LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 26/2019

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first
Mark 10/28-31: “Peter began to say to Jesus, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on March 25-26/2019
Aoun meets in Moscow business executives, Russian Patriarchate delegation: Lebanon has an essential role to play in Syria's reconstruction process
Pompeo Pledges Harsher Measures Against Hezbollah Allies
Bassil: U.S. Asking for Things We Can't Do, Syrian Returnees Not Persecuted
Hariri Undergoes Heart Stent Operation in Paris
Berri contacts Hariri to check on his health, meets with Bteish, Khazen, Parliamentary Economy and Planning Committee
Foreign Affairs Ministry: Golan is a Syrian Arab land and no decision can alter this reality
Eight Lebanese Face 'Terrorism' Trial in UAE
Iran to cement ties with Lebanon, Hezbollah despite US pressure
Kanaan says Lebanese delegation will visit Washington at invitation of World Bank
Papal Ambassador: We live a Christian life to be messengers of love and tolerance among peoples
Geagea says President of the Republic ought to pressure Russia to resolve the crisis of the displaced
HMS DRAGON arrives in Lebanon, journalists tour its various sectors
The US wants the Lebanese to 'roll'
The Hezbollah conundrum/Claude Salhani/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Hariri-Bassil war of words lays bare deep divisions

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 25-26/2019
Trump Declares 'Complete Exoneration' after Mueller Finds No Collusion
Trump Signs Decree Recognizing Golan Heights as Israeli Territory
Canadian Statement on the Golan Heights
Seven Injured In Rocket Fire, Netanyahu Says Will Respond With Force
Gaza Rocket Destroys House near Tel Aviv, Netanyahu Cuts Short U.S. Trip
Hamas says ceasefire reached with Israel after severe escalation
Israel launches strikes on Hamas in Gaza
Abbas: Trump Reneged On Two-State Solution, NATO Deployment
Egypt, Jordan, Iraq Agree on ‘Strategic Cooperation’ to Restore Regional Stability
Jordan King Cancels Romania Trip Over Jerusalem Declaration
Report: Pompeo Says Refugee Return Premature, U.S. Rejects Naturalization
France Bans Iran's Mahan Air
Suicide Bombers, Rockets: The Last Days of the IS 'Caliphate'
Romania, Honduras recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 25-26/2019
The US wants the Lebanese to 'roll'/Bassem Ajami/Annahar/March 25/19
The Hezbollah conundrum/Claude Salhani/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Hariri-Bassil war of words lays bare deep divisions/Makram Rabah/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Gaza ‘We Want to Live’ protests rattle Hamas/Yousef Alhelou/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Experts debate Arab world’s priorities on eve of summit/Lamine Ghanmi/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Hamas refuses to acknowledge its bankruptcy in Gaza/Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Pope Francis’s visit to Morocco constitutes important step in dialogue of civilisations/Mohamed al-Alawi/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Thousands of Muslim Women Raped, Tortured, Killed in Syrian Prisons/Where are the Media, UN, 'Human Rights' Groups/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/March 25/19
Terrorists Promoted, Victims Ignored/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/March 25/19
A Tourist From the Middle East/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/March 25/19
Fighting extremism more important than fighting terrorism/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Arab News/March 25/19
Rouhani outdoes Khamenei with attack on Iran’s ‘enemies’/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/March 25/19

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on March 25-26/2019
Aoun meets in Moscow business executives, Russian Patriarchate delegation: Lebanon has an essential role to play in Syria's reconstruction process
Mon 25 Mar 2019/NNA - Upon his arrival in Moscow this afternoon, President of the Republic Michel Aoun began his official visit by meeting with a delegation of Russian businessmen, who expressed "readiness to contribute to the economic development plan in Lebanon by partaking in a number of development and economic projects prepared by the Lebanese government, especially in the fields of energy, oil, gas, water, reconstruction and infrastructure."The Russian economic delegation emphasized "the importance of the Lebanese-Russian relations and the significance of their advancement."President Aoun, in turn, stressed that the cooperation established between Lebanon and Russian companies can continue in various fields according to the needs determined by the Lebanese State, which is on the verge of implementing an economic recovery plan. "Lebanon also has a key role to play in the reconstruction phase in Syria, where its geographical location can serve as a basis for launching this process, alongside the experience of Lebanese businessmen who are able to coordinate and contribute to said reconstruction," the President asserted. The encounter was a chance to agree on pursuing the contacts between the Lebanese and Russian sides to discuss the points that were raised on bilateral cooperation between both countries. President Aoun later met with the Head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate and all of Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion, in the presence of Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow, Archbishop Nivon Saikali, and a number of priests.
"We are pleased to welcome your Excellency in Russia. You are the President of a holy country mentioned several times in the Bible, and Christ has passed through its land and blessed its people with whom we have strong and profound relations," said Metropolitan Hilarion. He added: "We have ties with the Eastern Churches, and we continue to work on their development...This encounter is an occasion for us to emphasize what brings us together and strengthen our bonds of friendship and cooperation." For his part, President Aoun welcomed the delegation and underlined "the importance of what unites churches together, regardless of doctrinal differences.""The Middle East has faced, and continues to face, delicate circumstances that have increased the unity of thought and behavior among Christians," he added. Aoun pointed to the various sects who are living in unjust conditions and are in need of help, which is only possible through having a Christian reference in the Middle East. "I feel that the Russian Church can play an important role for the Christians of the East, and it is related to them," the President affirmed.
The meeting was an opportunity for President Aoun to provide a briefing on his undertaken moves to establish the "Human Academy for Encounter and Dialogue" and the positive international reactions to it. He stressed the importance of a cultural rapprochement between Christians of Russia and the Christians of the Middle East through reactivating their joint activities, such as religious tourism. On the first day of the presidential visit to Russia, an encounter with members of the Lebanese community residing there was also arranged, where President Aoun vowed to work on "strengthening the ties between the Lebanese Diaspora and Lebanon.""Lebanon is economically going through a difficult situation, but we are working to get out of it. The Lebanese people are ready for economic resistance," he said. "Lebanon is the heart of a dry west, and a mind of an emotional east," Aoun corroborated.

Pompeo Pledges Harsher Measures Against Hezbollah Allies
Beirut - Mohamed Choucair/Asharq Al-Awsat/March, 25/19
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has stressed that tightening the financial noose on Iran and Hezbollah was necessary to stop them from creating instability in Lebanon and the region, Lebanese cabinet ministers and lawmakers said. The officials, who met with Pompeo during his visit to Beirut last week, also quoted the top US diplomat as saying that sanctions will gradually increase to dry out the sources of Iranian and Hezbollah funds. Washington would use all available means against any person or group linked with Tehran or Hezbollah, the Lebanese officials cited Pompeo. The ministers and deputies, who made their remarks to Asharq Al-Awast, were among guests at a dinner banquet thrown by MP Michel Moawad in honor of the visiting US Secretary of State. They said Pompeo did not discuss the US position from sanctions imposed on Hezbollah and Iran, which Washington accuses of destabilizing the region. “The mission of the US Secretary of State was rather focused on informing officials whom he met in Beirut about the stance continuously expressed by US President Donald Trump” on Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanese political figures said. Last week, Pompeo said during a visit to Lebanon that his country would choke off funding that feeds Iran and Hezbollah terror operations. “Pompeo believes that by interfering in Lebanon and the region, Iran and its wings were practicing all kinds of terrorism,” the ministers and deputies said. The US official hinted that his country is keen on protecting Lebanon’s economy and distancing it from possible damages that would result from adding more names to US sanctions list, they told Asharq Al-Awsat. Pompeo also stressed that his country supports the CEDRE Conference that was held in Paris in April last year to help Lebanon gradually overcome its economic and financial crisis. Sources said that the joint statement issued following the meeting between Pompeo and Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil had been previously agreed on by both sides. The two men held serious talks concerning their contradictory viewpoints mainly on Pompeo’s warning to take a harder line on Iran and Hezbollah, the sources said.

Bassil: U.S. Asking for Things We Can't Do, Syrian Returnees Not Persecuted
Naharnet/March 25/19/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil announced Monday that the U.S. is asking Lebanon to carry out things that are not in its capacity, as he denied reports that Syrians returning home from Lebanon are being “tortured and persecuted.”“The Americans are asking us for things that we cannot carry out and do not agree to,” Bassil said in an interview in Moscow with RT television. The minister is accompanying President Michel Aoun on his first official visit to Russia. “Nothing prevents the Lebanese parties from dealing with Hizbullah, seeing as it is a Lebanese component, and Washington’s laws are its own concern,” Bassil added, referring to the United States’ designation of Hizbullah as a terrorist group. “The Americans are offering unconditional aid and we will reject any conditional aid, seeing as any attempt to link aid to an effort to naturalize displaced people or refugees is rejected,” Bassil went on to say. As for the repatriation of Syrian refugees to their country, the minister said “any talk of torture and persecution against the Syrian returnees is aimed at preventing their return.”“I have asked the foreign ministers of world powers to provide us with information” in this regard, he added. Bassil also warned that the naturalization of Palestinian refugees would be “a crime against Lebanon, Palestine and the region,” noting that “we are capable of defeating this scheme.”“Israel does not respect international laws and the U.S. is supporting it despite of that,” Bassil lamented. He also emphasized that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “cannot defeat Lebanon even if he uses his entire military arsenal.”As for the purchase of weapons for the Lebanese Army from Russia, Bassil said Lebanon will not reject “unconditional” aid from Moscow. “We are confident that Russia will not ask Lebanon to do something that would harm its interest,” he added. “We want strategic ties with Russia and I reiterate the call for the rise of an alliance between American and Russian firms in the issue of gas” in Lebanon, Bassil went on to say. The foreign minister and Free Patriotic Movement chief also emphasized that Lebanon is “the country of balances and the presence of domestic and external balances is in its interest.”“We are people who build bridges and we cannot discriminate between the components of our people,” he added.

Hariri Undergoes Heart Stent Operation in Paris
Naharnet/March 25/19/Prime Minister Saad Hariri underwent a heart operation in Paris on Monday, his office said. “PM Saad Hariri underwent a heart stent operation this morning at the American Hospital of Paris,” the office said in a statement.“PM Hariri’s private doctor Issam Yassine said the one-hour operation was successful and that PM Hariri is in good health,” the office added. “He said that the medical procedure was precautionary and that PM Hariri will leave hospital for his home in Paris this evening,” it said. The premier had undergone medical examinations recently in Paris, on a trip that sparked speculation that he left Lebanon to express political dismay. He later asserted that the visit was not linked to politics.

Berri contacts Hariri to check on his health, meets with Bteish, Khazen, Parliamentary Economy and Planning Committee
Mon 25 Mar 2019/NNA - House Speaker Nabih Berri contacted Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday to check on his health condition, after undergoing a cardiac catheterization procedure in the French capital, Paris. During his meetings at Ain El-Teeneh Palace this afternoon, Speaker Berri conferred with Economy Minister Mansour Bteish over the general economic situation in Lebanon. "Speaker Berri is a key official in the country, and our talks today dwelt on the delicate economic conditions prevailing in the country," said Bteish following the encounter. "Hopefully in the next few days we will be able to crystallize economic and financial perspectives under the patronage of the President, House Speaker and Prime Minister," he added. The House Speaker later met with Lebanon's Ambassador to the Vatican, Farid El-Khazen. Members of the Parliamentary Economic and Planning Committee, headed by MP Nemat Frem, also called on Speaker Berri this afternoon. On emerging, Frem said: "Our meeting with the House Speaker today was devoted to tackling the economic developments and the work of the Committee...We discussed the issue of the economy in general and the need for planning, especially in having a road map for the Committee's work this year." "We also highlighted the need for communicating with all ministries and departments to have a plan of action to reach a single comprehensive and economic vision, in coordination with the Ministry of Economy that has the executive authority over the economic plan in Lebanon," he added. "We also talked about the importance of the budget under the current circumstances, especially with regards to reducing the public deficit, and the initiatives and ideas by the Ministry of Finance in coordination with all ministries to yield a budget that would enable the country to reach safety shore," Frem indicated.

Foreign Affairs Ministry: Golan is a Syrian Arab land and no decision can alter this reality
Mon 25 Mar 2019/NNA - In an issued statement by the Lebanese Foreign Affairs Ministry on Monday, it stressed that the Golan is a Syrian Arab land and no decision can change this fact, emphasizing that no country can forge history by transferring the ownership of a land from one country to another."The US presidential declaration on Israel's right to annex the Syrian Golan is condemnable and breaches all rules of international law, undermining any effort to reach a just peace," the statement indicated."The principle of land for peace falls...for when there is no land to be restored, no peace remains to be given," the Foreign Ministry statement underscored.

