LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 12/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.
First Letter of Peter 04/12-19:”Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief-maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgement to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And ‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?’ Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on June 11-12/2019
Zakka visits Hariri to thank him for his efforts
Ibrahim Says Efforts to Release Zakka Began Soon after Detention
White House 'Thankful' for Nizar Zakka's Release
UNIFIL head chairs regular Tripartite meeting
Hariri Blasts Bassil, Nasrallah and Germanos but Says Settlement Continues
Ghadi Khoury commissioned by Bassil meets Satterfield
Bassil Travels to UK, Ireland on Official Visit
Kataeb Party Says All the Lebanese Are Paying the Price for the Ruling Authority's Performance
Samy Gemayel: Current Sectarian Incitement Aimed at Covering up Political Settlement's Failure
Report: Hizbullah Bomb Case in UK Kept 'Hidden'
Nizar Zakka freed but Lebanon still captive

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 11-12/2019
Linda Sarour & CAIR’s Disingenuous Campaign to Suppress Free Speech at US Army War College
Iranian-Canadian Participants At Toronto Quds Day Rally: I Don't Consider Myself Canadian, Canada Is A Racist Colonialist Project Like Israel; Israel Will Be Destroyed Within 25 Years
U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Syrian Mogul for Aiding Assad
Sudan Protesters to Resume Talks with Ruling Generals
Iraq's Judiciary Denies Deal to Commute French Jihadist Death Sentences
Iraq Kurds Name President's Cousin as Their New PM
Rare Exchange of Fire between Israeli Troops and Palestinian Security
Palestinians Say Medic Shot in Border Clashes Succumbs to Wounds
Report: UAE Paid Businessman to Spy on Trump Admin
Saudi Downs Two Attack Drones from Yemen
Trump Says He Received a 'Beautiful Letter' from N. Korea's Kim

Litles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 11-12/2019
Nizar Zakka freed but Lebanon still captive/Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/June 11/2019
Zakka Arrives in Lebanon, Slams Iran over 'Arbitrary Detention, Show Trial'/Associated Press/Naharnet/June 11/2019
Linda Sarour & CAIR’s Disingenuous Campaign to Suppress Free Speech at US Army War College/Raymond Ibrahim/June 11/2019
Iranian-Canadian Participants At Toronto Quds Day Rally: I Don't Consider Myself Canadian, Canada Is A Racist Colonialist Project Like Israel; Israel Will Be Destroyed Within 25 Years/MEMRI/June 11/2019
Turkey's New Violent Political Culture/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/June 11/ 2019
Greece: Is the Left-Wing Government Interfering in the Electoral Process?/Maria Polizoidou//Gatestone Institute/June 11/ 2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on June 11-12/2019
Zakka Arrives in Lebanon, Slams Iran over 'Arbitrary Detention, Show Trial'
Associated Press/Naharnet/June 11/2019
A U.S. permanent resident and Lebanese businessman who was imprisoned for years in Iran arrived Tuesday afternoon in his native Lebanon after being freed by Tehran. Nizar Zakka, held in Iran since 2015, arrived on a private plane accompanied by the chief of Lebanon's General Security Directorate, Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim. They immediately headed to the Baabda Palace where the met with President Michel Aoun. Relatives of Zakka were also present at the presidential palace. Zakka flashed reporters the victory sign and hugged his brother Ziad before he went into the meeting with Aoun, who had personally requested his release. At a joint press conference with Ibrahim after the meeting, Zakka blasted Iran, saying he was subjected to "kidnapping, arbitrary detention and a show trial."Zakka told reporters that the initiative to release him was "born in Lebanon" and "100% a national" one, but he acknowledged that it served to de-escalate tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
"I'm still strong and resilient and I have become fiercer in defending freedom and the freedom of internet," Zakka added. Ibrahim for his part told reporters that Hizbullah had "played a role" in the case but stressed that Zakka has been freed "at President Aoun's request," dismissing an Iranian media report that claimed otherwise as "baseless.""Zakka was released following President Aoun's letter to (Iranian) President Hassan Rouhani," Ibrahim said. Aoun had told Zakka during the meeting: "I once said that existing without freedom is a form of the forms of death, so thank God that you have become a free man once again."Zakka later met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Grand Serail and received a phone call from Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil. Zakka is one of several prisoners with either dual nationality or links to the West held in Iran. His release comes as tensions between Iran and the U.S. remain high after President Donald Trump withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Earlier Tuesday, an Iranian judiciary official confirmed that Tehran has agreed to hand over Zakka to Lebanese officials, providing the first official confirmation of his release, which had been anticipated for days.
"A court has accepted the condition of freedom of Nizar Zakka and he will be handed over to Lebanese officials," judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said, according to the judiciary's Mizan news agency. A report Monday on the Iranian state TV's website mirrored an earlier one carried by the semi-official Fars news agency about Zakka, an internet freedom advocate who was arrested in September 2015 while trying to fly out of Tehran. He had just attended a conference there on the invitation of one of the country's vice presidents.
The state TV, like Fars, both quoted an anonymous source saying Zakka's forthcoming release should only be seen as a "sign of respect" for Hizbullah and its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. "In this regard, no negotiations have taken place at any level with any person or any government," state TV said. Esmaili stressed that Zakka's release was within "the frame of the law." "We reviewed the (Lebanese) president's request through the Supreme National Security Council," Esmaili said. "Also, the Lebanese Hizbullah group considered the approval of his freedom as prudent."State TV later quoted an anonymous source as saying Zakka would be released on Tuesday afternoon and will be allowed to leave Tehran.
In 2016, Iran sentenced Zakka to 10 years in prison. Authorities accused him of being an American spy, allegations vigorously rejected by his family and associates. Zakka, who lives in Washington and holds resident status in the U.S., leads the Arab ICT Organization, or IJMA3, an industry consortium from 13 countries that advocates for information technology in the region. In 2016, The Associated Press reported that Zakka's supporters wrote to then-Secretary of State John Kerry, stating Zakka traveled to Iran "with the knowledge and approval of the U.S. State Department, and his trip was funded by grants" from it. Zakka's IJMA3 organization had received at least $730,000 in contracts and grants since 2009 from both the State Department and USAID, the lead American government agency fighting poverty and promoting democracy across the world. The State Department has yet to respond to a years-old request from the AP for information about those grants. Shahindokht Molaverdi, an adviser to President Hassan Rouhani who as a vice president invited Zakka to Iran, told the AP in September that Iran's government had "failed" to help Zakka. "This is in no way approved by the government," Molaverdi said. "We did all we could to stop this from happening, but we are seeing that we have failed to make a significant impact."

