisted, with white flashes seen in and above the building. While fireworks
could still not be ruled out, after the second explosion, the thick dirty grey
smoke, whooshing airplane-type sound rather than predominant whistling, the
absence of a spectacular airborne display of streamers and sparkling explosions
spraying in every direction as would be consistent with firework explosions
(since the roof had already been blown off the building at that time) – all seem
to suggest rockets, mortars and missiles of some sort rather than fireworks were
igniting. About 20 seconds after the second blast, the escalating fire
dramatically ramped up, as did the resulting pace of white flashes in and above
the building, which seem to be consistent with small-caliber explosives, such as
mortars and rockets.
In short, something much more explosive, which produces white-grey dirty smoke
and a sound like a roaring aircraft engine, produced the second explosion, of
which we know nothing else at this point since the government is sticking
closely to the “fireworks” explanation entirely. That second explosion seemed to
set in motion what eventually triggered the final and third explosion. In fact,
it is clear that the Lebanese government It is determined to not have the cause
of this second explosion known or discussed.
About 28 seconds after the second blast, during which the flames and white
flashes intensified, more “humming” and a roaring crescendo can be heard in the
videos suggesting missile engines roaring, and then a final round of white-flash
explosions popping off which was followed suddenly by a massive eruption – the
third and final explosion. Still frame photos of the exact moment of the massive
explosion showed the entire warehouse – this time hangar 12 – simultaneously and
uniformly detonated.
The magnitude of the blast was strong enough, with enough high humidity, to
produce a perfect Wilson cloud. While some have said it might be a fuel air
blast, the condensation halo vaporized instantly, as is consistent with a Wilson
cloud rather than fuel air explosion. Also, the cloud did not have the initial
yellow flash consistent with a fuel-air blast. It was in fact, a pressure wave
according to physicists, not a shock wave, as a fuel-air bomb would produce.2
Thankfully, since the death toll would have been astronomically higher were it a
shock wave.
Later analysis of the blast effects indicated that it was equivalent to a 1.1
kiloton explosion – comparable to a small tactical nuclear blast about 1/11th
the size of the Hiroshima 12-15 kiloton nuclear blast.
Ahead of the Wilson cloud was a massive pressure wave spreading throughout the
city, and rising behind the Wilson cloud is a broad and towering column of
reddish brown thick smoke, generally indicative of a concentrated and
high-quality bomb-grade ammonium nitrate explosion. Fertilizer-grade ammonium
nitrate tends to explode with more blackish, oily smoke.
The Lebanese government claims that over 2700 tons of Ammonium Phosphate was
stored in Hangar 12, confiscated from a Moldovan registry ship, the Rhosus, in
2013. This stated magnitude would be almost exactly equivalent to the sort of
explosion the 2700 tons (2.7 kilotons) of ammonium nitrate would produce,
assuming that it is of the highest-grade military explosives and not fertilizer
grade (the conversion rate to TNT of the highest-grade Ammonium Nitrate is 0.4
%), namely 1.1 kilotons.3 Nitropril, which was seen to be marked on some of the
bags in images which have since appeared, is the densely porous prilled (granularized)
grade of ammonium nitrate used for the explosive version, not fertilizer.4 So
this is also consistent with bomb-grade ammonium nitrate being the cause of the
last massive blast.
It must be noted though, the ammonium nitrate cannot combust by itself. Indeed,
the markings on ammonium nitrate containers in the US have the following safety
label: “May explode under confinement and high temperature, but not readily
detonated. May explode due to nearby detonations.”5 And indeed, Lebanon’s
interior minister, Mohammad Fahmi, also noted this on August 6.6 This is why
getting to the bottom of the second explosion is so critical, and why it is so
important to press the Lebanese government on producing more information on the
materials that caused this second explosion – which were likely munitions and
missiles. Without it, there would never have been a catastrophe.
As a final note, there have been commentators claiming that the final blast
looks more like a fuel-air blast from a shaped explosive charge, namely HMX (Octagen,
or C4H8N8O8) missile fuel that accidentally detonated. The survival of the grain
silos is raised as a sign that the charge which exploded was shaped upward –
again consistent with a warhead pointed toward the sky. The smoke, however, of
the third explosion was a dark reddish-rust color typical of an ammonium nitrate
explosion, and the vast layer of dust left on everything in the area is typical
residue of ammonium nitrate. About the grain elevator: it survived on the far
side, but not the side facing the explosion. It is quite possible that the grain
in the silos absorbed the kinetic energy of the blast, much like sand or water
do. Still, this alternative explanation cannot be ruled out, nor could it be
ruled out – indeed it is likely — that such high explosive material used for
rocket fuel of extremely high-intensity explosions was the source of the second
explosion (which appears to have been in hangar 9, which was whiter and quite
substantial in its own right – certainly consistent with a missile blowing up),
and was the ongoing source of the escalating fire, roaring and trigger for the
third, massive explosion.
The last and third blast destroyed central Beirut, damaged buildings 10 miles
away, and sent pressure waves 20 miles away onto the surrounding Lebanese
mountains. It was heard in northern Israel, and even clearly in Cyprus 125 miles
away. Hundreds were killed, several thousand wounded and 300,000 left homeless
as a result of the blast.
Some effects of the blast are only beginning. Eighty percent of Lebanon’s grain
supply (Lebanon’s strategic reserve) was incinerated, and the port through which
most of Lebanon’s imported food arrived has been rendered dysfunctional. Lebanon
relied on imported food for 90% of its needs, so this is a disaster which yet
will unfold. Beirut port is the entry point for 70% of all imports of all goods.
So Lebanon has a grave logistical challenge – few operating docks — in finding a
structure to bring seaborn loads of goods and foodstuffs.
Hangars 9 and 12
Regarding hangars 9 and 12, Lebanese are universal in their belief that
Hizballah rules the critical areas of the port as a government within a
government. As head of the program on studying terrorism in Israel’s Herzliyah
Center, Mordechai Kedar has noted that there are many videos of Hizballah
officials bragging about their “Fatima Gate,” which is a nickname given their
independent, clandestine port structure in Beirut completely out of the control
and visibility of the Lebanese government.7 In those videos, it is noteworthy
that Hizballah bragged that “the Fatima Gate” in Beirut port is where they can
come and go at will, import and export freely, and smuggle unharassed, not only
without interference by customs authorities, but often without their knowledge.
Kedar believes that the Hangar 9 and 12 structures are the noted “Fatima Gate.”
They are closest to the water, meaning they are the most prime warehouses for
unloading ships without being detected by satellite or aerial reconnaissance,
and very close to the exit of the port as well. Lebanese port workers themselves
regarded Hangar 12 as an off-limits Hizballah zone.
These two warehouses, being the closest to the waterline, were clearly the most
sought-after structures for rapid movement and transfer, not long-term storage.
Indeed, the port authority asked that the ammonium nitrate be removed to more
distant storage sheds, but those requests were met with silence.
The Ship
The Lebanese government, which has been diligent and fast in releasing
information which builds its narrative (outlined below) has said nothing of the
provenance of the ostensible fireworks, or other information in connection with
the first blast/fire and the second blast. It has focused exclusively on the
final blast – and with determination has suppressed discussion of anything other
— leaving us no information with which to analyze regarding everything that
preceded the final blast.
The official version is that a ship, the Moldovan registry Rhosus, was sailing
in 2013 from the Crimea to Mozambique to deliver fertilizer or explosives for
mining. The ship encountered mechanical difficulties – although some conflicting
reports said it lacked the funds to pay the Suez Canal fees – and had to take to
port in Beirut. The Lebanese government saw the papers were not in order and
confiscated the ship. The owner of the ship, the Cyprus-based Russian oligarch
Igor Grechushkin, abandoned the ship and the cargo and left the crew stranded.
Ship crews are disturbingly often abandoned, but much less so with cargos.
The ammonium nitrate on the ship was offloaded and placed in hangar 12. After
seven years of legal wrangling and bureaucratic back and forth, the cargo
remained stored in hangar 12 until it exploded on Tuesday. The crew was stranded
on the ship for several months longer, but eventually was flown home.
The ship was leaky, and some reports are that it sunk in port, and others report
it set sail from Beirut, and that the ship has been seen since.
What we know about the ship is the official Lebanese government’s version. It
has not been independently verified. And indeed, it took only a day or two,
however, before Lebanese journalists, began accessing records and former
officials, and began uncovering additional information of interest, although a
good bit of it is impossible to independently verify. The popular and respected
Lebanese journalist, Marcel Ghanem, on his MTV show, Sar el-Waet, on August 6,
interviewed a retired prominent, perhaps chief, inspector of Beirut port whom
had been involved in the whole Rhosus affair since the beginning, and was the
one debriefing the crew. He tale was riveting, but again, would need independent
verification.
Notably, the interview could cost the former inspector his life, so it is rather
surprising that he openly recounted what he revealed. He claims he was the
inspector who personally interviewed the ship captain, and the story he tells of
the ammonium nitrate is shocking and worth summarizing here:
* The ship’s captain, Boris Prokoshev, said the ship was not seaworthy, and nor
was he. The inspector noted the captain was consistently drunk. But both the
captain and the inspector understood that is why this ship or captain were
chosen. No respectable ship owner or captain would do this mission. The whole
crew were desperados essentially. In short, there was something untoward about
the very nature of the shipment from the start.
* When the ship passed Bosphorus, the Turkish transit authorities stopped it
because they worried the ship was not seaworthy. Upon boarding, they inspected
and saw the shipment, at which point they moved to seize it to prevent Bosphorus
passage as a grave hazard. The head of Bosphorus maritime transit then received
a phone call from President Erdogan’s officer saying that Erdogan personally
requests it be released and allowed Bosphorous passage. The head of Bosphorus
transit was so upset by this — fearing it could be a terror ship that could even
be used in Istanbul — that he tweeted publicly his disapproval of passage as a
self-protective maneuver.
* The ship, being unseaworthy, used its “SoS” status as cover and made straight
for Beirut, not Cyprus which was just as close along its track, but where its
owner was and where the ship had previously been flagged (before Moldova) after
Bosphorus. Once in Beirut, the official story was established that the ship
cannot continue, and the cargo was essentially bought out by unknown people.
That is why the ship owner — an oligarch who did not build his reputation on
being a pushover — never launched a court challenge over the confiscation of the
ammonium nitrate by the Beirut port.
