English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 28/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

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Bible Quotations For today

My sheep give ear to my voice, and I have knowledge of them, and they come after me: And I give them eternal life; they will never come to destruction, and no one will ever take them out of my hand. That which my Father has given to me has more value than all; and no one is able to take anything out of the Father's hand. I and my Father are one.
John 10/01-30/Truly I say to you, He who does not go through the door into the place where the sheep are kept, but gets in by some other way, is a thief and an outlaw. He who goes in by the door is the keeper of the sheep. The porter lets him in; and the sheep give ear to his voice; he says over the names of the sheep, and takes them out. When he has got them all out, he goes before them, and the sheep go after him, for they have knowledge of his voice. They will not go after another who is not their keeper, but will go from him in flight, because his voice is strange to them. In this Jesus was teaching them in the form of a story: but what he said was not clear to them. So Jesus said again, Truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and outlaws: but the sheep did not give ear to them.
I am the door: if any man goes in through me he will have salvation, and will go in and go out, and will get food. The thief comes only to take the sheep and to put them to death: he comes for their destruction: I have come so that they may have life and have it in greater measure. I am the good keeper of sheep: the good keeper gives his life for the sheep. He who is a servant, and not the keeper or the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and goes in flight, away from the sheep; and the wolf comes down on them and sends them in all directions: Because he is a servant he has no interest in the sheep. I am the good keeper; I have knowledge of my sheep, and they have knowledge of me, Even as the Father has knowledge of me and I of the Father; and I am giving my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep which are not of this field: I will be their guide in the same way, and they will give ear to my voice, so there will be one flock and one keeper. For this reason am I loved by the Father, because I give up my life so that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me; I give it up of myself. I have power to give it up, and I have power to take it again. These orders I have from my Father.
There was a division again among the Jews because of these words. And a number of them said, He has an evil spirit and is out of his mind; why do you give ear to him? Others said, These are not the words of one who has an evil spirit. Is it possible for an evil spirit to make blind people see? Then came the feast of the opening of the Temple in Jerusalem: it was winter; And Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon's covered way. Then the Jews came round him, saying, how long are you going to keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, say so clearly. Jesus said in answer, I have said it and you have no belief: the works which I do in my Father's name, these give witness about me. But you have no belief because you are not of my sheep. My sheep give ear to my voice, and I have knowledge of them, and they come after me: And I give them eternal life; they will never come to destruction, and no one will ever take them out of my hand. That which my Father has given to me has more value than all; and no one is able to take anything out of the Father's hand. I and my Father are one.  

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 27-28/2020

Lebanon/Health Ministry: 1754 new cases of Corona, 15 deaths
Lebanon lockdown possible if COVID-19 cases increase
Lebanon to Get First Vaccines in February
Al-Rahi meets with the late Joe Bejjani's family: Perpetrators are tools and there are those who incited them
Al-Rahi warns those obstructing the government formation: They fear losing their chairs while they impoverish our youth
Al-Rahi Warns Govt. Obstructors, Vows to Resume Mediation
Hariri Travels to UAE and Saudi Arabia
Deadlock Continues between Aoun and Hariri
Army Makes Arrests after Syrian Refugee Camp Burnt to Ground
Nasrallah Says MBS Pushed for His Assassination, Israel Still Cautious
French authorities to question Carlos Ghosn in Lebanon
Syrian Refugee Camp Burnt to Ground in Northern Lebanon
Derian strongly denounces burning of displaced Syrians' tents in the North: They are guests and we must help them
Lebanon’s corrupt politicians: All for one and one for all/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib//Arab News/December 27/2020
Could Lebanon be part of a grand bargain in the Middle East?/Raghida DerghamThe National/December 27/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 27-28/2020

Full Text of Holy Father’s Angelus Commentary on Feast of Holy Family
Pastoral Letter for Feast of Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
Israel’s PM Netanyahu expects ties visit by Morocco next week
Gulf foreign ministers hold online meeting before GCC summit
Iranian cleric behind attack on Saudi embassy appointed advisor to Judo Federation
Prominent activist accuses Iran of delaying COVID-19 vaccine purchase
Turkey says it killed 15 Kurdish militants preparing attack in northeast Syria
Top Egypt officials visit Libya capital for first time in years
Libyan National Army will be seen as ‘targets’ if they attack Turkish forces: Turkey
El-Sisi: Renaissance Dam needs binding deal, must preserve Egypt’s rights
Turkish parliament approves controversial oversight law
Israel, UAE collaborating to eliminate UNRWA - report
EU Begins Vaccinations to End Covid 'Nightmare'
 

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 27-28/2020

We Will Squash Them’: The Persecution of Christians, November 2020/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/December 27, 2020
Cowardly rush back to flawed nuclear deal leaves world less safe/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/December 27/2020
Biden’s in-tray is already full/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/December 27/2020
Food security: Time to put our money where our mouths are/Samer Kurdi/Arab News/December 27/2020
Khamenei's double game with the nuclear deal/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 28/2020
Peace and zero hunger go hand in hand/Prince Faisal bin Farhan & David Beasle//Arab News/December 28/2020

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 26-27/2020

Lebanon/Health Ministry: 1754 new cases of Corona, 15 deaths
NNA/December 28/2020  
The Ministry of Public Health announced, on Sunday, that 1754 new Corona cases have been reported, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 171,226.
It also indicated that 15 deaths were also registered during the past 24 hours.
 

Lebanon lockdown possible if COVID-19 cases increase
Arab News/December 28/2020
DUBAI: Lebanon’s Minister of Interior said the country may go into another lockdown if daily coronavirus cases surge. Interior Minister, Mohammed Fahmi, told local media The Daily Star on Saturday that he hoped daily cases would remain as they are to avoid another lockdown in the country. On Friday, Lebanon announced that it detected its first case of the new variant of the coronavirus on a flight arriving from London. “The detection of the first case of the new variant of Covid-19 on Middle East Airlines flight 202 coming from London on Dec. 21,” the country’s health minister said on Twitter, urging all passengers on the flight and their families to take precautionary measures. Lebanon has reported over 1,000 COVID-19 deaths. With the holiday season in full swing and lockdown measures eased up, Lebanon has been witnessing an increase in cases with the daily tally crossing the 2,000 mark.

Lebanon to Get First Vaccines in February
Agence France Presse/December 28/2020
Lebanon will receive its first shipment of coronavirus vaccines in February from Pfizer-BioNTech, the health ministry said Sunday. "Lebanon will receive the vaccine in mid-February in instalments," it said in a statement. "It will cover 15 percent of the population." The ministry said it would later secure "additional vaccines" to cover another 20 percent of the population as part of an agreement with COVAX, without specifying which brand. COVAX is an international initiative that aims to ensure equitable access to coronavirus vaccines for all countries. The ministry said the vaccines would be made available via the private sector. Lebanon, with a population of around six million, has recorded 171,662 coronavirus cases, including 1,394 deaths, since its outbreak started in February. Ahead of the Christmas holidays, the government pushed back a night curfew to 3:00 am and allowed nightclubs and bars to reopen. This prompted criticism from health professionals who warned bed occupancy in hospital intensive care units was running critically low. Lebanon is grappling with its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. The Lebanese pound has lost more than two thirds of its value on the black market, leading prices to skyrocket. More than half of the population is trapped in poverty, according to the United Nations.

Al-Rahi meets with the late Joe Bejjani's family: Perpetrators are tools and there are those who incited them
NNA/December 27/2020
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, met today with the family of the slain Joe Bejani, accompanied by Mayor of Kahaleh Jean Bejani, who spoke on their behalf in calling for unveiling the truth behind this heinous crime. The family thanked the Patriarch and the security services for closely following up on the course of investigation, calling for the truth to be unveiled as speedily as possible while expressing their fear of interferences into the case that could hinder the truth. The Patriarch, in turn, assured the family of the deceased that he is sparing no effort in following up with the concerned security leaders and the Interior Minister, who promised to exert all possible actions to uncover this crime. "It is a great wound to the family of the late Joe and to the people of Al-Kahaleh," he said, deeming what happened as "totally unacceptable and refused.""This wound belongs to each and every one of us...a scar to our dignity," al-Rahi added regretfully, promising to pursue his direct contacts with those concerned in this case. "We are with you in our daily prayers, for this tragedy is so huge and has shaken the feelings of all Lebanese," the Patriarch said to the late's family, stressing that "the perpetrators are tools and there are those who incited them and they must be exposed, alongside those who plotted for and executed this crime."

Al-Rahi warns those obstructing the government formation: They fear losing their chairs while they impoverish our youth
NNA/December 27/2020
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Butros al-Rahi, cautioned Lebanon's politicians who are obstructing the government formation for bearing responsibility for the state's failure. Likening them to Herod, the Patriarch said: "We see that the image of Herod is repeated among responsible officials, when they turn their deaf ears to the word of God, close their eyes to seeing the misery of our people and are afraid for their chairs, while our promising youth are impoverished and forced to emigrate, and the rest who are steadfast in the nation's lands fail, as they tighten their rule and grip of power."
In his religious sermon during Sunday Mass in Bkirki this morning, al-Rahi criticized politicians for failing to rise up to their responsibilities and to form a new government before Christmas, at a time when the country is witnessing the worst of crises.
"The holidays were a way for them to evade pursuing efforts to form the government, while all officials were supposed to spare no effort nor hesitate for a single moment to work to form the cabinet, as our country is grappling with collapse," regretted the Patriarch.
He deemed it "so unfortunate" that the misery and sadness witnessed by the Lebanese is of no concern to their officials, at a time when the Lebanese ought to be celebrating the holy season of birth and joy. "If only the high-ranking officials would disturb themselves and resort to their consciences, evaluate their positions, options and performance, and draw salvaging lessons and adopt the right decisions...With this action, they would restore the decision-making process and put an end to all those linking Lebanon's fate to that of other countries," al-Rahi corroborated.
While addressing a word of gratitude to His Holiness Pope Francis for the message he addressed to the Lebanese on Christmas Eve, Patriarch al-Rahi called on political officials in Lebanon to be aware of his [the Pope's] deep pain for their robbing of the precious hopes for living in peace, and for Lebanon's persistence, towards history and the world, as a message of freedom and a witness to a decent life together. "I warn all those obstructing the formation of the government, near or far, that they bear the responsibility for putting all constitutional institutions on a path of disruption, one after the other, because the state whose terms of reference are not complete and do not complement each other, falls in one way or another," the Patriarch underlined."Saving Lebanon politically, economically and financially is still possible if a government is formed; one that includes figures that inspire confidence in their competencies, reputation  and independence, rather than people who avert public opinion and alienate the international community," affirmed al-Rahi.

Al-Rahi Warns Govt. Obstructors, Vows to Resume Mediation
Naharnet/December 28/2020
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday lashed out at those obstructing the formation of the new government and promised that he will soon resume his mediation in a bid to break the deadlock. “I warn all those obstructing the government’s formation, be them near or far, that they bear the responsibility of putting all state institutions on the track of paralysis, one after another, because a state whose authorities are not complete and integrated would collapse in a way or another,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon. “If someone is betting on the state’s collapse, let them know that this collapse would not benefit them nor pave the way for them to seize power, because victory against one another is impossible in all standards, and because the Lebanese are people who do not tolerate the fabrication of a state that does not resemble them or their identity, history, society and the sacrifices of their martyrs for the sake of freedom and dignity,” the patriarch added. Reminding of Pope Francis’ latest message about the Lebanese crisis, al-Rahi pledged to “once again work with officials on pushing the cabinet formation process forward.” “This is the demand of the people and their right and this is Lebanon’s interest,” he explained. He also emphasized that “rescuing Lebanon politically, economically and financially is still possible, on the condition of the formation of a government comprising figures who inspire confidence through their competencies, reputation and independence.”These would be figures “who do not startle the public opinion or the international community,” al-Rahi added.

Hariri Travels to UAE and Saudi Arabia
Naharnet/December 28/2020
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri left Beirut Sunday for a family visit abroad, his press office said.Al-Jadeed television meanwhile reported that Hariri will first visit the United Arab Emirates before heading to Saudi Arabia.

Deadlock Continues between Aoun and Hariri
Naharnet/December 28/2020
There are no new developments expected in the cabinet formation process in the coming days, especially after Lebanon entered the holidays period, Free Patriotic Movement sources said. “Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s initiative was aimed at securing the meeting between PM-designate Saad Hariri and President Michel Aoun,” the sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday. “This was achieved and the initiative ended at this point, and accordingly things are still deadlocked” between Aoun and Hariri, the sources added. “Contacts should be reactivated between them with the beginning of the new year,” the sources went on to say.