Zakka Says He was Held as 'Hostage' in 'Ugliest Place in the World'
Naharnet/June 11/2019/U.S. permanent resident and Lebanese businessman Nizar Zakka, who was imprisoned for four years in Iran before being released on Tuesday, has detailed his detention ordeal in several interviews with Lebanese TV networks. “Even in movies, no one has witnessed the torture I was subjected to,” Zakka said in an interview with LBCI television, describing the Evin prison in Tehran as “the ugliest place in the world.”“I was kidnapped, I was a hostage,” he added. “I was not nabbed by the Iranian government, which had sent me an official invitation and a visa, but rather by the Iranian revolutionary guard, which is an independent apparatus in Iran,” he said. Asked about the reason behind his arrest, Zakka said he believes that Iran had sought to tell the Americans that the 2015 nuclear agreement did not entail a drive towards “openness” in Iran, adding that he represented “freedom of expression and freedom of the internet” at the time. Asked why he excluded Hizbullah from the parties he thanked for securing his release, Zakka declined to give a blunt answer but said that “every Lebanese should have supported an aggrieved person in prison from the very first day.”
He also revealed that he had declined a request from Iran to appear in a video while in detention. “I remained for an additional year in prison because I refused to do a video and say what they wanted me to say,” he said. “I’m a man who has never done anything wrong in his life. I have kids and a family and I went there on an official invitation,” Zakka added. In another interview on MTV, Zakka said he will be “the voice of all the aggrieved.”“The biggest role in my release was played by the Lebanese media, as well as by the letter that was sent by President (Michel) Aoun to the Iranian side,” Zakka added, while also giving credit to Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil. “In the first stage, I was subjected to all forms of torture, and in the second stage, the torture was mental and psychological,” he added. Speaking to al-Jadeed TV, Zakka said the Iranians “apologized” to him “from the very beginning” and that he was “an obstacle” for them. “They were trying to find a way to release me,” he added. Asked whether he might thank Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Zakka said: “Of course I thank everyone and anyone who supported the President for my release.”“After I left prison, the Iranians bought me Iranian carpets and gifts for my children and for (General Security chief) Maj. Gen. (Abbas) Ibrahim,” he revealed. “I thank the President (Michel Aoun) and I ask the American president to seek the release of all Americans in Iranian jails,” Zakka went on to say. He also said that he has no knowledge of any swap deal involving him and Lebanese businessman Qassem Tajeddine, who is held in the United States on charges of aiding Hizbullah.“I’m happy because I’m among my family,” he added.

Zakka visits Hariri to thank him for his efforts
Tue 11 Jun 2019/NNA - The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received this evening at the Grand Serail the Lebanese businessman Nizar Zakka who was released by the Iranian authorities, and congratulated him on his safe return to Lebanon.
After the meeting, Zakka said: “I came to thank Prime Minister Hariri for the efforts he exerted, for the stances he took and for his support. He did not spare any opportunity to ask all the Iranians who visited Lebanon about my conditions and he sent letters to all concerned parties to release me. I thanked him for his efforts and informed him about the efforts exerted by President Michel Aoun and the Director General of General Security Major General Abbas Ibrahim in this regard.”He added: “I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone, especially Prime Minister Hariri, for all that he has done. He advised me about what I should do and I listened to him”.Asked if he thanks (Hezbollah’s secretary general )Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, he said that he thanked all the Lebanese who helped him, the Lebanese state and everyone in the state who wanted to help another Lebanese citizen, adding that no conditions were imposed on him and that he came to Lebanon as a free innocent person.

Ibrahim Says Efforts to Release Zakka Began Soon after Detention
Naharnet/June 11/2019/General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim emphasized that the Directorate has launched efforts to release Lebanese detainee Nizar Zakka in Tehran the moment he was detained, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. “From the onset of his detention in Tehran, the General Security has launched efforts to release Zakka and other Lebanese citizens because it is a duty to demand the release of each Lebanese wherever he may be, with all due respect for all friendships,”said Abbas in remarks to the daily. “But those who believe they don't belong to the Lebanese state, but belong to a specific political party, can ask the Lebanese state to refrain from recovering them back,” he added. Ibrahim’s remarks came in the wake of a report on Iranian state television that Zakka, a Lebanese advocate for internet freedom, was to be released "only because of the respect and dignity" Iran has for the leader of Hizbullah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and that negotiations were not held with "any person or government."Abbas affirmed that Iranian authorities will release Zakka today. Al-Joumhouria added that Ibrahim has telephone called President Michel Aoun informing him that the administrative and legal arrangements for ending Zakka's file and securing his repatriation to Beirut had been completed and that he was due to return today. On Monday, Ibrahim met with Zakka in Tehran. He also met with a number of Iranian officials and has put Aoun in the picture of all the meetings he has held in Iran, Lebanese TV networks reported. Lebanon's Foreign Ministry had last week announced that Tehran had asked Lebanese authorities to send a delegation to Tehran for Zakka's repatriation. Zakka has been detained in Iran since 2015 over spying allegations. He was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine.

White House 'Thankful' for Nizar Zakka's Release
Naharnet/June 11/2019/The White House said Tuesday it is "thankful" for the release from Iranian custody of Nizar Zakka, who is a Lebanese citizen and U.S. permanent resident. It however noted that it wants to see American citizens who are detained there released as well. Addressing the return of Zakka, who had been held in Iran since 2015 on charges of spying, to his native Lebanon, press secretary Sarah Sanders says, "We're thankful for the release of the individual in Iran."She said "the big question is there's several others and we want to see those people released as well." Sanders however declined to say whether the U.S. government was involved in securing Zakka's release.