* The Beirut port inspector office had his team launch a quiet investigation as
to where the money came from for the purchase. They concluded it led back to
Iran.
* Also, receiving no cooperation from the government on the details of the
ammonium nitrate, they brought in a chemist to see what grade ammonium nitrate
they were dealing with. The tests showed it was the highest possible grade; not
the sort used in fertilizer, and not even a common level of quality for mining
explosives.
* They, the port authority and others started getting ever more nervous about
this, suspecting foul play, and many times asked for further information about
the shipment, not only in terms of asking it to be removed, but also information
about it. Their letters and queries were always met with the cold silence that
suggests “Don’t go there.”
In short, the Lebanese government is focused exclusively on the ammonium
nitrate, ignores completely the causes and sources (likely munitions and missile
fuel) of the second explosion which was the essential component in turning a
small accident into a vast human tragedy. To reinforce its narrative, it has
taken the odd tale of a unseaworthy ship crewed by derelicts and spun a tale
solely of incompetence, not nefarious behavior, as the only story worth
contemplating, which lays the bulk of the blame on …. The previous government
under Saad Hariri.
Part 2: Lebanon–So what happens now?
Although the first hour or so after the blast produced wild stories – including
the theory of Israeli Frogmen – both the Lebanese government and Hizballah –
both of which are beholden to Syria and Iran — very quickly and decisively
asserted there was no Israeli involvement in the blast.
The Lebanese government reaction
Careful study of all the available videos and freeze-frames confirms the
Lebanese government account of the final blast, although there is a loud silence
about what preceded it. In addition to the escalating behavior of the fires and
explosions at the scene clearly emanating from their internal dynamics, there
are also no external objects entering the immediate site. There is no video out
there of what caused the very first fire or explosion – which was relatively
minor. By early evening, less than an hour after the explosions, even al-Mayedin
media, the mouthpiece of Hizballah, made clear there was no Israeli attack.
Instead, the government built a very different narrative, focusing on the
climate of prevailing criminal negligence. To carry through this narrative, it
has ordered anyone possibly connected to be placed under house arrest. It also
on Wednesday (August 5) opened a commission of inquiry to determine the cause
and culpability in this disaster.
The Lebanese government insists on limiting the parameters of public discussion
to the scandal of corruption and incompetence over the last 7 years by previous
governments regarding the stranded nature and storage of the ammonium nitrate.
It is suppressing discussion – not successfully, however — of all other inquiry
into the ammonium nitrate ownership, nature or storage as irrelevant, as is any
mention of the preceding fires and explosions, what was stored there that caused
those preceding fires and explosions, and whose cargo was it. So for the
Lebanese government, the ship and government incompetence is the entire story.
It is perhaps not entirely coincidental. This is the most self-protecting
narrative possible. The international investigation into the 2005 mass-bomb
murder of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was set to issue its final report this
weekend, in which they have already revealed the Syrian government and Hizballah
– as well as Iran – were clearly to blame. Blaming this new, worst calamity to
have ever befallen the Lebanese people on incompetence and corruption lays the
blame on the government for four of the seven years of the cargo saga … that of
assassinated Rafiq Hariri’s son, Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Vectoring all the
blame for this overarching event on the younger Hariri, the government could
have reasonably expected that it would deflate all the anger and possible street
unrest which could have been triggered by the release of the international
assassination inquiry.
To add emphasis, on August 6, a small hire-a-thug mob attacked Saad Hariri’s
convoy and stoned several of its cars while blaming Hariri personally for the
corruption and blast.
Conspiracy theories emerge
Within about 36 hours of the blast, a radical-left Jewish organization marked by
its animosity toward Israel, Tikkun Olam published an article by Richard
Silverstein, that laid the blame for the catastrophe on a sloppy and uninformed
Israeli raid on an Hizballah arms cache, being unaware that it was located next
to a massive ammonium nitrate stash. He cited only the abandoned first-hour
rumors that it was an Israeli frogman attack, which the Israeli paper Haaretz
reported not as fact from Israeli sources, but a dutiful second-hand reporting
of what some Lebanese sources were saying in those first minutes.
Within about 48 hours, photos began appearing showing various assortments of
objects hurtling toward the doomed site at the time of the final, massive
explosion. One showed a missile with an afterburning trail plunging down –
although a) the missile was out of scale, b) missiles in terminal descent do not
burn fuel and have no afterburn trail, and c) the image is a miniature SCUD, not
any known missile from a Western arsenal and d) the original video is available
and does not have that object in it.8 In fact, a close examination of other
videos showed a deliberately fast-framed bird passing through, and others simply
photoshopped images onto existing videos which in the original clearly had no
foreign objects.
In short, about 48 hours after the blast, an escalating trend, perhaps campaign,
of photoshopped images began appearing to make it look as if this was the result
of an external attack by a foreign power – likely Israel.
Similarly after about 48 hours, Iranian propaganda outlets were saying that the
United States had done this intentionally as well.
Lebanese government hints at shifting its story
By Friday (August 7), the Lebanese government began hinting that it is shifting
its narrative. Until then, the government and Hizballah were disciplined in
messaging that it was all the result of corruption, which implicitly blames the
previous Hariri government for the tragedy. But on August 7, Michel Aoun, the
president, hinted that the Lebanese government is examining the possibility that
the affair was caused by an external force, either by a missile fired or by a
bomb planted by an external power.9
If the reigning Hizballah-Syrian Quisling government, and its Syrian and Iranian
patrons shift to this new narrative, it is a sign of increasing nervousness.
Indeed, there are clear signs the Lebanese people have little patience for this,
and small demonstrations – dispersed with tear gas — have already begun.
Moreover, another dangerous sign of possible deflection emerged late in the
night between August 6 and 7: the attempted penetration of Israel by a Hizballah
drone (it was shot down).
So, what now?
Almost universally, reports from Lebanon describe a population transitioning
from shock to fury directed at the government and at Hizballah. Lebanon had
already been in crisis, having lost nearly 100 billion in wealth over the last
months. The previous government several months ago was ousted over street riots
demanding its resignation because of the banking collapse which had eliminated
these large amounts of personal assets. The Lebanese already before the blast
understood the new government was merely the result of a game of musical chairs,
and not a real change, and were thus already gripped by a despairing public
sentiment.
In the coming days, several Lebanese who in the past managed to galvanize into
the streets mass demonstrations to eject Syria from Lebanon on March 14, 2005
(the “March 14th movement”) have declared that “this now is war. Enough.” The
leaders of the Lebanese opposition (to the government) initiative worked with
the Vatican, through the Maronite Patriarch Boutrus el-Rahi, and have the buy-in
of other Christian denominations and Sunni, Christian and some Shiite leaders
for the initiative, the terms of which are the following:
1. Full implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1680 and 1701.
The upshot is Syrian withdrawal and Hizballah dismantlement completely. Trying
to avoid the incomplete results of 2005, they are hoping to make these
resolutions legally binding under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
2. Restoration of the neutrality pact which governed Lebanon’s relations with
the whole region in the 1950s and 1960s. This is explicitly stated in agreement
already reached between various Christian and Sunni leaders to be “neither East
nor West,” and – “neither Nasrallah nor Erdogan.” In other words, they reject
Iran and Turkey alike.
3. Restoration of the May 17, 1983 Lebanese-Israeli non-Aggression agreement
which followed the 1982 “Operation Peace for Galilee” Lebanese-Israeli war,
which resulted in the PLO’s expulsion under Yasir Arafat from Beirut to Tunis.
This is not a peace treaty between Israel and Lebanon, but it is a
non-belligerence arrangement that returns the border to the situation it was
before the entry of the PLO after the 1967 war (the “good fence” arrangement).
The United States, as part of the Deal of the Century last year, attempted to
negotiate a new Israeli-Lebanese non-belligerence agreement, and Foreign
Minister Katz even met with his Lebanese counterpart, Foreign Minister
al-Khalifa, but these efforts ultimately were impossible under the current state
of domination of Lebanon under Iran, Syria and Hizballah.
French President Macron on his visit to Beirut to express support for the
devastated city was heavily exposed to the street sentiments in Beirut, which
was a demand to remove the Syria-quisling government and get rid of Hizballah.
Macron promised all French aid would flow directly to the people, and not pass
through Hizballah, the Syrian-Quisling and Iran-backed government for profit and
skimming. He ultimately promised that he would present a “new national pact” for
Lebanon shortly – a sign that he has adopted the emerging Lebanese opposition
initiative.
At this point, there is no visible Shiite “official” buy-in to this agreement,
because any sanctioned Shiite official is there at the indulgence of Hizballah.
It is likely that we may see several Shiite clerics, who have long suffered in
quiet discomfort, view this as an opportunity to finally assert their
independence and come out in public to split from the Hizballah-sanctioned
leadership.
Lebanon is at a tipping point, and in fact already had been before the horrific
blast. This emerging initiative, which also has its roots before the blast,
appears to represent a major push by various Lebanese sectors of society to push
it over the tipping point into a rout of Hiziballah and Syria, and overall of
their patron, Iran. At the same time, they are putting Erdogan on notice that
even the Sunnis have had enough of foreign intervention and have no more desire
to become a pawn of Turkey than to remain a pawn of Iran.
The Lebanese government, however, is attempting to build the narrative that this
is a result of the endemic corruption and incompetence of previous
administrations, such as the al-Hariri government. It thus hopes to follow the
suit of the Iranians, who two weeks ago singed a salvation agreement with the
Chinese (salvation for their government, not nation). Namely, the Lebanese
government will likely attempt to launch a major rebuilding of the port and city
under Chinese auspices and financing, and present themselves, Hizballah, Iran
and China — rather than perpetrator of Lebanon’s woes – instead as Lebanon’s
savior from the previous government’s catastrophic failure and reliance on the
West. They fail, of course, to note that ever since 2008, when Hizballah
launched what essentially was a military coup, Lebanon was no longer
independent, but operating entirely under Hizballah. Syrian and Iranian
tutelage, with nothing happening – especially not in the port of Beirut –
without their knowledge and sign-off. In short, any Lebanese government was a
fiction since 2008 to cover the real Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah power.
