English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 29/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
King Herod, Herodias’s Daughter & The Beheading Of John The Baptist
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 06/14-29/:”King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
 

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 28-29/2020

Lebanon Eases COVID-19 Restrictions Despite Spike in Cases
Macron to meet iconic singer Fairuz in push for Lebanon reform
Macron to Meet Fairuz and Political Leaders during Lebanon Visit
Macron Warns Lebanon Risks 'Civil War' if Not Helped
Report: France Connecting with Divided Lebanon Parties to Help Pick New PM
Lebanese Presidency: Consultations on Monday to Designate New PM
Consultations for Feuding Lebanon Factions to Pick PM to Begin Monday
Top US diplomat for Middle East heads to Kuwait, Lebanon and Qatar
US Assistant Secretary of State Schenker Travels to Lebanon next Week
UN rights expert urges international help for Lebanon to ‘avert hunger crisis’
UNESCO in Massive Fundraising Drive for Beirut
Hariri Says He's not a Candidate but Berri Insists on Nominating Him
UNSC Draft Resolution Aims to Prevent Hezbollah’s Violations in South Lebanon
UN Resolution Being Voted on Would Cut Lebanon Peacekeepers
Is Turkey moving into northern Lebanon?ظJonathan Spyer/Jerusalem Post/August 28/2020
Qatar is back in Lebanon with vague promises of help
Beirut Residents Determined to Save Heritage Lost to Blast
The effort to save Beirut’s heritage destroyed by port blastظSamar Kadi/The Arab/Weekly/August 28/2020
France draws reform roadmap for Lebanon, calls on elite to act
Nasrallah in Lebanon and Iran focus on Israel tensionsظSeth J.Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/August 28/2020
ANALYSIS: What was behind Hezbollah's new attack on the IDF?
Yochanan Visser/Arutz Sheva/August 28/2020
Beirut, Which Lives Inside of Me/Dr. Ali Awad Asiri/Former Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020
The French Wish List for Lebanon/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020
Americans Fighting Extradition over Carlos Ghosn's Escape
Rampling Inspects Isolation Centre in Maad and PPE’s at Bouar Govt. Hospital
EU, UNHCR Ensuring Critical Healthcare in Time of Crisis and Supporting Rafic University Hospital
Heavy Gunfire during Funeral of Teen Killed in Khalde Clash
Jumblat: PM Consultations Scheduled Out of 'Courtesy'

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 28-29/2020

US Expected to Reduce Troops in Iraq by a Third to about 3,500
It’s US against most of UN council on Iran sanctions
Iranian man who beheaded teenage daughter sentenced to nine years in prison
Pompeo ends Mideast trip with visit to Oman's new sultan
EU set to sanction Turkey over east Mediterranean: Top diplomat
Greece ratifies deal with Egypt, Turkey to hold military drills in Eastern Mediterranean
Exclusive: Iranian vessel loads with Venezuelan alumina, amid closer ties - sources
Erekat Says US Holds onto Talks Based on ‘Deal of the Century’
Security jumps to the fore with a rabbi’s murder by a Palestinian, Hizballah shooting
Israel Responds to New Rocket Fire, Strikes Several Targets in Gaza
Egyptian Authorities Arrest Acting Leader of Muslim Brotherhood
Tunisia's PM-designate Approves 18-month Political ‘Truce’
Death of Kurdish lawyer on hunger strike sparks outcry

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 28-29/2020

The Choice That's Left for Palestinians/Nabil Amr/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020
Testing times: UK chalks up another pandemic failure with exams fiasco/Peter Welby/Arab News/August 28/2020
Eastern Mediterranean – another irritant in Turkey-US ties/Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/August 28/2020
The 2020 presidential campaign remains in the balance/Frank Kane/Arab News/August 28/2020
Forget other models. Aramco should carry on being ... Aramco/Frank Kane/Arab News/August 28/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 28-29/2020

Lebanon Eases COVID-19 Restrictions Despite Spike in Cases
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
Despite the ongoing spike in the number of COVID-19 cases and a cabinet decision to re-extend public mobilization until the end of this year, Lebanon eased some preventive measures imposed last week on the tourism and social sectors and which were supposed to be implemented until September 7. On Aug. 21, the country began a new lockdown and an overnight curfew to rein in a spike in coronavirus infections. However, the negative impact of closure weighted heavily on the tourism and commercial sectors, and thus on the economic movement and social conditions.
In this regard, the Interior Ministry modified on Thursday the curfew and working hours during lockdown. “Starting Friday, August 28th at 6 am, the imposed curfew will start at 10 pm and end at 6 am every day,” the ministry said, instead of beginning every day at 6 pm. In its official decision, the ministry also ordered the reopening of gyms, restaurants, bars, and beach resorts with a capacity of 50 percent. People will also be permitted to enter public parks and the Corniche before curfew. However, cinemas and kids’ playgrounds must remain closed, and serving hookahs in restaurants is prohibited.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Hamad Hassan ordered the reopening of daycare centers in Lebanon starting the end of August on condition of respecting the preventive measures and the directions of the Ministry. The decision of reopening most sectors in Lebanon came as the Health Ministry announced Thursday that 689 new coronavirus cases and 7 more deaths from the disease have been recorded in Lebanon in the last 24 hours. It also comes at a time when health institutions revealed that the outbreak of the pandemic threatens the sector. Government hospitals in Beirut and Mount Lebanon said they already overpassed 80 percent of their capacities while 600 employees from the health sector were already infected by the disease.

Macron to meet iconic singer Fairuz in push for Lebanon reform
Arab News/August 28/2020
*Fairuz, 85, is famously private and rarely seen in public but throughout her career has roused fans with her songs about love and in praise of the beauty of her troubled nation
*Karim Emile Bitar, a political science professor, tweeted “excellent decision” by Macron to meet Fairuz, describing her as “arguably the most iconic, dignified and consensual Lebanese figure”
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron will next week meet iconic singer Fairuz and members of Lebanon’s political leadership as he returns to the country in search of serious reform in the wake of the devastating Beirut port blast, the Elysee said Friday. Macron will be in Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday for his second visit in less than a month after the August 4 blast at the Beirut port that killed 181 people and revived calls for radical change in the country. One of his first meetings after arriving on Monday will be with Fairuz, one of the rare figures in Lebanon who is admired across the multi-confessional country, the Elysee said. Fairuz, 85, is famously private and rarely seen in public but throughout her career has roused fans with her songs about love and in praise of the beauty of her troubled nation.Karim Emile Bitar, a political science professor in France and Lebanon, tweeted Friday it was an “excellent decision” by Macron to meet Fairuz, describing her as “arguably the most iconic, dignified and consensual Lebanese figure.”Macron will meet political leaders at the palace of President Michel Aoun on Tuesday with the aim of encouraging movement in a political process already mired in stalemate. “He won’t let go,” said an Elysee source, who asked not to be named. “The purpose of his visit is clear: to push for the conditions to be met for the formation of a government that is capable of carrying out reconstruction and reforms,” added the source. Premier Hassan Diab’s cabinet has resigned over the blast, which was blamed on a store of ammonium nitrate left for years in a port warehouse despite warnings. Macron’s arrival Monday will coincide with the start of parliamentary consultations on the choice of a new prime minister. On August 9, Macron chaired a video conference that saw world leaders pledge more than 250 million euros ($295 million) for Lebanon. But France has made clear its patience is far from limitless; Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned Thursday that Lebanon risked “disappearing” as a country unless serious reforms are undertaken.

Macron to Meet Fairuz and Political Leaders during Lebanon Visit
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 28/2020
French President Emmanuel Macron will next week meet iconic singer Fairuz and members of Lebanon's political leadership as he returns to the country in search of serious reform in the wake of the devastating Beirut port blast, the Elysee said Friday. Macron will be in Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday for his second visit in less than a month after the August 4 blast at the Beirut port that killed 181 people and revived calls for radical change in the country. One of his first meetings after arriving on Monday will be with Fairuz, one of the rare figures in Lebanon who is admired across the multi-confessional country, the Elysee said. Fairuz, 85, is famously private and rarely seen in public but throughout her career has roused fans with her songs about love and in praise of the beauty of her troubled nation. Karim Emile Bitar, a political science professor in France and Lebanon, tweeted Friday it was an "excellent decision" by Macron to meet Fairuz, describing her as "arguably the most iconic, dignified and consensual Lebanese figure."Macron will meet political leaders at the presidential palace on Tuesday with the aim of encouraging movement in a political process already mired in stalemate. "He won't let go," said an Elysee source, who asked not to be named. "The purpose of his visit is clear: to push for the conditions to be met for the formation of a government that is capable of carrying out reconstruction and reforms," added the source. Premier Hassan Diab's cabinet has resigned over the blast, which was blamed on a store of ammonium nitrate left for years in a port warehouse despite warnings. Macron's arrival Monday will coincide with the start of parliamentary consultations on the choice of a new prime minister. On August 9, Macron chaired a video conference that saw world leaders pledge more than 250 million euros ($295 million) for Lebanon. But France has made clear its patience is far from limitless; Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned Thursday that Lebanon risked "disappearing" as a country unless serious reforms are undertaken.

Macron Warns Lebanon Risks 'Civil War' if Not Helped
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 28/2020
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday warned that Lebanon risks a return to civil war if it is left alone to deal with the crisis that followed the deadly Beirut port explosion this month. Macron was speaking as he prepared to head to Lebanon on Monday in a new bid to press its leaders to undertake radical reform in the wake of the explosion this month that left 181 dead. "If we let Lebanon go in the region and if we somehow leave it in the hands of the depravity of regional powers, it will be civil war" as well as "the defeat of what is the very identity of Lebanon," he said. Paris is impatient over the lack of progress in forming a new government to undertake reform in the aftermath of the blast, which was blamed on a store of ammonium nitrate left for years in a warehouse. Many Lebanese have blamed the disaster on a ruling class they charge as being mired in nepotism, corruption and neglect since the 1975-1990 civil war. Macron spoke of the "constraints of a confessional system" in a country populated by 18 Christian and Muslim sects. This had led to "a situation where there is hardly any (political) renewal and where there is almost an impossibility of carrying out reforms," he added.

Macron insisted that France would follow a policy of being "demanding without interfering" and awaited reforms like passing an anti-corruption law and reforming public contracts, the energy sector and the banking system. If we do not do this, the Lebanese economy will collapse" and "the only victim will be the Lebanese people (...) who cannot go into exile," he warned. He extolled Lebanon's multi-confessional make-up saying it "is perhaps one of the last existing forms" in the Middle East of the "peaceful possible coexistence of religions" and a pluralist system based on "education and culture."

Report: France Connecting with Divided Lebanon Parties to Help Pick New PM
Naharnet/August 28/2020
Intense political contacts in the last hours in search of a political understanding to assign a Sunni figure to head Lebanon’s new government early next week at the latest, have not reached a satisfactory result, media reports said on Friday. Quoting sources of the Free Patriotic Movement led-Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, the daily said that French officials have been communicating with various political parties urging them to swiftly name a new PM before Monday. Strong Lebanon bloc sources of MP Jebran Bassil, said the bloc has one of three “scenarios” to agree to: -Naming ex-PM Saad Hariri as the new PM after Bassil’s approval. -That Hariri himself nominates a figure for the post garnering the political parties' approval, mainly the FPM. -Hold binding parliamentary consultations without any prior agreement, on condition that the vote's outcome is respected even if it returns Hariri to the post without the FPM’s approval. Meanwhile, LBCI TV station reported that contacts in that regard have also distanced former Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations, Nawaf Salam, from the candidacy race in light of Hizbullah’s rejection. The Shiite duo, Hizbullah and AMAL party led by Speaker Nabih Berri, press for Hariri’s return as PM. But Hariri declared Tuesday that he is not a candidate for the PM post and called on all political forces to withdraw his name from any deliberations in this regard. The Saudi Asharq el-Awsat newspaper quoted FPM chief Jabran Bassil as saying that his talks with Berri on Sunday focused on “the need to expedite the formation of an effective and productive government that adheres to a reform program with specific parameters and goals without any conditions or obstacles being encountered in the talks."Meanwhile, the Lebanese Forces insist on forming a “neutral” government. LF Former Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani stressed that Lebanon’s experience with a unified government is useless. An independent and inclusive government is required,” he said. President Michel Aoun has not yet set a date for the binding parliamentary consultations.

Lebanese Presidency: Consultations on Monday to Designate New PM
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
Lebanese President Michel Aoun will convene binding consultations with parliamentary blocs on Monday to designate a new prime minister, Baabda Palace said, after the government of PM Hassan Diab quit earlier this month following the catastrophic explosion at Beirut port. The president is required to designate the candidate with the greatest level of support among MPs. Ex-Premier Saad Hariri said earlier this week he was not a candidate after several major parties said they did not support his return to the job. Diab's cabinet resigned after the Aug. 4 blast, which was blamed on a store of ammonium nitrate left for years in a port warehouse despite warnings. The explosion, one of the largest such blasts in recent history, killed more than 180 people, injured more than 6,000 and destroyed property within a radius of several miles. The catastrophic blast comes on top of an unprecedented economic and financial crisis, a currency crash and hyperinflation — the culmination of decades of endemic corruption and mismanagement by a ruling class that has refused to reform or step down.Western nations have been demanding major reforms in the country in return for help, and some countries have been sending aid directly to the people rather than state institutions notorious for corruption.

Consultations for Feuding Lebanon Factions to Pick PM to Begin Monday
Naharnet/August 28/2020
President Aoun has scheduled a date of Lebanon’s binding parliamentary consultations to designate a new PM Monday, some three weeks after the government resigned over a deadly Beirut blast, the president's office said Friday. Reports said the date was set after talks between Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri. The Presidency published the list of parliament blocs to be met accordingly by the president. French President Emmanuel Macron is due to land in Lebanon the same day to hammer home the message of the need for change which he made on his last trip to the country on August 6, two days after the explosion that killed more than 180 people and disfigured the heart of the capital. Representatives of the country's parliamentary blocs and independent lawmakers are to head to the presidential palace from Monday morning to announce who they would like to head a new government. But the country's deeply divided political class has so far failed to reach any consensus on a suitable candidate to be prime minister, a position always held by a Sunni Muslim. "Consultations to shrug off responsibility after the gravest French warning," read Friday's headline in the An-Nahar daily, referring to the rush to start consultations despite the lack of consensus. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned Thursday that Lebanon risked "disappearing" as a country if serious reforms were not undertaken. After the consultations, President Michel Aoun will task the nominee with forming a new cabinet to represent the country's myriad of political parties and religious sects, an often drawn-out process that can drag on for months. Among the names circulated in the press is that of independent candidate Nawaf Salam, a former Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations. But Shiite party Hizbullah, which controls a parliamentary majority with its allies and whose choice will likely be decisive, has rejected a "neutral government", and instead wants one gathering all the country's political forces. Parliament speaker and head of the Shiite Amal party, Nabih Berri, suggested again nominating former prime minister Saad Hariri, who resigned under street pressure last autumn. But Hariri said this week he had no intention of returning to the post. The explosion of a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate fertiliser in the port of Beirut on August 4 also injured thousands of people and left tens of thousands more homeless, piling on new misery after months of economic crisis and coronavirus pandemic.

