LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 26/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 11/01-16.:”Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.”’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on June 25-26/2019
Political Castration Plague Has Hit The Majority Of Our Lebanese Christian Politicians
Aoun: Return of Refugees Cannot Await Political Solution
Berri meets Kuwait's ambassador, Safadi, Riachy
Hariri receives Hahn
International Arab Banking Summit honors Joseph Torbey as Arab Banker of 2019
Fenianos talks bilateral relations with Bukhari
Finance Committee approves budget of Interior Ministry
Kataeb meets in session to discuss latest political developments
Lebanon's Central Bank Expects Zero Percent Economic Growth for 2019
AMAL, Mustaqbal MPs in Verbal Clash over ISF Chief
Jumblat Says to Become Less Dependent on Twitter
Arslan on Refugee Return: Problem in Lebanon, Not in Syria
Demos in Beirut, Camps in Rejection of 'Deal of the Century'
IMF Delegation Meets Khalil ahead of Critical Report
Trump Middle East Plan Hits Nerve in Lebanon, Stirs Old Fears
HRW Calls for Immediate Rights-Respecting Solution to Lebanon's Waste Crisis
Editor Of Pro-Hizbullah Lebanese Daily, Ibrahim Al-Amin: Iran And U.S. Are Already At War, Which Mandates Considering Attacks On All Western Interests In The Region

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 25-26/2019
U.S. Kicks Off Mideast Plan, with Palestinians Boycotting
Trump Says Iran Response to His Offer 'Ignorant and Insulting'
Bolton Warns Iran against Disrupting Bahrain Conference
Iran to Abandon More Nuclear Deal Commitments on July 7
Bolton: All Options on Table If Iran Exceeds Uranium Enrichment Limit
Libyan National Forces Alliance Calls For LNA, GNA to Unite Against Terrorism
Bahrain’s King meets Kushner at Middle East peace workshop
Egypt Foils Terrorist Plot Targeting the State
IS Head in Yemen Captured by Special Forces
Jordan's Safadi, US Delegation Discuss Syrian File
Made Homeless by War, Syrians Sell Furniture to Survive
Algeria: Proposal Calls for Keeping Bensalah as President, Removing Bedoui

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 25-26/2019
Political Castration Plague Has Hit The Majority Of Our Lebanese Christian Politicians/Elias Bejjani/June 25/2019
HRW Calls for Immediate Rights-Respecting Solution to Lebanon's Waste Crisis/Human rights watch/June 25/2019
Editor Of Pro-Hizbullah Lebanese Daily, Ibrahim Al-Amin: Iran And U.S. Are Already At War, Which Mandates Considering Attacks On All Western Interests In The Region/MEMRI/June 25/2019
Piracy and Law in the Ottoman Mediterranean/Joshua M. White/Stanford: Stanford University/June 25/2019
Will Trump Rescue China's Communism?/by Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/June 25/2019
India: Modi and Minorities/Jagdish N. Singh/Gatestone Institute/June 25/2019
The Persecution of Christians in the Palestinian Authority/Dr. Edy Cohen/BESA Center Perspectives/May 27/2019
The Real Reason Iran Has Been Provoking Trump/Ray Takeyh/Politico Magazine/June 25/2019
Fmr. Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal: Iran And Qatar Cooperated With Al-Qaeda, Particularly Against KSA/MEMRI/June 25/2019
Is There Still a Deal to Be Done With Iran?/The Atlantic/Uri Friedman and Kathy Gilsinan/June 25/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on June 25-26/2019
Political Castration Plague Has Hit The Majority Of Our Lebanese Christian Politicians
Elias Bejjani/June 25/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/76116/elias-bejjani-political-castration-plague-has-hit-the-majority-of-our-lebanese-christian-politicians/
Sadly the majority of our Christian politicians, and the Maronites in particular, as well as all the so called political parties, are in reality and practicality, patriotically, conscience, sovereignty and independence wise are totally castrated with no what so ever hope of any hope of recovery through surgical or non surgical therapies or treatments.
In reality, and in all fields of actuality, they are all helpless, hopeless, hungry for power, their leadership falls in the lowest scale of calibre in all spheres, and on all levels, and actually much, much worst than the Iscariot himself.
The thirty Dinars deviated concept, and the rotten thinking process of the Iscariot are the foundation of their life style, and bases of their entire attitudes and all approaches for all matters.
Meanwhile, the disastrous and sickening part of this Christian on going deteriorating of faith and hope dilemma mainly lies in the cancerous-devastated Lebanese Christian public opinion that is totally strayed and alienated from all that is freedom, identity, dignity, fear of the Judgment Day and conscience.
The corrupted politicians have evilly succeeded in turning their followers into puppets, much more like sheep.
These sheep like followers are blind and deaf and do see and hear only what their masters the Iscariotic politicians allow them to have access to.
In this very same realm of ethical, political and faith-patriotic arenas, Lebanon President’s Son in-law, Mr. Gobran Bassil is a deviated current leading and prominent disastrous politician, there is no doubt in this sad and imposed reality.
But what is more disappointing than the deviated Bassil and imposed status, is that both Sami Gymayel and Samir Geagea, the Maronite politicians and the “owners” of the two major Feudal and dictatorship Maronite falsely called political Parties are not better than Bassil in any way in any domain what so ever, but definitely, much much worse.
In conclusion, We the Maronites in Lebanon, as well as in the Diaspora, we are in an urgent need for leaders and politicians who not corrupted, not narcissistic, and who genuinely fear Almighty God and His Day Of Judgment..
We definitely are in an urgent need for politicians and leaders from the cut, calibre and garment of the Late Martyr, Bachir Gmayel.

Aoun: Return of Refugees Cannot Await Political Solution
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 25 June, 2019
Lebanese President Michel Aoun stressed his country’s commitment to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, reiterating the importance of working for the return of displaced Syrians without waiting for a political solution. Aoun met on Monday at the Baabda palace with a delegation of the US work group tasked by the Congress to evaluate the situation in Syria. “The return of Syrian refugees to Syria cannot await a political solution to the Syrian crisis and the end of international disputes over the Syrian situation, especially as the influx of refugees has left negative repercussions on all the Lebanese sectors,” Aoun told the US delegation. The president noted that his country - which he said provided all the humanitarian and logistical facilities for the displaced during the Syrian war - believed that the Syrian regions, except for the governorate of Idlib and its neighboring areas, were now stable and could safely accommodate the returning refugees. He added that the United Nations should provide assistance to displaced people inside their country to encourage them to return and contribute to reconstruction efforts. Aoun told the delegation that “Lebanon continues to organize the return of the displaced in coordination with the Syrian authorities,” adding that no information has been received about harassment incidents against any of the returning refugees. During the meeting, which was attended by Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Selim Jreissati, the president also stressed Lebanon’s commitment to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, focusing on the existing cooperation between the Lebanese Army and the UNIFIL to maintain stability along the southern border. Aoun highly valued the US support for the Lebanese Army in terms of training and provision of equipment.

Berri meets Kuwait's ambassador, Safadi, Riachy
NNA/Tue 25 Jun 2019
House Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday welcoemd at his Ain El Tineh residence the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon, Abdel Aal Al-Qinai, with whom he discussed most recent developments on the local and regional arena. Talks also touched on cooperation between Lebanon and Kuwait. Earlier, Speaker Berri met with the Minister of State for Economic Empowerment of Women and Youth, Violette Khairaalah Safadi. This afternoon, Berri received former Minister Melhem Riachy, with talks touching on the general situation.

Hariri receives Hahn
NNA/Tue 25 Jun 2019
The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri received this evening at the Center House a delegation from the European Union headed by the commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, accompanied by the head of the EU Delegation to Lebanon Ambassador Christina Lassen, in the presence of former minister Ghattas Khoury. Discussions focused on the situation in Lebanon and the region and continued over dinner.

International Arab Banking Summit honors Joseph Torbey as Arab Banker of 2019
NNA/Tue 25 Jun 2019
The International Arab Banking Summit (IABS) on Tuesday awarded the golden citation to the Chairman of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, World Union of Arab Bankers, Joseph Torbey, as the Arab Banker of the year 2019.
This title is the highest award presented annually by the Union of Arab Banks (UAB) to the most distinguished and prominent Arab Banker. Torbey is also the Board Chairman of the Lebanese Credit Libanais Group. Torbey was awarded the high-ranking citation during the International Arab Banking Summit (IABS) which kicked off Tuesday in the Italian capital, Rome, in presence of governors of Arab central banks, representatives of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and chief banking and financial figures. Lebanon was represented at the Summit by State Minister for Administrative Development Affairs May Chidiac, Head of the Lebanese Banks Association Joseph Torbey, and chairmen of Lebanese banks.

Fenianos talks bilateral relations with Bukhari
NNA/Tue 25 Jun 2019
Minister of Public Works and Transport, Youssef Fenianos, on Tuesday received respectively in his office at the Ministry Youth and Sports Minister Mohammed Fneish, and "Loyalty to the Resistance" parliamentary bloc member, MO Hussein Al Hajj Hassan. Earlier, Minister Fenianos met with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, who came on a protocol visit. Talks between the pair reportedly touched on the current situation in Lebanon and the broad region. The bilateral Lebanese-Saudi relations also featured high on Fenianos-Bukhari talks. Fenianos later met with Beirut Seaport Board Chairman Hassan Qoreitem, with whom he discussed development plans for the Port to keep pace with global development in maritime transport.

Finance Committee approves budget of Interior Ministry
NNA/Tue 25 Jun 2019
The Finance and Budget Committee, chaired by MP Ibrahim Kanaan, met on Tuesday to continue reviewing state budget draft 2019. The meeting took place in the presence of Vice Speaker Elie Ferzli, Interior Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, and Interior and Municipalities Minister, Raya El Hassan. The Committee has approved the budget of the Ministry of the Interior, with some amendments introduced, particularly with regard to Civil Defense volunteers. He added that 88 billion Lebanese pounds will be allocated to these volunteers in budget 2020 and that a decree will be issued by the government in this regard "after the necessary examinations". will finish reviewing the draft 2019 state budget by early next week, committee chair MP Ibrahim Kanaan said Tuesday.  Kanaan also said that all items in the budget on compensation and bonuses will be subject to audit, stressing that austerity does not mean higher taxes, but rather less spending. "We have held 22 sessions within 15 days," Kanaan said, pointing out that the constitutional deadline for the review and approval of the budget is three months. "We will finish our work early July (...) and we are working hard to secure revenues and control deficit, "he concluded.