And they fail, of course, to note that Hizballah was keenly aware of what mixing
ammonium nitrate, a detonation and population concentration would produce. They
knew it would be a mini-nuclear bomb level explosion killing thousands. In fact,
Hizballah, indeed Nasrallah himself, threatened explicitly in 2018 to do to
Haifa in Israel exactly what just happened in Beirut, saying lobbing a bomb onto
ammonium nitrate stores in Haifa with its population of 800,000 would be
tantamount to a nuclear attack.10
As such, as hard as they are working to build their narrative, the Lebanese
population with the exception of the few benefitting from Hizballah rule
personally, are not buying it…at all.
What we are witnessing may indeed be the beginning of the end for Hizballah and
the Syrian-Iranian Quisling government – either the official one, or the real
one which has been dominating Lebanon with a steal grip since 2008.
It is imperative for Western powers to get to the bottom of the ship story, to
establish that hangars 9 and 12 are indeed Hizballah’s “Fatima gate,” to expose
what the suspicious materials were that led to the second blast (since it
indicates an arms shipment), and finally, whether the ammonium nitrate was not
in fact, a story of incompetence and a “stranded” cargo, but a Hizballah stash
from which it could send ammonium nitrate deliveries to their operatives around
the world, such as those caught in 2015 in London with 3 tons of ammonium
nitrate trying to set up a number of bomb-making factories,11 those caught in
Cyrpus with 9 tons of ammonium nitrate,12 and those caught in Germany with an
unreported amount of ammonium nitrate.13
1: https://twitter.com/lizsly/status/1291484564116901910?s=12
2:
https://www.wired.com/story/tragic-physics-deadly-explosion-beirut/
3: https://twitter.com/ArmsControlWonk/status/1290740483098984448
4: http://www.oricaminingservices.com/download/file_id_21273
5: https:/www.moonofalabama.org
6: https://twitter.com/davidadaoud/status/1291010910514024450?s=12
7: See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5dfGlKlOyY and https://www.yousfalawnah.com/
8: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/beirut-explosion-cause-missile/
9:
https://www.ynet.co.il/article/BySF2Iq11w
10:
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/nasrallah-threatened-to-blow-up-israel-with-same-chemicals-as-beirut-blast-637582
11:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/uk-said-to-have-covered-up-fact-it-foiled-2015-hezbollah-bomb-plot-near-london/
12:
https://apnews.com/9b2fba18477b4f9098dd3da95fb0ff2b
Lebanon protests, Macron visit highlight absurd EU policy
on Hezbollah
Lahav Harkov/Jerusalem Post/August 09/2020
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shi'ite terrorist group, has held a firm grip over
Lebanon's governing coalition for years, even selecting Hassan Diab as prime
minister in January.
Watching the protests in Lebanon that rose after the massive explosion in Beirut
last week, and seeing videos posted on social media by anguished and frustrated
Lebanese people, a clear theme emerges: People are angry, and many of them are
pointing fingers at Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shi’ite terrorist group, has held a firm grip over
Lebanon’s governing coalition for years, even selecting Hassan Diab as prime
minister in January. And as former ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told the
Security Council last year, “the port of Beirut” – where last week’s deadly
blast took place – “has become Hezbollah’s port,” used to transfer weapons and
financially support the terrorist group as it develops advanced missiles.
Over the weekend, Lebanese demonstrators hung effigies of Hezbollah leader
Hassan Nasrallah, along with the political leaders who enable him, such as
President Michel Aoun and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.
When French President Emmanuel Macron visited the site of the blast in Beirut’s
port on Thursday – even as many of Lebanon’s political leaders avoided doing so
– he was met with large crowds shouting “revolution” and “the people want the
fall of the regime.” As he walked through a Christian district of Beirut, some
shouted: “Mr. Macron, free us from Hezbollah.”
On the one hand, Hezbollah surely feels the heat from people who clearly have
had enough of the destructive, creeping Iranian-backed takeover of their
country. It’s not hard to connect these dots and view Hezbollah as a prime
suspect at this point, if not of an intentional bombing, then of deadly
negligence.
Nasrallah felt the need to make the laughable claim that Hezbollah “did not
intervene in Lebanese affairs.”
In the same televised speech on Friday night, Nasrallah denied that Hezbollah
controls the port, despite strong evidence to the contrary, or that it kept any
explosives there. Hezbollah also kept large stockpiles of ammonium nitrate, the
explosive responsible for the huge second blast in the Beirut port, in numerous
locales in Europe until the Mossad helped the UK, Germany and Cyprus uncover
them in recent years.
A “French babysitter,” as analyst Shimrit Meir called Macron’s plan to help
negotiate the formation of a national unity government in Lebanon, along with
economic aid, will make it much harder for Hezbollah and Iran to have the
freedom to continue in its destructive vein.
At the same time, Europe continues to legitimize Hezbollah.
When Macron met with the various Lebanese political factions, there was a
Hezbollah representative at the table. And this was far from the first time that
the government of France was in contact with Hezbollah. Will the national unity
government Macron wants to facilitate include the Iran-backed terrorist group,
as well?
France is one of the strongest EU member states and the leading country opposing
a full ban on Hezbollah, maintaining that there is a separation between its
“political” and “military” branches.
The protests and Macron’s visit highlight the absurdity of this policy.
Never mind that Hezbollah does not consider itself to have two different
branches. France doesn’t want to fully ban Hezbollah, so they’ve come up with
their own structure for the terrorist organization, rather than face the truth.
Earlier this year, after finding ammonium nitrate stored in multiple cities,
Germany declared a full ban on Hezbollah, defying the EU differentiation.
Israel has pointed out for years that Hezbollah is antisemitic and homicidal,
targeting Jews around the world. The government has called for all countries to
ban them. Representatives of European countries who visited Israel in recent
months have used the EU as their excuse to not ban Hezbollah – in effect, as
their excuse for why they are legitimizing a terrorist organization.
Now that the destruction Hezbollah has sown in their own country is abundantly
clear, and the people of Lebanon are directly asking Macron to be set free,
perhaps France and the broader EU will recognize that their legitimization of a
supposed Hezbollah “political arm” is nonsensical and dangerous. It’s a small
step for Europe that could have great significance in the path to healing and
rebuilding Lebanon.
Turkey and Iran concerned about Lebanese protests
Seith J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/August 09/2020
Iran supports Hezbollah, and any protests in Lebanon are sure to challenge the
religious terrorist group’s stranglehold on the country. For Turkey the game
plan is more complex.
Two of the most powerful countries in the Middle East that will seek to
influence Lebanon in the wake of the explosio n that gutted the port of Beirut –
and has killed and injured thousands of people – are concerned about protests
upsetting their plans. Media in Iran and Turkey were noticeably silent on the
massive protests in Beirut on Saturday. Sunday morning found few if any reports
in the pro-government media of both states. How to explain the lack of coverage?
While media linked to Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia or United Arab Emirates,
were covering the protests on the ground – with some appearing to even
enthusiastically embrace them – these two, big countries were more reticent and
skeptical. In Iran’s case the answer is clear: Iran supports Hezbollah and any
protests in Lebanon are sure to challenge the religious terrorist group’s
stranglehold on the country. For Turkey the game plan is more complex.
Turkey’s vice-president Fuat Oktay and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited
Beirut on Saturday. Surrounded by a huge entourage of men, apparently
bodyguards, the Turkish delegation seemed to meet only with male Lebanese
citizens and then promised to help rebuild the port that was destroyed. In a
bizarre initiative, Turkey also said it would grant citizenship to ethnic Turks
in Lebanon, a play for ethno-populism that seemed out of character with the
non-sectarian support other countries were giving. It was not clear in this
statement if Turkey’s main goal in Lebanon is to create a foothold as it has in
Iraq, Syria, Qatar, Somalia and Libya in recent years.Pro-government media in
Ankara seemed to ignore the protests or emphasize how “violent” they were,
according to TRT. For instance, the Turkish national public broadcaster made an
unconfirmed claim that a police officer was killed, and asserted that protesters
had set up symbolic nooses “to hang politicians for corruption.” Indeed,
protesters had done that. But they had targeted Hezbollah’s leader and specific
leaders. Ankara seems worried that the protests in Lebanon will remind a Turkish
public that increasingly faces bans on dissent at home of the days when they
could protest. For instance, in recent months Turkish politicians have been
handed long jail terms for merely critiquing the government on social media.
Iranian media ignored the protesters or pushed conspiracy theories. For
instance, Fars News didn’t mention the protests on its homepage on Sunday, but
did have an article asserting that the French were responsible due to colonial
rule. Tasnim claimed “suspicious elements” had infiltrated the protests and
attacked government ministries in Lebanon. This followed reports in other
pro-Hezbollah media about how the protesters have a secret plan to destroy files
linked to corruption. But the protesters are protesting corruption, so why would
they destroy the files? The goal of these reports is that Iranian-backed
Hezbollah can then claim the protesters tarnished files at various ministries
and “sabotaged” the investigation. It’s clear that Turkey and Iran, as well as
other states, are preparing their narratives. They must tread carefully because
much is in flux in Beirut and their media need to weave narratives that will fit
long-term government goals. These narratives are already quietly being formed,
on social media and online.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 09-10/2020
Kadhimi to Make Significant Visit to Washington Next Week
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi is scheduled to visit Washington on
August 20 for talks with US President Donald Trump. Kadhimi’s talks with US
officials will tackle bilateral relations and cooperation on security, energy,
economy, and investment, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
Earlier, Iraqi Foreign Affairs Minister Fuad Hussein announced that the PM will
visit Washington to resume the Iraq-US strategic dialogue. The first round of
talks occurred on June 11. Trump will host a visit of Kadhimi to the White House
on August 20 to discuss challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic as well as
security, energy and economic issues, the White House said in a statement on
Friday. This visit is expected to spark debate in Iraq especially by the parties
who call for the US withdrawal from Iraq. National Security Professor at al-Nahrain
University Dr. Hussein Allawi told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Iraq faced
difficult challenges in 2019. Kadhimi’s appointment as PM gave hope that a
change in power and a transitional phase are possible. Washington sees that
Iraqi-US ties should move forward, he added. The Iraqi government is considering
means to overcome the economic crises, and COVID-19, and to build new
infrastructure in the sectors of electricity and water. On energy and the
economy, Allawi said that the PM will request the US government to urge American
companies to operate in Iraq, and support the country in establishing an
independent energy policy. Farhad Alaaldin, head of the Iraqi Advisory Council,
told the newspaper that this visit is essential for both governments especially
that the topics of discussion will determine regional and bilateral ties of
Iraq.