Top US diplomat for Middle East heads to Kuwait, Lebanon and Qatar
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Friday 28 August 2020
The top US diplomat for the Middle East departed Washington Friday to visit at least three countries in the region, including Kuwait, Qatar and Lebanon. In Kuwait, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker will discuss Gulf unity, regional security and economic cooperation, a statement from the State Department said. In Doha, Schenker will meet senior government officials “to discuss counterterrorism and regional security issues.”On the last stop, Schenker will be the second senior foreign official in Beirut that week. On Sept. 2, he will meet with civil society representatives and discuss US efforts to help Lebanon cope with the aftermath of the Aug. 4 explosions at the Port of Beirut. Schenker will also “urge Lebanese leaders to implement reforms that respond to the Lebanese people’s desire for transparency, accountability, and a government free of corruption,” according to the statement. The day before Schenker is set to arrive, French President Emmanuel Macron will make his second trip to Lebanon in less than a month. Macron will reportedly urge Lebanon’s traditional political parties to allow for an interim government to be formed to implement badly needed economic and corruption reforms. Billions of dollars of soft loans and grants are on the table from the international community to help Lebanon; however, the release of these funds is tied to reforms.

US Assistant Secretary of State Schenker Travels to Lebanon next Week
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker will travel to Lebanon next week. The US embassy in Lebanon announced that he will travel to Beirut on September 2 where he will meet with civil society representatives, discuss US assistance efforts in the wake of the August 4 Beirut port explosion, and urge Lebanese leaders to implement reforms that respond to the Lebanese people’s desire for transparency, accountability and a government free of corruption. Prior to landing in Lebanon, Schenker will travel to Kuwait, where he will meet with Foreign Minister Ahmad al-Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim, and the American Chamber of Commerce to discuss Gulf unity, regional security, and economic cooperation.

UN rights expert urges international help for Lebanon to ‘avert hunger crisis’
Arab News/August 28/2020
“The explosion destroyed the country’s main source of food and has further pushed Lebanon to the brink of a hunger crisis,” Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on the right to food, said
Coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing economic crisis, people, especially the most vulnerable, are already struggling to get food.
LONDON: The international community must urgently step up its support for Lebanon to prevent people throughout Lebanon from going hungry as a result of the 4 August explosion in Beirut, a UN human rights expert warned on Friday.
“The explosion destroyed the country’s main source of food and has further pushed Lebanon to the brink of a hunger crisis,” Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on the right to food, said. “Lebanon’s food system has always been fragile because it relies on imports for 85 percent of its food. The situation has become dire now because the Port of Beirut handled approximately 70 percent of the country’s total imports before the explosion.”
In addition to the at least 200 deaths and more than 6,000 injuries, the explosion destroyed 15,000 tons of wheat kernel and barley stored in silos at the port. Lebanon does not have a national grain reserve and without support, the country could run out of flour by the middle of September, Fakhri warned.
Coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing economic crisis, people, especially the most vulnerable, are already struggling to get food. As it stands, Lebanon has recorded 14,937 cases of the virus, with 146 deaths and 4,133 recoveries.“A hunger crisis to this degree is always caused by systemic national and international political failure, and this is definitely the case in Lebanon,” Fakhri, who is also a professor at the University of Oregon’s School of Law, said.
“An increasing number of people are being forced to compromise on the quantity or quality of the food they eat, or go for days without eating,” Fakhri said. “It’s urgent that the international community step up now and use multilateral institutions to help reconstruct Lebanon’s food and agriculture systems.”

UNESCO in Massive Fundraising Drive for Beirut
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
The UN's culture and education body will organize two conferences to seek "considerable" funding for blast-hit Beirut, its director said Thursday in the Lebanese capital. Audrey Azoulay told AFP during a visit to a school damaged in the colossal August 4 explosion at Beirut's port that two events were in the works, including a fundraising event for Beirut's heritage, during which UNESCO would seek hundreds of millions of dollars. "The first one will be a meeting of the Global Education Coalition dedicated to Lebanon," she said, referring to a body set up to support remote learning since the Covid-19 pandemic began. "The country absolutely needs to be better prepared on this issue of remote learning," she said. Azoulay said that meeting would be held on September 1. According to UNESCO, around 160 schools were destroyed or damaged by the blast, which left more than 180 people dead and devastated entire neighborhoods of Beirut. Azoulay said at least 85,000 children were directly affected by the destruction the explosion wreaked. With the start of the new school year theoretically only days away, the blast compounded a serious crisis the education system already faced due to Covid-19 and an unprecedented economic crunch. Azoulay said a preliminary assessment showed $22 million would be needed just to rebuild damaged schools. She said a second conference would be organized, probably in late September, to raise funds for Beirut's heritage and the cultural sector. Azoulay said the aim was to "secure international funding for culture, of the kind that usually comes after reconstruction efforts". "It needs to come now," she said. "The soul of Beirut is at stake." Speaking at a press conference later in the day, Azoulay said several hundred million dollars would be needed just for the restoration of Beirut's heritage.
By comparison, around $100 million was raised for Mosul, Iraq's second city, whose historic center was levelled during military operations against ISIS militants in 2017. "We need several hundred million dollars for the heritage" of Beirut, she said, adding that UNESCO might not be able to raise all of it during the donor conference. "What UNESCO can bring is expertise, guarantees on transparency and guarantees on the integrity of the restoration standards," she said. Victims of the blast, the general public and Lebanese aid groups have all voiced concern that foreign aid, if not sent directly to those who need it the most, could be embezzled by the same ruling class they blame for the explosion. Azoulay said she had raised the issue of real estate speculation in affected areas with President Michel Aoun when she met him earlier in the day. She called for strong measures to protect affected historical neighborhoods from marauding property sharks offering to buy up homes from vulnerable landlords and tenants. "Maybe a special status should be given to the affected zone. Maybe all transactions should be temporarily frozen. In any case, acts are needed," she said.

Hariri Says He's not a Candidate but Berri Insists on Nominating Him
Beirut - Mohammed Shukair/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron's second visit to Lebanon's capital next Monday represents the final opportunity for the main political components to prove their readiness to move forward with the necessary reforms and the formation of a new government that would be able to adopt an efficient rescue plan. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in anticipation of Macron’s arrival in Beirut, issued a series of warnings, stating that the Lebanese state “will disappear” unless the parties “respond to the return of international interest in their country after an interruption that lasted for years.”“The risk today is of Lebanon disappearing so these measures have to be taken,” Le Drian told RTL radio on Thursday. Talking about Lebanon’s political class, he said: “They are caught up between themselves in a consensus of inactivity…That can’t go on and we are saying that very clearly.”The French minister wanted to raise the alarm, warning against taking the country into a void, and calling on the parties to soften their position and benefit from the assistance that Macron is personally sponsoring, by giving priority to forming a government whose mission remains limited to implementing the road map to save the country from the economic and financial collapse. Meanwhile, sources noted that President Michel Aoun is ignoring the tragedy that struck Beirut as a result of the explosion on Aug. 4 and was trying to pretend that the situation was still under control, even though his political power has drastically declined and the Free Patriotic Movement is suffering from isolation in the Christian street. Meanwhile, the country’s former prime ministers, including Saad Hariri, Fouad Siniora, Najib Mikati and Tamam Salam, met on Wednesday evening and agreed on Aoun’s need to hold the binding parliamentary consultations before nominating a prime minister. Earlier this week, Hariri announced that he was not a candidate to head the new government, urging all parties to withdraw his name from the ongoing deliberations. However, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Speaker Nabih Berri was insisting on nominating Hariri as prime minister, despite the latter’s rejection to assume the post. The sources noted that Berri was putting forward Hariri’s name during his negotiations with other political components.

UNSC Draft Resolution Aims to Prevent Hezbollah’s Violations in South Lebanon
New York – Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
French negotiators at the UN Security Council exerted intense diplomatic efforts to persuade their US counterparts of a draft resolution that would “lay new foundations” for the mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The French draft resolution extends the UNIFIL mission for an additional year. It comes after a long and complex debate, after which the US abandoned its demand to reduce the mandate period to six months, but succeeded in setting a timetable that practically begins on Oct. 31 to implement the recommendations of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the prevention of militants and weapons in the international force’s area of operations, in accordance with UNSC Resolution 1701. France, the penholder at the Security Council, placed the draft resolution in blue ink (to indicate that is the final version to be voted on), hoping that the voting would be held on Friday morning, New York time. However, the US requested that it be replaced by a correspondence vote in accordance with the regulations followed since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, the results would be announced 24 hours after the process.
According to information made available to Asharq Al-Awsat, “the United States asked France to introduce more amendments on two main points, one of which is related to setting an integrated timetable for the implementation of the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General on preventing militants and weapons within the UNIFIL area of operations between the Blue Line and the Litani River, in a direct reference to Hezbollah." A number of diplomats at the Security Council noted that China has fervently joined the negotiations and submitted “detailed proposals and a separate draft resolution to renew the mission of UNIFIL in agreement with the Lebanese government”, in a clear attempt to “counter the US pressure to make fundamental changes to the mandate granted to the UNIFIL under Resolution 1701.” However, France “dealt with the Chinese proposals as part of proposals made by other countries, such as Indonesia, which contributes the largest number of soldiers, or Tunisia, which was keen to introduce provisions for supporting Lebanon and the Lebanese people after the Beirut port explosions.” Representatives of several countries rejected any mention of the Lebanese government in this context, while the US refused to let China have “any final word” on the mandate of UNIFIL. Requests received from Beirut through the Lebanese mission did not succeed in introducing a reference to “the necessity of coordination with the Lebanese government. Therefore, the draft resolution has only made reference to the word “Lebanon”.” Nevertheless, Washington insisted on “clearer rhetoric regarding the timetable to prevent militants and weapons activity in the UNIFIL area of operations.” The French side also introduced a new paragraph stating that the Security Council “recognizing that UNIFIL has successfully implemented its mandate since 2006 and has allowed the maintenance of peace and security since then, decides to allow the reduction of the maximum number of forces stipulated in paragraph 11 of Resolution 1701 from 15,000 to 13,000 soldiers, without prejudice to the possibility of an increase in the number of the force in the future in the event of a deteriorating security situation… in accordance with resolutions 425, 426 and 1701.”

UN Resolution Being Voted on Would Cut Lebanon Peacekeepers
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 28/2020
The U.N. Security Council is voting on a resolution that would extend the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon for a year but reduce its troop ceiling from 15,000 to 13,000 in response to U.S. pressure.
The French-drafted resolution also makes another concession to the Trump administration and its close ally Israel. It calls on the Lebanese government to facilitate "prompt and full access" to sites requested by U.N. peacekeepers for investigation, including tunnels crossing the U.N.-drawn Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel. The draft urges freedom of movement for UNIFIL and unimpeded access to all parts of the Blue Line, and condemns "in the strongest terms" all attempts to restrict U.N. troop movements and attacks on mission personnel.
The resolution, if approved, would give the United States a symbolic victory, but it would also almost certainly be welcomed by many countries that view UNIFIL as critical to maintaining peace in the volatile region and strongly support its current mandate which is largely maintained.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote to the council on July 29 recommending a 12-month renewal of UNIFIL's mandate, stressing the importance of maintaining high troop strength.
While the resolution's adoption would reduce the troop ceiling from 15,000 to 13,000, it would not require any cuts in the current peacekeeping force. That's because UNIFIL's current strength is about 10,250 troops, well below the ceiling.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 15 members of the council are voting on the resolution by email. Voting began Thursday afternoon and ends Friday afternoon. The Security Council president, Indonesia's U.N. Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, said results will be announced Friday evening.
UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded after a 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah so that peacekeepers could deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country's south for the first time in decades.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hizbullah, which is backed by its greatest foe Iran, of impeding the peacekeepers from carrying out their mandate, a view strongly backed by the Trump administration.
In 2019, Israel destroyed a series of what it said were attack tunnels, dug under the border by Hizbullah. The group battled Israel to a stalemate in a month-long war in 2006. Israel's former ambassador Danny Danon said in May that Israel would insist that peacekeepers have access to all sites, that they have freedom of movement and that any time they are being blocked the Security Council must be immediately informed. U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft tweeted at the time that UNIFIL has been "prevented from fulfilling its mandate" and "Hizbullah has been able to arm itself and expand operations, putting the Lebanese people at risk." Council "must either pursue serious change to empower UNIFIL or realign its staffing and resources with tasks it can actually accomplish."
The resolution being voted on recognizes "that UNIFIL has successfully implemented its mandate since 2006 and has allowed for maintaining peace and security since then," and therefore the Security Council would authorize the reduction of the troop ceiling from 15,000 to 13,000.
The draft resolution states that the force strength can be increased in the future in the event of "a degraded security situation."According to UNIFIL, it currently has about 10,250 troops including more than 9,400 ground troops and over 850 naval personnel assigned to its Maritime Task Force. In addition, the mission has about 900 civilian staff, both international and national. The draft resolution would affirm the Security Council's "strong continuing commitment to the existing UNIFIL mandate." And it would reaffirm the necessity that Lebanon's armed forces deploy in southern Lebanon and its territorial water "at an accelerated pace" to implement a key mandate provision. The draft asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to present the first elements of a plan to improve UNIFIL's "efficiency and effectiveness" within 60 days. On another U.S. and Israeli issue, the resolution would reiterate the council's call for "the rapid finalization" of investigations into all attacks against UNIFIL in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. And it would request the secretary-general "to report to the Council, within a reasonable time frame, when such incidents occur."
 

