LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 23/2019

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10/38-42: “Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on March 22-23/2019
Assessment and Strategy for Lebanon
Open Letter From The "Rally For Sovereignty" To The Honorable US Secretary of State, Mr. Michael Pompeo
Pompeo Arrives in Beirut for Two-Day Talks
Aoun to Pompeo: Hezbollah is Lebanese party represented at parliament and government
Bassil to Pompeo: We solicit support for Lebanon to secure safe repatriation of displaced
Pompeo Says Hizbullah Impeding Dreams of Lebanese, Stealing State's Funds
Pompeo Meets Jumblat, Geagea, Mouawad Hosts Him over Dinner
Hizbullah Official Questions Timing and Purpose of Pompeo Visit
Rahi Chairs Meeting of Maronite Consultative Gathering Followup Committee
Hariri Meets Pedersen
Saniora: Trump's Golan Stance Torpedoes All Peace Initiatives
Jumblat Mourns His Dog in Sentimental Tweet
Lebanese President: Ties with Syria are Normalized, We Will Participate in its Reconstruction
80 Percent of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Want to Return Home

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 22-23/2019
Priest stabbed during morning mass at Montreal's Saint Joseph's Oratory
Khamenei: Europeans 'Stabbed Us in the Back'
French Prosecutors Want Rifaat Al-Assad Tried Over Fraud
Syria Says Trump Position on Golan Ignores International Law
Syria Ally Iran 'Shocked' at Trump Golan Decision
Trump Says IS Group '100 Percent' Defeated in Syria
Residents of Golan Still Divided after Trump Pledge
Trump’s Policy Shift on Golan Heights Draws Wide Condemnation
Palestinian President Rejects Pompeo’s Efforts to Contact PA through Intermediaries
US Move to Add Quds Force to Terror List
Pompeo: Houthis Should Know they Cannot Win in Yemen
Israel: Applying Egypt-Proposed Understandings Only Way to Avert Gaza Escalation
Israel Envoy Summoned over 'Intrusion' at French Cultural Center
New Zealand Women Don Headscarves in Solidarity with Muslim Victims
Anti-Bouteflika Protests Shake Algeria's Business Community
Erdogan, Sarraj Discuss Preparations for Libya Elections

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 22-23/2019
Assessment and Strategy for Lebanon/Dr Walid Phares/March 22/2019
Open Letter From The "Rally For Sovereignty" To The Honorable US Secretary of State, Mr. Michael Pompeo/March 22/19
Priest stabbed during morning mass at Montreal's Saint Joseph's Oratory/CBC/March 22/19
Media Silence Surrounds Muslim Massacre of Christians/B.Breitbart/March 17/19
How Secret Netanyahu-Assad Backchannel Gave Way to Israeli Demand for Recognition of Golan Sovereignty/Noa Landau/Haaretz/March 22/19
Mullahs and the English Opium-Eater/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/March 22/19
Socialism: Be Careful What You Wish For/Philip Carl Salzman/Gatestone Institute/March 22/19

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on March 22-23/2019
Assessment and Strategy for Lebanon
د.وليد فارس: تقييم واستراتجية للبنان
Dr Walid Phares/March 22/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73215/dr-walid-phares-assessment-and-strategy-for-lebanon%D8%AF-%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3-%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%85-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%8A/
On the eve of Secretary Pompeo's visit to the Middle East and to Lebanon, I gave my assessment of the present US strategy and made suggestions for changes going forward.
The traditional US strategy toward Lebanon is to continue support for the Lebanese army with the understanding that they help us in the fight against terrorism. During this visit, Secretary Pompeo will likely request that the Lebanese government distance itself from Hezbollah and put financial pressure on the terrorist organization to force it to disarm and eventually withdraw from Lebanon entirely.
I believe this strategy will not work. The US would be better off engaging the civil society of Lebanon and lifting up the opposition. The government of Lebanon is hopelessly entangled with Hezbollah now and is in essence controlled by it. Hezbollah intimidates the leadership of the armed forces and at the same time has influence within its ranks. Asking the government and the army to disarm Hezbollah is a futile request.
I would rather see the Venezuelan model extended to Lebanon. The US should bypass the government of Lebanon and directly engage with the civil opposition, which does not want to be dominated by Iran. A similar strategy might also work in Iraq, as it too is coming increasingly under Iran's thumb. Our strategy should be to support those elements in both societies who desire to live free from Iranian tyranny.

Open Letter From The "Rally For Sovereignty" To The Honorable US Secretary of State, Mr. Michael Pompeo
Beirut, Lebanon/March 22/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73228/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%86%D9%83%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%86%D8%B5-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84/
Honorable US Secretary of State, Mr. Michael Pompeo
Dear Mr. Pompeo:
On the occasion of your visit to Lebanon, the "Rally for Sovereignty" hopes this visit will provide you with an accurate and comprehensive picture of the current situation in Lebanon. We are hoping this picture will constructively assist you in contributing to finding solutions to our cause. We also hope that it will help the Lebanese achieve their goals and aspirations in building a free, independent, and democratic state, where human rights, openness, dialogue, and peace between sects and religions prevail in spite of extremism and terrorism.
We would like to shed light on the actual causes for the current distress endured by the Lebanese:
1. Iran, through its proxies, Hezbollah and its allies, has seized Lebanese constitutional institutions and consequently, Lebanon’s sovereignty, brushing aside our Constitution, international laws, and the will of a large part of the Lebanese.
2. The complicity, failure, and / or intimidation of a few Lebanese politicians have sabotaged the functionality of democratic constitutional institutions, repressed public freedoms, targeting opinion leaders and activists. This form of suppression has led to the escalation of social crises causing the financial sector to become on the verge of collapse.
3. Iran's persistence in controlling Lebanon’s political, economic, and institutional life through Hezbollah, has turned into a practical occupation that aims at forging Lebanon’s cultural and historical identity. Lebanon, by being tied to the Iranian axis which aims at destabilizing the region, is on the verge of isolation both from Arab and international communities.
In light of this reality, the Lebanese people are in dire need of the international community's assistance to help restore their state institutions, which will help pave the way to restoring our freedom, prosperity, and stability. This restoration can only be achieved by addressing three layers simultaneously beginning with recapturing sovereignty, developing a sound democracy and enlightened governance, that will in turn lead to sustainable development.
Our proposed road map leading to these objectives should follow the steps below:
1. Restoring sovereignty of the Lebanese State over all its territory through the complete implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, particularly resolutions 1559, 1680 and 1701, under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
2. The revival of political life in Lebanon through the sound implementation of the Lebanese Constitution. Free and fair elections should then be held according to international democratic standards, free from the pressure of arms. These elections will produce a legislative authority that would give rise to an approved presidential and governmental executive authority. This step will put Lebanon on the path to freedom and reform, restoring its natural position at the heart of Arab and international legitimacy away from the Iranian axis and the group of rogue states, regimes, and groups that follow Iran.
3. Launching a comprehensive economic and social program based on sustainable development and tangible steps that will result in real and transparent administrative and judicial reform, at the same time ensuring political security and economic and social stability in Lebanon.
Mr. Secretary,
The Rally for Sovereignty, who is made up of opinion influencers, political and media activists, economic and academic experts belonging to all Lebanese communities and spread out across the country, is working to build a culture of dialogue among the various sects, religions and ethnicities as a path to a durable peace.
The Rally for Sovereignty is part and parcel of Lebanese who refuse to surrender to Iran’s expansionist scheme in the region. We firmly believe that it’s the Lebanese people’s primary responsibility to liberate their land and institutions, and restore their sovereignty when it comes to taking decisions on all levels. It is not a matter of throwing the ball in the international community’s court. We are writing to confirm that, in Lebanon, there are many of us today who reject Iranian occupation and are resisting its armed and nonarmed systems of expansion and authoritarianism. These same people have already resisted all types of occupations before, and we are looking toward the free world to stand by our side in this struggle against one of the most destructive, regressive, and oppressive regimes in the world. We hope that Lebanon's sovereignty and its people’s freedom and democratic rights will not be the subject to any form of compromise in the looming regional and international settlements.
Sincerely yours
Naufal Daou/Rally for Sovereignty Coordinator

Pompeo Arrives in Beirut for Two-Day Talks
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Beirut on Friday on the final leg of a regional tour that saw him visit Kuwait and Jerusalem. He kicked off his two-day visit to the Lebanon by holding talks with Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan. The State Department's deputy spokesman, Robert Palladino, said the two discussed the regional and internal security challenges facing Lebanon and how the US can help support the ministry's efforts to maintain stability inside Lebanon. Pompeo also met with parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, before heading for a working lunch with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Berri told Pompeo that US sanctions on the Hezbollah party were having a "negative impact on Lebanon and the Lebanese". He said Hezbollah is a Lebanese party in the government and parliament, and that its armed "resistance" against Israel was a result of continuing Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory, Berri's office said in a statement. He was received at the airport by US Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richards and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale. Pompeo is scheduled to later hold talks with President Michel Aoun and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil. The State Department said he will meet with Lebanese leaders to discuss the political, security, economic, and humanitarian challenges facing Lebanon. Pompeo’s visit will underscore US support for the Lebanese people and Lebanon’s legitimate state institutions. He will also address the presence of Hezbollah officials in parliament and government. Pompeo's plane arrived on Friday traveling through the Cypriot airspace, as Lebanon, which is technically in a state of war with Israel, bans direct flights from Israel.

Pompeo Talks Hizbullah, U.S. Support with Lebanese Leaders
Naharnet/March 22/19/U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo began an official visit to Lebanon on Friday, the last stop of his five-day Middle East trip that included Kuwait and Israel. During talks in Baabda, Pompeo conveyed his worry over Hizbullah to President Michel Aoun. He stressed "the U.S. government's strong concerns over the role of Hizbullah and Iran in Lebanon and the region and the risks this poses to Lebanon's security, stability, and prosperity," U.S. State Dept. deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said.
Aoun for his part asked Pompeo for Washington's help in “returning the Syrian refugees to safe areas in Syria,” stressing that “repatriation operations carried out by General Security will continue.”As for Hizbullah, the president told the top U.S. diplomat that “preserving national unity and civil peace” is Lebanon's priority, noting that “Hizbullah is a Lebanese party born of a popular base representing one of the main sects in the country.”
Aoun also welcomed any U.S. help in demarcating the border with Israel, noting that this would “strengthen security and stability in the South.”“Lebanon is committed to implementing Resolution 1701 and is keen on maintaining stability on the southern border, despite the continuous territorial, naval and aerial Israeli violations,” the president added. Pompeo had arrived at the Rafik Hariri International Airport at 11:00 am. He was taken to the Interior Ministry for a meeting with Raya al-Hassan, who was named earlier this year as the Arab world's first female minister in charge of security. The State Department's deputy spokesman, Robert Palladino, said the two discussed the regional and internal security challenges facing Lebanon and how the U.S. can help support the ministry's efforts to maintain stability inside Lebanon. Pompeo also met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, before heading for a working lunch with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. According to the National News Agency, Berri discussed with Pompeo “the importance of maintaining Lebanon's stability and addressing the maritime border issue,” shedding light on the sanctions imposed on Hizbullah and their impact on the Lebanese.
Palladino said Pompeo highlighted in the meeting with Berri U.S. concerns about Hizbullah's "destabilizing activities in Lebanon and the region" as well as the need to maintain calm along the border between Lebanon and Israel.
Hariri's media office said talks with Pompeo focused on the latest developments in Lebanon and the region and the bilateral relations between the two countries. Palladino said Pompeo and Hariri discussed "the importance of the U.S.-Lebanese security partnership and the need for continued support for Lebanon's legitimate state security institutions, particularly the Lebanese Armed Forces."Pompeo also "commended the Lebanese people for hosting more than one million Syrian refugees." Pompeo’s two-day visit to Lebanon aims mainly to step up pressure on Iran and its local ally, Hizbullah, which now wields more power than ever in parliament and the government. But he is likely to face resistance even from Washington's Lebanese allies, who fear that pushing too hard could spark a backlash and endanger the tiny country's fragile peace.
In remarks he made to Al-Arabiya television Thursday, Pompeo voiced regret that the previous U.S. administrations did not do much to “rein in” Hizbullah.