Turkey Defies International Warnings, Continues Violating
Arms Embargo on Libya
Ankara- Saeed Abdulrazek/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Turkey continues to violate the arms embargo on Libya by sending arms and
mercenaries to support Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord despite
international warnings. According to Italy’s ItaMilRadar website, which
specializes in tracking military flights over the Mediterranean, a Turkish Air
Force Lockheed C-130B left al-Watiya Air Base for Turkey on Saturday. The air
force departed from Libya on Friday returning to Turkey, the website noted.
Meanwhile, reports have stated that the new shipment included four drones and
advanced medium and light weapons, including M4 rifles. In news titled “the
airlift between Turkey and western Libya continues,” the website pointed out
that “in recent weeks the flights have almost always been directed to this air
base instead of to Tripoli or Misrata as happened during the first days of the
Turkish airlift.” Meanwhile, Turkish reports have revealed that Turkey had
repaired and developed al-Watiya military base in western Libya, a month after
its destruction in strikes by unidentified warplanes. They said the base is now
prepared to receive planes to launch attacks and airstrikes on Marshal Khalifa
Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) sites in Sirte and Jufra.
The LNA, however, has deployed the Russian S-300 system to thwart any attacks by
Turkish aircraft. Perpetrator of al-Watiya base strike hasn’t yet been revealed.
It came after Turkey’s announcement to supply the military base with missile air
defense systems. According to the same reports, Turkey sent KORAL Electronic
Warfare System to Libya’s base, in addition to defense systems and radars. It
continues to send weapons to the GNA, while accusing other countries, including
Russia and the UAE, of sending weapons to the LNA. In other news, Turkish
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the European Union marine mission to
supervise the Libyan arms embargo (Irini mission) is a “biased operation.”In a
visit to Tripoli on Thursday, Cavusoglu said Germany is the host of the Berlin
conference, so it needs to be neutral and objective. “If it [Germany] takes part
in a biased operation, it will lose its impartiality,” he added. His remarks
were in reference to the German frigate, “Hamburg,” which set sail from
Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany on Tuesday. It is carrying 250 soldiers and
has departed at the start of a five-month mission.
Turkey Sets Up Center to Coordinate Military Operations in
Syria
Ankara- Saeed A/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Turkey has created a unified command center to oversee and coordinate military
operations in northern Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chaired the Supreme
Military Council’s most recent meeting on July 23, during which he issued the
decision to create the center, a well as executive decisions on the distribution
of new leadership and the determination of the positions of those who were
promoted. The center, dubbed “Peace Shield Operations Center”, is to be based in
Serinyol, a town in the central district of Antakya in Hatay Province, which
borders Syria. Also, 17 generals and admirals were promoted to a higher rank, 51
colonels were promoted to generals and admirals, while the tenure of 35 generals
and admirals was extended for one year and 294 colonels’ terms in office was
extended for two years. The decision will be effective as of August 30. Erdogan
assigned the newly promoted Rear Admiral (LH) Hakan Oztekin to lead the center,
which is set to coordinate the operations and activities of the Turkish forces
in the country’s military operations in northern Syria (Euphrates Shield, Olive
Branch, Peace Spring, and Spring Shield). According to pro-Erdogan Yeni Safak
newspaper, the appointment decisions point to sources of threat to Turkish
security, especially in Syria and Iraq, and the Turkish forces’ upcoming
activities. In a report published on Friday, the newspaper added that the new
decisions and appointments indicate that cross-border operations in northern
Syria and Iraq are of great importance. It noted that Major General Levent
Ergun, who headed the military aspect of Idlib talks as head of operations at
the General Staff, was appointed as commander of the Sixth Mechanized Infantry
Division and the Joint Special Force Command in Adana and would lead operations
in the Euphrates Shield area in northern Syria. The coordination of operations
in northern Syria will now be under the direction of the new unified center, the
report stressed. Meanwhile, tension has escalated on Idlib fronts witnessing
clashes among regime forces, Turkish forces, and armed opposition factions.
Regime forces continued their intense missile strikes on areas within the
Latakia and Idlib countryside, targeting areas in Jabal al-Akrad, northern
Latakia, and Jabal al-Zawiya, southern Idlib. Families from Jabal al-Zawiya
towns fled to safer areas in northern Idlib, fearing a military operation in the
area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported that a military
convoy of Turkish forces entered from Kafr Lossin border crossing with the
Iskenderun Brigade in northern Idlib, containing four tanks, 35 military
vehicles and headed towards the Turkish forces’ sites in Jabal Al-Zawiya
Sudan Expresses Reservations on US Travel Warning
Khartoum - Mohammed Amin Yassin/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Sudan has said it "regrets" the latest US State Department advisory against
travel to the country. In a standard advisory, the State Department called on US
citizens to "reconsider travel to Sudan due to COVID-19, crime, terrorism, civil
unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict. Members of known terrorist groups
continue to be in Sudan and could pose a threat." Sudan’s Foreign Ministry
reaffirmed on Saturday the country's full cooperation with the United States and
the international community to combat all forms of terrorism in Sudan and the
region. The government urged the international community to back Sudan’s
openness to the world through strategic dialogue mechanisms for the best
interest of all parties and for international security and peace. It also called
on the international community to abide by its commitments in supporting Sudan’s
transitional phase. The government this week welcomed remarks from US Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo during a phone call with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla
Hamdok that he would like to delist Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.The US
designated Sudan a state sponsor of terror in 1993 over ousted President Omar
al-Bashir’s ties with terrorist groups. Earlier, the Sudanese government agreed
to compensate victims’ families of the explosions at the US embassies in Nairobi
and Dar es Salaam in 1998. In another context, “rebels from the Sudan
People's Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N) attacked nomadic herders on their
migration route from the south to the north and soldiers securing a road,
ambushing them and planting mines" in the South Kordofan region on Thursday, the
statement said. As a result, there were a number of wounded and many dead among
civilians and security forces. The SPLA-N blamed the incident on "a governmental
militia."
Ethiopia Turns Down Agreement on ‘Renaissance Dam’
Cairo- Mohamed Nabil Helmy/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Ahead of an anticipated round of talks on Renaissance Dam Monday, as revealed by
Addis Ababa – Egyptian and Ethiopian officials released separate statements that
showed "the continuing divergence between the two sides." While Egypt described
the Ethiopian stance as ‘incooperative’, Ethiopia restated that it couldn't sign
a binding agreement on passing specific shares of waters from Renaissance Dam to
the downstream countries. Spokesperson for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Dina Mufti said that the negotiation among Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt
will start on Monday, as reported by Ethiopian News Agency (ENA). He said
Ethiopia was not willing to give up on its national interest for the sake of
other parties under the US pressures. Mufti added that the US severing ties with
Ethiopia would impact the US, not Ethiopia. Recent reports have said Egypt is
trying to establish a military base in Somaliland. Commenting on this, Mufti
said that Egypt establishing ties with any country doesn’t influence Ethiopia.
Ali Abdel-Aal, the speaker of the House of Representatives, told Al-Ahram daily
newspaper that Ethiopia endorsed a negative approach that contradicts with
goodwill. This approach lasted for around eight years that witnessed several
rounds of talks. He added that Egyptian understanding of the development needs
of Ethiopians was met with intransigence and procrastination. Abdel-Aal said
that Egypt dealt diplomatically with the crisis and pushed towards negotiations.
Since 2011, there three countries have been negotiating to reach an agreement on
filling and operating the Renaissance Dam – however, they failed to seal a deal.
Egypt and Sudan aspire to reach a comprehensive deal on the Renaissance Dam
including its management but Ethiopia rejects this while Egypt considers that it
has a ‘historic right’ in the river by virtue of deals signed in 1929 and 1959.
Yet, Ethiopia relies on a signed agreement in 2010 that approves implementing
irrigation and dams’ projects at the river. Egypt and Sudan refused this
agreement.
‘Early Elections’ Tops Consultations to Form New Tunisian
Govt
Tunis- Al Mongi Al Saidani/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Ennahda Movement’s Shura Council continues Sunday, for the second day in a row,
its meetings in Hammamet city, northeastern Tunisia, to discuss scenarios for
forming the next government. Meanwhile, three premises have been suggested on
members of the Council, which is the movement’s highest decision-making
authority. The first is joining a new government coalition that may bring it
together with the Heart of Tunisia party, al-Karama Coalition, and the Future
bloc or forming an opposition after calls by several political parties to
exclude it from power.
The third, however, is preparing for early legislative elections if Prime
Minister-designate Hichem Mechichi’s government fails to win the vote of
confidence, approving to dissolve the parliament and heading to polls to create
a parliamentary scene different from the current one.
Besides forming Mechichi’s government, the Shura has also been discussing
several other issues. These include the current political crisis, tension
prevailing in the parliament, as well as the Movement’s preparation for its next
electoral conference, scheduled before the end of 2020.
Holding early elections seems to be the most probable option among political
parties, indicated by statements issued by political figures that have been
participating in consultations to form the new government. Zuhair al-Maghzawi,
head of People’s Movement’s party, which is part of the current government
coalition, said his party prefers to head to the polls rather than joining a
government that includes Ennahda. “In case some parliamentary blocs and
political parties do not give their confidence vote to Mechichi’s government,
the ballot boxes will be the best solution,” he stressed. Maghzawi further
slammed Ennahda’s leaders, noting that they don’t want ruling partners but
rather followers, adding that the movement wants to gain control over the
state’s vital sectors and institutions, implement its project and empower its
leaders. Meanwhile, some observers considered the threat by some political
parties to hold early parliamentary elections a mean used to improve the
conditions for negotiations with the Premier-designate. They said most parties
are not currently ready for parliamentary elections that would reshape the whole
current parliamentary scene. In this regard, former leader in Nidaa Tounes party
Ridha Belhaj said Ennahda is the only movement that was actually ready for any
elections. He criticized the parties that want to exclude Ennahda, stressing
their complete inability to confront it with its current structures. Belhaj also
called for the formation of a large political party, similar to Nidaa Tounes,
which defeated Ennahda in 2014 elections. He pointed out that restoring balance
to the political scene “is necessary,” adding that “confronting any political
party is not done by cursing and raising slogans calling for excluding those who
we disagree with.”