Is Turkey moving into northern Lebanon?
Jonathan Spyer/Jerusalem Post/August 28/2020
BEHIND THE LINES: First signs emerge that Sunni Islamist Ankara is seeking to fill the vacuum
According to a report on the pro-Saudi Al Arabiya website published on August 19, officials in Lebanon are concerned at increased indications of Turkish efforts to build strength and influence in the country. The report quoted two sources in Lebanese intelligence, who mentioned recent Turkish efforts to bring weapons into northern Lebanon. “We are pretty worried about what’s going on. The Turks are sending an incredible amount of weapons into the north,” the website quoted its source as saying.
These reports await confirmation, and Al Arabiya is of course a media source linked to Saudi Arabia – a state rival of Turkey’s. But the evidence for a broader Turkish effort to build influence and allies in Lebanon in recent months is considerable, and solid. As are the indications of a Turkish-controlled infrastructure emerging in Sunni northern Lebanon. Both fit with the broader pattern both of Turkish behavior and of broader regional realities.
In terms of the former, Turkey is actively involved using both its own forces and proxies in the two fragmented Arab countries to Lebanon’s east – Syria and Iraq. The deployments in both countries already have the look of the long term about them, with clearly defined areas of control. Turkey is also active in Libya, where its backing of Fayez Sarraj’s government almost certainly prevented the fall of Tripoli to the forces of Gen. Khalifa Haftar earlier this year.
To these areas add Turkey’s aggressive naval stance in the Eastern Mediterranean, and its active backing of Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank and of Islamist organizations in Jerusalem. All these add up to a strategy in which Ankara is seeking to emerge as the main strategic beneficiary of the chaos and fragmentation that has gripped much of the region over the last decade.
Regarding broader regional realities, Iraq, Syria, Libya – and Lebanon – today are geographical spaces rather than states in the sense traditionally understood. Within these spaces, rival regional and global powers are competing for ascendancy. Turkey is a central player in the first three countries named. It would be surprising if it were not active in the fourth.
Other regional players are paying close attention to Turkey’s belligerent stance. The Times this week reported Mossad head Yossi Cohen as telling Arab intelligence chiefs that “Iranian power is fragile... but the real threat is from Turkey.”
In the countries mentioned above, Turkey seeks to leverage both its Sunni Islamist credentials to appeal to Sunni Arab populations, and where relevant its Turkic ethnicity to appeal to Turkic remnant populations in the Levant. Available evidence suggests that in Lebanon, a similar pattern is being followed. Turkey has been working slowly and assiduously, via NGOs and government relief organizations such as the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency – TIKA – (also active in Jerusalem), to establish its foothold in the country.
A recent article by Mohanad Hage Ali at the Carnegie Middle East Center noted the arrest on July 4 of two Turkish and two Syrian citizens on a flight to Lebanon from Turkey. The four attempted to smuggle $4 million into the country. Lebanese Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi claimed that the money was intended to finance street-level protests against the Lebanese government.
Turkey’s activities appear to be taking place at the grassroots level, and to be centered around the northern city of Tripoli, an urban center for the Lebanese Sunni population. It is a conservative, religious place and a stronghold of Sunni political Islam. As such, the area is a natural focus for Turkey. The Akkar Governorate, home to Lebanon’s tiny Turkmen minority, is also an area of interest.
A July 12 article by Nahla Nasir al-Din on the Asas website of former Lebanese interior minister Nohad Machnouk, accused Turkey of seeking to “occupy Tripoli,” and included details of alleged Turkish activities in these areas. The article contains a welter of detail on alleged Turkish activities in northern Lebanon.
It named Gen. Ashraf Rifi, former head of the Internal Security Forces and former justice minister, as a collaborator with Turkish intelligence in Ankara’s efforts in this area. Nasir al-Din also names Bahaa Hariri, eldest son of murdered prime minister Rafik Hariri, as engaged in the Turkish intelligence’s project to create a network of grassroots religious and political organizations among Lebanese Sunnis in Tripoli. The purpose of the network would be for it to act as a tool for the advancement of Turkish influence in Lebanon, available to be mobilized and brought to the streets at the appropriate time.
Nasir al-Din further claimed that direct links are maintained in Beirut between representatives of the ruling Turkish party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), and the local Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood party, Jamaa Islamiya.
A July 13 article by Firas al-Shoufi in the pro-Hezbollah Al Akhbar newspaper summed up the situation in the following terms: “Turkish activity in Lebanon takes many forms, all leading in one direction, which is to strengthen Turkish influence among the Sunni Muslims in Lebanon, specifically in the north, and to confront the already eroding Saudi-Emirati influence in the war of leadership of the ‘Sunni world’ raging between Saudi Arabia and its allies on the one hand, and Turkey and its allies on the other hand.”
Shoufi named specific social welfare projects undertaken by TIKA in the Tripoli and Akkar areas, such as “opening roads, digging wells for drinking and irrigation water and providing food aid.” He further notes that “General-Director of the Sûreté Générale [Lebanon’s main internal security organization] Maj.- Gen. Abbas Ibrahim made a series of observations about the Turkish performance during a meeting of the Supreme Council of Defense, on the basis of the need for the Lebanese state to monitor what foreign parties do inside Lebanon. Ibrahim also contacted the Turkish ambassador in Beirut, Hakan Cakil, and asked him about Turkey’s relationship with groups carrying flags and engaging in social activism in the north, who carry out actions that threaten security and block roads.’
Shoufi’s identification of the Turks moving into a vacuum left by the relative absence of the Saudis and Emiratis is of particular note. All the evidence cited in the various Arabic outlets cited above should be treated with some caution. It is not yet possible to draw a definitive picture of the details of Turkish activity in northern Lebanon. But the very fact that the issue appears able to raise the joint concerns of channels affiliated with or supportive of Saudi Arabia (Al Arabiya) and Iran/Hezbollah (Al Akhbar) indicates that something does appear to be going on.
The fragile Lebanese sectarian balance has been shattered over the last decade by the entry of around one million overwhelmingly Sunni Syrian refugees. Their presence has reversed the previous sense of an inexorable rise of the Shia to ascendancy in Lebanon. Until now, however, no force has proven able to harness the potential Sunni power in Lebanon to its cause. The Saudi-supported March 14 Movement was vanquished on the streets of West Beirut by Hezbollah and Amal in May-June 2008. The Gulf Arabs appeared to have more or less conceded the country to the Iranians, content to allow Iran and its local franchise to deal with a collapsing economy and infrastructure.
As of now, however, the first signs are emerging that Sunni Islamist Turkey is seeking to fill the vacuum, and to recruit the Lebanese Sunni street to its banner. Something is happening in northern Lebanon.

Qatar is back in Lebanon with vague promises of help
The Arab Weekly/August 28/2020
BEIRUT - Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani made new promises of help to the desperate Lebanese people without backing these promises with evidence or guarantees.
Meanwhile, former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri brought the clock for forming a new government back to zero by announcing he had withdrawn his name from the list of candidates for the premiership, in a move observers interpreted as reflecting Saudi reluctance to back his reappointment, as well as foreclosing any prospect of cooperation with Lebanese President Michel Aoun. Meeting with Aoun was at the top of the Qatari foreign minister’s agenda during his visit to Lebanon, which reflects Beirut’s bet on Qatari and Gulf help as a whole. Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman, however, left the door just ajar for such support when he said he had no knowledge of the existence of a Qatari deposit to help Lebanon overcome its severe financial crisis.
In a press conference after meeting with Aoun, the Qatari foreign minister stressed the need for political stability in Lebanon and for “reforms to emerge from the heart of Lebanese interests, and not be the result of external pressure.”
The minister said that Qatar “affirms its solidarity with Lebanon,” noting that there are clear directives from Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani “to study projects affected by the explosion.” However, he quickly pointed out that “the details of the program have yet to be specified.”
“We are about to study the reconstruction of public schools in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the restoration of some hospitals damaged by the blast that rocked Beirut port earlier this month,” he added.
He pointed out that “Qatar had a plan to support Lebanon even before the explosion, and we have ideas that we will be discussing with the Lebanese state.”
Sheikh Muhammed, however, denied that there was a special fund for Lebanon and said that, for the moment, there were just talks “on how to support Lebanon to enable it to get out of the economic crisis, and it is certain that this support requires cooperation from all parties in the field of the legislation necessary for it, and we are still at the stage of talks, but the explosion that happened had disrupted these talks, and we look forward to resuming them.”
Despite the ambiguity surrounding Qatar’s offer of support, the Lebanese president welcomed any assistance that Doha could provide in rebuilding Beirut’s stricken neighbourhoods.
Observers said that Qatar’s vague positions reflect foreign powers’ suspicion over Lebanon’s uncertain political situation, especially regarding government formation and the ability of any new government to implement international demands that stipulate curbing Hezbollah’s influence.
As Qatar joins France and Turkey as part of a list of donor countries pledging support to Lebanon, all eyes are focused on the “reforms” that would be initiated by Lebanese authorities, particularly the composition of the next government and the extent of Hezbollah’s influence. It is precisely this dilemma that makes the formation of the next cabinet difficult to achieve; and it was one of the reasons that prompted the most prominent candidate for its presidency, Saad Hariri, to apologise and withdraw his name from the list of candidates.
Hariri announced that he would not run for the position of prime minister of the new government due to what he described as blackmailing practiced by some political forces in the country in order to maintain their grip on certain power gains. He thanked “everyone who submitted my name as a candidate to form a government that will assume this noble and difficult national task at the same time.”
He said in a statement that, like all Lebanese, he noticed that “some political forces are still in a state of severe denial about the reality of Lebanon and of the Lebanese, and they see this as just a new opportunity to practice blackmail on the basis that their only goal is to cling to weak power gains or even to realise supposed personal dreams of eventual power gains.”“Out of my firm conviction that the most important thing at this stage is preserving the opportunity for Lebanon and the Lebanese to rebuild their capital, achieve the well-known reforms that are long overdue, and open the way for friends in the international community to get involved in helping to confront the crisis and then investing in the return of economic growth, I declare that I’m not a candidate for the presidency of the new government, and I hope everyone will stop circulating my name in this regard,” he added.
Experts dismiss the notion that Hariri’s decision to withdraw is final, considering that the Future Movement leader may be using the existing international pressure on the Lebanese political class to obtain concessions from Hezbollah and President Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement.The experts, however, indicate that the main reason for Hariri’s lack of enthusiasm for assuming the premiership was the absence of Saudi Arabia in an arena that is vital for Riyadh in its showdown with Iran. They point out that Saudi Arabia’s silence on the situation in Lebanon made Hariri lose the most important card that buttresses his influence and power in the event he ventures into leading a government controlled by Hezbollah and its allies. Hariri would have needed Riyadh’s full and strong support and expression of its determination to back a national Lebanese political player capable of curtailing Hezbollah’s control over the country.In addition, by refusing the premiership, Hariri eliminated all hope for any cooperation with Aoun, and therefore chose to distance himself from a government likely to walk the same political and economic paths as before and which are likely to be met with widespread protests. This is why he urged the president to call for parliamentary consultations without delay as a matter of adherence to the constitution.

Beirut Residents Determined to Save Heritage Lost to Blast
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 28/2020
For the past decade, art collector Nabil Debs has been working on turning his 19th century ancestral home in a historic neighborhood of Beirut to a hotel and art gallery. He planned to open it to the public in mid-August. Within seconds, his lifelong dream came crashing down, along with the two-story building's stone facade and front balcony as a massive explosion tore through Beirut, shearing off facades, blasting holes in buildings, doors, stones and shattering glass across the capital.
The Aug. 4 blast resulting from nearly 3,000 tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrates igniting at the port of Beirut killed more than 180 people and wounded nearly 6,000. It also damaged thousands of buildings, including dozens of charming Ottoman and French mandate-era structures which had been among the few survivors of a years-old construction frenzy replacing traditional houses with modern buildings. They include old homes, restaurants, museums and churches.
In the streets of two Beirut historic neighborhoods, Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, workers are erecting scaffolding to support buildings that have stood for more than a century -- now at risk of collapse.
Among them is the house of Debs, who says he is more determined to go ahead with his project, called Arthaus, that consists of 25 rooms. Days after the explosion, after he'd recovered from the shock and workers started renovation works. Now he plans the inauguration for mid-September.
"We have been working on this project for the last 10 years. For us it is a labor of love," said Debs, standing in a yard between his ancestral red-brick house, which was built in 1860, and another family home built in 1780. "We love the project, we love Beirut and we love Lebanon and that's what we are."
The day of the blast, Debs was at the house. He stepped outside into the backyard with a friend who wanted to smoke a cigarette. They were lucky. Had they gone to the front, the whole facade would have fallen on them. They miraculously escaped without a scratch.
"It was a horror story," Debs said.
He estimates his losses to be at least $250,000 and could reach $1.5 million, as some art pieces including sculptures were damaged.
Naji Raji, an activist and spokesman for Save Beirut Heritage, said the blast damaged more than 600 historic buildings in Beirut, of which about 40 are at risk of collapse. He said out of the 40 buildings, work has begun to support 17 of them. Raji said some estimates put the cost of renovating old buildings at about $300 million. The renovation work is being carried out by the Beirut Heritage Initiative, a coalition that includes among others the U.N. culture agency UNESCO, the French embassy and the architects syndicate, Raji said. The state is largely absent, apart from producing licenses for work.
Many of the buildings destroyed in the blast were proud holdouts. Since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990, many old buildings have been demolished and replaced by modern high rises, as speculators stepped in to make fortunes. Since the blast occurred there have been reports of middlemen scouting destroyed neighborhoods and making offers to buy old buildings.
That appears to have provoked a determination by owners to save their buildings.
A giant banner placed on a damaged historic building reads in Arabic and English: "We are staying." Another banner hanged on a street in Gemmayzeh reads: "Our history is not for sale." "National heritage should be protected. It is very important heritage for the identity of the country," UNESCO's chief Audrey Azoulay told journalists in Beirut on Thursday. She added that UNESCO launched a campaign titled "Li Beirut," or for Beirut, and called on states, the private sector and individuals to donate money. She called for preserving the historic districts of Beirut through laws that prevent selling buildings by taking advantage of weak owners. Earlier this month, caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni issued a decree preventing the sale of any historic building without permission from the Culture Ministry, a move that aims to prevent "exploitation."
In Gemmayzeh, Aida Qazoun, 80, moved around her four-room apartment on the ground floor of a century-old three-story building as workers fixed broken windows and cemented holes in the walls.
She returned from her son's home in the mountains, where she moved for two weeks after the blast along with her daughter who suffered an arm injury from flying glass and who also returned home. "I got married and moved into this apartment 60 years ago. I will stay here," said Qazoun as she prepared a pot of Arabic coffee for the workers to take a rest during a hot and humid summer day.
 

The effort to save Beirut’s heritage destroyed by port blast
Samar Kadi/The Arab Weekly/August 28/2020
BEIRUT - Enaam Khaled is a passionate photographer of traditional houses. For years, she has been documenting Beirut’s old buildings, especially those located in the historic neighbourhoods of Gemmayze and Mar Mikhail, the two worst hit areas from the seismic blast that rocked the city on August 4.
“People are calling on me to have the photos I have taken of their houses so that they can restore them to what they were,” said Khaled, who is also a founding member of Beirut Heritage, a local NGO struggling to preserve Beirut’s old buildings
“For years, I have been taking photos and collecting data of these houses which if they are lost will take away Beirut’s identity, its Levantine face and social fabric,” Khaled said.
“The first day after the explosion I was in the street. I just could not believe what I saw. It was an apocalyptic scene. I could not hold back my tears. I felt my heart was shattered into pieces just like the glass windows. I could not take photos of the devastation…. That was not my Beirut,” she said.
Beirut Heritage and other heritage conservationist groups have joined hands to save what is left of Beirut’s architectural heritage wrecked by decades of wars, chaotic development and the latest blast caused by the ignition of more than 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate improperly stored for years in Beirut port.
The explosion created a pressure wave that ripped through the capital, killing more than 200 people and injuring about 6,000. It also damaged some 8,000 houses, leaving more than 300,000 people homeless.
Around 600 historic buildings were damaged, including many structures at risk of collapse.
The damaged buildings include old homes, museums, religious sites and cultural landmarks like Sursock Museum.
After the blast, Beirut Heritage set up a “crisis cell” of volunteer professionals, including architects, engineers and contractors, to assess the damages, secure funds and help in the restoration effort.
“We are coordinating the work with the Directorate General of Antiquities,” Khaled said. “We divided the damaged areas into zones, and each NGO was assigned to assess the damage sustained in a specific zone.”
“The majority of the buildings can be restored. They are not a total loss and as long as there is awareness and determination to preserve them they can be saved. We will not allow what happened in Solidere to be repeated in Mar Mikhail and Gemayzeh,” she added.
Solidere is the company that was in charge of rebuilding Beirut’s downtown, which was ravaged by 15 years of civil war. Instead of having historic buildings that remained standing refurbished, hundreds initially designated for restoration were razed, with no laws to stop the destruction. They were replaced by high-rise towers, luxury apartments and high-end stores meant more for wealthy Gulf tourists than for locals.
Palais Sursock, a 150-year-old residence in the neighborhood of Ashrafieh, is among the architectural jewels classified by the culture ministry as part of the national heritage. Its facades were severely damaged by the blast and might collapse, the interior was totally ravaged and many of the collection pieces lost forever.“The palace is located about 500 meters away from the explosion. It definitely needs to be saved because it is a landmark of Ashrafieh and part of Beirut’s history. It lived through the Ottoman period, the French period and the civil war,” said Roderick Sursock Cochrane, whose great grandfather built the palace in 1870. “First we will be consolidating the building’s structures to make it safe again. In a later phase we will work on the interior but we will not do so until we know where Lebanon is going… And Lebanon is going nowhere unless Hezbollah disappears,” Cochrane said.
While rumours circulate about brokers preying on homeowners who cannot afford to repair their properties, conservationists now fear an onslaught of opportunistic developers ready to raze historic buildings and turn them into apartment blocks.
But Beirut Heritage and other groups have mobilised to combat unfettered redevelopment, with teams of volunteers assessing buildings’ structural integrity.
Volunteers from the Syndicate of Architects and Engineers have already consolidated the structures of 18 buildings in Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhail as a prelude to restoration with the help of contractors who volunteered material and labour.
“Volunteers have been going around reassuring owners and tenants that they will get help to repair and that they are not alone in this fight. Also, a decree was issued preventing the sale of any historic building without the permission of the Directorate General of Antiquities,” Khaled said.
Throughout history, Beirut was destroyed several times in earthquakes or wars, but its people have always been able to rebuild it,” Khaled said.
“The time of weeping and crying is over. Now it is the time for work and reconstruction. We are determined to put our city back on its feet, remove its scars and restore its beautiful face and identity,” she added.