Aoun to Pompeo: Hezbollah is Lebanese party represented at parliament and government
Fri 22 Mar 2019/NNA - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on Friday told visiting US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, that Hezbollah is a Lebanese party represented at Parliament and government, and stems from a popular base that denotes one of the main sects in the country. "Maintaining national unity and civil peace is a priority for us," President Aoun told Secretary Pompeo during his meeting with him at the Baabda palace. Aoun also solicited US support for Lebanon to secure the repatriation of the Syrian refugees to the safe areas in Syria, noting that Lebanon which has hosted more than one million and 500 thousand displaced Syrians on its territory, is no longer capable of bearing the repercussions of such displacement on all daily living-related sectors. Aoun stressed that the arrangements for the return of refugees will continue in accordance with the mechanism set by the Lebanese General Security. On the other hand, Aoun welcomed the United States' assistance in the demarcation of the land border known as the "Blue Line," saying that "such an action strengthens security and stability in the south."The head of state underlined Lebanon's commitment to the implementation of Resolution 1701 to maintain stability along the southern border despite the ongoing Israeli violations by land, air and sea. Aoun thanked Minister Pompeo for his country's assistance to the Lebanese Army, especially during the war of liberating the Bekaa terrains from terrorist organizations. Pompeo, for his part, affirmed his country's keenness to strengthen US-Lebanese relations and ongoing support to the Lebanese armed forces. The US Secretary of State also stressed his country's readiness to contribute to the demarcation of land and sea borders. He also spoke about his country's position regarding Hezbollah and Iran. Pompeo has arrived at the Baabda palace this afternoon accompanied by US Ambassador to Lebanon, Elizabeth Richard, Ambassadors David Hale and David Satterfield, and Diplomat Catherine Martin. Attending the meeting, on the Lebanese side, had been the State Minister for Presidential Affairs, Salim Jreissati, President Aoun's Key Advisor Mireille Aoun Hachem, General Security chief, Abbas Ibrahim, Presidency Director General Antoine Choucair and several advisers.

Bassil to Pompeo: We solicit support for Lebanon to secure safe repatriation of displaced
Fri 22 Mar 2019/NNA - "Pompeo's visit is the first of its kind to Lebanon, and it demonstrates the depth of relations and friendship, and the solidity and stability of the Lebanese scene," said Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil in a joint press conference with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo whom he welcomed this Friday afternoon at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "We discussed the borders issue, and Lebanon is willing to act positively in that regard, based on preserving our rights, our land and our sovereignty," Bassil said, stressing that "political and diplomatic victory is equal to any other victory, without compromising any oil or gas resources. We will make the necessary efforts to reach a decent agreement.""We have affirmed our commitment to Resolution 1701, so as to maintain calm in the South and stop the Israeli aggressions, in light of Lebanon's sacred right to defend itself," said the minister. "The New Zealand attack confirms that extremism generates extremism and tolerance, paralleled with international law, is the cure for that extremism," he asserted. "I have raised the issue of displaced Syrians and explained to Pompeo its danger on the existentiality of Lebanon and the unique Lebanese model. Our request is to support Lebanon with a safe and dignified return, without it being voluntary. We are welcoming the displaced, but it is time for their return. This is for the benefit of Lebanon," he stressed, affirming that Lebanon refuses to interfere in other countries internal affairs. "We talked about Hezbollah and we stressed that it is a non-terrorist Lebanese party and its deputies are elected by the people and with great popular support. Categorizing the party as terrorist does not concern Lebanon. We abide by our national unity, and this hence preserves our ties with the United States," Bassil said. "We consider the stability of Lebanon and the maintenance of its unity in the interest of Lebanon and the United States alike, as well as a regional and international benefit, for there is an interest in safeguarding Lebanon as a model in the face of terrorism." "Lebanon will remain unique in its pluralism, rebellion and freedom. It will never be a haven for terrorism but a resistance to it. (...) Preserve its friendship and its stability so we can work together for its flourishing," Bassil concluded.

Pompeo Says Hizbullah Impeding Dreams of Lebanese, Stealing State's Funds
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/March 22/19/U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday urged Lebanon to pick a side as he visited the country on a regional tour to build a united front against Iran.
He especially expressed concern over the role of Hizbullah, an Iran-backed movement that is targeted by U.S. sanctions but holds three cabinet posts in Lebanon. "Lebanon and the Lebanese people face a choice: bravely move forward as an independent and proud nation or allow the dark ambitions of Iran and Hizbullah to dictate your future," he said during a joint news conference with his Lebanese counterpart Jebran Bassil. "The U.S. will continue to use all peaceful means, everything at our disposal to choke off the financing, the smuggling, the criminal network and the misuse of government positions and influence," by Hizbullah, he said. "We will not hesitate to call out those who actively and passively support those activities," he added.
Pompeo also accused Hizbullah of being an obstacle in the face of the Lebanese people's dreams.
“We believe that our work is already constraining Hizbullah's activities and we will continue to support Lebanon and its people,” Pompeo was quoted as saying during the press conference. “It will take courage for Lebanon to stand up to Hizbullah's criminality, terror, and threats,” he added. Pompeo also accused Hizbullah of putting Lebanon on the frontlines of Iran's proxy campaigns and of “stealing” the Lebanese state's funds. "How does stockpiling tens of thousands of missiles in Lebanon territory for use against Israel make this country stronger?" asked Pompeo, referring to Hizbullah's arsenal that the group boasts can strike any part of Israel. "Hizbullah and its illegitimate militia put the entire country on the front lines of Iran's misguided proxy campaign," Pompeo added. Pompeo also referred to comments made by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah earlier this month in which he urged supporters to donate money to the group. Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV aired the comments made by Bassil live, but cut back to normal programming once Pompeo began reading his statement. Bassil for his part said that Washington's designation of Hizbullah as a terrorist group is not binding for Lebanon and that all countries have an interest in Lebanon's stability.
“We appreciate the U.S. assistance for the Lebanese security institutions and we held a constructive and positive discussion based on the depth of the relation between the two peoples,” Bassil added. “The Lebanese army is the guardian of stability,” he stressed. “We discussed the issue of borders and we are seeking to preserve sovereignty and Lebanon has a chance to recover its rights without relinquishing any resources,” Bassil added, referring to the issue of demarcating the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel.
Separately, the minister called on U.S. firms to take part in tenders in Lebanon, noting that a “Russian-American” economic alliance can be reached in terms of economic projects in the country. “We are committed to Resolution 1701 and stability on the southern border,” Bassil added as to the conflict with Israel.
"Hizbullah is a Lebanese party, not a terrorist group, and it enjoys a wide popular base," Bassil said. "We don't want our ties with America to be affected and we want to work together to solve problems, including the issue with Hizbullah," he added, stressing that Lebanon's stability is of mutual interest to both states.

Pompeo Meets Jumblat, Geagea, Mouawad Hosts Him over Dinner
Naharnet/March 22/19/U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday held talks with a number of Lebanese politicians after meeting the country's top officials earlier in the day. Media reports said Pompeo met in the afternoon with Lebanese leader Samir Geagea and his wife MP Sethrida Geagea. Conflicting reports have emerged over the place of the meeting. Some media outlets said the meeting was held in Maarab as MTV reported that Geagea met with Pompeo at the U.S. embassy in Awkar. Later in the day, the top U.S. diplomat met with Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat in Clemenceau. The meeting was attended by MP Taymour Jumblat and Education Minister Akram Shehayyeb.
Pompeo tweeted that he is looking forward to working with Jumblat, adding that the U.S. is committed to “supporting Lebanon's path towards a more prosperous and secure future.”Pompeo later headed to Strong Lebanon bloc MP Michel Mouawad's residence where a dinner banquet was thrown in his honor in the presence of around 50 political figures. According to media reports, Pompeo has ties to the Mouawad family that precede his rise to his post. The dinner banquet was boycotted by the ministers of the Lebanese Forces, LF deputy chief MP George Adwan and MP Yassine Jaber of Speaker Nabih Berri's bloc. MTV said the LF's representatives had confirmed that they would attend the event before announcing their snub. “The LF boycotted due to MP Mouawad's latest stances, especially what happened between him and (Deputy Premier) Ghassan Hasbani in parliament,” MTV reported, quoting unnamed sources. Sources close to Mouawad said “his stance on Hasbani has nothing to do with his stance on the LF” and that the deputy PM was not invited to Friday's dinner due to a “verbal clash that occurred between them on February 14.”

Hizbullah Official Questions Timing and Purpose of Pompeo Visit
Naharnet/March 22/19/Senior Hizbullah official Sheikh Ali Daamoush on Friday questioned the timing and purpose of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Lebanon. "What are the Lebanese expecting from America and its foreign minister after these two announcements that are totally biased in favor of Israel, except for inciting against the resistance (Hizbullah) and turning Lebanese against each other?,” Daamoush, who is the deputy head of Hizbullah's Executive Council, said. The Hizbullah official, who is a Shiite cleric, voiced his remarks during his Friday prayer sermon. The two announcements he referred to are Pompeo's assertion of Washington's “unparallelled commitment to Israel's security” and U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration that the United States should acknowledge Israeli sovereignty over Syria's occupied Golan Heights. At a press conference he held later on Friday, Pompeo called on the Lebanese people to stand up to what he called Hizbullah's "criminality, terror and threats," claiming U.S. sanctions on Iran and Hizbullah were working and that more pressure on them was forthcoming. Pompeo also warned that "the Lebanese people face a choice: Bravely move forward or allow the dark ambitions of Iran and Hizbullah to dictate your future." He added that the U.S. would continue using "all peaceful means" to curb Hizbullah and Iran's influence.

Rahi Chairs Meeting of Maronite Consultative Gathering Followup Committee
Naharnet/March 22/19/Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi chaired the meeting of the Maronite Consultative Gathering Follow-up Committee, the National News Agency reported on Friday. Deputies Estephan Doueihi, Farid Haykal Khazen, Ibrahim Kanaan, Georges Adouane, Michel Mouawad and Elias Hankache - representing MP Sami Gemayel - have taken part in the meeting, NNA added.

Hariri Meets Pedersen
Naharnet/March 22/19/Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks at the Center House with the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen Thursday evening, his media office said. The meeting was held in the presence of former Minister Ghattas Khoury. It focused on the situation in Lebanon and the region and tackled the controversial file of displaced Syrians in Lebanon. Discussions continued over dinner.

Saniora: Trump's Golan Stance Torpedoes All Peace Initiatives
Naharnet/March 22/19/Former head of al-Mustaqbal bloc ex-PM Fouad Saniora on Friday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's stance on Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, warning that it “torpedoes all peace initiatives.”Trump said on Thursday it was time for Washington to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a strategic territory it seized from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and annexed in a move never recognized by the international community. His abrupt tweet broke with U.N. Security Council resolutions and with more than half a century of U.S. foreign policy treating the Golan as occupied territory whose future would be negotiated in talks with Syria on a comprehensive peace. “This statement is one of the incumbent U.S. president's most dangerous stances towards the region, because he is trying to legitimize the occupation of an Arab land whose identity has been Arab throughout history before Israel seized it through brute usurpation,” Saniora said in a statement. “Trump's stance torpedoes all peace initiatives and the traditional U.S. stance that had never recognized Israel's occupation of the Golan,” Saniora added, warning that the U.S. leader's position “opens the door wide across the world to the law of the jungle and opens the door to global chaos in which every country that feels strong and greedy would occupy the land of others,” the ex-PM cautioned. Saniora accordingly called for “the broadest Arab solidarity in the face of the threats arising from the U.S. president's stance.”“It will plunge the region into a new inferno, after (Trump) had announced a shameful stance by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital,” the ex-PM added. In his tweet on Thursday, Trump said the Golan was "of critical strategic and security importance to the state of Israel and regional stability." "After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights," he said. The Arab League said Trump's comments were "completely outside international law."