Kataeb meets in session to discuss latest political developments
NNA/Tue 25 Jun 2019
Kataeb Party chief, MP Sami Gemayel, on Tuesday presided over the periodic meeting of the Party's politburo at the Saifi Central House, to discuss most recent political developments and the general situation in the country. In a statement issued in the wake of the meeting, Kaateb denounced the celebration to honor Nabil Al Alam, who had planned the assassination of martyr Bashir Gemayel, considering this ceremony as defying the sentiments of a large segment of the Lebanese. The Phalange Party expressed skepticism at the timing of this celebration and its suspicious targets, calling on the Interior Ministry and the concerned judicial authorities to take action by prosecuting the event organizers and preventing its recurrence. Kataeb renewed confirmation of the constants that protect Lebanon, including commitment to impartiality, national coexistence and a just solution to the Palestinian cause. The meeting warned against "returning to the tone of settlement", noting that the Phalange Party has paid thousands of martyrs to resist and prevent Palestinian settlement for decades. The Party also pledged the Lebanese "to continue to resist the settlement with all means of legitimate resistance."

Lebanon's Central Bank Expects Zero Percent Economic Growth for 2019
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 25 June, 2019
Lebanon’s central bank supports government efforts to cut the public debt servicing cost in the 2019 budget, but an agreement has yet to be concluded over the measures, said Governor Riad Salameh on Tuesday. A cut in servicing the cost of Lebanon’s massive public debt has been factored into the 2019 draft state budget that aims to slice the deficit to 7.6% of GDP. The budget was approved by cabinet last month and is being debated in parliament, Reuters reported. Salameh noted that the central bank assumes the economy will have zero percent economic growth for 2019, though this could improve due to enhanced tourism. “I think the outlook could be better starting in the second half of this year because of the consumer improvement due to a good touristic season but we have to wait and see,” he said. Asked if an agreement had been concluded between the government and banking sector over low interest rate treasury bonds, Salameh said: “No. We are going to have discussions after the budget but the figures will be achieved.” “We are going to discuss the best way to achieve that because we back it as a central bank, but nothing will be imposed on the banks,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of a Euromoney conference in Beirut. Salameh also told reporters he did not foresee any problems for Lebanon in repaying maturing Eurobonds this year and the government’s solvency was not at stake.

AMAL, Mustaqbal MPs in Verbal Clash over ISF Chief
Naharnet/June 25/2019
A verbal clash erupted Tuesday in parliament between two MPs from the al-Mustaqbal and AMAL movements. Media reports said AMAL MP Ayyoub Hymayyed and Mustaqbal MP Mohammed al-Hajjar engaged in a verbal dispute as the finance committee convened to continue its debate of the 2019 state budget. The clash broke out after Hmayyed “criticized and questioned permits and permissions that are being granted by Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Imad Othman,” the reports said. Some political parties have recently accused Othman of distributing illegal permits for the drilling of artesian wells.

Jumblat Says to Become Less Dependent on Twitter
Naharnet/June 25/2019
Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat announced Tuesday that he will no longer use Twitter to relay political messages. “Nowadays, the social media tools may carry some positivities, but their negativities are bigger, that's why from now on I have decided to use conventional communication methods,” Jumblat tweeted, following the latest “war of tweets” with al-Mustaqbal Movement. He said the so-called conventional methods are “more guaranteed and more accurate” and allow for “reevaluation and thinking away from tension, counter-tension and exhausting and futile exchanges.”“I will only publish general stances and some pictures from now on,” he added.

Arslan on Refugee Return: Problem in Lebanon, Not in Syria
Naharnet/June 25/2019
Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan on Tuesday commented on the delay in returning Syrian refugees to their country, noting that the “problem is not in Syria but rather in Lebanon.”
“Under the sponsorship of President Michel Aoun, we are convinced of the importance of resolving the Syrian refugee crisis in a manner befitting of refugees as well as of Lebanese residents,” Arslan said at a press conference. “With all due honesty I say that the problem is not in Syria but rather in Lebanon,” Arslan added, suggesting that Lebanese parties are obstructing the repatriation. State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib is a member of Arslan's party. Lebanon, a country of some four million people, hosts between 1.5 and two million Syrians on its soil after they fled the eight-year civil war next door. Nearly a million of these are registered as refugees with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Demos in Beirut, Camps in Rejection of 'Deal of the Century'
Naharnet/June 25/2019
Palestinian and Lebanese factions on Tuesday organized a number of protests in Beirut and several Palestinian refugee camps in rejection of a U.S.-led peace conference in Bahrain. “Our stance on the 'deal of the century' is the stance expressed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanon will not take part in this blatant crime,” AMAL Movement politburo member Hassan Qabalan said at a demo outside the U.N.'s ESCWA headquarters in central Beirut. “No to selling Palestine's cause for money, no to the policies of temptation, no to the policies of starvation and submission and no to naturalization. Yes to resistance, yes to Palestine and anything other than that would be a meaningless conflict,” Qabalan added. Lebanese and Palestinian forces took part in the rally. Elsewhere, dozens of protesters organized a demo at the Ain el-Hilweh camp where they burned the American and Israeli flags. A mass rally was also held at the al-Bass camp in the southern district of Tyre. After a wait of two and a half years, the U.S. administration is launching its Middle East peace plan later on Tuesday -- with an economic conference in Bahrain that the Palestinians are boycotting. The Trump administration says it will get to the political issues later. Led by U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, the "Peace to Prosperity" framework dangles the prospect of $50 billion of investment in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab countries over 10 years. Listing a slew of projects to develop roads, border crossings, power generation and tourism, the framework sets an optimistic goal of creating one million Palestinian jobs. But the Palestinian Authority and its rival Hamas have both denounced the initiative, saying it amounts to a bid by the unabashedly pro-Israel Trump to buy them off in return for not enjoying their own state.

IMF Delegation Meets Khalil ahead of Critical Report
Naharnet/June 25/2019
Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil on Monday met with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund led by Chris Jarvis. The National News Agency said the talks tackled “the economic and financial situations in Lebanon, the latest developments regarding the state budget and the reforms it included.” Jarvis hoped parliament will approve the 2019 budget as soon as possible, saying that would help unlock the funds that Lebanon needs from the CEDRE conference. The IMF is expected to issue a key report on Lebanon's monetary and financial situation before mid-July. The report will have an impact on Lebanon's financial stability and ranking.

Trump Middle East Plan Hits Nerve in Lebanon, Stirs Old Fears
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 24 June, 2019
US President Donald Trump's vision for Middle East peace has hit a raw nerve in Lebanon, reviving fears of any plan that would permanently settle Palestinian refugees in the country and shift its Christian-Muslim sectarian balance. The first part of the White House plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians focuses on encouraging $50 billion of investment in the Palestinian territories and three neighboring Arab states, one of them Lebanon. Lebanese of all sects are objecting to ideas that have surfaced so far, seeing $6 billion for Lebanon as an inducement to accept the settlement of Palestinians who have lived as refugees in the country since Israel's creation in 1948. Rejecting the naturalization of Palestinians has been a rare point of agreement among Lebanese through a troubled history including the 1975-90 civil war in which Palestinian groups played a major role, said a Reuters report Monday. The first part of the plan is set to be unveiled by White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, at a Bahrain conference on Tuesday. The Lebanese government was invited but is not attending. The prospects of the plan getting anywhere do not look good: the Palestinian Authority is itself staying away from the conference and has refused to deal with the Trump administration for 18 months, accusing it of bias towards Israel. "As a Lebanese and an Arab, I reject the entire American project, and with regards to the Lebanese part, of course I am against Palestinian naturalization, not because we are against Palestinians, but so they return to their country," said Hussam Mneimneh, a 43-year-old taxi driver. "It doesn't suit us for there to be naturalization of any nationality because it creates a demographic, geographic imbalance, and this is something we do not accept."The ideas unveiled so far make no mention of the big political issues at the heart of the conflict such as Palestinian statehood or the fate of refugees.
Christian fears
Fears over changes to Lebanon's demography are most acutely felt by Lebanese Christians who are allotted half the seats in parliament and top state positions including the presidency under a sectarian power-sharing system. The presence of more than 1 million refugees from neighboring Syria who, like the Palestinians, are predominantly Sunni Muslim has led President Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian, to warn of an existential threat to Lebanon.
Maronite Christian MP Nadim Gemayel cited blood spilt in the conflict as he warned Kushner against offering cash for the permanent settlement of Palestinians. "Lebanon is not a real estate firm," he wrote on Twitter.
Edmond Chammas, a 55-year-old Christian, said any permanent settlement of Palestinians would destabilize Lebanon. "Certainly, with all my love for the Palestinian people, I hope they return to their country," he said. "We have enough problems and we wish them luck but I am certainly against naturalization," he said. There are some 470,000 registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon though an official 2017 census found the number living here to be less than half that at some 175,000. Lebanon tightly restricts their right to work and bans them from owning property. At the Shatila camp in Beirut, where Christian militiamen massacred hundreds of Palestinians during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, a banner echoes Palestinian rejection of the US plan: "Our right of return will defeat the deal of the century". Maps of historic Palestine and posters of Palestinian leaders are pasted to the walls of the camp's narrow alleyways. "Nobody can accept an alternative to his homeland. Our stay is temporary," said Hassan Ali Abdel Rahman, a refugee in his 50s, according to Reuters. Though Lebanese leaders would in all circumstances reject the naturalisation of Palestinians, they would have been shocked by the relatively small amount of money floated in the Kushner plan, said Mohanad Hage Ali, a fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center. "Within the political debates in Lebanon there has always been the belief that the international community and Israel would pay off all of Lebanon's debt in return for the naturalization of Palestinian refugees," he said. "So it's actually a joke."