Israel Plans Settlements That Would Isolate West Bank
Ramallah- Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
The Palestinian Liberation Organization's (PLO) National Bureau for Defending
the Land and Resisting Settlements said that the occupation's authorities
announced a plan to establish a thousand new settlement units on the lands of
al-Tur, Anata, al-Eizariya and abu Dis villages in occupied al-Quds, indicating
that the plan will completely isolate the occupied East al-Quds area from the
rest of the West Bank. The E1 master plan was approved in 1999. It covers
approximately 1,200 hectares of land – most of which Israel declared as state
land in a legally dubious procedure. During the 1990s these lands were made part
of the jurisdiction of the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, so it now encompasses
approximately 4,800 hectares. The plan, known as East 1 or E-1, will cut off the
northern part of the West Bank from the southern party and pose as a major
obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state. The implementation of
construction plans in E1 will create an urban bloc between Ma’ale Adumim and
Jerusalem, exacerbate the isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West
Bank, and disrupt the territorial contiguity between the northern and southern
parts of the West Bank. According to the Palestinian Authority (PA), this
project represents a threat – it warned several times that it would take steps
in case Israel implemented the plan. NGO Ir Amim revealed that this project
destroys Bedouin communities that reside in East Jerusalem, and along the zone
till Jordan Valley.
Libya’s GNA Factions Clash Amid Increasing 'Popular
Discontent'
Cairo- Khalid Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Disputes between factions of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA),
chaired by Fayez al-Sarraj, have increased over calls for rallies against the
cabinet in the capital Tripoli. Sarraj’s deputy, Ahmed Maiteeq, has asked the
military prosecutor in Tripoli to take measures against Tripoli military
official, Abdulbaset Marwan. Recently, Marwan accused Maiteeq and other members
of the GNA Presidential Council of working for local and foreign powers seeking
to topple the GNA chief. Maiteeq asked the military prosecutor to investigate
this issue and take legal action against it, in accordance with the penal code
and military procedures, and provide him with the result within 48 hours.
However, this did not prevent the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense,
Salah al-Din al-Namroush, from siding with Sarraj amid calls for protests
against him.
On Saturday, Sarraj met with officials from auditing and accounting agencies,
stressing the importance of cooperation and coordination amid current
circumstances. He said that the agencies should establish the principle of
integrity, transparency, and the rules of governance.
Hundreds of citizens marched in Zawiya and Tripoli on Friday amid growing
popular anger over the performance of the GNA, and chanted against Sarraj
protesting the deterioration of public services and the ongoing fuel and
electricity crisis.
In Egypt, Speaker Aguila Saleh resumed a series of international and regional
meetings within the framework of the efforts aimed at reaching a solution for
the Libyan crisis. Saleh is expected to meet with the US ambassador to Cairo,
Jonathan Cohen, and discuss Libyan developments. He will also meet with Western
delegations, in addition to Egyptian officials.
Meanwhile, the administration of US President Donald Trump indicated it aims to
find a solution for the Libyan crisis, demilitarize Sirte and al-Jufra, and
resume the services of the Libyan oil sector with full transparency.
The US embassy in Libya issued in a statement on Friday announcing that a US
delegation, led by National Security Council Senior Director for the Middle East
and North Africa Major General Miguel Correa and Ambassador Richard Norland,
held virtual discussions with Libyan officials to advance concrete, urgent steps
to find a demilitarized solution for Sirte and al-Jufra. The embassy stated that
Norland also held virtual discussions with the National Security Advisor Taj
al-Din al-Rezagi and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chair
Yousef al-Agouri, Major General Correa.
The Ambassador underscored the need for a Libyan-led process to reclaim the
country’s sovereignty and eject foreign forces. “The United States will continue
to actively engage a range of Libyan leaders who are ready to reject harmful
foreign interference, de-escalate, and come together to realize a peaceful
solution that benefits all Libyans,” according to the statement. In addition,
Norland spoke by telephone with PM Sarraj on recent efforts to finalize a Libyan
solution that would consolidate a lasting ceasefire, promote transparency in
economic institutions, and advance the political process under UN auspices.
According to the embassy, the Ambassador commended Sarraj’s leadership as
responsible Libyan parties coming together to implement a demilitarized solution
in central Libya and enable the National Oil Corporation to resume its vital
work on behalf of all Libyans. The Embassy “will remain actively involved with
all Libyan parties, including the Government of National Accord and the House of
Representatives, that reject foreign interference and seek to come together in
peaceful dialogue."
Despite Agreement, China Purchase of US Agriculture Lags
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 9 August, 2020
Seven months after the United States and China signed a preliminary agreement to
temper their trade war, Beijing's purchases of US agricultural goods have yet to
reach the deal's target. As President Donald Trump readies for a tough
reelection battle in November, US media reported the two sides are set to meet
beginning August 15 to discuss the deal, which calls for China to sharply
increase buying American goods and services this year and next. But according to
data compiled by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE),
Chinese agricultural purchases at the end of June were far from where they
should be at this point in the year. They had reached only 39 percent of their
semi-annual target, according to US figures, or 48 percent, based on Chinese
figures. "If we get back to what the level of trade was in 2017, we'll be
lucky," said Chad Bown, a PIIE senior fellow who authored the study, referring
to the year before the trade war began.
Purchases pick up
Under the deal's terms, China agreed to increase agricultural imports $32
billion over the next two years from 2017 levels. Chinese orders for corn and
soybeans have increased since mid-July, with Beijing buying just over three
million tons of American oilseeds between July 14 and August 7, according to US
Department of Agriculture data. At the end of July, the United States reported
the largest-ever daily order by China for its corn, of 1.9 million tons. The
announcements were a relief to US farmers, who are expecting a bumper crop this
year and need to find buyers to take it. They also came at a time of high
political tension between the two countries, after the Trump administration
authorized sanctions against several Hong Kong leaders over the rights crackdown
in the city, and restrictions on Chinese apps WeChat and TikTok. The Chinese
"realize we're not being the best of buddies right now, but they need the
products and they're gonna take as much as they need," said Jack Scoville,
agricultural market analyst for Price Futures Group. It's possible that Beijing
will change its orders from buying this year's harvest to next year's. But
analysts warn that any orders could be called off before the ships carrying them
leave port. Brazil and Argentina, two of the world's largest soybean and corn
producers, are starting their harvests next spring, said Brian Hoops, president
of the brokerage firm Midwest Market Solutions. China "could cancel all these
purchases they made in July and buy at much cheaper prices if that's available
to them," Hoops said.
'Infeasible' -
The trade deal dubbed "phase one" and signed in January has managed to survive
both the tensions and the sharp global economic downturn caused by the
coronavirus pandemic, which has badly hit international trade. US Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer in June said China would follow through on its
commitments, while Washington would also pursue a "phase two" trade deal that
"will focus on issues of overcapacity, subsidization, disciplines on China's
state-owned enterprises, and cyber theft."Bown said any success in getting China
to buy not just farm but also energy and manufactured goods, would aid Trump in
his reelection campaign. "$200 billion is a big round number that he can go out
and talk about," Bown said, referring to the amount China had committed to buy
by the end of 2021. But China has lifted very few of the tariffs it applied to
American products during the trade war, making achieving that objective
"infeasible." "There's no economic incentives for the Chinese private sector to
buy American. So if China is actually going to buy this stuff, it has to be
through state direction," Bown said.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 09-10/2020
Who is undermining US-backed forces in Deir Ezzor and Euphrates area?
Seith J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/August 09/2020
It’s a complex area and many countries have an interest in keeping it quiet – or
making it boil with tensions.
In the first two weeks of August a series of incidents in the desert regions and
areas adjoining the Euphrates River in eastern Syria have seen an uptick in
assassinations and protests. This area is controlled by the Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF), the main anti-ISIS force backed by the United States.
However, this area also adjoins Syrian-regime-held areas where there are
Iranian-backed militias. There are also tribes here, some of which were once
under ISIS control, and others possibly being sympathetic either to their own
interests, the Syrian regime or even Turkey. It’s a complex area and many
countries have an interest in keeping it quiet – or making it boil with
tensions.
To try to understand the complexity, I’ve provided various reports below from
Arabic media, leaving many of the inconsistencies in them, including the
spelling of several names, to get a sense of what may be competing narratives
and agendas. Although some of these reports are from Turkey or Russia, many of
these media have local Arabic sources and write up their reports also in Arabic.
On August 2, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that an SDF
fighter was killed near AL-Kebar village in the western countryside of Deir
Ezzor. It said this was one of hundreds of fighters and locals killed in attacks
over the past years in this and adjoining areas. Anadolu News, a pro-government
channel in Turkey, wrote on August 4 that a civilian was killed and three others
wounded in a clash with the SDF.
Turkey calls the SDF the “YPG/PKK” which Ankara views as a terrorist
organization. In October 2019, Turkey invaded eastern Syria, attacked the SDF
and forced the US to withdraw from a border area. The US now has forces in the
area of the Euphrates River (sometimes called the Middle Euphrates River Valley)
and says it is securing oil.
A LITTLE history is necessary to understand this area before plunging into more
details. ISIS conquered the region, using the Euphrates like a highway to move
and infiltrate Iraq, in 2013 and 2014. Some of the tribes here, according to
diplomats interviewed over the years, were once sympathetic to the Saddam
Hussein regime – even more than the Assad regime, despite being in Syria. They
had family connections on both sides of the border. Some joined ISIS or
trafficked jihadists, helping insurgents move to Iraq to fight the US, a system
the Syrian regime supported.
When ISIS took over, it massacred Bedouin tribes that resisted, such as the
Shaitat. The SDF, backed by the US, retook this area in March 2019. In February
2018, while the SDF was still fighting ISIS, Russian mercenaries working for the
Syrian regime tried to cross from Deir Ezzor city and attack the SDF to seize
oil and gas fields. They failed and were killed by US warplanes. Later,
Iranian-backed groups set up shop on the western bank of the Euphrates at
Albukamal, Mayadeen and other areas. The Iranian IRGC traffics weapons to
Hezbollah via this corridor.
Into this mix comes frequent controversy. The pro-Turkish media claims there was
an assassination of Mutchir al-Hammud al-Cedan (Sheikh Mutashar Hammoud Al-Hafil),
the leader of the Aqeedat (Akaidat) tribe. Turkey claims that the tribal leader
refused to attend an SDF meeting with its leader Mazloum Kobani. It appears the
Turkish report is based on slight detail changes of a SOHR report on August 4
that said a woman was killed in a shootout between the SDF and “unidentified
gunmen in the village of Al-Hawaij.” The observatory said that the SDF deployed
after protesters blocked roads in the area.