Jumblat Mourns His Dog in Sentimental Tweet
Naharnet/March 22/19/Progressive Socialist Party chief ex-MP Walid Jumblat on Firday mourned the death of his cherished dog Oscar, describing the late pet as a dear “friend” and “companion.”“Farewell most precious friend, farewell most precious companion, farewell my dear,” Jumblat tweeted, attaching a picture of Oscar and himself to the tweet. The PSP leader had recently posted a picture of Oscar at a veterinary hospital, which went viral shortly after publishing. Expressing his love for dogs, Jumblat has recently condemned an incident in which dozens of stray dogs were deliberately poisoned in Ghobeiri. “If there is a creature who reminds us of our humanity and teaches us loyalty, love and tenderness it would be the dog,” Jumblat said.

Lebanese President: Ties with Syria are Normalized, We Will Participate in its Reconstruction
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun said relations between Beirut and Moscow “are historic and date back to the 19th century.”He noted that during his upcoming visit to Moscow on March 25-26, he would discuss “means to develop these relations in various fields, in addition to other topics, including the issues of the displaced and the Russian initiative.”Aoun met on Thursday with Russian media correspondents on the eve of his state trip where he is scheduled to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin.
Touching on the issue of displaced Syrians, Aoun said: “Lebanon will review the international conditions, but will act according to its supreme interests. The international community is not helping [Lebanon], while the country is helping the Syrians return home, as around 172,000 refugees have returned to their homeland to date.”On relations with Syria, the president stressed that they are “normalized”. “If a visit is required, it will be possible, but if it is not necessary, then the ambassadors, ministers and the Higher Coordination Council can discuss the relevant issues,” he said. Emphasizing Lebanon’s intention to participate in the reconstruction of Syria, Aoun noted: “Pressure is exerted on everyone not to participate in this process, in light of the international community's linking reconstruction and repatriation of displaced people to the political solution.”“The international community seeks to take the displaced hostage in the political solution talks,” he maintained. Separately, Aoun said the embargo on Hezbollah was affecting all the Lebanese. “Lebanon is living under the siege imposed on the region, especially since it cannot work with Syria, and Hezbollah is also financially besieged. So we became internationally trapped, because the negative impact of the blockade on [Hezbollah] affects all Lebanese, including Lebanese banks,” he remarked.

80 Percent of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Want to Return Home
Beirut - Paula Astih/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/Hana, a Syrian refugee who left the Syrian city of Aleppo with her three children in 2012 to settle in one of Beirut’s southern suburbs, is now closely following-up the Lebanese government’s new plans to handle the refugee file and speed up their return home. About two years ago, Hana presented a demand at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Beirut to move and live in a third country. However, she is worried that new Lebanese measures would force her and her family to return to Aleppo, and therefore, end the dream of being relocated in Canada or Australia, where she hopes to start a new life, away from woes she expects in Syria. Hana is one of thousands of Syrians living in Lebanon and dreaming of moving to a third country, after presenting resettlement applications at the UNHCR. UNHCR spokesperson, Lisa Abu Khaled told Asharq Al-Awsat that although Syrian refugees in Lebanon show great enthusiasm to depart to a third country, more than 80 percent of them want to return to their homeland.
She stated that the period between accepting refugee resettlement submissions and leaving the country depends on where those refugees are located and could take a year or more. “Since 2011, UNHCR already presented resettlement submissions of 86,500 refugees present in Lebanon, including 74,664 Syrian refugees for 22 resettlement states,” she said, adding that the number includes 52,045 Syrians, who have actually left Beirut to other countries. Currently, 35 countries are participating in the UNHCR resettlement program. In 2008, the program included just 27 states. Resettlement to a third country offers protection and a durable solution to tens of thousands of refugees every year. The United States continues to be a worldwide leader in accepting refugees, followed by Canada, Australia and northern Europe countries.
Many Syrian refugees chose not to pass through the UNHCR to move to a third country. Those refugees end up taking the dangerous and illegal migration routes by sea, with many dying before reaching their final destinations.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on March 22-23/2019
طعن كاهن خلال قداس في كندا/مونتريال/والشرطة اعتقلت مشتبهاً به
Priest stabbed during morning mass at Montreal's Saint Joseph's Oratory
CBC/March 22/19
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A priest at Montreal's renowned Saint Joseph's Oratory was stabbed in the chest Friday while delivering morning mass, shocking parishioners at the service and those watching a live stream of the service from home.
The suspect was quickly wrestled to the floor by security guards after stabbing Father Claude Grou, rector of the oratory. The priest was taken away by ambulance with minor injuries to his upper body.
"I saw this man coming quickly and taking his knife out and going straight for Père Grou," recounted Adèle Plamondon, who was just finishing the day's reading when the man rose from the pew.
"It was obvious what his intentions were. So, I left screaming to alert the security."
Afterward, she saw the man on the floor being restrained. The attack was captured on a live stream and television broadcast by the Catholic channel Salt + Light.
She said she spoke to Grou before he was taken to hospital. He was slashed twice and was in shock but seemed to be OK otherwise, Plamondon said.
She said the priest's wounds were superficial because the knife broke.
Philip Barrett, who was attending the mass along with about 60 people, said the priest was behind the altar, getting ready to proclaim the gospel, when a tall man stood up from one of the pews and started walking forward.
"He walked past the barrier leading into the sanctuary near the altar, and everyone was just initially wondering what was going on, and some people were starting to react a little bit," he said.
"And he walked directly behind the altar and seemed to strike the priest."
Both Plamondon and Barrett described the attacker as a tall, slim man who didn't say anything. Both said they had not seen him at the church before.
Priest transported to hospital by ambulance
A spokesperson for the first responder agency Urgences-Santé, Benoit Garneau, said the victim was conscious while being transported to hospital. Garneau would not say which hospital.
The injury was to the victim's chest, he said, but he could not say whether or not there was more than one stab wound.
"He was stable when he was transported," Garneau said.
A 911 call was made at 8:40 a.m., and the suspected attacker was already being held by security when police arrived, Montreal police spokesperson Const. Caroline Chèvrefils.
The man was taken into custody and will be interviewed by investigators later today, she said.
Police said the suspect is 26.
'I wish him a speedy recovery,' says mayor
The Montreal diocese issued a tweet saying the priest's condition was stable and "all of our prayers are with him."
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says this type of attack has no place in the city.
"I am relieved to learn that the life of Father Claude Grou, rector of the [Oratory], is out of danger and that his condition is stable," she tweeted.
"On behalf of all Montrealers, I wish him speedy recovery."
Architecturally, the oratory is the largest church in Canada. Its construction was complete in 1967 on Mount Royal and its dome, one of the largest in the world, can be seen from across Montreal.
Perched on the mountaintop, the oratory was founded by Saint Brother André and is now a pilgrimage site.

Khamenei: Europeans 'Stabbed Us in the Back'
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accused Western countries of stabbing Iran in the back after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal. “We should completely forego (any hope) of help or cooperation from Westerners in strengthening our economy, we shouldn’t wait for them,” he said, adding: “Once again the Europeans have stabbed us in the back, they have betrayed us.”Khamenei went to Mashhad, northeast of the country, to deliver his first traditional speech on the Iranian New Year. In his speech, Khamenei played down the importance of the European financial mechanism to face sanctions, stressing that Tehran was determined to strengthen its defense capabilities despite growing pressure from Washington and its allies to curb Tehran’s ballistic missile program.
“This financial channel they recently set up resembles a joke, a bitter joke,” he said. The spiritual leader was referring to a trade mechanism to bypass US sanctions on Iran, known as Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), launched in late January in an attempt to save the 2015 nuclear deal. He continued his attack against Europeans, saying: “They wear suits, they put on ties and eau de cologne and carry Samsonite briefcases but they are savages.”But Khamenei denied at the same time that he was calling for cutting ties with Europe. “What I am saying does not mean (Iran) should cut Western ties, not at all... there is no problem in having relations with them, but trusting them is a mistake, don't trust them,” he explained. President Hassan Rouhani, for his part, defended his presidential tenure in a separate televised message, saying the economic problem was caused primarily by US sanctions. “The new year is a year of increasing production and creating jobs for our dear youth,” said Rouhani. “New Year is a year to control inflation, balance the foreign exchange market and strengthen friendship with neighboring countries.”He called on the political factions in the country to end their rivalry and unite in the face of external enemies, saying: “The basis of our turmoil and problems … have come from those outside of our borders.” US President Donald Trump sent his wishes to the Iranians on Nowruz, tweeting: “I send my warmest wishes to those in the United States and around the world observing the ancient holiday of Nowruz… Sadly, the Iranian people are once again unable to share fully in the joy of this occasion. This year, as they have each year for the past four decades, they mark the arrival of spring under the heavy burden of the oppression of their country’s ruthless and corrupt regime.”He continued: “In solidarity with the people of Iran, who yearn for a future of liberty, opportunity, and prosperity, the United States of America continues to condemn the dictatorial Iranian regime. We pledge never to turn a deaf ear to the calls of the Iranian people for freedom, and we will never forget their ongoing struggle for human rights.”

French Prosecutors Want Rifaat Al-Assad Tried Over Fraud
Paris, London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/French prosecutors have called for the uncle of Head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad to stand trial on charges of pilfering Syrian state coffers to amass a 90 million-euro, judicial sources told AFP Thursday. In a written decision dated March 8, which AFP saw on Thursday, the office of the financial crimes prosecutor called for Rifaat al-Assad, 81, to stand trial for laundering the proceeds of aggravated tax fraud, embezzling Syrian state funds, and failing to register French security and cleaning staff. His legal team firmly rejected the accusations, saying they are based on perfectly erroneous analyses, hasty conclusions and contradictory testimony from longstanding political opponents. The former Syrian vice-president left Syria in 1984 after mounting a failed coup against his brother Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, who led Syria from 1971 to 2000. After he arrived in Europe, his lavish lifestyle, four wives, and 16 children soon raised eyebrows. French authorities opened an investigation in April 2014 after two non-governmental anti-graft groups, Sherpa and Transparency International, raised red flags. His reported French fortune includes two Paris townhouses, one of over 3,000 square meters as well as a stud farm and chateau near the French capital, and 7,300 square meters of office space in Lyon. Most of this was acquired in the 1980s through offshore companies in Panama, Curacao, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. He and his family also own over 500 properties in Spain. These were seized by authorities in 2017. Investigators suspect the “illegal enrichment of Assad," of which he strongly rejects, condemning political accusations to prevent his return to Syria. His legal team issued documents to justify donations of about $25 million between 1984 and 2010, yet they are still insufficient evidence.

Syria Says Trump Position on Golan Ignores International Law
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 22/19/The Syrian government on Friday condemned US President Donald Trump's pledge to recognise Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria in 1967. "The American position towards Syria's occupied Golan Heights clearly reflects the United States' contempt for international legitimacy and its flagrant violation of international law," a foreign ministry source told the official SANA news agency.