UNIFIL head chairs regular Tripartite meeting
Tue 11 Jun 2019/NNA - UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col today chaired a regular Tripartite meeting at a UN position in Ras Al Naqoura. In a press release by UNIFIL, it said: "Today's discussions included air and ground violations, the situation along the Blue Line, the issue of permanent violations including the northern part of the village of Ghajar, as well as other issues within the scope of the UN Security Council resolution 1701 and related resolutions." Opening the meeting, Major General Del Col reiterated UNIFIL's call to the parties to make sure that any activity close to the Blue Line should be predictable, with sufficient prior notification to allow for coordination with the parties, so as to avoid misunderstandings and prevent incidents. ."UNIFIL stands ready to facilitate follow-up meetings where necessary and as always, our liaison and coordination arrangements are at your disposal at any given time," he told the delegations, stressing the importance of Tripartite meetings. "The Tripartite mechanism is a successful conduit in finding solutions and minimizing tensions as it allows us all to take stock of the current pressing issues and security concerns along the Blue Line, in an open and transparent manner," he continued. "Despite the ongoing heightened regional tension, UNIFIL's area of operations has remained relatively calm and I sincerely hope that parties will do all they can to ensure this calm and stability is maintained." Press release concluded: "Tripartite meetings have been held regularly under the auspices of UNIFIL since the end of the 2006 war in south Lebanon as an essential conflict management and confidence building mechanism."

Hariri Blasts Bassil, Nasrallah and Germanos but Says Settlement Continues
Naharnet/June 11/2019/Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday criticized several parties over the political tensions that the country witnessed during his vacation abroad but noted that he is still keen on the political settlement with the other camp. “One cannot remain silent over mistakes or over any unacceptable remarks that breach the red lines and norms and the country can't be run through gaffes,” Hariri said in an apparent reference to Free Patriotic Movement chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil.“I was dismayed by the remarks attributed to Minister Bassil during his Bekaa visit and the best thing he has done is denying these remarks, because they had negative repercussions,” Hariri added, in his first remarks since the latest political tensions. “The exchange of tirades was imposed on us and I wanted to pass the budget calmly,” the premier went on to say. He added: “The country cannot be run through bravados.”“We cannot disregard the anger in the Sunni community, which is real and has resulted from the political stances of some political partners,” Hariri said. Reassuring that the premier's jurisdiction is intact and challenging “anyone voicing this lie to tell us how we have relinquished the premier's jurisdiction,” Hariri warned that “the country will pay the price of any dispute with the President.” “The alternative to the settlement would be descending into the unknown,” he cautioned. Turning to the row between the Internal Security Forces and State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Peter Germanon, Hariri said “it is unacceptable to see a judge launching a personal campaign against the ISF's command.” “We will not allow anyone to insult all security institutions,” he said. He also blamed political interference for the acquittal of Lt. Col. Suzanne al-Hajj in the case of framing the actor Ziad Itani in a fabricated spying for Israel case. Commenting on recent remarks by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hariri said Lebanon's ties with the Arab countries cannot hinge on the "mood" of some parties. “The Premier speaks on behalf of entire Lebanon at any Arab summit,” Hariri added, after Nasrallah said Hariri's remarks at the summit had breached Lebanon's so-called dissociation policy. Hariri said the remarks were in line with the government's policy statement and Lebanon's stances at previous summits.

Ghadi Khoury commissioned by Bassil meets Satterfield
Tue 11 Jun 2019/NNA - The Director of Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ghadi Khoury, commissioned by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, for being outside the country, met at Villa Boustros with US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Satterfield. He informed him on the latest developments regarding the file of the border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel.

Bassil Travels to UK, Ireland on Official Visit
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2019/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil traveled on Tuesday on an official visit to London where he is scheduled to meet with his British counterpart and several UK ministers, media reports said. Bassil will also visit the Republic of Ireland, where he will meet with President Michael D. Higgins and the Minister of Defense. In both Britain and Ireland, Bassil is reportedly scheduled to meet with Lebanese nationals mainly students and workers in the IT sector residing there.

Kataeb Party Says All the Lebanese Are Paying the Price for the Ruling Authority's Performance
Kataeb.org/June 11/2019/The Lebanese Kataeb party on Monday blasted the futile bickering between members of the ruling authority, warning that the dangerous sectarian turn that it has taken is leading to unprecedented tensions. "The Kataeb party considers that the ruling authority's performance proves that the political settlement was only based on partitioning and clientelism," read a statement issued following the weekly meeting of the Kataeb's politburo. "The Lebanese, living in Lebanon and abroad, are paying the price for the irresponsible statements made by some members of the ruling authority, noting that their stances do not represent those of the Lebanese State or the people."The party described the 2019 draft budget approved by the government as "disappointing", adding that it is flawed by erroneous figures and violates the Constitution amid the absence of an audit of previous years' accounts.The politburo said that the draft budget shows that the government favors the frivolous mentality over a reformist economic vision, criticizing it for seeking to boost revenues by directly affecting the poor and the underprivileged segment of the society instead of ending squandering and uprooting corruption. "The Kataeb party warns of the dangers that this budget would inflict on needy people, notably the social care institutions, thus ushering in an imminent threat for children, elderly people and those with special needs," the party said, pledging to stand against the reduction of the budget allocated to social care organizations during the budget talks at the Parliament. The politburo condemned the terrorist attack that jolted Tripoli last week, stressing the need to boost the security forces' capabilities so that it would continue to fulfill its duties, and to steer the Army clear of sectarian and sceptical disputes.
The party renewed its call for addressing the Syrian refugee crisis away from political outbidding, demanding that the Lebanese authorities would swiftly work on returning the Syrians back to their country in collaboration with the relevant international sides. The politburo congratulated the winners of the elections of the Order of Physicians, including the party's candidate Dr. Bernard Gerbaka, pledging that the Kataeb would always separate the syndical work from politics and seek what is best for the profession.