Army Makes Arrests after Syrian Refugee Camp Burnt to Ground
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/December 28/2020
The Lebanese army said Sunday it had conducted raids and arrested two Lebanese men and six Syrians as part of an investigation into the torching of a Syrian refugee camp in the norther region of Minieh. The statement said the Lebanese men had fired weapons into the air and torched the tents. The army also confiscated weapons during the raids and said it expected to make further arrests. More than 300 Syrian refugees were forced to flee the informal camp as the blaze raged through and burnt tents to the ground. The fire ensued following a fight between a Lebanese family and Syrians living in the camp according to Lebanese media reports. Four people were hospitalized with minor injuries from the fire. Dozens of refugees returned to the remains of the camp on Sunday to try to salvage anything that might have survived the blaze. "I came back to check on belongings inside our small tent only to discover that we no longer own anything," said Amira Issa, a 45-year-old mother of five who fled Syria eight years ago. "We lost everything in one moment," she told AFP, sobbing. The fire sparked an outpouring of sympathy on social media from Lebanese, who condemned what they called a racist attack. Syria's foreign ministry expressed "deep regret" over the incident and called on "Syrians forced to leave their country by an unjust war to return" home. UNHCR said most camp residents have found temporary shelter. "They have relocated to nearby informal settlements... or were taken in by area residents," said UNHCR spokesman Khaled Kabbara. "We saw a remarkable level of solidarity from the Lebanese community offering vacant shelters, including hospitals and schools."Lebanon says it hosts some 1.5 million Syrians, including around one million registered as refugees with the United Nations. Authorities have called on refugees to return to Syria even though rights groups warn that the war-torn country is not yet safe. In November, around 270 Syrian refugee families fled the northern Lebanese town of Bsharri after a Syrian national was accused of shooting dead a Lebanese resident, sparking widespread tension and hostility.

Nasrallah Says MBS Pushed for His Assassination, Israel Still Cautious
Text Of Nasrallah's Interview with Almayaden TV as posted On Al Manar Hezbollah Site
Sayyed Nasrallah: Resistance Missiles Multiply in Quantities, Can Reach any Point in Occupied Palestine
Sara Taha Moughnieh/ Al-Manar/December 28, 2020
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah denied Sunday having any data around Israeli or US intention to perform any operation before the end of Trump’s presidency dubbing the latter a “crazy who is in a state of severe madness”.
“It is not something only concerning Iran, Lebanon or Palestine but even the Republican and Democratic leaderships are worried about what he could do,” he pointed out, stressing that “the resistance axis should be cautious throughout these couple of weeks so it wouldn’t be dragged into an uncalculated confrontation…”
In an interview to Al-Mayadeen TV channel, Sayyed Nasrallah revealed that he, along with other Hezbollah leaders are targets for the US, Israeli and Saudi Arabia, adding that the latter have been instigating to assassinate him since many years, even before the Yemeni war began.
“Saudi King, Mohammad bin Salman proposed this issue in his first visit to the US after the election of Trump, and the latter approved assigning this operation to “Israel”,” his eminence clarified, noting that “Saudi Arabia, specifically in the last few years, has been acting with grudge not mindfulness”.
Sayyed Nasrallah disdained Israeli threats assuring that “when you hear Israelis waging threats on media know that there will be no action… and all the action taking place on the borders with Lebanon only reveal Israel’s concern and alertness”.
As his eminence considered that the military operation that targeted Hajj Qassem Suleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis was a trilateral operation by US-Israel-Saudi Arabia, he remembered Suleimani saying “he had a strong charisma and the power to influence anyone who knows him. He was special on the humanitarian and moral levels. He was a frontline man not a man in the operation room, a man of strategy and tactics and very conscious and well-educated on political and cultural levels.”
“In the last period before his assassination, his role and movement was highlighted a lot in Western media. They usually do that before the assassination of anyone to show their people the significance of the man targeted. I was very concerned about him and I warned him about that,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, adding “I miss him so much, I used to feel that we are one person”.
“As for Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, he was a great leader and resembled Hajj Qassem so much. He had a major role in both victories against the US and ISIL,” he further stated.
In parallel, Sayyed Nasrallah spoke about the strong relation Hajj Qassem had with all the resistance factions in Palestine and his concern that these factions get all the support they need to resist the occupation, revealing that he was the one behind sending Kornet missiles to the resistance in Gaza Strip.
“President Bashar Al-Assad bought “Kornet” missiles from the Russians, and they are the missiles we used in July war. Hajj Qassem demanded that these missiles be sent to Gaza, and I proposed the issue to President Assad who instantly approved,” his eminence explained, asserting that “I am not surprised with the Arab betrayal to the Palestinians because most of the Arab regimes have only been selling words to Palestine and have only used Iran as an excuse to normalize the relations with Israel. This took place because the Palestinian cause has become a burden on them. There is no excuse for anyone to abandon Palestine.”
As he considered that these countries have long had ties with Israel but were not made public, he assured that this new peace deal is positive because it brought this hypocrisy to public and divided the lines.
“When lines are divided this means a great victory is on its way,” he said.
In this context, Hezbollah SG stated that the relation between Hezbollah and Hamas is based on the legitimacy of the resistance and the Palestinian cause despite the conflict that emerged between Damascus and Hamas due to the Syrian developments.
He further assured that the resistance axis is stronger than before and the Palestinian people have not been influenced by the normalization treaties as they still stand firm and steadfast, praising the joint maneuvers between the resistance factions in Gaza.
While his eminence expressed that the Palestinians of 1948 in the occupied territories want the liberation of Palestine more than anyone else, he stated that “as an Islamist, I find the stance of the Justice and Development Party in Morocco concerning normalization with Israelis more painful than other stances”.
On Hajj Qassem’s role in Iraq, Sayyed Nasrallah revealed that the Iraqi resistance factions who defeated ISIL were the ones who performed most of the operations that urged the US to pull out if Iraq, unlike what media portrayed about Al-Qaeda being behind them.
“I assure to you that the Iraqi resistance groups were the ones performing operations against the occupation under the support of Al-Quds force led by Hajj Qassem Suleimani, and we were in contact with them since then,” his eminence said, indicating that “4 800 suicide attacks were waged in Iraq, while the resistance operations were very accurate and merely against the occupation”.
Moreover, he added that “The US Army had threatened Hajj Qassem and Al-Quds Force to bombard locations in Iran if they continue to support the resistance in Iraq… If it weren’t for the Iraqi resistance, the US embassy would’ve been the one ruling Iraq now”.
Based on that, Hezbollah SG pointed out that “despite the significance of Hajj Qassem and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and their great roles, what happened with them according to our culture, methodology, history and path is a natural and expected outcome because we are in a state of historical conflict… and these two martyrs fell on the path of victories and defeat of great schemes.”
“Our axis does not rely on individuals, and while the goal behind the assassination of Hajj Qassem and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis was to erase the name of the resistance, millions of people came out and shouted “we are all resistance… we are all Qassem Suleimani”.”
Hezbollah SG recalled the speech of Imam Khamenei in which he asserted that whoever ordered and implemented the assassination of these two martyrs should be personally punished wherever he is, stating that “this should be the duty of every honorable person in the world, specifically our people in Iraq as Hajj Qassem was their guest and was martyred on their territories.”
On another level, Sayyed Nasrallah stated that “one day after the toppling of former Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak, Hajj Qassem was in the Southern Suburb of Beirut and expressed discomfort telling us that the Americans will take advantage of the “Arab Spring” to change regimes in the region for their benefit and topple governments that support the resistance specifically in Syria.
“We took his words into consideration and warned the Syrian president who chose to embrace any public movement that takes place. However, funded groups refused any political solution and started using force.”
“We don’t exaggerate when we say it was a global war on Syria. They wanted to replace the regime with another one that supports US policies, submits to Turkey and Qatar, and improves relations with Israel,” his eminence added, noting that “the war on Syria was not only because of its stance from the Palestinian cause but also for its oil and gas and for occupying it and controlling it strategically “.
“President Assad chose to stand firm and never left Syria, and his decision urged us to support him”.
Furthermore, Sayyed Nasrallah revealed that Hajj Qassem went to Moscow and met with President Putin for two hours, playing a major role in convincing him to interfere militarily in Syria.
“After its role in Syria and the regional changes, Russia regained its role in the world through the Syrian gate,” Sayyed Nasrallah assured.
On the Lebanese level, Hezbollah SG stressed that the Israelis have been in a state if alertness for months now expecting a retaliatory attack for the martyrdom of one of Hezbollah members in Syria.
“All the drills and measures the Israeli is taking on the borders are because he is aware that we will respond. The Israeli is in a state of confusion and recognizes that the resistance missiles can reach accurate goals in any place inside the occupied territories, he said, assuring that “the resistance according to the people in South Lebanon is a shield not a burden”.
Answering a question about the influence of Iran-US negotiations on some files in the region, his eminence assured that “Iran, unlike other states, does not buy and sell files in the region. It does not negotiate with the Americans about countries’ affairs on behalf of these countries. It had informed the Europeans that it will not discuss the Yemeni affairs on behalf of the Yemenis and had refused to discuss Iraqi affairs with Washington without the presence of an Iraqi delegation.”
 

French authorities to question Carlos Ghosn in Lebanon
Najia Houssari/Arab News/December 28/2020
Authorities in France have started at least two investigations related to Ghosn, one of which is related to suspicious transactions in Renault, in addition to suspicious payments for trips and special events paid by the Renault-Nissan holding company
BEIRUT: A French judicial security mission is set to question former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who has Lebanese and French nationality. The mission will arrive in Lebanon on Jan. 18 to question the 66-year-old fugitive. A judicial source told Arab News: “The Cassation Prosecutor, Judge Imad Kabalan, is the one who will interrogate Ghosn, and the French delegation has the right to participate in the interrogation.” The source added that the interrogation is part of the French case against Ghosn regarding an alleged misuse of Renault funds in a birthday party he hosted for his wife, Carole, in the Palace of Versailles. Ghosn is one of the most important and senior executives in the global auto industry. He saved Nissan, one of Japan’s largest car companies, from bankruptcy in 2000. He chaired the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, the largest of its kind in the automotive industry. Japanese authorities arrested Ghosn in 2018 for financial offenses and he was imprisoned for 130 days. He moved to Japan in the late 1990s and revolutionized the practice of corporate management. In March 2019, after Ghosn was placed under house arrest in Japan, he fled the country and entered Lebanon through Istanbul. Lebanese authorities faced criticism over a refusal to hand Ghosn over to Japanese authorities. But officials claimed that, because he is a Lebanese citizen, he should be tried on Lebanese soil by the Lebanese judiciary. The interrogation is ‘part of the French case against Ghosn regarding an alleged misuse of Renault funds in a birthday party he hosted for his wife in the Palace of Versailles. Authorities in France have started at least two investigations related to Ghosn, one of which is related to suspicious transactions in Renault, in addition to suspicious payments for trips and special events paid by the Renault-Nissan holding company, based in the Netherlands. The second investigation is focused on the misuse of company funds to pay for the Versailles party. Lebanon’s courts previously denied a lawsuit brought against Ghosn by Lebanese activists that claimed he entered Israel — an enemy state. The judiciary said that his entry to Israel was “outdated.”

Syrian Refugee Camp Burnt to Ground in Northern Lebanon
Associated Press/December 28/2020
More than 300 Syrian refugees were forced to flee an informal camp in northern Lebanon as a blaze raged through and burnt tents to the ground, U.N. and Lebanese officials said Sunday. The fire late Saturday raged for four hours as firefighters tried to put it out, the Lebanese civil defense said. The fire ensued following a fight between a Lebanese family in Minieh in the country's north and Syrians living in the camp, according to Lebanese media reports. A Lebanese official said the army is investigating the cause of the fire and conducting raids to round up those responsible for the altercation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because an official statement has not yet been released. Khaled Kabbara, a U.N. Refugee Agency spokesman in northern Lebanon, said some 375 people lived in the informal settlement that was located on a plot of rented land. He said the entire camp was burnt to the ground.
Kabbara said four people were injured in the fire and hospitalized with minor injuries. He said some residents of the camp returned Sunday to see if anything could be salvaged from the fire. Most of the refugees have sought refuge in other nearby informal settlements. Some from the local community have also offered shelter, Kabbara said. Kabbara said altercations between residents and Syrian refugees often "catastrophically impact the community as a whole." Tensions are common in Lebanon between citizens and Syrian refugees who have fled the war in their country. Lebanon is host to more than 1 million refugees, nearly a quarter of the country's population of 5 million, burdening the country's already crumbling infrastructure. Tensions between Lebanese and Syrians also dates back to the days when Syria dominated its smaller neighbor for almost three decades with thousands of troops stationed in Lebanon. They withdrew in 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which sparked massive anti-Syrian protests.