HRW Calls for Immediate Rights-Respecting Solution to Lebanon's Waste Crisis
Human rights watch/June 25/2019
The Borj Hammoud landfill, one of two principal landfills serving Beirut, Lebanon, is set to reach capacity by the end of July 2019, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. The government had initially estimated that the landfill would be in operation until 2020.
The government has taken no steps to provide an alternative site for Beirut’s solid waste. Instead, a 13-page solid waste roadmap the Environment Ministry submitted to a ministerial committee on June 3 recommends expanding the Borj Hammoud landfill. Experts say that the landfill is affecting nearby residents’ health. Yet, the Environment Ministry has proposed its expansion without an Environmental Impact Assessment or consultation with affected communities, solid waste management experts have said.
“The government has to answer for why Lebanon’s waste management infrastructure has not been improved upon four years after the last waste crisis led to mounds of trash in the streets of Beirut,” said Lama Fakih, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The government may be ready to bury its head in the sand but residents don’t want to end up buried in piles of trash.”
The Borj Hammoud landfill is currently emanating particularly strong odors, which an international consultant hired by the Environment Ministry determined was caused by manure and garbage in various states of decomposition that have been dumped there.
Nearby residents and public health experts fear that the odors signal the emission of toxic pollutants. According to air pollution experts, chronic exposure to these strong odors is linked to respiratory diseases, allergies, and the spread of bacteria. Further, experts state that leachate from the Borj Hammoud landfill is being dumped into the sea, polluting the water and making the sea in areas surrounding the landfill dangerous for swimming.
Both Lebanese legislation and international standards stipulate that an Environmental Impact Assessment must be conducted before a project can begin and that measures must be taken to mitigate unavoidable adverse impacts.
The ministerial committee should convene immediately to discuss the roadmap and share its contents with experts and with the public for a broader consultation prior to finalization and submission to the cabinet, Human Rights Watch said.
The roadmap also incorporates core aspects of the Environment Ministry’s strategy on solid waste management, a ministry official who worked on it told Human Rights Watch. The ministry was tasked with establishing the strategy under Lebanon’s Law 80/2018 on integrated solid waste management, the country’s first law on solid waste management, passed on September 24, 2018, and it was supposed to do so by March. However, the ministry official said it is still being finalized in line with the comments from civil society and other stakeholders.
Human Rights Watch reviewed a draft summary of the strategy and on March 20 submitted feedback and recommendations for revisions to better respect residents’ rights. In particular, Human Rights Watch recommended strengthening plans for consultation with the community, creating more effective monitoring and enforcement systems, combatting discrimination in the current waste management practices, and raising public awareness about waste management issues.
The ministry official said that the roadmap also includes a list of decrees and decisions that should be passed so that Lebanon’s integrated waste management law can be carried out and maps of existing facilities and of 24 other proposed sites for new sanitary landfills, along with a draft law outlining fees and taxes that the central government and the municipalities can impose to cover their waste management costs. Without such a law, neither the ministry nor the municipalities will be able to fulfill their commitments as set out in the law and the strategy, Human Rights Watch said.
The proposed expansion of the Borj Hammoud landfill is broadly considered a stopgap measure until the broader solid waste strategy is implemented. The initial establishment of the landfill itself was a supposedly temporary solution to the 2015 trash crisis, until the government found a more sustainable solution.
The 2015 trash crisis was caused by closing the Naameh landfill after years of protests by local residents, without an alternate waste management plan. Without a disposal site, the waste collection company halted its operations, and garbage built up on the streets of Beirut.
In 2017, Human Rights Watch investigated the health problems arising from the increasing open burning of waste as a consequence of the breakdown of existing waste management plans. Human Rights Watch found that the government was failing in its obligations to protect people’s health through its mismanagement of waste. Residents of areas where waste was being dumped and burned reported health problems including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coughing, throat irritation, skin conditions, and asthma. Air pollution from open waste burning has been linked to heart disease and emphysema, and can expose people to carcinogenic compounds.
Experts fear that the proposed roadmap does not present sustainable solutions. An environmental expert has put forward a proposal that would avert the need to expand the Borj Hammoud landfill. It would cut the amount of waste in half and extend the life of existing landfills by requiring residents to sort their waste at home. This would give the ministry additional time to introduce more long-term solutions. According to researchers at the American University of Beirut, only 10 to 12 percent of Lebanon’s waste cannot be composted or recycled. However, currently around 85 percent goes to open dumps or landfills. Sustainable waste management solution should focus on reducing the amount of waste send to landfills rather than expanding existing landfills, Human Rights Watch said.
“There is no excuse for continuing to delay the implementation of a rights-compliant waste management system,” Fakih said. “The ministerial committee should urgently make the tough decisions necessary to solve the problem rather than continuing to adopt temporary half-measures.”

Editor Of Pro-Hizbullah Lebanese Daily, Ibrahim Al-Amin: Iran And U.S. Are Already At War, Which Mandates Considering Attacks On All Western Interests In The Region
MEMRI/June 25/2019
https://www.memri.org/reports/editor-pro-hizbullah-lebanese-daily-iran-and-us-are-already-war-which-mandates-considering
In a June 14, 2019 article in the pro-Hizbullah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, the daily's editor, Ibrahim Al-Amin, addressed the prevailing concerns about a possible direct military confrontation between the U.S. and Iran, stating that what is currently happening between the two countries is already "a war in every sense of the word." He stressed that the recent attacks on Western interests in the region were only an "initial response," far smaller than the likely future response to America's deeds, and called to "consider destroying all Western interests in Lebanon and the region." Al-Amin also noted the panic in the oil-dependent Gulf states following the recent attacks on oil facilities and tankers, assessing that such attacks will continue and grow worse. He assessed that the U.S. calls for negotiations are just a ruse intended to buy time to improve America's military readiness, and therefore that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was right in firmly refusing to negotiate.
The following are excerpts from his article:[1]
"Those who fear a direct confrontation between the armies of Iran and the U.S. are pretending that what is happening right now is not an actual American war against Iran and against its allies and everyone who cooperates with it. The great media machine [also] insists that anything less than an [actual] military confrontation cannot be described as a war. There are two camps [in terms of the approach to such a war]:. [America's] collaborators and partners, including Europe, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who do not want the war to remain confined to the economic and security levels, but firmly demand to shift it to the military level, in hopes of eliminating their primary enemy, Iran. The second camp includes [some Iranians and their supporters], who say that the vindictive [U.S.] sanctions and pressures can be withstood [without resorting to force] until a conflagration has occurred.
"But the truth is that, for [Iran, the side] under attack, what is currently happening is a war in every sense of the word, and this aggression must be confronted by every means... In difficult times, like the current period in the region and the world, [we] must not succumb to the pressure of Western threats to move to the military level of war. Rather, we must act with full force to confront every kind of war, on every level. This does not necessarily mean that we are headed for a military war, but it would be naïve not to realize that the blows being delivered to the interests of the West and its allies in the region are [only] an initial response [by Iran and its allies], and do not reflect even the minimal response that is likely to [be triggered by] the actions of the greatest of tyrants [i.e., Trump]...
"The rationale of a comprehensive confrontation requires considering [the option of[ destroying all Western interests in our country and the region and severing all ties with the West and its supporters in our country. Let them, and all their inventions, laws and sciences, go to hell. History did not begin with them and the world will not end when they disappear. The barefoot [people] of Yemen, who are killed a thousand times every day, create equations and [devise] the most advanced means to confront the criminal [rulers] in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi and their Western supporters. The same happened with Cuba, [North] Korea and Iran, who teach [us] that there is no need to surrender [to the West] and that life is possible, even if very difficult, [without succumbing to it]. Venezuela also shows that the U.S. is a mighty power, but [succumbing to it] is not an inevitable fate.
"All the countries that depend on oil revenues, and especially the Gulf states, are panicking over the possibility that the attacks on the mechanisms for oil production, pumping and shipping will expand, a possibility that will grow likelier as long as the American-Saudi aggression continues against the peoples and countries of the region who oppose the [American-Saudi] policy... The American enemy, and its agents among the countries of the region, have created a climate suitable for every act of retaliation... and as long as this climate persists, we may expect further and perhaps worse [retaliatory measures].
"The very act of negotiating with the enemy means surrender. The climate of escalation was created by the enemy, so let nobody condemn us for responding. The policy of the U.S. and the West must be understood in this context. They are continuing the direct war in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine and Libya and the acts of destruction in all rival countries, while acting to destabilize semi-independent countries like Sudan, Algeria and Tunisia. They continue the unilateral measures to prevent any food or medicines from reaching [various] countries, peoples and organizations. They also continue to exert pressure, by every means, in order to force us to surrender, [while] flaunting other [means of pressure] and occasionally brandishing their weapons and warning of a terrible catastrophe.
"When these actions fail to achieve their political objective, they start employing the tricks of negotiation, dialogue, and so on. [They do this] knowing that it is only a ruse intended to buy [them] time to improve their military readiness in order to ensure that the war will be profitable. If there are weak people among us who, when pressured, agree to negotiations that postpone or prevent a [military] confrontation, then there are also those among us who reject the option [of negotiation] and explicitly say 'no,' as the leader of the resistance axis, Ali Khamenei, did yesterday [June 13] when he told the American hegemony: 'We do not consider ourselves to be in a situation of sending or receiving messages from the primary enemy of the world'...
"The world of false Western diplomacy considers Iran's positions instrumental [and designed to serve as a basis] for negotiation, disregarding the fact that Iran [now] operates on [the assumption that] it made a mistake when it agreed to negotiate with the U.S. and its Western allies in the past. Imam Khamenei's current statements are intended to remind his enemies, more than his friends, that this mistake will not be repeated.
"What about the sanctions? The actions of the insane West, led by the U.S., have a detrimental effect on the lives of most of the people around the world. What the countries of evil are doing today has a negative effect on millions of people worldwide. Nobody is saying that these oppressed people are having an easy time. But history shows, without a doubt, that in situations of struggle for freedom and independence, peoples do not balk at paying the immediate price...
"What is happening today has [only] one label: it is a war, and whoever puts off joining the fray will eventually find himself facing a larger threat."
[1] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), June 14, 2019.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 25-26/2019
U.S. Kicks Off Mideast Plan, with Palestinians Boycotting
Agence France/Naharnet/June 25/2019
After a wait of two and a half years, the U.S. administration is launching its Middle East peace plan Tuesday -- with an economic initiative that the Palestinians are boycotting. For this most unconventional of U.S. presidents, Donald Trump's Middle East peace-making bid is unlike decades of previous U.S. attempts. There is no talk of land swaps, a Palestinian state or other political issues that have vexed diplomats for decades. The Trump administration says it will get to the political issues later. For now, its plan will open over cocktails and dinner Tuesday evening in Bahrain at an intimate two-day "economic workshop" at a luxury hotel overlooking the Gulf. Led by Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, the "Peace to Prosperity" framework dangles the prospect of $50 billion of investment in the Palestinian territories and neighbouring Arab countries over 10 years. Listing a slew of projects to develop roads, border crossings, power generation and tourism, the framework sets an optimistic goal of creating one million Palestinian jobs. But the Palestinian Authority and its rival Hamas have both denounced the initiative, saying it amounts to a bid by the unabashedly pro-Israel Trump to buy them off in return for not enjoying their own state. "For America to turn the whole cause from a political issue into an economic one, we cannot accept this," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday. Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in the occupied West Bank on Monday to denounce the conference.
Near Hebron, demonstrators burned pictures of Trump and the king of Bahrain. They sat around a coffin that read, "No to the deal of the century", a derogatory phrase for the US president's ambitions in the Middle East.
Trump support for Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cast the Palestinians' stance as a sign that they are not serious about peace. "I don't understand how the Palestinians rejected the plan even before knowing what it contained," Netanyahu said. The right-wing Israeli leader has spoken in recent months of annexing parts of the West Bank, a move that could effectively close Palestinian hopes of their own state. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has said that Washington could accept the annexation and the Trump administration has hinted that its political plan will not mention a Palestinian state -- a sharp shift from the goal of years of U.S. diplomacy. Trump has already taken landmark steps to support Israel including recognising bitterly contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and Kushner is a family friend of Netanyahu. Most European allies of the United States, uneasy about the Trump administration's hawkish instincts, are staying away from Bahrain. In attendance will be oil-rich Gulf Arab states, who would be expected to pick up the tab for the massive Palestinian investment if the plan succeeds. Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab nations to have signed peace deals with Israel, will also send mid-level officials.
However, Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman Sufyan al-Qudah insisted that "no economic proposal could replace a political solution that ends the occupation" of Palestinian territories by Israel.
Success in 'failure'?
Gulf Arab rulers have increasingly found common cause with Israel due to their shared hostility to Iran, reinforced by rising friction between Tehran and Washington. In an apparently unprecedented step, a handful of Israeli journalists invited by the White House are flying openly to Bahrain. Most Arab nations ban Israeli citizens unless they enter on other passports, although Bahrain -- whose Sunni rulers have especially tense relations with Iran -- is comparatively open to Israel. Other prominent figures due to take part in the Bahrain conference are International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, World Bank President David Malpass and former British prime minister Tony Blair. Richard LeBaron, a former U.S. diplomat in the Middle East, said that the Trump administration fully expected that the Palestinians would stay away. But Bahrain allows Kushner to portray Palestinian leaders as not caring about their own people as he keeps advancing Israeli interests, said LeBaron, now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank. "The 'failure' of the Manama workshop will be success for the Trump strategy," he wrote in an analysis. "It will permit Kushner and his colleagues to claim that they tried their best to address the situation and allow them to blame others for not cooperating."