Samy Gemayel: Current Sectarian Incitement Aimed at Covering up Political Settlement's Failure
Kataeb.org/June 11/2019/Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel on Tuesday deemed sectarianism as a sedative more than a reality, calling on the Lebanese to be vigilant and not to get drifted along by this logic."Do not allow anyone to spoil our goal to build a state of law and justice; a state with a strong economy and where everyone is protected. All of this requires a sovereign, free and independent state," Gemayel said following talks with Grand Mufti Abdul-latif Deryan at Dar Al-Fatwa. “Sectarian tensions we are witnessing today are nothing but an attempt to cover up the ruling authority's management fiasco," he stressed. “We are witnessing a failure at all levels. The presidential settlement that was sealed a few years ago hasn’t been able to build a state of law [...]. Therefore, some are trying to use sectarian tensions to cover up all the mismanagement caused by the settlement," he added.
Gemayel voiced regret that the Lebanese are paying the price for this "sectarian game", saying that the political class is numbing the people through sectarian incitement to kill all the chances for a revolt against the bitter reality and the hard economic, health, social and environmental situation that the Lebanese are experiencing.The kataeb leader called on officials to assume responsibility when performing their duties and exercising their prerogatives, saying that it is unacceptable to jeopardize the future of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who work in the Gulf countries because of impermissible slips of the tongue. "Instead of improving relations with other countries and being neutral towards ongoing regional conflicts, some are dragging Lebanon into these conflicts and harming ties with the countries that has been hosting the Lebanese and treating them with respect."
Gemayel expected sectarian incitement to go on in a bid to justify the "epic" failure of the ruling authority, adding that everything happening today is the result of the hybrid settlement that was based only on personal interests and partitioning goals. Gemayel hoped that all political forces would seek Lebanon's best interest and work on establishing a free, independent, sovereign and civilized State where all the Lebanese would live in dignity.

Report: Hizbullah Bomb Case in UK Kept 'Hidden'
Naharnet/June 11/2019/Radicals linked to the Iran-backed Hizbullah movement were found to be stockpiling bomb-making ingredients in London in 2015 in a case that was kept "hidden from the public", the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday. Following a tip-off from a foreign government, British police and the MI5 intelligence service discovered thousands of disposable ice packs containing three tonnes of ammonium nitrate, the report said, citing security sources. One man was arrested in a series of four raids in northwest London but he was later released without charge after what the paper said was a "covert intelligence operation" that was not aimed at seeking criminal prosecution. The paper said that the decision not to inform the public about the discovery, which came shortly after the Iran nuclear deal was concluded, would "raise eyebrows".The paper said then prime minister David Cameron and interior minister Theresa May were informed but MPs who were debating whether to ban Hizbullah in Britain were not. The paper said similar discoveries of ice packs used to store explosives were made in other parts of the world. It said ice packs were used as they looked harmless and were easier to transport. The report added that no attack was imminent and the ammonium nitrate had not been weaponised. Hizbullah's militant wing was banned at the time but the Lebanese Shiite group in its entirety was only added to Britain's terrorist group list earlier this year.

Nizar Zakka freed but Lebanon still captive
مكرم رباح: فيما نزار زكا تحرر من سجنه لبنان لا يزال في الأسر
Makram Rabah/Al Arabiya/June 11/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75700/%d9%85%d9%83%d8%b1%d9%85-%d8%b1%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%ad-%d9%81%d9%8a%d9%85%d8%a7-%d9%86%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%b2%d9%83%d8%a7-%d8%aa%d8%ad%d8%b1%d8%b1-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%b3%d8%ac%d9%86%d9%87-%d9%84%d8%a8/
Lebanese national Nizar Zakka, whose trip to Tehran following an official invitation by the Iranian government in September 2015 ended with his arrest and imprisonment, is being released after almost four years in Tehran’s central prison. His release comes during a time of heightened tension for Iran’s proxy Lebanese Hezbollah both locally and internationally.
Zakka’s frequent pleas to the Lebanese government to come to his aid were not fruitful until President Michel Aoun, Hezbollah and Iran’s ally, unexpectedly announced that Zakka would soon be released.
Zakka, an information technology expert and a US permanent resident, flew to Iran upon the invitation of Shahindokht Molaverdi, Iran’s vice president for women and family affairs, to be a keynote speaker at a conference on women’s entrepreneurship. Zakka’s state invitation was not enough to protect him from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who stopped him on his way to the airport and accused him of having links to the US government and its intelligence community. Zakka’s case is not unique, but routine for the Iranian regime, which has a history of arresting dual citizens, especially Americans, to use as bargaining chips.
Why did the Lebanese government, having ignored Zakka’s case for so long, finally decide to grow a conscience and correct this injustice? Despite being jailed, Zakka was equipped with a calling card and access to a public phone, and had been lobbying for his release. He called on many key state figures, including Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who promised him help but never delivered.
When I spoke to Zakka, he told me that the Lebanese state had previously hesitated to provide any legal or consulate services through its embassy in Tehran that would allow Zakka to give power of attorney to his family to secure his release. But Zakka’s salvation now rests on Major General Abbas Ibrahim, Head of Lebanon’s General Security, who flew Sunday to Iran to arrange for his release.
The choice of Abbas Ibrahim to lead this operation is no coincidence. It is a calculated move to empower the pro-Hezbollah elements within the Lebanese state, especially Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil. It also allows Iran to make Zakka’s illegal detention look like merely procedural legal proceedings.
Ibrahim is renowned for successfully securing the release of 13 nuns abducted from their convent in the Syrian village of Maaloula in 2014, as well as 16 Lebanese servicemen abducted by the al-Nusra Front following the battle of Arsal in the east of Lebanon.
While Ibrahim’s feats have been praised and peddled as beneficial to the Lebanese state and its image, they were sanctioned by Hezbollah as well as Qatar, with the latter providing the ransom paid to the al-Nusra Front.
The timing of Zakka’s release is also interesting, coinciding with increasing US sanctions against Iran, as well as with a standoff between Aoun and Hezbollah on the one hand and the political parties opposed to Hezbollah’s growing power in Lebanon on the other. The irony is that it was the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that detained Zakka and it was the intervention of their proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, that secured his release, according to Iranian officials.
Thankfully Zakka’s nightmare will soon be over, and he will be returning home to his family and loved ones. But his story will linger as a reminder that while he is free, Lebanon and its people are prisoners of Iran, and their supposed liberators are in fact their jailors.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 11-12/2019
Linda Sarour & CAIR’s Disingenuous Campaign to Suppress Free Speech at US Army War College
Raymond Ibrahim/June 11/2019
Note: The following article, titled “Linda Sarour & CAIR’s Disingenuous Campaign Against US Army War College,” and written by Meira Svirsky for the Clarion Project, appeared earlier today and complements the one I wrote yesterday:
Linda Sarsour and her platform MPower Change has joined the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)in an hysterical campaign to get Islamic scholar Raymond Ibrahim disinvited from a speaking engagement at the US Army War College.
Sarsour, one of the founders and organizers of the Women’s March is an apologist for sharia law. CAIR, a Muslim Brotherhood-linked Islamist organization, is an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror funding case in American history.
Ibrahim is scheduled to lecture at the college on his book Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West.
As Ibrahim notes,
“The reason CAIR cites to disinvite me is that ‘Raymond Ibrahim’s book … advance[s] a simplistic, inaccurate and often prejudicial view of the long history of Muslim-West relations which we find deeply troubling.’
“[Yet] although my book is 352 pages, and covers nearly fourteen centuries, certain epochs in great detail, not once does CAIR highlight a certain passage or excerpt in its lengthy complaints to support its accusation that the book “is based on poor research.”
Sarsour and CAIR choose to present Ibrahim as a “well-known Islamophobe.”
Yet, as the Investigative Project on Terrorism writes:
“Muslim sources such as Islamweb.net acknowledge that Islamic threats of violence against majority Christian lands date back to Muhammad. It notes that Muhammad sent an emissary to the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius calling on him to give up his Christianity for Islam or ‘pay him taxes in return for him allowing you to remain upon your faith; or, to prepare for war against him.’ Muslim armies invaded the empire, defeating Heraclius’ forces in the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 A.D. after Muhammad’s death. It paved the way for the Islamic conquest of the rest of the Middle East.”
Sarsour’s organization also manages to connect Ibrahim, who is an Coptic Christian of Egyptian descent, to the white nationalist movement, saying, “In a time of rising white nationalism, Islamophobia, and violence, this invitation endorses and fosters anti-Muslim hate within the military and beyond.”
Ibrahim, who appears in Clarion Project’s latest film Faithkeepers, has a reputation of being an outstanding historian.
Unfortunately, some of the truths he points out are inconvenient for Sarsour and her cohorts at CAIR. Instead of acknowledging history and forging a way for Islam to move into the future while leaving the abuses associated with the religion in the past, Sarsour and CAIR would rather be disingenuous and simply shut down any factual discussion – discussion that is crucial to make sure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated in the present and future.