France draws reform roadmap for Lebanon, calls on elite to act
The Arab Weekly/August 28/2020
BEIRUT - France’s foreign minister said on Thursday that Lebanon risked disappearing due to the inaction of its political elite who needed to quickly implement a new government to implement crucial reforms for the country.
“The international community will not sign a blank cheque if they (Lebanese authorities) don’t put in place the reforms. They must do it quickly… because the risk today is the disappearance of Lebanon,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio.
France has been leading diplomatic efforts for almost two years to persuade Lebanon to push through reforms and secure foreign aid needed to offset a financial meltdown. In the immediate aftermath of the August 4 blast that destroyed whole neighbourhoods, killed more than 180 people and made 250,000 homeless, President Emmanuel Macron rushed to Beirut, hoping to use the leverage of international reconstruction aid to persuade Lebanon’s factions to choose a new administration led by individuals untainted by corruption and backed by foreign donors. At certain instances, he was accused by Lebanese politicians of "overreaching."
However, progress has been slow, with local population and foreign diplomats increasingly frustrated over the situation.
“It’s for the Lebanese authorities to assume their responsibilities. They are trained and competent, but they have made a consensus among themselves for inaction and that’s no longer possible. The president told them that when he went on Aug. 6 and will repeat it when he is in Beirut on Tuesday,” Le Drian pointed out. Macron, who will return to Beirut on September 1, is said to have prepared a roadmap for Lebanese politicians outlining political and financial reforms needed.
The two-page "concept paper" was delivered by the French ambassador to Beirut, a Lebanese political source told Reuters.
The necessary measures include an audit of the central bank, appointment of an interim government capable of enacting urgent reforms, and early legislative elections within a year.
Lebanon's now-caretaker government, which took office in January with the support of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its allies, failed to make progress in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout due to inaction on reforms and a dispute over the size of financial losses.
The government resigned over this month's huge Beirut port explosion that killed at least 180 people, injured some 6,000 and destroyed entire neighbourhoods, and renewed protests against a political elite over endemic corruption and mismanagement that has led to a deep financial crisis.
"The priority must go to the rapid formation of a government, to avoid a power vacuum which will leave Lebanon to sink further into the crisis," the French paper reads.
It lists four sectors in need of immediate attention: humanitarian aid and the authorities' response to the COVID-19 pandemic; reconstruction after the August 4 blast; political and economic reforms and an early parliamentary election.
It also called for progress in IMF talks and United Nations oversight on international humanitarian funds pledged to Lebanon in recent weeks, as well as an impartial investigation into the cause of the detonation of vast amounts of highly explosive material stored unsafely at the port for years.
Macron visited Beirut shortly after the blast and made it clear that no blank cheques would be given to the Lebanese state if it did not enact reforms against waste, graft and negligence.
Since then, he has held multiple phone calls with major political leaders under the country's sectarian power-sharing system, a Lebanese political source said.
Political rivalries and factional interests have prevented the formation of a new government able to tackle the financial crisis that has ravaged the currency, paralysed the banking system and spread poverty.
The French concept paper stresses the need for an immediate and full audit of state finances and reform of the power sector, which bleeds public funds while failing to provide adequate electricity.
Parliament should enact laws needed to effect change in the interim period, it said. "Factions must be engaged to vote on the key measures that the new government will take in the next few months."
The roadmap could deepen France's role in Lebanon, analysts say. The paper states that Paris will play a major role in rebuilding Beirut port, bolster healthcare, send teams from its treasury and central bank to support the financial audit, and help organise early parliamentary voting, along with the European Union.

Nasrallah in Lebanon and Iran focus on Israel tensions
Seth J.Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/August 28/2020
Hezbollah wants to pose as secure in its power and prepare to threaten Israel at a time of its choosing.
An incident along Israel’s border this week enabled Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to once again say he was watching developments in southern Lebanon closely. This will enable Hezbollah to claim that the incident, which was reported in Israeli media and by the IDF, did not affect Hezbollah.
The group did the same after an incident near Mount Dov in late July and in Syria on August 3. Hezbollah wants to pose as being secure in its power and prepare to threaten Israel at a time of its choosing. It claimed it had a right to respond after one of its members was killed in Syria on July 20.
What does Hezbollah say? Nasrallah responded to reports of a clash on Wednesday along the Israeli border near Manara with cautious statements about how “sensitive” the area is. Fars News in Iran said Nasrallah highlighted how Israel was on “alert.”
His message is that he has foiled Israel and tricked it into remaining on alert and that Hezbollah can keep up the pressure. “An appropriate response will be made,” Hezbollah said. Israel’s “aggressive” actions will be answered, Nasrallah said this week while commemorating the importance of Ashura, a Shi’ite holy day, and the week’s events leading up to it.
The tension comes amid Iran’s claims that it will let nuclear inspectors visit two sites. It also comes as Qatar sent an envoy to Gaza to try to reduce tensions with Israel. It was unclear if those tensions will be reduced. Hamas also sent leaders to Turkey this week, where they met Turkey’s president.
It looks like a regional consensus is afoot with Turkey, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah all seeking to push tensions with Israel, but on their own time and place of choosing. These groups all oppose the Israel-UAE deal and have watched US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo roam the region this week. He was in Israel, Sudan, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman.
Meanwhile, Lebanon said it would file a complaint with the UN about this week’s border incident. Lebanon claims some “30 projectiles” were fired by Israel into Lebanon, according to Press TV in Iran. Hezbollah also claimed it downed an Israeli drone on August 23.
The overall narrative among supporters of Hezbollah is that it keeps building up reasons to “respond” to Israel. It is unclear if that is a convenient narrative amid Lebanon’s many problems, or if it is more serious.

ANALYSIS: What was behind Hezbollah's new attack on the IDF?
Yochanan Visser/Arutz Sheva/August 28/2020
On Tuesday evening, Israel again came close to war with Hezbollah in Lebanon after terrorists fired on IDF soldiers.
On Tuesday evening, Israel again came close to war with Hezbollah in Lebanon after terrorists from the Iranian-founded and backed Shia organization shot at soldiers of the Israeli army (IDF) near Kibbutz Manara in the most northern part of the Galilee.
Initially, the IDF thought it was a new attempted infiltration and for that reason, flares were fired continuously at first to illuminate the area around Manara.
A short time later, while being in Rosh Pina less than thirty kilometers from Manara, I observed that heavy explosions had started. The blasts lasted for nearly an hour and resembled artillery shelling.
Israelis living in the area around Manara were ordered to enter their bomb shelters right at the beginning of the incident and stayed there a part of the night.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, who was on a short vacation with his family in the northern Israeli city of Safed was transferred to the IDF command center in the city where he met with Aviv Kochavi, the IDF Chief of Staff and also discussed the situation with Benny Gantz, Israel’s Defense Minister and Alternate PM.
Both Gantz and Netanyahu later released statements putting Hezbollah on guard.
“Israel views with utmost gravity the shooting at our forces by Hezbollah. We will not tolerate any aggression against our citizens and we will respond forcefully to any attack against us. I suggest that Hezbollah not try the crushing force of Israel. Hezbollah is once again endangering Lebanon with its aggression," the statement read.
Gantz used his Twitter account to warn Hezbollah.
“We will not allow Nasrallah to hurt either our soldiers or our country. We will react severely to any incident on the border,’’ the Israeli DM wrote after explaining the incident and writing that the Israeli military had used combat helicopters and warplanes to attack Hezbollah.
It was the first time the Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since the 2006 Second Lebanon War which started with the abduction of the dead bodies of IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev who were killed by a Cornet missile launched by Hezbollah .
Tensions in the border area between Lebanon and Israel have been raging for weeks after Hezbollah member Ali Kamel Mohsen Jawad was killed in an IAF bombing near Damascus on July 20.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had previously threatened to avenge the death of every member of the organization in Israeli military actions and kept his word.
On July 27, a Hezbollah cell of four or five terrorists attempted to infiltrate Israel near Har Dov in the northeastern border area with Israel. The group of terrorists was discovered in time, however, and shot at by the IDF, after which the men fled back to Lebanon without any injuries.
It was later revealed that the IDF's Northern Command had been ordered not to shoot the terrorists themselves in order to prevent war.
At the same time, Hezbollah announced that the infiltration would be followed by new actions against Israel to avenge Jawad's death.
"The Zionists just have to wait for their crimes to be punished," Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said after the failed infiltration.
Nasrallah was now a lot less vicious in his comments on the new action against the IDF, saying it was "an important and sensitive measure."
“What happened yesterday in south Lebanon is an important and sensitive measure for us, but I will not comment on it. I will instead leave it until a later point in time,” the Hezbollah leader said during a speech to the people of Lebanon on the Al-Manar television station.
It could be that the Hezbollah leader was so cautious because he couldn’t elaborate on the real reason for the attack.
What the media completely missed was an event that reportedly took place on Monday in Syria's Dara'a province south of Kuneitra on the Golan Heights.
Local Syrian media reported that an Israeli missile hit a base in western Dara'a shared by the Syrian army, Hezbollah and the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The missile hit the base but there were no further reports about deaths or injuries.
The new Hezbollah action against Israel came exactly a day after this incident, so it could be that it was a retaliation for the attack on the base in Dara'a and if Nasrallah had addressed this in his speech he would have admitted that Hezbollah is still in southwest Syria.
Israel has now filed an official complaint to the United Nations Security Council about Hezbollah's growing aggression.
Gilad Erdan, Israel's new UN ambassador called upon the Security Council to take immediate action against Lebanon and heavily criticized the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
Erdan filed his complaint together with an aerial photo showing that Tuesday’s incident took place in an area between two UNIFIL camps. The UN peacekeeping force, however, again failed to intervene despite its mandate to guarantee that there would be no Hezbollah presence in the border area with Israel.
The United States is now in talks with the French government about expanding UNIFIL's mandate. The peace force should have more resources to access places it has not been able to inspect until now. However, it is highly doubtful whether an extension of UNIFIL's mandate will affect Hezbollah's presence in the border area with Israel.
UNIFIL was expected to ensure the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 of August 2006 but has not done that so far. That resolution ended the Second Lebanon War and banned the presence of any forces other than the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL in the area south of the Litani River. The resolution also demanded “full respect for the Blue Line” the internationally recognized border between Israel and Lebanon which Hezbollah doesn’t recognize.

Beirut, Which Lives Inside of Me
Dr. Ali Awad Asiri/Former Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020
I know that the first plane to fly on the air bridge for sending medical aid and supplies departed to Lebanon on the instructions of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz minutes after the devastating explosion that destroyed the port and half of our beloved, Beirut.
I know well that it carried the deep pain and broken hearts of every one of us in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over Beirut and Lebanon, which is of momentous significance to us and with which we have a deep historical bond. We have deep fraternal adoration for this city that occupies ample space in our hearts and minds, our concerns and great pain over this extraordinary betrayed capital, which has always been and will remain the bride of the Arabs.
O Beirut, city of history, beloved of poetry and the poets, O verses of poems, O mother of ordinance, O magical restoration of Arab world; our hearts bleed for your inundation with martyrs, the pain of their families and the despaired and the flood of tears shed by your squares and tiles. O Beirut, which we cherished and cherished us, how can we heal your wounds and wipe your tears as you moan in devastation, pain and dejection? O the horror and brutality, the depth of bitterness in our hearts invoked this vicious crime committed against you.
I have come to know you well, O Beirut, O Lebanon and O beloved Lebanese. I knew you as a jubilant ambassador and dear brother in your country, where friendships broaden and the relationships of brotherhood were never punctuated. Overwhelmed with emotion and sadness, I can almost hear, from here in Aseer, the wailing of that sea that has always washed the feet of the beloved, tormented city, the sea which I always watched giving its morning greetings to our embassy and sending peace of loyalty, friendship and love to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is no wonder that Beirut and Riyadh have a Siamese relationship, inseparable from love, friendliness and the weight of history.
The brutal explosion that devastated the authentic Arab capital left us overwhelmed with pain, tears and wounded feelings for a city that we loved and adored.
I know very well that people normally inhabit cities, but Beirut is the magnificent city that resides in me wherever I am. It remains inside you, and your love’s depth is not lessened, no matter how far you are from it. It definitely not be an exaggeration to say that the horrendous explosion shook my being, struck my family and me and caused us great pain, not only because we have loved ones, friends and people we consider kin in Beirut, but also because between my country and Lebanon is a history of brotherhood, love and camaraderie dating back 68 years, specifically when the late president, Camille Chamoun, became the first Lebanese president to visit the Kingdom in 1952. He initiated a history of firm fraternity that existed in the past, remains in present and will continue in the future.
I know very well that the founding king’s advice continues to reverberate. He said to his guest: “The fabric of Lebanon and the plurality of its sects and creeds give it an advantage and singularity, and it should distance itself from the axis and alliances and focus on the importance of dialogue, understanding and solidarity between all Lebanese sects and factions, so that it may be blessed security and stability and protected from ambitions, in a framework of firm national unity that protects it and safeguards its independence.”
It is its history that allocates for Beirut a place in the heart of every Saudi and every sincere Arab, and so the criminal explosion came to crush all of our hearts. I know very well that the vanguards of the Saudi air bridge to Beirut not only carried medical relief, aid and donations, but also carried our hearts, our pain and our distress over Beirut, the beloved city, the capital Lebanon, which Saudi Arabia has long described as the center of Arab cooperation...
With all of the hardship and pain, we hope that our love for Beirut will serve as a bandage for the wounds and alleviate those who have lost their loved ones. I will never forget the day I said to the Lebanese family when I had been ambassador to Beirut: “The record of the fraternal relationship brings our two countries together with incalculable love bearing the signature of seven dear letters, Lebanon.”
O beloved Beirut, your sorrows overwhelm us and your wounds shed blood from our bodies. We have always been two Siamese brothers, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is not only building a bridge merely for relief and aid, but rather a bridge of hearts that beats in a wounded Beirut, Beirut that lives inside of me.