Syria Ally Iran 'Shocked' at Trump Golan Decision
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 22/19/Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed shock on Friday at US President Donald Trump's acceptance of Israeli sovereignty over Syria's Golan Heights. "All shocked by @realDonaldTrump continuing to try to give what is not his to racist Israel: first Al-Quds & now Golan" Zarif tweeted from Istanbul where he was attending an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Trump said on Thursday the United States should acknowledge Israeli sovereignty over the hotly contested Golan Heights.
"After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights," Trump said in a tweet. In 2017, Trump also went against decades of practice in recognizing the disputed city of Jerusalem, called Al-Quds by Muslims, as Israel's capital, rather than the previously accepted Tel Aviv. Iran has been a key ally of the Syrian government during the devastating civil war that erupted in 2011 and a key player with Russia and Turkey in efforts to bring it to an end. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi too condemned Trump's abrupt policy switch, saying it would only lead to more tension. "The spontaneous decisions lift the curtain on the real policies of America -- policies that are dangerous for the whole world and will push this sensitive region towards successive crises," Bahram Ghasemi said. Ghasemi promised that Iran would keep future events under observation and "adopt necessary policies in coordination with the Syrian government."

Trump Says IS Group '100 Percent' Defeated in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 22/19/U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that the Islamic State jihadist group has been "100 percent" defeated in Syria. Trump made the comment as he showed reporters maps of the region -- one showing the large areas once held by the group and a second that showed the situation on Friday with no presence. "There's ISIS, and that's what he have right now," he said, pointing at the two maps. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said "the territorial caliphate has been eliminated in Syria." The White House declaration came after days of bombing and other attacks by Kurdish-led forces to clear the final tiny pockets of resistance by Islamic State fighters in the village of Baghouz, where they made a last stand. U.S.-led coalition warplanes have been supporting local ground forces in the onslaught on Baghouz that began February 9, meeting fierce resistance from the jihadists and an unexpectedly large number of civilians hunkered down alongside the fighters. IS, as ISIS is also known, declared a "caliphate" in June 2014 after seizing a vast swathe of territory larger than Britain straddling Iraq and Syria. The loss of the Baghouz enclave would signal the demise of the "caliphate" in Syria, after its defeat in Iraq in 2017. The jihadists still retain a shadowy presence in eastern Syria's vast Badia desert.

Residents of Golan Still Divided after Trump Pledge
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 22/19/For Marla van Meter, like many Israeli settlers on the Golan Heights, U.S. President Donald Trump has simply faced facts by pledging to recognize Israeli ownership of the occupied plateau, changing nothing in practice. Trump said on Thursday the United States should acknowledge Israeli sovereignty over the hotly-contested Golan in what amounted to a major gift for his ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seeking a fifth term in an April 9 general election. Breaking with longstanding international consensus, Trump said "it is time" to accept Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Van Meter, who describes herself as a socialist, told AFP that the move would not sway her to vote for Netanyahu, who is under threat of indictment for corruption. "Netanyahu is over for me," she said.
Druze Arab Golan resident Ghassan Abu Jabal, on the other hand, sees the Trump declaration as a denial of reality, meant to boost Netanyahu's election prospects. "It's an idiotic decision, from an idiot, who makes a gift of something that does not belong to him to another idiot even more corrupt than himself," he said. Abu Jabal is a physician living in Majdal Shams, a Druze town of around 10,000, in the U.N. buffer zone separating the occupied and unoccupied parts of the Syrian Golan. Tens of thousands of Syrians fled or were expelled when Israel seized part of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six Day war, subsequently annexing it in 1981.
'Integral part of Syria'
Some Syrians remained, however, and today around 23,000 Druze -- an offshoot of Shiite Islam who also live in Lebanon -- live in the Israeli-controlled sector, alongside 25,000 Israeli settlers. The vast majority of these Druze see themselves as Syrians, refusing to take Israeli nationality and remaining in a stateless limbo. "We are an integral part of Syria," said Nizar Ayub, head of Al-Marsad, an Arab human rights organization on the Golan. He is alarmed by Trump's remarks, which he sees as showing Trump's aim of dividing Syria into zones of influence: American, Russian-Iranian, Turkish and now Israeli. Thursday's move was hinted at a week ago when the U.S. State Department changed its description of the area from "occupied" to "Israeli-controlled." It is yet to be made operative by an act of Congress or an executive order.
It coincided with a high-profile visit to Jerusalem by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- another boost for Netanyahu as he fights what is shaping up to be a close-run reelection battle.
Cherry on the cake
On the Golan's Kibbutz Afik, van Meter -- 61 and originally from Texas -- says she will continue to take care of her grandchildren and the gardens as before the Trump statement. "I do not know anyone here who is not happy," says Nadav Katz, a 71-year-old former bookseller. But, he added that it was certainly not "a Purim miracle" as Netanyahu called it Thursday as Israelis celebrated the carnival-like Jewish holiday. Katz said he had not yet decided which way to vote on April 9, adding "believe me, I am not the only one who doesn't know." Religious and historical concerns are less of a motive for Golan settlers than for those in the occupied West Bank or east Jerusalem.
Katz and his family came from Jerusalem to the Golan to move away from cities. Van Meter came 35 years ago to take part in building a "homeland for the Jewish people" and live the "Zionist dream" but she supports seeking peace with Israel's neighbors, starting with the Palestinians. With the spillover of the Syrian civil war onto the Israeli-controlled Golan they have experienced the urgent dash for bomb shelters as shells occasionally hit their area. And for a long time they also feared that a peace treaty with Syria would hand over the strategic plateau and force them to leave. Debbie Attoun, 71, and a Golan resident since 1974 says that Trump "scares" her. What counts for her, she says, is the broad Israeli consensus behind "the importance of us staying on the heights."

Trump’s Policy Shift on Golan Heights Draws Wide Condemnation
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights drew on Friday wide condemnation in the region and beyond. Trump’s statement on Thursday marked a dramatic shift in US policy over the status of a disputed area that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981 - a move not recognized internationally. The Gulf Cooperation Council expressed regret at Trump’s statement, saying it “will not change the reality that (...) the Arab Golan Heights is Syrian land occupied by Israel by military force in 1967.”“The statements by the American president undermine the chances of achieving a just and comprehensive peace,” said Abdul Latif Al Zayani, the GCC secretary general. Egypt said it considers the Golan Heights as occupied Syrian land, rejecting Trump’s stance. In a statement carried by state news agency MENA, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry cited UN Security Council resolution 497 of 1981 which rejected Israel's annexation of the territory. The ministry "stressed the importance that everybody should respect the resolutions of international legitimacy and the United Nations Charter in respect of the inadmissibility of acquiring land by force," the statement said. Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the statement was “completely beyond international law”. The Arab League, which suspended Syria in 2011, said Trump’s comment paved “the way for official American recognition” of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. “No country, no matter how important it is, can make such a decision."In a speech at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, he said: “we cannot allow the legitimization of the occupation of the Golan Heights”.The European Union said its position on the status of the Golan Heights was unchanged. “The European Union, in line with international law, does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, including the Golan Heights and does not consider them to be part of Israel’s territory,” an EU spokeswoman said. France's Foreign Ministry said Israeli sovereignty over the Golan would be contrary to international law. “US President Trump’s unfortunate statement yesterday has brought the region to the brink of a new crisis,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Trump's comments "can destabilize the already fragile situation in the Middle East." "The very idea is not helping the goals of the Middle East settlement, quite the other way round," he said. "Right now, it's merely a declaration. Let's hope it will stay this way." “The Syrian nation is more determined to liberate this precious piece of Syrian national land through all available means,” the Syrian state news agency cited an official source as saying. The Golan Heights would remain “Syrian, Arab”, it said, saying the statement showed contempt for international law. Iran said the US position was illegal and unacceptable, and Russia said a change in the status of the Golan Heights would be a direct violation of UN resolutions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pressed the United States to recognize its claim and raised that possibility in his first White House meeting with Trump in February 2017. Trump’s statement has given a boost to Netanyahu in the middle of his re-election campaign.
Netanyahu has praised Trump for “making history” with the statement. “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!” Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday. Trump’s move followed the US recognition in December 2017 of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital - a decision that also drew international criticism as the disputed city’s status remains at the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinian President Rejects Pompeo’s Efforts to Contact PA through Intermediaries
Ramallah – Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/Spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas and deputy Prime Minister Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Thursday that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked, through intermediaries, to kick off talks with the Palestinian leadership, a request rejected by the Palestinian president. “Despite US efforts to make contact with the Palestinian leadership through many intermediaries, President Abbas insisted on not resuming relations with the US administration until it rescinds its illegal decisions on Jerusalem,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah, Abu Rudeineh made clear that the Palestinian relations and contacts with the US administration would not resume unless the latter goes back on its previous anti-Palestinian decisions. The position came as Pompeo visited Jerusalem on Thursday and after the Trump administration announced it backs Israel's claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Abu Rudeineh said plots and schemes against the Palestinian people and their cause, whether they come from the United State, Israel or Hamas, will not succeed and are doomed to failure. He stressed that Arab capitals had already told the Americans that they would not accept what the Palestinian people themselves have rejected. “No Arab country would accept what President Abbas does not accept. Thus, there is a complete rejection of this conspiracy,” he said, referring to the US Mideast plan, dubbed the “Deal of the Century.”Abu Rudeineh also said Hamas’ rise to power in Gaza almost 12 years ago following its coup, marked the start of the so-called Arab Spring, which he described as a colonialist scheme. Moreover, he noted that Hamas was actively pursuing the implementation of the Deal of the Century. “Hamas still has a chance to return to the national and legitimate arms,” he remarked. For his part, Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), warned Thursday that if Washington continues in its current policy, then Palestinians and Israelis are destined to remain in conflict for another century.

US Move to Add Quds Force to Terror List
Washington - Elie Youssef/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/The US State Department refused to comment on press reports indicating differences within President Donald Trump’s administration on the decision to add the Quds Force, the foreign arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other Iraqi Shiite militias to a terror list. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was said to be pushing towards issuing a new list. This step is supported by Trump and US National Security Advisor John Bolton. The State Department said Pompeo had pointed out on his way to his Middle East tour this week that serious talks are underway on this issue and that decisions will be revealed soon. On the other hand, a spokesman for the US Defense Department denied a New York Times report saying officials at the Pentagon and the CIA oppose designating the Quds Force or the Iraqi militias as terrorist groups, fearing a backlash on American troops. The Defense Department is committed to confronting Iran over its destabilizing role in the region, al-Hurra channel quoted the Pentagon spokesman as saying. “There are no reservations about any decision that may be issued regarding Iraqi militias or the Iranian Quds Force” he added. The Times reported ahead of Pompeo’s Middle East tour that he plans to designate some Iraqi Shiite militias as foreign terrorist organizations. Pompeo said he was looking at various groups, including the Revolutionary Guards in Iran, when asked by The Times on the flight to Kuwait about the proposed designations. The Quds Force is led by Qassem Soleimani, who is already on a US terror list. According to the Times, US military and intelligence officials said the increasing pressure on Iraq risks infuriating its Parliament, including politicians linked to Iran, which could limit the movements of the 5,200 United States troops based in Iraq.