Iranian-Canadian Participants At Toronto Quds Day Rally: I Don't Consider Myself Canadian, Canada Is A Racist Colonialist Project Like Israel; Israel Will Be Destroyed Within 25 Years
MEMRI/JUne 11/2019
The Annual Walk for Al-Quds was held in Toronto, Canada on May 31, 2019. Nasim Agari, who was born in Tehran, told an interviewer that she does not consider herself to be Canadian because Canada is a "white-supremacist, colonialist, racist project" much like Israel. Agari describes herself as a poet and an artist, and she is currently studying human rights and equity studies at York University. Hussein Mujtahdi, a student at the Islamic Seminary in Qom, Iran, said that more countries will join in solidarity with the Palestinians and that Israel will "certainly" be destroyed within 25 years because "injustice and all oppressors are doomed." The interviews were uploaded to YouTube. The rally was also attended by Canadian Imam Zafar Bangash, who delivered brief remarks and who regularly attends similar events. Nasim Asgari: "Canada is a white supremacist, colonial, racist project as is Israel – as is the State of Israel. So I don't even consider myself to be a Canadian because this is indigenous land and this land is occupied. So the people who are here, whether they are settlers... We first need to educate ourselves about what has happened on this land and what is continuously happening in order for us to understand what our government – or 'this government' – is doing abroad or overseas."Hussein Mujtahdi: "This is the resistance that we are going to continue to see, and as a result, neighboring countries and those who are fighting in solidarity all around the world will also rise with the Palestinians. And we will see, in the next 20 to 25 years, the decline and ultimate destruction of the illegal Zionist state. This is for certain. This is not a conspiracy theory. The Zionist regime cannot continue this path, as injustice and all oppressors are doomed."
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https://www.memri.org/tv/iranian-canadian-participants-toronto-quds-day-rally-do-not-consider-myself-racist-colonialist-israel-cease-exist

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Syrian Mogul for Aiding Assad
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2019/The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Samer Foz, a Syrian industrialist behind high-end developments, including the Four Seasons hotel in Damascus, for allegedly enriching President Bashar al-Assad. "This Syrian oligarch is directly supporting the murderous Assad regime and building luxury developments on land stolen from those fleeing his brutality," Sigal Mandelker, the undersecretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in an announcement.

Sudan Protesters to Resume Talks with Ruling Generals
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2019/Protest leaders have agreed to end their civil disobedience campaign launched after a crackdown on demonstrators and resume talks with Sudan's ruling generals, an Ethiopian mediator said Tuesday. "The Alliance for Freedom and Change agreed to end the civil disobedience (campaign) from today," Mahmoud Drir, who has been mediating since a visit by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week, told reporters. "Both sides have also agreed to resume talks soon" on a handover of power to a civilian administration, he said.
The protest movement itself said in a statement that it was calling on people "to resume work from Wednesday."