Eight Lebanese Face 'Terrorism' Trial in UAE
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 25/19/Eight Lebanese citizens, all Shiite Muslims, have been charged with "terrorism" in the UAE and denied legal representation in a trial "marred with violations," Human Rights Watch said Monday. While the charges have not been made public, families of the eight men say they were charged with terrorism, according to New York-based HRW. UAE media reported that they are linked to Lebanon’s Hizbullah. Although the Iran-backed group holds three cabinet posts and is 13 seats in the Lebanese parliament, it is blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates. A representative of the UAE government could not be immediately reached for comment. Family members told HRW the defendants had been held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods and denied legal representation and visits by their relatives. "Time and again, the UAE has used the specter of terrorism to justify its utter lack of respect for the rule of law," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW. "By not respecting the rights of the defendants to a fair trial, the Emirati authorities are indicating that they have already decided the outcome."All of the men under trial have lived and worked in UAE for more than 15 years, seven of them for Dubai-owned Emirates Airlines, HRW said. The eight men had been detained between December 2017 and February last year and held for one year before their trial opened on February 13, it said. Family members told HRW that none of the men had any known political affiliations and their confessions were made under duress. Leading English-language Gulf News daily on February 13 reported an Abu Dhabi court had charged 11 "Arabs," including three in absentia, with "setting up a terrorist cell and planning attacks in the UAE upon the orders of Lebanon's Hizbullah" and that they communicated with the Shiite group in favor of Iran. The next hearing is scheduled for March 27.

Iran to cement ties with Lebanon, Hezbollah despite US pressure
Reuters, DubaiMonday, 25 March 2019/Iran said on Sunday it would expand its ties with Lebanon in spite of the “provocative and interventionist” call by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for Beirut to choose sides, Iranian state television reported. On a regional tour, Pompeo said on Friday that Lebanon faced a choice - “Bravely move forward as an independent and proud nation, or allow the dark ambitions of Iran and Hezbollah to dictate your future.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi dismissed Pompeo’s remarks. “Because of the failure of its policies in the Middle East, America has turned to the outdated and disgraced weapon of threats and intimidation to impose its imperious policies on other countries,” Qasemi said, state television reported. “While respecting the independence of Lebanon and the free will of its government and nation, Iran will use all its capacities to strengthen unity inside Lebanon and also to expand its ties with Lebanon.”Hezbollah, whose influence has expanded at home and in the region, controls three of 30 ministries in the government led by Western-backed Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, the largest number in its history. Qasemi said that Lebanon’s Hezbollah was a legal and popular party. “How can Pompeo make such impudent and irrational remarks (about Hezbollah) while visiting Lebanon,” he said. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have increased since US President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers last May, and then re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.The restoration of sanctions is part of a wider effort by Trump to force Iran to further curb its nuclear program and to end its ballistic missile work as well as its support for proxy forces in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East.

Kanaan says Lebanese delegation will visit Washington at invitation of World Bank
Mon 25 Mar 2019/NNA - Secretary-General of the "Change and Reform" Parliamentary Bloc, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, disclosed on Monday that Lebanon received an invitation from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to participate in a financial and economic conference in Washington.
"Lebanon will partake in a financial and economic conference in Washington at the invitation of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund upcoming April 8, 9 and 10," Kanaan said in an interview with "Voice of Lebanon" Radio Station today. He added: "On the sidelines of the conference, the Lebanese delegation will hold meetings with US Administration officials at the financial and economic levels."

Papal Ambassador: We live a Christian life to be messengers of love and tolerance among peoples
Mon 25 Mar 2019/NNA - Papal Nuncio, Monsignor Joseph Spiteri, presided Monday over the "Ambassadors' Mass for Peace in Lebanon and the World" at Saint Louis Cathedral for the Capuchin Fathers in Central Beirut, in presence of prominent religious and political figures and a number of ambassadors, consuls and representatives of all Christian Orders. In his religious sermon, Msgr. Spiteri focused on the importance of human dialogue, saying: "Through our Christian faith and our prayers, we are in dialogue with God and we open our hearts to love and to be closer to the Lord." "God calls on us to be messengers of love and solidarity on earth, to renounce violence in all its forms for the sake of spreading the culture of peace among people in a sound and true world," he added. "We are in the time of fasting, a time closer to God, a time away from sin and resistance to worldly desires...Fasting is never about eating and drinking, but rather about praying, charity and living a true Christian life based on love and tolerance," the Papal Ambassador asserted. "We live a Christian life to be messengers of love and tolerance among all the peoples of the earth," he underlined.

Geagea says President of the Republic ought to pressure Russia to resolve the crisis of the displaced
Mon 25 Mar 2019/NNA - "We are pinning hopes on the visit of President Michel Aoun to Russia," said Lebanese Forces Party Chief, Samir Geagea, following a regular meeting by the "Strong Republic" Parliamentary Bloc this evening. He hoped that President Aoun would exert pressure for the sake of solving the refugees' crisis. Geagea refused to "link the return of Syrian refugees to their country to an awaited political solution," calling for securing the climate for them "which will only happen through the Russians' contact with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad due to the Russian weight in this matter," as Geagea indicated. On the financial-economic situation in the country, Geagea regretfully deemed that "it is still deteriorating and the indicators are not reassuring."He pointed to the lack of action related to the budget issue, whereby it has not yet been submitted to the Council of Ministers and the Parliament Council. Geagea stressed herein the "need for a quick rescue operation at the financial and economic levels," disclosing that "the LF ministers will apply for legislation to approve the budget."On the electricity dossier, Geagea considered that "electricity is part of the budget," noting that "there is a plan for electricity and we will wait for its practical steps to give our assessment.""No party in Lebanon can cover for the current electricity situation," asserted Geagea, demanding the establishment of a governing body for electricity and the appointment of a new administrative board. "It only needs a decision," he corroborated. Geagea considered that if the cabinet remains without any mechanism, the country would be in a condition of "no State and no Cedar!"He also appealed to the Central Inspection Body and the Public Prosecution to follow up on the Customs waste issue. In response to a question about US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's terrorism accusations against Hezbollah, and the nature of Geagea's meeting with Pompeo, the LF Chief said: "Our meeting with Pompeo was normal and our talks were general. As for our position regarding Hezbollah, our stance is well-known, for what we say in private, we voice in public...We support our policy and do not succumb to the policy of others."On the American decision to annex the Golan to Israel, Geagea said: "This is a step that will aggravate the situation in the Middle East and lead to the exclusion of peace...We are not with this step, and we are committed to the International Resolutions on the Golan, namely #242 and #338."

HMS DRAGON arrives in Lebanon, journalists tour its various sectors
Mon 25 Mar 2019/NNA - HMS Dragon, the UK Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer and one of the most advanced warships in the world, docked at Beirut Port this morning on a three-day visit, as a demonstration of the strong friendship and partnership between the UK and Lebanon. In a press release by the British Embassy in Beirut, it said: "This will be her first visit to Lebanon, and follows the visit of the Royal Navy's flagship, HMS Ocean, in 2017."
A media tour aboard the captivating HMS Dragon was organized by the British Embassy this morning for all journalists of local audio-visual and written outlets in Lebanon. Journalists toured the huge vessel's sectors and chambers, including the Command and Operations' Rooms, and listened to a briefing on the nature of the work of every chamber. The tour was followed by a joint press conference by the Royal Ship's Commander, Michael Carter Quinn, and British Ambassador to Lebanon, Chris Rampling. Ambassador Rampling stressed the importance of HMS Dragon's visit to Lebanon, which demonstrates the support and commitment of the UK to Lebanon. "The visit of the most capable and largest destroyers is a clear sign of that support and of that commitment," Rampling told the National News Agency. In reply to another question by the National News Agency about the impact of Brexit on Lebanon, Rampling emphasized that the UK support for Lebanon will continue, indicating that "the UK has spent over 200 million dollars last year and they expect to spend more this year."
He also indicated that the UK intends to expand prosperity and trading links with Lebanon, saying "I am confident this will come in the coming years."
The Ship's Commander, for his part, said that the Ship has completed seven months deployment in the Middle East and is on its way back home to the UK. In response to a question by the National News Agency, he said that the Ship's last stop before reaching Beirut was in Salalah in Oman. He added that the Ship will have a stop in Spain on its way back to the UK. In an earlier press release by the British Embassy, it said: "HMS Dragon is completing her seven month within the Middle East to promote stability. During this time she has supported multiple joint exercises, but her most notable success has been her contribution towards the Combined Maritime Task Force operations to counter the flow of narcotics through the region."Release added: "Achieving eight successful interdictions seizing over 18,000 KGs of narcotics with a street value of hundreds of million US dollars, HMS Dragon has become the most successful Royal Naval vessel to conduct counter narcotics operation, achieving the largest total, number of seizures and total weight of drugs."

The US wants the Lebanese to 'roll'
Bassem Ajami/Annahar/March 25/19
The Lebanese have no confidence that the U.S. will sustain its currently declared policy toward Iran.
BEIRUT: It is apparent from the visit by the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to Beirut that the U.S. considers Lebanon a hijacked country. The hijacker is Hezbollah acting on behalf of Iran. According to Secretary Pompeo, Washington expects the people of Lebanon to rise and take control of their country.
From the American perspective, the situation in Lebanon today resembles the case of United Airlines flight 93. The airliner was one of the four airplanes that were hijacked on September 11, 2001. But unlike the other three airplanes, the hijackers of flight 93 were overwhelmed by the desperate passengers, which caused the airliner to crash killing all on board. As the passengers prepared to attack the hijackers, a voice was heard on the phone inciting the passengers: "let's roll." Since then, "let's roll" became in the U.S. a symbolic cry for action.
But who is going to cry "let's roll" in Lebanon? No one is prepared to risk crashing the country in order to save it from the Iranian yoke. The reason is that such call against Hezbollah is certain to dive Lebanon into a civil war. And with the dark memories of the 1975-90 civil war still fresh in the psyche of the Lebanese, there is no group in Lebanon willing to challenge militarily Iran's rising influence. Over the past years, the Lebanese have learned to co-exist with the Iranian influence in their country. The prevailing view is that Hezbollah is a regional problem with local implications. They accommodated themselves to such state of affairs while remaining hopeful that regional events will resolve this issue without shedding Lebanese blood.Moreover, the Lebanese have no confidence that the U.S. will sustain its currently declared policy toward Iran.
How can they trust that no new president will occupy the White House who may sympathize with Iran's regional ambitions, as was the case with President Barak Obama? What do they do then? And even if President Donald Trump is reelected, how can the Lebanese be certain that he wouldn’t one day change his mind, as he has often done? Syria is one example, and Iraq is another. Still, the attitude of the U.S. administration toward the Palestinian conflict hardly reinforces its credibility in the region. Its recognition of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights as Israeli territories will make endorsing its policy toward Hezbollah an act of "treachery." There are many in Lebanon who would be eager to call "let's roll." But the current political landscape, domestically and within the region, doesn’t offer much support to such an idea.