Trump Says Iran Response to His Offer 'Ignorant and Insulting'
Agence France/Naharnet/June 25/2019
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed the "ignorant and insulting" response from Iran to his offer of talks, extended as the United States slapped new sanctions on the country's already crippled economy. "Iran's very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality," he tweeted. On Monday, Trump ordered punitive sanctions targeting Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top military chiefs, and promised to blacklist its foreign minister -- but said the door was open to talks on reducing tensions between Washington and Tehran. Trump also warned Iran on Tuesday that an attack on U.S. interests would trigger an "overwhelming" response and could bring "obliteration.""Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration," he said.
Iran's leaders only understand "Strength and Power, and the USA is by far the most powerful Military Force in the world," Trump said in the tweet."No more John Kerry & Obama!" he added, referring to former U.S. president Barack Obama and his secretary of state.

Bolton Warns Iran against Disrupting Bahrain Conference
Agence France/Naharnet/June 25/2019
U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton warned Iran Tuesday not to disrupt a Bahrain conference on Middle East peace, amid soaring tensions between Washington and Tehran. "Iran has engaged over the past couple of months in a long series of unprovoked and unjustifiable attacks," Bolton said.
"In that kind of environment, threatening the conference in Bahrain is always a possibility," he said during a visit to Jerusalem. "It would be a big mistake for Iran to continue this kind of behavior," he added. Tehran last week shot down a U.S. spy aircraft which it says entered Iranian territory, a claim denied by Washington.  The U.S. has also accused the Islamic republic of involvement in a series of attacks on Gulf shipping, accusations Iran refutes. Bolton was responding to a journalist's question about possible Iranian interference in the Manama meeting, but no evidence has come to light that Tehran is planning to disrupt it. The United States on Tuesday launches a conference in Manama unveiling the economic aspects of a broader plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace. The "Peace to Prosperity" package offers the prospect of $50 billion of investment in the Palestinian territories and neighbouring Arab countries over 10 years. But the Palestinian Authority and its rival Hamas have both denounced the initiative, saying it amounts to a bid by the unabashedly pro-Israel US administration to buy them off in return for them dropping their quest for full statehood. "I think it's a mistake for the Palestinians to boycott it," Bolton said Tuesday, "The thing that makes it unique is the economic aspect of it." "The prospects for Palestinians, for Israelis, for everybody in the region -- if we could find an acceptable agreement between Israel and the Palestinians -- is incredibly bright and rather than re-litigate decades of disputes, think about the future and negotiate on that basis." "We'll see how it goes," he added. "I think we are optimistic, I think the president's optimistic."

Iran to Abandon More Nuclear Deal Commitments on July 7
Agence France/Naharnet/June 25/2019
Iran will "resolutely" abandon more commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers on July 7, Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday quoting a "note" from a top security official. Tehran had announced on May 8 that it was suspending two of its 2015 pledges and gave Europe, China and Russia a two-month ultimatum to help Iran circumvent US sanctions and sell its oil or it would abandon two more commitments. Last year Washington withdrew from the landmark nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, and Europe's efforts so far to help Iran economically benefit from the accord have been dismissed by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a "bitter joke". "As of July 7, Iran will forcefully take the second step of reducing its commitments" to the nuclear deal, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was quoted as saying by Fars. This was so "countries who interpreted Iran's 'patience' with weakness and inaction realise that Iran's answer to the American drone's violation of its airspace will be no different than its reaction to devious political efforts to limit Iranian people's absolute rights," he added. Amid escalating tensions last week, Iran shot down a U.S. spy drone it said had crossed into its territory, a claim denied by the United States. Russia, a key ally of Iran, on Tuesday backed Iran's version of events. U.S. President Donald Trump said he ordered retaliatory air strikes against Iran but pulled back at the last minute. Shamkhani slammed Europe's "political insolence" for expecting Iran to continue its commitments without them fulfilling their end of the deal and said it showed a "lack of will" to face the U.S. France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Iran would be making a "serious mistake" if it violates the deal by through abandoning commitments. In a joint statement on Monday, Britain, France and Germany said they were "committed to working hard for the full implementation of (the nuclear deal) and urge all sides to do the same."Shamkhani in response said the E3 statement and "Trump's game of sanctions" were two sides of the same coin and that Europe has so far "paid no cost for saving" the deal. In retaliation to the European inaction, Iran has begun to increase its enriched uranium and heavy water stockpile and is set to soon pass the limits set in the deal. The second step would involve breaking past the 3.67 percent restriction on enriching uranium and restarting development of a heavy water reactor that was put on hold.

Bolton: All Options on Table If Iran Exceeds Uranium Enrichment Limit
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 25 June, 2019
US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday there was “no evidence that Iran has made the strategic decision to renounce nuclear weapons." Speaking alongside his Israeli and Russian counterparts in Jerusalem, he added “all options remain on the table" if Iran exceeds the uranium enrichment limit under the 2015 deal. He remarked, however, that President Donald Trump is open to real negotiations and "all that Iran needs to do is walk through that open door". The national security advisers were in Jerusalem for a high-profile trilateral security summit to address Iranian involvement in conflicts across the region, particularly in neighboring Syria. Asked whether a military strike was still an option if Iran crosses the 300-kilogram stockpile threshold outlined in the 2015 nuclear accord, Bolton replied it would be "a very serious mistake for Iran to ignore those limits." Iran had previously said it will possess over 300 kilograms of low-enriched uranium by Thursday, in violation of the deal. Europe separately faces a July 7 deadline imposed by Tehran to offer a better deal or Iran will begin enriching its uranium closer to weapons-grade levels. Bolton, a longtime Iran hawk, said it "should give up their pursuit of deliverable nuclear weapons."American envoys are surging across the region in hopes of finding a path out of escalating tensions between the US and Iran but that the silence of Tehran has been "deafening,” he added. On Syria, Bolton said Washington “would very much like to get rid of foreign forces from Syria," an apparent reference to Iranian forces there. His Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, meanwhile, urged the United States and Israel to show "restraint" toward Iran. Difference between the three officials soon emerged. Israel has long called for Iranian forces to be removed from its northern front and Bolton says the forces are "a problem in Syria." Patrushev responded by saying that Iran had fought against terrorists on Syria's soil and was "stabilizing the situation" there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was present at the tripartite meeting, said Israel, the United States and Russia have a common objective to remove Iranian forces from Syria. Doing so will "create a more stable Middle East,” he stated. Iran and Russia have played a key role in backing Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad and helping him overcome opposition factions in his country's civil war. Netanyahu has long warned that Iran now looks to leverage that influence into establishing a military foothold along Israel's northern front.

Libyan National Forces Alliance Calls For LNA, GNA to Unite Against Terrorism
Cairo- Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 25 June, 2019
The Libyan National Forces Alliance has launched an initiative aimed at ending the current battles in the country. The initiative includes successive phases and several suggestions, mainly establishing a buffer zone to be able to set up humanitarian corridors for families under siege in areas of fighting and provide urgent humanitarian aid. It also calls for forming a joint force of not less than 10,000 fighters from the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the Government of National Accord (GNA) that follows an independent joint field command with the objective to combat terrorism and illegal immigration. The initiative was announced on Monday and its statement was launched by Head of the Alliance Mahmoud Jibril. According to the statement of which Asharq Al-Awsat has received a copy, the initiative targets “reducing the increasing risks as the battle continues, most notably the spread of terrorist movements and groups within Libyan territory, and the increasing rates of both illegal immigration and organized crime.” The increased pace of fighting could allow war crimes and crimes against humanity to take place, the statement read. It also pointed to the possibility of damaging oil installations, which would lead to a hike in global oil prices and the intervention of major countries in the conflict, thus prolonging the war. The most significant possibility, according to the statement, is the development of fighting among Libyan parties supported by foreign forces to become an armed and direct confrontation on Libyan territory.“This would not only threaten Libya’s future but also the national security of some regional, neighboring and European countries, especially if terrorism spreads and waves migrants to European shores increase.”The idea of the buffer zone was developed as a compromise solution due to the parties' insistence not to retreat from the positions they currently control, the statement said. “Ceasefire in the buffer zone should not be less than 15 days and is allowed to be extended for 40 days,” it suggested. During this period, the initiative’s proposers work on and call for the formation of the joint force, proving the credibility of their repeated calls to fight crimes on Libyan soil.