Pompeo: Houthis Should Know they Cannot Win in Yemen
London, Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the Iran-backed Houthi militias cannot win in Yemen. He explained that the militias do not operate without receiving directions from Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and Commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Qassem Soleimani, During his visit to Jerusalem, Pompeo told Al Arabiya television: “We’re very hopeful that this pressure will convince the Houthis that they need to return to the political table, they need to have a discussion, they cannot win this militarily, and we’re determined to ensure that order is restored in Yemen.”He is expected Friday in Lebanon, where Hezbollah, listed by the US as a terrorist group, is part of the government. “Hezbollah constitutes a threat to stability in the Middle East,” Pompeo said, adding that he held talks in Israel concerning groups backed by Iran. “We want good things for the people of Lebanon. It was once a truly proud successful economic powerhouse. It can be that again. It can’t do so with terrorists as part of their government,” he stressed. During Pompeo’s visit to Jerusalem, Israel conveyed a warning to the US official explaining Tel Aviv’s fears from becoming, again, the core focus of Hezbollah, which is now reducing its presence in Syria. Israeli President Reuben Rivlin discussed Lebanon with Pompeo on Thursday. Rivlin said Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri “cannot say to anyone that Lebanon is separate from Hezbollah.”“If some(thing) will happen from Lebanon toward Israel, we will hold Lebanon as the responsible (party)”, Rivlin said. He said Israel is concerned by what the Iranians are doing in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

Israel: Applying Egypt-Proposed Understandings Only Way to Avert Gaza Escalation
Tel Aviv – Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/The only way to avert an escalation in security in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip is to implement partial Egypt-proposed understandings, said Israeli media. The Israel Hayom daily reported Thursday that Egypt proposed a settlement plan between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza, starting with Hamas. A new Egyptian proposal would see Gaza demilitarized in return for Israel lifting the blockade currently in place and a series of international projects to improve the situation in the coastal enclave, Egyptian security forces and senior Palestinian officials in Gaza and Ramallah report. According to the plan, the Palestinian organizations, under the leadership of either Hamas or an umbrella political group representing all the organizations in Gaza, would remain in charge of internal affairs in the Gaza Strip through the use of the security mechanisms already in place in there, said the Israeli daily. The plan would allow some light weaponry to remain in Gaza to be used mostly for domestic security purposes. The number of those weapons would be reduced and strictly monitored.
“Once these steps were implemented, Israel would lift their blockade on Gaza and introduce large-scale infrastructure, employment, economic, health and education projects. Project funding would come from the UN, the EU, and Arab states, in particular Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The proposed plan would also see the opening of a maritime channel to a port in Gaza, which in its first stages would allow Gaza to directly import and export goods,” it continued. According to Egyptian security officials, as well as senior Palestinian officials in Gaza and Ramallah, Jerusalem and Cairo have come to realize that Hamas “is not going anywhere”. They say that Egypt and Israel have also come to terms with the fact that the Palestinian Authority will be hard-pressed to return to power in Gaza, either under a Palestinian unity agreement or as a result of the collapse of the Hamas regime in light of the dire humanitarian situation and the continued military conflict with Israel, said Israel Hayom. “The prevailing assessment in Israel and in Egypt is that the proposal could be implemented in three to five years and that the main obstacle would be Hamas' and the other armed Palestinian factions' opposition to demilitarization,” it added. According to senior officials in Ramallah, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Liberation Organization leadership would agree to the demilitarization of Hamas and the other factions in Gaza on the condition the PA was put in control of the enclave and tasked with leading the project. The US security echelon has received drafts of the plan compiled by Israeli and Egyptian teams. A senior Egyptian security official said: “We are now waiting for the new government that will be elected in Israel in order to speed up the process, with the goal following the elections in Israel being to involve other influential Arab states.”

Israel Envoy Summoned over 'Intrusion' at French Cultural Center
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 22/19/France's foreign ministry said Friday that it had summoned the Israeli government's representative in Paris over what it called an "intrusion" by Israeli forces at its cultural center in Jerusalem. In a rare move, police entered the building Thursday to cancel an event with a women's group which Israel claims is sponsored or financed by the Palestinian Authority. A diplomatic source said France's consul general had immediately protested the police's entry to the center in east Jerusalem, which Israel has annexed in a move not recognized by the international community. "Such actions are a serious and unacceptable infringement to the functioning of our cultural network in Jerusalem," the foreign ministry said in a statement. It said the Israeli charge d'affaires had been called to meet with French officials for "necessary clarifications.""France intends to maintain and develop its deep and longstanding relations with Palestinian civil society," it added. The French consulate could not confirm Thursday if the women's association was indeed financed by the Palestinian Authority -- Israel considers all PA activities in Jerusalem illegal. But Palestinians who were to participate in the event said the allegation was false. "It was an event related to Mother's Day" and to sell crafts made by women from Jerusalem, said one of the women who was to participate, declining to give her name. Similar events occur on a near-monthly basis, she said.

New Zealand Women Don Headscarves in Solidarity with Muslim Victims
Women across New Zealand wore makeshift hijabs as a statement of peace and solidarity on Friday, a week after a white supremacist killed 50 Muslims at two mosques in the southern city of Christchurch. Rafaela Stoakes, a 32-year-old mother of two, said wearing the Islamic head covering gave her an insight into what it means to stand out and feel part of the minority. On Friday morning she covered all but a few locks of her dark chestnut-colored hair in a loose red and white scarf, crossed neatly beneath her chin and tucked into a black hiking jacket. She was one of many women embracing #HeadScarfforHarmony, to make a stand against the hate espoused by the Australian man accused of killing dozens of worshipers. Headscarves were also worn as a mark of respect by policewomen and non-Muslim volunteers directing the crowds around the site in Christchurch holding communal prayers on Friday. Many were wearing a headscarf for the first time. "It is amazing how different I felt for the short time I was out this morning," Stoakes told AFP. "There were a lot of confused looks and some slightly aggressive ones," she said. "I did feel a sense of pride to honor my Muslim friends, but I also felt very vulnerable and alone as I was the only person wearing one." "It must take a lot of courage to do this on a daily basis." The gesture caught on nationwide -- in offices, schools and on the streets -- as well as at the ceremonies held in Christchurch to mark one week since the killings at the hands of a self-avowed white supremacist. Women flooded Twitter, Facebook and other social media -- which played a key role in allowing the gunman to spread his message -- with their images.
Kate Mills Workman, a 19-year-old student from Wellington, posted a selfie on Twitter wearing a green headscarf. "If I could I would be attending the mosque and standing outside to show my support for my Muslim whanau but I've got lectures and I can't really skip them," she told AFP, using a Maori language term for extended family. "Obviously this is all spurred on by the terrible tragedy in Christchurch, but it's also a way of showing that any form of harassment or bigotry based on a symbol of religion is never okay," she added. "As New Zealanders, we have to make a really strong stand."Although the headscarf has been the subject of contentious debate over gender rights in the Islamic world, for Stoakes the day has been a lesson in how pious Muslim women often do not have the option to melt away into the background when they feel vulnerable. "We can nod and pretend to agree with people who we are afraid of, or plead ignorance if we feel in danger of confrontation," she said. "But a Muslim is just right out there. Like a bullseye. Their hijabs and clothing speak before they do."

Anti-Bouteflika Protests Shake Algeria's Business Community
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/One of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s few remaining allies in the face of mass protests, tycoon Ali Haddad, is facing pressure to quit as head of Algeria’s main business association, a move that would further weaken the embattled head of state.
Bouteflika’s long-time strategic partners, from members of the governing FLN party to trade unionists, have abandoned the president, peeling away layers of his ruling elite. The 82-year-old president also relied on influential figures like Ali Haddad, who has made billions through public works projects awarded by the government and investments in the media. He also funded Bouteflika’s election campaigns and heads the FCE, a top business association whose leaders have been long-time supporters of the president. But since the protests began on February 22, the forum for entrepreneurs has been hit by a series of resignations from members who have turned their backs on Bouteflika. “Voices inside the FCE exist and they have publicly called for an extraordinary General Assembly to replace Ali Haddad,” said Laid Benamor, former vice president of the organization, who resigned from it after the demonstrations began. “He is today associated with cronyism and favors. The union must return to its original purpose, an apolitical economic space, to regain credibility,” he said according to Reuters. Haddad was not immediately available for comment. A second businessman, Ourahmoune Nabil, described Haddad as one of the symbols of Bouteflika’s system of rule and added that he must go, echoing public sentiment.“There won’t be a real change if Bouteflika leaves and Haddad stays,” he said.
The FCE was not immediately available for comment. Bouteflika, 82, rarely seen in public since suffering a stroke five years ago, bowed to the protesters last week by reversing plans to stand for a fifth term. But he stopped short of quitting and said he would stay on until a new constitution is adopted, effectively extending his present term. His move failed to appease Algerians, who want veterans of the 1954-62 independence war against France who dominate the establishment to quit so a new generation of leaders can take over and begin to create jobs, fight corruption and introduce greater freedoms. Hundreds of thousands of Algerians have taken to the streets since peaceful protests erupted a month ago. “The Bouteflika camp have not made a serious concession. They are seeking to extend Bouteflika’s term indefinitely. This has gone down like lead,” said Hugh Roberts, a professor of North African and Middle Eastern History at Tufts University. Even if Bouteflika exits, a new crisis could erupt in Algeria, a major oil and gas producer. There is no clear successor with the backing of the army and under the age of 70. The key measure of real change will be to what extent the old, stagnant political system will be dismantled. Protesters insist on a clean break from the past. Bouteflika and his inner circle have built a secretive network of power over the years that includes the military. The FLN issued a statement to “value” Bouteflika’s decisions, Ennahar TV cited party leader Moad Bouchareb as saying. On Wednesday, the FLN sided with protesters after a meeting of its top officials, state news agency APS said. It quoted Bouchareb as saying the “FLN fully supports the popular protest movement.”On Wednesday, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaed Salah threw the army’s weight behind protesters, saying they have expressed “noble aims.”

Erdogan, Sarraj Discuss Preparations for Libya Elections
Ankara, Cairo – Saeed Abdulrazek and Khaled Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 22 March, 2019/Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received in Ankara on Wednesday head of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez al-Sarraj to discuss the latest political developments in the North African country. Turkish presidential sources said that Sarrj informed Erdogan of the efforts to achieve national consensus among the country’s political powers in order to resolve the current crisis. The solution should be based on building a civil state and unifying the military and other sovereign institutions. He also confirmed to his host that elections will be held before the end of the year. For his part, Erdogan stressed that Turkey supports the democratic process in Libya and backs the choices of its people. He added that Ankara was ready to help in restoring stability and security in Libya. A GNA statement said that the current Libyan division must not continue, noting that there can be no military solution to the crisis. Erdogan then hosted Sarraj to a dinner banquet that included the Arab and African diplomatic corps in Turkey. Sarraj informed the envoys of the political, security and economic challenges facing Libya. Erdogan has last hosted Sarraj in Istanbul in November during a visit that had raised questions about the rapprochement between Ankara and Tripoli. Erdogan and Sarraj met shortly after United Nations envoy for Libya Ghassan Salame announced that the National Conference that will bring together representatives of rival authorities in the country has been set for April 14-16. The factions from both east and west will meet to set dates for parliamentary and presidential elections and discuss solutions to the country’s conflict, he told a press conference in Tripoli. Some 120 to 150 Libyans will take part in the gathering in the town of Ghadames, near the border with Algeria, he continued. The conference will not include any foreign parties. The UN hopes for "a new beginning for the country for stability."