Omar Abu Layla, a local journalist, noted that a commander of the “SDF-linked
Al-Bukamal regiment was killed by unknown gunmen” on August 6. He said that
“Assad cells” were working to “sow sedition between the Arab and Kurdish
components” of the SDF. A social media account said the SDF officer was named
Shaaban al-Maat; he was shot from a motorbike near Hajin.
MEANWHILE, Russia’s RT also reported the clash. Russia’s foreign ministry over
the weekend condemned the US for “illegally occupying” and “robbing” natural
resources. This is likely a reference to the oil deal by an American company
with the SDF that was made public in early August. The RT report says there were
protests against the US and SDF at Theban, Shuhail and Huwayj. RT said locals
blamed the SDF for assassination attempts on tribal leaders.
The Kurdish channel Rudaw noted that the clashes began on August 6 after
peaceful protests against the assassination turned violence. Weapons were used
and two SDF members were killed. Later an SDF commander named Ahmad Abu Khawla
told reporters that a vehicle was blown up and saboteurs were responsible. The
American embassy condemned the attack on Facebook. “The US condemns the attack
on Sheikh Mutashhar al-Hamoud al-Jadaan al-Hafl, Sheikh Ibrahim al-Khalil al-Aboud
al-Jadaan al-Hafl and notables of the Aqeedat tribe.” The Rudaw report was
posted by the Rojava Information Center, which is sympathetic to the SDF.
Another report at Asharq Al-Awsat said the local SDF headquarters had been
occupied by protesters and that six were injured. This report provided more
details on the assassination, claiming that another sheikh, Ibrahim Khalil al-Jadaan
al-Hafil, was wounded. Men on motorcycles had shot at the tribal leaders near
Ragheeb junction near Hawayj. The locals demand the SDF leave the town. It
appeared several SDF members were briefly detained in the clash.
On August 8, another clash took place in a nearby village all Al-Jadid Aqeedat (Akidat)
when “unidentified’ gunmen fired on an SDF post. The next day, Sunday, SOHR
reported that the SDF, backed by helicopters and the coalition, raided the town
of Huwayj. This was the third day of clashes the report said, although it
appears more like the fifth day. People were arrested “for their loyalty to the
Syrian regime,” SOHR noted. Seven young men were detained in Al-Shuhail village.
Six civilians, five from one family, were detained.
The New Arab has a slightly different version of these events. It argues they
began with SDF Internal Security Forces conducting a security sweep in al-Shuhail
and Hawayj to stop ISIS cells that were “stirring up sedition.” Two SDF fighters
were killed by ISIS sleeper cells in recent days, the report says. It took place
in the context of an attempt by unidentified elements to assassinate “the most
prominent tribal sheikh in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, Ibrahim Khalil Abboud
Al-Jadaan Al-Hafil of the Aqeedat tribe, the largest of the Arab tribes in this
countryside.” That had sparked unrest. The attack on Al-Hafil had killed
Mutashar Hammoudd Al-Hafil, a well-known “notable of the tribe.”
LOCALS BLAME the “Qasd” (QSD) or SDF for the attacks and claim that the
US-backed forces, which they complain of being “Kurdish,” are trying to “empty
the area of tribes.” The New Arab report provides the larger context. It notes
that in recent months, locals have rejected a new curriculum linked to the
civilian leadership of the autonomous region of eastern Syria, which is
controlled by the SDF. It points out tension between the Arab tribes and the
Kurdish leadership of the SDF, which the latter has tried to mollify.
It also notes that the US condemned the attack on the sheikh. “The majority [of
people in this region] adhere to tribal customs. Perhaps the most prominent of
these tribes and clans are the Shammar, Jabour, Aqeedat, Baggara, Bou-Shabban,
Albu-Nimr, Adwan, Qais, An-Naim, Tayy and other tribes.” It also notes that the
area includes several large towns, “including Al-Busirah and Hajin and the towns
of the Al-Shaitat clan, which are Al-Hammam, Al-Gharanij and Al-Kashkiya.” It
says a protest happened in Kashkiya against the SDF and the curriculum.
Al-Mayadeen, which is generally pro-Syrian regime and pro-Hezbollah, also has a
report on the tensions in Deir Ezzor areas. It notes that there were clashes
between the Aqeedat (Akidat) tribe and the “Qasd militants.” It described the
US-backed SDF as imposing a curfew and blamed the US for the actions. It said
the area of clashes was near Al-Latwa and Al-Barid and included machine guns and
RPGs. “Clashes also took place in the village of Swaidan Island and in the
vicinity of the town of Dhiban.” It said this area was the center of the tribe’s
populace.
More reports can be found on social media. Pro-Syrian-regime accounts note that
the SDF has “abducted a number of civilians.” These pro-regime tweets claim the
locals want the US “occupation forces” to leave. They assert that Washington
sent reinforcements to the area on Saturday night. The pro-regime accounts also
accuse the SDF of looting. Others, who oppose Iran, say that Tehran is following
the events closely after the assassination of the sheikh. Others report that the
tribes have appealed to the US to reduce the number of Kurdish officers in the
area. One video shows someone reported to be Sheikh Abdullah Al-Muhainsi,
according to journalist Omar Abu Layla, who accuses the man in the video of
being “malicious” and lying.
THE OVERALL picture in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor region near the Euphrates – an
area of around 120 km. to the Iraqi border in which the Aqeedat tribe dominates
around 25 km. of frontage along the Euphrates River – is that a sensitive area
is experiencing unrest. The US has had to juggle complex tribal realities here
even as it wants to draw down forces. This is the worst possible situation to be
in because the Iranian and Russian-backed Syrian regime sense US weakness.
Turkey also wants to prey on divisions and stoke up tensions.
ISIS cells are operating and they may also work with their enemies if they think
they can undermine other enemies. The US has long considered how best to empower
the local Sunni Arab tribes. At the same time, however, America has a problem,
because its withdrawal from northern Syria led to a Turkish invasion, which
forced the SDF to work with Russia and the Syrian regime in Kurdish areas that
Turkey threatened. This left a kind of rump polity in the desert south of
Hasakah and east of Deir Ezzor, the area the US wants to work with the SDF. It
is now primarily an Arab area, where the US wants to secure the oil. But the US
can’t simply create a new version of the SDF, since it already helped the
Kurdish YPG create the SDF in 2015. So America and the SDF must work within the
paradigms they have with little to no international support – and with ISIS
detainees chafing to escape, and Turkey, Iran and Russia undermining US and SDF
efforts.
Turkish drones, for instance, attack people near Qamishli and Turkish agents
have tried to smuggle people out of Al-Hol camp where ISIS family members are
present. Covid-19 is also a threat; the UN has shut the humanitarian border at
Russia’s behest. Now, with a US oil company seeking to help rehabilitate the oil
facilities, every small clash has geopolitical ramifications. This appears to be
what has happened so far this month.
Samsung Faces a Darwinian Moment
Tim Culpan/Bloomberg/August, 09/2020
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is often misunderstood to posit that only
the strong survive. With Covid-19 decimating the global economy and crimping
consumer spending power, Samsung Electronics Co. did well last quarter
remembering what the 19th century biologist actually expounded: Those most
adaptable to change have a better chance. Samsung has battled through the crisis
thanks to its strength in electronic components, notably memory chips. Yet
smartphones are the South Korean company’s biggest revenue contributor. A lot of
the components the firm makes end up in devices bearing its own name.
With the consumer economy in tatters and gadget sales plummeting, the smartphone
division threatened to undermine the strength that Samsung found in shipping
memory chips used in servers — a big beneficiary of streaming content and
work-from-home services during the pandemic. Revenue at the smartphone unit
plummeted 18% for the period, the single largest contributor to a 6% decline in
overall sales, it said in its earnings statement Thursday. That shrank the
division’s contribution to just 37% of the total, though it still remains the
biggest component of the company’s $43 billion in quarterly revenue. Samsung
isn’t alone. Global smartphone shipments dropped 12% in the first quarter, and
there’s little expectation that we’ll see sustained growth for a while yet.
Counter-intuitively, Samsung’s devices business posted a 25% rise in operating
profit from a year earlier, albeit 26% lower than the prior quarter. That’s
because rather than being burdened by the huge overheads of running a $90
billion-a-year handset business, management acted quickly to cut costs at its
smartphone unit. Marketing and offline promotions were hit, while sales shifted
online.
An interesting divergence in the data starting early in the Covid-19 crisis
provide clues as to how Samsung and rivals like Apple Inc. and Huawei
Technologies Co. should approach the rest of 2020.
While Samsung’s smartphone revenue fell a single-digit amount in the first
quarter, shipments dropped by 19%, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The
discrepancy lies in squeezing out a higher average selling price by driving
high-end models. Apple and Huawei, on the other hand, saw prices and shipments
decline by a smaller scale. It seems that Samsung repeated this trick in the
second quarter.
Through the rest of the year, regional differences in how the pandemic plays out
is where adaptability will be more important than pure size. In China, for
example, the situation marginally improved in the second quarter, with the scale
of shipment declines narrowing from the prior period as the outbreak eased and
life returned to relative normalcy. India, by contrast, managed to squeeze out
growth in the first three months and then plummeted 51% in the June quarter as
the nation went into a prolonged lockdown, according to data from Counterpoint
Research. And in the US, a 21% drop from the previous year worsened to a fall of
25%, matching the general consistency of economic malaise since the start of the
crisis.As the only smartphone brand with a strong presence in each major region,
Samsung’s ability to keep growing — or at least stem the slide — will depend on
its ability to quickly shift its marketing and distribution focus. Rivals have
less room to maneuver: Apple gets two-thirds of its revenue from Europe and the
Americas, while Huawei is king of Asia and developing Europe.
Samsung’s need to shift strategy applies not only to geography, but sales
channels and revenue models. The company is considering a deal that would give
Alphabet Inc.’s Google more access, such as promoting Google’s digital assistant
and Play Store on its devices, in return for revenue from the US search engine
giant, Bloomberg News reported this week. It’s also looking to adjust marketing
and shipment of handsets. In the US, where telecom operators remain the largest
purchase point for smartphones, lockdowns and social distancing left stores
either closed or largely empty. As a result, the share of devices sold online
doubled to 31% during the second quarter, according to Counterpoint, helping
Samsung limit its slide in US shipments to just 10%, half the scale of the wider
market. This picture may well change. A new outbreak in Hong Kong, where once
the virus seemed under control, reminds us that the situation anywhere can
deteriorate quickly. China’s ability to keep things under control after the
initial outbreak shows that there’s always the potential for improvement.