Bahrain’s King meets Kushner at Middle East peace workshop
Reuters, Cairo/Wednesday, 26 June 2019
Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa met on Tuesday with the US delegation participating in a workshop in Manama discussing a US economic plan for the Palestinians.The delegation included senior White House adviser Jared Kushner and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Bahrain state news agency BNA said. King Hamad also received a letter from US President Donald Trump, BNA said. The “Peace to Prosperity” workshop aimed to encourage investment in the Palestinian Territories as the first part of a broader White House political plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Egypt Foils Terrorist Plot Targeting the State
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 25 June, 2019
Egypt announced on Tuesday that it had foiled a terrorist plot to target the state and its institutions on the anniversary of the June 30 revolt. The Interior Ministry said police have arrested at least eight people for their ties to the outlawed terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group. The arrest of Ziad el-Elaimy, a former lawmaker, was part of a raid that targeted at least 19 businesses and economic entities linked to the Brotherhood. The ministry revealed economist Omar el-Shenety and journalists Hossam Monis and Hisam Fouad were also arrested. The plot was being planned by fugitive Brotherhood members residing abroad with parties that claim to represent civilian political forces. The suspects were planning to stage riots against public institutions and inciting the people against the state through an organized campaign over social media and satellite television channels broadcasting from abroad.
The most prominent terrorist plotters abroad are Brotherhood members Mahmoud Hussein and Ali Battikh, journalists Moataz Matar and Mohammed Nasser and fugitive convict Ayman Nour.

IS Head in Yemen Captured by Special Forces
Agence France/Naharnet/June 25/2019
Saudi and Yemeni special forces have captured the head of the Islamic State group's branch in Yemen, the Saudi-led military coalition backing the country's government announced Tuesday. The leader identified as Abu Osama al-Muhajir was caught in an early June raid along with other members of the jihadist group including its chief financial officer, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said in a statement. Saudi special forces in cooperation with their Yemeni counterparts "conducted a successful operation that resulted in the capture of the leader of the Daesh (IS) branch in Yemen -- Abu Osama al-Muhajir," Maliki said. "A house kept under close surveillance proved the presence of the terror group's leader, and other elements, along with three women and three children." Maliki did not specify the location of the house or where the raid was conducted, but said there were no civilian casualties. IS and other jihadist groups have flourished in the chaos of the country's civil war, which pits the government -- backed by the Saudi-led coalition -- against Shiite Huthi rebels. IS has lost its self-styled "caliphate" across large parts of Syria and Iraq but is said to run camps and has a number of active fighters across Yemen. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), considered by the U.S. as the radical group's most dangerous branch, is also active in Yemen. Last month, four suspected al-Qaida members were killed in a suicide attack claimed by IS in Bayda province, a local official told AFP. A long-running U.S. drone war against AQAP has intensified since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. The more than four-year conflict in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, relief agencies say. The fighting has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with millions of people displaced and in need of aid.

Jordan's Safadi, US Delegation Discuss Syrian File
Amman- Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 25 June, 2019
The Jordanian government on Monday underlined the need to intensify the international community’s efforts to end the crisis in Syria through a political solution that would be approved by the Syrians, preserve Syria’s unity and stability and provide conditions for the voluntary return of refugees. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi during his meeting with a US Congress panel, known as the "Syria Study Group" (SSG), chaired by Michael Seng, said that ending the Syrian people’s sufferings and finding a political solution was a regional and international necessity. Safadi also informed the visiting delegation of the pressure exerted on his country due to the influx of some 1.3 million Syrian refugees, reaffirming the need for the international community’s support in this regard. He noted that Jordan, on behalf of the international community, was currently fulfilling its responsibility towards refugees as well as “withstanding extraordinary pressure, which requires international support to shore up the Kingdom’s efforts to confront the resulting economic challenges.”Furthermore, talks touched on the importance of international cooperation and coordination to countering terrorism, which Safadi said still “poses a security and ideological threat that requires intensified international efforts to be fully eradicated.” Safadi valued the Jordanian-US partnership and the bilateral ties between the two countries, according to an official statement. The US delegation, tasked with developing a comprehensive strategy on Syria, hailed the Kingdom’s humanitarian role towards Syrian refugees and its efforts to promote regional stability.

Made Homeless by War, Syrians Sell Furniture to Survive
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 25 June, 2019
For years, Abu Ali sold used furniture and home appliances for a living. But he never thought Syria's war would one day make him homeless and force him to sell his own. His family is one of dozens stranded in olive groves along the Turkish border, who say they have had to sell their basic possessions to ensure survival. "I sold them to provide food, drink, and clothes for my children," said the father of five, who now houses his family in a tent. An opposition bastion in Syria's northwest has come under heavy regime and Russian bombardment since late April, despite a truce deal intended to protect the militant-run enclave's three million inhabitants. The spike in violence in and around Idlib province has killed hundreds of civilians, displaced 330,000 more, and sparked fears of one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the eight-year civil war. Abu Ali, his wife, and their children fled their home in southern Idlib in early May, hitting the road north to seek shelter in the relative safety of the olive groves close to the border. "I used to have a shop to buy and sell used items," such as fridges and furniture in the village of Maaret Hurma, he told AFP, sitting in the shade of a tree near the border town of Atme.
'Very low price'
A few days after fleeing his home village, he hired two trucks for 50,000 Syrian pounds (over $110) to bring "eight fridges, bedroom furnishings, seven washing machines, and several gas stoves" up to the olive grove. But under the summer sun in the makeshift camp, the merchandise soon plummeted in value. "I was forced to get rid of it or sell it -- even at a very low price," the 35-year-old said, his chin stubble already greying under a head of thick dark brown hair. For example, the going price for a fridge originally bought for 25,000 Syrian pounds (more than $55) can be as low as a fifth of that price. In Atme, some families have stored their fridges and other appliances in a single tent to protect them from the elements. Outside, a top-loader washing machine sits in the shade of a tree. Awad Abu Abdu, 35, said he too was forced to part with all his household items for a pittance. "It was very dear to me. It was all I had accumulated over a lifetime of hard work," said the former construction worker, who fled the village of Tramla with his wife and six children. "I sold all our home's furniture for just 50,000 Syrian pounds," he said, dressed in a faded grey t-shirt fraying around the collar. After transport costs, he was left with only half that amount to feed his family, he said. Abu Abdu accused buyers of "cheating us, exploiting the displaced", but said he had no other choice. "Everything's so expensive... and there are no organizations looking out for us," he said.
'Forced to sell' -
The Idlib region is supposed to be protected by a buffer zone deal signed by Russia and rebel backer Turkey in September. But the accord was never properly implemented as militants refused to withdraw from the planned cordon. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, took over administrative control of the region in January. In the town of Atareb -- about 30 kilometers from Atme, in Aleppo province -- Abu Hussein received a new delivery at his shop of second-hand household appliances and furniture. "Every day, more than ten cars arrive loaded up with items the displaced try to sell us," said the 35-year-old. "This means we have to pay relatively low prices, because the supply is so high" and it's hard to then sell them all, he said. Back in Atme, 50-year-old Waleeda Derwish said she hoped she would find someone to buy her fridge, washing machine, and television, to help her provide for her eight children.The widow transported the electrical items to "save them from bombing or looting" in Maaret Hurma, she said, a bright blue scarf wrapped around her wrinkled face. Now the appliances represent the family's only lifeline, she said."I'm forced to sell them. How else are we supposed to live?"

Algeria: Proposal Calls for Keeping Bensalah as President, Removing Bedoui
Algiers - Boualem Goumrassa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 25 June, 2019
Activists put forward on Monday a proposal to help resolve Algeria’s pending political crisis. It calls for keeping Abdelkader Bensalah as interim president and the removal of Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui. The initiative was drafted by several well-known political, religious and economic figures.
Former adviser to the Ministry of Religious Affairs Ada Falahi said it was launched after consultations and extensive dialogue with various parties from different political, cultural and religious affiliations. He stated that it is based on several points, including backing the popular movement and civil society and everyone who took part in combating corruption even before the eruption of popular protests on February 22. The proposal also stresses how critical the stage is on the security and economic levels and urges the need to overcome the crisis as soon as possible through a mediation committee composed of the movement, the civil community and ruling authority. The crisis in Algeria erupted when President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced that he was seeking a fifth term in office, prompting mass protests. The popular movement culminated in his resignation on April 2, but the protests have persisted, demanding the overhaul of the entire political class, including the removal of Bensalah and Bedoui. Meanwhile, around 200 demonstrators gathered in front of the Sidi Mohamed Court in Algiers to demand the release of 18 people who were arrested on Friday and Saturday for raising Amazigh flags during protests. The judiciary has accused the activists of “undermining national unity”. Lawyer and rights activist Abdel-Ghani Badi said that the charges may result in a 10-year prison sentence. A doctor was put in custody at Bordj Bou Arreridj court – 250 km east of the capital – on Monday because of a picture he posted on Facebook showing an Amazigh flag on the wall of his office at a local hospital. The opposition Socialist Forces Front (FFS), which enjoys wide support in Amazigh tribe regions, denounced the arrests, saying the activists were being held on baseless charges. Carrying the Amazigh flag is an expression of belonging to a certain identity and an integration in the Amazigh culture in North Africa. It cannot be considered an attempt to undermine national unity and the national flag, it said in a statement.

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 25-26/2019
Piracy and Law in the Ottoman Mediterranean
Joshua M. White/Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2017. 376 pp.
Reviewed by Raymond Ibrahim Author of Sword and Scimitar
Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2019
In the late sixteenth century, the Ottoman Empire and its European opponents increasingly withdrew from the Mediterranean, their primary theater of war, leaving it to privateer allies. As a result, “incidents of piracy increased dramatically, as both Mediterranean corsair proxies and Atlantic entrepreneurs filled the power vacuum at sea, undisturbed by the once dominant Mediterranean superpowers.”
White’s book aims to present “the Ottoman perspective” on piracy and law in the Mediterranean since most of this history is told from the “viewpoint of Europeans and on the basis of European sources.” He argues that the “Ottomans were not simply perpetrators or enthusiastic supporters of piratical violence as they have usually been portrayed, but rather its most prominent victims.”
The more the Ottomans withdrew, “opportunities for [Muslim] raiders to conflate ‘enemy infidels’ with protected [dhimmi] subjects increased exponentially.” Non-Muslim Ottoman subjects—religious minorities who paid tribute and were meant to be protected by their Ottoman overlords—became free game for pirates who did not split hairs over their enemy or protected status. This phenomenon where rogue Muslim groups victimize infidels in the name of jihad irrespective of their protected status continues to this day, for instance, the Islamist jihad on Egypt’s Copts, despite President al-Sisi’s “protection.”
The primary weakness of White’s book is a side-effect of its strength. By heavily relying on Ottoman sources, the book is one-sided, only from the Ottoman point of view. As a result, European and Christian corsairs, particularly Malta’s Knights of St. John, appear as “a serious, recurring, incurable menace that was extremely disruptive to Ottoman state and society and affected lives and livelihoods throughout the empire.” In reality the entire phenomenon of Christian corsairs preying on Muslims was retaliatory. As Robert Davis explains in Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters, slaving around the Mediterranean was “a prevalently Muslim phenomenon.”[1]
To demonstrate that Christian pirates “wreaked havoc,” White offers numbers: “Over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, at least thirty-five thousand to forty thousand [Muslim] slaves passed through Malta.” Compare this with Davis’s statistics: “between 1530 and 1780 there were almost certainly a million and quite possibly as many as a million and a quarter white European Christians enslaved by the Muslims of the Barbary Coast.”[2]
White’s heavy reliance on Ottoman archives offers a more nuanced and detailed picture concerning the role of piracy in the premodern Mediterranean. Unfortunately this sometimes comes at the cost of losing sight of the bigger picture provided by European perspectives.
[1] Robert Davis, Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500-1800 (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003 ed.), p. 9.]
[2] Ibid., p. 23.