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 22-23/2019
Media Silence Surrounds Muslim Massacre of Christians
صمت اعلامي يحيط بالمذابح التي ينفذها مسلمون ضد المسيحيين في نيرجيريا
B.Breitbart/March 17/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73208/thomas-d-williams-media-silence-surrounds-muslim-massacre-of-christians%D8%B5%D9%85%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%B7-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%A8/
Political leaders and public figures were falling over themselves this weekend to condemn the mosque attacks in New Zealand, while dozens of Christians were slaughtered by Muslims in Nigeria to the sound of crickets.
The mosque attacks were indeed a horrific affair and worthy of universal condemnation. Presidents, prime ministers, royalty, and religious leaders rushed to extend their condolences to victims and their families — as well they should — while decrying the hate that purportedly motivated the shootings.
Without exception, the mainstream media gave top billing to the shootings, with newspapers carrying the story on their front pages and television news channels leading off their broadcasts with the story.
The bizarre aspect of the coverage was not, in fact, the attention paid to a heinous crime committed in New Zealand, but the absolute silence surrounding the simultaneous massacre of scores of Christians by Muslim militants in Africa.
As Breitbart News alone reported among major news outlets, Fulani jihadists racked up a death toll of over 120 Christians over the past three weeks in central Nigeria, employing machetes and gunfire to slaughter men, women, and children, burning down over 140 houses, destroying property, and spreading terror.
The New York Times did not place this story on the front page; in fact, they did not cover it at all. Apparently, when assessing “all the news that’s fit to print,” the massacre of African Christians did not measure up. The same can be said for the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit Free Press, the LA Times, and every other major paper in the United States.
The news shows from the three major television channels did not mention the story, and nor did CNN or MSNBC.
There are several possible explanations for this remarkable silence, and none of them is good.
Since, in point of fact, Muslim radicals kill Christians around the world with alarming frequency, it is probable that one more slaughter did not seem particularly newsworthy to the decision-makers at major news outlets. Muslims being killed, on the other hand, may strike many as newsworthy precisely because it is so rare.
A second motive for the media silence around the massacre of Christians in Nigeria may be geo-political and racial. New Zealand is a first-world country where such things are not supposed to happen, whereas many people still consider Africa to be a backwards place where brutal killings are par for the course.
Moreover, the slaughter of black Christians in Africa may not enkindle rage among westerners the way that the murder of white and brown Muslims in New Zealand would.
Finally, the story simply does not play to the political agenda that many mainstream media would like to advance. How much mileage can be gained from Muslims murdering Christians, when Christians in America are often seen as an obstacle to the “progress” desired by liberals? The left sees Christians in the United States as part of the problem and seeks to undermine their credibility and influence at every turn rather than emboldening them.
Anti-Christian bias has been rightly called “the last acceptable prejudice,” one that few bother condemning.
“No one much cares about offending Christians,” wrote the coalition of African-American pastors in an essay last Tuesday. “In fact, mocking, belittling, and blaspheming Christianity is becoming a bit of a trend in our culture. Anti-Christian bigotry truly is the last acceptable prejudice.”
“The hypocrisy on display is astounding,” the pastors continued. “Christianity is the dominant religion of our country. It is the foundation of our government and morality. And yet, Christians are treated as fair game for mockery and insult.”
Christians are by far the most persecuted religious group in the world, but the mainstream media routinely ignore this fact as if it were unimportant or uninteresting. As a result, many people do not even realize how widespread the persecution is or that 75 percent of the victims of religious persecution around the world are Christians.
Whatever the reason — or reasons — for the media silence surrounding the most recent massacres of Christians in Nigeria as well as numerous other such events, it should give right-thinking people pause.
By all means, the lethal shootings of dozens of Muslims in New Zealand is a massive story and merits extensive coverage. But it only stands to reason that similar coverage should be devoted to the slaughter of Christians.
For the moment, it serves as a poignant reminder that a double standard is at work when it comes to news coverage, and that it is Christians who inevitably draw the short straw.
*Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2019/03/17/media-silence-surrounds-muslim-massacre-of-christians/?fbclid=IwAR0HFo9B7ik3E6FG0_aa1_wlI5vqGsTlyuIIjhvj6tMUgOHIUOiquVKsJXY

How Secret Netanyahu-Assad Backchannel Gave Way to Israeli Demand for Recognition of Golan Sovereignty
نوا لانداو/هآرتس: كيف أن الإتصالات السرية الخلفية بين نيتنياهو والأسد مهدت الطريق لمطالبة إسرائيل الإعتراف بسيادتها على الجولان
Noa Landau/Haaretz/March 22/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73218/noa-landau-haaretz-how-secret-netanyahu-assad-backchannel-gave-way-to-israeli-demand-for-recognition-of-golan-sovereignty%d9%86%d9%88%d8%a7-%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%88-%d9%87%d8%a2%d8%b1/
Almost all Israeli governments – including Netanyahu's – negotiated U.S.-brokered withdrawals from Golan Heights ■ Trump's support of annexation is culmination of shift that began with civil war ■ Haaretz spoke to sources involved in the talks who attested to advanced talks between Netanyahu and Damascus, including maps and computerized scenarios for withdrawal – in exchange for pushing out Iran
“Just imagine what would have happened if Israel weren’t present on the Golan,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem, a day before President Donald Trump granted the ultimate gift to Netanyahu in a dramatic tweet: endorsement of U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights.
But what need is there for imagining? Until not too long ago, Netanyahu himself was engaged in cooking up a detailed answer to the not-at-all imaginary question, as he conducted advanced negotiations with the Syrians about an Israeli withdrawal from territories in the Golan Heights in return for the distancing of Iran and Hezbollah from them.
For 20 years, nearly all the Israeli governments held secret talks with Damascus focused on formulating a peace agreement that would include a territorial compromise. The last and least known round of these talks, under the baton of Netanyahu’s government, was abruptly terminated in March 2011 in the shadow of the outbreak of the civil war. During the years of the slaughter, there was a gradual but definite change in direction in Israel’s position: The age of “the Syrian option” ended and it became time to demand recognition of the existing de facto sovereignty.
The idea, which initially trickled down from right-wing Israeli circles to the U.S. Senate, and then was whispered into the ears of President Barack Obama’s administration, gradually became public and gained momentum in the political center as well. This change of direction is seen most clearly in the current election race: Most of the prominent candidates have declared that they support such recognition. The first was Yair Lapid, who made the issue one of his campaign banners and also brought along his partner Benny Gantz, who announced on a trip to the north that “we will never come down from the Golan. On the contrary, it will be developed intensively.” From efforts to achieve an agreement, in more or less secret channels, the Israeli consensus moved towards a campaign for unilateral recognition of the annexation – reaching a peak now in the form of the gift from Trump.
In recent months Haaretz spoke with many of the people involved in the last round of talks and its predecessors, to clarify the extent to which the negotiations were serious and what the implications of the change in the direction of the diplomacy might be. Most of the sources we spoke with agree: Even under Netanyahu there were serious, advanced discussions with Syrian President Bashar Assad and his people, which included maps and computerized scenarios for a possibility that included Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights on the basis of the pre-1967 lines.
Most of them also believe that unilateral American recognition at this time will not benefit Israel much, and is liable to ignite a conflagration. On the other side, supporters of the idea in the political arena in Israel are convinced that this is an opportunity.
Israel’s northern border disputes go back to the days when colonialism first drew the maps. After that came the first cease-fire lines and the 1967 lines at the heart of the conflict. In the wake of the capture of additional territories in the Yom Kippur War, in 1974 a separation of forces agreement was signed between Israel and Syria, in which Israel drew back and a buffer zone was created.
Recently Netanyahu informed the Russians, the new regional partners, that for its part Israel would return to the separation agreements. In 1981 Israel ratified the Golan Heights annexation law. Initial feelers towards negotiations began with the Madrid Conference in 1991 but as far as is known, serious talks with Syria began only during Yitzhak Rabin’s term as prime minister, in 1992. U.S. Secretary of State James Baker came to Rabin after a visit to Damascus and told him that the elder Assad, Hafez, was prepared to make peace “like Sadat.”
“The talks took place on the sixth floor of the State Department from 9 A.M. to 12:00,” says Prof. Itamar Rabinovich, head of the Israeli delegation to the talks with Syria during the Rabin period and a former Israeli ambassador to Washington. “Journalists waited when we went in and when we came out. Recorders on the table. It was clear that this wasn’t the way to conduct negotiations. It took time to normalize this when we were also talking at intervals. One day they put principles of an agreement on the table. For nearly a year, from September of 1992 to August of 1993, we were in this situation. We made progress but in small steps. We met nearly every month.”
According to Rabinovich, Rabin did not like the idea of coming down from the Golan but preferred the Syrian track to the Palestinian one, which was initially identified with his political rival Shimon Peres, and thought that Assad might perhaps be more serious than Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The systematic zigzagging between the Syrian and the Palestinian channels, sometimes in an attempt to reduce American pressure, continued to accompany Israeli governments since then and became a clear trend.
Rabin’s proposal was for a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights to the pre-1967 lines within five years, in return for full normalization and security arrangements. He gave this proposal to Secretary of State Warren Christopher in what later became known as a “deposit” or “in the pocket.” That is, Rabin asked Christopher to keep the proposal in his pocket as a card to play in the talks only if the other side made a commitment. In retrospect, it appears Christopher indeed put the withdrawal on the table too quickly. In the end, Rabin decided on Peres and Oslo. He came back to the Syrians only in 1994 and talks began between senior military officers from both sides. According to Rabinovich, Hafez Assad crippled the talks. Negotiations also went on when Peres was prime minister but they were not productive.
Assad’s bedroom and the Hermon
When Netanyahu began his first term as prime minister, the Americans sought clarification that he was no longer obligated to Rabin’s “deposit.” They agreed it would not have the status of a commitment. In 1998 Netanyahu embarked on a new round of secret talks by means of his close associate, businessman Ron Lauder. According to sources who are knowledgeable about the substance of the discussions, they too revolved around Israel’s willingness to agree to a significant withdrawal on the basis of the pre-1967 lines.
However, after a number of talks with Assad in Damascus, the Syrian leader reportedly asked Lauder to come back with a map “or not come back at all.” Israel’s foreign minister at the time, Ariel Sharon, and the defense minister, Yitzhak Mordechai, opposed this and that was the end of that round of talks, which is remembered largely for surfacing as a point of dispute in the TV debate between Netanyahu and Mordechai.
Sources knowledgeable about the content of Netanyahu’s first round of talks at that time say today that at their center, among other things, was an Israeli demand to maintain a presence on the Hermon. The Syrians said to Lauder that this was a “spy line.” To this Lauder purportedly replied to Assad: “Why does it bother you that anyone sees what you do in your bedroom. It doesn’t bother me.” To everyone’s surprise, the Syrians changed their mind. However, they offered a creative compromise: “There are American Jews to whom it can be transferred.” Israel, according to these sources, decided to understand the opposite: that the Israelis would pretend to be Americans. The entire Hermon would become internationalized and an installation that supposedly would be manned by Americans would in actuality be Israeli. Like a similar arrangement in Sinai.
During Ehud Barak’s time as prime minister, there were the Shepherdstown peace talks, which ended in a blow-up, the details of which are controversial to this day. The Syrians insisted on access to the Sea of Galilee. Some of the people who were involved say Barak got “cold feet.” For his part, Barak blamed the leaks. After that, Hafez Assad died, his son Bashar came to power and the talks were frozen. The Americans invaded Iraq and clashed with Syria, Sharon in any case was busy with the intifada and thus he became the only Israeli prime minister who did not purportedly conduct secret talks with the Syrians about withdrawing from the Golan.
This is confirmed even today by his former top aide Dov Weisglass, who says that in December 2003 Sharon was asked to meet American diplomat Elliot Abrams in Rome to promise him that Israel had no contacts with Syria, despite reports on messages that supposedly had been sent to Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. That meeting, says Weisglass, was the first time Sharon told the Americans about the Gaza disengagement plan.
During Ehud Olmert’s time as prime minister, the Americans still had reservations at first and in 2008 Olmert finally agreed to Turkish mediation. These talks collapsed in part because of Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. At their end, Israel had in hand a “six point plan” according to which the Syrians demanded the border be moved and Olmert agreed to discuss that. Sources who have seen the materials from those talks say that the sides were already engaged in drawing up a border on “very high-resolution” maps.
Throughout the years of negotiations, the international community in general and the United States in particular never officially recognized the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights.
Netanyahu and Assad: The last round
The last round of talks mediated by the Americans between Netanyahu and Bashar Assad began in September 2010. Among the cabinet members, only Defense Minister Ehud Barak was in on the secret, but Military Intelligence also supported the idea in principle. The talks were conducted by means of American envoys Fred Hof and Dennis Ross, while on the Israeli side were National Security Adviser Uzi Arad and later his successor, Yaakov Amidror, diplomatic adviser Ron Dermer, military secretary Yohanan Locker, special envoy Yitzhak Molho and Brig. Gen. (res.) Mike Herzog. Lauder was no longer in the picture. According to some of those involved, “He was burned because he was unreliable. He didn’t coordinate what he was saying to both sides.”
According to sources knowledgeable about the talks, Netanyahu was prepared to discuss the Syrian demand for a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines – that is, to the Sea of Galilee – but this time he conditioned it on Syria disengaging itself entirely from Iran and Hezbollah in new security arrangements. The teams worked on formulating a statement of principles and various American drafts had been replaced. These negotiations ended entirely in March 2011 when Assad began slaughtering his countrymen and Netanyahu realized that the Syrian leader was losing legitimacy. The sources assess that had it not been for the outbreak of the civil war, it would only have taken another half a year for the two sides to reach an agreement.
Initially the Syrians sought to restart the talks from the “six points” document from Olmert’s time, but Netanyahu’s team determined that they did not serve Israel’s security interests. The new idea was to build a line the Syrians could call a return to the June 4, 1967 lines, but with changes. The Sea of Galilee was once again the bone of contention, and after that, the security arrangements. A computerized model was built to assess the redeployment of military forces, disarmament and the thinning of the forces, insofar as the Syrians would agree to take a strategic decision to disengage entirely from the Iranian “axis of evil.” Staff work even got underway in advance of public presentation of the process.
Former adviser Arad revealed this year that Israel, at its own initiative, also proposed at that time a deal for a territorial swap between Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in exchange for Israeli settlements remaining in the Golan Heights. Jordan would transfer lands to Syria equivalent to the territory that would remain in Israeli hands. At the same time, Saudi Arabia would give Jordan a strip of land along the sea south of Aqaba and receive from it an area of similar size along the border between the two countries. Amman agreed but Damascus refused outright.
Did Netanyahu “really mean it’?
Netanyahu often says in response to reports of his negotiations with Assad that there wasn’t any substance to them. About a month ago we asked him during his visit to Warsaw whether that meant he had been “bluffing” the Syrians. Netanyahu replied: “I will never come down from the Golan and I am keeping the Golan and I will not reveal here what I told them.”
However, people involved in the last round with whom we spoke agree: Although the process did not make it to the final stretch, it was indeed advanced and detailed.
A former U.S. government official told Haaretz that there was some substantial progress with clear recognition of it from both sides. He said the Israeli side was very interested in the possibility of a strategic turnabout in Syria, while the Syrians were interested in regaining the real estate they lost in 1967. Whatever progress was made, in the end, if things hadn’t happened the way they did in Syria and if six months later there had been an agreed-upon text of an agreement, signing off on it would have required difficult decisions by both leaders.
According to another former U.S. government official, the negotiations, while serious, were incomplete. “The essence of the work was about [Israeli] withdrawal in return for strategic realignment of Syria away from Hezbollah and Iran.” In addition, the official said they delved deeply into many details concerning what was needed from each side in exchange, adding that in all fairness, no final decision was taken and he himself had doubts as to whether Assad would have been able to implement an agreement. They were, however, close to an agreement on paper, the official added, the work had been serious and detailed, and those involved thought there was potential for actually reaching an agreement.
Another source involved in the talks said: “Bibi didn’t want the Palestinian channel at first and this was a way for him to ward off pressure from the Americans. But it was a promising process and it wasn’t a bluff.”
Yet another Israeli source said: “Bibi can tell himself he didn’t say he agreed and it was an American document and not an Israeli one, but he enabled the discussion. You don’t fool around with the Americans. Apart from that, it doesn’t matter what he is saying now – everything was written down in Damascus and there were international witnesses. What is this, theater? The Syrians have transcripts, documents, maps.”
Rabinovich, who followed the last round of talks closely, believes Netanyahu is continuing with the defensive tactic he used in the past: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” – which is a kind of permanent Israeli formula. “When they’d ask me whether Assad was serious, I would say that he had bought a ticket on a train for which the last station is peace, but he can always get off along the way. And Netanyahu the same.”
The annexation era
On the question of the Israeli demand to recognize its annexation of the Golan Heights, most of the people formerly involved in the talks agree: Since the Israeli presence is not actively being challenged now, certainly after Assad has been denounced as a mass murderer, there is no benefit in a symbolic process that can only spark a reaction. So, as an Israeli former senior official has said: “Today there is no one in the world who thinks Israel needs to come down from the Golan. The best way to cast this in doubt is to ask for this recognition.”
Dennis Ross, one of the most eminent former mediators, told Haaretz: “I do think it’s a mistake for the administration to do it. I don’t think it will contribute to their desire to present their peace plan. I think it will make it harder for Arab leaders to be responsive. If they want the peace plan to have a chance of success, they also need to be thinking about how you create a context that makes it easier for Arab leaders to respond to them, not harder, and this will make it harder.”
Another former top American official has said he could understand the timing from Netanyahu’s point of view, given the upcoming election, but that it is an own-goal for relations with the Arab states. And it could cause Trump’s successor to reverse the decision – a pattern we are seeing a lot these days.
An Israeli former senior official told Haaretz: “Netanyahu is familiar with the entire process that has happened, and all of a sudden he wants recognition in the Golan Heights? What are they going to do with it? Take it to the grocery store? This is liable to cause a reaction and a heating up of he northern front even more.”
And according to Rabinovich: “We will only be helping Assad transform the conflict from a Syrian problem into an Israeli-Arab problem. I think Netanyahu is doing this mainly to garner votes.”
Historic opportunity
The person most closely associated with the campaign for recognition of the annexation is Zvi Hauser, formerly Netanyahu’s cabinet secretary and currently a candidate for the Knesset on the Kahol Lavan slate, who celebrates Trump’s tweeted announcement Thursday in New York.”. He believes there is a historic opportunity now that must not be missed because of “an idée fixe.” According to him, Netanyahu did not initially understand the gravity of the moment: “The civil war in Syria was a reality-changing event from Israel’s perspective but to my regret, as someone who saw the cockpit from up close, they didn’t understand it there as a strategic event. American recognition of the Israeli sovereignty in the Golan used to sound ridiculous to everyone. Until the rise of Trump they didn’t believe it was possible and they did not understand the importance of the matter. It was a strategic fault and now all of a sudden everyone understands.”
According to him, without the recognition there will be “Lebanonization of the Golan border and a dynamic that demands we come down from there. We will wake up one morning and find ourselves facing a demand for a redeployment of the forces in the arena. A package deal that the Iranians withdraw from Syria and in return Israel will have to come down from the Golan Heights. A withdrawal of the Americans without recognition in the Golan will signal to the radical elements, Assad and Hezbollah, that it is legitimate to ignite the line of the resistance on the Golan.”
Regarding the past idea of conditioning withdrawal on Syria’s distancing itself from Iran, Hauser says: “The thesis of the negotiations to extract Syria from the covenant of evil was naive.” And regarding the possible damage that recognition could cause to the developing relations with the Arab world, he argues: “There’s no such thing as the Arab world. It is split.”
One of the former prominent players in the talks with Syria agrees with Hauser: “The opportunity for peace with Syria was apparently missed for many years. It is off the agenda. No one has sympathy for Assad and there isn’t sensitivity about the Golan the way there is about Jerusalem. So the world will yell – and we will move on.”
The Prime Minister’s Office stated in response to the report: “Prime Minister Netanyahu was never willing to give up the Golan Heights and acted all along to strengthen Israel’s hold on the Golan. Over the years the prime minister acted to promote [international] recognition of [Israeli control over] the Golan, which came to fruition tonight and which we embrace and thank the Trump administration for.”
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-how-netanyahu-team-s-golan-for-peace-talks-with-assad-failed-1.7044956