Iraq's Judiciary Denies Deal to Commute French Jihadist Death Sentences
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2019/Iraq's judiciary on Tuesday denied it had struck a deal with Paris to commute the death sentences of French nationals convicted in Baghdad for belonging to the Islamic State group.
A Baghdad court issued death sentences in recent weeks for 11 Frenchmen transferred to Iraqi custody from neighbouring Syria, where they were caught fighting for IS. Only an appeals court -- not a bilateral agreement -- can change their sentences, according to Abdalsattar Bayraqdar, spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council. "The sentences issued by Iraqi courts can only be reviewed by the court of cassation -- which has the prerogative under the law to reaffirm the sentence or alter it depending on the circumstances of each crime -- and not through deals between countries," he said on Tuesday.
His statement comes after reports that Iraq's government had struck a deal with Paris to commute the French citizens' death sentences in exchange for money. The 11 sentences are still not final. According to Iraqi law, defendants have 30 days to appeal any sentence and for those facing the gallows, the appeal is automatically referred to the cassation court. There, it will be reviewed by 12 judges, according to Mudhaffar Jaryan, a lawyer for one of the convicted men. "The prerogatives of the cassation court are to either confirm the sentence, which becomes obligatory, or to lighten it -- or to order a retrial if it found insufficient evidence," he told AFP. Jaryan said he was preparing an appeal for a retrial on behalf of his client Bilel Kabaoui, 32, who was sentenced on June 3. He argues that Kabaoui had not fought in Iraq and therefore should not be tried there, and that the taped confessions used by prosecutors included many contradictions. Iraqi courts have convicted more than 500 foreign nationals for IS membership since 2018, most of them captured on Iraqi territory. They are now trying accused foreign IS members who were captured in neighbouring Syria by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, and transferred to Iraqi custody by the coalition fighting the jihadists. Iraqi government sources have told AFP that Baghdad would be willing to try hundreds more foreign fighters in exchange for $2 million (1.8 million euros) for each defendant. Iraq argues its courts can try jihadists captured outside its territory because they provided material support to IS operations inside Iraq. Its judiciary has issued dozens of death sentences for foreigners convicted of IS membership but has not carried them out. One of them, a German woman, saw her death penalty commuted to a life sentence on appeal.

Iraq Kurds Name President's Cousin as Their New PM
Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament on Tuesday named Masrour Barzani as the region's new premier, a day after his cousin was sworn in as its president. Masrour, who had been serving as national security adviser, is the son of veteran Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani. He will have one month to form a government for the autonomous region.

Rare Exchange of Fire between Israeli Troops and Palestinian Security
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2019/Israeli troops exchanged fire with Palestinian security forces in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in a rare shootout Israel's army said was the result of mistaken identity. The Palestinian governor of Nablus, Ibrahim Ramadan, said that two members of the Palestinian security forces were lightly wounded in the incident in the early hours of the morning adjacent to their headquarters. He told reporters the Israelis said they came under fire first and then responded by shooting at the headquarters building, but questioned why they were there in the first place. "Where is the headquarters? It is in central Nablus," he said outside the facility, where a number of windows were shattered. "What is the Israeli army doing in Nablus? What are they doing near the headquarters? There was no coordination on this matter," he said. "This is unacceptable."
The Israeli army said in a statement that the troops were on an operation to round up suspected Palestinian militants when they opened fire at what turned out to be the wrong target. "Exchanges of fire broke out between (troops) and those identified by the force as suspects. In retrospect, it turned out that these were members of Palestinian security forces," it said. "There are no casualties to our forces. The incident will be investigated," it added. Under the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians, Nablus, in the northern West Bank, is designated as being under full Palestinian security and administrative rule. But as in other ostensibly autonomous Palestinian areas, Israel regularly sends its forces in whenever it deems it necessary for Israeli security.

Palestinians Say Medic Shot in Border Clashes Succumbs to Wounds
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2019/A Palestinian medic has succumbed to his wounds a month after being shot during clashes along the Gaza border, Palestinian officials said. Mohammed al-Jdaili, 36, died after being hit by Israeli fire, the Palestinian health ministry said Monday. The Palestinian Red Crescent organisation said in a statement he had been hit in the face by a rubber-coated bullet "while performing his humanitarian duties" in northern Gaza on May 3. Since the injury he had been receiving treatment in Hebron in the occupied West Bank, it said. There was no reaction from the Israeli army. Palestinian official news agency Wafa said the father of four was hurt while treating wounded people near the border fence in Jabalia in northern Gaza. Palestinians have been gathering along the heavily-guarded Israeli border fence since March 2018, demanding Israel end the crippling blockade of the strip. The Jewish state accuses the strip's Islamist rulers Hamas of orchestrating the often-violent protests. On the day Jdaili was hit two Israeli soldiers were injured by gunfire. It sparked a two-day flare up, with hundreds of rockets fired from the strip towards Israel and dozens of targets struck by the Jewish state in response. At least 294 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since March 2018, the majority in the border clashes, according to an AFP toll. Six Israelis have been killed. According to the World Health Organization three other Palestinian medics have been killed during the border protests. In June 2018 22-year-old medic Razan Najjar died while working on the border. Her case grabbed global attention.

Report: UAE Paid Businessman to Spy on Trump Admin
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2019/A United Arab Emirates businessman linked to a probe of illegal donations to Donald Trump's political campaign was paid by his country's intelligence agency to spy on the US president's administration, The Intercept reported Monday. Rashid al-Malik received tens of thousands of dollars a month for gleaning information on Trump administration policy toward the Middle East in 2017, the website said, citing a former US official and documents. He reported back to the UAE's National Intelligence Service on topics of interest to the oil-producing Gulf state -- including US efforts to mediate a Gulf feud involving Qatar -- as well as meetings between US officials and Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, The Intercept said. Late last year, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported that US federal prosecutors were investigating whether foreigners illegally funneled donations to Trump's inaugural committee and a pro-Trump fundraising super PAC. Al-Malik, chairman of the investment firm Hayah Holdings, was interviewed by special counsel Robert Muller's office as part of the probe, according to the New York Times. The Times cited people familiar with the inquiry as saying it focused on whether people from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates used straw donors to make contributions in the hope of buying influence over US policy. The report was denied by al-Malik's lawyer, who told The Intercept that his client was "not an intelligence operative." "He has never been 'tasked' to deliver information about the inner workings of the Trump administration," Coffield wrote in an email to the website. He has, however, "on numerous occasions, discussed various business ideas for UAE projects in the US," the lawyer was quoted as saying. The Intercept report came after the Justice Department last week said George Nader, a well-connected Middle East fixer for the Trump campaign, was arrested for possessing child pornography. Nader was a witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian election meddling.