Hundreds of Syrians flee as refugee camp torched in Lebanon
Najia Houssari/Arab News/December 28/2020
BEIRUT: More than 300 Syrian refugees, including 50 children, were forced to flee after their informal camp in northern Lebanon was set ablaze and burnt to the ground early on Sunday. Firefighters fought the blaze for more than four hours but were unable to save any of the 100 tents or equipment in the camp.
The fire followed a fight between a Lebanese family and Syrians living in the camp in Bhannine in the Al-Miniyeh district, about 100 km from Beirut, the Lebanese army said. Troops later carried out raids and arrested two Lebanese men and six Syrians as part of the investigation. Military weapons and ammunition were seized during the raids and further arrests were expected. “Lebanese youths fired in the air and intentionally set fire to Syrian refugee tents after the dispute,” the Lebanese army command said.
Syrian refugees returned to the site later on Sunday as they searched for household items and personal belongings to salvage. A number of refugees said that a group of Lebanese men — at least one of whom was armed— set fire to the tents after a dispute with Syrian youths led to violence. Refugees were forced to huddle on a nearby road until 3 a.m. without shelter after the blaze. The fire followed a fight between a Lebanese family and Syrians living in the camp in Bhannine in the Al-Miniyeh district, about 100 km from Beirut, according to the Lebanese army. Members of the Lebanese Civil Defense managed after hours of hard work to put out the fire. No casualties were reported. Tawfiq Hamed, coordinator of the Future Movement in Al-Miniyeh, told Arab News that a dispute over the payment of wages to Syrian workers harvesting oranges had developed into a fight. A crisis cell was formed to aid the refugees after many fled in fear of reprisals, spending the night in nearby orchards without food, water or blankets. Several Lebanese residents in surrounding areas volunteered to host the Syrian refugees.Mustafa Wehbe, Bhannine’s mayor, said: “The attackers blocked the front and back entrances to the camp, and cut the electrical wires feeding it before they set it on fire. People cried for help and fled, running barefoot between the flames, leaving their belongings behind. Families were separated (during the incident).” The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) stepped in to help the refugees, restore the camp and find temporary housing.  The attack brought widespread condemnation. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian described it as “a heinous crime” and said the perpetrators “deserve severe punishment for this disgraceful act against humanity.”Derian said that “the Syrian refugees in Lebanon are guests, and we must help and support them until they return to their country.” He called on security forces to find the attackers and “stop the strife between siblings in the region.”Ramzi Zohra, the regional governor, said that the attack “is condemned by everyone.”
The Progressive Socialist Party called on the security services to protect the region against such incidents, while the Islamic Group in the North desacriubed the attack as “a violation of rights, an affront and a major crime.”Violent clashes between Syrian workers and Lebanese also took place in the northern town of Bcharre a month ago, leading to the death of a Lebanese man, Joseph Touq, 28. A Syrian worker later surrendered to security services, but relatives of the victim threatened workers in the area and set fire to their houses. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor at the time condemned “collective punishment against Syrian refugees.”

Derian strongly denounces burning of displaced Syrians' tents in the North: They are guests and we must help them
NNA/December 28/2020
Lebanese Republic Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian, condemned Sunday the burning of the displaced Syrians' camp in the town of Bhannine in Minieh yesterday, describing what happened as "a heinous crime that deserves severe punishment to those who carried out this disgraceful act against humanity."The Mufti stressed that "the displaced Syrians in Lebanon are distinguished guests and we must help and support them until they return to their country." Derian urged the security forces to speed-up efforts to uncover the perpetrators, in a bid to extinguish the fire of sedition between brethrens in the region.

Lebanon’s corrupt politicians: All for one and one for all
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib//Arab News/December 27/2020
On Christmas eve, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri wished the Lebanese people a merry Christmas — and the formation of a government that the Lebanese deserve, that will stop the economic crash and allow the country to recover from the port blast.
Despite many visits to the presidential palace, and although both Hariri and President Michel Aoun have said that their objective is a government of qualified technocrats in line with the French initiative, a government has still not been formed. The stated objective contradicts the political reality, which is why we have a deadlock.
To start with, despite being on different sides politically, all politicians profiteer from the system and have benefited from the spoils of corruption. Each one of them has a case against the others, so they will not allow one party to be in power while they are out, especially now that one of the stated objectives is to fight corruption. They are all interconnected and no party will gracefully exit the scene and leave their opponents to pillage the country on their own.
Unfortunately, this is the mentality. They are in a precarious position, so their only guarantee of survival is to remain in power, which takes the country back to square one. Also, the international community has lost faith in the current political class, who have embezzled aid over the years.
The president has designated Saad Hariri to form a government, but it is unlikely that the political elite will allow him to form an administration of clean technocrats untainted by politics. The current political elite are like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, all partners in crime against Lebanon. They will not allow one of their number to defect, leave the pack and act on his own. If reforms were truly initiated and forensic audits conducted in government ministries, most of the political class would be convicted, if not all. That is why the politicians in Lebanon are all for one and one for all.
The logical and conventional solution would be for the “hirak,” the protest movement, to prepare new figures to run for office, but elections are 15 months away and the country is in freefall. Delaying reforms for so long could be lethal. Also, Lebanon risks going back to the Hassan Diab scenario, a government of pseudo technocrats providing a cover for the political elite. The question is, what is the solution? How can this deadlock be broken? Already three leaders have called on the president to resign, each for their own reasons. Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces, said if he were in Michel Aoun’s shoes he would step down. The calls for the resignation of the president could be the start of a solution. The deteriorating economic situation, the political deadlock and the popular and international distrust in the political class can be solved only by a transitional government.
Despite many visits to the presidential palace, and although both Hariri and President Michel Aoun have said that their objective is a government of qualified technocrats in line with the French initiative, a government has still not been formed.
The 1952 scenario may present a solution. Facing popular wrath and in order to save Lebanon from armed conflict, Bechara El-Khoury resigned as president and asked the commander of the army to become acting president and head of a transitional government that prepared for new elections, in which Camille Chamoun won the presidency. The army is the only institution that people respect and trust. It represents the Lebanese across the different sects.
This scenario would not mean that the country would be governed by the military, but it means the possibility of having a government of technocrats from outside the political class. However, for the political class to agree on leaving would be like signing their own death warrant. In this case negotiations, pressure and pragmatism should be applied. Though Lebanese people have pledged “never to forget or forgive” and the elite have lost a large part of their following, they still have a constituency that can take to the streets and is willing to carry arms. The corrupt politicians will mobilize their base if they know that their survival is at stake. This is why they should be offered a graceful exit.
Though this may seem unfair to the average Lebanese, politics is the art of the possible. Sanctions under the Magnitsky Act should be used to exert pressure on politicians to leave the scene and return a large part of the embezzled funds in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Once they leave, the void would be filled by a transitional government headed by the commander of the army and comprising non-politicized technocrats who will conduct reforms and prepare for new parliamentary elections, following which a new president is elected and a new government is formed. The transitional period should not exceed two years. If this scenario is adopted there is hope for the resurrection of Lebanon; otherwise the country is heading toward a total crash.
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese NGO focused on Track II. She holds a Ph.D. in politics from the University of Exeter and is an affiliated scholar with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.

Could Lebanon be part of a grand bargain in the Middle East?
Raghida DerghamThe National/December 27/2020
ebanon has sometimes been described as a “volcano of instability”. Given the impossibility of forecasting its future, which is for the most part shaped by foreign actors as much as local ones, it is perhaps a fitting label.
Despite being just 10,452 square kilometres in size with a population of under seven million people, this tiny Arab country is an important neighbour for both Syria and Israel. For, it serves as some sort of an unofficial military base for the Iranian regime and its proxies. Major powers, therefore, are forced to take it seriously from a strategic standpoint – despite repeatedly clashing with its intransigent, self-preservative and deeply sectarian political class.
US President-elect Joe Biden is all set to enter the White House on January 20. Expecting a shift in policy vis-a-vis the Middle East, particularly regarding America’s adversarial relationship with Iran, leaders of key countries are focused on improving their own fortunes in the region. The most notable example is Russia. Moscow, which views Syria as its gateway to the Middle East, is attempting to close the book on the nine-year-old civil war in the country. Over the past decade, it has offered military support to the Assad regime in Damascus against rebel forces backed by Turkey and other countries. But to bring lasting peace to Syria, Moscow believes it must help bring stability and security in its neighbourhood – which includes Lebanon.
Indeed, establishing political stability in an otherwise politically unstable country is in Moscow’s interest. The reason for this is simple: so long as Lebanon’s political class is weak and divided, the country remains an arena for foreign meddling, which undermines its stability and, in turn, that of the countries around it.
For genuine change, however, Lebanon’s institutions need to be free of the influence of one such foreign meddler: Iran.
There is an understanding in Moscow that Tehran wants Lebanon to remain a wild card in its regional game, and therefore would be uninterested in encouraging an enactment of reforms in that country. Moscow is also all too aware of the influence France, once Lebanon’s colonial master, wields there. For months, Paris has been attempting to resolve the political impasse in Lebanon and, in the process, bring it closer to the West. But this has proved an arduous task.
Like France, Russia also seeks to help Lebanon find its feet and become a genuine sovereign player.
Anti-government demonstrators with a metal sculpture in Beirut spelling out the word "revolution" during a protest as Lebanese mark the anniversary of nationwide protests against deteriorating economy and corruption. Reuters
Anti-government demonstrators with a metal sculpture in Beirut spelling out the word "revolution" during a protest as Lebanese mark the anniversary of nationwide protests against deteriorating economy and corruption. Reuters
Lebanon has sometimes been described as a “volcano of instability”. Given the impossibility of forecasting its future, which is for the most part shaped by foreign actors as much as local ones, it is perhaps a fitting label.
Despite being just 10,452 square kilometres in size with a population of under seven million people, this tiny Arab country is an important neighbour for both Syria and Israel. For, it serves as some sort of an unofficial military base for the Iranian regime and its proxies. Major powers, therefore, are forced to take it seriously from a strategic standpoint – despite repeatedly clashing with its intransigent, self-preservative and deeply sectarian political class.
US President-elect Joe Biden is all set to enter the White House on January 20. Expecting a shift in policy vis-a-vis the Middle East, particularly regarding America’s adversarial relationship with Iran, leaders of key countries are focused on improving their own fortunes in the region.
Moscow, which views Syria as its gateway to the Middle East, is attempting to close the book on the nine-year-old civil war in the country. Over the past decade, it has offered military support to the Assad regime in Damascus against rebel forces backed by Turkey and other countries. But to bring lasting peace to Syria, Moscow believes it must help bring stability and security in its neighbourhood – which includes Lebanon.
Indeed, establishing political stability in an otherwise politically unstable country is in Moscow’s interest. The reason for this is simple: so long as Lebanon’s political class is weak and divided, the country remains an arena for foreign meddling, which undermines its stability and, in turn, that of the countries around it.
For genuine change, however, Lebanon’s institutions need to be free of the influence of one such foreign meddler: Iran.
There is an understanding in Moscow that Tehran wants Lebanon to remain a wild card in its regional game, and therefore would be uninterested in encouraging an enactment of reforms in that country. Moscow is also all too aware of the influence France, once Lebanon’s colonial master, wields there. For months, Paris has been attempting to resolve the political impasse in Lebanon and, in the process, bring it closer to the West. But this has proved an arduous task.
Like France, Russia also seeks to help Lebanon find its feet and become a genuine sovereign player.
A report prepared by a task force in Moscow has proposed a number of solutions, which include imposing boundaries on Hezbollah to cease direct intervention and influence; preventing any threat from originating in Lebanon to other countries; securing collective economic aid to rebuild the country; including Lebanon in various regional, political and diplomatic processes; concluding domestic political agreements that strengthen stability – even if those agreements are secret in nature; and pushing leaders to assume personal responsibility for national development.
All this requires removing the causes of instability in Lebanon, according to the report, which stressed the need to transform Lebanon “from an arena of conflict to a state with a future at any price”.
Russia is, meanwhile, working towards bringing Syria, Iran and Israel to the table – as I have previously written in these pages. The hope is that Syria and Israel will reach a deal regarding how much Iranian military presence should be allowed in that part of the region, which the Assad regime relies on for its security – and which Israel sees as a threat to its national security.
In the larger scheme of things, Russia sees Israel as a potential partner in its plan to bring about a radical change in the region – but it will not do so by abandoning Iran, which is its ally in Syria. To gain Israel’s support towards supporting its interests in the region, Moscow will need to find a way to convince Iran to draw down its military presence in Syria.
The upcoming elections in both Iran and Israel will make it harder for Moscow to bring both countries to the table. However, it is reportedly undeterred by this challenge. It is already engaging with Israel on this matter and intends to hold talks with Iran early next year.
Russia has leverage over Iran, given the business they do with one another. Moreover, both countries rely on one another in managing the Syrian conflict. Russia’s plan is to prevent total Iranian domination over the Syrian regime but at the same time ensure it has some influence in the country – and it intends to strike a bargain with the regime in Tehran in this regard.
It must do so in the context of Lebanon as well.
If Moscow has its way, one could expect serious reforms in the Middle East over the next few years. Russia sees itself, the US, France and Israel as the powers that will shape the region’s geopolitical future – without, of course, excluding other regional stakeholders such as Iran and key Arab countries.
The question is, who will bear responsibility for the process of achieving long-term stability in the Middle East? The political and economic costs will be high, and Russia can only bear limited responsibility in such a process.
It is also pertinent to ask whether Lebanon’s politicians, who seem largely unconcerned by their country’s lack of stability and sovereignty, can be convinced to act in the larger interests of their people.
*Raghida Dergham is the founder and executive chairwoman of the Beirut Institute and a columnist for The National
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 27-28/2020