The French Wish List for Lebanon
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020
Does Emmanuel Macron have a plan for helping Lebanon out of its current crisis? Sources close to the French president claim he does.
The plan consists of mobilizing international support for a fund to rebuild the shattered port of Beirut and upgrade the country’s ramshackle infrastructure.
In exchange, it would require a new national consensus that transcends sectarian divides without ignoring them altogether.
If you think all this amounts to little more than a wish list, you are right.
That the French president should take a special interest in Lebanon is not surprising. Leaving aside the romantic version of a past in which Lebanon is cast as a daughter of France and a bastion of Francophilia, the two countries have many objective interests in common.
France is home to an estimated 300,000 Lebanese, many of them with French nationality.
The Lebanese political, cultural and business elites treat France as their principal point of contact with the broader world. A walk in the poshest quarters of Paris takes the visitor by the luxury town-houses and apartments owned by the crème-de-la-crème of Lebanese establishment from all communities. There is also a great deal of Lebanese money in France, money that can buy political influence when needed. In addition, numerous French businesses and banks in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America use Lebanese contacts as partners, associates or fixers.
At the other end of the spectrum, Lebanon is home to over 25,000 French citizens providing a unique business, cultural and human link between the two nations.
Thus, Macron is right to treat Lebanon as a foreign policy priority worth special attention.
However, special attention alone may not provide the strategy needed to help Lebanon negotiate the current dangerous bend in its history.
The first defect of the Macron plan, as we understand it, is that it treats what Lebanon faces as a humanitarian disaster, something like a major earthquake or tsunami rather than a man-made tragedy plotted outside and executed by elements in the Lebanese political system. In other words, Lebanon’s crisis is caused by geopolitical factors with internal manifestations.
Paris policy wonks talk a lot about the need to uproot corruption that has gangrened the ruling establishment. However, corruption has always existed in Lebanese politics and, in a sense, could be regarded a way of life rather than an aberration.
Lebanese corruption comes in two forms.
The first is sectarian nepotism, a system in which the various sects or communities divide public positions and perks. Because the system is accepted by all communities it does not look like corruption from a global point of view.
However, it could be seen as corruption within each community when the powerful figures who distribute the posts and the perks discriminate in favor of their own clan within the sect. Dealing with that form of corruption becomes an intra-communal challenge, beyond the ken of outsiders.
The second form of corruption has always been linked to foreign money, used to buy allegiance and support from, or to arm, this or that sect.
What is different now is that both those two forms of corruption have been turned into instruments for advancing geopolitical goals with Iran setting the rules.
Tehran has tried to re-write the Lebanese rules of the game in two ways.
First, it has recruited, often purchased, allies not to say clients, in all communities. To be sure, Hezbollah remains Tehran’s main Trojan horse. But Iran also has baby Trojan horses in all other communities. This makes the formulation of any broad covenant among the communities, as was the case in the Taef Accords, much more difficult.
The second way in which Tehran has changed the rules of the game is to transform Hezbollah into a state-within-the-state, turning the official institutions of the Lebanese state into empty shells. Worse still, Hezbollah itself is held on an increasingly tight leash from Tehran. Those who follow the official narrative in Tehran know that the hardcore of the Islamic Republic leadership treat Hezbollah as servants rather than allies. Scrutinizing the editorials of the daily Kayhan, expressing the views of the “Supreme Guide” Ayatollah Khamenei, would let you know what Hezbollah is ordered to do on any major issue.
In other words, the Lebanese crisis has a geopolitical aspect that cannot be ignored. When we suggest that to policymakers in Paris their rebuttal is: Yes, but Iran will always be there!
I agree.
Even before the mullahs seized power in Tehran, Iran exercised some influence in Lebanon and is likely to maintain a high profile there even after the mullahs are seen off the stage. But, while Iran will always be here, it would be wrong to assume that the Islamic Republic, too, will always be there.
Contemplating the Lebanese issue today reminds one of the late 1980s when the people of East Germany launched their campaign for freedom.
At that time, too, US President George WH Bush and his French counterpart Francois Mitterrand insisted that the geopolitical dimension of the crisis be set aside so that Western powers could forge a partnership with the Soviet Union to solve “the German problem” short of reunification.
The two men even traveled to Kiev to solicit Mikhail Gorbachev’s help in dealing with the “German problem”, forgetting that the problem was caused by Soviet domination. One still remembers James Baker the Third, Bush’s secretary of state, pontificating that “Russia will always be there.” What he didn’t realize was that while Russia would always be there it was certain than the Soviet Union’s days were numbered.
At that time Baker insisted that the USSR should be part of the solution. Today, Macron’s advisers say the same thing about the Islamic Republic in connection with the” Lebanese problem.”
One key French “specialist” sneers at our suggestion that the Lebanese problem” isn’t solvable without addressing its geopolitical aspect. “No geopolitics please!” he quips.

Americans Fighting Extradition over Carlos Ghosn's Escape
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 28/2020
A lawyer for two American men urged a judge Friday to block their extradition to Japan, where they are wanted on charges that they smuggled former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of the country in a box last year. Attorneys for Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, have not denied that the men helped Ghosn flee while he was awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges in December, but say their actions don't fit under the law with which Japan is trying to convict them. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell told U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell that before the Taylors' case, the law has never been applied to someone who helped another person flee while on bail. Cabell seemed hesitant to block their extradition, suggesting that a Japanese court would be a better place to fight about the country's law. "Part of me is just wondering the more we argue about this, doesn't it suggest that this should be left to the courts in Japan to work out rather than a court here?" Cabell said in a hearing held via videoconference.
Cabell said he hoped to issue a ruling within a week, if not sooner. Even if Cabell rules they can be extradited, the final decision will be made by the U.S. State Department. The Taylors, wearing orange jumpsuits, appeared on the video screen from the Massachusetts jail where they have been locked up since their arrests in May. Authorities say Michael Taylor, a former Green Beret, and his son helped smuggle Ghosn out of Japan on a private jet with former the Nissan boss hidden in a large box. The flight went first to Turkey, then to Lebanon, where Ghosn has citizenship but which has no extradition treaty with Japan.
Ghosn said he fled because he could not expect a fair trial, was subjected to unfair conditions in detention and was barred from meeting his wife under his bail conditions. Ghosn has denied allegations that he underreported his future income and committed a breach of trust by diverting Nissan money for his personal gain.

Rampling Inspects Isolation Centre in Maad and PPE’s at Bouar Govt. Hospital
Naharnet/August 28/2020
As part of the UK’s ongoing response to COVID19 and the devastating Beirut port explosion on August 4, British Ambassador Chris Rampling visited an isolation centre in the town of Maad in Byblos region and Bouar Government Hospital, the UK embassy said in a press release on Friday.
From Maad, Ambassador Rampling was briefed by UNDP representatives on their quick response in cooperation with the municipality and local partners to set up a local isolation centre to tackle Coronavirus outbreak in Lebanon, which expects to start operations next week. This is one of 10 local isolation centres the UK is currently funding across Lebanon, with an investment of $800,000 to date. At Bouar Government Hospital Ambassador Rampling was met by Dr Andre Kozaily who gave him a virtual tour of the hospital and inspected the Personal Protective Equipment delivered by the UK through the World Health Organisation to support health workers. Last week over 238,000 PPEs were shipped to Lebanon to help overstretched hospitals across the country deal with the coronavirus outbreak, including following the tragic explosion in Beirut, which left thousands needing treatment and many more homeless. Teams of expert UK medics are also in country specialising in intensive care, infection control, water and sanitation. At the end of his visit Ambassador Rampling said: ‘Today I visited two UK funded projects. In Maad a small town in Byblos district, I saw how UK aid has helped transform a local isolation centre to tackle Coronavirus outbreak in Lebanon, which has been made significantly more challenging following the devastating Beirut port explosion. Our support comes on top of the UK’s immediate response to COVID19 in Lebanon that has reached over $2 million to date. I also visited Bouar Public Hospital – one of 8 public hospitals - who received vital Personal Protective Equipment from the UK through WHO. Last week over 230,000 PPEs were shipped to Lebanon to help overstretched hospitals across Lebanon deal with coronavirus.
The UK’s response to the Beirut explosion has reached over $30 million so far in humanitarian, medical supplies, experts supporting hospitals, including military support to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Today is more critical than ever that Lebanese politicians progress the vital economic reforms. As part of this there is an urgent need for a new, credible and effective Government to be formed as soon as possible to take this forward and the importance of Lebanon, and Lebanese politicians, remaining committed to the policy of disassociation.As I have said many times before, the UK is standing by the Lebanese people, the most vulnerable, and continues to do so in their time of most urgent need. Kulluna Ma3kom!’

EU, UNHCR Ensuring Critical Healthcare in Time of Crisis and Supporting Rafic University Hospital
Naharnet/August 28/2020
European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf and UNHCR Representative in Lebanon Mireille Girard visited Rafic Hariri University Hospital on Thursday, a press release said. They met with the hospital director Doctor Firas Abiad and the medical staff, who are relentlessly working to ensure the continuity of critical healthcare, including during this time of crisis, for all people in need. Beirut’s Rafic Hariri University Hospital has been at the forefront of both the COVID-19 and the port explosion response, after other hospitals in the capital had been heavily damaged.
On August 12, in the aftermath of the blast, the European Union signed an agreement to provide EUR 3.6 million in emergency support to Lebanon’s public health system through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Our assistance made it possible to rehabilitate a ward at the Rafic Hariri University Hospital catering for 72 patients. The European Union funded the full rehabilitation works and part of the medical equipment, increasing the hospital’s capacity to cater for an additional 36 patients at regular wards, as well as additional 5 intensive care unit (ICU) patients. This new support is extended to six hospitals across Lebanon that are treating a significantly higher number of COVID-19 patients. The additional bed capacity contributed to freeing up space in the selected hospitals for other interventions, and recently enabled hospitals such as Rafic Hariri University Hospital, to cater for the victims of the Beirut explosion.
"As the hospital is on the forefront of the COVID-19 response in Lebanon, the Rafic Hariri University Hospital has received the largest share of COVID patients requiring hospitalization in the country. At a time where we are witnessing record numbers of new cases, this support from the EU through the UNHCR is much needed, and will allow us to expand our bed capacity and serve a larger population" Doctor Abiad said. “Every life matters and by supporting hospitals like Rafic Hariri University Hospital we build more capacity to make sure more lives can be saved” said Ambassador Tarraf.
“Through our donation we hope to ensure the continuity of critical healthcare and essential and life-saving services for all people in need. We stand together with Lebanon and our donation to this and other hospitals is helping to rehabilitate key facilities, provide needed equipment and expand the hospitals’ capacity to cater for more patients at this difficult time”. “For UNHCR, the COVID-19 response is about saving lives. Since the onset of the pandemic, and with the support of the EU and other donors, we have been supporting the national response to ensure that all communities in Lebanon – Lebanese, refugees and migrants - are safe, and have access to the necessary testing, treatment and isolation”, said UNHCR Representative Mireille Girard. UNHCR’s COVID-19 support to hospitals will cover 800 additional beds and 100 additional ICU beds in total, including ventilators and other advanced equipment, as well as medicine stocks. Since February, UNHCR teams deployed all efforts to build dedicated hospital expansion facilities or rehabilitate existing unused sections and refurbish them with new medical equipment. The latter will remain the property of the hospitals after the pandemic, with the aim to cure many more patients long after COVID-19. In light of the rapid spread of the virus in recent weeks, UNHCR is currently fast-tracking the deployment of ventilators and other ICU equipment to hospitals across the country to help them face the increase in patient admissions.
 

Heavy Gunfire during Funeral of Teen Killed in Khalde Clash
Naharnet/August 28/2020
Gunshots were fired heavily in the air Friday during the funeral of a 14-year-old teenager killed in Thursday’s sectarian clashes in Khalde. “During the firing in the air at the funeral, some gunshots were fired at the Chebli Center, the site of yesterday’s clash, as the army sought to contain the situation,” the National News Agency said. NNA said the army was still staging patrols in the area and erecting surveillance checkpoints.The heavy gunfire erupted as the body of the teenager, Hassan Zaher al-Ghosn, arrived at the al-Arab neighborhood, where leaders of Arab tribes and residents of the area performed a prayer for the dead at the town’s mosque. The body was later laid to rest at the family’s cemetery in Khalde. Ghosn and a Syrian man were killed and three members of the Ghosn family were injured during Thursday night’s clashes between supporters of Hizbullah and Sunni tribesmen in the area. The clashes only stopped after the army sent major reinforcements and political contacts were held at the highest levels. The fighting briefly closed the main highway linking Beirut with southern Lebanon. During Ghosn's funeral, anti-Hizbullah slogans were chanted as young men fired their weapons in the air. The confrontation had reportedly erupted over the hanging of Ashoura religious banners.

Jumblat: PM Consultations Scheduled Out of 'Courtesy'
Naharnet/August 28/2020
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat mockingly suggested Friday that the binding parliamentary consultations to choose a new premier have been scheduled for Monday “out of courtesy.”“After the delay in calling for consultations -- which violates the Taef Accord, as if some political forces are experimenting with a new constitution… -- the consultations were scheduled for Monday out of courtesy, seeing as the French president will arrive on Tuesday,” Jumblat tweeted. “Lebanon, as (French Foreign) Minister (Jean-Yves) Le Drian has said, risks to disappear if the minimum level of reform is not implemented,” the PSP leader warned. President Michel Aoun had earlier in the day scheduled the binding parliamentary consultations for Monday. Hassan Diab’s government had resigned days after a cataclysmic blast at Beirut port killed around 200 people, injured around 6,000 and devastated swathes of the capital.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 28-29/2020

US Expected to Reduce Troops in Iraq by a Third to about 3,500
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
The United States is expected to reduce its troops presence in Iraq by about a third in the coming months, a US official said on Friday, a move that had been expected after President Donald Trump’s administration committed to a reduction recently. The United States has around 5,200 troops that were deployed in Iraq to fight the ISIS group. Officials in the US-led coalition say Iraqi forces are now mostly able to handle the remnants of ISIS on their own. The United States and Iraq in June affirmed their commitment to the reduction of US troops in the country in coming months, with no plans by Washington to maintain permanent bases or a permanent military presence. In 2016 Trump campaigned on ending America’s “endless wars,” but US troops remain in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, albeit in smaller numbers. A US official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the United States would go down to about 3,500 troops in Iraq in the next two to three months. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This month during a meeting with the Iraqi prime minister, President Donald Trump redoubled his promise to withdraw the US troops still in Iraq. Trump’s meeting with the Iraqi leader came amid a new spike in tensions between Washington and Tehran after Washington said it would seek to reinstate all previously suspended US sanctions on Iran at the United Nations. Iraq’s parliament had voted earlier this year for the departure of foreign troops from Iraq, and United States and other coalition troops have been leaving as part of a drawdown. The numbers of troops to be withdrawn was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