The Hezbollah conundrum
كلود سلحاني: لغز حزب الله
Claude Salhani/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73319/claude-salhani-the-hezbollah-conundrum-%D9%83%D9%84%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A-%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%B2-%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87/
Lebanon is the only country where the president speaks on behalf of an armed militia that often acts outside the regulations of the country’s national interests.
A French ambassador to Lebanon once told a visiting journalist that if he thought he understood the Lebanese political problem and its complexities it meant the situation was badly explained to him.
Indeed, Lebanese politics can be compared to the hectic traffic situation in Beirut, where a red light is only a suggestion to stop. No one quite knows how the traffic, despite monstrous congestion, continues to move. Some compare it to the Energizer bunny that, as the advertisement claims, just “keeps going and going.”
Consider the following: Lebanon, a country of approximately 6.2 million people, is host to close to 2 million Syrian refugees who have fled violence next door. Additionally, there are about 450,000 registered Palestinian refugees. No one really knows the exact numbers because there are many not registered with the UN refugee agency.
Lebanon has not had a proper electric system in place since the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in April 1975. The war stopped but electricity continues to be rationed with many areas getting no more than a few hours a day. Individuals make up the deficit by purchasing generators and the required fuel. Garbage remains uncollected for months at a time, attracting vermin and causing disease.
The Lebanese like to pride themselves as being distinctively different from the rest of the region and in many instances they truly are.
Let’s start with the unusual fact that Lebanon is the only country where the president speaks on behalf of an armed militia that often acts outside the regulations of the country’s national interests but blatantly and shamelessly promotes and fights for the interests of a foreign power, Iran.
Why?
There is obviously Iran’s expansionism and muscle flexing that find in Lebanon a weak and vulnerable link exploiting the country’s deeply fractured religious and political landscape. A very large percentage of the Lebanese population identifies first and foremost with the religious denomination they were born into. Tiny Lebanon has 18 officially recognised religions.
When referring to Hezbollah, it is important to remember that, in the case of Lebanon, it is much more than a militia in the usual sense of a small armed group, often a fringe one.
North Americans unfamiliar with the complexities of the region might imagine something along the lines of American white supremacists, among whom the more fanatic fringe dress in ridiculous white robes and play soldier on the weekends.
Hezbollah, however, is more akin to a regular army with tens of thousands troops armed, equipped and trained by Iran. Hezbollah’s arsenal includes artillery, armour and sophisticated missile systems allowing it to strike at large population centres well beyond Lebanon’s borders.
The United States considers Hezbollah a terrorist organisation and has been increasing financial sanctions against it as part of efforts to counter Iran.
Hezbollah helped Syrian President Bashar Assad in his 8-year war against rebels but it is also a political party in Lebanon with seats in the parliament and cabinet. The group services basic needs for the Lebanese Shia community, for which the state often fails to fulfil its obligations. Hezbollah benefits from Lebanon’s corruption system in which the interests and welfare of the citizenry are lost on politicians and government institutions.
Lebanon, long a US client, has received billions of dollars in US aid. Its military is equipped by the United States and other NATO members. The Lebanese president, speaking on behalf of the Hezbollah militia organisation, says the sanctions imposed by the United States on the pro-Iranian group are harming Lebanon as a whole.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun spoke ahead of a visit to the country by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“Lebanon is within the siege that has been imposed on others, particularly on Iran, and it is passing, as a result of that, through a big crisis,” Aoun told Russian media in Lebanon, the Lebanese presidency office said.
Sanctions against Hezbollah introduced since 2016 raised fears among Lebanese that US banks might deem Lebanese banks too risky to do business with, harming a major part of Lebanon’s economy. With accusations of money laundering levelled at Hezbollah, US sanctions affect the entire Lebanese banking sector.
However, Lebanon’s Central Bank has repeatedly said the banking sector is fully compliant with sanctions and that foreign institutions are satisfied with how it implements regulation.
Aoun said the “negative effect of the siege on Hezbollah afflicts all Lebanese, as it does the Lebanese banks.”
“Every Lebanese bank has uncertainty about dealing with a depositor, fearing that he has a link with Hezbollah… This mutual fear does not build an economy and sound trade relations,” he added.
Aoun, however, does not raise the core issue of Hezbollah’s Iranian allegiance that drove it to send thousands to fight and die in Syria and might push it to fight other Iranian wars, even in Lebanon itself. Long known as the Switzerland of the Middle East, Lebanon could find itself thrust in the middle of wars its population does not need.
Pompeo, who visited Lebanon after trips to Kuwait and Israel, described Hezbollah as a risk to the Lebanese.
However, it is not clear what US pressures on Hezbollah will produce. It might drive Lebanon to seek the Russian umbrella. Aoun has been invited to Russia by President Vladimir Putin.
Russia has been on a charm offensive in the Middle East targeting countries like Turkey, Egypt and Lebanon.
That will come on top of the Iranian umbrella that Hezbollah has imposed on Lebanon. Never have foreign umbrellas effectively protected Lebanon; rather the opposite. The problem of the country has always been that of multiple umbrellas claiming to protect it but only deepening its quandary.
*Claude Salhani is a regular columnist for The Arab Weekly.

Hariri-Bassil war of words lays bare deep divisions
مكرم رباح: الحرب الكلامية بين الحريري وباسيل تسبب انقسامات عميقة
Makram Rabah/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73315/makram-rabah-hariri-bassil-war-of-words-lays-bare-deep-divisions%D9%85%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%85-%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9/
The differences between Hariri and Bassil will not protect Lebanon from its predicament because Pompeo and his administration have one sole agenda: containing Iran.
The formation of the Lebanese government two months ago ushered in a new push for consensus governance, highlighting the need for the country’s main political players, mainly Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, to work together to address their many challenges.
The Hariri-Bassil alliance withstood numerous challenges, including Bassil’s diehard support for Iran and Syrian President Bashar Assad. Those positions put Bassil at odds with Arab countries that accused Iran-backed Hezbollah of hijacking the Lebanese state.
Recently, however, the sacred alliance between Bassil and Hariri seems to be faltering, with publicly levelling criticism at the other.
This feud began when Hariri excluded Minister of State for Refugee Affairs Saleh Gharib from Lebanon’s delegation to the Brussels III international conference for Syrian refugees, March 12-14 in Brussels.
Hariri’s excuse for cutting Gharib, a member of Bassil’s ministerial bloc, was that the invitation extended to Lebanon included only the prime minister, foreign minister and minister of education and social affairs. This supposedly meant that it was against protocol to include Gharib in the delegation.
Bassil responded by boycotting the conference and began a media campaign against the international community and, indirectly, Hariri, accusing them of working to prevent the return of Syrian refugees who, Bassil and his pro-Assad allies claim, are safe to immediately return home.
At the Brussels conference, Hariri toed the government line, saying that “the only solution to the refugee crisis lies in their safe return to their homeland in accordance with international laws and treaties.”
Hariri’s decision not to address the concept of voluntary return was in accordance with his existing deal with Bassil, which indicates it is not the source of their current dispute.
The root of their disagreement involves more important matters, at least within the context of the clientelist political system that both Bassil and Hariri jointly own and operate.
For Bassil, the standoff is a chance to consolidate his status as the strongest Christian politician, one who, four years down the road, could make a run for the presidency.
To maintain this strongman act, Bassil is boldly demanding most of the senior Christian bureaucratic appointments, something Hariri cannot easily concede to without losing his other Christian allies, specifically the Lebanese Forces.
Hariri is using the standoff with Bassil to respond to his many critics who warned that allowing Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Bassil to infringe on his constitutional prerogatives would weaken his position.
More important, the spat between Hariri and Bassil coincided with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Lebanon, during which he put further pressure on Beirut to cooperate with US sanctions on Iran and its affiliates, chief among them Hezbollah.
Yet this supposed theatrical act of disagreement between Hariri and Bassil will neither exonerate the Lebanese government nor exempt it from assuming responsibility and cooperating with the US sanctions, no matter how harsh and injurious they may be on Iran and Hezbollah.
The differences between Hariri and Bassil will not protect Lebanon from its predicament because Pompeo and his administration have one sole agenda: containing Iran.
Regardless of how the Hariri-Bassil dispute plays out, the socio-economic and political challenges facing the government will require a better understanding of local and regional constraints and, above all, a revamp of the entire Lebanese governing structure.
The Hariri-Bassil war of words could momentarily divert attention but the resumption of their accord will directly result in them sharing what remains of the state’s meagre resources.
*Makram Rabah is a lecturer at the American University of Beirut, Department of History. He is the author of A Campus at War: Student Politics at the American University of Beirut, 1967-1975.

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on March 25-26/2019
Trump Declares 'Complete Exoneration' after Mueller Finds No Collusion
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 25/19/U.S. President Donald Trump declared Sunday that he had been completely exonerated after his campaign was cleared of colluding with Russia in the 2016 election, in a major boost for his re-election hopes. The long-awaited final report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Moscow's election meddling concluded that no member or associate of the campaign conspired or coordinated with Russia in its plot to boost Trump in the vote more than two years ago. While the Mueller report did not exonerate the president of obstruction of justice, Attorney General Bill Barr's letter to Congress summarizing the still-secret document cleared a dark cloud that had hung over the Trump's legitimacy since he took office in January 2017. "There was no collusion with Russia. There was no obstruction. It was a complete and total exoneration," Trump said of Mueller's conclusions.
"It's a shame that the country had to go through this," he added. "This was an illegal takedown that failed."Deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said Trump was "in a really good mood" and "very happy with how it all turned out."Gidley said the president watched television, talked to staff and made calls during his flight home from Florida.
No collusion with Russians
Summarizing Mueller's findings, Barr said no Trump campaign official was involved in Russian conspiracies in 2016 to hack Democratic computers and flood social media with disinformation to harm Trump's Democratic election rival Hillary Clinton. He also said there were no new surprises coming from the Mueller team, which is disbanding -- no further indictments being referred, and no sealed indictments outstanding. On the other hand, according to Barr's letter, Mueller clearly had some evidence to support an obstruction case, but was uncertain whether it was enough to support criminal charges. "While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," Barr cited Mueller as saying. Democrats in Congress are now certain to demand Mueller's underlying evidence and push to investigate further. "It is unacceptable that, after Special Counsel Mueller spent 22 months meticulously uncovering this evidence, Attorney General Barr made a decision not to charge the President in under 48 hours," the Democratic chairs of the House Judiciary, Intelligence and Oversight committees said in a joint statement. "His unsolicited, open memorandum to the Department of Justice, suggesting that the obstruction investigation was 'fatally misconceived,' calls into question his objectivity on this point in particular."
Door opened for strong 2020 bid
A major barrier for Trump's re-election in 2020 lifted just as a strong field of potential Democratic candidates was forming to select who would take him on. Trump for two years has labeled the investigation a "witch hunt," even as Mueller's team issued charges ranging from conspiracy to lying to investigators against 34 individuals. Six of those were former insiders in Trump's circle, and five have been convicted, including Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen, his national security adviser Michael Flynn and his campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes including, at Trump's alleged instruction, using campaign funds for hush payments to an adult film star who allegedly had an affair with Trump. And Manafort was imprisoned for 7.5 years, though mostly for crimes unrelated to the campaign. The unending probe saw Trump frequently angrily attacking Mueller -- one of the most respected members of Washington's judicial and prosecutorial elite -- and at times appeared to throw his policy momentum off course. For months, the White House worried that Mueller was honing in on Trump's family, including son Don Jr and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as the president himself. And it also left questions in the minds of many of Trump's supporters, who will now likely unite around his declaration of "complete exoneration."White House adviser Kellyanne Conway tweeted "congratulations" to her boss. "Today you won the 2016 election all over again. And got a gift for the 2020 election," she tweeted."They'll never get you because they'll never 'get' you."
Investigations move to Congress
But the end of Mueller's operation did not leave Trump's White House in the clear. Democrats in Congress are already conducting some 17 investigations of the administration, spreading their net far more broadly than Mueller's relatively narrow mandate. They want the full Mueller report and are demanding the underlying evidence supporting his conclusions. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Barr's summary of the Mueller findings "raises as many questions as it answers." "The fact that Special Counsel Mueller's report does not exonerate the president on a charge as serious as obstruction of justice demonstrates how urgent it is that the full report and underlying documentation be made public without any further delay," they said. Democrat Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that he would be calling Barr to testify in the near future.
"Special Counsel Mueller clearly and explicitly is not exonerating the president, and we must hear from AG Barr about his decision making and see all the underlying evidence for the American people to know all the facts," Nadler said.

Trump Signs Decree Recognizing Golan Heights as Israeli Territory
Agencies/Monday 25th March 2019/U.S President Donald Trump on Monday signed a decree recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. “This was a long time in the making," Trump said as he was signing the order alongside Netanyahu in the White House. "Today, aggressive action by Iran and terrorist groups in southern Syria, including Hezbollah, continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks against Israel - very violent attacks," Trump said. "This should have been done numerous presidents ago."After signing, Trump handed his pen to Netanyahu and said: "Give this to the people of Israel". Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war, and unilaterally annexed the area in 1981; a move that wasn't recognized internationally. Syria said that the move makes Washington “the main enemy” of Arabs, deeming the recognition decision as a “slap” to the international community. The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the decision is a “blatant aggression” on its sovereignty and territorial integrity, blasting it as the “highest level of contempt for international legitimacy.”Lebanon's Foreign Ministry warned that Trump's decision to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory undermines any efforts to reach a fair peace in the region, adding that said area is "Syrian Arab". “No country can falsify history by transferring land from one country to another," the ministry said in a statement. The U.N. Security Council also condemned the U.S. move, adding that Israel's attempt to “impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect.”United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “clear that the status of Golan has not changed,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, stressing that the policy is reflected in the relevant resolutions of the Security Council.