Saudi Downs Two Attack Drones from Yemen
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2019/Saudi air defence forces on Monday intercepted two drones launched by Huthi rebels from neighbouring Yemen, state media reported, as the Iran-aligned militia steps up attacks on the kingdom. The drones targeted Khamis Mushait in the kingdom's south and caused no damage or casualties, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said in a brief statement released early Tuesday by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The rebels said earlier via their news outlet Al-Masirah that they had targeted the King Khalid airbase near Khamis Mushait.
The attacks come as SPA reported the coalition was intensifying air raids on Huthi positions in the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah. The rebels have stepped up drone and missile attacks on the kingdom amid tensions between Shiite power Iran and the United States, Saudi Arabia's main ally. Last month, the Saudi air force shot down a bomb-laden drone deployed by Huthi rebels that targeted Jizan airport, close to the southern border with Yemen, the coalition said. The airport is used by thousands of civilians every day, but the coalition reported no casualties and warned the rebels of a strong response.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to push back an advance by the Huthi rebels, who still hold the capital Sanaa, and to restore to power President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, relief agencies say. It has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 24.1 million -- more than two-thirds of the population -- in need of aid.

Trump Says He Received a 'Beautiful Letter' from N. Korea's Kim
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 11/2019/President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has received another "beautiful letter" from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Indicating that he continues to trust Kim, despite making little progress in efforts to get Pyongyang to give up nuclear weapons, Trump said the North Korean strongman "has kept his word.""That’s very important to me," he said at the White House. Trump did not divulge what was in the letter from Kim. He has described previous letters as "beautiful" and even said they "fell in love."Trump has made history by meeting twice with Kim in a bid to lure the country into giving up nuclear weapons. However, U.S. intelligence officials say Pyongyang has no intention of following through.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 11-12/2019
Turkey's New Violent Political Culture
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/June 11/ 2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14306/turkey-politics-violence
At the heart of the matter is a culture that programs most less-educated masses (and in Turkey average schooling is 6.5 years) into a) converting the "other" and, if that is not possible, b) physically hurting the "other." A deep societal polarization since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002 has widened to frightening levels.
After opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was taken to a safehouse, members of the mob surrounded it and chanted, "Let's burn down the house!"
Apparently each unpunished case of political violence committed on behalf of the dominant state ideology (Islamism) and its sacrosanct leader (Erdoğan) encourages the next. In May, a journalist critical of Erdoğan's government and its nationalist allies was hospitalized after being attacked outside his home.
In a most spectacular show of violence, fans of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in April nearly lynched Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Pictured: Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. (Photo by Erhan Ortac/Getty Images)
In most civilized countries, citizens go to the ballot box on election day -- be it parliamentary, presidential or municipal -- cast their votes, go home to watch news reporting the results and go to work the next day, some happy, some disappointed, to live in peace until the elections. Not in Turkey, where any political race looks more like warfare than simple democratic competition.
One reason is the dominance of identity politics in the country that has its roots deep in the 1950s, when Turkey evolved into multi-party politics. The fighting between "us" and "them" goes on since then. At the heart of the matter is a culture that programs most less-educated masses (and in Turkey average schooling is 6.5 years) into a) converting the "other" and, if that is not possible, b) physically hurting the "other." A deep societal polarization since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002 has widened to frightening levels.
None of the incidents that opposition journalists are facing today is a coincidence. In September 2015, for instance, an angry group of AKP fans attacked the editorial headquarters of Hürriyet, Turkey's largest newspaper, at that time an opposition media company. Smashing the building's windows with sticks and stones, the crowd chanted: "Allah-u aqbar" ("God is great!") as if they were in a religious war. In fact, they thought they were in one because Hürriyet at that time was a secular newspaper critical of Erdoğan. For a long time, security forces watched the incidents with only one police team. The crowd took down the flag of the Doğan Group (which then owned Hürriyet) and burned it. After repeated demands, extra police were dispatched. The AKP Istanbul deputy and the head of the AKP youth branch, Abdürrahim Boynukalın, was in the crowd. He announced on his Twitter account, "We are protesting false news in front of Hürriyet and we are reciting the Quran for our martyrs." It was a jihad: attacking a newspaper...
A month later, Ahmet Hakan, a prominent Hürriyet columnist and a presenter at CNN-Türk, was outside his home. Hakan was followed home from the television station by four men in a black car before being assaulted near his residence. Hakan was treated for a broken nose and ribs. Only a few months before those incidents, Erdoğan had accused Hürriyet's owner of being a "coup lover" and described his journalists as "charlatans".
In October 2016, Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs, or "Diyanet," issued a circular for the formation of "youth branches" to be associated with the country's tens of thousands of mosques. Initially, the youth branches would be formed in 1,500 mosques. But under the new plan, 20,000 mosques would have youth branches by 2021, and finally 45,000 mosques would have them, in what would look like "mosque militia".
Then there is the curious case of the Alperen Hearths, a fiercely pro-Erdoğan group that fuses pan-Turkic racism with Islamism, neo-Ottomanism, and anti-Semitism. In 2016, the Alperen threatened violence against an annual gay pride march in Istanbul. Alperen's Istanbul chief, Kürşat Mican, said:
"Degenerates will not be allowed to carry out their fantasies on this land...We're not responsible for what will happen after this point ... We do not want people to walk around half-naked with alcohol bottles in their hands in this sacred city watered by the blood of our ancestors."
The Istanbul governor's office later banned the march.
Another time, in 2016, Alperen members protested outside one of the most significant synagogues in Istanbul, to denounce Israel's security measures after a deadly attack at the Temple Mount that left two Israeli police officers dead. "If you prevent our freedom of worship there [at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque] then we will prevent your freedom of worship here [at Istanbul's Neve Shalom Synagogue]," a statement from the Alperen said. "Our [Palestinian] brothers cannot pray there. Putting metal detectors harasses our brothers." Some Alperen youths kicked the synagogue's doors and others threw stones at the building.