Mullahs and the English Opium-Eater
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/March 22/19
When reality is too hard to bear imagination may rescue you from despair. This is the message of “Confessions of an English Opium-eater” by Thomas de Quincey, the precursor of psychedelic literature. That message, it seems, has reached Iran, triggering an avalanche of empire-building dreams.
Earlier this month, “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei published a manifesto for the creation of a “New Global Islamic Civilization” to replace the old one that he believes is too tired to conquer the world and prepare the return of the “Hidden Imam”.
And last week, General Muhammad-Ali Aziz-Jaafari, chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) claimed that he has over 200,000 troops under his command in Iraq and Syria, the first time since 7trh century AD that Iran has had such a military presence in the Levant.
A day later, IRGC-controlled media published reports about a grand plan to link the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea via a super highway that links the Iranian port of Chahbahar, on the Gulf of Oman, to the Syrian port of Latakia. It claimed that Syrian President Bashar Assad has agreed to cede control of Latakiya to Iran just as he has transferred control of Tartus to Russia.
Tehran official media reports imply that neither Iraq nor Syria have sovereign governments and that both are under Iranian control.
This is how the IRGC news-site RAJA reported the claim: “Iran sees Iraq as an economic backup unit that ensures Iran’s political influence and security in the region.”
The editorial then claimed that “Iran controls five important highways in Iraq: Shalamcheh to Basra, Shib to Meyssan, Mehran to Badrah, Zarbatiyah to Diyala and finally, all roads in Iraqi Kurdistan.” This assumes that neither the government in Baghdad nor the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan have any say in the matter.
In contrast, because Chahbahar has been leased to India for 25 years, the IRGC claims that India will be included in the scheme. Further, the reports claim, Russia also backs the Iranian “grand design” because Moscow knows that without Tehran’s help it won’t be able to gain a real foothold in the Middle East.
The pipe-dream doesn’t stop there.
The 3,000-kilometer highway from Chahbahar to the Mediterranean will be extended with an 800 kilometer road to Zarang in Afghanistan and, later, with another 600-kilometer highway to Central Asia and thence, to China.
Thus, the Iran will be at the center of a New Silk Road, competing with the one that China is building with an investment of over $1 trillion.
In just a few years’ time, so the pipe-dream goes, the world will have four super-powers: Russia, China, the US and Iran. And then, Iran will launch the next phase of its project for the “New Islamic Civilization” by destroying first Israel and then the United States.
According to IRGC theoretician Dr. Hassan Abbasi, aka “the Kissinger of Islam”, the only matter to be settled is whether the White House in Washington would be turned into a simple mosque or a Hussaynieh for Shiites only.
“I see the day when the flag of Islam flies above The White House and our preachers are inviting audiences to shed tears for the martyr Imam Hussein,” the doctor told audiences in Iran.
All these pipe-dreams are unfurled against a background of growing frustration in Iran. According to latest reports, over 1.9 million workers, including many in the public sector, have not been paid for up to 18 months. As a sweetener for the Iranian New Year (Nowruz), which started Thursday, the government has approved a 20 percent rise in minimum wage. But that, even assuming wages are paid in time, will cover half of the purchasing power that average Iranians have lost because of inflation and the fall in the value of the national currency.
At the same time the country is on the brink of environmental tragedy, with the drying up of over 300 lakes and at least 60 rivers. According to the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture, since 1980, Iran has lost four million hectares of arable land to desertification. Mass employment, rampant inflation and widespread corruption have put Iran on the same sliding slope as Venezuela.
The fantasist scenario offered by the IRGC and its theoreticians is clearly aimed at eliminating the group of actors that have been paying the roles of president and minister and tried to portray Iran as a normal nation-state pursuing legitimate interests.
This is how Aziz-Jaafari revealed the depth of his thoughts: “With the exception of the war time [Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88] genuine Muslims with principled Islamic thought have never been in charge of the executive branch of the country. Absence of true Jihadi and revolutionary thoughts is our central problem.”
He added that all governments in Iran have pursued “Western-style development strategies”, and went on to invite the people to “make another choice”.
In other words, in its 40 years of existence, what is known as Islamic Republic hasn’t been all that Islamic.
Well, he may have a point.
Why not sack the actors playing president, minister and members of parliament- individuals who are in office, but not in power? And why not let those who wield real power also be in office? A two-headed bird, each head pulling in one direction, never flies. The present system has led Iran into an impasse, forcing its leaders to live in a fantasy world that recalls De Quincey’s opium-inspired psychedelic trip.