It’s US against most of UN council on Iran sanctions
Edith M.Lederer and Matthew Lee/AP/August 28/2020
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and most of the rest of the U.N. Security Council dug in their heels Thursday on diametrically opposed positions over the restoration of international sanctions on Iran.
In increasingly intense rhetorical terms, U.S. officials insisted they had acted legitimately in triggering a so-called “snapback” mechanism that would re-impose all U.N. sanctions Iran next month. They said the re-imposition of sanctions is a done deal and nothing can stop it.
“Last week, the U.S. triggered the 30-day process to restore virtually all UN sanctions on Iran after the Security Council failed to uphold its mission to maintain international peace and security,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a tweet. “These sanctions will snap back at midnight GMT on September 20.”
But as they did when Pompeo traveled to the U.N. to invoke snapback, almost all other council members flatly rejected that position, repeating their position that the U.S. had lost its legal standing to act after President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal two years ago.
At the heart of the dispute is the Security Council resolution that endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, between Iran and six major powers — the U.S., Russia, China, United Kingdom, France and Germany.
It allows “a JCPOA participant state” to trigger the “snapback” mechanism. The U.S. insists that as an original JCPOA participant it has the legal right even though it ceased participating in 2018.
The impasse sets the stage for a potential crisis in the Security Council next month with the United States claiming to have re-imposed the sanctions and most of the rest of the world saying the Trump administration’s action is illegal and ignoring it.
The president of the council on Tuesday said there was overwhelming opposition in the 15-member body to the U.S. position and that it was unlikely there would be any action on Washington’s demand.
But Pompeo said that wouldn’t matter, citing the process for sanctions re-imposition outlined in council resolution that enshrined the nuclear deal. Under the terms of that resolution, if a participant in the deal accuses Iran of “significant non-performance,” the council must vote affirmatively to continue sanctions relief. The U.S. would veto any such resolution. “If any member of the UN Security Council introduces a resolution to continue sanctions relief, the U.S. will oppose it,” Pompeo said. “If no resolution is introduced, the sanctions on Iran will still return on September 20. That’s how UNSCR 2231 works.”
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, who coordinates the JCPOA’s Joint Commission, reiterated in response to Pompeo’s latest statement that since the U.S. withdrew from the agreement in 2018 “it cannot ... be considered to be a JCPOA participant state for the purposes of possible sanctions snapback foreseen by the resolution.”EU High Representative Josep Borrell added that he “will continue to do everything possible to ensure the preservation and full implementation of the JCPOA by all,” saying it remains “a key pillar” of global nonproliferation that contributes to regional stability.
The EU announced last Friday that the six remaining parties to the JCPOA will meet in Vienna on Sept. 1. Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky tweeted Thursday: “Under intl law you can’t withdraw from an agreement and then claim you can still benefit from its provisions. Under `rules-based intl order’ where the rules are defined by the US this seems to be OK provided it serves US interests.”The Trump administration has been waging war on the nuclear deal for years. During the 2016 presidential campaign candidate Trump denounced it as the worst deal ever negotiated and has made no secret of his desire to blow it up. U.S. officials say the deal is fatally flawed because certain restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activity gradually expire and will allow the country to eventually develop atomic weapons.
JCPOA supporters warn that if the deal blows up or Iran pulls out it could pursue nuclear weapons. Pompeo came to the United Nations last week to demand restoration of U.N. sanctions after the Security Council resoundingly rejected a U.S. resolution to indefinitely extend the U.N. arms embargo on Iran, which is set to expire Oct. 18, in one of the first restrictions to be lifted. Only the Dominican Republic supported the United States. Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, who has long questioned the validity of the administration’s argument for snapback, told The Associated Press: “The lesson you take away from this is for the United States it’s perfectly honorable to stand alone at the U.N. in vindication of our principles. But at least you ought to try and do it smartly, and not so that you look foolish.”
“I think we look foolish,” he said. “And what we’re going to see here is what happens when you get into this kind of foolishness. It really is too cute by half and now it is coming back to bite the United States, and it was entirely predictable.”
*Lee reported from Washington

Iranian man who beheaded teenage daughter sentenced to nine years in prison
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Friday 28 August 2020
An Iranian man who beheaded his teenage daughter in a so-called “honor killing” back in May has been sentenced to nine years in prison, the victim’s mother said on Friday. The victim’s mother, Rana Dashti, said she intends to appeal for a harsher sentence against her husband, Reza Ashrafi, who beheaded their 13-year-old daughter Romina Ashrafi in her sleep on May 14 in a so-called “honor killing” that shook Iran and stoked a nationwide outcry. The court’s verdict has “caused fear and panic in me and my family,” Dashti told the semi-official ILNA news agency. “I object to this verdict and I want to appeal to the Supreme Court,” she said. Dashti said she worries about the safety of her only other child should her husband be released, saying: “I do not want my husband to ever return to our village.”Iranians have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the verdict on social media. Many noted that the country regularly issues much harsher sentences for journalists and activists. The victim, Romina Ashrafi, had run away from home with an older man – reportedly 35 years old – following her father’s opposition to the two getting married. The man Ashrafi had run away with has been sentenced to two years in prison, her mother said. Ashrafi was found and handed over to her father by the police despite her “repeated warnings” that she would be in danger at home, according to reports. The incident occurred in the city of Talesh in the northern province of Gilan. Iran’s judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi had promised at the time that the case will be dealt with in a manner that would deter others from committing similar acts. Many Iranians believe the country’s laws facilitate “honor killings” by being overly lenient on those who carry them out. A month before killing his daughter, Ashrafi had checked and found out through his son-in-law, who is a lawyer, that based on Iran’s laws, he would not receive the death penalty for killing his own child, an Iranian daily reported. A father who kills his child is not considered a murderer and escapes the death penalty, according to Iran’s laws. Yet last month Iran executed a man for drinking alcohol. The exact figures for honor killings in Iran are unknown. In 2014, Hadi Mostafaei, a senior police official at the time, said that honor killings made up 20 percent of the murder cases in the country.

Pompeo ends Mideast trip with visit to Oman's new sultan
Arab News/August 28/2020
DUBAI: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday visited Oman's new sultan, the last stop on a Mideast trip that sought to build on an American-brokered deal to have Israel and the United Arab Emirates normalize relations.
Pompeo's plane landed in Muscat and he traveled to meet Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. There, Pompeo tweeted that the two leaders spoke “on the importance of building regional peace, stability and prosperity through a united Gulf Cooperation Council.”
Oman's official news agency ONA reported that "aspects of the existing bilateral cooperation between the Sultanate and the United States were reviewed within the framework of the strong relations that bind them," but made no reference to relations with Israel.
Accompanying Sultan Haitham at the meeting was Oman's new foreign minister, Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi. Sultan Haitham took power in January, following the death of longtime ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who ruled Oman for 50 years. In the time since, he's focused entirely on overhauling the sultanate's government, though he said he planned to continue Oman's non-interference policy in the region. Oman for years has served as a key interlocutor between Iran and the West. Pompeo already traveled to Israel, Sudan, Bahrain and the UAE on this trip through the Mideast, one that included him offering a recorded message in Jerusalem supporting President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign for the Republican National Convention. That speech cast aside his own advice to American diplomats to be apolitical and bulldozed a long tradition of non-partisanship by previous secretaries of state.
His trip came after a US-brokered deal announced Aug. 13 saw the United Arab Emirates and Israel open diplomatic relations. The diplomatic recognition of Israel may help the Emirates purchase advanced American weapons, such as the F-35 fighter jet.

EU set to sanction Turkey over east Mediterranean: Top diplomat
Agencies/Friday 28 August 2020
The European Union is preparing sanctions against Turkey that could be discussed at the bloc’s next summit on Sept. 24 in response to the eastern Mediterranean dispute with Greece, the EU’s top diplomat said on Friday. The measures could include individuals, ships or the use of European ports, said Josep Borrell, adding the EU would focus on everything related to “activities we consider illegal.”Tensions between Turkey and Greece escalated after Ankara sent a survey vessel to disputed eastern Mediterranean waters this month, a step Athens called illegal. Turkey said Thursday it will host military drills involving the use of live ammunition in the eastern Mediterranean next week, according to a tweet by Turkey's TRT Arabic news outlet. The drills will take place on Tuesday, September 1, and Wednesday, September 2, said TRT, despite concerns being voiced by Greece, Cyprus and other countries over Turkey's increasingly assertive claims over mineral rights in vast swathes of disputed waters. “We are determined to protect our rights in the eastern Mediterranean,” the Turkish media outlet quoted the country's Defense Minister Hulusi Agar as saying. Agar echoed the words of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said on Wednesday that Ankara was “determined to do whatever is necessary” to secure its claims in the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece ratifies deal with Egypt, Turkey to hold military drills in Eastern Mediterranean
ISTANBUL/ATHENS (Reuters) /August 28/2020
- Greece ratified an accord on maritime boundaries with Egypt on Thursday, hours after Turkey extended the operation of a seismic survey vessel in the Eastern Mediterranean and said it will hold firing exercises in the region next month.
NATO allies Greece and Turkey are at odds over the rights to potential hydrocarbon resources in the area, based on conflicting claims over the extent of their continental shelves. Tensions escalated this month after Ankara dispatched the Oruc Reis seismic survey vessel in a disputed area following the pact between Athens and Cairo. Turkey has said the pact infringes its own continental shelf. The agreement also overlaps with maritime zones Turkey agreed with Libya last year, decried as illegal by Greece.
The Aug 6 maritime deal has already been ratified by Egypt’s parliament and was approved by a majority of Greek lawmakers on Thursday evening.
Earlier, the Turkish navy issued the latest advisory, known as a Navtex, saying it will hold the shooting exercises in the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Iskenderun, northeast of Cyprus on Sept 1-2. It also extended the seismic work of the Oruc Reis vessel southwest of Cyprus, until Sept 1.
Greece says the Turkish advisories are illegal.
Maritime zones give a state rights over natural resources. Largely unexplored, the east Mediterranean is thought to be rich in natural gas.
As the dispute widened, France said on Wednesday it was joining military exercises with Italy, Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said the deployment of French military aircraft in Cyprus violated treaties regarding the control and administration of the island after independence from Britain in 1960.
Aksoy said that France’s stance was dangerously encouraging Greece and Cyprus to further escalate tensions in the region.
Cyprus was divided in 1974 following a Turkish invasion triggered by a Greek-inspired coup. Turkey recognises the Turkish-populated north of Cyprus as a separate state, which is not recognised by other countries.
Greece said on Wednesday it plans to extend its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles from its coast, from six nautical miles, after the ratification of a maritime deal with Italy.
To the east of Greece, Turkey has warned that a similar move by Athens in waters east of Greece would be a cause for war.
*Reporting by Daren Butler in Istanbul and Renee Maltezou in Athens; Editing by Dominic Evans and Peter Graff

Exclusive: Iranian vessel loads with Venezuelan alumina, amid closer ties - sources
Maria Ramirez, Luc Cohen/PUERTO ORDAZ, Venezuela/NEW YORK /Reuters/August 28/2020
An Iranian-flagged vessel loaded a cargo of alumina in Venezuela this month after delivering supplies for an Iranian supermarket in the South American nation, three sources familiar with the shipment said, in the latest sign of closer ties between the U.S.-sanctioned nations.
Reuters could not determine who the customer for the alumina cargo was, nor where it was destined. The Golsan, a general cargo ship with a capacity to carry 22,882 tonnes, is currently sailing east across the Atlantic Ocean, but still signals its destination as the La Guaira port in Venezuela, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. The vessel is owned by Mosakhar Darya Shipping Co and managed by Rahbaran Omid Darya, both Tehran-based companies blocked in November 2018 when the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on hundreds of Iranian banking and shipping companies as it withdrew from a multilateral nuclear deal. The companies share an address. Rahbaran Omid Darya did not respond to an email requesting comment. Reuters could not reach Mosakhar for comment. Neither Venezuela’s information ministry nor Iran’s mission to the United Nations responded to requests for comment on the shipment.
The two OPEC countries have escalated their trade links in recent months as the U.S. sanctions have squeezed their economies. Iran sent Venezuela five fuel tankers in April to help resolve paralyzing gasoline shortages and airlifted in equipment to help restart output at Venezuela’s largest petroleum refining complex. Officials in Caracas and Tehran have not specified how Venezuela has paid for the fuel shipments or the refinery equipment. U.S. officials have said Venezuela’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro’s government is paying with gold. The growing economic ties between Iran and Venezuela have irked Washington, which is seeking to oust Maduro and thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The Trump administration this month seized fuel cargoes aboard four tankers destined for Venezuela and sanctioned a Chinese company assisting Mahan Air, the Iranian airline that conducted the refinery equipment airlifts to Venezuela. Alumina is a powder refined from bauxite that is a key material for manufacturing aluminum. Iran has for years been producing aluminum powder for use in its missile program at a secret facility set up by the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Reuters reported in June, citing a former Iranian government official and documents relating to the facility. Washington has sanctioned Iran’s metals sector, including aluminum companies, arguing they are connected to the country’s nuclear, military or ballistic missile programs. Venezuelan state television on Tuesday evening reported that the Golsan was transporting Venezuelan fruits to Iran. The Iranian embassy in Caracas said on Twitter on Aug. 22 that Venezuela had shipped a cargo of mangos and pineapples to Iran as part of “win-win commercial relations,” along with a video of trucks at Venezuela’s La Guaira port. Refinitiv Eikon data show the Golsan travelled to La Guaira after loading at Venezuelan state-owned bauxite and alumina company CVG Bauxilum’s port, before setting sail on Aug. 19.
SUPERMARKET SUPPLIES
The Golsan had departed in May from Bandar Abbas in Iran arriving in Caracas in late June, Refinitiv Eikon vessel tracking data show. Iran’s ambassador to Venezuela said at the time it was carrying provisions for the new Iranian supermarket in Caracas, which opened in July. Refinitiv Eikon data showed the Golsan later navigated down the Orinoco river in eastern Venezuela and in early August, docked at a port belonging to CVG Bauxilum, where the three sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it loaded the cargo. Two of the people familiar with the shipment said the vessel loaded with 14,000 tonnes of alumina. “We have advanced in our production of metallurgic-grade calcined alumina to meet national needs...with an eye toward attracting foreign currency to the country with our exports,” CVG Bauxilum President Ernesto Rivero said in response to Reuters’ written questions on the shipment. Venezuela has little domestic use for alumina, given that its aluminum smelters are operating well below capacity amid a six-year economic meltdown. Reporting by Maria Ramirez in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela and Luc Cohen in New York; Additional reporting by Vivian Sequera in Caracas, Michelle Nichols in New York, Parisa Hafezi in Dubai, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London and Marianna Parraga in Mexico City; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Marguerita Choy