Samsung can’t control the dynamics of the pandemic, but its prospects will
depend how well it adapts.
3 Things to Make the World Immediately Better After Covid-19
Dambisa Moyo/The New York Times/August, 09/2020
The scale of the coronavirus pandemic and the economic shutdowns it caused set
in motion a series of debates and questions about what the world may look like
once its stranglehold on society loosens: Will we travel less? Will we work at
home more? Will norms in schools and at large-scale public events be changed for
years?
Less noticed, but just as important, is the potential that the coronavirus could
be a catalyst to overhaul the global economic order. A debate on the failures of
the global economy had already started before the pandemic, born of a sense that
capitalism and corporations had become parasites on the planet.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, the world’s rich countries should do more than
just wait for corporations to change. They have to overhaul their monetary
policies, the forms of private investment they incentivize and the attitudes of
their antitrust enforcement.
Until now, monetary policy has rewarded holders of financial assets over those
who have stock in real assets like land, factories and labor. That’s because the
world’s most powerful central banks have prioritized controlling inflation over
expanding industrial capacity and employment in what’s called the “real
economy.”This status quo in central banking, which has been dominant for four
decades, has encouraged corporations, especially the largest publicly traded
companies, to focus on short-term financial gains and share prices at the
expense of pursuing longer-term investments that would reap more broadly shared
rewards. Compounding the gains of those who already own plenty of capital has
resulted in the entrenched income inequality and stagnant wages that citizens in
dozens of countries bemoan.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve is expected to operate under its dual
mandate to promote “maximum employment” and stabilize prices (by limiting
inflation). However, while central banks like the Fed have explicit inflation
targets — typically aiming to keep the rate at 2 percent — they do not have
explicit unemployment targets.
The Fed, could instead put new policies in place that make a very low
unemployment rate — or more aggressively, underemployment rate — the new trigger
for whether it decides to stimulate or hit the financial breaks on the economy.
This shift would avert the risk of depressing wages and be helpful to groups in
the work force who are discriminated against and often “first fired, last
hired.” And crucially, it would reward companies for longer-term investments
that promote real economic growth.
How else can the financial markets be encouraged to prioritize real, productive
investment? Governments can begin to issue higher taxes on dividend payments to
large shareholders of big, publicly traded companies and pair that with tax
reductions on long-term investments.
It’s not surprising that investors — who for years looked at a landscape of
sluggish-to-moderate global growth — have been looking for quick financial
returns rather than productive, but sometimes risky, long-term investments.
Guided by shareholder demands, for the past decade businesses have focused on
delivering returns quickly and predictably to investors instead of investing in
longer-horizon infrastructures — like research, plants and machinery that would
ultimately lead to innovation and drive economic growth.
According to a 2019 report, “American Investment in the 21st Century,” led by
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, net private domestic investment in fixed assets
like equipment, machinery and property has shrunk in half since the mid-1980s.
Higher taxes on large dividend payments and federal subsidies for long-term
investments could help America reverse course.
We also need to address concentration of corporate power. To overhaul the
prevailing global economic architecture, the globe’s leading governments will
need to address the fact that many sectors — airlines, banking, technology —
have become oligopolies dominated by just a few multinational corporations.
These Gilded Age style markets reduce competition and concentrate the pricing
power of large, well-connected corporations.
There have been calls to break up technology companies or to limit their scale
and monopolistic tendencies. However, dozens of national regulators are pitted
against global corporations that can use their multiple bases to evade rules
inconvenient to them. So international regulatory cooperation will be needed to
rein in the increasingly unfettered power of these multinational behemoths. At a
time when many governments seem steered by nationalism, effective cross-border
cooperation is hard to imagine. However, feats of global cooperation from the
past — like the post-World War II establishment of the Bretton Woods system’s
new world order — offer examples of leaders eventually meeting the moment even
amid formidable challenges. The pandemic is not just giving us a chance to
rethink how to best live and work. It is also providing an opportunity to
reconsider the way that the very structures of our world economy operate.
When Memory Becomes a Prison of Nations
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/August 09/2020
Keeping alive the narrative of victimhood, successive Algerian leaders have
tried to divert attention from their own shortcomings, not to say misdeeds.
Covering the 1990s troubles in Algeria, I was often told by Algerian politicians
of all colors that all of their country's troubles, including terrorism in the
name of religion and police brutality, were due to French colonial rule. After a
while... I suggested to Algerian interlocutors to fix a certain date up to which
everything was the fault of the French but after that regard Algerians as
responsible for their own troubles.
Keeping alive the narrative of victimhood, successive Algerian leaders have
tried to divert attention from their own shortcomings, not to say misdeeds.
Pictured: Algerian President Abdul-Majid Tebboune.
Should the writing of history be treated as a governmental project? French
President Emmanuel Macron and his Algerian counterpart Abdul-Majid Tebboune seem
to think so. They have ordered the creation of a joint commission to write the
history of relations between the two countries since the French annexed that
strand of North Africa in 1832.
Macron and Tebboune are not the first rulers to seek an officially vetted and
approved narrative of our human story. However, their case is unique because
other rulers just wanted to tell their side of the story while Macron and
Tebboune demand a two-voices, presumably parallel, narrative.
There is one more difference between the old official histories and what we are
likely to see this time. Old official histories were often presented with the
modesty they merited as chronologies. And because they carried a heavy load of
hagiography, they never pretended to be scientific. Macron and Tebboune, of
course are not looking for props to build a cult of personality with. However,
they may be seeking something even less dignified: the presentation of history
in the colors of current, and necessarily transient, fads of political
correctness.
Macron has already shown those colors by stating that colonialism was "a crime
against humanity". Benjamin Stora, the historian chosen to represent the French
side, goes even further by labelling colonization as "violent, unequal and
illegal."
Tebboune, for his part, has cast Algeria as a helpless and innocent victim of
imperialism. What Macron does not realize, or perhaps chooses to ignore, is that
because colonization has been a constant feature of history from the start, we
might suggest that mankind has always lived in the context of a crime against
humanity. When they invaded Gaul, the Franks, a Germanic tribe, were colonizers
who subdued the natives by force, imposed their language and culture on them,
and ended up giving their own name to the country they had colonized. Even on
the eve of the French Revolution, only 12 percent of the population had French
as mother tongue, although most used it as lingua franca.
In any case, the concept of crime against humanity is a new one, having taken
shape in the aftermath of World War II and to apply it retrospectively would be
confusing at best and dishonest at worst.
President Tebboune might also want to rethink his victimhood narrative. To imply
that the Algerian people, in their rich diversity, were nothing but objects in
their own history for some 130 years is not very flattering.
The French could not have colonized Algeria without the participation of large
chunks, perhaps even a majority, of the population. Tens of thousands of
Algerians of all ethnicities helped the French build the infrastructure needed
for a colonial presence. Algiers, a beautifully French-style city, was built by
Algerian labor supervised by the French.
Over the decades, large numbers of Algerians who served in the French armies
fought in two world wars and a number of colonial wars, notably in Indochina. In
the meantime, Algerians of all ethnicities adopted French as their lingua franca
creating a rich literature and press. Algerian friends tell me that they
regarded the French language as "war booty", presumably the same as English,
which has made India the largest English-speaking country in the world.
Writing or re-writing history should not be a means of making the French of
today feel guilty or humiliating today's Algerians.
Stora says the Macron-Tebboune project aims at a reconciliation of memories.
This means imposing a single monochord narrative that, rather than fostering
reconciliation, could injure everyone's memory. The nostalgia-stricken adepts of
Algérie française (French Algeria), the Harkis driven out of their homes and
made stateless for decades, the Pied-noir (black foot) settlers who had been
born and bred in Algeria for generations, would not have the same memories as
the thousands of Algerian freedom fighters who were tortured by the French or
the many more Kabyle and Arab peasants who had their villages burned by
colonialists. Keeping alive the narrative of victimhood, successive Algerian
leaders have tried to divert attention from their own shortcomings, not to say
misdeeds. Covering the 1990s troubles in Algeria, I was often told by Algerian
politicians of all colors that all of their country's troubles, including
terrorism in the name of religion and police brutality, were due to French
colonial rule. After a while, having gotten tired of that shibboleth, I
suggested to Algerian interlocutors to fix a certain date up to which everything
was the fault of the French but after that regard Algerians as responsible for
their own troubles.
Almost two decades later, that suggestion has not gone anywhere. The new project
is partly designed to "probe the colonial roots of Algeria's socio-economic
problems" as if six decades of independence didn't count.
Can governments play a role in the writing of history?
The answer is yes. The first thing they need to do is to refrain from trying to
dictate history. Next, they could make their archives accessible to researchers.
They could also loosen the rules of "official secrets acts" to make as many
"sensitive" documents as possible available for scrutiny.
Interviews with officials could also help provided they are not under gag
orders. In some cases, especially in closed societies, granting visas to
historians could also help.
Above all, governments should not use the writing of history as a means of
advancing partisan political aims, noble or ignoble. To say that the object of
the Macron-Tebboune project is "reconciliation" is an abuse of history for a
laudable political aim. If France and Algeria need reconciliation, Macron and
Tebboune should find their ways of achieving their objective, leaving history
alone to do its work.
In any case, as an outsider but a friend of both sides, I don't think France and
Algeria need reconciliation. Millions of French citizens of Algerian descent
provide a human bond that is rare between any other two nations.
Today's French, many of whom, descendants of European and other immigrants over
the past century, were in no way involved in the conquest of Algeria or anywhere
else, and thus have nothing to apologize for unless today's Germans also
apologize for the invasion of Gaul by the Franks. Today's Algerians also have no
need of masquerading victimhood because, looking to the future, they don't want
to become prisoners of the past.
*Amir Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from
1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for innumerable publications,
published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987.
He is the Chairman of Gatestone Europe.
The Reverse-Colonization of France
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/August 9, 2020
Asking the police not to give the name of killers is an attempt to hide the
truth and prevent the public from knowing exactly who in France is committing
these acts. Hiding the name shows a desire to appease the killers: when a killer
has a Christian name, it is immediately printed on the front page.
"We only love what hates us, anything that destroys us is seen as great. There
is a desire to destroy truth, history... We no longer teach the history of
France and we no longer say what our civilization has accomplished. We only talk
about our civilization to disparage it." — Michel Onfray, Le Salon Beige, July
30, 2020 and YouTube, July 17, 2020.