Socialism: Be Careful What You Wish For
Philip Carl Salzman/Gatestone Institute/March 22/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13925/socialism
The object of socialism is supposedly to increase economic equality by evening out the wealth in society among individuals and families. This is done by taking wealth from those with more than the average and redistributing it to those with less than the average. As wealth will not usually be voluntarily surrendered, the redistribution would have to be enforced by government agencies, backed by laws and administrative regulations. Socialism in practice, however, has usually resulted in members of the governments redistributing the wealth they seize to themselves and their associates. Even in the US government, at present, members of Congress do not bind themselves to observe the laws to which they bind the rest of the country. As Lee Atwater reportedly put it, "The dawgs don't like the dawg food."
Equality of results severs the relationship between being able to enjoy the rewards of one's production and the confiscation of those rewards for distribution to others. The disconnect between work and reward undermines the motivation to work and to innovate. Why work or take risks when the profits, if one is successful, go to others? If you take away an incentive to work and produce, you end up taking away the producers.
Socialism means turning over your freedom to your government, which claims that it knows how to spend your money better than you do. History has unfortunately proven this to be an economic and delivery-of-services death spiral, whether of sub-standard quality of public education in the US, or the delivery of health care to veterans. Now, President Donald J. Trump is finally trying to address the crisis that veterans' healthcare has become. How? By privatizing it.
If justice is giving each person his or her due, then taking wealth from those who have earned it, in order to give it to those who have not earned it, is a practice dubious at best. It is human to envy those with more and better. However, it is doubtful that it is good social policy to base political policy on these sentiments: one historically ends up with worse and less.
For so long, it appeared that socialism had definitively failed in practice and had lost its appeal as an economic ideology. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) had crashed; its Eastern European satellites had escaped in the 1990s; China had transitioned from socialism to state capitalism beginning with the economic reforms of 1978 and has carried on energetically ever since; communist Cuba had declined to an offshore holiday resort for Canadians and Europeans, and socialist Venezuela totally collapsed. In a 1989 essay entitled "The End of History?", Francis Fukuyama argued that, in the events mentioned above, we were witnessing "an unabashed victory of economic and political liberalism."
Socialist parties have, of course, been present in many European countries throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, and at some time and in some countries, have been dominant. But they have tended to be "pink" rather than "red," and have generally favoured welfare state policies rather than the takeover of the means of production; at the moment, most European countries are currently struggling to stay on life-support. The British Labour Party, for instance, abandoned state ownership of the means of production in a 1993 revision of Clause IV of its constitution.
Socialism, however, has recently taken off in the American political scene, and continues to be the foundational principle of Canada's New Democratic Party. In the U.S., "Attitudes toward socialism among Democrats have not changed materially since 2010, with 57% today having a positive view. The major change among Democrats has been a less upbeat attitude toward capitalism, dropping to 47% positive this year." Furthermore, all "Americans aged 18 to 29 are even more positive about socialism (51%) as they are about capitalism (45%)."
Socialist leanings of young people should not be a surprise to anyone familiar with our educational system, from primary school through university, which has evidently been captured by Marxists, with their familiar cries of a world supposedly divided into oppressors and the oppressed. It means, if I do well, somebody must have been screwed; there is no economic model in Marxism for "I win, you win, we all win." Education these days consists largely of anti-Western and anti-capitalist, as well as anti-white and anti-male political propaganda.
This socialist orientation was reflected in the 2016 Democrat Party presidential primary, which likely would have gone to the self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders if the Democratic National Committee had not fixed the race. Pro-socialist orientation was seen in the 2018 election for the House of Representatives and the subsequent pronouncements of declared "democratic socialist" (her words) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Democrat adherents claim that they are "democratic socialists," but the USSR always claimed that it championed democracy vs. capitalism, and North Korea officially proclaims:
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a genuine workers' state in which all the people are completely liberated from exploitation and oppression."
The record for socialism on the democracy and economic fronts is no better than its record on freedom and prosperity; on all counts it has been a massive failure.
Socialist Equality
The object of socialism is supposedly to increase economic equality by evening out the wealth in society among individuals and families. This is done by taking wealth from those with more than the average and redistributing it to those with less than the average. As wealth will not usually be voluntarily surrendered, the redistribution would have to be enforced by government agencies, backed by laws and administrative regulations. Socialism in practice, however, has usually resulted in members of the governments redistributing the wealth they seize to themselves and their associates. Even in the US government, at present, members of Congress do not bind themselves to observe the laws to which they bind the rest of the country. As Lee Atwater reportedly put it, "The dawgs don't like the dawg food."
Equality is a vague but important value in post-Enlightenment Western culture. Equality of what? Equality was first advanced historically as equality before the law, then evolved into equality of opportunity, and, in socialist theory, is framed as equality of results. Equality of results severs the relationship between being able to enjoy the rewards of one's production and the confiscation of those rewards for distribution to others, as seen in Marx's slogan, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Even Stalin, however, wished to maintain some connection between production and distribution: he inserted into the Soviet Constitution the modified slogan, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his work."
Advocates of equality-of-result demand an even more radical disconnect between work and reward. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez circulated a summary of her "Green New Deal" proposal advocating state economic support for those "unable or unwilling to work."
Production and distribution
The focus of socialism is the redistribution of wealth. Neglected, when not disdained, is production -- an activity that governments are likely to do badly as there is no oversight or free-market competition. So, a central problem of any government's socialism is the lack of production of goods and services that it wishes to redistribute. Another major critique of socialism is that the disconnect between work and reward undermines the motivation to work and to innovate. Why work or take risks when the profits, if one is successful, go to others?
Socialist governments must redistribute, come hell or high water, and the decline of production turns out to be hell and high water. If you take away an incentive to work and produce, you end up taking away the producers. Visitors to the Soviet Union remember trying to get the attention of a waiter in a restaurant: why should anyone help if there was no reward for helping? There is a health crisis now within Europe as doctors flee poorer member states in search of better pay in wealthier member states, and in the UK, fewer people are applying to medical school. This realization is why Margaret Thatcher is quoted as saying, "the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
Socialist governments have a monetary solution to that problem: they just print more money. That works for the moment, but from then on, inflation increases until all money becomes effectively worthless and one cannot buy any goods or services, if there were any to buy, which by then usually there aren't. Inflation in oil-rich Venezuela reached 80,000% in 2018, according to Forbes. Socialist "equality" becomes equal poverty and starvation for all, except perhaps a few in government.
Equality "uber alles"
While equality is an important Western value, it is by no means the only one.
Prosperity is another major Western value, and prosperity is exactly what becomes lost as production falls. In addition, if equality becomes the sole value, efficiency is lost. Goods and services are neither developed nor made available. Moreover, government-controlled economies are highly inefficient: economies are extremely complex and fast moving; bureaucracies are clumsy and slow.
Freedom is another major value, but under socialism, freedom is largely curtailed. With wealth expropriation and redistribution, people lose the ability to save, to invent, to move, to purchase, and to donate. Equality and freedom are simply incompatible. Socialism means turning over your freedom to your government, which claims that it knows how to spend your money better than you do. History has unfortunately proven this to be an economic and delivery-of-services death spiral, whether of sub-standard quality of public education in the US, or the delivery of health care to veterans. For years in the US, government-run health care for its veterans has been grotesque; and if one did not like it, there was not a thing one could do about it. The government just kept changing commissioners. Now, President Donald J. Trump is finally trying to address the crisis that veterans' healthcare has become. How? By privatizing it. Justice is yet another value. If justice is giving each person his or her due, then taking wealth from those who have earned it, in order to give it to those who have not earned it, in terms of justice, is a practice dubious at best.
Socialist governance
The more an economy is under government control, the more power the government and its agencies appropriate. There is, to make matters worse, no way to ensure that government will shoulder the responsibility in a responsible way. As the late head of the American Federation of Teachers, Albert Shanker, is reported to have said about the abysmal state of free education in America's public schools, "When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children."
The consequences of this are serious: as Lord Acton wrote to Bishop Creighton in 1887, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Economic equality that requires a strong government usually ends up resulting in political inequality: political leaders and the bureaucratic elite are in political -- and with it economic -- control. In the socialist political hierarchy, those at the top are close to absolute power; those below have no power.
Socialism has proven incompatible with democracy. Socialist countries have tended to become arrogant dictatorships, one-party states, totalitarian in culture and security. Security agencies have a free hand to enforce conformity.
Discussion
The main reason that socialism has gained popularity in North America is, of course, that everyone likes "free stuff," especially "free money." It is not difficult to see the attraction in voting for people who promise to shift wealth your way.
Feeding into this support for socialism is envy. It is human to envy those with more and better. However, it is doubtful that it is good social policy to base political policy on these sentiments: one historically ends up with worse and less. While it is true that electoral systems are open to such pandering, the promises usually turn out to be fake (for instance, former President Barack Obama saying "You can keep your doctor"; "you can keep your health care plan"; "the Affordable Healthcare Act will save each family $2500"). Smart voters would be wise to avoid it.
Today's greed and envy seem to have been caused by the decline in the American character. According to the journalist Matthew Continetti:
"The bourgeois values of honesty, fidelity, diligence, reticence, delayed gratification, and self-control that once reigned supreme have been contested for many decades by an ethic of self-expression, self-indulgence, instant gratification, and demanding the impossible."
In addition, as the historian Victor Davis Hanson points out in reference to people who advocate restrictions on freedom of speech:
"I think the way they do it is through Orwellian language, so what they mean is free speech is hate speech because you could be cruel to some group and censorship is called trigger warnings, segregation as safe spaces and having some skepticism that man-made global warming is sort of creationism or denialism." Today it is forbidden to mention to decline of virtue in America; any mention brings a mob of "social justice" enforcers to destroy anyone who brings it up. In true Orwellian, fashion, the supposed "antifascists" are the real fascists: a new morality police try to silence anyone who disagrees with them -- as here, here and here.
The reason for the decline in American character appears to be that belief in American values has been replaced by cultural relativism and multiculturalism, which claim that all values, beliefs, and cultures are equally good, and that non-American values are possibly even better than American values. For many in America, its values seem to have been have been downgraded to greed, racism, and militarism -- and that the best solution to American values is socialism in the form of "free everything."
For those Americans who do not wish to follow the road of the USSR, Communist China, Khmer Rouge Cambodia, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, there is an alternative route. If a major fear is of the expense of a catastrophic illness, President Ronald Reagan suggested a government assistance program just for that, and a free-market economy of choices for the rest of one's medical care. Surely that would be a program less economically crushing for any nation and its taxpayers and more sustainable than locking a nation into a bureaucratic, centrally-run healthcare system that has unfortunately supplied increasingly deteriorating healthcare, with costs that explode and longer and longer waiting times, to fewer and fewer people wherever it has been tried. Socialism's sham absolute equality destroys prosperity, freedom democracy.
*Philip Carl Salzman is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at McGill University, Senior Fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a Director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. His public interest articles can be found at the Frontier Centre, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Gatestone Institute, Middle East Forum, Minding the Campus, C2C Journal, Areo Magazine, and Dogma Review.
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