Canadian Statement on the Golan Heights
March 25, 2019 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
Global Affairs Canada today issued the following statement:
“In accordance with international law, Canada does not recognize permanent Israeli control over the Golan Heights. Canada’s long-standing position remains unchanged. “Annexation of territory by force is prohibited under international law. Any declaration of a unilateral border change goes against the foundation of the rules-based international order.“Canada is a steadfast friend of Israel. We stand with Israel and support Israel’s right to live in peace and security with its neighbours.”

Seven Injured In Rocket Fire, Netanyahu Says Will Respond With Force
Jerusalem Post/March 25/19
A rocket hit a private home in Moshav Mishmeret in the Kfar Saba region early Monday morning, injuring seven people, all of whom were evacuated to Meir Hospital.
amas officials have said that the rocket which struck a home in central Israel injuring seven civilians was fired from the Gaza Strip by mistake, Israeli media reported Monday morning. According to the reports after the long-range J-80 rocket was fired by Hamas operatives by mistake, the group evacuated positions across the coastal enclave in anticipation for an Israeli retaliation. Meanwhile Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nahaleh warned Israel against any retaliatory strikes, saying "we warn the enemy against any aggression on the Gaza Strip. Its leaders must understand that we will respond strongly to any aggression.”Seven people were injured Monday morning the rocket launched from the Gaza Strip struck a private home in central Israel, the third long-range rocket fired from the Hamas-run enclave in two weeks.
The attack triggered Code Red incoming rocket sirens at around 5:20 a.m. throughout the Sharon and Emek Hefer regions and a loud explosion was heard after the rocket struck the home in the community of Mishmeret north of Kfar Saba. The strike set off a fire in the home, destroying it completely.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon visited the house where the rocket landed and said that "'The bomb shelter saved the life of my family.' This is what the father of the family said to me and that is a message to all the residents of Israel, as soon as you hear an alarm - go to the bomb shelter. I do not wish anyone to go through such an event, but if there is an alarm, do not be lazy and go to the bomb shelter."
Magen David Adom rescue services said that seven people, including two children and an infant, were treated for wounds and evacuated to Meir Hospital. Of those injured, a woman in her 60s was in moderate condition suffering from blast injuries, minor burns and shrapnel wounds and a woman in her 30s was in moderate condition with shrapnel injuries. Two men aged 60 and 30 as well as a girl aged 12, a 3 year-old boy and a 18 month-old infant, were lightly injured. Several neighbors are being treated for shock and four dogs were found dead on site.
The Israeli military said that it had identified the launch of one rocket from the Gaza Strip, some 100 kilometers away from where it struck. The Iron Dome missile defense system had not been activated.
Following the attack Israel decided to close the Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings as well as well reduce the permitted fishing area off the coast of the Gaza Strip until further notice.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in Washington, held a telephone consultation with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi,the head of the Shin Bet Nadav Argaman, National Security Council Director Meir Ben-Shabbat and other senior security officials . "I spoke to the IDF Chief of Staff, head of the Shin Bet and head of Intelligence and that he sees this as a criminal act against the State of Israel,” he said, adding that he has cut his trip to the US short and return to “manage our operations up close.”
Netanyahu is set to meet with US President Donald Trump and will return to Israel after his meeting. He has cancelled his speech at the AIPAC Policy Conference. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin revealed that "I have two granddaughters and a grandson who live in one of the communities in the area and this morning I told them to go to school and kindergarten as normal and that everything was OK.”"We will not allow this wicked terrorism to shake us,” Rivlin exclaimed. Benny Gantz, the Head of the Blue and White Party and Netanyahu’s main opponent, called on Netanyahu to deal with the crisis and not his personal issues.
Gantz tweeted that "those who do not respond with force and instead [pay] Hamas, dismiss attacks on the citizens of the south, and scorn the attack on Tel Aviv, now get rockets in the Hasharon region." "Will he now, as well, be satisfied with Hamas's claim of an error or will he finally focus on the security of the citizens of the state and not on his legal issues?" Gantz continued. "I wish the wounded a speedy recovery." The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Major General Kamil Abu Rukun, announced Monday the closure of the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings, as well as the reduction of the fishing area in the Gaza Strip until further notice. Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon tweeted, "This is a deliberate and dangerous act of aggression by Palestinian terrorists, encouraged no doubt by the complacency of @UNHumanRights . We will not allow this!
European Union Ambassador to Israel Emanuele Giaufret tweeted, "Following with grave concern developments after a family home was destroyed in Moshav Mishmeret in central Israel by a rocket from Gaza. Wishing early recovery to those wounded. Indiscriminate targeting of civilians unacceptable."
The attack comes as tensions run high with the Gaza Strip ahead of Land Day and the one year anniversary marking the beginning of the Great Return March border riots. In recent weeks the rioting has increased in violence, with violent night-time riots and dozens of incendiary and explosive balloons flown into southern Israel. Domestically Hamas is also facing protests by local Gazans who are rising up against the worsening humanitarian conditions in the blockaded enclave. Also on Sunday night a riot in the Kzt’iot prison left two corrections officers and dozens of Hamas members wounded.
The rocket attack came 10 days after two rockets were fired at Tel Aviv by Hamas, the first time since the 2014 war. One of the rockets struck an open area in the city of Holon just south of Israel’s financial capital. The Israeli army retaliated by striking some 100 targets across the Hamas-run coastal enclave.
The army said that the rockets were likely fired towards Tel Aviv by mistake.

Gaza Rocket Destroys House near Tel Aviv, Netanyahu Cuts Short U.S. Trip
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 25/19/A rocket from Gaza hit a house in a rare strike north of Tel Aviv on Monday, wounding seven Israelis and leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short a Washington trip while vowing a forceful response. The rocket from the Palestinian enclave and expected Israeli response come at a highly sensitive time just ahead of Israel's April 9 elections. Israel's army said the rocket was fired by Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, from the Rafah area in the south of the territory. A Hamas official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, denied the group was behind the rocket, evoking the possibility it was caused by "bad weather." The official said the same message had been passed to Egypt, which has acted as mediator between Israel and Hamas. Egypt was working to head off severe Israeli retaliation, the official said. Israel however made it clear it was preparing a firm response, announcing it was sending two additional brigades to reinforce the Gaza area and carrying out a limited call up of reservists. Israeli roads near the Gaza Strip were closed and farming activities in the area were halted. Netanyahu, currently in Washington, said he would return home after meeting US President Donald Trump later Monday, cancelling an address to pro-Israel lobby AIPAC's annual conference on Tuesday. Israel also closed its people and goods crossings with the blockaded Gaza Strip and reduced the zone in the Mediterranean it allows for Palestinian fishermen off the enclave, a statement said. The house hit was located in the community of Mishmeret, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Tel Aviv, police said. The rocket would have had to travel some 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Rafah to hit there. Rocket fire from Gaza at that distance is rare. The hospital treating the wounded said seven Israelis were injured lightly by burns and shrapnel, including three children. One of the wounded was a six-month-old child and six of them were members of the same British-Israeli family. The house was destroyed in the wake of the rocket and subsequent fire, with burnt wood, a children's toy and other debris piled at the site.
Islamic Jihad warning
Police spokesman Ami Ben David said air raid sirens wailed at around 5:15 am and the home's residents made their way to a safe room, possibly saving their lives. The rocket crashed through the roof and then exploded when it hit the floor, he said. "I woke up hearing the sound of the explosion," said neighbor Yuval Katz Lass, 18. "People were shocked and panicked."Netanyahu said "there has been a criminal attack on the state of Israel and we will respond with force." Hamas's ally in Gaza, Islamic Jihad, warned in a statement it would respond to any "aggression," without commenting on who may have been responsible for the rocket. The rocket comes after mounting tensions in recent weeks. Netanyahu is believed by many analysts to want to avoid another war in Gaza -- the fourth since 2008 -- with unpredictable results ahead of the elections. But he faces a tough challenge from a centrist political alliance led by former military chief Benny Gantz and came under pressure to react firmly. Gantz asked on Twitter, referring to corruption allegations against Netanyahu, whether the prime minister would "finally focus on the security of the citizens of Israel instead of dealing only with his legal concerns."
One-year anniversary
Monday's incident comes after two rockets were fired from Gaza towards Tel Aviv -- also rare -- on March 14. No damage or injuries were caused, but Israel responded to that and further rocket fire by hitting what it said were around 100 Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip. Four Palestinians were reported wounded in those strikes. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad denied they were behind the March 14 rocket fire towards Tel Aviv, raising the possibility they were launched by fringe groups. Israel's military said they were launched by Hamas, but later there were Israeli media reports that the army's preliminary assessment was that they had been fired by mistake during maintenance work.The reports were a sign that Israel was seeking to calm tensions. The military refused to comment on the reports at the time. Israel did not appear willing to accept such an explanation for Monday's rocket. The incident also comes just days ahead of the first anniversary on March 30 of Palestinian protests and clashes along the Gaza Strip's border with Israel. An informal truce between Hamas and Israel had led to relative calm along the border, but recent weeks have seen another uptick in violence. Netanyahu's visit to the United States was expected to include Trump's formal recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. Breaking with longstanding international consensus, Trump said last week the United States should recognize Israeli sovereignty there.

Hamas says ceasefire reached with Israel after severe escalation
AFP, GazaTuesday, 26 March 2019/Hamas said it has reached an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel after a severe exchange of fire on Monday, only two weeks before the Israeli elections. “Egyptian efforts succeeded with a ceasefire between the occupation and the resistance factions,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said. Israel has yet to comment on the claim. Israel launched air strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip and deployed extra troops to the border on Monday, promising a strong response to the longest-range Palestinian rocket attack to cause casualties in years.
Dozens of explosions rocked the coastal enclave and ambulance sirens echoed through the night. In one Gaza neighborhood, people rushed to buy bread in anticipation of a long escalation. The office of Islamist movement Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh was one of the initial targets hit, although he was likely to have been evacuated in advance.(With Reuters)

Israel launches strikes on Hamas in Gaza
ReutersMonday, 25 March 2019 /The Israeli military said on Monday it had begun carrying out strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, hours after a Palestinian rocket hit a house near Tel Aviv. Reuters witnesses heard explosions in Gaza. The military said in a statement that it had "begun striking Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip."One position hit was a Hamas naval position west of Gaza City, while another was a large Hamas training camp in northern Gaza, Palestinian security officials and Hamas media outlets said. Both positions were likely to have been evacuated, as Hamas had hours of notice that Israeli strikes were coming. Witnesses said three missiles hit the northern target. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised a strong response to the rocket attack earlier in the day that injured seven Israelis.

Abbas: Trump Reneged On Two-State Solution, NATO Deployment
Ramallah- Kifah Zboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 March, 2019/US President Donald Trump agreed to deploy NATO forces in Palestine, revealed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. During their fourth meeting in New York in December 2017, Trump expressed his support for the idea of the two-state solution, indicating that he would publicly announce his decision within a week. "What we want is our independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital with the 1967 borders, with an agreement on the outstanding issues we discussed with the Israelis in the Oslo accords," Abbas told a group of Harvard University students who visited him at the Presidential palace. Abbas asserted that Palestinian people want to achieve their rights and their state through peaceful means, which is through negotiations, "and we will not choose any way to achieve our rights other than negotiations.”He reiterated that Palestinian will always extend their hand to the Israeli government chosen by the Israeli people to negotiate on the bases put by the international organization. “We are now facing three major issues or problems, namely with the US administration. We consider the US a great and democratic nation and believe in freedom and justice for all. We wanted Washington to be the judge after we signed the Oslo agreement, however, nothing has happened so far.”He explained how during their last meeting, Abbas asked Trump about the two-state solution and the US President asserted he was in favor of that. “I told Trump that if Israel was concerned about its security situation, I would recommend stationing NATO troops in Palestine in order to defend Israel and ensure our security.”Trump asked one of his advisers who said that about 6,000 troops could be allocated for the task. “I told him, Mr. President, I do not believe in war. I believe that if we get our state I will prefer to build a school than to buy a tank, I would rather build a hospital than a fighter plane. I don’t want weapons, I want to build a state.” At that point, Abbas said, Trump looked at him and said, “How is it that people say you are a terrorist? You are a man of peace.”Two weeks after the meeting, Trump announced his intention to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, along with the cutting off of US funds to UNWRA, which consequently led to breaking off relations between the PA and the US, Abbas said. Trump also gave his permission for establishing settlements on Palestinian territories, and the Palestinian authorities responded by saying it refused to talk with the US administration in light of its policy. Abbas asserted that the PA was willing to review their decision if Trump did not transfer the embassy, asserting East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and calling upon the US President to reconsider the decision. “Mr. Trump. You are not the ruler of the world. There are international laws and regulations. If you want to manage this issue, you must abide by international legitimacy... Can anyone of us say that Alaska is not US state, but Russian?”President Abbas concluded by saying: “we are a state under occupation, but we have dignity and we seek international justice, and this is our position with US."