Full Text of Holy Father’s Angelus Commentary on Feast of Holy Family
Announces Year of Reflection on Amoris Laetitia
Vatican Media/December 27/2020
Pope Francis in his Angelus commentary on the Feast of the Holy Family — December 27, 2020 — noted the upcoming anniversary of Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, promulgated five years ago this coming March 19, 2021. In that context, he announced a year of reflection on the document and said reflections will be available to communities and families throughout the world.
“As of now, I invite everyone to take part in the initiatives that will be promoted during the Year and that will be coordinated by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life,” the Holy Father said. He spoke from the Library of the Apostolic Palace due to the pandemic restrictions in place.
Following is the full text of the Pope’s Angelus commentary, provided by the Vatican.
Dear brothers and sisters, good afternoon!
A few days after Christmas, the liturgy invites us to turn our eyes to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It is good to reflect on the fact that the Son of God wanted to be in need of the warmth of a family, like all children. Precisely for this reason, because it is Jesus’ family, the family of Nazareth is the model family, in which all families of the world can find their sure point of reference and sure inspiration. In Nazareth, the springtime of the human life of the Son of God began to blossom at the moment he was conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit in the virginal womb of Mary. Within the welcoming walls of the House of Nazareth, Jesus’ childhood unfolded in joy, surrounded by the maternal attention of Mary and the care of Joseph, in whom Jesus was able to see God’s tenderness (cf. Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, 2).
In imitation of the Holy Family, we are called to rediscover the educational value of the family unit: it must be founded on the love that always regenerates relationships, opening up horizons of hope. Within the family, one can experience sincere communion when it is a house of prayer, when the affections are serious, profound, pure, when forgiveness prevails over discord, when the daily harshness of life is softened by mutual tenderness and serene adherence to God’s will. In this way, the family opens itself to the joy that God gives to all those who know how to give joyfully. At the same time, it finds the spiritual energy to be open to the outside world, to others, to the service of brothers and sisters, to collaboration in building an ever new and better world; capable, therefore, of becoming a bearer of positive stimuli; the family evangelizes by the example of life. It is true, in every family there are problems, and at times arguments. “And, Father, I argued…” but we are human, we are weak, and we all quarrel within the family at times. I would like to say something to you: if you quarrel within the family, do not end the day without making peace. “Yes, I quarreled”, but before the end of the day, make peace. And do you know why? Because cold war, day after day, is extremely dangerous. It does not help. And then, in the family, there are three words, three phrases that must always be held dear: “Please”, “Thank you”, and “I am sorry”. “Please”, so as not to be intrusive in the life of others. Please: may I do something? Is it alright with you if I do this? Please. Always, so as not to be intrusive. Please, the first word. “Thank you”: so much help, so much service is granted to us in the family: always say thank you. Gratitude is the lifeblood of the noble soul. “Thank you”. And then, the hardest to say: “I am sorry”. Because we always do bad things and very often someone is offended by this: “I am sorry”, “I am sorry”. Do not forget the three worlds: “please”, “thank you”, and “I am sorry”. If in a family, in the family environment there are these three words, the family is fine.
Today’s feast reminds us of the example of evangelizing with the family, proposing to us once again the ideal of conjugal and family love, as underlined in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, promulgated five years ago this coming 19 March. And it will be a year of reflection on Amoris Laetitia and it will be an opportunity to focus more closely on the contents of the document. These reflections will be made available to ecclesial communities and families, to accompany them on their journey. As of now, I invite everyone to take part in the initiatives that will be promoted during the Year and that will be coordinated by the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life. Let us entrust this journey, with families all over the world, to the Holy Family of Nazareth, in particular to Saint Joseph, the devoted spouse, and father.
May the Virgin Mary, to whom we now address the Angelus prayer, grant that families throughout the world be increasingly fascinated by the evangelical ideal of the Holy Family, so as to become a leaven of a new humanity and of a genuine and universal solidarity.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet you all, families, groups, and individual faithful, who are following the Angelus prayer via the social communications media. My thoughts turn in particular to the families who, during these months, have lost a loved one or have been affected by the consequences of the pandemic. I think also of the doctors, nurses, and all healthcare professionals whose great example on the front line in fighting the spread of the virus has had significant repercussions on family life.
And today I entrust all families to the Lord, especially those most tried by life’s difficulties and by the scourges of misunderstanding and division. May the Lord, born in Bethlehem, grant them all the serenity and strength to walk together in the way of goodness. And do not forget these three words that will help so much to achieve family unity: “Please” – not to be intrusive, to respect others – “Thank you” – to thank each other, mutually, within the wrong. And this apology – or when we quarrel – please say it before the end of the day: make peace before the end of the day.
I wish you all a good Sunday and please don’t forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and arrivederci!
© Libreria Editrice Vatican
 

Pastoral Letter for Feast of Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
By Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster/Vatican Media/December 27/2020
These days we hear a great deal about ecology, and rightly so. We must take care of the created world in its beauty and resources.
Interestingly, the word ‘ecology’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘home’ or ‘place to live’. So, it is a word that can be applied not only to the natural world but also to our homes and to the Church. It is a good word to have in mind as we celebrate this Feast of the Holy Family.
This year has been so difficult for many families. Homelife has been tested, and financial worries burden many. Separation from loved ones has been painful and many have lost loved ones in death, with little chance to grieve them fully. So, the Prayers of the Mass today are vital. In them, we seek God’s blessing on our families and homes, that they may be places of kindness and joy. The reading from St Paul to the Colossians spelt out what that means in practice: compassion, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. Then he added, ‘Over these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love.’
But St Paul is applying these words first of all to the Church, to us, chosen by God to be a witness in the world to God’s love and compassion. St Paul adds: ‘And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful’ (Colossians 3:15). Today, then, we can think and pray not only about our own families but also about the family of the Church. We can ask for God’s blessing on this family, this ‘ecology’ in which we live, the ‘ecology’ of the Church.
Over these last months, the life of the Church has been under strain. We have been unable to come together to express our faith as a full community. Often, we have not been able to enter into the mystery of Christ celebrated in the sacraments. We pray that slowly this will return as the threat of the COVID-19 virus is overcome. Over these last months, the life of the Church has been stained by the emergence of the picture of the abuse inflicted on children and vulnerable people in the Church over the last fifty years. We know, with the benefit of hindsight, that bishops and leaders, including myself, have made mistakes. I deeply regret them. We are continually learning from them. In this moment of strain and stain, we take our lead from the Gospel. Like Anna and Simeon, we fix our eyes on the Lord, on the child Jesus. With them, we say: ‘My eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see’ (Luke 2:30). We know that the Lord never forsakes the Church, his own Body. He remains with us always. Our strength, our renewal, comes from him.
There is a quotation of which I am very fond:
‘Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb. He dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith. He will dwell forever in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul’ (Blessed Isaac of Stella). This is our reassurance. In turning every day to him, in welcoming him into our lives with humility and love, we rise from our prayer refreshed and renewed, wanting to do his will and to give him our thanks. There is another figure on whom we can fix our eyes: St Joseph. He is there, in the background, protecting the child entrusted to his care. We turn to him as protector of the family of the Church, too. Pope Francis has declared a year dedicated to St Joseph, from 8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021. He says: ‘Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble” (Patris Corde – With a Father’s Love – Pope Francis). Let’s do that. Let’s ask St Joseph to keep a watchful eye on this family of the Church, to intercede on our behalf.
A tradition I treasure is that of always having a statue of St Joseph in the kitchen, so often the heart of the home. I recommend this to you. Bring St Joseph into your kitchen. Then he will be before your eyes each day, as protector and guide in these difficult times.
Pope Francis writes: “Joseph teaches us that faith in God includes believing he can work even through our fears, our frailties and our weaknesses. He also teaches us that we must never be afraid to let the Lord steer our course. At times, we want to be in complete control, yet God always sees the bigger picture”.
As we come to the end of this year, a year of such pain and difficulty, try to see this ‘bigger picture’: that our lives are in the hands of God; that our Church is constantly consoled by the presence of the Holy Spirit; that our world is God’s work of art. As we enter the New Year, we place all this before the Lord, knowing that He, who ‘steers our course’, will bring each one of us, and the whole of creation, to completion, in the fullness of time.
May God bless you all.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster

Israel’s PM Netanyahu expects ties visit by Morocco next week
Reuters/Sunday 27 December 2020
A delegation from Morocco will travel to Israel in the coming week to advance newly-normalized relations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday. Netanyahu on Friday spoke with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and invited him to visit. An Israeli delegation traveled to Morocco on Tuesday and the countries plan to reopen mutual liaison offices and to launch direct commercial flights. “We agreed that the Moroccan delegation will come here at the start of the week in order to advance it all,” Netanyahu said in a video he posted on Twitter, in which he described his conversation with the king. A spokesman for the Moroccan government could not be reached for comment. A diplomatic source speaking on condition of anonymity said the timing and composition of the delegation has not been determined yet. Morocco has followed the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in moving to normalize relations with Israel. Palestinians have censured the US-brokered deals, seeing a betrayal of a long-standing demand that Israel first meet their demand for statehood. Israel’s new partners have also enjoyed bilateral benefits from Washington - in Rabat’s case, US recognition of its sovereignty over the Western Sahara. Moroccan officials describe their deal with Israel as a restoration of mid-level ties that Rabat cooled in 2000 in solidarity with Palestinians. The king has reiterated his position in support of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and highlighted the monarchy’s “close ties” with Morocco’s Jewish community.

Gulf foreign ministers hold online meeting before GCC summit
The National/December 27/2020
Ministers discussed economic, social and environmental topics, among other areas of co-operation.
Gulf Arab foreign ministers held an online meeting on Sunday, hosted by Bahrain, before the annual Gulf Co-operation Council summit. The summit, on January 5, will discuss steps towards ending the diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar, which began in 2017. Discussions focused on economic, social and environmental topics as well as “other areas of co-operation between member states”, Oman News Agency said. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, which the GCC states and Egypt accused of supporting extremist groups and interfering in its neighbours’ internal affairs. Saudi Arabia has pushed for a resolution of the dispute, and Bahrain said in a statement at the foreign ministers’ online meeting that this would prepare the ground for the summit next week.Dr Anwar Gargash, the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, expressed hope of reconciliation, standing behind Saudi Arabia’s efforts. “From Riyadh, the capital city of the Gulf’s decision-making, we, God willing, are taking steps to enhance the intra-Gulf dialogue towards the future,” he wrote on Twitter this month. Sources said they expect an agreement to be reached by the summit, which could result in a set of principles for negotiations, or a more concrete move involving reopening airspace to Qatar. But Qatar has told Kuwait and the US, the two mediators in the dispute, that any resolution should be based on mutual respect of foreign policy, among other matters.
Doha had been given 13 demands, including the closure of Al Jazeera television and a Turkish military base, cutting links to the Muslim Brotherhood and cooling ties with Tehran. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said this month that a resolution to the dispute with Qatar seemed within reach after Kuwait announced progress towards ending the row.

Iranian cleric behind attack on Saudi embassy appointed advisor to Judo Federation
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English Sunday 27 December 2020
An Iranian cleric who allegedly masterminded an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran in 2016 has been appointed as a committee chair in Iran’s Judo Federation. Iranian pro-regime protesters attacked and set on fire the Saudi embassy in Tehran in January 2016 in response to Riyadh’s execution of Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations with Iran following the attacks on its embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad.Hassan Kordmihan, the main defendant in the attack on the Saudi embassy, has been appointed as the head of the Iranian Judo Federation’s cultural committee and an advisor to the federation’s president, according to the federation’s website. Kordmihan, who was said to have planned and led the attack on the Saudi embassy, was arrested and tried in a special clerical court, but it was never disclosed what verdict the court issued against him. Clerics in Iran are tried by the Special Clerical Court which is separate from the country’s judiciary and mostly holds its trials behind closed doors. Attacks on foreign embassies have occurred throughout the Islamic Republic’s 41-year history, often leading to diplomatic crises. Pro-regime protesters attacked the US embassy in 1979, the Kuwaiti mission in 1987, Saudi Arabia in 1988, Denmark in 2006, and Britain in 2011. Last year, the International Judo Federation suspended Iran from international competition for pressuring one of its fighters to drop out of the world judo championships to avoid having to face an Israeli opponent.

Prominent activist accuses Iran of delaying COVID-19 vaccine purchase
Arab News/December 27, 2020
DUBAI: Iranian activist Maryam Rajavi said the regime has been delaying the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine, describing it a “criminal policy” against its citizens. Rajavi, who leads the opposition group People’s Mujahedin of Iran, said President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have been “evading buying the vaccine, promising to produce their own domestic vaccine.”The activist said the local vaccine was being produced by the HQ Implementing the Orders of Khomenei, which she described as “one of Khamenei’s plunderous and extortionist foundations.”Even if the laboratory sample has been approved, Rajavi said experts estimate a long time for the domestic vaccine to be available to the public.

Turkey says it killed 15 Kurdish militants preparing attack in northeast Syria
Reuters/Sunday 27 December 2020
Turkey said on Sunday its military killed 15 militants from the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which it said was preparing to carry out an attack in a region of northeast Syria controlled by Turkey and its Syrian armed factions. In an offensive last year dubbed the Peace Spring Operation, Turkey seized a 120-km (75-mile) stretch of border territory in northeast Syria from the YPG, which it considers a terrorist organization linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia. “Our heroic commandos dealt another heavy blow to the PKK/YPG terrorist organization. Fifteen PKK/YPG terrorists trying to infiltrate the Peace Spring region from the south to carry out an attack were neutralized with the successful intervention of our commandos,” Turkey’s Defense Ministry said on Twitter. Turkey halted its offensive, which was widely condemned by Ankara’s Western allies as the YPG was a key US ally in the fight against ISIS, after striking deals with Russia and the United States. Moscow has said the YPG withdrew to at least 30 km (18 miles) from Turkey’s border, but Ankara has been skeptical and held out the possibility of new attacks if militants remain. US support for the YPG has been among the main issues between Ankara and Washington, NATO allies. Turkey backs armed factions looking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Russia and Iran support Assad’s forces. Since 2016, Turkey has seized swathes of northern Syria in four cross-border offensives to drive back ISIS and the YPG, and prevent a fresh influx of migrants from Syria.