Will Trump Rescue China's Communism?
by Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/June 25/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14443/trump-rescue-china-communism
China has violated its WTO promises and all the other trade deals. Now, President Trump is seeking to remedy Beijing's failure to follow promises — and its continued annual theft of hundreds of billions of dollars of American intellectual property — by inking another pact.
Moreover, Washington's determination to end Chinese theft of intellectual property also undermines Xi Jinping's signature Made in China 2025 initiative to dominate eleven critical technologies by that year.
In short, there is no chance that Xi will comply with any agreement that is acceptable to the United States.
A trade agreement now will be seen as an end to the "trade war" and as Trump's support for Xi. A pact, therefore, would constitute America's fourth great rescue of Chinese communism.
A trade deal with President Donald Trump looks as if it is the only thing that can revive the Chinese economy and thereby save Xi's brand of communism. Will the American president do so? Pictured: President Trump takes part in a welcoming ceremony with President Xi on November 9, 2017 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Thomas Peter-Pool/Getty Images)
Three times — in 1972, 1989, and 1999 — American presidents rescued Chinese communism. Now, Xi Jinping's China, plagued by problems of his own making, desperately needs a lifeline.
A trade deal with President Donald Trump looks as if it is the only thing that can revive the Chinese economy and thereby save Xi's brand of communism. Many, in fact, are urging Trump to drop his Section 301 tariffs and sign such a pact.
Will the American president do so?
At the moment, Xi is besieged, blamed for multiple policy mistakes. First, his relentlessly pursued back-to-Mao policies have helped push the Chinese economy downward, perhaps to the point of contraction, as May's depressing numbers suggest. Perhaps the most indicative statistic is that of imports, which during the month fell 8.5%, a clear sign of softening domestic demand.
Economists say consumption now drives the Chinese economy. Retail sales for the month, according to Beijing, increased a strong 8.6%. That figure is suspiciously high because it is based on this figure: retail sales of cars rising 2.1% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. However. the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported that car sales suffered their worst monthly drop ever in May, down a stunning 16.4% from the same month a year earlier, the 11th-straight month of decline.
There are other symptoms of distress. In a country where the money supply is far too large for the size of the economy, banks are running low on cash for lending. China's stock market regulators, in a highly unusual maneuver, are now urging brokerages to extend loans to keep companies afloat. Most worrying, there is evidence of persistent capital flight, which seems to be picking up in recent months.
Second, this economic downturn is occurring as relations with the United States are deteriorating across-the-board. Xi is being blamed for pushing Trump to start the "trade war." More important, Xi's generally belligerent policies are thought to be responsible for China "losing America."
Third, Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, is moving fast beyond Xi Jinping's control. He is known to be behind Beijing's increasingly hardline tactics there, where almost two million people surged into thoroughfares on June 16 to protest against China.
The immediate concern of the demonstrators was a proposed law that would have allowed extraditions from Hong Kong to the rest of the country. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on the previous day said she had shelved the legislation she had so vigorously pushed.
Despite Lam's concession, the crowd on June 16 — more than a quarter of the territory's population — was about double the size of the turnout the previous Sunday. Demands have over the course of two weeks escalated, largely because people no longer trust Beijing to adhere to its promise, documented in a treaty, the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, to permit "a high degree of autonomy" until 2047.
The message from Hong Kong is that China's communists do not keep their word. Americans should not need reminding of this, as the Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs pointed out last Wednesday on his widely-viewed show.
Yet, unfortunately, Americans do need reminding, especially the 661 companies and trade associations that signed a June 13 letter urging the president to drop tariffs.
There have been decades of trade agreements with Beijing, including the infamous one in 1999, when President Clinton signed off on what was to become the basis of China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).
China has violated its WTO promises and all the other trade deals. Now, President Trump is seeking to remedy Beijing's failure to follow promises — and its continued annual theft of hundreds of billions of dollars of American intellectual property — by inking another pact. In his June 18 tweet, Trump said he looked forward to an "extended meeting" with Xi at the Osaka G20 summit . The G20 meets this week on the 28th and 29th.
With a trade deal, Washington is seeking structural changes in the Chinese economy that are not consistent with Xi's ideology. In his six and half years as the country's ruler, he has increased state domination of the economy. America, on the other hand, wants the opposite: greater opportunities for foreign companies.
Moreover, Washington's determination to end Chinese theft of intellectual property also undermines Xi's signature Made in China 2025 initiative to dominate eleven critical technologies by that year.
In short, there is no chance that Xi will comply with any agreement that is acceptable to the United States.
China now needs America's acceptance for Xi's policies. Three times, American presidents rescued Chinese communism. Nixon did so in 1972, near the end of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, essentially a civil war. George H. W. Bush threw Deng Xiaoping a lifeline after the brutal Tiananmen crackdown in 1989. Finally, there was Clinton's WTO deal.
A trade agreement now will be seen as an end to the "trade war" and as Trump's support for Xi. A pact, therefore, would constitute America's fourth great rescue of Chinese communism.
There are, fortunately, two reasons to think no such pact is possible. First, unlike his predecessors, Trump does not believe the success of China's Communist Party should be a goal of American foreign policy. Washington, for this and other reasons, is no longer implementing a "China First" approach.
Second, Xi has been putting a deal out of reach, evidently deciding he would rather have someone to blame for China's various problems — Trump — than solve them with an agreement with the United States. In recent months, Xi has elevated the structure of the Chinese economy to a "core interest." As such, the most contentious matters discussed with Washington in the "trade" talks have become, at least in Communist Party speak, not subject to discussion. Moreover, Xi had the Ministry of Commerce this month publicize three hardline preconditions to a trade deal, essentially telling Trump that America must capitulate to his demands.
China's State Council Information Office on June 2 released its "China's Position on the China-US Economic and Trade Consultations," a white paper conveying Beijing's official position. "China is open to negotiation," the "key document" stated, "but will also fight to the end, if needed."
Bring it on. Trump must also fight, especially because fighting could bring an end, once and for all, to Chinese communism.
*Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China and a Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow.
© 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.

India: Modi and Minorities
Jagdish N. Singh/Gatestone Institute/June 25/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14364/india-modi-minorities
"In cases involving mobs killing an individual based on false accusations of cow slaughter or forced conversion, police investigations and prosecutions often were not adequately pursued. Rules on the registration of foreign-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were discriminatorily implemented against religious minority groups..." — United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Annual Report, 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi must now make it his mission to realize his own mantra, and guarantee the safety and freedom of all minorities in his country.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the media in New Delhi on May 25, 2019, following his landslide re-election on May 23. (Photo by Atul Loke/Getty Images)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide re-election on May 23 presents an opportunity to correct societal ills that in past years have been neglected. In particular, Modi, who was sworn in on May 30, might focus on addressing the concerns of the country's minorities.
Modi has long been talking of "sabkasaath, sabkavikas" ("everyone's support, everyone's development"). Upon his re-election, he added to the motto,"sabkavishwas" ("everyone's trust").
"This is our mantra," Modi said in an address in the central hall of Parliament to MPs of his Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). "I will work for all citizens of India."
Modi's statement is in keeping with the Constitution of India, which states that no citizen is denied "equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India" (Article 14); prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion (Articles 15 and 16); grants everyone freedom of speech and expression (Articles 19 and 21); gives every individual the right to practice religion (Articles 25 to 28); and grants minorities the right to conserve their own culture and language, and run their own educational institutions (Articles 29 and 30).
Successive governments in New Delhi have been committed to those clauses. As a result, the six religious minorities recognized officially as such – Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Zoroastrians (Parsis), Buddhists and Jains – have, for the most part, enjoyed equal opportunities.
There are in India several other religious minorities, such as Jews, Ahmadi Muslims and Bahais. Although not officially recognized as minorities, they have had more or less equal opportunities for their development, and have done well. One of the most trusted and successful business houses in India today belongs to the Tatas of the Parsi community. Independent India's first Field Marshal, General Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, also belonged to the Parsi community. Lt. General J. F. R. Jacob, an iconic figure in independent India, was a Jew. As chief of the staff in India's Eastern Command in 1971, he planned the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971.
Successive Indian governments have also been committed to the economic development of the country's minorities. Modi's BJP-led government has been no exception.
When Modi assumed office in 2014, he launched a campaign to provide basic amenities to ensure educational empowerment of minorities, particularly girls, in 308 districts across the country, and has boasted that minority representation in public-sector jobs rose from about 4.9% in 2014 to 9.8% in 2018.
Nevertheless, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) placed India in its "Tier 2" category, where religious freedom is concerned. In its latest annual report, released in April, the USCIRF states, in part:
"In 2018, religious freedom conditions in India continued a downward trend. India has a long history as a secular democracy where religious communities of every faith have thrived. The constitution guarantees the right to religious freedom, and the nation's independent judiciary has often provided essential protections to religious minority communities through its jurisprudence. Yet, this history of religious freedom has come under attack in recent years with the growth of exclusionary extremist narratives—including, at times, the government's allowing and encouraging mob violence against religious minorities. Those have facilitated a pervasive and ongoing campaign of violence, intimidation, and harassment against non-Hindu and lower-caste Hindu minorities.
Both public and private actors have engaged in this campaign. In 2018, approximately one-third of state governments increasingly enforced anti-conversion and anti-cow slaughter laws. These seemed to target in a discriminatory way non-Hindus and Dalits alike. Further, mobs that were trying to protect the cows engaged in violence predominantly targeting Muslims and Dalits, some of whom have, for generations, been legally involved in the dairy, leather, or beef trades. Mob violence was also carried out against Christians, with accusations of forced religious conversion. In cases involving mobs killing an individual based on false accusations of cow slaughter or forced conversion, police investigations and prosecutions often were not adequately pursued. Rules on the registration of foreign-funded nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were discriminatorily implemented against religious minority groups..."
It is thus not surprising that Modi and his party garnered very little minority support in the latest election, with only 8% of Muslims and 11% of Christians and Sikhs each voting for the BJP. In addition, the BJP saw a dip of 11 percentage points in support from the younger generation of religious minorities.
Modi must now make it his mission to realize his own mantra, and guarantee the safety and freedom of all minorities in his country.
Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi.
© 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.