Erekat Says US Holds onto Talks Based on ‘Deal of the Century’
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) executive committee Saeb Erekat said the US has notified the other parties of the Quartet that the ‘Deal of the Century’ will be the foundation for any peace talks.
The US intends to say that now is the time to normalize ties between Arab states and Israel, and in case Palestine wishes to join the negotiations then that would be based on the vision of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Erekat added. President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinians were ready to go to negotiations mediated by the Quartet and with the participation of other countries, on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative. "We are ready to have our state with a limited number of weapons and a powerful police force to uphold law and order," the PA wrote in the letter sent to the Quartet - the United Nations, the US, European Union, and Russia. It added that it would accept an international force such as NATO, mandated by the UN, to monitor compliance with any eventual peace treaty. The letter proposes "minor border changes that will have been mutually agreed, based on the borders of June 4, 1967." Arab and European countries in addition to France Russia, China, and the UN have been working on bringing both parties back to negotiations, knowing that the Palestinians have one condition i.e. to suspend the annexation and to consider the Arab Peace Initiative a basis for any talks. In a press conference, Erekat said that there is an agreement between Arab and non-Arab states that any upcoming talks would have the purpose of establishing a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967 and the Arab League resolutions.
Further, he commended the standpoint of Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and his commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative. During his meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, King Hamad “stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
He said that includes a two-state solution for an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Security jumps to the fore with a rabbi’s murder by a Palestinian, Hizballah shooting
DEBKAFile/August 28/2020
Terrorist harassment of Israel is gaining ground on three fronts – though still short of a showdown. Is Israel holding back on deterrence? The shocking murder of Rabbi Shay Ohayon in central Israel on Wednesday, Aug. 26 by a licensed Palestinian worker jerked this question into the national consciousness, over and above concerns about the covid-19 infection spike, an economic crisis and a quarreling government. In the north, Hizballah sharpshooters fired from Lebanon on IDF troops and in the south, Hamas kept up its three-week long balloon offensive, interspersed with rocket fire.
The three occurrences are not on the face of it linked, but they do share common background factors. One is the IDF’s apparent reining in of its responses – whether over a Israel’s reluctance to be drawn into major military operations while its government battles the ungovernable covid-19 and strives to damp down its economic fallout, or possibly for fear of forfeiting thereby the huge benefits offered by the epic normalization accord signed with the United Arab Republic with US mediation.
A certain factor must be US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s current tour of the region this week in search of Arab governments willing to follow in the UAE’s footsteps and, possibly, stage a regional peace conference in time for the US presidential election. He has encountered some lukewarm responses, in step with Saudi Arabia. But Pompeo could count on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s solid support in this endeavor. And if this meant holding the IDF back from full-scale punishment for terror at this time, that, too, may be a factor.
Rabbi Ohayon, 39-year old father of four, had just stepped off a bus in central Petah Tikva when a 49-year old Palestinian from a village near Nablus stabbed him repeatedly with a big knife. Paramedics tried to revive the unconscious man before evacuating him to hospital, where doctors in the intensive unit were forced to pronounce him dead.
The rabbi was praised at his funeral on Wednesday night as a model father and husband, who combined his own studies with thrilling lectures to his students.
The Palestinian killer is among the 150,000 West Bankers licensed to work in Israel after security clearance.
The rabbi was the first Israeli to be murdered by a Palestinian in almost a year. Five weeks ago, another Israeli survived a similar stabbing attack with serious wounds. This sequence has raised questions about a revival of the former terrorist tactic of individual t murders.
The gunfire from 200m inside Lebanon was aimed at Israeli soldiers patrolling the northern border – and missed. It was attributed to Hizballah marksmen and taken as evidence that the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah has not abandoned his vow of revenge for each of his men killed by Israel. He cited a fighter killed in an Israeli air strike some weeks ago against an Iranian target in Syria. But all his previous attempts to avenge his death by killing Israeli troops have failed.
The IDF struck back on Wednesday against Hizballah observation posts just inside the Lebanese border – a relatively mild response. However, the forces remain ranged in full array on high alert along the Lebanese and Syrian Golan borders, on the assumption that, despite his falling standing at home, Nasrallah will not rest until he reaches his mark. Hizballah is expected to keep on probing for a chink in IDF armor and settle accounts by causing Israeli troop casualties, although the military spokesman warned on Thursday that the army’s next response would be a lot stronger than hitting a few observation posts.. .
The IDF’s self-restraint was most striking in the first Hizballah attack. A Hizballah squad assigned with attacking the IDF outpost on Mt. Dov north of the Golan last month was sighted while still climbing the slope. The squad, scared off by Israeli tank shelling and gunfire, turned tail before reaching the outpost, dropping a marksmen’s rifle in its haste. After a quick check with superior officers who referred the incident to government officials, the outpost commanders let the Hizballah squad get away without harm or even take them prisoner. The order was to avoid a major eruption. Subsequently, on Aug. 3, a Syrian cell was shot dead trying to plant explosives for Israeli forces near the Golan border fence. They were believed to have been hired by Iran.
If Israel’s responses to aggression in the north are mixed and have little visible deterrent effect, its handling of the nagging Palestinian terrorism from Gaza is notably predictable and inadequate. Hundreds of arson and incendiary balloons are launched day after day these past three weeks. The regular IDF air and tank fire on Hamas military sites has had no effect at all, any more than the coronavirus outbreak afflicting the Gaza Strip on its balloon attacks. At one point, Hamas went so far as to add salvos of 15 rockets to the turmoil.
Wednesday saw 33 balloons floating in from Gaza to scorch mostly scrubland around Israel’s southern communities, but some also landed in the kindergarten playgrounds of local kibbutzim. Children were quickly stopped from picking them up. One carried a device containing 700 grams of explosives.
Even the Qatari emissary who arrived in Gaza with cash gifts for the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave failed to convince his hosts to halt their assaults. The terrorist chiefs simply pushed back with a fresh, longer list of demands addressed to Israel.

Israel Responds to New Rocket Fire, Strikes Several Targets in Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
Israel said its military struck targets in Gaza that include a weapons manufacturing site, after six rockets were fired from the territory early Friday. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage on either side. In recent weeks, Israel and Hamas have traded fire on a number of occasions and Hamas has launched a wave of incendiary balloons across the frontier that have torched wide swathes of farmland. Hamas is pressing Israel to ease its blockade on Gaza and allow large-scale development projects, while Egypt is trying to shore up an informal cease-fire. Those efforts have grown more urgent in recent days as authorities in Gaza have detected the first cases of local transmission of the coronavirus, The Associated Press reported. Hamas has imposed a lockdown in the coastal territory bordering Israel and Egypt, which is home to 2 million Palestinians. Bassem Naim, a Hamas official, warned of further escalation, saying the "catastrophic conditions the Gaza Strip is experiencing are unprecedented."He said the situation could lead to an "explosion in which things get out of control."

Egyptian Authorities Arrest Acting Leader of Muslim Brotherhood
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
Egyptian authorities said on Friday they had arrested the acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, during a raid on an apartment in Cairo. An interior ministry statement said Ezzat had been arrested from an apartment used as a hide-out in Cairo's Fifth Settlement district, and was accused of joining and leading a terrorist group and receiving illicit funds. Ezzat was an influential former deputy to Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie, and was seen as a hardliner within the group. Ezzat became acting leader after Badie's arrest in August 2013. The interior ministry said encrypted communications equipment had been seized during the arrest, and said Ezzat was suspected of overseeing several assassinations or attempted assassinations as well as a bombing since 2013. Ezzat had previously been sentenced to death and to life in prison in absentia. According to Egyptian law, he will face retrials in the cases following his arrest. Badie remains in prison in Cairo, where he has received several life sentences.

Tunisia's PM-designate Approves 18-month Political ‘Truce’
Tunis - Mongi Saidani/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 28 August, 2020
Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Hisham Mechichi has expressed willingness to convene with political parties represented in the parliament.
He also welcomed on Thursday all initiatives to form the new government, including a proposal made by the People's Movement for a so-called 18-month political “truce.”During a press conference, Mechichi stressed the importance of solidarity among various ministers. As for the government’s program, Mechichi revealed that he will draft a document, on resolving economic and social problems, to be proposed to the parliament. Tunisian parties have expressed conditional support to Mechichi’s proposed lineup. The People's Movement introduced an initiative that aims to overcome a political trust crisis, while Tahya Tounes insisted on three conditions to back the government. President of the Free Destourian Party (PDL) Abir Moussim, in an open letter to the PM-designate, said that PDL would give its confidence to the cabinet “if none of its members is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.”Head of the People's Movement Zouhair Maghzaoui called for a political accord on granting confidence to the government under the condition that the PM-designate presents a clear vision on resolving Tunisia’s economic, social, and financial problems, and amends the electoral law within 18 months.
A parliamentary session dedicated to granting a vote of confidence to the cabinet is scheduled for early next month. The government lineup includes 28 qualified and independent figures.

Death of Kurdish lawyer on hunger strike sparks outcry
Arab News/August 28/2020
*Ebru Timtik, who had been initially detained in September 2018, was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison, which prompted her to start a hunger strike in February
*Timtik’s death drew criticism from international observers, human rights activists and political leaders who accused the Turkish government of turning a deaf ear to demands for a fair trial
ISTANBUL: Turkey is facing a chorus of criticism over the death of a young Kurdish lawyer who began a seven-month hunger strike after being jailed on terror-related charges. Ebru Timtik died in an Istanbul hospital 238 days after launching her hunger strike in demand of a fair trial.
In 2019, an Istanbul court handed multiple sentences to Timtik and 17 other lawyers on charges of “forming and running a terror group” and “membership in a terror organization.”Timtik, who had been initially detained in September 2018, was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison, which prompted her to start a hunger strike in February.
Another lawyer, Aytac Unsal, who began a hunger strike at the same time, is still being held in an Istanbul hospital.
Timtik’s death triggered criticism from international observers, human rights activists and political leaders who accused the Turkish government of turning a deaf ear to demands for a fair trial.
Timtik, from Turkey’s southeastern Dersim province, whose population is predominantly Kurdish-Alawite, was accused of membership in the banned Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party.
During the initial hearing, judges decided to release the detained lawyers pending trial, but reversed their decision within 24 hours based on statements by an anonymous witness.
An application for the lawyers’ release was rejected by an Istanbul court last month despite medical reports warning of their deteriorating health and the risks of remaining in jail.
“Right to fair trial is a basic human right. When a lawyer demands such a fundamental right by sacrificing her own life without getting any reply, it is a serious warning sign for justice in Turkey,” Erdal Dogan, a human rights lawyer, told Arab News.
Dogan described the failure to release Timtik despite medical reports proving her worsening health as a “tragic incident.”
The lawyers’ hunger strike brought petitions from around the world calling for the release of the prisoners.
Internationally known Turkish singer and former politician Zulfu Livaneli said on Twitter: “It is the death of humanity, justice and conscience.”
Nazan Moroglu, deputy chair of the Istanbul Bar Association, said: “This was a preventable death, they just did not prevent it.”
According to Gamze Pamuk Atesli, a lawyer from the northwestern Bursa province of Bursa, judiciary independence and the right to fair trial have long been under attack in Turkey. “The court showed respect to the political will rather than the rule of law,” she said. “It is a blatant violation not only of the right to a fair trial but also of the right to life.”Meanwhile, a separate incident added to the outcry about injustices toward the country’s Kurdish population.
Musa Orhan, a Turkish army sergeant, was released six days after being detained following medical reports that proved he raped a Kurdish woman, Ipek Er, repeatedly over several weeks, triggering her suicide.
Memories of the murder of prominent Kurdish lawyer Tahir Elci in 2015 are still fresh in Turkey. The head of Diyarbakir’s bar association was campaigning for peace between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the Turkish state when he died during an armed clash with police.
 

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 28-29/2020

The Choice That's Left for Palestinians
Nabil Amr/Asharq Al-Awsat/August, 28/2020
In 1976, the Israeli government decided to make a political move that carried a degree of risk when it allowed and encouraged conducting local elections. They reckoned that it could produce leadership alternatives that would limit the Palestine Liberation Organization's influence and compromise the legitimacy of its representation of the Palestinian people within and outside Palestine.
At the time, stances that opposed the principle of holding elections under occupation emerged. Nonetheless, political realism that had imposed itself on the political leadership at the time, headed by the pragmatist Yaser Arafat, chose to accept holding elections, reckoning that it could only produce what the Palestinian people wanted and elect those whom they chose to run their municipalities and village councils, fortifying their resolve to stay on the land.
The elections were held; the Israelis lost their bet, and the Palestinians won theirs. The elected municipalities and village councils turned into a credible and robust arm of the PLO, which drove the Israelis to fight the elected members and pass legislation banning the heads and members of the councils from establishing links with the PLO or participating, even symbolically, in its national councils.
The local council elections of 1976 and the accumulation of the elections’ had positive implications for the calls for resistance, which manifested themselves in the First Intifada that had been efficaciously and ably led by the National Steering Committees and concluded with the Oslo Accords. In turn, the Oslo Accords initiated the phase of autonomous rule that was still linked to the primary national objective, establishing a Palestinian state on the entirety of the territory occupied in 1967. This limited autonomy didn’t take the Palestinian issues off the agenda, which had been referred to as “status quo issues”, the most prominent of which were” refugees” and “Jerusalem”.
Oslo collapsed on both its parties’ heads, as the Labor Party, the state’s founder and the venture’s creator, vanished. The initiative for a Palestinian state, which was supposed to have emerged after a 5 year “transition period,” collapsed. Oslo’s promises and the hopes it raised were replaced with the total deterioration of the Palestinian Israeli relationship. The living conditions of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza also deteriorated, and the solution was reduced to Trump’s initiative, in which the Palestinians do not obtain the bare minimum fundamental rights.
After every catastrophe that faces the Palestinian political class, which is still made up of factions that used to be armed revolutionary, a question arises: What is to be done, and what are the options?
The answer often boils down to reiterating unrelated cliche slogans that are far from reality on the ground, which has completely changed from what it had been during the organization’s days of prominence when it had been leading an intense and armed struggle active inside and outside the occupied territories.
As well as the repetition of slogans, mechanisms of limited fruitfulness are proposed. These include forming committees to discuss ways to address challenges, calling for festivals to declare our rejection and condemnation, and then, repeating calls for ending division without crystallizing even a single step to spring hope that an achievement may be forthcoming after 14 years of failure, not merely to end separation; but to prevent its transformation into separation.
The framework of festivals, dialogue, and meetings, the latest of which brought the General-Secretaries together in a Zoom meeting on how to face the challenge raised by the US and Israel in their relentless pursuit of expanding Arab normalization. Nothing will change the miserable situation we are currently in... based on experience; nothing more than a statement similar to the many statements that have already been issued without effect is expected.
The only option being overlooked - because many see it as a threat to the rigid framework, which, despite its deficiency maintains sanctity and the ardent protection of many beneficiaries - is bringing together all the internally and externally scattered cards that Palestinians can play. This will not be attained by merely bringing the Secretary-General’s together in a meeting, or through Hamas’ symbolic participation in a festival or protest. Rather, this could be achieved through a program that first and foremost restores the national institutions that have either been neglected or abolished at the National Authority and PLO levels. The authority lost its legislative council, and the PLO no longer plays its role, which is supposed to be stronger and more effective than that of the authority at managing Palestinian affairs on all levels. While followers have forgotten the fact that the organization has more legitimacy than the authority and more sweeping prerogatives over political issues… None of this or anything else can be restored by the secretary-generals’ meetings on Skype or Zoom, although they acknowledge their factions’ emptiness and lack of popular support. Fateh and Hamas, the two pillars of Palestinian political life, are the only exceptions, as they are political lines, not factions.
National institutions are recuperated through legislative and presidential elections. Those elected, whose legitimacy derives from the ballot box, would then address all internal and political issues. They would constitute the nucleus for furthering the Liberation Organization’s development, since they would be de facto members in the National Council, thereby taking the critical step of developing both institutions and reinvigorating them and allowing them to exert greater influence on Palestinian life, embracing the national project.
The route I am suggesting is not a magic solution that will provide an easy fix to the complex impasses facing the Palestinians, but it is the only feasible one at a time of complete impasse. Israel, which does not wish to see any kind of Palestinian resurgence, would take steps to obstruct such a critical and major initiative. But it will manage to hinder the process if the Palestinians are determined to go ahead with it. More importantly, if the Palestinians treat the general elections as a mechanism for defying the occupation rather than an occasion for conciliation, as had been the case during the Oslo honeymoon period that is gone and will never come back. This is the only choice Palestinians have left. The elections’ results would allow them to focus on solving their internal problems by reviving their elected national institutions. As to the issue of political negotiations, that curtain had closed, and there is no point in waiting for a miracle to bring it back. Even if they were revived as a result of unexpected developments, there would be no harm in the Palestinians entering these negotiations with better internal conditions and an improved political system.