Top Egypt officials visit Libya capital for first time in years
Reuters/December 27, 2020
TRIPOLI: Senior Egyptian security officials visited the Libyan capital Tripoli for the first time in years on Sunday and held talks with officials from the Government of National Accord (GNA), the Libyan interior ministry said. The visit was the first for senior Egyptian officials to Tripoli since 2014 when the country entered a civil war between the GNA, based in the capital, and the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Khalia Haftar. Tripoli’s government is backed by Turkey while LNA is backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Libya descended into chaos after the NATO-backed overthrow of leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, and Egypt is concerned about instability in its neighbor and Turkey’s support for Tripoli forces. GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha and Head of the Intelligence Service Emad Trabelsi discussed “ways to support the cease-fire agreement and discuss the outputs of the 5+5 committee” with the Egyptian delegation, the Libyan interior ministry said in a statement. It was referring to a truce agreed on in late October between Libyan warring factions and the so-called 5+5 meetings, involving five senior officers appointed by each side. Bashagha, who visited Cairo last month, said on twitter that the meeting was “fruitful and constructive” and described the relations with Cairo as “very important.”The Egyptian delegation includes deputy head of the intelligence service and top officials from the foreign and defense ministries, an Egyptian intelligence source told Reuters. The delegation also met GNA Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala and promised to reopen the Egyptian embassy in Tripoli “at the earliest time,” said Mohamed Elgeblawi, the GNA foreign ministry spokesman on Twitter. The visiting officials would inspect the Egyptian embassy in Tripoli which has been closed since 2014, Egyptian state newspaper Ahram reported. The two sides also agreed on taking steps toward resuming Libyan flights to Cairo, Elgeblawi said.

Libyan National Army will be seen as ‘targets’ if they attack Turkish forces: Turkey
Reuters/ Ankara Sunday 27 December 2020
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar warned on Sunday that the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces led by Khalifa Haftar and their supporters based in eastern Libya would be viewed as “legitimate targets” if they attempted to attack Turkish forces in the region. Speaking during a visit to Turkish troops in Tripoli, Akar said LNA forces and his supporters would have “nowhere to run” if they attacked Turkish forces, adding they would become targets for Ankara “everywhere”.Turkey is the main foreign backer of Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli, which for years has been fighting the LNA. In October, the GNA and LNA signed a ceasefire agreement and the United Nations has been pushing a political dialogue aimed at elections next year as a solution.
 

El-Sisi: Renaissance Dam needs binding deal, must preserve Egypt’s rights
Mohammed Abu Zaid/Arab News/December 27, 2020 18:21
CAIRO: Egypt must preserve its water rights by reaching a binding legal agreement on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that includes Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has said. During a phone conversation with South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, El-Sisi made the comments while referring to the development of the dam, which is taking place under the auspices of the African Union, headed by South Africa. Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency Bassam Rady said that the Egyptian leader received a call from the South African president.
He said El-Sisi confirmed Egypt’s position on formulating a binding legal agreement that preserves Egyptian water rights and includes the three countries. The agreement should define the rules for filling and operating the dam, as the Nile waters represent an “existential issue” for Egypt and its people, he added.
Ramaphosa praised Egypt’s efforts to reach a solution on the issue. He also called for coordination during the coming period to work on reaching a fair and balanced agreement. The Sudanese government announced in mid-December an agreement with Ethiopia to resume negotiations on the disputed dam. It came after Khartoum boycotted negotiation sessions, labeling them an “old approach” that “would not work.” Sudan called for a greater role for experts to contribute to resolving the crisis. Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan resumed talks headed by the water ministers of the three countries early last month when Sudan took over organization of the meeting. Ethiopia began construction of the Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile in 2011, but Egypt fears it will affect its share of water, which amounts to 55.5 billion cubic meters annually, most of it from the Blue Nile. Despite the signing of a declaration of principles between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in March 2015 which encouraged dialogue and negotiation, an agreement on the dam has yet to be reached.
 

Turkish parliament approves controversial oversight law
Arab News/December 28/2020
ANKARA: Turkey’s parliament on Sunday approved a controversial law approving the oversight of associations and foundations, which critics say will stifle NGOs and damage civil society. It gives the state the power to replace the boards of NGOs with trustees, as well as suspending their operations and having civil servants carry out annual monitoring. The assets and online donation campaigns of NGOs could be blocked after inspections as a way to prevent money laundering and prevent terrorism financing. Dunja Mijatovic, who is the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, last week voiced her concerns about the legislation. She said it would allow the state to restrict civil society activism in the country and target critical voices. She tweeted on Dec. 22: “The Turkish Parliament should discontinue attempts to introduce legislation further restricting legitimate NGO activities, including replacement of NGO leaders facing investigations under anti-terror laws with gov-appointed trustees and restrictions on fund-raising activities.” The new law also allows the interior minister to replace members of organisations who are being investigated on terror charges. However, terror charges in Turkey are often arbitrary and target dissidents as a way to quash civil society activists, journalists and politicians. Hundreds of NGOs launched a petition to prevent the bill from passing, warning that it would “destroy civil society” in Turkey. Turkish philanthropist and civil society figure Osman Kavala was acquitted earlier this year of terror-related charges for allegedly organizing and financing anti-government protests in Gezi in 2013. But he was quickly re-arrested over alleged links to a failed coup attempt in 2016 and military espionage. Lawmaker Alpay Antmen, from the main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP), said the new legislation went against several articles of the constitution, especially regarding the right to privacy and the right to property, as well as against several international conventions that Turkey was a signatory to. “Here the main target is to get the authority to appoint trustees to all dissident civil groups. It is crystal-clear,” he told Arab News. It gives the state the power to replace the boards of NGOs with trustees, as well as suspending their operations and having civil servants carry out annual monitoring. Antmen said the law would give civil servants the power to close NGOs without waiting for the judicial process to be completed.  “The courts are generally giving politically motivated rulings without respecting the constitution. Turkish rulers keep branding all dissident figures as terrorists just because they don’t support them. Opposition women’s rights associations, human rights groups and all similar civil society groups can now be closed with just one signature. As the trials will endure for years, their assets will be frozen for long years.”Antmen, who is a lawyer by training, believed that Turkey’s handful of democratic, secular and progressive civil society actors had lost all judicial guarantees to maintain their once vibrant existence in the country thanks to this new law. “It is unfortunately the beginning of the end for the civil society presence in Turkey.”A European ruling that was critical about the jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas and ordered his release led Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to say that the government did not abide by the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, even though the country has been a member of this court for decades.
“The ECHR could not pass judgment in the place of Turkish courts,” he said on Dec. 23.

Israel, UAE collaborating to eliminate UNRWA - report
Jerusalem Post/December 27/2020
In doing so, Abu Dhabi would be rallying to a long-standing demand from Israel, insisting for years that UNRWA is obstructing peace. Israel and the United Arab Emirates are working together to eliminate the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) without solving the issue of Palestinian refugees, the French newspaper Le Monde reported. The report alleged that this has been underway since Israel and the UAE announced normalization between them in August. According to the report, Emirati officials are considering an action plan intended to gradually eliminate UNRWA, without making this development conditional on a resolution of the refugee problem. This is despite the UAE having been a major source of funding to UNRWA in 2018 and 2019, along with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to offset US President Donald Trump's halting of funds to the agency, bringing it to the brink of bankruptcy. In doing so, Abu Dhabi would be rallying to a long-standing demand from Israel, insisting for years that UNRWA is obstructing peace. The UN agency UNRWA was established 70 years ago to supply aid to Palestinian refugees, and its mandate is renewed every three years.
Last year in November, the UN General Assembly approved the extension of UNRWA’s mandate for three more years, only a week after its commissioner-general Pierre Krahenbuhl resigned after a UN ethics report alleged mismanagement and abuses of authority among senior officials of the agency, after what Israel called for UNRWA’s closure. The ethics report claimed that since 2015, members of UNRWA’s inner circle have been steadily consolidating their power, but that the situation escalated markedly from the beginning of 2018, coinciding with the US decision to remove its funding, serving "as an excuse for an extreme concentration of decision making power in members of the ‘clique.’”  It further claimed that these developments led to an “exodus of senior and other staff” and a work culture “characterized by low morale, fear of retaliation... distrust, secrecy, bullying, intimidation, and marginalization... and management that is highly dysfunctional, with a significant breakdown of the regular accountability structure”. Much of the report focuses on allegations surrounding the conduct of Krahenbuhl, who took up the post in March 2014, citing a range of corrupt and unprofessional activities. Shortly after the details of the report became known, the Netherlands and Switzerland suspended their funding of UNRWA. They were followed in August 2019 by the government of New Zealand. While the main UN agency dealing with refugees – UNHCR – concentrates on resettling them, facilitating their voluntary repatriation or their local integration and resettlement, UNRWA maintains millions of people as refugees decade after decade, expanding the numbers year after year.
*Tovah Lazaroff, Neville Teller, Omri Nahmias and Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.
 

EU Begins Vaccinations to End Covid 'Nightmare'
Agence France Presse/December 27/2020
EU countries on Sunday embarked on a vaccination campaign to defeat the "nightmare" of Covid-19, as the growing spread of a new coronavirus variant intensified fears the pandemic could wreak further devastation.
The jab is a glimmer of hope for a continent yearning for a return to normal from a pandemic that has killed 1.76 million people worldwide since emerging in China late last year and caused at least 80 million confirmed cases, according to an AFP tally.
But polls have shown many Europeans are unwilling to take the vaccine, which could impede its effectiveness in beating the virus, while it will take months for large chunks of the population to be immunized. "It is with deep pride and a deep sense of responsibility that I got the vaccine today. A small gesture but a fundamental gesture for all of us," said Claudia Alivernini, 29, an Italian nurse who was the first in her country to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech jab Sunday morning. EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed the campaign start as a "touching moment of unity and a European success story", even if some European states started a day early on Saturday. Countries are also showing different strategies in their vaccination targeting, with Italy focusing on health workers, France the elderly and in the Czech Republic the prime minister himself at the front of the queue.
'Felt nothing'
In a sign of impatience, some EU countries began vaccinating on Saturday, a day before the official start, with a 101-year-old woman in a care home becoming the first person in Germany to be inoculated and Hungary and Slovakia also handing out their first shots. Araceli Rosario Hidalgo Sanchez, a 96-year-old living in a care home in central Spain became the first person in the country to be vaccinated on Sunday, in an event broadcast by national television. She said smilingly she felt "nothing" from the shot. France began its campaign in care homes for the elderly in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, a low-income area hard hit by Covid-19, with a 78-year-old woman named Mauricette the first to receive the jab to applause from staff. "We have a new weapon against the virus -- the vaccine," tweeted President Emmanuel Macron. China, Russia, Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Serbia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia have also begun their vaccination campaigns. Britain, which last week finalized a deal on leaving the EU, began its vaccination campaign amid much fanfare on December 8, three weeks ahead of the bloc. But it was also in Britain that a new strain of the virus emerged that has already reached several other European countries as well as Japan and Canada. The new strain, which experts fear is more contagious, prompted more than 50 countries to impose travel restrictions on the UK. Echoing concerns from officials across the continent, Health Minister Olivier Veran said France has not ruled out imposing a third nationwide lockdown if coronavirus cases continue to rise after the holiday season. He said it would become clear in the next months if the vaccine did not just stop people falling sick but also from passing the virus on. "This would allow us to leave this nightmare quicker," he said. In the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis was given the vaccine, explaining that "yesterday evening I saw a lady in the news on a TV channel saying she would wait for Babis."
- 'Winning formula' -
Vaccines other than the Pfizer-BioNTech jab are also in the pipeline, and the United States, where over a million people have already been vaccinated, last week began jabs with the vaccine developed by US biotech firm Moderna. Meanwhile the University of Oxford and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca have applied to the UK authorities for permission to roll out their Covid-19 vaccine. AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said Sunday its vaccine was a "winning formula" and provided "100 percent protection" against severe Covid requiring hospitalization. There is concern that wariness among Europeans over the vaccine could impede its effectiveness, with a poll published in the Journal du Dimanche saying 56 percent of French people don't plan to take the jab. China, accused of covering up the initial outbreak, has largely curbed the domestic spread of the virus. Its Communist leadership issued a statement hailing the "extremely extraordinary glory" of its handling of the crisis. Israel on Sunday began a nationwide two-week lockdown -- its third since the pandemic started earlier this year -- after a sharp rebound in the infection rate.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 27-28/2020

We Will Squash Them’: The Persecution of Christians, November 2020
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/December 27, 2020
ريموند إبراهيم/معهد كايتستون: جدول بحوادث ووقائع اضطهاد المسيحيين خلال شهر تشرين الثاني لعام 2020/سسنقوم بسحقهم
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/94287/raymond-ibrahim-gatestone-institute-we-will-squash-them-the-persecution-of-christians-november-2020-%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%88%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%a5%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%87%d9%8a%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%b9/

“They tried to force some of our Christians to convert to Islam. They also tried to force my wife and our four children to convert to Islam, but when they refused to convert, they shot my wife in the head while our four children were cut into pieces with a Somali sword. — Morningstar News, Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Islamic militants turned a village soccer field in northern Mozambique into an execution ground when they beheaded more than 50 people during three days of savage violence…. More than 2,000 people have been killed and about 430,000 left homeless in the region since 2017.” — Barnabas Aid, Mozambique.
For two months after kidnapping a deaf and mute Christian teenage girl her, five Muslim men repeatedly gang-raped and tortured her. All this time, police ignored the parents’ pleas to intervene. It was only when a local authority took up the case, and only after months of court meetings, that the girl was located and returned to her parents. One of the kidnappers insisted the girl had willingly converted to Islam and married him. — British Pakistani Christian Association, Pakistan.
On November 15 in Iran, Zaman Fadaei, a convert to Christianity, was lashed 80 times because he sipped communion wine. He was whipped at Evin Prison, where he has been serving a six-year prison sentence for organizing a house church and “promoting Zionist Christianity.
The following are among the abuses inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of November 2020:
The Slaughter of Christians
Indonesia: On Nov. 27, Islamic terrorists beheaded a Christian priest and killed three other Christians by slitting their throats in Lembantongoa village. During the raid, a Salvation Army church and six Christian homes were also torched. While acknowledging that an Islamic militant group was responsible, authorities claimed that the attack was not “religiously motivated.” One human rights researcher said that this “latest strike was a ‘clear escalation’ of violence against Christians.”
Democratic Republic of Congo: From November 20-25, in a number of villages, members of the Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Forces slaughtered approximately 20 Christians. According to a clergyman who lost his family in the massacres:
“They tried to force some of our Christians to convert to Islam. They also tried to force my wife and our four children to convert to Islam, but when they refused to convert, they shot my wife in the head while our four children were cut into pieces with a Somali sword.”
The clergyman, who was not present during the attacks, added that “the rebel militants intend to establish an Islamist state ruled by sharia [Islamic law].” Two days after the raids, a journalist reported that the people were still in a state of terror and bewilderment:
“There was a throng of Christians flooding the streets in a helpless situation, as well as radical Muslim extremists surrounding five churches. Ten girls had been raped and 15 girls abducted from the Anglican Church and Roman Catholic Church, with 14 Christians admitted to a hospital in critical condition with injuries to their heads, and others with fractured hands and legs due to the use of guns, machete, clubs, Somali swords and axes.”
According to the report, there have been many such attacks on Christians in the weeks and months leading to this one, including where “more than 50 Christians who refused to recant their Christian faith were killed, especially women and children.”
Mozambique: During the first weekend of November, members of an Islamic State linked terror group slaughtered 50 people in the Christian-majority African nation. In the words of one report:
“Islamic militants turned a village soccer field in northern Mozambique into an execution ground when they beheaded more than 50 people during three days of savage violence between Friday, November 6, and Sunday, November 8…. In one attack, gunmen shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ stormed into Nanjaba village on November 6, firing weapons and setting homes on fire. Two villagers were beheaded and several women abducted….. [A]nyone who refuses to support the jihadists and embrace their beliefs is attacked, and their property set on fire. Thus Christians who refuse to deny Christ are among the victims. The attacks are among the worst seen in recent years in the brutal campaign by militant Islamists to establish an Islamist caliphate in the oil and gas-rich Cabo Delgado province. Desperate people are flooding into the Christian mission stations for protection….. More than 2,000 people have been killed and about 430,000 left homeless in the region since 2017.”
Ethiopia: On Nov. 1, a few hours after federal troops “withdrew unexpectedly,” to quote an eyewitness, 60 armed terrorists stormed a school. Announcing that they now “controlled the area,” they proceeded to hunt down and massacre at least 54 ethnic Amharas, “mostly Christian women, children and elderly.” According to the report,
“In the latest attack targeting ethnic Amhara, who are mainly Christian, some survivors were able to flee to a nearby forest, while the assailants rounded up women, children and elderly who were unable to run away, before shooting at the defenseless group…. One victim found the bullet-riddled bodies of his brother, sister-in-law and three children in the school compound. Witnesses said that the attackers dragged some victims from their homes to the school, and reported that a school building and 120 houses were burned down…. This is the latest deadly assault in a spate of massacres in the past month in Ethiopia, which have left several dozen dead, apparently targeting the mainly Christian Amhara ethnic group.”
Nigeria: A number of people were killed in the ongoing jihad on Nigeria’s Christians. A sampling follows:
Nov. 1: “Islamic extremist militants in northeast Nigeria attacked a predominantly Christian village near Chibok, Borno state on Sunday morning, killing 12 Christians and kidnapping women and children… A church pastor was among those killed. Villagers suspected the assailants were militants of Boko Haram, which seeks to impose sharia [Islamic law] throughout Nigeria.”
Nov 6: “Armed Fulani killed four Christians in north-central Nigeria on Friday and the next day kidnapped seven persons, including five daughters of a church pastor.” “To date, the kidnappers have yet to make contact,” Luka Binniyat, a local activist, said: “Kidnapping of Christians is occurring almost on [a] daily basis…”
Nov 17: Christian community leader Haruna Kuye and his son, Destiny Kuye “were sleeping in their home in Gidan Zaki village when they were brutally shot dead,” said a local source. “It was a well-planned murder by evil men who sneaked into the village and headed for his home and unleashed terror. The heartless killers also attacked his wife and daughter, but they survived with injuries” from machetes and gunshot. “Pray for the Christians of Katarma village in Chikun Local Government Area,” he said. “Most Christian villages on that axis have been destroyed in the past three days, many killed, and some kidnapped.”
Nov 26-27: The Rev. Johnson Oladimeji was ambushed and killed by Muslims as he traveled home from to Ikere-Ekiti, where he leads a congregation of the Nigerian Baptist Convention.
Nov. 28-29: “Fulani herdsmen attacks on predominantly Christian communities in Kaduna state on Saturday night and Sunday morning killed seven Christians.” Two children were also kidnapped and four people wounded.
Pakistan: On Nov. 9, Muslim neighbors opened fire on and murdered Yasmeen, a Christian mother, and Usman Masih, her only son in front of their home. According to the report,
“On the day of the shooting, Yasmeen left the house around 10:30 and passed Ishrat Bibi [her Muslim neighbor, later described as “a bully and contemptuous woman”] who was holding a stick and began to fight and beat her neighbour. Two months earlier the two had quarreled over the water drain in the street.
“At one point Ishrat Bibi called her two sons, Hassan Shakoor Butt and Khizar Shakoor Butt who, having come out with their guns, fired 20-21 bullets at Yasmeen. The latter’s son Usman came out of the house and seeing his lifeless mother went to help her, but he too was hit by shots.
“Shabeer Masih [the husband/father of the slain] says that his son lived for about twenty minutes, asking for help, but no one in the village lifted a finger; a car passed by, but no one tried to take the son to the hospital. Usman had become the father of a little girl just a week ago and had another three-year-old daughter. ‘The whole family was very friendly and had good relations with the people of the village,’ adds Shabeer crying.”
Mariyam Kashif, a social activist and Catholic teacher, denounced the murders as “a huge example of intolerance and hatred that spreads against Christians.” She said that this animus is nourished in the public school system, where “a reform of the curriculum is needed to eliminate all aspects of hatred and contempt. Only in this way will we be able to teach and enlarge hearts, changing the mentality of our society.”
Austria: A Muslim terror attack targeting a Catholic youth group was thwarted at the last minute. According to the November 27 report:
“[The] killer wanted to cause a bloodbath of the Catholic youth group … during a prayer evening in Vienna. The Islamist failed, however, because of a door that was locked by a timer … 17 children and young people belonging to a Catholic youth group escaped a catastrophe by a hair!… Seconds later, the assassin was shot down by… officials in front of the city’s oldest church….. The 17 young people escaped the attacker by turning off the lights when the first shots were fired…. The young people stayed in the dark until 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday [Nov. 24]. Then the police gave the all-clear and the 17 boys and girls could go home.”
Death to Apostates and Blasphemers
Uganda: On November 23, Muslim relatives, including uncles and aunts, killed their own 6-year-old nephew because his father — the murderers’ brother, a former Islamic sheikh—had converted to Christianity and refused to return to Islam. Earlier that day, members of his extended family had a two hour meeting with the apostate, Emmanuel Hamuzah, 38, who repeatedly “refused their demand to renounce Christ.” Soon afterwards his uncle and four of his siblings came to and attacked Emmanuel outside his house. His young boy, Ibrahim Mohammad, 6, was outside with him. “You should renounce this Christian faith, which is a disgrace to our family,” they announced. “I refused to yield to their demand, and they started fighting me with kicks and blows,” Hamuzah later explained. “I tried to defend myself while the other attackers were stepping on my child’s neck, suffocating him.” The attackers fled when neighbors responded to the commotion, but his son died. The family, in fear of more reprisals, did not report the incident to police.
Two days earlier, on November 21, Muslims killed a Christian pastor and his 12-year-old son. Pastor Wilson Niwamanya and his son Peter were returning home after having delivered Christian literature along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo when four “Muslim extremists” armed with blunt objects and a horn-hilted dagger known as a Somali sword stopped them. According to another Christian worker, who was present but escaped,
“When the four attackers emerged from the bush, they immediately caught hold of Pastor Niwamanya, saying, ‘This man must die for disrespecting our religion.’ The attackers began by beating them with blunt objects and thereafter used the sword and stabbed the young boy in the stomach. He died while the pastor and I tried to wrestle the attackers.”
Once other people on motorcycles began to appear, the attackers fled the scene. The pastor was rushed to a medical center where he later died from the wounds to his head. Earlier, and in the days leading to the attack, he had received threatening text messages, including an order to “stop giving people books that discredit Islam, and if you continue distributing these books, then you are risking your life.”
According to the report:
“Pastor Niwamanya, a well-known missionary in the area, had carried out Christian-Muslim debates in 2016, including one in which an Islamic leader openly rebuked him. Islamists began monitoring him after he appeared at an evangelistic event in Masaka in 2010 with evangelist Umar Mulinde, who suffered a horrific acid attack in 2011… Pastor Niwamanya’s lawyer, Isaac Sendegeya, was shot dead in July 2019 dead by unknown persons. He was 39. The widow of the deceased pastor has been receiving treatment for a previous attack she suffered for her faith and is in need of financial assistance – as do her surviving children and 15 others at the orphanage the pastor operated.”
In another incident in Uganda, Muslims murdered David Omara, 64, a Christian pastor and well-known radio preacher, for comparing Christianity and Islam. According to David’s son, as quoted in a Nov. 6 report, soon after finishing his broadcast:
“someone telephoned my father appreciating his presentation. He then requested him to meet somewhere with some of his friends. We left the radio station. As we arrived at the said place, there came out of the bush six people dressed in Islamic attire, and they started strangling and beating my father with blunt objects.”
While beating him, one of the Muslims said, “This man ought to die for using the Koran and saying Allah is not God but an evil god collaborating with satanic powers…. As they were hitting my father, with blunt objects and strangling him, I fled to save my life. Two attackers ran after me but could not get hold of me.” During the pastor’s November 4 funeral, “Area residents were shocked and saddened by the murder,” the report notes, “and church members were both fearful of further Islamist violence and sorrowful as they mourned at a tearful burial.” His widow “fainted and collapsed with deep groaning” and, last reported, “was treated for shock that rendered her unconscious,” at a hospital: “After Electroconvulsive therapy involving stimulation of the brain, she still did not recognize people.” Pastor David Omara — whom associates lauded for having “worked tirelessly for the kingdom of God to the day he breathed his last breath” — is survived by his traumatized wife and eight children, aged from 10 to 30.
Egypt: A spate of blasphemy-related accusations and arrests erupted in November. “In the past few days,” to quote from a Nov. 20 report, “several arrest warrants have been issued for Egyptian Christians accused of insulting Islam. A young Muslim man was also detained for mocking the hosts of the Cairo-based Holy Quran Radio Station.” Additionally, “On Nov. 11, the Supreme State Security Prosecution investigated two Christians … and referred them to criminal court on the grounds of mocking Islam and insulting religion.” In yet another incident, a Christian teacher and a Muslim girl were arrested on Nov. 11 over comments on Facebook seen as insulting and contemptuous of religion. “The next day, Nov. 12, the public prosecution ordered the arrest of the teacher, identified as Youssef Hani, and the girl, who goes by the name Sandosa on Facebook, on charges of blasphemy.” After Hani’s critical comments on Islam were shared on Facebook, social media calls for his death appeared. “He must be killed,” read one social media post. “Someone volunteer, people, we will not continue to debate with a few absent-minded [Christian] minorities… We will squash them…”
Iran: On Nov. 15, one month after a convert to Christianity was whipped 80 times, another convert, Zaman Fadaei, was also lashed 80 times — for the same reason: sipping communion wine. He was whipped at Evin Prison, where he has been serving a six-year prison sentence for organizing house churches and “promoting Zionist Christianity.” After stating that “Last month, the clerical regime [also] lashed Iranian Christian convert Mohammad Reza Omidi 80 times for drinking communion wine” the Nov. 17 report adds that,
“Many Iranian Christians are in prison in Iran for practicing their faith. Heavy bail bonds and exile sentences are additional pressures that the Iranian regime imposes on Christians…. International organizations have repeatedly censured the Iranian regime’s suppression of religious minorities, including the Christian converts, for practicing their faith.
“Judges presiding the trials in the clerical regime’s courts have been instructed to consider maximum punishments for religious minorities and particularly the Christian converts. The Iranian regime criminalizes conversion to Christianity, and severely restricts the faith practiced by Armenian and Assyrian Christians.”
Attacks on Churches, Crosses, and Christian Symbols
Austria: According to a Nov. 2 report, as many as 50 young Turks attacked a church in Vienna-Favoriten on Thursday evening, Oct. 29:
“The attackers stormed into the parish church of St. Anton in Favoriten, shouted ‘Allahu Akbar,’ and kicking pews and other furnishing in the church…. Another Afghan was arrested over the weekend while shouting ‘Islamic slogans’ in St. Stephen’s Cathedral…. Churches in Vienna are now being monitored more closely as part of the patrol service.”
Syria: To cries of “Allahu Akbar” (video here), a cross was ripped down from a Greek orthodox church in a region “controlled by U.S.-backed militants,” a November 1 report revealed. The cross had been torn down years earlier, when the Islamic State controlled the region, but restored by locals in an effort “to encourage Christians refugees to return to the city.” The report adds that
“ISIS and Turkey are encouraging a small group to commit these horrible acts. Prior to the ISIS invasion and destruction of the city, it was home to a minority of Christians belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox Church, Chaldean Catholic and Syriac Catholic Church, and various Protestants.”
Italy: On November 25, a 31-year-old Palestinian refugee decapitated and cut off the hands of a historical Virgin Mary statue in Marghera, a suburb of Venice. Video surveillance and a witness on the scene helped identify the vandal. A translation of an Italian report states:
“A grim and shocking show for those who believe in that symbol [the Mary statue] and the sense of community of belonging that was deeply wounded by an act of vandalism. Without head and without hands, almost playing out the violence of an execution, the rage poured out on a mutilated statue, that of the Madonna… The motive is as yet unclear why he threw himself with such brutality against a statue, a symbol of faith, whether it is a case of mental imbalance, or he acted by virtue of a religious milieu…”
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro called it a “vile act,” a symbolic “slaughter,” which “wounds our sensibilities.”
France: On November 19, a Muslim man dressed in a jellabiya, the traditional Islamic garb, entered the cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand and began chanting in Arabic and doing prostration prayers in the sacred Catholic compound. A number of passersby grew worried by this display, police were contacted, and, after questioning, the man — who it was determined had not broken any laws — was set free.
General Violence and Abuse
Pakistan: For two months after kidnapping a deaf and mute Christian teenage girl her, five Muslim men repeatedly gang-raped and tortured her. All this time, police ignored the parents’ pleas to intervene. It was only when a local authority took up the case, and only after months of court meetings, that the girl was located and returned to her parents. One of the kidnappers insisted the girl had willingly converted to Islam and married him. According to Juliet Chowdhry, Chairperson for the British Asian Christian Association, as quoted in a Nov. 16 report:
“This young woman has suffered the most vile and horrid attack. There are few women my age that could survive such an ordeal and yet despite her young years, she has shown a strength and faith in God that is remarkable… [A]ll Christian women should be moved to tears at the base cruelty faced by our sisters in Pakistan. This story should be a wakeup call—but how many of you will actually actively get involved in eradicating this evil?”
Egypt: Due to another Facebook post, made by a 22-year-old Christian and deemed offensive to the Muslim prophet Muhammad, rioting Muslims attacked Christians and their properties in the village where the youth originates (although he was not there). According to one report:
“[T]he Muslim villagers of al-Barsha have resorted to burning the farm huts and yards owned by Copts and located on their agricultural lands. These huts and yards are used to keep the cattle during daytime and to store cattle feed. Six of them were set on fire on the night of 29 November, in response to continuous incitement by fundamentalist Muslims against the Copts…. The hostilities against Barsha Copts go back to 25 November when the village Muslims waged an attack against the Copts with stones and fireballs. The attack took off from one of the mosques in the vicinity of the village’s Islamic Institute to cries of Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) and verbal insults against Christians.”
The face of an 80-year-old Christian woman was burned when a fireball crashed into her home. Church property was also damaged, a stable burned down, cattle stolen, and the windows of Christian homes shattered.
Separately, on the evening of Nov. 8, Nabil Habashy Salem, a 61-year-old Christian businessman responsible for building the only church in Bir al-Abd, Sinai, was abducted in front of his house. According to the report:
“[Salem] went out at 8pm to buy something from a nearby store, when three armed unmasked men stopped him by force in the middle of the busy street. They forced a passing pickup truck to stop, threatened its driver and forced him out at gunpoint. They shoved the senior Salem into the truck and quickly drove away while firing bullets in the air. Those on the street were terrified… nobody could do a thing. Peter Salem [his son] directly notified the police and filed a report. He sent an urgent plea to President Sisi to interfere in order to find his father, lest he meets the same fate of Bekhit Aziz Lamei who was kidnapped last August from al-Abtal village in South Sinai, and to date has not been found.”
Austria: A 19-year-old Afghan refugee struck a 76-year-old Catholic nun in the face in the city of Graz before fleeing. Thanks to surveillance video, police managed to apprehend him. According to the Nov. 2 report,
“The suspect, already known to the police for drug offenses and assault, has confessed to the crime; his motive is still unclear, police say. Several anti-Christian incidents have caused a stir in Austria, after last week’s terrorist attack by a man shouting Islamist phrases at a cathedral in France.”
Bangladesh: On Nov. 9, armed Muslims attacked a Catholic Christian village, “wounding faithful and desecrating their church — smashing windows and destroying books and other religious items,” the report stated. Problems started in late September, when Rafiq Ali, a Muslim man with forged documents seized the land of Josper Amlorong, a local Christian farmer. On November 9, Amlorong reported the land grab to police and, after confirming that it was his, they evicted Ali. That evening, a vengeful Ali returned with dozens of armed Muslims who wreaked havoc in the village. Discussing the land grab, Amlorong said:
“Ali and his people forcibly entered my property and took possession of it. They threatened my life. They told me to leave the land. It is my only piece of land…. If I lost my land, I couldn’t live [he has been battling cancer for the past three years]. Without treatment, I will die…. Being I am Christian, Ali thought I am weak, but I will not leave my land until I draw my last breath.”
**Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again and Sword and Scimitar, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
**About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Cowardly rush back to flawed nuclear deal leaves world less safe
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/December 27/2020