Egypt, Jordan, Iraq Agree on ‘Strategic Cooperation’ to Restore Regional Stability
Cairo- Sawsan Abu Hussein/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 March, 2019/Egyptian President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah II, and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi affirmed on Sunday during their three-way summit in Cairo their commitment to maintaining strategic cooperation and coordination with Arab countries to restore regional stability and reach solutions to crises. In a joint communiqué issued after the summit, the three countries called on regional and international efforts to counter terrorism within a holistic approach. The leaders emphasized the importance of combatting terrorism in all its forms and confronting everyone supporting terrorism by offering financing, armament, safe shelters, or media platforms, according to the communiqué. They also stressed on the importance to end "the all-out battle" against terrorism, particularly after recent military setbacks suffered by ISIS in Iraq and neighboring Syria. The meeting also covered the importance of capitalizing on the potential of the three countries' geographical connectivity and their joint strategic and economic interests. Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan also noted the importance of supporting the Palestinian people in securing all their legitimate rights, including the right to an independent state on their national soil with East Jerusalem as its capital, in line with international laws and relevant UN resolutions. The three countries agreed to hold regular trilateral meetings to coordinate their positions and policies in the best interests of their peoples and in the pursuit of economic prosperity, while cooperating with fraternal and friendly states and building balanced international relations. Sunday’s meeting in Cairo comes ahead of the annual Arab League summit due to be held later this month in Tunisia. The three leaders hoped the upcoming Arab summit in Tunisia would lead to restoring Arab solidarity and bolstering joint action within the framework of the Arab League. Ahead of the summit, Sisi and King Abdullah held talks focused on the advanced level of Jordanian-Egyptian ties and means to bolster economic and investment cooperation, as well as to maintain coordination on various issues.

Jordan King Cancels Romania Trip Over Jerusalem Declaration
Amman- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 March, 2019/Jordan's King Abdullah II has canceled a visit to Romania to protest its prime minister's support for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The Royal Hashemite Court said Monday that the king "decided to cancel his visit to Romania which was due to begin on Monday in solidarity with Jerusalem" following the announcement by Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. Abdullah was scheduled to visit Romania later in the day. Dancila's promise, made on Sunday at the annual conference of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC in Washington, broke with the position of both the European Union and her own president. "I, as prime minister of Romania, and the government that I run, will move our embassy to Jerusalem," said Dancila, whose country holds the EU's rotating chairmanship. The move would align Romania with the United States which moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last year, sparking international criticism and Palestinian and Arab anger. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, a rival who's in charge of the East European nation's foreign policy, said the prime minister hadn't consulted with him over the decision. He has said that in any case, such a shift would require presidential approval. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital. Palestinians seek east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as their capital. International consensus holds that the status of Jerusalem -- one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- must first be decided through negotiations between the two sides. King Abdullah, whose country is the custodian of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, has repeatedly said that the question of Jerusalem is key to achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The only way to do that, he has said, is by creating a Palestinian state in the disputed holy city alongside Israel. Last week he called Jerusalem a "red line" for Jordan, while the kingdom's parliament recommended that the government expel Israel's ambassador in response to "Israeli aggression" at holy sites in the city.

Report: Pompeo Says Refugee Return Premature, U.S. Rejects Naturalization
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 25/19/The time for returning Syrian refugees to their country has not come yet and the United States is not seeking to naturalize them in the neighboring countries, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly said during his visit to Lebanon. “The Syrian refugee return must be safe and voluntary, in line with the U.N. Charter which we should respect and abide by in dealing with this file,” politicians who met Pompeo during a dinner hosted by MP Michel Mouawad quoted the U.S. official as saying. “But we will not be an obstacle in the way of voluntary return from Lebanon by refugees willing to do so, because we understand the financial burdens that it is shouldering as a result of hosting them, despite the international community’s support,” the politicians quoted Pompeo as saying in remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper published Monday. “The time for a safe and voluntary return has not come yet and its obligatory gateway lies in finding a political solution to the war in Syria, and accordingly it is unacceptable to explain our stance in a way that we are turning a blind eye to their naturalization in Lebanon, seeing as this is something rejected,” the top U.S. diplomat was quoted as saying. “We don’t intend to undermine the special characteristics of this country, which cannot withstand any flaw in the sectarian balance,” Pompeo added, according to the Lebanese politicians.In an interview with Lebanon’s MTV, Pompeo said Saturday that the possibility of coordinating with Damascus on returning the refugees is “a decision for the Lebanese leaders to make.”

France Bans Iran's Mahan Air
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 March, 2019/France has revoked the license of Mahan Air, Iran's second-largest carrier, from April 1 as a result of its activities outside Europe, three French officials said on Monday. The decision, which follows a similar German move in January, was made on the grounds of the airline transporting military equipment and personnel to Syria and other Middle East war zones, two diplomatic sources told Reuters. "Mahan Air can no longer serve French territory as of April 1," a French Foreign Ministry official said.
On January 21, Berlin banned the Iranian airline from its airports, giving both safety concerns and the suspicion that the company was being used for military purposes as reasons. Mahan Air was blacklisted by the US in 2011, as Washington said the carrier was providing technical and material support to an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards known as the Quds Force.

Suicide Bombers, Rockets: The Last Days of the IS 'Caliphate'
Suicide bombers, snipers, rockets -- Islamic State group fighters did everything they could to defend their last scrap of territory in eastern Syria, but their diminished resources were not enough. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday declared victory over the jihadists in the remote village of Baghouz, after reducing their once terrifying proto-state to a ghostly riverside camp. From the top of an abandoned building overlooking the devastated encampment, SDF fighter Hamid Abdel Aal points to an earth berm half way to the Euphrates River. "We arrived at night. We were there at that barricade," says the man in his thirties, a checkered green scarf wrapped around his jet black hair. "In the morning, they attacked. They had snipers shooting at us," he says, a large yellow flag of the Kurdish-led SDF billowing behind him after their victory. For four hours, the jihadists fought back, he said. But in the end, they retreated to the reedy river edges. "Eight of them blew themselves up. Others handed themselves over," says Abdel Aal, who has been fighting with the Kurdish-led SDF since 2016. Abdel Aal, who hails from the northeastern Kurdish province of Hassakeh, shows off war scars acquired in years of battle.
On his right side is a gunshot wound sustained during the battle for the jihadists' former de-facto Syrian capital of Raqa, on his neck a scar from a mine explosion.
'Hiding in tunnels'
Another fighter named Omar, a slim 31-year-old wearing a mismatching uniform, also recalls the past days of battle. Even as SDF forces advanced backed by the air strikes of a U.S.-led coalition, the jihadists "would attack sporadically", he says. "Suicide bombers would leap out of tunnels. Most were foreigners -- from Kazakhstan, France, Saudi Arabia and Iraq."There was a time when the jihadists injected fear and claimed deadly attacks across the Middle East and beyond. After declaring a "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq in 2014, they ruled over millions in territory the size of the United Kingdom. But in the previously unheard of village of Baghouz, the group's fighters have emerged from tunnels and caves in the rocky hillside to surrender. On Sunday, AFP reporters saw dozens of people -- mostly bearded men in heavy woollen tunics, some with their faces concealed in a scarf -- trudge out of the battered camp.
"They were hiding under the hill or in tunnels," Omar says. "It's normal. At any time, you can see them emerge from a trench," says the father of three girls and a boy, who has also fought the jihadists on other fronts.
'Tom and Jerry'
"The battles used to be more ferocious," Omar says. "They used to be at the peak of their force. They used car bombs, heavy artillery, drones, and planted explosive devices in homes," he says. At the height of their rule, IS collected taxes and stamped their own coins. Now all that remains of their "caliphate" are charred vehicles, plastic basins, the odd gas stove, and blankets or sheets thrown over hastily dug-out trenches. Two dead bodies, a blue plastic water can stuffed with explosives, and a book in the Cyrillic alphabet lie in the ruins. "Until the end, they had rocket-launchers. They would shoot at our cars from afar," says SDF fighter Hisham Haroun, a gun in its holster slung over his shoulder. "They were strong, but it wasn't the IS strength of yonder years," says the stocky combatant with grey eyes, a military cap on his head. "When we started fighting IS, they had combat expertise, military strategies," he says, a walkie-talkie clipped into his pocket. "But towards the end, it was like Tom and Jerry -- like a mouse in a corner," he adds. "It no longer has a way out from the cat."

Romania, Honduras recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
The Associated Press, Jerusalem/Monday, 25 March 2019/The leaders of Romania and Honduras on Sunday announced that they will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, following the lead of US President Donald Trump. Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez delivered their announcements at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference in Washington. The announcements were welcomed by Israeli politicians. However, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, a government rival who’s in charge of the East European nation’s foreign policy, said the prime minister hadn’t consulted with him over the decision. He accused her of “total ignorance” of foreign policy. The move is considered controversial as it goes against the rest of the European Union. Romania currently holds the bloc’s rotating presidency. Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US Embassy to the city, a move that was applauded by Israel. Guatemala followed suit. The move angered the Palestinians, who seek east Jerusalem as capital of a future state. Most countries have embassies in Tel Aviv out of sensitivity over the contested city. The Palestinians, and most of the international community, say the city’s final status should be resolved in negotiations.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 25-26/2019
Gaza ‘We Want to Live’ protests rattle Hamas
Yousef Alhelou/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Hamas’s violent crackdown on protests drew condemnation from local and international rights groups.
LONDON - Mass demonstrations decrying dire humanitarian and economic conditions in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have drawn a heavy-handed response from security authorities in the Palestinian conclave while posing the most serious challenge to Hamas in 12 years.
Many of the protesters were young people responding to an online campaign known as the March 14 movement, which raised the slogan “Bedna Neesh” (“We Want to Live”).
Gaza has never seen such large-scale protests directed at Hamas’s decision to increase prices and taxes on goods. Protesters burned tyres in the streets, shouted anti-Hamas slogans and threw stones at security forces.
Hamas security forces fired shots into the air and at protesters, which injured some demonstrators. Houses in numerous locations throughout the tiny strip were stormed by security forces carrying guns and batons.
Dozens of people have been arrested and many members of the same family were taken to unknown detention centres for interrogation. Among those attacked, detained and beaten were journalists and staff members of the Independent Commission for Human Rights.
Hamas was accused by Fatah of hospitalising its spokesman in Gaza, Atef Abu Seif, after he was beaten by unknown assailants. Hamas denied involvement in the beating and ordered an investigation into the assault.
The images of injured Gazans, including children and women, were shared on social media, causing a widespread uproar, even among Hamas affiliates and supporters.
Palestinian activists said their protests were peaceful and their demands legitimate. They called for improving living conditions, creating jobs and abandoning favouritism for Hamas members in Gaza. Some protesters called on Hamas to relinquish power in Gaza if it is unable or unwilling to fulfil those demands.
Hamas’s violent crackdown on protests drew condemnation from local and international rights groups.
“The crackdown on freedom of expression and the use of torture in Gaza has reached alarming new levels. Over the past few days, we have seen shocking human rights violations carried out by Hamas security forces against peaceful protesters, journalists and rights workers,” said Saleh Higazi, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International.
“The Hamas de facto administration must immediately launch an independent, thorough and transparent investigation into the unnecessary and excessive use of force, arbitrary arrest and detention and torture and other ill-treatment by security forces. Where there is sufficient admissible evidence, suspected perpetrators should be prosecuted in fair trials,” he added.
“The authorities in Gaza have a duty to ensure that journalists and human rights defenders are free to carry out their work without threat, intimidation or abuse. Failure to protect such activities and deliberate interference in their work is a flagrant violation of international law.”
Hamas’s actions were also criticised by the United Nations. “I strongly condemn the campaign of arrests and violence used by Hamas security forces against protesters, including women and children,” stated UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov.
“The long-suffering people of Gaza were protesting the dire economic situation and demanded an improvement to the quality of life in the Gaza Strip. It is their right to protest without fear of reprisal.”
Hamas claimed that the demonstrations were sponsored by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA), headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, to destabilise security and create chaos in Gaza.
“Fatah cut thousands of salaries of civil employees as part of Abbas’s punitive measures on Gaza to cause more suffering and anger against Hamas. This situation enables PA officials to blackmail the vulnerable if they want their salaries back,” said Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Eyad al-Buzom.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation, which includes Fatah and other secular and leftist political factions, issued a statement supporting the protest movement and called on Hamas to stop “all forms of suppression.” Some PA officials urged demonstrators to carry on and end Hamas’s rule.
Hamas alleged that some protesters were acting on orders from the Israeli intelligence service.
Israeli political and military officials praised the protests on social media. Observers said Israel did not want to retaliate to renewed rocket fire from Gaza with full-blown military action so as not to distract the protesters.
Regardless of Fatah’s or the Israelis’ encouragement, the protests appear to stem from genuine Palestinian discontent in Gaza with Hamas’s policies.
Ramzai Herzallah, a promoter of the protests who is based in Brussels, said that although Fatah has sought to hijack the demonstrations, a move he said he objects to, the protesters’ demands were valid.
“We have legitimate demands. Gaza is a pressure cooker as a result of the miseries inflicted by the Israeli siege and mismanagement of Hamas,” said Herzallah.
While maintaining that Fatah was behind the protests, Hamas issued a statement promising to investigate alleged abuses by its security forces and apologised for any misconduct. Rights activists, however, weren’t convinced.
“Hamas’s apology statement is not enough, its security forces must compensate the victims,” said Mustafa Ibrahim, a member of the Palestinian Independent Commission of Human Rights.
Although Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006, many Palestinians are saying it is time for new elections. They blame both Hamas and Fatah for Palestinian division and the failure to come up with a united front to face the Israeli occupation.
*Yousef Alhelou is a Palestinian journalist living in London. You can follow him on Twitter: @YousefAlhelou