More recent times are not more peaceful, sadly. On March 31, when Turks went to the ballot boxes to elect their mayors, violence in one single day claimed six lives and left 115 people injured by sticks, knives, batons and gunfire. A few days later, the death toll increased.
In a most spectacular show of violence, Erdoğan fans nearly lynched Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). In April, Kılıçdaroğlu went to a small town on the outskirts of Ankara to attend the funeral of a fallen soldier, killed during clashes with the separatist Kurdish militiamen. During the funeral, he was attacked by a nationalist crowd and taken to a nearby house for protection. A video of the incident on social media showed a mob pushing, shoving and punching Kılıçdaroğlu as he made his way through the crowd. After he was taken to a safehouse, members of the mob surrounded it and chanted, "Let's burn down the house!" The man who punched the opposition leader, later happened to be an official member of AKP.
The attacker, Osman Sarıgün, after a brief detention, was immediately released. The next day, he was a hero. Flocks of Erdoğan fans rushed to his farmhouse to kiss his hands in the Sicilian "baccio la mano" manner, paying him the utmost respect for physically attacking a leader of the opposition.
Apparently each unpunished case of political violence committed on behalf of the dominant state ideology (Islamism) and its sacrosanct leader (Erdoğan) encourages the next. In May, a journalist critical of Erdoğan's government and its nationalist allies was hospitalized after being attacked outside his home. The Yeniçağ newspaper said columnist Yavuz Selim Demirağ was beaten up by five or six people with baseball bats after appearing on a TV show. The assailants escaped the scene in a vehicle.
Everything went miraculously well for Göknur Damat, a 34-year-old beauty specialist who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2017, she appeared on a television show and, weeping, told the audience that her doctors said she would not live longer than six months. She won Erdoğan's (and other people's sympathies) and received an invitation to meet the president, who thereafter called her "my foster daughter." She was now the darling of all AKP supporters. Her business prospered and, even better, Damat miraculously won her fight against cancer. Recently, however, she made a mistake. She donated 20 liras (approximately $3.50) to the election campaign of the opposition candidate running for mayor of Istanbul. Worse, knowledge of her donation somehow fell into the public domain, with thousands of Erdoğan fans asking, "How come our president's foster daughter donated to the opposition campaign..." Recently, as she came out of her home, an unfamiliar man approached her, asked: "Are you that braveheart?" and stabbed her in the leg. The attacker, like most others, has not yet been found.
Turkey never was a Denmark or Norway in political maturity, tolerance and culture but it is dangerously coming closer to being like one of its neighbors to the south or to the east.
*Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from the country's most noted newspaper after 29 years, for writing in Gatestone what is taking place in Turkey. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Greece: Is the Left-Wing Government Interfering in the Electoral Process?
Maria Polizoidou//Gatestone Institute/June 11/ 2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14361/greece-election-interference
The most damning testimony of electoral fraud, however, came from Dimitris Mavros, managing director of the MRB polling company. In a radio interview on June 2, Mavros said that he had been under extreme pressure from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to manipulate the polls published by his firm....
On May 18, LA.O.S. Nationalist party leader Giorgos Karatzaferis also protested the government's ostensible interference in the elections. Karatzaferis said that the vote could be slanted leftward by the swift granting of Greek citizenship to thousands of immigrants.
The crucial question now surrounds the extent to which Greek voters heading to the polls on July 7 to elect their next government can trust that their ballots will be counted -- and reported -- fairly.
The local elections held in Greece on May 26 cast doubt on the integrity of the powers-that-be in Athens, and raise questions about how fair the upcoming national elections, scheduled for July 7, will be.
During the lead-up to the local elections, suspicion had been rampant that the left-wing Syriza-led government was going to try to manipulate the outcome.
As Lefteris Avgenakis -- secretary of the opposition New Democracy party -- told SKAI TV on May 16:
"There is the fear and the feeling... [and] information that some [members of] Syriza are determined... to distort the election results... We are telling [the Greek public] that New Democracy will be there with electoral representatives to ensure that their votes will be those counted at the ballot box."
The following day, on May 17, 2019, New Democracy President Kyriakos Mitsotakis attempted to distance himself from his party secretary's statement, apparently to prevent possible delegitimization of what would become a victory for his conservative party. Mitsotakis insisted in an interview with Star TV that there "is no such issue" of potential ballot fraud. However, he added, "We urge the New Democrats to monitor the ballot boxes to help safeguard the electoral process."
Mitsotakis's caveat indicated that he did not believe his own protestations. After all, if he had not suspected that the government might interfere with the electoral process, why would he "urge" his party members and supporters to protect that process?
Furthermore, months earlier, in January, Mitsotakis told a meeting of party members that he had issued a harsh warning to the government that the elections would be conducted "under exactly the same terms and with the same technical specifications as all previous election races: with audited electoral lists, with a secure electronic system and in a way that will ensure the smooth process of the vote."
On May 18, LAOS Nationalist party leader Giorgos Karatzaferis also protested the government's ostensible interference in the elections, but for a different reason. Karatzaferis said that the vote could be slanted leftward by the swift granting of Greek citizenship to thousands of immigrants. He also expressed his reservations about the integrity of the private company in charge of ballot boxes and election-results publication.
The most damning testimony of electoral fraud, however, came from Dimitris Mavros, managing director of the MRB polling company. In a radio interview on June 2, Mavros said that he had been under extreme pressure from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to manipulate the polls published by his firm in such a way that the gap between Syriza and New Democracy was negligible. In fact, as it would emerge after the elections, the left-wing bloc -- consisting of Syriza, the Social Democrats and the Communists -- failed to garner more than 35% of the votes altogether. It was a showing unprecedented in Greece's political history over the last half a century.
The crucial question now surrounds the extent to which Greek voters heading to the polls on July 7 to elect their next government can trust that their ballots will be counted -- and reported -- fairly.
*Maria Polizoidou, a reporter, broadcast journalist, and consultant on international and foreign affairs, is based in Greece. She has a graduate degree in "Geopolitics and Security Issues in the Islamic complex of Turkey and Middle East" from the University of Athens.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.