Testing times: UK chalks up another pandemic failure with exams fiasco
Peter Welby/Arab News/August 28/2020
In May, I wrote in these pages about the response in the UK to Prime Minister Boris Johnson falling seriously ill with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). His approval rating soared from 46 percent of people who said he was doing a good job in March, to 66 percent when he was in hospital in April.
His ratings have since cratered. In the latest poll, only 44 percent said that Johnson, and by extension his Conservative government, is doing well, while 50 percent said he is doing badly.
By most measures of performance, the UK is not doing well. According to international league tables, the country ranks second in the world in terms of per capita coronavirus deaths, after Belgium (though some people argue it is impossible to compare relative performance due to differences in assessment by each country). The government has made a number of U-turns during the crisis: No lockdown, then a national lockdown; no masks, then compulsory masks; Parliament meeting by video link, then Parliament meeting in person.
However, the latest reversal has particularly punctured public confidence in the government’s ability to lead. With the schools shut at the end of the last school year and exams not possible, a new way had to be found to grade pupils and award exam results — results that will set pupils on their paths to further education and future careers.
An algorithm was adopted that took the grades that teachers predicted their pupils would achieve and then standardized them across the country. However, this algorithm was designed in such a way that pupils from schools in poorer areas had their results downgraded to a greater extent than those in wealthier areas. For a government that won an election in part by capturing seats in less-affluent parts of the country, the fallout was highly damaging.
The government was forced to abandon the algorithm altogether and award exam results solely based on teachers’ predicted grades. The fiasco touched the lives of people up and down the country — almost everyone had a friend or relative who was affected.
The challenge of the coronavirus crisis is its novelty. Governments can prepare for plagues and pandemics but they cannot know in advance their exact nature: They cannot know how they will be spread, for example, and when the disease is new even scientists will initially disagree about the best approach.
However much governments shelter behind the claim that they are “following the scientific advice,” this advice varies from country to country because much is based on supposition. The response in the US, for example, has been rather different to that in the UK, but operating equally in the dark. Sweden, which followed the “no lockdown” policy initially adopted by the UK, has moved in media opinion between being a beacon of enlightenment and an example of the limitations of freedom. We still do not know which perception is more accurate.
Ultimately, though, the fortunes of governments in terms of public opinion are forged primarily through the public capacity to absorb difficult times.
Human societies require scapegoats when things go wrong. For those wishing to enter politics that is the cost, albeit one many leaders are unwilling to pay. Political leaders do not get to claim that life is unfair, that they had no control over the disaster that hit while they were in office: When they signed up they agreed to take the blame, just as they happily accept the credit when good things happen outside of their control.
This is only fair, because the average voter has very little control over most matters that affect their lives. Jobs come and go with the rise and fall of the economy, for example. For most people, the education of their children depends on decisions made far from their realm of control. Even decisions about their health are made by others. With this degree of responsibility over people’s lives, politicians bear the consequences of failure.
This phenomenon is most commonly seen in the economy. Political leaders routinely claim credit for booming economies that are the result of their predecessors’ efforts. They can also get voted out of office when the economy turns sour, also often as a result of the actions of their predecessors. But the same applies to war (when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982, the entire ministerial team at the UK’s Foreign Office resigned) and, of course, to pandemics.
Initially, in a crisis like a pandemic, people rally behind their leaders — at least, in most cases. This did not happen in the US, in large part because the pandemic was framed in partisan terms from the very beginning. But as time goes on, the more that the inadequacies of a government become apparent, whether the result of incompetence or simply incomplete information, the more the dissatisfaction with that government’s performance will grow.
Any government not currently in an election year should be very glad. When the pandemic is over and normal service resumes, a government’s performance closer to the election will have the greatest bearing on the results.
Any government not currently in an election year should be very glad. When the pandemic is over and normal service resumes, a government’s performance closer to the election will have the greatest bearing on the results. But for governments facing an election this year, as is the case in the US, those in power are right to be afraid of the electorate.
This is the first global crisis in the age of the mass use of social media. Evidence of the failures of government, real or not, spread around the world before government communications teams can swing into action. We saw this in the footage of mass graves in New York City, in the evidence of the total collapse of the health system in some parts of Italy, and in the anger over the shortages of personal protective equipment in hospitals in the UK and elsewhere.
Much of the time, there is nothing a government can do other than hold tight and try to ride out the storm. Every action they take will be scrutinized with the benefit of hindsight — but that should not paralyze them and prevent them from taking any action at all.
Much as they might be shouldering the blame for failures today, those with years to go before another election campaign will have the opportunity to claim credit for the recovery, too.
*Peter Welby is a consultant on religion and global affairs, specializing in the Arab world. Twitter: @pdcwelby

Eastern Mediterranean – another irritant in Turkey-US ties
Sinem Cengiz/Arab News/August 28/2020
The differences of opinion about the Syrian conflict between Washington and Ankara, including the US support for PKK/YPG terrorist group and Turkey’s purchase of a Russian-made S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, are not the only reasons for the deterioration of Turkish-American ties. The volatile situation in the Eastern Mediterranean is increasingly coming to the forefront.
Two recent developments have added to the mutual unease: The Pentagon’s decision to activate military bases and other facilities in the northern Greek port of Alexandroupoli amid the maritime tensions, and tit-for-tat statements by Ankara and Washington about the recent visit by Hamas leaders to the Turkish capital. In recent years, the US and Greece have forged close political, economic and military ties. Washington’s decision to activate its bases in Alexandroupoli, just 30 km from the Turkish border, is interpreted by some analysts who closely follow relations between Ankara and Washington as an indication that the latter wants to relocate its bases in Turkey to Greece, given the proximity to Russia.
It seems unlikely that the two nations will resolve the contentious issues that currently divide them any time soon. On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with US counterpart Donald Trump, and the main topic of conversation was the Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey and Greece disagree about oil and gas exploration rights. According to the Turkish Communications Directorate, Erdogan reminded Trump that Ankara was not responsible for the instability there.
The recent US activity in Greece has displeased Ankara. Historically, Washington took the lead in encouraging its two allies to find peaceful solutions to their disagreements with one another, thus avoiding NATO becoming embroiled in local disputes. To do so it had to remain neutral in the disputes over the Eastern Mediterranean, a region that borders on a number of conflict zones.
However, US attitudes seem to have changed as tensions rise between Turkey and Greece, both of whom believe their vital interests are at stake and have become increasingly confrontational.
In particular Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 missile system, and its closer ties with Russia in general, while the US continues to support groups in Syria designated by Turkey as terrorist groups have tested the relationship between Ankara and Washington.
At a time when the military forces of Turkey and Greece are on high alert, and both sides have deployed warships to shadow each other in the Mediterranean, the question now is what effect the US activity in Greece will have on the situation in the conflict-ridden region.
Against this backdrop, the latest war of words between Ankara and Washington erupted when a delegation that included Ismail Hanniyeh, the political head of Hamas, visited Turkey last weekend and met Erdogan in Istanbul on Aug. 22. It was the second time Erdogan has met Hamas leaders in Turkey this year, with the first meeting taking place in February.
After the US objected to the meeting, the Turkish Foreign Ministry responded by issuing a harsh statement on Aug. 25 that said: “A country that openly supports the PKK, which features on their list of terrorist organizations and hosts the ringleader of FETO (the name the Turkish government uses for the Gulen Movement, which it considers a terrorist organization), has no right whatsoever to say anything to (other) countries on this subject.” It called on the US to use its regional influence to develop a “balanced policy” that serves not only the interests of Israel but helps bring about a righteous and fair solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s relationship with Israel is also strained and Erdogan’s recent meeting with senior Hamas officials did not help. Roey Gilad, Israel’s charge d’affaires to Ankara, said that his country has evidence that Ankara has given citizenship to Hamas members, a claim that prompted opposition MPs to raise the issue in the Turkish parliament.
Historically, Tel Aviv has adopted a rather careful stance on the dispute between Turks and Greeks/Greek Cypriots over the Eastern Mediterranean and avoided openly confronting Ankara, even though it is within the conflict zone. On Aug. 12, however, the Israeli Embassy in Athens issued a statement expressing full solidarity with Greece and its maritime jurisdiction. This move further strained Turkish-Israeli relations and elevated the already high tensions in the region.
While Turkey’s ties with the US and Israel have been deteriorating, its relationship with Russia gradually has been improving to the point where it is becoming a nightmare for Washington.
While Turkey’s ties with the US and Israel have been deteriorating, its relationship with Russia gradually has been improving to the point where it is becoming a nightmare for Washington. Ankara and Moscow have signed a contract for a second delivery of S-400s, Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport announced on Aug. 23. Turkey’s increasing engagement with Russia prompted Washington to remove the country from its F-35 fighter jet program and to threaten Ankara with sanctions.
Despite all of this, the US does not want to give up on its relationship with Turkey, especially when it comes to the situation in Syria. A US delegation led by James Jeffrey, Washington’s special envoy for Syria, arrived in Turkey on Wednesday to discuss the latest efforts to resolve the crisis in the war-torn country.“We have exciting developments on the Syrian account,” Jeffrey told reporters at the airport. Given the absence of many promising developments in Libya or the Eastern Mediterranean so far, one could certainly do with some positive moves in Syria, where Turkey and the US can still find some common ground to cooperate.
*Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkey’s relations with the Middle East. Twitter: @SinemCngz

The 2020 presidential campaign remains in the balance
Frank Kane/Arab News/August 28/2020
Donald Trump greets Joe Biden and Barack Obama after being sworn in as the 45th president of the U.S., Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2017. (Reuters)
An interesting and wholly unexpected political dynamic has reared its head in both the just-completed Democratic convention and in the ongoing Republican version: The art of counter-programming. This political tactic has it that both changing the subject and/or tackling a weakness head-on can pay significant political dividends. The US convention season, traditionally (ahead of the autumn debates) a policy light zone in any case, has seen both parties stray far from the two primary 2020 presidential issues of COVID-19 and violence in America’s cities amid massive civil rights protests.
Instead, we find the Democrats talking at length about the virtues of kindness, while the Republicans take head-on their enemies’ cries that they are barely veiled white nationalists. Intriguingly, in both cases, at least so far, the counter-programming has been highly effective, perhaps even altering overall narrative impediments both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have been laboring under.
In the Democrats case, the virtues of kindness — surely the first time such an issue has been highlighted in a modern political campaign — has paid narrative dividends. One of the most effective speakers at the Democratic convention was a young man with a stutter, who spoke movingly about how Biden (a lifelong sufferer) stopped to support him, going so far as to give him a book of the poetry of W.B. Yeats, suggesting that, as proved the case with him, reciting poetry could alleviate the condition.
Indeed, the standard narrative of Biden is that he is at base a fundamentally decent man. This stands in total contrast to the persona of Trump. Indeed, a June Fox News poll found that only 37 percent of respondents believe the president "cares about people like you," while a decisive 57 percent say he does not.
This gets at the perceived negative aspects of Trump’s personality, as well-educated suburban voters (especially women) have deserted the Republican Party in droves, more due to Trump’s negative personality than over any substantial policy differences. Retaining these voters by highlighting Biden’s genuine bedrock decency in the end is not a peripheral concern. Instead, it is central to retaining the party’s advantage among suburban voters, who supported Trump in 2016, while decisively shifting toward the Democrats in the midterm elections of 2018.
For the Republicans, a dose of counter-programming has proven necessary too. In their case, while it is politically acceptable to be viewed as the party of American nationalism — as indeed Republicans have been since the time of Lincoln — it is decidedly neither socially nor politically all right to be seen as the party of white nationalism, a charge the Democrats have leveled at them to some effect following the advent of the George Floyd civil rights protests.
To the surprise of many, the Republicans have successfully taken this hot-button issue head-on. The early stages of their convention have seen African-American Sen. Tim Scott talk of his rise from Cotton to Congress in just one generation. Likewise, Trump’s former UN Ambassador, Niki Haley, of Indian ancestry, spoke movingly about how the party should become the home of all immigrant strivers. By showing a different, and unexpected, face to the American people through their convention, Republicans are hoping to challenge the settling (and highly detrimental) political narrative that they are the home of America’s shrinking white population, and little else.
Both the Democrats and Republicans did surprisingly well at their conventions.
If this narrative takes hold, given fundamental changes in American demography, Republicans are doomed to lose national elections for the next generation. Instead, the surprisingly hopeful convention marked a good first step toward eradicating the party’s baleful negatives.
Conventions rarely if ever determine American presidential campaign outcomes. Indeed, even the more touted autumn debates only occasionally (as in the case of Kennedy-Nixon in 1960 and perhaps Carter-Reagan in 1980) tip the presidential scales. However, that does not mean they are unimportant, as they provide windows into the souls of the parties, showing us what they think their weaknesses and their strengths truly are.
In the case of the Republicans the party is rightly worried it is turning off the growing non-white percentage of the country’s voters. In the case of the Democrats, fearing Republican charges that their tilt to the left might damage them as the campaign reaches its climax, Democrats are showcasing Biden’s fundamental decency as a form of ideological insurance. Both parties did surprisingly well at their conventions; the 2020 presidential campaign remains in the balance.
*Dr. John C. Hulsman is the president and managing partner of John C. Hulsman Enterprises, a prominent global political risk consulting firm. He is also senior columnist for City AM, the newspaper of the City of London. He can be contacted via www.chartwellspeakers.com.

Forget other models. Aramco should carry on being ... Aramco
Frank Kane/Arab News/August 28/2020
The big debate in the world of corporate energy is whether or not Saudi Aramco will be able to pay the $75 billion (SR281 billion) dividend it pledged at the time of the initial public offering (IPO) last year.
According to various commentators, the Saudi oil giant will not have sufficient financial resources to meet the big dividend commitment, or at least not without substantial borrowing on the international debt markets.
These gloomy pundits say that Aramco should be more like other oil companies that have cut their dividends to suit the straitened conditions of the current oil market. Europeans such as Shell and BP cut dividend payments for the first half of 2020, though Americans like Exxon Mobil and Chevron maintained dividends. It is clear that Aramco sees the big US companies as more of a peer group than the Europeans. Not only did it reiterate the $75 billion pledge at the time of recent results, it is also fully committed, as the American groups are, to a future as an oil and energy producer, rather than embarking on some post-oil future the Europeans see as the way forward.
This is not to say Aramco does not believe in the energy transition; rather that it believes oil and gas will continue to be vital factors of the energy equation for decades to come. Surely that is right.
But back to the dividend. At the recent half-year results presentation, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser reiterated his determination to stick with the $75 billion, pointing out that the portion of that payment due to investors in the IPO was “ring fenced” at the time of the flotation.
What got the pundits speculating was that, on the face of it, this payment would be “uncovered” this year. With crude prices low (though slowly recovering), financial conditions in the oil business are the toughest many can remember.
In these circumstances, Aramco would not have enough cash to pay the dividend without borrowing more money to do so, the argument went.
It is a valid debate, but one that does not really stand up to scrutiny, for several reasons. First, although Aramco profits were substantially down in the first half, it was the only one of the oil majors to actually turn a profit, thanks to commanding market share and low cost of production.
The second reason the Aramco dividend looks safe was highlighted by Christyan Malek, one of the best analysts in the business, at J.P. Morgan. The dividend pledge was entirely appropriate and made Aramco shares an “overweight” item in the JPM portfolio, he said.
Although Aramco profits were substantially down in the first half, it was the only one of the oil majors to actually turn a profit, thanks to commanding market share and low cost of production.
Aramco capacity to pay the dividend rests on its low production costs and consequent huge cash flow. As other oil companies either slash investment in new production or withdraw into a post-petroleum world, Aramco will be able to further benefit from those advantages, “leaving Aramco in pole position to take a higher share of demand growth.”
If, as JPM believes, we are heading into a “supercycle” of oil-price rises in 2022, Aramco will take full advantage of any spike in prices.
Aramco could also, Malek noted, reduce its own capital expenditure further. It has said its outlay for next year will be at the lower end of a range already reduced from a top figure of $30 billion, which many in the market are taking to mean it would be about $20 billion.
The other reason the Aramco dividend is safe is that, as many commentators have said, it has huge firepower in international capital markets to raise debt to cover any temporary shortfall. Triple-A rated and with an impressive track record in bond markets on last year’s historic issue, any Aramco issue will be highly ttractive to bond investors.
Sure, borrowing levels have increased because of the SABIC acquisition, but they are still very low by international standards, providing plenty of wriggle room in international financial markets.
For all these reasons, it does not make much sense to say that Aramco should be “more like Exxon or Shell.” Such a unique company in so many ways, it really just has to carry on being Aramco.
• Frank Kane is an award-winning business journalist based in Dubai. Twitter: @frankkanedubai