Experts debate Arab world’s priorities on eve of summit
Lamine Ghanmi/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
The many challenges Arabs face domestically should dictate a new perspective on regional cooperation.
TUNIS - Tunisia will soon host the 30th Arab League summit, although reaching a consensus on a common “Arab system” at the meetings is likely to prove elusive.
Arab leaders, who are to gather March 31 in Tunis, will attempt to shape an architecture of pan-Arab solidarity often referred to as the “Arab system.”
Arab experts, who met two weeks before the summit, noted that the Arab region is more divided than it has been since the creation of the Arab League 75 years ago.
Diplomatic figures and experts from the Arab region attended a conference organised by the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies, a presidency-affiliated think-tank, to discuss “Challenges to Common Arab Action Amid Regional and International Changes.”
Participants described an Arab world at a loss in imposing its priorities and interests while non-Arab regional powers, such as Iran, Turkey and Israel, threaten the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Arab world.
The Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki said “the pressures of regional powers are unprecedented.”
“The intervention of Turkey is becoming permanent and open. The Turks are giving no attention to the requirements of good neighbourhood,” he added.
Zaki said Tehran’s intervention in Syria and Iraq is part of its “proxy wars with the West.”
Along with Russia’s role, encroachment by Turkey and Iran is expected to determine the future of Syria and influence how the Arab summit handles the possible readmission of Syria to the Arab League. The decision is likely to hinge on an Arab consensus that looks difficult to achieve.
The summit is expected to recommit to the Palestinian cause and take notice that US President Donald Trump’s peace plan has been late in coming, reflecting the Arab world’s receding influence in the world. His shift to Israeli position legitimising annexation of the Golan issue will add to the same impression.
Mahmoud Khemiri, a senior Tunisian Foreign Ministry official, said “the system of Arab action has yet to rise to the level of dealing with current challenges as conflicts in the region are being dealt with from outside the Arab framework.”
Conference participants warned that populist anti-liberal forces in the West would not be short-lived political and social phenomena but could herald wider upheaval in the global order. They said such trends could affect Arab issues, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, and relations between the Arab world and the West. Former Tunisian Ambassador Mohamed Ibrahim Hsairi said: “The world is experiencing a phase of deep changes with new structure and trends. The Arab world should not be absent or sidelined. The region must participate in this reconstruction of international relations.”
Experts said they deplored the “loss of hope” among Arabs that their governments would reduce divisions and “nationalistic insularity” to overcome aftershocks of the “Arab spring,” which have left Syria in ruins, Yemen in war and Libya in utter chaos.
The many challenges Arabs face domestically should dictate a new perspective on regional cooperation. Iraqi expert Darem al-Bassam said Arabs must step up changes at home in education, technology and economic diversification to be part of the world’s “chains of values” and develop political systems that anticipate changes and prevent instability.
“The region is in a state of confusion and stagnation despite the progress made in mass education and poverty alleviation,” said former Tunisian Minister of Culture Mongi Bousnina.
“We must move fast in quality education to control technology and break with cultural backwardness and possess thinking and political processes that elevate our contribution in the world of culture, science and creation.”
*Lamine Ghanmi is a veteran Reuters journalist. He has covered North Africa for decades and is based in Tunis.

Hamas refuses to acknowledge its bankruptcy in Gaza
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Hamas knows nothing but murder to avoid acknowledging that it has gone bankrupt.
The crackdown on protesters in the Gaza Strip reflects the state of bankruptcy of the “Islamic Emirate” set up by Hamas in that part of the Palestinian territories.
It also reveals the intellectual bankruptcy of the Muslim Brotherhood, which does not know the first thing about politics, economics or education and is not interested in cultivating civilised facets of the Palestinian people.
Authorities in Ramallah cannot be absolved of their share of responsibility in the deterioration of the situation in Gaza either, given their disregard for Hamas and its role since before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas succeeded Yasser Arafat in 2005.
Arafat never accorded the situation in Gaza the attention it deserved, despite being aware of Hamas’s intentions since he entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing in the summer of 1994.
Arafat knew how dangerous Hamas could be but he opted not to take radical measures. This was the way he also dealt with other Palestinian factions.
The people of Gaza are paying the price of Arafat’s silence on Hamas’s behaviour and of allowing Hamas to spread weapons and chaos in the post-Oslo Accords era.
He was convinced that any intra-Palestinian conflict must be avoided, even though he said in private that Israel was behind Hamas’s creation for the purpose of finding an alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
In the absence of any clear political vision regarding Hamas by the Palestinian National Authority, Hamas was employed to strike down the Palestinian nationalist programme. After the 1993 Oslo Accords, Hamas did everything that was required of it to do so there would not be any kind of peace process left.
There are those who say Israel never wanted any kind of settlement with the Palestinians, especially when it comes to establishing a Palestinian state, but was there any justification for the suicide bombings that provided excuses and conditions for the Israeli society to veer in the direction of rejecting peace?
Because of Hamas and its actions, the competition in Israel is not between those who believe in the peace process and those who reject it but between just those who want to hold on more dearly to the occupation of Jerusalem and the West Bank.
There are three turning points that contributed to the state of affairs in the Gaza Strip. The first has to do with the chaos caused by the introduction of weapons in the strip. The second is the Israeli withdrawal from the strip in August 2005. The third was the 2007 coup in which Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip. The common thread between those three points is the Muslim Brotherhood’s lust for power. Hamas took advantage of the power vacuum after Arafat’s death in November 2004. It became the only player in Gaza at a time when Israel had no objections to this, insofar as the Palestinian Authority was unable to shoulder its responsibilities.
Then Iran entered the fray and Hamas was no longer just a local player. It acquired a new role — pushing Israel to become more extremist and meddling in Egyptian internal affairs. In the last years of the Hosni Mubarak era, Hamas had a direct effect in Egypt. It is no secret that Hamas played a role in the release of prisoners belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood at the end of the Mubarak era.
Each phase of Hamas’s direct rule of Gaza was characterised by the absence of political or economic projects for the strip and its inhabitants. No one knows why rockets were fired from Gaza into Israeli territory when even a child is aware that Israel is capable of razing entire neighbourhoods on the heads of the poor Gazans.
Hamas has always been a tool of foreign entities. Evidence for this is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s attempt to transform himself into an Islamic hero in claiming to break the blockade on Gaza by sending in 2010 a flotilla of Turkish ships carrying food. Israel’s response was to raid the flotilla, killing civilians on board and the blockade continued in the absence of any international attention to the fate of the Gazans.
When a movement such as Hamas occupies Gaza and imposes a system that does not promise any way out for its people, it seems more than natural that a day will come when ordinary people looking and hoping for a better life will revolt.
The Palestinians know there is no future for them under Hamas. Hamas could not find any way to respond to the protests other than repression. The movement used fatwas by clerics such as Yunis al-Astal, who incited the killing of those participating in the demonstrations against power outages.
Yes, there is someone encouraging the killing of Gazans on the premise that Hamas represents Islam and going against Hamas means disobeying Islam.
Is there a bankruptcy greater than the one shown by a movement that says it has solutions for everything? Hamas has found out that all it can do is invest in more misery for Gazans, thus providing everything that Israel wants — nothing more, nothing less.
Since when does the killing of the people of Gaza solve any problems or help liberate Palestine from the sea to the river?
There is no doubt that Hamas has no answer to such a question, except more killings. It knows nothing but murder to avoid acknowledging that it has gone bankrupt.
*Khairallah Khairallah is a Lebanese writer.

Pope Francis’s visit to Morocco constitutes important step in dialogue of civilisations
Mohamed al-Alawi/The Arab Weekly/March 25/19
Archbishop Cristobal Lopez Romero of Rabat said Pope Francis’s visit would be a great occasion for the church to expand and promote Islamic-Christian religious dialogue.
RABAT - Roman Catholic Pope Francis is to visit Morocco March 30-31, a visit expected to build on the achievements of Francis’s historical trip to the United Arab Emirates in February, during which importance of interfaith communication was highlighted, opening a new page in Christian-Muslim relations, dusting off latent tensions and distance that had characterised them.
Although the presence of Catholics in Morocco and in the Maghreb in general is not significant compared to the Middle East — Inside the Vatican magazine said Morocco has 50,000 Catholics, mostly Europeans living in the country — Morocco remains an important gateway linking Islam and Christianity. Pope Francis visited Egypt in 2017 and his UAE trip represented the first visit of a head of the Catholic Church to the Arabian Gulf.
Archbishop Cristobal Lopez Romero of Rabat said Pope Francis’s visit would be a great occasion for the church to expand and promote Islamic-Christian religious dialogue, which has seen a decline in recent years.
Pope John Paul II visited Morocco in 1985, setting a precedent for the church’s relations with Islamic countries. In 2000, Moroccan King Mohammed VI of Morocco made an official visit to the Vatican, where he met with John Paul II.
In a news conference presenting the agenda of Francis’s visit, which has been given the slogan “Pope Francis: Servant of Hope,” the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rabat said the pope’s trip carries strong symbolic significance because it commemorates the 800th anniversary of the meeting between Saint Francis of Assisi and the Sultan Malik al-Kamil, thus representing the constant desire for dialogue and cordial relations between Catholicism and Islam.
Francis’s visit reflects the privileged diplomatic relations between Morocco and the Vatican as well as the common desire of both parties to build bridges of dialogue between cultures and religions.
In 1997, Morocco opened an embassy to the Vatican to consolidate diplomatic relations between the two countries. A papal embassy was opened in Rabat in 1988 and is one of 115 diplomatic and consular representatives of the Vatican in the world.
Given Morocco’s interest in and progressive and positive approach to immigration, it is expected that discussions between King Mohammed VI and Francis will centre on the issue, especially because the pope is known for his optimistic and positive view of immigration into Europe.
Archbishop Santiago Agrelo Martinez of Tangier said the pope’s visit is an opportunity for Francis to reaffirm support for the Global Agreement on Migration, adopted in December during a conference organised by the United Nations in Marrakech, as well as an occasion to urge the international community to treat migrants with responsibility and solidarity.
Among the pope’s stops on his Moroccan trip will be visits to the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams and Religious Counsellors and the headquarters of the Diocesan Caritas of Rabat, where he is to meet with migrants.
At the Sports Complex of Prince Moulay Abdellah, Francis will preside over a mass expected to be attended by thousands of Christians, mostly migrants residing across Morocco, and give a speech on interfaith dialogue.
Abdellah Boussouf, secretary-general of the Council of the Moroccan Community Living Abroad, said the pope’s visit to Morocco is an opportunity to expand peaceful dialogue and debate using the symbolic power of the two institutions in “religious diplomacy.”
Boussouf said in a statement that the visit would address questions on immigration, terrorism, racism, restrictions on migrants, discourses of peace and solidarity, peace and human brotherhood.
Boussouf added that “Morocco has been known for its tolerant treatment of all faith communities, and for its protection of the oppressed minorities and its sanctification and respect of their rites and places of worship.”
Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, secretary-general of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, said the pope’s visit has a special character because it will include a meeting between King Mohammed VI, as commander of the faithful of a country with a long Islamic heritage, and Pope Francis, as leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
He said that the symbolism of the visit throughout the Christian world would be a significant contribution to the good efforts to promote peace and security.
The pope’s visit to Morocco is linked to the difficult circumstances experienced by the Arab and Islamic worlds, said Al-Sadiq al-Othmani, a Moroccan preacher and director of religious affairs at the Union of Islamic Institutions in Brazil, in a statement. “With the emergence of extremist religious sects and the spread of terrorism and intolerance among members of the Abrahamic faiths, the issue of peaceful co-existence between humans of all hues and especially between Muslims and Christians becomes a social, cultural, political and economic necessity,” he said.
Advocates of Islamic-Christian dialogue have long expressed dedication to moving interfaith dialogue in constructive ways that Muslims and Christians can use to build understanding on important issues and establish greater scholarly dialogue and cultural communication.
Morocco has a long history in Islamic-Christian dialogue by virtue of its geographic location, its proximity to the Christian West and its religious status in the Islamic world.
The meeting between King Mohammed VI and Pope Francis augurs an enrichment in a dialogue that promises to break obstacles standing between the two parties and will contribute to reducing the gap between Christians and Muslims and curbing the rise of fundamentalism and vile sectarianism.