بارعة علم الدين/عرب نيوز: الإندفاع الجبان لإعادة إحياء الصفقة النووية مع إيران يؤثر بشكل كبير على الأمن في العالم

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Western naivety concerning Iranian maleficence never fails to plumb new depths. French, British and German foreign ministers embarked last week on a fresh diplomatic push for Iran and the US to return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions — as if the past four years never happened. UN under-secretary general Rosemary DiCarlo criticized the US’s withdrawal from the deal and urged both sides to return to compliance.
Statements from Joe Biden also suggest that a straightforward US return to the JCPOA would be acceptable when he becomes president, and that any outstanding issues could be discussed at a later stage. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif states that Iran could “rapidly reverse” its enrichment activities in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions, and that renegotiation of the JCPOA was "out of the question.”
The stage is thus set for all sides to rush back into a deal that is scarcely worth the paper it is written on, particularly given that many of the principal provisions restricting Iran’s enrichment activities will have expired in less than five years. Indeed, the first of the principal “sunset clauses” — the arms embargo under UN Security Council Resolution 2231 — expired in October, meaning that states such as Russia and China can return to rearming Tehran with impunity. Tehran by 2025 can thus return to proliferation-sensitive activities, while nominally remaining in compliance with its obligations — aside from what secret activities it may be engaging in on clandestine military sites. Let’s not forget that other regional states have made little secret of their intentions to develop nuclear programs if Iran continues advancing its nuclear and ballistic capabilities.
Despite being the principal victims of Iranian warmongering, Middle Eastern powers were excluded from JCPOA negotiations. They are set to be circumvented once again, because the Europeans have no intention of paying heed to GCC leaderships who are be abandoned on the frontlines of Iranian aggression. Even when civilian targets and economic infrastructures of GCC states were attacked over the past couple of years, Western states, including governments that have signed collective security pacts, did nothing. The January GCC summit is therefore a moment when regional powers must assertively make their views felt, potentially through proportional and credible threats of economic and diplomatic retaliation if their interests are ignored.
When Barack Obama came to power in 2009 Iran was stirring trouble in Iraq and pulled Hezbollah’s strings in Lebanon, but could hardly be considered a credible regional power. Today Tehran dominates a 2,000km belt of territory stretching from western Afghanistan through to the Mediterranean.
The 2015 deal transformed Tehran’s circumstances, resulting in the unfreezing of about $32 billion in worldwide Iranian assets. A disproportionate volume of these funds (along with windfalls from new investments and the abolition of sanctions against financial institutions) was ploughed into overseas paramilitarism and Iran’s domestic military complex, including its ballistic weapons programme and the Revolutionary Guards.Three years of “maximum pressure” sanctions have brought Iran’s broken economy to the point of no return. Yet the JCPOA states appear resolved to toss all this leverage away for the sake of a cheap return to the pre-2017 status quo.
It is no coincidence that 2016 represented the zenith of Iran’s military involvement in Syria: Tehran poured tens of thousands of Iraqi, Lebanese, Afghan, Pakistani and Yemeni mercenaries on to the battlefield, culminating in the blood-soaked recapture of Aleppo. According to a representative of Iran’s National Security Committee, Iran funneled about $30 billion into the Syrian conflict between 2011 and 2020, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrian citizens and prolonging the war indefinitely, while entrenching a blood-drenched dictator in power.
Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi also expanded massively in Iraq from 2015-17, from a ragtag assemblage of small militias to a massive force in excess of 150,000 fighters, with new Iranian weaponry flooding across the border. This coincided with the major expansion of the Yemen conflict, beginning with the Houthi announcement in March 2015 of a general mobilization to overthrow President Hadi and a huge increase in Iranian military support, as well as major upscaling of Houthi rocket attacks against Arabian Peninsula states. Iran’s annual funding for Hezbollah by 2017 mushroomed to $700 million, more than double what it was receiving a few years before.
During this period there were continual statements from Western officials lauding the successes of the nuclear accord, with scant attention given to Iran’s non-nuclear violations. While it is fair to criticize Trump for withdrawing from the deal while having no roadmap for an improved formula, European leaders have relished the opportunity to negate Trump’s policies, while refusing to recognize the deal’s grotesque shortcomings.
Just in the past few days, Iran-backed militia forces such as Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq have been threatening to collapse the security situation in Iraq over the continued detention of one of its commanders who had been responsible for rocket attacks. When terrorist groups such as these control seats in parliament and are allowed to have such a devastating impact on national security in key states like Iraq and Lebanon, we have a real problem.
Three years of “maximum pressure” sanctions have brought Iran’s broken economy to the point of no return. Yet the JCPOA states appear resolved to toss all this leverage away for the sake of a cheap return to the pre-2017 status quo. The foundational philosophy of Iran’s terrorist regime is rooted in waging war against the “Godless West” and propagating the Islamic Revolution at the point of a sword. Yet this is the regime that Western officials plan to negotiate with in good faith, after throwing away all their leverage by abolishing sanctions. What “good faith” should we expect from a regime that has embarked on building entirely new nuclear facilities at the sites of Natanz and Fordo?
With presidential elections in mid-2021, the deal may be signed off by President Hassan Rouhani, yet the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appears determined to crown a radical Republican Guard-affiliated new president, who by definition would commit Iran to a much more confrontational path.
With Trump in recent days pledging to retaliate if Americans are killed by Iran-proxy missile strikes in Iraq, the air is thick with threats and ill omens of conflict; so much so that I fear that even by the time this article is published something may have erupted that blows all these diplomatic plans out of the water.
Sleepwalking back to the 2015 deal is cowardly, short-sighted diplomacy that perversely from 2025 onward may facilitate Iran’s unchanged desire to build nuclear warheads. The tens of billions of dollars flowing into Iran’s treasury will fuel a second wave of aggressive, expansionist Iranian warmongering. Western officials are calculatedly closing their ears to this reality.
Showering a terrorist regime with funds while assuming it will spontaneously mend its ways is a crazed recipe for disaster. Biden’s win over Trump was billed as a return to responsible, mature governance. Let’s hope that one of its first foreign policy initiatives isn’t an act of pure insanity.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.
 