The Persecution of Christians in the Palestinian Authority
أدي كوهين: اضطهاد المسيحيين الفلسطينيين في مناطق الحكم الذاتي الفلسطينية
Dr. Edy Cohen/BESA Center Perspectives/May 27, 2019
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,184, May 27, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The ongoing international neglect of the plight of the Christians under PA rule could lead to the disappearance of Christianity in the place where it emerged.
Three grave events occurred recently involving Christians in the territories ruled by the Palestinian Authority (PA). They left no mark on either the world or the Israeli media because they are not connected to Israel.
On April 25, the terrified residents of the Christian village of Jifna near Ramallah asked the PA to protect them after they were attacked by Muslim gunmen. The violence erupted after a woman from the village submitted a complaint to the police that the son of a prominent, Fatah-affiliated leader had attacked her family. In response, dozens of Fatah gunmen came to the village, fired hundreds of bullets in the air, threw petrol bombs while shouting curses, and caused severe damage to public property. It was a miracle that there were no dead or wounded.
Despite the residents’ cries for help, the PA police did not intervene during the hours of mayhem. They have not arrested any suspects. Interestingly, the rioters called on the residents to pay jizya—a head tax that was levied throughout history on non-Muslim minorities under Islamic rule. The most recent victims of the jizya were the Christian communities of Iraq and Syria under ISIS rule.
The second incident occurred during the night of May 13. Vandals broke into a church of the Maronite community in the center of Bethlehem, desecrated it, and stole expensive equipment belonging to the church, including the security cameras.
Three days later it was the turn of the Anglican church in the village of Aboud, west of Ramallah. Vandals cut through the fence, broke the windows of the church, and broke in. They desecrated it, looked for valuable items, and stole a great deal of equipment.
As in the two previous incidents, no suspects were arrested.
According to its Facebook page, this is the sixth time the Maronite church in Bethlehem has been subjected to acts of vandalism and theft, including an arson attack in 2015 that caused considerable damage and forced the church to close for a lengthy period. However, even though Mahmoud Abbas himself was present on December 24, 2018, at the party to mark the church’s reopening after it was renovated, the arson, in addition to acts of rioting and vandalism over the years, have received no coverage in the Palestinian media. In fact, a full gag order was imposed in many cases.
It is unlikely that the latest wave of attacks will lead to the arrest, let alone prosecution, of any suspects. The only thing that interests the PA is that events of this kind not be leaked to the media. Fatah regularly exerts heavy pressure on Christians not to report the acts of violence and vandalism from which they frequently suffer, as such publicity could damage the PA’s image as an actor capable of protecting the lives and property of the Christian minority under its rule. Even less does the PA want to be depicted as a radical entity that persecutes religious minorities. That image could have negative repercussions for the massive international, and particularly European, aid the PA receives.
Though the Christians in the PA avoid saying so publicly, many of them fear – with good reason – that Muslim aggression against them will only escalate. Such fears are all the stronger in light of the thunderous silence of the Western (and Israeli) media in the face of the Christian minority’s ongoing disappearance from the PA and Islamic lands in general – in striking contrast to the growth, prosperity, and increasing integration of the Christian community in Israel proper. The Christians of the Western world must demand that the PA arrest the suspects in the latest attacks and begin guarding the Christian places of worship under its rule. The ongoing international neglect of the plight of the Christians under PA rule can only lead to the vanishing of Christianity from the place where it emerged.
*Dr. Edy Cohen is a researcher at the BESA Center and author of the book The Holocaust in the Eyes of Mahmoud Abbas (Hebrew).

The Real Reason Iran Has Been Provoking Trump
راي تاكيه/مجلة بوليتيكو: هذا هو السبب الحيقي الذي من أجله إيران تستفز ترامب
Ray Takeyh/Politico Magazine/June 25/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/76127/%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%8a-%d8%aa%d8%a7%d9%83%d9%8a%d9%87-%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a8%d9%88%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%aa%d9%8a%d9%83%d9%88-%d9%87%d8%b0%d8%a7-%d9%87%d9%88-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d8%a8%d8%a8-%d8%a7%d9%84/
Ray Takeyh is Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/06/22/trump-iran-policy-227207
Iran wants to come back to the negotiating table—but first the regime needs a narrative of success.
The hysteria of war is once more gripping Washington. President Donald Trump reportedly ordered and later canceled airstrikes against Iran for its latest provocations. The litany of Iranian mischief is certainly a long one: Tehran has declared its intention to violate the Iran nuclear deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—by exceeding limits on enrichment stockpiles; it has, according to the Trump administration, assaulted oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, thus interfering with commercial traffic in an international waterway; and on Thursday it shot down a U.S. drone.
Having studied the Iranian regime for decades, I believe the purpose of all this, however, is not to start a war with America. More likely, it’s to enter talks with Washington claiming to be the empowered party that has withstood America’s strategy of maximum pressure. Before negotiating with the United States, Iran needs a narrative of success. And the events of the past few days, in which the Trump administration threatened and then backed off a military confrontation, have finally provided Tehran with a justification to enter talks with, in Iran’s telling, a chastened Washington.
You could see this narrative develop on Friday, when—hours after Trump reportedly called off airstrikes—the podiums of the Islamic Republic proclaimed victory. Tehran’s influential Friday Prayer leader Ali Akbari insisted, “The enemies also know that if they start a war, they will not end it.” General Amir Hajizadeh of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps boasted that it could have easily shot down a U.S. spy plan, “but we did not do it.” (Trump on Saturday nodded to the same event: “There was a plane with 38 people yesterday, did you see that? … They had it in their sights and they didn’t shoot it down. I think they were very wise not to do that. And we appreciate that they didn’t do that. I think that was a very wise decision.”)
The reality is more complicated than Iran’s assertions of success. First, the White House abrogated the JCPOA without being isolated internationally. Then, it managed to gain multilateral support for its economic sanctions, as European businesses complied with U.S. demands over the objections of Europe’s diplomats and politicians. By the International Monetary Fund’s estimate, due to the sanctions, Iran’s GDP will contract by 6 percent while inflation hovers around 50 percent. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo then announced 12 demands for a new nuclear treaty with Iran, sensibly suggesting that the U.S. has to address not just Iran’s nuclear weapons aspirations but also its penchant toward terrorism and regional subversion. And finally, the administration has made much progress in reducing Iran’s exports to zero.
In other words, Iran has much more to gain by negotiating with the U.S. than by continuing the confrontation. Iranian diplomats, who believe they came out of talks with the Obama administration with the longer end of the stick, think that if they enter any negotiating room they can easily beset their interlocutors. Stalemated talks will inevitably generate pressure on the Trump team by European allies and Democrats who will insist that the Pompeo parameters are unrealistic and must be abandoned. Many within the professional bureaucracy led by State Department diplomats, intelligence analysts and Pentagon generals are likely to echo these themes. The Iranians have seen these pressures and fears of another war in the Middle East drive both the Obama and the George W. Bush administrations to the negotiating table, and they hope the same factors will finally cause Trump and Pompeo to narrow their gaze to some modest changes in the JCPOA, rather than a total overhaul. But Iran’s leadership, which has insisted to its populace for two years that it will not enter talks with a truculent Trump, requires a narrative of success justifying its turnabout. The regime cannot enter negotiations as a supplicant battered by American sanctions.
I believe this is why Tehran in May opted for a riskier strategy of incrementally increasing pressure on America while whittling down its demands for resumption of nuclear talks. President Hassan Rouhani announced Iran would gradually reconsider its obligations under the JCPOA starting with retaining enriched uranium at home as opposed to sending it abroad. Then, the Trump administration accused Iran of attacking oil tankers around the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has denied the attacks, but Iran has often threatened Gulf shipping whenever it has faced sanctions and threats from America—a signal to the international community that the Islamic Republic is capable of obstructing oil commerce through one of the most strategically vital waterways. And then for good measure, Iran shot down an American drone. Tehran, I think, hoped that its incremental escalation would not lead to war, but generate a diplomatic process. It was a risky move, but one that may yet pay off.
Look closely, and you’ll see that in the past weeks, Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif have also offered their own subtle olive branch. Rouhani stopped insisting that America rejoin the JCPOA as a precondition to talks while stressing, “We are for logic and talks if [the other side] sits respectfully at the negotiating table and follows international regulations, not if it issues an order to negotiate.” Zarif has cautioned Trump, “You campaigned against costly stupid interventions,” but a “conniving cabal of warmongers and butchers, the infamous B-Team, is plotting for way more than what you bargained for.” By separating Trump from his so-called belligerent advisers, Zarif intimated that Trump can be a statesmen if only he dispenses with the reckless aides who are, in Zarif‘s words, tricking him into war.
Some in the foreign policy community at times suggest that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is opposed to any talks and will not permit his diplomats to reengage with the United States. But this is a misreading of Khamenei, who has routinely denounced talks in public while supporting them in private. After all, the talks with the Obama administration would not have taken place without his consent. In a recent speech, Khamenei claimed he had opposed the JCPOA and had warned Rouhani and Zarif not to trust the Americans. But he added that the executive branch, led by Rouhani, is responsible for diplomacy and that he himself rarely intervenes in such matters unless they threaten the revolution itself.
This tells us that if Rouhani in his role as the head of the executive branch wants to embark on talks with America, Khamenei will publicly express his skepticism while essentially allowing the negotiations to proceed. This is a convenient way for the supreme leader to disown controversial talks with the U.S. so that Rouhani will have to deal with any political blowback.
It’s clear to me that the talks between United States and Iran are coming. And the challenge for the Trump administration is to hold fast to the Pompeo parameters. Ultimately, the legacy of Trump’s Iran policy will be whether the adminisration can sustain its hawkish policy and move forward with successful negotiations or whether it will join its predecessor in abandoning its own sensible red lines for sake of an agreement at any cost.