Thousands of Muslim Women Raped, Tortured, Killed in Syrian Prisons/Where are the Media, UN, 'Human Rights' Groups?
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/March 25/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13954/syria-women-raped-tortured-killed
The plight of the Palestinian women in Syria is an issue that does not seem bother Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These leaders are too busy fighting and inciting violence against each other, against Israel and the US. They have completely forgotten about the suffering of their people in an Arab country such as Syria.
These women, who are being subjected to rape and various forms of torture in Syrian prisons, are the victims of failed Palestinian leaders who seem to only care about holding on to their bank accounts and their jobs.
Not a single Fatah or Hamas official -- or the United Nations or Western so-called human-rights groups -- has spoken out against the plight of Palestinian women in Syria. Why should they, when all they do most of their time is throw mud at each other while at the same time continuing to incite their people against Israel and the US?
The Palestinian women being held in Syrian prisons, subjected to rape and various forms of torture, are the victims of failed Palestinian leaders who seem to only care about holding on to their bank accounts and their jobs. (Image source: iStock. Image is illustrative and does not represent any person in the article.)
For Palestinian women in Syria, there was no reason to celebrate International Women's Day, an event commemorated around the world earlier this month. While in many countries women were celebrating, a report published by a human rights organization, the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria, revealed that 107 Palestinian women were being held in harsh conditions in Syrian prisons.
The Palestinian women, according to the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria, were arrested by the Syrian authorities after the beginning of the civil war in that country in 2011. "The Syrian security authorities are continuing to hold dozens of Palestinian refugee women since the beginning of the war in Syria," the Group said. The Group's researchers said they were able to document the cases of 107 Palestinian women who are still being held in prison; 44 from the Damascus area, 12 from the city of Homs, four from the city of Daraa and 41 from different parts of Syria.
Among the female detainees are university students, activists and mothers, some of whom, report added, were incarcerated with their children. The "testimonies of some women who were released from prison confirm that they had been subjected to various forms of torture at the hands of Syrian security officers," the report said. "It is worth noting that Palestinian women in Syria have been subjected to arrest, kidnapping, death and disability as a result of the conflict in Syria that erupted in March 2011."
Another report by the same Group revealed that, since 2011, 34 Palestinian women have died in Syrian prisons as a result of torture. Altogether, 570 Palestinians, including women, children and the elderly, have died in Syrian prisons since the beginning of the civil war there, the report said.
Another statistic showed that a total of 484 Palestinian women have been killed in Syria during the fighting among the various rival parties: 240 as a result of shelling, 68 as a result of lack of medical care and the blockade imposed by the Syrian army on the Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus, 28 by sniper gunfire, 37 in bomb explosions, 24 by shootings, 26 by drowning and five who were summarily executed in public squares.
According to the Group, a total of 3,920 Palestinians have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the civil war in 2011. Another 317 Palestinians have gone missing, while 1734 Palestinians are being held in different prisons belonging to the Syrian government.
A recent report by the Turkish news agency Anadolu found that Syrian women were also being tortured as well as raped in Syrian prisons. Anadolu said that 13,500 women detained by the Syrian authorities have been subjected to torture and rape while in prison. At present, the report said, there are 7,000 women being held in Syrian prisons.
One former detainee who identified herself as Rana said that while she was in prison, the Syrian security officers burned alive a woman and her daughter who were being held in a nearby cell. She recalled that two other women from the city of Aleppo were raped by prison guards. She said that she herself was held in a small cell together with 15 other women who were subjected to various forms of torture.
Two years ago, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman who identified herself as Huda complained that she had been repeatedly raped while being held in a Syrian prison. She said she was arrested by members of the Palestinian terrorist group Popular Front-General Command, a militia that works with the Syrian authorities, at the entrance to Yarmouk camp where she lives. Before Huda was handed over to the Syrians, her Palestinian captors tortured her and three other Palestinian women they had arrested.
"The [Syrian] interrogators questioned me about the identities of women and men in Yarmouk camp... When I denied that I knew them, they beat me subjected me to electric shocks. I was also raped for 15 days. Sometimes, I was raped more than 10 times a day by different officers and guards."
In her testimony, Huda said that she got pregnant as a result of the rape, but miscarried under beating.
"I had severe bleeding and lost consciousness... The rape of female detainees was very common. One woman tried to commit suicide several times and she used to bang her head on the wall of the cell. Each time she would lose consciousness for hours."
During her incarceration, Huda said, she witnessed a 20-year-old woman who had also become pregnant after being repeatedly raped:
"After she gave birth, she could not tolerate seeing the baby or keeping him near her in the cell... She couldn't stand hearing the crying of the baby, so she tried to kill him so she would no longer see him. A few days later, a prison guard came and took the infant away."
The plight of the Palestinian women in Syria is an issue that does not seem bother Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These leaders are too busy fighting and inciting violence against each other, against Israel and the US. They have completely forgotten about the suffering of their people in an Arab country such as Syria.
In the past two weeks, the rivalry between the Palestinian Authority's ruling Fatah faction in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip seems to have reached new heights, especially after Hamas reportedly broke the bones of dozens of Fatah supporters and officials in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has accused Fatah of being behind the recent protests against economic hardship that swept the Gaza Strip. As part of its effort to crush the protests, Hamas sent its security officers into the streets to break the arms and legs of many protesters. One of the victims was Atef Abu Seif, the Fatah spokesman in the Gaza Strip, who was kidnapped and badly beaten. He remains in serious condition, with broken arms and legs. Fatah says that Hamas was behind the attack.
Fatah officials have responded to the Hamas crackdown by calling Hamas a terrorist organization and comparing its security forces to Nazi Germany's secret police, the Gestapo. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has also reacted with fury to the crackdown on his supporters in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, he said, will "end up in the dustbin of history."
For the Palestinian women in Syria, the ongoing dispute between Fatah and Hamas is the last thing they seem to care about. These women, who are being subjected to rape and various forms of torture in Syrian prisons, are the victims of failed Palestinian leaders who seem to only care about holding on to their bank accounts and their jobs. Not a single Fatah or Hamas official -- or the United Nations or Western so-called "human-rights" groups -- has spoken out against the plight of Palestinian women in Syria. Why should they, when all they do most of their time is throw mud at each other while at the same time continuing to incite their people against Israel and the US?
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Terrorists Promoted, Victims Ignored
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/March 25/19
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13941/yazidi-victims-ignored
"An estimated 3,100 Yazidis were killed [in Iraq], with nearly half of them... either shot, beheaded, or burned alive... The estimated number kidnapped is 6,800... All Yazidis were targeted... but children were disproportionately affected." — PLOS Medicine, 2017.
By contrast, Shamima Begum said that she had been fully aware of the beheadings and other atrocities committed by ISIS before going to Syria. "I knew about those things and I was okay with it," she said. "Because, you know, I started becoming religious just before I left. From what I heard, Islamically, that is all allowed." When asked whether she had questioned any of that, Begum replied, "No, not at all."
"[W]e recently learned of the 50 [Yazidi women and children]... who were beheaded. Meanwhile, those people who raped and killed our women are free to go back to their countries and live normal lives. This makes us feel that we have no value as human beings..." — Salim Shingaly, a Yazidi activist from Iraq, to Gatestone Institute.
The Iraqi government and the UN recently began exhuming a mass grave in Sinjar, in the presence of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, whose slain relatives are believed to have been buried in the area.
A group of Yazidis who held a demonstration outside the White House on March 15 called on the Trump administration to locate or rescue the estimated 3,000 women and children captured, held or killed by ISIS terrorists.
The protestors pointed to the recent incident in which ISIS fighters, fleeing one of their last strongholds in eastern Syria, beheaded of 50 Yazidi women who had been as sex slaves by the ISIS terrorists.
Most participants at the rally were survivors of ISIS's 2014 genocidal attacks on Yazidis, a persecuted non-Muslim minority indigenous to Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
According to a 2017 study published in the weekly journal, PLOS Medicine, in a matter of days in August 2014,
"An estimated 3,100 Yazidis were killed [in Iraq], with nearly half of them executed — either shot, beheaded, or burned alive — while the rest died on Mount Sinjar from starvation, dehydration, or injuries during the ISIS siege. The estimated number kidnapped is 6,800. Escapees recounted the abuses they had suffered, including forced religious conversion, torture, and sex slavery. Over one-third of those reported kidnapped were still missing at the time of the survey. All Yazidis were targeted regardless of age and sex, but children were disproportionately affected. They were as likely as adults to be executed but constituted 93.0% of those who died on Mount Sinjar. Moreover, children only accounted for 18.8% of those who managed to escape captivity."
Such horror stories should be headline news across the world, but sadly, they have been ignored. By contrast, much coverage has been given to Shamima Begum, a British-born woman who left the UK in 2015 to join ISIS in Syria, and intended to return home this past February. Begum's case has sparked widespread debate about the status and handling of jihadists from the West who are seeking to resume residence and retain citizenship in their countries of origin or naturalization.
Some pundits have painted Begum as a victim of "grooming" and "brainwashing" by the ISIS terrorists whom she joined. In an interview with Sky News in February, however, Begum said that she had been fully aware of the beheadings and other atrocities committed by ISIS before going to Syria. "I knew about those things and I was okay with it," she said. "Because, you know, I started becoming religious just before I left. From what I heard, Islamically, that is all allowed."
When asked whether she had questioned any of that, Begum replied, "No, not at all."
The Free Yezidi Foundation, which advocates for justice for victims and survivors of the ISIS genocide, expressed anger and frustration over the sympathetic attention that Begum, who willingly joined ISIS, has been receiving from certain politicians in Britain.
Addressing British MP Diane Abbott, who said that making Begum "stateless" is "callous and inhumane," the Foundation tweeted:
"Did you know that some of our girls, as young as SIX YEARS OLD, were literally sold on slave markets in #ISIS territory? When the men went out to fight, it was #ISISBride who would lock them in the house.
"Furthermore, it was #ISISbride who would shower, clothe, put on makeup to the #Yazidi #Yezidi women & girls to prepare them to be gangraped or sold. Many male and female perps were #British, perhaps we can instead draw attention to the inhumane & callous genocide they committed?...
"... it is an abomination that the welfare of this woman and her baby receive such enormous attention, while the THOUSANDS of women who were abducted and forced into slavery by her organisation (with participation of ISIS women) does not."
One of the participants of the rally in Washington, Salim Shingaly, a Yazidi activist from Iraq, told Gatestone:
"While we were hoping to reunite with Yazidi children and women kidnapped by ISIS terrorists, we recently learned of the 50 of them who were beheaded. Meanwhile, those people who raped and killed our women are free to go back to their countries and live normal lives. This makes us feel that we have no value as human beings in the eyes of others; we are about to lose our faith in humanity."
Shingaly added,
"It should be obvious to Western governments to see that ISIS terrorists would be a huge risk to the countries that are letting them back in."
Dawood Saleh, a survivor of the Yazidi genocide and author of Walking Alone, told Gatestone:
"I feel so sorry for the thousands of Yazidi women and children who are suffering at the hands of ISIS, while some media outlets in the West are trying to trivialize the actions of those who raped, tortured and killed our people. Those outlets are not giving enough of a voice to Yazidi survivors.
"My family has lost their home and ended up in a refugee camp where they have been living for almost five years now, as a result of the actions of ISIS monsters. ISIS has destroyed our villages and temples, and forced us to scatter all over the world. By ignoring our plight, while giving positive coverage to ISIS 'brides' or returnees to the West, some Western media outlets and politicians are destroying any ray of hope that we who have survived genocide may harbor."
Adil Suliman, a Yazidi activist at the protest, told Gatestone:
"Yazidis in Iraq are still scared that all the ISIS atrocities will happen again, because Yazidis there still live among Muslims, and Muslims do not see us as human beings."
Haji Ali Hameka, another Yazidi activist and interpreter, expressed dismay at a recent case of a Yazidi genocide survivor who was horrified to encounter her ISIS captor and rapist in Canada.
"It is very disappointing to hear that Western governments are enabling criminals who have raped and beheaded innocent people to return with impunity," Hameka told Gatestone. He stressed:
"A criminal is a criminal, whether he or she is Western or Middle Eastern. The rule of law must prevail everywhere. I don't think there is an ISIS fighter who has not raped or killed. Punishment for their actions should be severe. How can Canada allow these terrorists to roam free?"
Nawaf Ashur Yousif Haskan, a Yazidi scholar from Iraq, repeated the same sentiment to Gatestone:
"We strongly oppose the West bringing any of these ISIS fighters and their brides back. Instead, they should be tried and prosecuted in Iraq by an international court for what they have done in Syria and Iraq. Each one of them has been espousing a dangerous ideology. We tell the West: If you do not want to see what happened to Yazidi women happen to the women in the West, then don't let these perpetrators back."
On the day of the Washington rally, the Iraqi government and the UN began exhuming a mass grave in Sinjar, in the presence of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, whose slain relatives are believed to have been buried in the area. Murad's official website said that this was the first exhumation of a mass grave containing the remains of Yazidis killed by their ISIS captors.
What additional evidence does the West need to consider the victims of ISIS terrorists more worthy of coverage and sympathy than the "returning" terrorists and their willing brides?
*Uzay Bulut, a journalist from Turkey, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.
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A Tourist From the Middle East
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/March 25/19
Sometimes a thread of empathy is tied between strangers. The hotel employee was nice. He thought I was a tourist looking for a beautiful view. He said there was a chance that a visitor could not afford to miss. He advised me to go up to the roof of the hotel to watch from there the sunset behind the tiny little mountain off the harbor. And because I came on a personal occasion, I decided to listen to his advice. I discovered how right he was.
The sun slid slowly, turning into a shy ball of fire and gradually disappearing. I felt for a while the pleasure of being a tourist… To discover, inspect, steal the most beautiful scenes, and hide them in your phone.
It is a pleasure to connect with the mountains, trees, and cities that wash their feet in the vast waters. I have a deep feeling that the journalist is a tourist with bad intentions. Every time he visits a country, he asks for its pains instead of enjoying its delights.
The employee volunteered and accompanied me to watch the sunset. He asked me where I lived. In London, I answered. He smiled; as if I were talking about the land of dreams.
I was impressed by the beauty of the country and I was surprised as he said that a country always looked nice to foreigners. I had to engage more in the discussion. He said that visitors were entering South Africa with a bright image, that of Nelson Mandela. He praised the historic leader who brought millions of citizens out of a long era of injustice and darkness on the basis of tolerance and reconciliation, suppressing the deep desire for revenge that could have plunged the country into total collapse and bloodshed.
He noted that an extraordinary leader comes, goes, and leaves the map in the custody of ordinary men. Men driven by a deep hunger to power and a terrible weakness before their temptations and misdeeds.
I said that the country has made significant progress; it is a member of the G20 and has a well-developed infrastructure. Its economy is the second in the Dark Continent after Nigeria.
He did not deny that this was actually true; but he remarked that the unemployment rate was almost 30 percent, which is really scary. I have noticed that the most serious problem is the enormous disparities between citizens; between those who have become richer and those who have become poorer, stacked into communities that lack everything, raising the rate of crime, theft, and violation of the law.
He pointed to water scarcity due to lack of rain in recent years added to the daily interruption of electricity even in a city such as Cape Town. I could not give any advice, especially since I was from a country where the problem of electricity has been considered a gold mine for corruption for decades. I felt that the problem in South Africa was the same as in many parts of the world: the question of building a modern state based on solid natural institutions capable of cooperation, correction, and change.
A state that can face the present and prepare for the future. A state that works so skillfully to provide modern education opportunities for its children that would give them the keys to this world witnessing daily revolutions in science and technology. A state that guarantees jobs and saves its children from the risk of embarking on death boats going to strange countries.
I felt deep gratitude for this gentleman and asked him what I could do to him. His replied: “If you could take me to London with you. The future is ambiguous here. I feel that living there is less difficult and more secure.”
The man’s words saddened me especially that his country sleeps on a major mining wealth. I thought about what he would say if he were from a country, the land of which lacks minerals, and its skies are thirsty for rain.
I recalled a similar incident in Khartoum years ago. Before I left, the hotel employee asked me if I could do a service he will never forget. He said that dreamed of escaping from his country and that he heard that Britain was spacious and accessible to expatriates.
These are our countries… our prisons, from which we are trying to escape so as not to hand over our children to the losers and the corrupt.
The journalist is a bad tourist. The sunset scene did not last long, especially after the hotel worker unveiled his ambitions. I had to go back to my phone. To the curse of the Middle East and the news coming from it.