Biden’s in-tray is already full
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/December 27/2020
Joe Biden is no stranger to massive foreign policy challenges. In 2009, the in-tray for him and Barack Obama was widely acknowledged as the most daunting of any White House team in the postwar era, ranging from Iraq and Afghanistan to tackling climate change.
Another parallel with 12 years ago is that, today, the US and wider world also simultaneously face separate, first-order crises. The first Obama administration sought to tackle the worst international financial turmoil since the 1930s, while the incoming Biden team is facing the coronavirus crisis, the first pandemic in a century, with the destabilizing geopolitical and economic impact it is unleashing internationally.
So the scale of combined dangers facing the new US president is comparably large and complex with that of 12 years ago, but there is one big difference. While Obama was elected in 2009 as a one-term senator, in terms of foreign affairs Biden is perhaps the most experienced and knowledgeable president-elect in modern US history.
Of course, experience does not equal success, but it should allow Biden to hit the ground running, which could be critical; a number of burning issues require immediate attention, beyond the pandemic which will already consume much of his time in 2021.
First, with Russia relations remaining in the deep freeze, Biden must quickly choose how best to respond to the apparently massive cyber hack of US federal agencies, evidently of Moscow’s making. So far, there is only drift and denial from Donald Trump, who has a history of downplaying previous Russian interventions.
Other challenges include Iran, which has restarted work on its nuclear site at Fordo. North Korea, amid Trump’s flip-flopping between threats and courting of Kim Jong-un, now has long-range missile capabilities on top of being a nuclear power — a combination that could easily become a major crisis during Biden’s presidency.
Further geopolitical fault lines include the deep chill in US-China relations, post-pandemic; continuing instability in Afghanistan and Libya; and the bleak prospects facing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Meanwhile, long standing allies across the world require reassurance about US leadership after the Trump era, while the nuclear non-proliferation system is in trouble and urgent action is needed to bolster international efforts on climate change.
Collectively, this is a massive, troubling agenda. And it underlines why the post-1989 vision forecast by some of a universal order of liberal, capitalist, democratic states living in peace and contentment has seemingly been replaced by a significantly different reality in which authoritarian states such as Russia appear to many to be a growing force on the world stage and unstable countries, including North Korea, have acquired nuclear weapons.
There are some quick wins for Biden, such as re-joining the Paris climate change accord. But the thorniest issues have no easy, immediate answers.
Some critics of Trump see this international landscape of risks as entirely a result of the maverick leadership in Washington for the past four years. However, while the current president has made many mis-steps, this is too simplistic a conclusion.
The US is not an all-powerful hegemonic power, even if it remains the most powerful country in the world — certainly in a military sense, with ability to project and deploy overwhelming force. This has been demonstrated repeatedly throughout the post-Cold War period, in Somalia in 1993, Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, and more recently in countries from Ukraine to North Korea.
To be sure, the US will remain for the foreseeable future the primary actor in many theaters across the world. And while its relative power may erode, it will seek to continue to set the international agenda in the political, economic and security spheres and succeed in doing so more often than any other state.
However, US success in helping manage the complexity of global affairs will increasingly depend upon cooperation of others, both competitors and allies, which is why international alliances are so important, despite Trump’s frequent disdain for them. This is why Biden will in 2021 swiftly seek to bring traditional allies back more firmly into the US fold, including Europe.
Perhaps the key uncertainty is his presidency is China, whose economic and military power is only likely to continue to grow. While increasing rivalry appears most likely, post-pandemic, there remains an outside possibility of a more fruitful partnership.
Such growing cooperation is possible if the two powers can increasingly find ways to resolve harder power disagreements, including South China Sea territorial claims, while cooperating on soft issues such as climate change. The prize here could be deeper, collaborative strategic partnership, rather than escalating threats plus greater global instability, and a key question for Biden’s presidency is whether the political window of opportunity to pursue this agenda has already been extinguished.
• Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics

Food security: Time to put our money where our mouths are
Samer Kurdi/Arab News/December 27/2020
Our relationship with food has been a complex one for about 10,000 years, ever since the agricultural revolution saw our species evolve from hunter-gatherers to farmers. Over time, shocks to the human agricultural system have changed our diets, preferences and necessities. Today, our relationship with food has perhaps never been more complicated or more dependent on such a delicately connected global supply chain. Most recently, the coronavirus pandemic forced us to reexamine our system of supply and demand, and, vitally, our food security. What has come into stark relief is this self-evident truth: We cannot plan for a sustainable future if we do not have a sustainable and secure source of food.
The world’s population is predicted to hit 9.8 billion by 2050, according to the latest UN forecast. To feed everyone, food production will need to increase by 70 percent on today’s levels. The message is clear: Food security is one of this generation’s most pressing global challenges.
With supply chains threatened by the global disruption caused by the pandemic, food security has come under the microscope. If fruit, vegetables, meat and wheat cannot be transported across borders, can each nation state and each community fend for itself? In the context of 2020, such questions make for uncomfortable thinking. For Saudi Arabia, this stark realization has brought the topic to the top of the national agenda.
While efforts, initiatives, policies and trade facilitation are already in place and underway, the fact remains that securing vital fast-moving commercial goods (FMCGs) and food products entirely from domestic suppliers is a significant challenge for even the most capable and resource-rich countries.
Each country must strike a balance between national food security and self-sufficiency in food production. To make matters more complex, consumer expectations have drastically shifted in the last century. Today, not having access to a single specific product can be considered a crisis. The interdependence of our global supply needs cannot be unraveled by ramping up domestic production alone.
Today, the way we deliver what we eat must reflect the needs of a globalized 21st-century society and be safeguarded against any potential disruption.
Considering this state of global connectivity, public and private sector partnerships should launch nationwide joint ventures to build food security matrices through regional trade agreements. Governments can explore sourcing raw materials and innovative distribution options. And private sector entities need to buy into the process to deliver support through efficient logistics and contingency plans. Closer to home, Saudi companies must play a more substantial role in influencing and directing existing bilateral trade partnerships. For Saudi FMCG companies to ramp up production and meet ever-increasing needs, government support is paramount.
To match public-private efforts to secure supply chains, rigorous measures must be implemented to ensure accessibility of stock and inventory. Contrary to best practices in retail and food processing, when a crisis hits, the market needs a sizeable back-up inventory until production can be ramped up again.
To get such an operation underway requires getting all stakeholders in the same place, with a shared agenda and a mutually desirable outcome. International bodies have been established on less. We should call for a forum to be established by government players to assemble public and private entities to steer a dialogue on marketplace protocols, best practice, and checks and balances.
Future-proofing the food supply chain requires much work, time and effort. It requires greater investment, forward-thinking strategies, an agile approach to logistics and operations, and teams capable of overcoming challenges ranging from airborne viruses to inaccessible trade routes. It requires systems innovation, from sourcing raw materials to distribution.
In recent decades, we have seen huge shifts in consumer habits, preferences and needs — from what we are eating to how we buy our food. Our supply chains must shift with them. We have seen sustainable delivery systems and practical inventories become integral to supporting the e-commerce boom to cater to demand for direct-to-consumer distribution from online points-of-sale.
 

Khamenei's double game with the nuclear deal
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 28/2020

د. ماجد رافيزادا/عرب نيوز: لعبة خامنئي المزدوجة مع الاتفاق النووي
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Although six world powers (the US, the UK, Russia, France, China and Germany) were parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions, the two major players were, and still are, Iran and the US.
That is why when US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the pact, it fell apart. Tehran ceased to comply with the agreement despite entreaties from the other signatories. The re-imposition of US sanctions on Iran’s energy, banking and shipping sectors hit its economy the most, as foreign corporations were reluctant to do business with Iran because of the potential repercussions.
Joe Biden has made it clear that he intends to rejoin the nuclear deal when he becomes US president. Since Iran’s Supreme Leader enjoys the final say in the country’s major foreign policy issues, his stance on the nuclear deal will determine whether the nuclear agreement can be resurrected under the Biden administration. So, what is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s position?
In the next few months, he will probably play a double game. In public, he will be warning the Iranian authorities not to hold negotiations with the US because Washington cannot be trusted. Khamenei has already started his campaign of criticizing the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. “I did not believe in the way the JCPOA was done, and I have made this clear to the president and the foreign minister on many occasions,” he said last week.
This is a classic Machiavellian tactic employed by Iran’s Supreme Leader in order to evade accountability and responsibility when some policies fail. He does not want to show weakness and loss. He shrewdly claims that his role as a Supreme Leader does not include “intervention in executive affairs” unless the hold on power of the Islamic Republic is in danger. “I believe the leader should not meddle in executive affairs unless there is a risk that the entirety of Revolution’s movement is endangered,” he says.
But the reality is that Iranian presidents and foreign ministers have an extremely limited amount of power overTehran’s foreign policies, all of which must be signed off by the Supreme Leader, directly or indirectly.
In addition, by publicly showing his opposition to the nuclear deal or any negotiations with the US, the 81-year-old supreme leader is attempting to establish his legacy of anti-Americanism. He wants to appeal to his hardline base and his proxies and militia groups abroad, and to show that he is consistent, resilient, and brave in opposing the “Great Satan.”
Nevertheless, beneath Khamenei’s facade lies the truth — not only does he wants to rejoin the nuclear deal, he is desperate to do so. In private, he is almost certainly instructing Rouhani and Zarif to revive the agreement when Joe takes office on Jan. 20.
Between 2013 and 2015, when Iranian officials were holding meetings with US authorities to finalize the nuclear deal, Khamenei employed the same modus operandi. He publicly suggested that he was not favor of making deals with Americans, but Rouhani and Zarif could not, and would not, have reached such a critical international accord without the approval of the supreme leader.
Khamenei knows one of the main requirements for US sanctions to be lifted is the revival of the nuclear deal. He is extremely concerned about Iran’s fate if sanctions persist. There have been several major widespread protests against the regime in the past few years. For the first time, people began chanting “Death to Khamenei” and demanding that he step down. People in other countries such as Lebanon and Iraq, where Tehran exerts significant influence, have also protested against Iran’s interventions in their internal affairs. The regime’s popularity in the Middle East has reached a new low.
The supreme leader is also witnessing how the sanctions have substantially cut off the flow of funds to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and its cronies and terror groups across the region. This is why he has said: “If we can remove the sanctions, we must not delay even one hour.”
So Iran’s supreme leader is shrewdly criticizing the JCPOA in public, while in private he both needs and wants to bring it back to life.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of the Harvard International Review, the Harvard International Relations Council and the US-Middle East

Peace and zero hunger go hand in hand
Prince Faisal bin Farhan & David Beasle//Arab News/December 28/2020
The resurgence of hunger is one of the greatest problems we face today. A toxic mix of widespread civil war, poverty, and COVID-19 threatens to bring mass starvation on an unprecedented scale. Sadly, ending hunger and malnutrition is the one UN Sustainable Development Goal on which we have failed to make progress in recent years.
The World Food Programme was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020 for “its efforts to combat hunger, for its contributions to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-afflicted areas, and for acting as a driving force to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.”
Saudi Arabia has long advocated for global attention to food security issues. At the recent G20 meeting hosted in the Kingdom, members committed to greater investments in agricultural development. At various moments in history when the WFP faced funding shortfalls, Saudi Arabia came to the rescue of those most in need by making significant contributions; in the 1970s, and during the sharp rise in food prices in 2008, the Kingdom made the largest cash donations to WFP by a single donor up to those dates, which helped the WFP implement programs aimed at lessening the impact. In 2019, the Kingdom was the WFP’s fifth-largest donor through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center. Last year alone, the Kingdom invested $440 million in food assistance and agricultural development in 36 countries worldwide, the main focus being support to the WFP in Yemen for the past five years.
While starvation in conflict zones easily draws attention in the media, chronic hunger does not. There are so many drivers behind it: Poverty, discrimination, environmental degradation, and insufficient investment in agriculture. With each passing year, climate change inflicts more harm on farmers as they struggle to cope with rising temperatures and cruel cycles of flood and drought. After harvest, an astonishing 1.3 billion tons of food simply go to waste each year.
Add COVID-19 to the global hunger equation and we could soon see another pandemic — a hunger pandemic as brutally relentless as the virus itself. COVID-19 has taken over 1.7 million lives already. If we allow it to create a second pandemic of hunger and malnutrition, the cost in lives lost will be far more devastating. Hunger and malnutrition are already efficient killers, taking the lives of over 3 million children under 5 each year. We cannot allow the spread of COVID-19 to add fuel to that fire.
The COVID-19 pandemic has eaten into harvests, disrupted supply chains, and decimated the incomes of tens of millions of households. Where food is available, each day more people lack the money to buy it. All told, 270 million people may find themselves in an extreme hunger crisis in 2021, including about 30 million already on the brink of starvation.
What is the way forward? First, we must press all parties to honor the UN secretary-general's call for a global cease-fire, which is consistent with the Kingdom’s policy focused on peace as its strategic choice and one of the most important pillars of its foreign policy. If most hunger stems from politics, we need political solutions. Brokering peace will not only curb outbreaks of hunger in war zones, it will stem the surge of refugees and economic migrants now overwhelming many host countries.
Second, we must position food in the most vulnerable regions by year’s end. This is not just a task for governments. We all must help. If there was ever a time to share, it is now.
Third, we must take a strategic approach to aid working in tandem and with a true spirit of collaboration. “Smart funding” through multiyear and multisector donations can help donors have a broad impact beyond containing emergencies. Better targeting of aid to focus more on women and girls would surely pay off, as they are most often the victims of malnutrition. It is not enough for us to save lives if we do not fundamentally change lives.
Finally, we must build resilience in societies so they can better withstand shocks like COVID-19 in the future. We must start with youth. School closures have ended school meals for 370 million school children around the world and the WFP, Saudi Arabia, and other donors are already providing food assistance to strengthen nutrition and prevent disease among them. We cannot let a generation in the developing world become collateral damage in this pandemic — malnourished and uneducated, with little hope of leading productive lives.
If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is empathy. Even in wealthy nations, families with jobs one day could find themselves relying on government aid or food banks the next. Tens of millions in the developed world today no longer take food for granted and share the worries of the world’s poor in a way we never imagined possible. Perhaps in the pain COVID-19 has thrust upon us, we can finally come together and work toward building a world without hunger.
• Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud is the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs.
• David Beasley is executive director of the World Food Programme.