"France is undergoing reverse colonization. Populations coming mainly from
countries formerly colonized by France have settled in France without any
intention of integrating. Most of them live in neighborhoods where the laws of
Islam now reign and where imams spread hatred of France.... And in a gesture of
submission, the French authorities say that hatred does not emanate from those
who kill, but from those who want to react and say that we must put an end to
assaults and murders. It is a suicidal attitude." — Éric Zemmour, YouTube,
November 22, 2016.
On July 4, on a small road in Lot-et-Garonne, in southwest France, a young
gendarme, Mélanie Lemée, age 25, tried to stop Yacine E., a driver who was
speeding. He accelerated and deliberately crushed her. She was killed instantly.
Pictured: Gendarmes carry the coffin of Mélanie Lemée at her funeral in
Merignac, near Bordeaux on July 9, 2020. (Photo by Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty
Images)
Lyon, the third largest city in France, July 20, 3 a.m. A middle-class
neighborhood. A young woman walks her dog on a quiet street. A car arrives at
high speed and crushes her dog. The driver stops, backs up, runs over the young
woman and crushes her too. He goes forward again, at full speed, and drags her
dead body half a mile. People awakened by the noise write down the license
number of the car. The police officers who come to the scene are horrified. The
young woman's body was dismembered. A leg was found on one side of the street;
the rest of her body was shredded. One arm was close to the body of her dog. The
other was still holding onto the dog's leash. Her name was Axelle Dorier. She
was a nurse, only 23.
The French Department of Justice asked the police not to release the name of the
killer. An anonymous policeman released it anyway on a social network site. The
killer's name is Youssef T. He was driving under the influence, without a
license. The prosecutor charged him with "reckless murder". He is in jail
awaiting trial. He risks a maximum sentence of ten years. Residents of Lyon
wanted to organize a peaceful march to pay tribute to the young nurse. They
asked the government to get tough on crime. The young woman's parents objected:
they said they have "have no hatred" for the killer.
This was not the only barbaric act in France during the month of July. On July
4, on a small road in Lot-et-Garonne, in southwest France, a young gendarme,
Mélanie Lemée, age 25, tried to stop a driver who was speeding. He accelerated
and deliberately crushed her. She was killed instantly. The other gendarmes at
the scene quickly found the driver. One of them, a police officer, gave the name
of the driver to a journalist. The driver's name is Yacine E. He too was driving
under the influence, without a license. Mélanie Lemée's parents did agree to a
peaceful march, but also said that they had "no hatred" for the murderer. They
even added that they had compassion for him, because "his life is destroyed".
A third barbaric act occurred on July 5 in Bayonne, a small town in the French
Basque area. A bus driver, Philippe Monguillot, age 59, refused to allow two
young men to board without tickets and masks. The two young men immediately
started beating him violently and forced him get out of his bus. Two more young
men joined them and began beating him too. They left him on a sidewalk. He was
covered in blood and dying. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with a cerebral
coma. His relatives, who came to see him there, said his face had been
completely destroyed. Two days later he died. The four killers, who are in
prison, have been identified. Journalists knew their names but decided not to
publish them. Police officers gave them out anyway: Mohamed C., Mohammed A.,
Moussa B., Selim Z. There was a peaceful march. Philippe Monguillot's wife said
that her life is destroyed and that she doubts the courts will do their
job.Equally horrific acts, increasingly numerous, have been taking place every
day in France, many times, for years. The perpetrators are usually young adults
in their late teens or early twenties. All are immigrants from the Muslim world.
They are not Islamists and have no political or religious motives. They
generally show no remorse.
They are described by the psychiatrists examining them as "practicing gratuitous
violence": a violence without a goal other than enjoying inflicting violence.
They appear to have no respect for human life or for laws.
Maurice Berger, a psychiatrist assigned to treat young people of this kind,
recently published a book, "Sur la violence gratuite en France" ("On Gratuitous
Violence in France"). "Gratuitous violence", he writes, can now happen anytime,
anywhere, and strike anyone. "An act of gratuitous violence," he notes, "occurs
every 44 seconds in France.... Any citizen can be confronted by it. If you do
not want to compromise your chances of survival, you should submit, look down,
accept humiliation."
Sometimes, as with Axelle Dorier, submitting is not possible: she did not have
any contact with her killer until the moment he crushed her. Sometimes -- if you
are, say, a bus driver or part of the police force -- your job does not allow
you to submit.
The families of the victims, however, can submit, and often do just that. They
are then showered with congratulations from political authorities and the media.
Days after the terrorist attack at the Bataclan Theater in Paris in 2015,
Antoine Leiris, the husband of a woman horribly tortured and killed inside the
music hall, posted a letter to the terrorists on Facebook. He said he understood
their motives and does not hate them. He added that he is not angry and has to
continue living his life. The letter was immediately shared by hundreds of
thousands on social media. A publishing company asked the author of the letter
to add elements to the letter and make it into a book. The book, called "Vous
n'aurez pas ma haine" ("You Will Not Have My Hate"), became an instant
bestseller.
The judicial authorities also look down and submit: it is what they do. Asking
the police and the media not to give the name of killers is an attempt to hide
the truth and prevent the public from knowing exactly who in France is
committing these acts. Hiding the name shows a desire to appease the killers:
when a killer has a Christian name, it is immediately printed on the front page.
Hiding the name shows fear of the communities to which the killers belong and of
anger among the rest of the French population.
The political authorities do the same. They know that Muslim votes matter more
than ever. Commenting on the murders of Axelle Dorier, Mélanie Lemée and
Philippe Monguillot, President Emmanuel Macron called them "incivilities" and
"regrettable", then quickly fled to another subject. The new Minister of
Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, a lawyer, responded to a journalist who asked him
what he thought of those who asked the government to be tough on crime.
"Justice," the minister replied, "must be the guarantor of social peace". His
most important task right now, he added, was to secure the repatriation of
French jihadists imprisoned in Syria and Iraq to France, "because they are
French citizens and the duty of France is to ensure that they avoid the death
penalty".
Only Marine Le Pen, leader of the rightist National Rally Party, sounded firmer:
"What level of barbarism must we reach for the French to say stop to this
increasing savagery in our society? How many policemen, gendarmes, bus drivers,
slaughtered young girls or boys does it take?"
Immediately, the mainstream media accused her of pouring fuel on the fire and
being an irresponsible extremist.
"France is undergoing reverse colonization," commented a journalist, Éric
Zemmour, on television. "Populations coming mainly from countries formerly
colonized by France have settled in France without any intention of integrating.
Most of them live in neighborhoods where the laws of Islam now reign and where
imams spread hatred of France. Successive governments have allowed these
neighborhoods to grow in the belief that hatred of France and the French would
not come out of these neighborhoods.
"The hatred of France and the French did come out and took the form of riots and
terrorism. It now takes the form of assaults and murders: a generalized
expression of hatred of France and the French. And in a gesture of submission,
the French authorities say that hatred does not emanate from those who kill, but
from those who want to react and say that we must put an end to assaults and
murders. It is a suicidal attitude.""France is in a coma and near death", Michel
Onfray, an author and philosopher, said in an interview. The main sign, he said,
was the disappearance of Christianity, on which are based the values and
ethics that have suffused the country for centuries. He noted that the churches
are empty, the cathedrals burned down, and that the desecration of Christian
places of worship is taking place and multiplying in in the face of general
indifference. "Christianity is vanishing quickly," he added. "We are in an
exhausted civilization. We only love what hates us, anything that destroys us is
seen as great. There is a desire to destroy truth, history." He pointed to the
root of the destruction: "We no longer teach the history of France and we no
longer say what our civilization has accomplished. We only talk about our
civilization to disparage it."
He concluded that he did not believe in a reawakening, but that he would fight
to the end: "We must stand up, resist."The number of anti-Jewish acts in France
has grown in recent years. Tens of thousands of Jews have left, a wave of
emigration that is gradually emptying France of its Jewish population. Many of
the Jews who still live in France have abandoned the towns and neighborhoods
where they used to live and moved to temporarily safer areas. Christians in
France are considered infidels by the imams in the no-go zones; they are also
easy prey for young men imbued with a hatred of France and the French, who are
certainly not dissuaded by the submissive attitude of the authorities.
On May 30, in Paris, a demonstration was held of illegal immigrants, mostly from
North- and sub-Saharan Africa. Although the demonstration had been banned by the
government, the police were ordered not to intervene. Even though all the
protesters were in violation of the law, only 92 participants were apprehended
-- then quickly released. Two weeks later in Paris, another demonstration took
place: in support of the family of Adama Traoré, an African criminal who died
while violently resisting arrest. That demonstration was also banned by the
government, and the police again ordered not to intervene. "Death to France,"
the protesters shouted, and sometimes, "Dirty Jews". Neither the government nor
the mainstream media were shocked. French youths people belonging to Génération
Identitaire (Generation Identity), a movement for the defense of France and
Western civilization, stood on a roof and held up a banner saying, "Justice for
the victims of anti-white racism". A man climbed on the roof of the building, in
an apparent to destroy the banner. During interviews by television stations he
was described for days as a hero of the "fight against fascism." The French
youths who had held the banner, meanwhile, were arrested and charged with
"incitement to hatred".
From June 16 to 18, in Dijon (population 156,000), the capital of Burgundy,
street fights pitted a gang of Chechen drug traffickers against a gang of Arab
drug traffickers. Military-grade weapons were used -- this in a country with no
constitutional right to bear arms. The government once again asked the police
not to intervene. The conflict was eventually settled in a mosque, under the
supervision of imams. The police called for the residents of Dijon not to leave
their homes and to be extremely careful until the fighting ended. The police
made a few arrests, but only after the fighting had stopped.
On July 26, a ceremony was organized in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, a small
village in Normandy where, four years ago, 86-year-old Father Jacques Hamel was
murdered by two young Islamists while he was conducting mass. This year,
Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin delivered a speech condemning "Islamic
barbarity". "Killing a priest, in the heart of a church," he said, "is to try to
assassinate a part of the national soul". He did not say that during the murder,
the church had been almost empty, with only four elderly congregants who
witnessed the murder helplessly. Darmanin, nevertheless, did add how satisfied
he was that the French had not given in to anger but instead had chosen "peace".
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27
books on France and Europe.
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