Fmr. Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal: Iran And Qatar Cooperated With Al-Qaeda, Particularly Against KSA
MEMRI/June 25/2019
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's former chief of intelligence, said in a June 14, 2019 interview on Al-Arabiya TV (Dubai/Saudi Arabia) that he believes that Iran had not originally supported Al-Qaeda, but that when Al-Qaeda disintegrated following the American invasion of Afghanistan, some Al-Qaeda members – including senior members – found refuge in Iran, which began cooperating with Al-Qaeda, particularly when it came to targeting Saudi Arabia. He explained that some of Al-Qaeda's attacks in Saudi Arabia had been planned in Iran. Prince Al-Faisal also said that Qatar had coordinated and communicated with Al-Qaeda, that it allowed Al-Qaeda to use Al-Jazeera TV as its mouthpiece, and that it provided Al-Qaeda with material, financial, and logistical support so that it could "play a role in the world." He said that Qatar has also supported other factions in the Arab world, such as anti-government factions in Bahrain, the Al-Nusra Front and other groups in Syria, and the Houthis in Yemen, which he said Qatar supported even before the 2011 Yemen revolt.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal: "I do not think that Iran is responsible for Bashar Al-Assad's ascendance in Syria. He replaced his father and earned the blessing of the leadership back then. He had relations with Arab countries, and so on and so forth... [This continued] until the unadulterated and moderate popular uprising against his oppression. He dealt with [the protestors] in a cruel and barbaric manner, and this situation was exploited by Iran. Iran did not plan to put Bashar Al-Assad in this situation, but Bashar allowed them to exploit it. Iran, for example, exploited the American invasion of Iraq."
Interviewer: "Correct."
Prince Turki Al-Faisal: "Iran expanded its influence in Iraq due to this invasion and so on."
Interviewer: "Your highness, as Chief of Intelligence, didn't you observe clear Iranian support for Al-Qaeda, at least during your time in office?"
Prince Turki Al-Faisal: "In the beginning, in my opinion, there was no Iranian support for Al-Qaeda. It began only after the American invasion of Afghanistan. When Al-Qaeda disintegrated as a result of the American invasion, and its members got dispersed all over the world, some of them found refuge in Iran. Bin Laden [said] in his memoirs – excerpts of which were published – that he had strived to maintain fragile relations with Iran. He prevented his followers from attacking Iran because he had sent part of his family there and some of Al-Qaeda's leaders had also found refuge in Iran.
"I think that Iran and Al-Qaeda were in agreement about targeting Saudi Arabia. On this basis, there is no doubt that Iran provided refuge for Al-Qaeda members. Operations against Saudi Arabia were planned in these [refuge] places. According to what I read in the press, some of the orders to carry out terrorist attacks came out of Iran to Al-Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia, back when Al-Qaeda was still active in Saudi Arabia. This is clear proof that Iran supported Al-Qaeda and allowed it to use its territory in order to hurt the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
Interviewer: "Were there Arab states that supported Al-Qaeda, especially against Saudi Arabia? What about Gulf countries? Did Qatar support Al-Qaeda?"
Prince Turki Al-Faisal: "Qatar was one of the countries that was in contact with Al-Qaeda. We cannot forget that after the American invasion of Afghanistan and the disintegration of Al-Qaeda – and even before that – the Al-Jazeera TV network was the mouthpiece of Al-Qaeda."
Interviewer: "Bin Laden's tapes, for example..."
Prince Turki Al-Faisal: "Recordings, pictures, statements, and so on... This required some coordination and communication. Therefore, there is no doubt that Qatar was in direct contact [with Al-Qaeda]."
Interviewer: "What sort of cooperation is Your Highness talking about?"
Prince Turki Al-Faisal: "Providing material and financial support, providing refuge for Al-Qaeda members, by accepting them in Qatar and then finding places for them to go... They provided financial and logistical services for Al-Qaeda."
Interviewer: "Was Saudi Arabia the main target?"
Prince Turki Al-Faisal: "I believe that Saudi Arabia was one of the targets, but not the only target. The sole purpose of Qatar's activities is to gain an active role in world affairs.
"Therefore, you can see that Qatar tried to reach out to all the factions that are considered to be opposing some countries. These include not only Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, but also factions that are involved in anti-government activity in Bahrain. Qatar was, and still is, one of the biggest supporters and financiers of this activity. In Syria, after what has happened there, we see that Qatar was the biggest supporter of the Nusra Front and other factions in Syria. The same goes for the Houthis in Yemen, even before the 2011 events in Yemen."

Is There Still a Deal to Be Done With Iran?
The Atlantic/Uri Friedman and Kathy Gilsinan/June 25/2019
The United States stepped right up to the brink of striking Iran over a downed American drone—and then abruptly stepped back. Yet the conditions that have stoked weeks of tensions remain fully in place, as does the question of what exactly President Donald Trump plans to do in the face of Iranian threats against American assets and interests.
Now that the two countries have traveled so far down the road to war, is there any realistic off-ramp to the negotiations the U.S. president keeps saying he ultimately wants?
On the surface, that path is nowhere to be found. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has repeatedly disavowed the idea of negotiating with the United States ever since the Trump administration withdrew last year from the Iran nuclear deal. Trump reimposed all sanctions against Iran that the Obama administration had lifted as part of the 2015 pact, recently taking the additional step of pressuring other countries to stop buying oil from Iran altogether.
Khamenei argues that there’s no use negotiating, particularly under duress, with a man who scrapped the product of previous talks and has thus demonstrated a lack of good faith. “Trump has said negotiations with the U.S. would lead to Iran’s progress,” he recently wrote on Twitter. “By the Grace of God, without negotiations & despite sanctions, we will progress.”
The supreme leader’s position is that he “will consider further negotiations” only when the United States resumes complying with the terms of the nuclear deal, Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a spokesman for Iranian nuclear negotiators in the mid-2000s, told us. “By destroying the deal, Trump destroyed confidence and any chance for future negotiations,” said Mousavian, now a Middle East security and nuclear-policy specialist at Princeton’s Program on Science and Global Security.
Trump, for his part, has flirted with replicating the model he followed with North Korea: ratcheting up military and economic pressure to force Iran into nuclear talks. He’s mused about meeting the possibly “lovely man” serving as Iran’s president and boasted of his abilities to broker a far better nuclear agreement than Barack Obama ever could. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a hard-liner on Iran, even floated the idea earlier this month of sitting down with the Iranians without preconditions (except the rather loaded precondition that they “prove that they want to behave like a normal nation”).
But for now the Trump administration appears wholly focused on squeezing Iran economically, deterring Iranian aggression, and preparing for a possible military conflict—not laying the groundwork for serious negotiations. If its pressure campaign is a means to an end of a negotiated solution, rather than the end itself, the administration hasn’t clearly articulated what that solution is or how it plans to arrive at it.
A classified briefing earlier this week to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—attended by the State Department’s Iran special representative, Brian Hook, as well as defense and intelligence officials—“was about building the case for war [with Iran], not about discussing the strategy for diplomacy,” according to Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who attended the closed session. The officials spent their time presenting evidence for why Iran is a threat and why the government is confident that the Iranians were behind recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Merkley told us. (There is some diplomatic activity afoot; next week, National Security Adviser John Bolton will travel to the region to discuss the security situation with Russian and Israeli officials.)
It’s unlikely Iran’s leaders want a full-fledged military confrontation with the United States, but they do want to extract a cost from the United States for the sanctions it has reimposed, Elisa Catalano Ewers, who served in the Obama administration as a director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council, told us. “If the last 24 hours are any indication, the Iranians may perhaps falsely believe that as long as they stay behind a certain line, they won’t pay a price for their provocations.” If Iran miscalculates by, say, sinking an oil tanker instead of blowing a hole in it, the tensions could escalate quickly and more dangerously, said Ewers, now a senior adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security think tank.
Mousavian agreed that Iran doesn’t “want war” but added that Iran had abided by the nuclear deal for the past two years while only getting more sanctions and pressure in return, and “this trend can’t be continued.” He urged UN Secretary-General António Guterres to lead an effort to establish military-to-military communication channels between Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United States so that the parties could at least avoid misunderstandings and stumbling into conflict, even if they never get as far as the negotiating table.
Efforts at mediation, however, have so far sputtered. Perhaps most notably, when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe traveled to Tehran to appeal for calm and try to get talks going, Iran’s supreme leader rejected the overture, according to Pompeo—right before an explosion on a Japanese-owned oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that the U.S. has blamed on Iran. (Iran denies involvement.) Khamenei, Pompeo told reporters in mid-June, told Abe “he has no response to President Trump and will not answer.” (The Iranians blame the Americans for the failure of Abe’s effort.)
Other countries have tried or at least positioned themselves to play mediator, Suzanne Maloney, an Iran expert at the Brookings Institution, told us. “Iranian diplomats will say privately that there is no mediation going on,” she said. Numerous parties—including the Swiss, the Omanis, the Kuwaitis, and the Qataris—would be willing to play such a role, but so far this is aspirational. “There have been episodic messages passed but there’s no official mediation,” she says. (U.S. and Iranian officials denied one report on Friday that the Omanis helped pass messages between the two countries ahead of the aborted U.S. strikes this week.)
Yet the attacks in the Gulf region, and Iranian threats to start abandoning the nuclear deal without some form of economic relief, also point to an Iranian effort to build up leverage, Jake Sullivan, a former Iran negotiator in the Obama administration, told us. Doing so “gives them a rationale for coming to the table in something other than a submissive way,” he said.
They might still insist on concessions as a condition for talks—possibly, Maloney said, a partial lifting of oil sanctions to bring them back to the levels they were trading in May. At the time, the administration had waivers in place to allow a handful of countries to continue importing Iranian oil, but it let them lapse in an effort to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero.
Given that Iran is now making reversible threats to restart its nuclear program, Maloney said a “freeze for freeze” arrangement like the interim nuclear deal the Obama administration struck in 2013 could help galvanize negotiations. The key question, she said, is: “What is a quid pro quo, that is nonpermanent, that is enough to incentivize each party to come back to the table but not so much to make negotiations on a full deal irrelevant?”
But Reuel Marc Gerecht, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who advocates a hard line on Iran, thinks U.S. concessions would be unnecessary to drive Iran to the table, if the Iranians truly fear for the survival of their regime. The drop in oil exports since May will put “enormous strain on the system,” he told us, “but it is still probably far north of an economic meltdown. No meltdown, insufficient incentive for the regime to swallow its revolutionary pride and engage Trump.”
Whatever it takes to start talks, if that’s even possible, what the parties actually talk about is another matter. The administration has laid out 12 demands it says the Iranians must meet—including additional curbs on its nuclear program and a halt to its support for regional proxies—that would amount to a total overhaul of Iran’s foreign policy. Pompeo says the demands are totally reasonable. He’s also said the U.S. is ready to negotiate with no preconditions. “It’s one thing to get talks going just to de-escalate tensions,” Sullivan said, “but in terms of actually solving the problem … where is the Venn diagram that there’s anything remotely resembling the overlap?”
Still, he thinks it’s at least conceivable they could talk to each other. “We have a very wide distribution of possible outcomes—from actual war to sitting at the table soon.”