Fighting extremism more important than fighting terrorism
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Arab News/March 25/19
Declarations of victory are everywhere, and on the lips of everyone concerned with the war on terror in Syria. In my opinion, this is a temporary victory, and it is only a matter of time until another Daesh organization emerges.
Daesh, the so-called state whose defeat was announced in Syria last week, was born in 2011 after the declaration of the end of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization. It was announced that Al-Qaeda had been completely destroyed following its defeat in Baghdad and western Iraq.
The number of those said to be members of Daesh who have been arrested in Syria has reached about 30,000. The number of those who joined the terrorist group during the Syrian war is thought to be more than 60,000, according to an estimate based on the number of detainees who left different parts of Syria after the launch of the international coalition’s attacks against them last summer.
Like Al-Qaeda, Daesh is an idea, and ideas do not die easily in our region’s current environment, which is one of chaos and emptiness. Al-Qaeda first appeared in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over and following the withdrawal of US troops in the early 1990s. From there, the idea of cross-border armed extremism spread to the countries of the region through the media, mosques and other incubators.
Al-Qaeda strongly came into the picture in Iraq after the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime and the establishment of a weak temporary government in Baghdad under US administration. It was finally defeated in Iraq after thousands were killed in Anbar province, but it resurged under a new name and flag.
In 2011, the peaceful and civil revolution started in Syria, and Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who had established a “caliphate” and named it the Islamic State of Iraq, seized the opportunity to expand his so-called state across the border into Syria. He started to establish Daesh’s presence in Syria and chose Abu Mohammad Al-Julani for the task. But Al-Julani soon disagreed with his leader and instead founded the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front.
Extremism has no religion and leads to terrorism. We have seen this in the way the racist right has turned to murder, such as in the recent crime that took place in two mosques in New Zealand. Extremism is one creed that nurtures itself.
Al-Julani decided in 2016 to change the name of his organization to Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham (JFS). He said the aim was to “repel the pretexts of the international community, led by the US and Russia, which are bombing and displacing common Muslims in Syria under the pretext of targeting Al-Nusra Front.” The truth is that it was part of the game of forming alliances with Turkey and a number of other Syrian factions.
Other terrorist movements emerged, including the Nour Al-Din Al-Zenki Movement, Liwa Al-Haqq, Jaysh Al-Sunna and the Ansar Al-Din Front. Even JFS changed its name again to Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.
Syria was not the only territory to be invaded by Al-Qaeda, as the organization’s branches are present in many areas. Al-Qaeda has a presence in the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and the Islamic Maghreb, in addition to the Al-Shabab organization and sleeper cells in Iraq and elsewhere.
Therefore, declaring victory and the destruction of Daesh’s terrorist caliphate is an event confined to its place and time. Terrorism will remain as an idea produced by extremism. This means that fighting extremism is more important than fighting terrorism, which is limited to the context of carrying arms.
Organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood remain a large school for producing dangerous ideas, even though among their followers and branches there are peaceful groups that are different from Al-Qaeda.
Extremism has no religion and leads to terrorism. We have seen this in the way the racist right has turned to murder, such as in the recent crime that took place in two mosques in New Zealand. Extremism is one creed that nurtures itself.
• Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is a veteran columnist. He is the former general manager of Al Arabiya news channel, and former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat.

Rouhani outdoes Khamenei with attack on Iran’s ‘enemies’
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/March 25/19
While celebrating the beginning of the new Iranian year, 1398, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the country’s President Hassan Rouhani both addressed the people, with their speeches having several points in common. They both focused on Iran’s resistance economy and the need to challenge US sanctions through improving domestic production. They also focused on domestic unity and its importance in the face of external threats, along with the importance of Iranians being aware of deceptive foreign propaganda against their country.
Rouhani declared that those who despise Iran and live outside the country are responsible for Iran’s problems. He also asserted that Iran’s current structural problems date back to the pre-revolutionary era. He warned that these problems will have a substantial impact on the people and that poor management will worsen existing socioeconomic problems in the future.
However, he called on political factions to end their infighting and to unite against foreign enemies. He said: “Some might ask till when will these sanctions and problems go on… these problems began with the oath-breakers and those who have recently reached power in Washington, but the (key to the end) is in our hands.”
Rouhani added: “The more we are united and the more the enemy realizes that, with these sanctions, our nation becomes more cohesive, the sooner they will despair and regret. When the enemies see that Iran under sanctions managed to turn threats into opportunities, enforce structural reforms, increased the hours and quality of work, expanded the knowledge of firms, and boosted production and exports, the enemy will realize that it is the one who will be impacted by these sanctions. And this day will mark the end of the sanctions.”
The president also noted that the US once believed that its allies around the world would stand by it and the sanctions it imposed on Iran. But he said most countries have stood by the Iranian people and all international organizations, such as the UN, International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Court of Justice, have sided with Iran.
As for Khamenei, he said that the country’s main problem, especially in recent months, is economic, particularly related to living conditions, part of which have been caused by ineffective economic management. In addition, he said Iran faces several other critical economic issues, such as a plummeting national currency, declining purchasing power, and low productivity by factories, with many closing.
From the two speeches, it is clear that Rouhani has shifted to the side of the hardline conservatives
Khamenei claimed that he had studied the matter, consulted experts and reached a conclusion that the solution to all these problems rests in boosting national productivity. He noted that Iranians will feel the positive outcome of these measures soon.
It did not, however, take long for Khamenei to reveal his innate tendencies by launching a scathing attack on Saudi Arabia due to the Kingdom’s plan to start a nuclear energy program.
From the two speeches, it is clear that Rouhani has shifted to the side of the hardline conservatives. Indeed, it may not be too great an exaggeration to say that Rouhani has outdone Khamenei (with the exception of the supreme leader’s attack on Saudi Arabia) in open hostility to Iran’s traditional opponents, especially after the president described the US and regional countries as “enemies,” possibly the first time he has made such hostile remarks in public.
While Khamenei’s speech focused mostly on Iran’s domestic problems and the need to resolve them, we find that Rouhani — even though he mentioned the problems — resorted to blaming foreign parties, accusing them of causing the crises that are gripping the country and claiming that a plot is being hatched against Iran. Such comments prove that the West’s bet on the so-called moderate reformists in Iran in recent years has paid little dividends. There is no difference between Khamenei and Rouhani when they are placed under domestic or foreign pressure.
To conclude, those who understand Iranian politics, its dynamics and its decision-making process are quick to realize that there is no difference between conservatives, reformists and moderates when it comes to foreign policy and national security issues. In reality, for any individual to reach the level of inclusion in Iran’s decision-making circles and to receive the approval of the Guardian Council, he must first show absolute loyalty to the principles of the “Islamic revolution” and the ideology of Wilayat Al-Faqih. Any differences, meanwhile, are confined to minor issues of interpretations and trivial details. The final say over these issues always lies with the supreme leader, the National Security Council and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, all of whom are fanatical adherents of the revolutionary theocratic doctrine pursued by Ruhollah Khomeini and his successor Khamenei.
• Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is Head of the International Institute for Iranian Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami