English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For May 07/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus said to them, 3It is I; do not be afraid
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 06/16-21/:”When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The lake became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 06-07/2020
Hariri Hospital: No new infected cases, number of recoveries rises to 156
25 COVID-19 Cases on Nigeria Flight, 1 on Riyadh's
Nine Coronavirus Cases, More Expats to Arrive
Baabda Conferees: Govt. Plan Sacrifices Less Costly than Complete Financial Collapse
Aoun: Rescue a Responsibility of All Away from Settling Political Scores
Geagea Opposes Baabda Talks Statement, Urges Govt. to End Waste of Funds
Interior Minister Allows Partial Reopening of Mosques, Churches
Lebanon reopens mosques for Friday prayers, churches for Sunday mass
Lebanon blocks exchange rate apps as lira continues downward spiral/Georgi Azar/Annahar/May 06/2020
Terrorist organization Hezbollah permits Lebanon to be rescued by the IMF/Clifford D. May/The Washinton Times/May 06/2020
Lebanon Seeks Explanation from Germany over Hezbollah Ban
Lebanon: Ministers, Deputies Say Amending Rescue Plan Is Inevitable
Lebanon: Rise in Extortion, Harassment Crimes
Lebanese Leaders Urge Unity over Reform Plan, Say IMF Rescue ‘Mandatory’
Nehme on Nasrallah’s Remarks: Volunteers Welcome to Help Ministry Regardless of Affiliation
Lebanon’s remorseless vultures and helpless citizens/Sarah Sfeir/Arab News/May 06/2020
Now is the time for the EU to put all of Hezbollah on its terror list/Ksenia Svetlova/Al Arabiya/May 06/2020
In Between Life and Death/Joseph Bahout/Carnegie MEC/May 06/2020
Lebanon's uphill corruption battle against an 'untouchable class'/Kareem Chehayeb/The New Arab/May 06/2020
AUB Says Staff to Endure Significant Pay Cuts
Could Lebanon's prestigious American University of Beirut go bankrupt?/The New Arab/May 06/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 06-07/2020
Iranian, Palestinian militias in Aleppo evacuate after airstrikes
Rouhani: Trump Made 'Stupid Mistake' By Pulling Out of Nuclear Deal
Iranian Fighters Killed in Israeli Strike on Eastern Syria
Iraq: Several Rockets Strike Near Baghdad Airport
Massive deployment of Russian mercenaries bolstering Libya's Haftar: UN experts
Turkey Admits its Support for Sarraj Stopped Libyan Army’s Advance
Russian Report Considers Assad a ‘Burden'
PLO Accuses Israel of Ethnic Cleansing in Jerusalem
Israel Strikes Hamas Posts in Response to 1st Gaza Rocket Fire in More Than a Month
Court unanimously rejects petitions against Netanyahu, coalition deal/The Times Of Israel/May 06/2020
Arab Economies Incurred $1.2 Trillion Losses Due to Coronavirus
During Coronavirus, Domestic Violence is on the Rise in Several Countries
Warming US-Sudan ties are about more than just politics
Trump Says Coronavirus Crisis 'Worse than Pearl Harbor' or 9/11
Expert Tells U.S. Congress that Virus Fight Could last Years
Maduro Says Captured Americans to be Tried in Venezuela

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 06-07/2020
This is What Emerged Victorious with the Defeat of the Syrian Revolution/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 06/2020
Death on a Hunger Strike Unmasks a Hate-Filled Turkey/Burak Bekdil/The Gatestone Institute/May 06/ 2020
Palestinians, Israel and the Coronavirus/Richard Kemp/Gatestone Institute/May 06/2020
Palestinians: Using Coronavirus to Silence Critics/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/May 06/2020
Coronavirus: Constitution Abuse/Karen Lugo/Gatestone Institute/May 06/2020
Turkey’s Looming Gordian Knot/Marc Lierini/Carnegie MEC/May 06/2020
How Iran’s Syria project ground to a halt over six months/Seth J.Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/May 06/2020
Collecting and analyzing Shiite militia attacks against the U.S. presence in Iraq/
Behnam Ben Taleblu/FDD's Long War Journal/May 05/2020
What Jihadists Are Saying About The Coronavirus/Steven Stalinsky/MEMRI/May 06/2020
Abbas has little choice but to end US boycott/Daoud Kuttab/Arab News/May 06/ 2020
Now is the time for true negotiations, not annexation/Alistair Burt/Arab News/May 06/2020
 

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 06-07/2020
Hariri Hospital: No new infected cases, number of recoveries rises to 156
NNA/May 06/2020
In its daily report on the latest developments of the novel Coronavirus, the Rafic Hariri University Hospital announced on Wednesday that no new infected cases were reported out of 152 laboratory tests conducted today, which all came out negative. It added that the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases infected with the virus that are currently present in the hospital's isolation area has reached 5 cases, noting that it has admitted 10 cases suspected to be infected with the virus, who were transferred from other hospitals. Meanwhile, the hospital report also indicated that seven infected cases have recovered today after their PCR examination tests turned out negative in both times, thus bringing the total number of full recoveries to-date to 156 cases. “All those infected with the virus are receiving the necessary care in the isolation unit, and there are no critical conditions detected," the hospital report added. In conclusion, the Hariri Hospital stated that more information on the number of infected cases on all Lebanese territories can be found in the daily report issued by the Ministry of Public Health.

25 COVID-19 Cases on Nigeria Flight, 1 on Riyadh's
Naharnet/May 06/2020
Twenty-five of the Lebanese expats who arrived on the latest evacuation flight from Nigeria have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Wednesday. "The infected cases will be transferred to hospital while those who tested negative will observe strict home quarantine and will be followed up on daily basis by the Ministry," it added in a statement.
"Those who show any symptoms will be referred to hospital to repeat the lab tests," it said. All those who arrived from Qatar meanwhile tested negative as one coronavirus case was recorded among those who arrived from Riyadh, it added.
The Ministry also noted that six of the expats who arrived from Qatar will have to repeat the PCR tests. In a statement issued earlier in the day, the Ministry said two residents and seven expats repatriated from Sierra Leone tested positive for the virus. Wednesday's 35 cases raise the country's overall total to 776.

Nine Coronavirus Cases, More Expats to Arrive
Naharnet/May 06/2020
The Health Ministry announced nine new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, seven of them in Lebanese repatriated from Sierra Leone, as the country prepares to receive five more flights repatriating expats from Oman, Abu Dhabi, Frankfurt, Paris, Monrovia. The Middle East Airlines has been operating flights repatriating nationals from abroad over the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, as part of a government plan. Five flights are expected to arrive at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport coming from Oman, Abu Dhabi, Frankfurt, Paris and Monrovia.

Baabda Conferees: Govt. Plan Sacrifices Less Costly than Complete Financial Collapse
Naharnet/May 06/2020
The participants in Wednesday's meeting in Baabda between President Michel Aoun and parliamentary leaders said the sacrifices required to implement the government's long-awaited financial and economic reform plan remain less costly than "complete economic and financial collapse."
"The conferees welcomed the plan as a general framework consisted of several axes based on restructuring public debt and the banking sector and reforming public finances, in parallel with a plan to stimulate and grow the productive economic sectors and a social safety net plan," they said in the meeting's closing statement. Among the attendants, only Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea registered his official opposition to the statement. The statement said the plan entails "commitments linked to combating and eradicating corruption, while taking into consideration that the segments that are least immunized must be spared the repercussions of the economic and financial crisis, and that the money of depositors in banks must be protected."The conferees also noted that in order to restore confidence at all levels, an executive program for the plan must be laid out. It should involve "the issuance of legislative and organizational texts, executive orders and mechanisms for addressing accumulated flaws," they added. They called for approving "structural reforms, controlling the rise in prices, protecting consumers, and showing keenness on implementing this plan on the short and medium terms.""The conferees agreed on the need to alleviate the concerns of citizens and on the need to secure the plan's success and accept the sacrifices, which, albeit difficult, remain less severe than the repercussions of a complete economic and financial collapse," they said. "This requires national union, profound awareness and dialogue with the private sector, especially the banking sector, in light of the threats to Lebanon's existence, entity and economic identity, which is stipulated in the preamble to the constitution," they added.The meeting was attended by President Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, PM Hassan Diab, the MPs Talal Arslan, Asaad Hardan, Jebran Bassil, Faisal Karami, Hagop Pakradounian and Mohammed Raad, LF chief Geagea and the ministers Ghazi Wazni and Raoul Nehme.

Aoun: Rescue a Responsibility of All Away from Settling Political Scores
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 06/2020
President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday the rescue plan was not the responsibility of a single group or party in Lebanon, as he urged unity to face the threats against Lebanon's existence. “The rescue we seek is not the responsibility of one party or one authority. Getting out of the dark tunnel that we are crossing is everybody's responsibility,” said Aoun at a meeting with heads of parliamentary blocs at Baabda Palace. He said Lebanon’s economic, monetary and financial structures have been “stricken hard, which compels for the utmost levels of transparency and unity. We need to move beyond settling (political) scores, we must unite to overcome our deepening crisis and cover the losses in our public and private sectors.”“Crises and setbacks have been chasing us since October 2019 after banks stopped meeting their depositors' requests in July 2019 and Lebanon entered a very volatile stage," added the President.
"The economic rescue plan is accompanied by a request for support from the International Monetary Fund, which is the mandatory path for recovery if we negotiate well and commit to the reform that our people seek without any dictation or guardianship,” added Aoun. “The government's plan aims to implement reform measures to boost growth and increase productivity in addition to correcting the balance of payments and improving the economy's competitiveness, in parallel with financial reform focused on eradicating corruption, improving tax compliance, controlling waste and good management of the public sector,” he concluded.Aoun met most heads of the country's main parliamentary blocs to discuss the broad outlines of an economic reform plan that the government adopted last week but parts of which still require parliamentary support. The economic roadmap comes with a government request for IMF assistance, which Aoun called "a mandatory path for recovery if we negotiate well and we are all fully committed to... reform". Parliament speaker Nabih Berri and head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea, were among the attendees.
But political heavyweights such as former prime minister Saad Hariri boycotted the session over objections to the current government's approach to the economic crisis. Marada chief, PSP chief, Kataeb chief and ex-PM Najib Miqati also boycotted the meeting. The roadmap –- long seen as a prerequisite for external financial aid –- aims to reduce Lebanon's enormous public debt burden from 170 percent of GDP to less than 100 percent.
It calls for a restructuring of the banking sector and the country's enormous debt pile, as a well as tax hikes and a freeze in state hiring, among a raft of other reforms. It comes against the backdrop of a series of economic woes, which include a dollar liquidity crunch, soaring inflation, the country's first sovereign debt default and a devaluation of the Lebanese pound. The pound has been selling for more than 4,000 to the dollar on the black market in recent weeks in a record low. Although the official exchange rate remains fixed at 1,500 to the dollar, the government's reform plan is based on an exchange rate of 3,500 to the greenback.

Geagea Opposes Baabda Talks Statement, Urges Govt. to End Waste of Funds
Naharnet/May 06/2020
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday attended President Michel Aoun's Baabda talks with parliamentary leaders but stressed that the LF “remains at the heart of the opposition.”“Everyone knows that we are at the heart of the opposition and against the policies of the new presidential tenure, and our stances are known. I'm here like all the ministers and MPs who attended the meeting and we voiced our preliminary remarks on the economic plan,” Geagea told reporters after the meeting. “We voiced a lot of reservations over the meeting, both about form and content, and also about the reform paper... One year ago we had more reserves at the central bank and money at the banks, and all things were suddenly lost,” the LF leader added. “We would like to see the government succeeding, but so far we have not witnessed any major measure... If work in this country remains the same, we will not move forward,” Geagea warned. He noted that several steps should be taken before his party would accept such a plan, citing “the 5,300 illegal employees, the illegal border crossings and the issues of customs and electricity.”“The whole universe has talked about the issue of electricity, which is very costly, but no one is acting, due to the presence of a group that does not want change,” Geagea lamented. “Our main answer is that we will not agree to this plan, nor to any plan, before the government proves that it is serious by putting an end to all the sources of the waste of public funds in state administrations,” the LF leader emphasized. He added: “My presence here is the biggest proof that I'm not obstructing the government, but in order not to reach a dead end, the government must take and implement actual steps. We tell citizens that the government must start working immediately and we don't lack anti-corruption laws. We should not wait for help from abroad, what's important is to count on ourselves and the only solution is early parliamentary elections.”Turning to the political situation in light of the Baabda meeting, Geagea noted that every party in the opposition “has its own style” in opposing the government's policies, noting that the parties are not a unified opposition front. Geagea had officially voiced the LF's rejection of the meeting's closing statement prior to speaking to reporters.

Interior Minister Allows Partial Reopening of Mosques, Churches
Naharnet/May 06/2020
Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi on Wednesday allowed mosques and churches to open at 30% capacity during Friday prayers and Sunday mass, he said in a statement. However, the Minister stressed the need for commitment to precautions and adhere to safe social distancing amid the global outbreak of coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Late in April, the government approved a five-phase reopening plan. The first phase began on April 27, the second on May 4, the third on May 11, the fourth on May 25 and the fifth on June 8. Lebanon has been on lockdown since February 21. 741 cases of coronavirus and 25 deaths have been recorded in Lebanon to date, according to official data.

Lebanon reopens mosques for Friday prayers, churches for Sunday mass
Agencies & Arab News/May 06/2020
BEIRUT: Lebanese Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmy has allowed the reopening of mosques for Friday prayers and churches for Sunday mass. This is provided that the number of worshipers does not exceed 30 percent of the capacity of each mosque or church and adherence to sanitary conditions and preventive measures. Mosques and churches were closed on March 15. The move is part of mitigating home isolation measures after the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon. This is despite the recording of new cases from people who recently returned to Lebanon, or quarantined people who were in contact with infected persons. According to the Ministry of Health report, there were nine new COVID-19 cases, seven of them from abroad. The ministry then announced 25 confirmed COVID-19 cases among passengers on board a flight from Nigeria to Beirut, raising the total number of cases to 775.
President Michel Aoun said that “the new coronavirus increased the blockage of the arteries of Lebanon’s economy and exacerbated the economic downturn that we are suffering as a result of policies that overlooked the production economy.
“The virus also increased unemployment and poverty rates, and there was a significant increase in commodity prices, a fall in the Lebanese pound exchange rate, a decline in tax revenues and a deterioration in our social security,” he said.
Lebanon is seeking aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help it out of its severe economic crisis. The indicators of the crisis are evident: An economic contraction of about 13 percent; an increase in the inflation rate, which reached more than 50 percent; a deterioration in the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound; paralysis in the banking sector; a significant increase in poverty rates, which exceeded 45 percent of citizens; and unemployment exceeding 35 percent, along with high fiscal deficit and high unsustainable debt.
On Wednesday, a national meeting of party leaders and leaders of parliamentary blocs was held at the Presidential Palace, at the invitation of President Aoun, to discuss the government’s reform plan. The meeting was boycotted by the Future Movement bloc and the Lebanese Kataeb bloc. The leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, and the leader of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Frangieh, also did not attend the meeting.
The leader of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, joined a meeting that brought together Hezbollah’s allies. He stressed that he did not leave “our allies in the opposition, but we each have a (different) approach to things.” He said after the meeting that his party’s MPs “will not agree to the plan before the government shows its seriousness in filling the waste gutters in the state.”On Wednesday, the Lebanese judiciary interrogated two former ministers of energy, Mohammed Fneish and Nada Boustani, the general director of Electricity of Lebanon (EDL), Kamal Hayek, and engineer, Yahya Mawloud, on a charge of importing adulterated fuel for the benefit of the EDL, which was found through investigations to involve forgery and bribery. Boustani said after her interrogation that she did not receive the results of the analyzes of adulterated fuel when she was a minister. Fneish said that the problem was not in “the contract signed with the company that imported the fuels, which was extended by six ministers after me, but the problem is with adulterated fuel, and the party that violated the terms of the contract must be pursued.”
The judiciary issued four arrest warrants against the representative of the importing company, Sonatrach, the director of the Oil Control Company and employees of the PST company. Others are expected to be interrogated, including the manager of oil installations, and the owner, CEO and tender manager of ZR Energie company. Most of the people involved are affiliated with political forces inside and outside of the authority. The government plan set five years for Lebanon to recover from its crisis. In his presentation of the plan, Minister of Finance Ghazi Wazni said that “it will adopt the flexible exchange rate policy in the coming stage gradually and deliberately.” He said that the plan “reduces the deficit in the public budget from 11.3 percent of GDP in 2019 to 5.3 percent in 2020 and then to 0.7 percent in 2024 by reducing public expenditure (electricity reform, pension reform, rationalization of current expenditures) and in revenue: Combating waste, improving tax collection, value-added tax and fighting tax evasion.”Prime Minister Hassan Diab briefed Arab and foreign ambassadors about the government’s financial plan in a separate meeting. US Ambassador Elizabeth Chia said that “there are other areas within the plan that can be reconsidered.” She did not provide more details. The ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE did not attend the meeting.

Lebanon blocks exchange rate apps as lira continues downward spiral
Georgi Azar/Annahar/May 06/2020
BEIRUT: Lebanon's government has introduced new online censorship measures, blocking access to mobile applications that publish local currency exchange rates. The decision argues that these applications are sharing "exchange rates illegally." The lira, pegged to the dollar since the mid-'90s, has been in a free fall since nationwide protests erupted in October 2019. It has lost more than 50 percent of its value with dollars becoming a rarity while banks implement de-facto capital controls. With both the central bank and commercial banks hoarding dollars, Lebanese have been forced to hit money exchange houses to finance dollar transfers.In an unsuccessful attempt last month to rein in the rapid depreciation, Lebanon's central bank issued a circular barring foreign exchange dealers from selling U.S. dollars for more than 3,200 Lebanese pounds. The dollar continued trading at around 4,000 Lebanese pounds before money exchange houses went on strike protesting the central bank's move. The decision, issued by the Telecom Ministry to all Lebanese Internet service providers (ISPs), aims at blocking 28 online applications. Ogero, the state-owned Telecom provider, however, appeared to have inadvertently blocked Google's Firebase Realtime database which is used by a number of unrelated applications. The mass block caused confusion on Twitter, with affected businesses venting their frustration online while calling for a swift resolution to safeguard Lebanon's tech industry, one of "the last few industries still working in Lebanon."
"Google's Firebase Realtime database is blocked in Lebanon since Sunday, this blocks our app & all other apps on the store that use this cloud service," PetitioApp, a platform for user-to-user task management, said on Twitter. After reaching out to Google, the company was told that "it was a local networking issue and not a product issue that our team was fixed." The company urged Ogero to "recognize the issue first" before "changing the way they're seemingly mass blocking.""We apologize for the service disruption that is independent of our will," Ogero Chairman Imad Khreideh responded, seemingly unaware of the blunder. "A judicial decision was notified to Ogero to stop a certain number of sites. We can't do anything about it without a court order," he added. After a lengthy back and force between the company, Ogero and other IT specialists, the mass blocking issue was resolved. The blocked exchange rate applications can still be accessed by using VPNs, which route a device's internet connection through a chosen private server to unblock the connection.

Terrorist organization Hezbollah permits Lebanon to be rescued by the IMF
Clifford D. May/The Washinton Times/May 06/2020
That's nice, but conditions should be attached before any checks are written
Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Last week, Germany found the courage to say so.“Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has banned the operations of the Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah (Party of God) in Germany,” the government forthrightly announced. Among the operations no longer permitted: Recruiting fighters to defend the blood-soaked, Tehran-supported dictatorship in Syria.Just prior to the announcement, German police raided several “mosque associations” suspected of belonging to Hezbollah. “The activities of Hezbollah violate criminal law, and the organization opposes the concept of international understanding, whether in its political, social or military structures,” the government statement added. Germany joins a growing list of countries that have officially recognized Hezbollah for what it is, and prohibited it from advancing its goals, and those of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its father and master, on their soil. Among them: Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Argentina, Colombia, Honduras and Kosovo. Also Israel and the 22-member Arab League. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain issued statements welcoming the German decision.
You’ll note that France is not on this list, and while the European Union in 2013 imposed a ban on Hezbollah’s “military wing,” it gave a pass to the group’s “political wing.”This is a fictional distinction. “Hezbollah is a single, large organization,” spokesman Ibrahim Mousawi said in 2012, just after Hezbollah terrorists blew up a tour bus in Bulgaria, killing five Israelis and a Muslim bus driver. “We have no wings that are separate from one another.” Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador in Berlin, deserves kudos for persuading Germany to take this step. In his other job, acting director of national intelligence, he’s making the case in Paris and Brussels that pretending terrorists are not terrorists is a mug’s game.

Lebanon Seeks Explanation from Germany over Hezbollah Ban
Washington - Beirut - Elie Youssef and Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti summoned on Tuesday the Germany Ambassador to Lebanon, George Berglin, to seek further clarification on Berlin’s decision to ban activity by Hezbollah on its soil. The German diplomat made clear that Germany’s decision had been taken a while ago, but it has only recently come into force.“Germany did not classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, but rather prohibited its activities on German territories,” Berglin said. Hitti affirmed that "Hezbollah is a main political component in Lebanon which represents a wide section of the people and part of parliament," his office said. German police carried out raids in Germany last Thursday to detain suspected Hezbollah members. Security officials believe up to 1,050 people in Germany are part of Hezbollah. Meanwhile, a US State Department spokesperson commented Tuesday on the Lebanese government’s economic reform plan.
In a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, the spokesperson said that the measure of success of the new plan hinges on the ability of Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government to implement serious reforms able to lead to “transparency” and to answer the demands of the Lebanese people. The official said such measures are indispensable to restore international confidence in Lebanon. Commenting on Hezbollah, he stated, “As we repeatedly said, this is a terrorist group that threatens the security, stability and sovereignty of Lebanon.” US sources have said that the administration of President Donald Trump is setting the stage for more sanctions against Hezbollah’s financial networks.

Lebanon: Ministers, Deputies Say Amending Rescue Plan Is Inevitable
Beirut - Mohammed Shukair/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
The Lebanese government is expected to begin talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the coming days on the draft rescue plan, which was approved by the Cabinet last week. Ministerial and parliamentary sources said they expected the negotiations to be complex and lengthy, until reaching a unified financial and economic vision. They also stressed that amending the plan would be inevitable. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the sources noted that although the IMF has welcomed the government’s announcement, discussions over the plan would take several months and would require some amendments before the actual start of the implementation process. Underlining France’s role in pushing the Lebanese government to speed up the adoption of the rescue paper, the parliamentary and ministerial sources said that the IMF would have substantive observations that Lebanon should take seriously as the mandatory passage for assistance. Thus, aid, whether from the IMF or from the International Support Group, is closely linked to the need to reach a complete and irreversible agreement with the Fund, according to the sources. The same sources noted that the international community, through the IMF, would be a partner in supervising financial aid to stop the economic collapse and to prevent the random or selective use of the funds. The international community is concerned about the possibility of the Syrian regime benefiting from this aid through Hezbollah, which could use it to impose its control over the country, the sources explained. They revealed that the Lebanese import bill amounted to about $20 billion last year, while the volume of actual consumption reached $16 billion. The $4 billion-gap benefitted the Syrian regime, according to the sources, to secure some oil derivatives and raw materials.

Lebanon: Rise in Extortion, Harassment Crimes
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
Extortion and sexual harassment crimes in Lebanon increased by 184 percent during the lockdown, the general directorate of the Internal Security Forces said in a statement. “During the implementation of the general mobilization, complaints of extortion and sexual harassment increased compared to the pre-lockdown phase, reaching 122 complaints from February 21 to April 21, 2020,” the statement noted. Only 43 complaints had been registered between December 20 and February 20, it added. Accordingly, the ISF general directorate reminded the Lebanese citizens of some important precautionary measures, asking them to refrain from taking inappropriate photos of themselves, and to cautiously use the social media to avoid falling victim of extortion or be exploited by others. It also asked citizens “not to respond to the blackmailers’ requests, and to immediately report such cases,” through the ISF dedicated websites and social media accounts.

Lebanese Leaders Urge Unity over Reform Plan, Say IMF Rescue ‘Mandatory’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
Lebanese must set aside their differences to tackle the country’s major financial crisis, Prime Minister Hassan Diab warned on Wednesday, saying a reform plan proposed by his government was not a sacred text and could be amended. Diab was speaking at the Baabda presidential palace at a meeting for the heads of parliamentary blocs to review the plan that the cabinet approved last week. The economic roadmap comes with a government request for International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance, which President Michel Aoun called "a mandatory path for recovery if we negotiate well and we are all fully committed to... reform". The government proposals have encountered strong criticism from the commercial banking sector which, according to the plan, is set to sustain losses of some $83.2 billion. Parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces, were among the attendees of Wednesday's meeting. But political heavyweights such as former prime minister Saad Hariri boycotted the session over objections to the government's approach to the economic crisis. Aoun said the rescue plan was not the responsibility of a single group or party. "Getting out of the dark tunnel that we are crossing is everybody's responsibility," he told the Baabda meeting. As for Diab, he said "time is very precious.” “The accumulated losses are very big. The situation is very painful, and the chance to rectify (the situation) will not last long," he added. He urged political parties, economic syndicates and the banks to set aside differences. There was no place for score-settling, he said, adding that trading accusations would be "costly for all". "What we are offering is not a sacred text, it can be developed" further, the PM said. The local currency has lost more than half its value since October and depositors have largely been shut out of their savings as dollars have become ever more scarce. Inflation, unemployment and poverty have soared. Lebanon defaulted on its sovereign debt in March. Addressing the meeting, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said Lebanon had started negotiations to restructure its sovereign debt two weeks ago. The benefits of going to the IMF included boosting international confidence in Lebanon and the provision of financial support of $9-$10 billion for the treasury, he said. The plan adopts a flexible exchange rate in the coming phase but in "a gradual and studied" way, Wazni said. He said floating the exchange rate before restoring confidence and securing international support would lead to a big deterioration in the value of the pound, among other negative consequences.

Nehme on Nasrallah’s Remarks: Volunteers Welcome to Help Ministry Regardless of Affiliation
Naharnet//Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
Economy Minister Raoul Nehme said that volunteers “regardless of their affiliation” are welcome to help the Ministry in monitoring the prices of commodities, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday. “I cannot assemble an army, but I welcome any volunteer with a Lebanese identity, regardless of his affiliation,” said Nehme replying to a suggestion made by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah had earlier stated “readiness to recruit 10,000 volunteers to help the ministry of economy monitor the prices of goods and commodities.” Nehme stated that the Ministry requested help in order to be able to monitor prices around all Lebanese regions, taking into consideration the limited ministry staff available for this mission. “I have asked for help from the municipalities in controlling prices and imposing fines, mainly that they have more jurisdictions than the Ministry of Economy,” said Nehme. “At present we are coordinating efforts with the ministries of industry and agriculture, and with the Central Bank of Lebanon to secure support for the import of basic materials, as being discussed,” he added. Prices have risen by 55 percent in Lebanon, while 45 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line, according to official estimates. Lebanese are railing against a sharp devaluation of the pound and rocketing inflation, amid the coronavirus pandemic that worsened its already stricken economy.

Lebanon’s remorseless vultures and helpless citizens
Sarah Sfeir/Arab News/May 06/2020
Vultures roam around their prey and wait for it to die. They do not kill it. They take advantage of their prey’s sickness or injury without expending any effort. They would surely blame the circumstances, not their intentions or actions.
This is not an article on zoology, I was just describing the situation in Lebanon. The vultures are the politicians, leaders and money changers who are taking advantage of the bad economic situation that has prevailed over the weakened country for the past year. The citizens’ last ray of hope has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, which has dug deep into the grave of the once-quasi-healthy Lebanese economy.
People often blame supermarkets and shop owners for the high-priced basic goods. But what can they do if they are buying the goods from foreign suppliers in US dollars at the current exchange rate? Most essential goods are imported, and those made in Lebanon need imported raw materials. Traders are not to be blamed, with the pound trading on the black market in Beirut at about 4,000 to the dollar, compared with the official rate of 1,507.
But how did it all start? An abnormal phenomenon of people withdrawing large quantities of US dollars from the Lebanese market took place way before the Oct. 17 revolution. It turned out to be Hezbollah moving large quantities of paper dollars to Syria, which was suffering from a shortage due to US sanctions. The central bank refused to inject dollar notes into the Lebanese market to compensate for these losses, as this was running contrary to the usual currency transactions. In October and November 2019, the dollar exchange rate rose to 1,700 Lebanese pounds, while the official rate remained at 1,507.
It did not stop there. Pro-Hezbollah money changers started manipulating the exchange rate of the Lebanese pound, bringing it to the 4,000 mark we are seeing now. The pressure on the peg is mounting to serve Hezbollah’s scheme of blaming and overthrowing Riad Salame — the governor of Banque du Liban, the central bank — who has been implementing the US sanctions against the group. Hezbollah has been trying to seize control of Lebanon’s banking sector and install its allies in key monetary positions in a trial to defy US orders.
The Iran-backed party wants to overthrow Salame because it cannot afford another loss after the US economic sanctions shut Jammal Trust Bank for its illicit financial and banking activities to fund Hezbollah. Salame carried out the American order, closing the bank, freezing its deposits and preventing it from paying any debts.
Hezbollah has been trying to seize control of the country’s banking sector and install its allies in key positions
What made things worse for Hezbollah is that the governor confirmed that only legitimate deposits will be insured upon maturity. That is to say, the US Treasury Department will know which account’s owners were legitimate and which were carrying out illicit activities. So the governor will be granting the American administration exceptional access to the Lebanese financial institution. The Trump administration has said loud and clear that it will impose sanctions on all those who cooperate and deal with terrorist groups. Lebanon cannot afford to pay the price for hiding Hezbollah’s activities.
However, people should also blame themselves for the choices they made during the last parliamentary elections. They are the ones who voted for the political class that is controlling the country and is responsible for the economic meltdown.
Aside from the exchange rate and US sanctions, Lebanese politicians and leaders have been missing in action for the last decade. They failed to tackle the emerging problems immediately and broadly, which resulted in spiraling unemployment, further social unrest and uncontainable inflation.
For more than a year now, the economic problems — an increasing debt load and escalating fiscal and current account deficits — have cast an extended shadow over the country. With the prevailing control of Hezbollah over the new government led by Hassan Diab, Lebanon has found itself in a swamp with disappearing (and now extinct) investments, amplified political gridlock and external liquidity shortages.
Between the worsening financial crisis, the rising exchange rate, the politicians’ unashamed theft of public funds and the blatant corruption, the Lebanese people have found themselves besieged and trapped in a vicious circle. Their only way out will be to stand united again, beyond any party or religion, and bring down the current ruling class. They should turn the tables and besiege the politicians’ and leaders’ houses until they resign. The trust between the authorities and the people can no longer be restored.
• Sarah Sfeir is head of the translation desk at Arab News. She holds a master’s degree in applied living languages and translation.
Twitter: @Sarah_Sfeir

Now is the time for the EU to put all of Hezbollah on its terror list
Ksenia Svetlova/Al Arabiya/May 06/2020
It happened at last. Germany finally announced on Thursday it has designated Lebanese Hezbollah a terror organization, banning all of its activities in the nation.
Germany – and other European countries - could have taken this step seven years ago, when Hezbollah’s military arm was banned by EU in 2013. Perhaps, if it had then banned all Hezbollah’s activities on its soil, both military and “political,” Germany would not have turned into an operational hub for Hezbollah and enabled the network of over 1,000 activists.
Today Berlin had discovered what was well known for quite a while to Israel and the Arab Gulf states – there is no distinction between Hezbollah’s military and “political” wings. There is only one Hezbollah – murderous, poisonous, and dangerous.
Now, it is time for the European Union and other countries around the world to ban Hezbollah in its entirety.
Four years ago, the members of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) classified Hezbollah as terrorist organization, a decision adopted by the Arab League.
GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif al-Zayani then accused Hezbollah of committing “hostile acts” against GCC states, including recruiting young men to carry out “terrorist attacks, smuggling weapons and explosives, stirring up sedition and incitement to chaos and violence.”
Did Europe really think back then that Hezbollah, which had already performed an act of terrorism on its soil by killing innocent Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in July 2012, would stop there? Of course, Hezbollah continued its nefarious behavior.
It has been a known fact for quite some time that Hezbollah's operations in Europe, as well as in Latin America includes drug trafficking, illicit tobacco trade, money laundering, recruitment and fundraising, with the revenues directed to Lebanon to fund terrorist attacks and arms procurement.
Hezbollah - which faithfully fulfills Iran’s orders - has destroyed Lebanon, creating a state within a state, and has sown death and destruction in Syria, acting on behalf of its Iranian master while using foreign countries with lenient policies to promote their goal.
Yet, the world was exceptionally slow to react to this immediate threat and many important players continued to insist on artificial and ridiculous distinction between its military and the “political” wings, even when Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah was laughing loudly about this distinction.
“Just as a joke, I propose that our ministers in the next government be from the military wing of Hezbollah,” he said during a televised speech in 2013, following the EU’s designation Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization.
Indeed, both political and military wings of this organization are united by the same murderous ideology, created and funded by Iran. There is no disparity between them.
As expected, Iran was not happy with this development. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council went as far as saying that “ISIS failed to reach Europe because it was defeated by Resistance groups such as Hezbollah.”
Naturally, Iran would want the world to think that “an enemy of an enemy is my friend.” Hopefully, no one will fall for this trap. ISIS is a danger to humanity, but so is Iran that continuously threatens regional security, pushing for more destruction and death through its many tentacles.
Not only Germany, but also countries in Latin America such as Argentina, Colombia and Brazil have recently decided to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and change the legislation respectively. These countries have seen for themselves how deep Hezbollah has penetrated, and how dangerous it is. Along with Israel and the Arab states, these countries have a long and painful experience of combating Hezbollah.
Everyone should know, that when Hezbollah traffics drugs, illicit tobacco, weapons or diamonds through Hamburg port or through porous borders in Latin America or East Africa, this dirty money will be later used to send rockets on the civilian population in Israel, kill more Syrians, and perform terror attacks in Europe or Arab states. That’s why the EU and countries around the world should follow the example of Germany and put the entire Hezbollah on its terror list, in an effort to eradicate Hezbollah’s power and global presence.
*Ksenia Svetlova is a former member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Today she serves as Director of the Program on Israel-Middle East relations at the Mitvim Institute and is a senior research analyst at Institute for Policy and Strategy, IDC Herzliya.

In Between Life and Death
Joseph Bahout/Carnegie MEC/May 06/2020
Lebanon’s economy was collapsing, until the coronavirus lockdown made matters even worse.
In the past six months, the Lebanese have been living through successive shocks. In October 2019, a large number of people took to the streets and public squares to protest against their declining living conditions and call for the overthrow of Lebanon’s highly corrupt and cynical political class. This appeared to be a moment when the country’s vibrant society was voicing its will to live, and live decently. Financial collapse was in sight, indeed had started, but for many protestors it was perceived as a necessary purgatory until something better could replace it.
Then came the coronavirus, which brought Lebanon’s disintegrating economy to a complete standstill. Here was a wake-up call about the fragility of things, so that if the Lebanese were thinking of an economic recovery, it was suddenly apparent that this would be far more complicated than they had anticipated. For a country in deep paralysis, the disease was the embodiment of its continuing agony.
Lebanon’s swing between a desire for rebirth and enforced confinement was reflected in the country’s politics. When people revolted last year they did so against an entire political class that had long monopolized the public realm—a closed club whose members since the end of the war in 1990 had sometimes been in power and sometimes out, while all the time maintaining a collective lock on the country’ political system. But the politicians refused to understand what had really occurred in October. They bided their time in order to reverse it, regain the initiative, and return to their sterile and destructive game.
Lebanon’s financial meltdown and the coronavirus outbreak offered them the perfect opportunities to do so. The main concerns of the state again became a subject of politicized bickering among the same old players: Should Lebanon reimburse part of its debt in Eurobonds or not? Should capital controls on bank accounts, which were informally imposed after the uprising last year, be made legal by an act of parliament? Should Beirut’s airport be completely closed to incoming flights as a shield against the coronavirus, or should it be reopened to admit Lebanese stuck abroad because of the pandemic? Should the governor of Lebanon’s central bank be held responsible for the financial collapse, and what should be done with him?
Amid this cacophony of issues, the Lebanese found themselves powerless once again, returned to the state of apathy and atrophy prevailing before October 2019.
Confinement and social distancing are hardly propitious for pursuing a popular upheaval. And it was highly symbolic that in the midst of a global cataclysm, what were very likely supporters of the country’s politicians destroyed the camp that protestors had set up last October in Beirut’s downtown area, amid general silence. If the Lebanese in revolt do not find inventive ways to revive their dissent in this time of coronavirus, if the protest movement does not provide answers to the questions that are now preoccupying most Lebanese, they could discover upon ending their confinement that their country’s agony has ended with its death.

Lebanon's uphill corruption battle against an 'untouchable class'
Kareem Chehayeb/The New Arab/May 06/2020
Lebanese lawmakers passed an anti-corruption law in late April that would target malpractices in the public sector and form a national anti-corruption commission.
Following the draft law's approval back in December 2018, it lingered in Parliament for 16 months before being passed.
The commission would consist of six appointed members, between the ages of 40 and 74, independent of any political affiliations: two retired judges, a lawyer, an accounting expert, a finance or economic expert, and an expert in public administration, public finance, or anti-corruption.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil celebrated this development and called for a series of laws to follow suit, saying this law alone is not enough.
Cash-strapped Lebanon has been scrambling to implement a series of reforms to a pledged $11.1 billion in mostly soft loans over two years, and its government will request financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund.
Going through arguably its worst financial crisis in its history, its local currency has lost nearly 60 percent of its value since last September, while food prices continue to skyrocket.
A mass uprising sparked on 17 October last year has targeted the country's rulers and banks, citing widespread corruption and mismanagement of public funds.Corruption in Lebanon is widespread and rampant. Lebanese Transparency Association, an advocacy group in Lebanon, says that corruption "governs all sectors of society and all branches of government." This unsurprisingly reflects popular opinion. According to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Lebanon continues to be perceived as one of the most corrupt countries surveyed, ranking 138 out of 180. In addition, an IMF audit that took place over the summer of 2019 also said that there are "governance weaknesses that increase Lebanon's vulnerability to corruption."
With all that said, while the new anti-corruption law appears to be a significant step forward, many say that it leaves far too much to be desired. While Bassil and MPs from Lebanon's ruling political parties were full of praise, civil society organisations and even some MPs were critical of what they say are problematic elements of the law. Independent MP Paula Yacoubian was most vocal. "I would have preferred it would be both public and private sectors together in one law," Yacoubian told The New Arab over the phone.
But what especially irked the Beirut MP is a rejected amendment she proposed which would have at least two of the six committee members elected, rather than appointed. She quickly expressed her frustration on Twitter from the UNESCO Palace in Beirut, which acted as a makeshift parliament building that day.Yacoubian told The New Arab that she suggested in her proposal that the lawyer and accountant would be elected as both respective syndicates "hold elections internally.""When appointed, there is always an allegiance to the authorities that made said appointment," she explained. "This is sadly part of ongoing clientelism [in Lebanon]." The uphill battle against economic corruption in Lebanon is not recent. Advocacy and awareness campaigns to pressure the passing of anti-corruption and transparency legislation go back decades.
The United Nations Development Programme and the Lebanese Transparency Association released a 50-page report in March 2009 called 'Towards A National Anti-Corruption Strategy'. In its preface, the UNDP says it launched a national dialogue project to take on corruption back in mid-2004.
Lebanon previously had a State Ministry for Combatting Corruption, held by Free Patriotic Movement appointee Nicholas Tueini for two years from December 2018 until January 2019.
In April 2018, Lebanon announced its 'Anti-Corruption National Strategy' in partnership with the UNDP that would set a pathway for the country until 2023.
Tueni's ministry had little to no budget - just his salary. The state ministry never resumed after his term ended.
With that said, Assaad Thebian, Founder and Director of the Gherbal Initiative, an organisation that promotes publishes and visualises data on state institutions, believes that legislation is not the core problem when it comes to corruption in the first place. "We've always seen several laws which are supposed to be progressive, but they are never really being applied," Thebian told The New Arab, echoing MP Yacoubian's sentiments about the need to elect committee members, rather than appointing them.
He added that while the government has tried to appeal to a largely infuriated population, promising reform to take on corruption, there has been no "tangible" results just yet. "The next steps that should be done is actual transparency commitments from all public administrations," Thebian said. "They should regularly be updating their data and making them more accessible and easy to use by citizens which is not a common practice so far."
Thebian and his colleagues at Gherbal continue to fill in a huge gap left by the Lebanese government. As Lebanon's local currency continues to lose its value, all eyes are on financial and economic developments in the country.
The organisation recently launched El Lira, a website database of the local currency exchange rate, state budget data visualizations, and other crucial information. "Websites likes El Lira are tools that are put into the hands of citizens so they have an effective ability to measure and analyse data on their own," he said. "This is a practice the government should adopt.
Now, Assaad Thebian is preparing a data-driven evaluation of Prime Minister Hasan Diab's government. At the same time, MP Paula Yacoubian tells The New Arab that her focus has been making sure crucial laws that combat corruption aren't weakened before being voted on in Parliament, particularly one she says is central to combating corruption: an independent judiciary. An independent judiciary is one of the central demands of Lebanon's protest movement, but also a central point of criticism when it comes to Lebanese corruption
"The important thing [going forward] is to pass a law to guarantee the independence of the judiciary," said Yacoubian. "You can't combat corruption without an independent judiciary." Calling for the independence of a judiciary is one of the central demands of Lebanon's protest movement, but also a central point of criticism when it comes to Lebanese corruption and misconduct. Yacoubian said the draft law, prepared by local NGO Legal Agenda, would be a complete restructuring of the judiciary, guaranteeing its independence in all its different facets.It's currently being debated in parliament's general committee, though she says it's been an uphill battle preventing others from diluting its efficacy. For now, she remains cautiously optimistic. "This law when – or if – it goes through the general committee, would be a huge development."
*Kareem Chehayeb is a Lebanese journalist based in Beirut. He leads investigations at The Public Source

AUB Says Staff to Endure Significant Pay Cuts
Associated Press/Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 06/2020
The American University of Beirut, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the Middle East, has become the latest institution in Lebanon to announce it is facing a financial crisis due to what it said is a "confluence of calamities" starting with the collapse of the Lebanese economy and compounded by the coronavirus pandemic. It said staff would endure significant pay reductions and that steps under consideration include furloughs as well as the closure of some programs and departments. Lebanon is in the thick of its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, compounded by the coronavirus epidemic.
Forty-five percent of Lebanon's population now lives below the poverty line, and tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs or seen their salaries slashed as a result of the downturn. The Lebanese pound has been selling for more than 4,000 to the dollar on the black market in recent weeks in a record low.

Could Lebanon's prestigious American University of Beirut go bankrupt?
The New Arab/May 06/2020
Lebanon's American University of Beirut (AUB) is facing an unprecedented financial crisis, with the coronavirus pandemic and the country's ongoing economic collapse pushing the prestigious place of learning to the brink of bankruptcy. In a letter to staff and students published on the university's website on Tuesday, the institution's president Dr Fadlo Khuri outlined the dire financial circumstances facing Lebanon's oldest university.
AUB faces losses over the next year of more than $150 million, with Khuri predicting further losses over the coming years due to the country's near total economic collapse and the prospect of the first global depression since the 1930s. The three-page letter demarcating the scale of the crisis has sparked fears that the long-standing institution, one of the region's most prestigious, could be forced to close its doors.
But AUB's President Khuri has urged students and staff not to lose hope despite the devastating predictions, pledging that the university administration will do its utmost to avoid shutting down.
"We will do everything we can and must to save it. It is my deep conviction that Lebanon and the region have no hope whatsoever if AUB cannot fulfill its mission. Saving AUB must be our only priority," Khuri wrote. "And save it we will."Measures to limit expenditure, cut programmes and departments, slash salaries and fire or furlough employees will affect "everyone", the university president said.
"We must ascertain in a relatively limited period of time what are the most fundamentally critical programs we have at AUB that allow us to empower and educate leaders, create and implement groundbreaking research, and serve the community, country and region in a transformative way," Khuri wrote.
"Anything that is not deemed mission essential will likely prove to be a luxury that we can no longer afford," he explained.
Over the coming month, the university administration will formulate plans for a budget that it hopes will see AUB through years of economic fragility and have it become a "leaner, more efficient, and more sustainable university" on the opposite end of the crisis.
A finalised budget for the coming academic year will be submitted to the Board of Trustees in early June, and key savings will be made public by 15 June, Khuri explained.
So far the university has managed to fund-raise more than $10 million in "solidarity funds" for students, staff and patients at the university hospital in need of assistance, he added.
Founded in 1866 as the Syrian Protestant College, the American University of Beirut is the oldest higher education institution in Lebanon and one of the most prestigious universities in the Arab world.
It was ranked 244th in the world in the 2020 QS World University Ranking. Only Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz and King Fahd universities ranked higher on the list in the Arab world.
An unprecedented economic crunch
Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Lebanon was already in the midst of its worse economic crisis since the country's civil war, which lasted from 1975-1990.
An economic crunch helped set off unprecedented cross-sectarian mass protests in October last year which unseated the last government.
Political upheaval caused the economy to crumble further but demonstrations had largely petered out after a new cabinet was tasked earlier this year with implementing urgent reforms to unlock billions in international aid.
Protesters have hit the streets again in recent days in defiance of a coronavirus lockdown, railing against the slump in the pound and rocketing inflation.
Public anger has been increasingly directed at banks which are accused of helping a corrupt political class drive the country towards bankruptcy.
Lebanese banks, many of which are owned by prominent politicians, have since September imposed restrictions on dollar withdrawals and transfers, forcing the public to deal in the nose-diving Lebanese pound.
Since March, banks have stopped dollar withdrawals altogether.
Prices have risen by 55 percent, while 45 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line, according to official estimates.
The government in March defaulted on its sovereign debt for the first time because of dwindling foreign currency reserves.
Agencies contributed to this report

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 06-07/2020
Iranian, Palestinian militias in Aleppo evacuate after airstrikes
Tzvi Joffre/Jerusalem Post/May 06/2020
For the first time since Iran entered Syria with thousands of troops and militia fighters, the Islamic Republic is reducing its forces and clearing out from bases in the war-torn country. The Iranian-backed Baqir brigade began relocating its military headquarters in Aleppo on Tuesday after alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted a research center in the city this week, according to the Step News Agency. The brigade erected checkpoints at the southern and eastern entrances of the city, began checking the identities of passers-by and searching vehicles. The headquarters are being moved from within the city to a new area in the city's outskirts due to fears of being targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
The formerly Iranian-backed and currently Russian-backed Palestinian Liwa al-Quds (Jerusalem Brigade) militia in Aleppo also issued a similar security alert recently in the Bab al-Nairab neighborhood of Aleppo, according to Step. Non-residents were prevented from entering the area by the brigade, which is also working to move its headquarters outside of the neighborhood.
For the first time since Iran entered Syria with thousands of troops and militia fighters, the Islamic Republic is reducing its forces and clearing out from bases in the war-torn country, a senior defense source said Tuesday. The Iranian nationals in Syria are said to be leaving because of the series of Israeli airstrikes. The Iranian-backed militias are leaving because the civil war is winding down.
Not only have the strikes killed dozens of Iranian troops and destroyed an immeasurable amount of advanced weaponry, over the last six months Iran has also significantly reduced the number of cargo flights into Syria which are used to smuggle weapons into the war-torn country. At least five airstrikes targeting Syria have been blamed on Israel in the past two weeks. Alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted a research center and a military base in Syria on Monday night where Iranian militias are based, the fifth such strike in two weeks, according to Syrian media. Further airstrikes by unidentified aircraft on Iranian militias were reported in the Deir Ezzor area near the Syria-Iraq border shortly after. Some 12 missiles were fired at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center in Aleppo during the airstrikes, reported Al-Arabiya, adding that the research center is believed by Israel to be cooperating with Iran to develop missile technologies. Sources for Al-Arabiya added that five of the missiles hit the research center, “completely destroying it.” Fourteen Iranians and Iran-backed militants were killed in the alleged Israeli airstrikes in Deir Ezzor last night, according to SOHR. The death toll is expected to rise as injuries were reported with some in critical conditions. Multiple airstrikes have targeted Iranian forces and militias in eastern Syria in the past few months. A strategic border crossing between Iraq and Syria and the Iranian-controlled Imam Ali military base is located in the border town of Al-Bukamal.
*Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.

Rouhani: Trump Made 'Stupid Mistake' By Pulling Out of Nuclear Deal
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday US President Donald Trump made a stupid mistake by pulling out of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, and called on Washington to lift its sanctions.
Trump pulled Washington out of the pact in 2018, saying it did not go far enough to limit Tehran’s missile program and influence in the region.
“Trump made a stupid mistake by exiting the nuclear deal,” Rouhani said, Reuters reported.
“If America wants to return to the deal, it should lift all the sanctions on Tehran and compensate for the reimposition of sanctions ... Iran will give a crushing response if the arms embargo on Tehran is extended,” Rouhani added.
Tehran has progressively scaled back its commitments to the JCPOA in retaliation to the US pullout and what it sees as European inaction to salvage the accord. Earlier on Sunday, Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary, Ali Shamkhani, warned that the deal would "die forever" if the embargo is extended.Accoridng to AFP, Tehran has in the past threatened to retaliate against any reimposition of UN sanctions by withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iranian Fighters Killed in Israeli Strike on Eastern Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
Fourteen Iranian and Iraqi fighters were killed and others wounded in Israeli airstrikes on eastern Syria, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Britain-based war monitor said the late Monday strikes in eastern Deir Ezzour province targeted positions of Iranian and Iran-backed fighters. Some were critically injured. There was no immediate comment from Israel. Syria’s state news agency reported late Monday that Israeli strikes targeted military depots in the region of Safira, south of the northern city of Aleppo. It did not mention the strikes on Deir Ezzour, which borders Iraq.
Western intelligence sources say Iranian-backed militias have long been entrenched in Aleppo province where they have bases and a command center and installed advanced weapons, part of a growing presence across regime-controlled Syria. The Scientific Studies and Research Center is one of several facilities where Western intelligence and opposition sources suspect Syria with the help of Iranian researchers work on developing chemical weapons they accuse Syria of having used against civilians in opposition-held areas, reported Reuters. A regional intelligence source said Israel was stepping up raids in Syria at a time when world attention and the region, including Syria, were distracted by the coronavirus pandemic. Israeli defense minister Naftali Bennett told Israeli media last week that Israel would step up its campaign against Iran in Syria. There have recently been several reports of suspected Israeli strikes inside Syria, the most recent one last week, when the Syrian regime forces and state media said Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles toward areas near the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing three civilians. Israel rarely comments on such reports, although it has acknowledged carrying out airstrikes inside Syria on numerous occasions in the course of Syria’s nine-year conflict, saying it was going after Iranian military targets in the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in August that Iran has no immunity anywhere and that the Israeli military forces “will act — and currently are acting — against them.”

Iraq: Several Rockets Strike Near Baghdad Airport
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
The Iraqi military said that three Katyusha rockets fell near the military sector of the Baghdad airport early on Wednesday but caused no casualties. This came hours ahead of a parliament session that will vote on the proposed government of the latest prime minister-designate, Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Iraqi security forces later discovered the launching pad for the rockets in the al-Barkiya area, west of Baghdad. This attack is the first following a brief lull since March 26, when rockets struck near to the Baghdad Operations Command, a center that coordinates Iraq's police and military forces.
An Iraqi security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said one of the rockets struck close to Iraqi forces at the military airport, another near Camp Cropper, once a US detention facility, and the last near to where US forces are stationed at the base, the Associated Press reported.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Several previous attacks targeted US interests early in March, including three military bases known to house US troops. The US-led coalition has withdrawn from several bases across Iraq in a planned drawdown.
Washington has accused Iran-backed militias of carrying out such attacks in the past.

Massive deployment of Russian mercenaries bolstering Libya's Haftar: UN experts
The New Arab & agencies//Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
Rogue Libyan general Khalifa Haftar's military force is being bolstered by Russian operatives as part of large-scale efforts from foreign powers to aid the militia leader, according to UN experts. Between 800 to 1,200 mercenaries have been recruited by the Wagner Group - a private military company headed by a close associate of President Vladimir Putin - to be used in Libya, where Haftar has laid siege to the capital Tripoli, currently controlled by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). According to the UN experts, who have written their first extensive report on mercenary activity in the war-torn country, at least 39 of the mercenaries are working as snipers on the front lines in the Libyan conflict. The UN panel also published copies of a Russian-language map showing a training camp which was reportedly established by Russian mercenaries in southeastern Libya towards the end of 2019.
Despite Russia's support for Haftar, the UN experts also noted strains between the military commander and Moscow. According to the report, Russia has met most of Haftar's requests, however the general has not been so forthcoming, having restricted Wagner movements in Libya and withheld information.
Haftar, a Gaddafi-era military commander who heads the self-styled Libyan National Army, launched a campaign to seize Tripoli from government control last year. The two sides have remained locked in a conflict that has drawn in several foreign powers, including the UAE and Turkey.
Turkey and the UAE sit on opposite sides of the conflict, with Ankara having assisted the UN-backed Government of National Accord's military effort against Haftar. The UN panel's report also noted that Turkey has recruited thousands of former Syrian rebels to fight alongside the GNA in Libya. Haftar's side, meanwhile, has flown in as many as 2,000 Syrians by the Damascus-based Cham Wings Airlines, according to the report. The panel's investigations into Syrian fighters in Libya are ongoing, however, the experts highlighted "credible" news of Russia recruiting Syrians. According to some reports, Syrians from the town of Douma were recruited with salaries of $800 per month.

Turkey Admits its Support for Sarraj Stopped Libyan Army’s Advance
Ankara - Saeed Abdulrazek/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the Libyan National Army (LNA) is losing ground thanks to his country’s support to the Government of National Accord (GNA). "Hopefully, we will soon receive more good news from Libya,” said Erdogan. He said Turkey is determined to continue supporting the GNA led by Fayez al-Sarraj to transform the area into an “oasis of peace.” In remarks following a cabinet meeting, Erdogan said that LNA leader Khalifa Haftar is facing opposition from the people, even in the areas he controls.
He indicated that the unlimited financial support and weapons provided by some countries to Haftar will not be enough to save him. "The safety of Libya and the peace and well-being of the Libyan people are the key to the stability of all of North Africa and the Mediterranean."
Last week, Erdogan and Sarraj discussed over the phone the situation in Libya, and issues of mutual interest and ways to enhance bilateral relations. Meanwhile, the Turkish presidency said Haftar is losing power, calling on all countries supporting him to “rethink their positions.”Turkey’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, asserted that due to Ankara’s support for the GNA, the “destabilizing and illegitimate” Haftar forces are losing ground in Libya. “All those powers supporting Haftar must rethink their position and invest in the legitimate government for peace and stability,” Altun said on Twitter.
Last month, GNA forces and allied militias controlled a number of cities on the northwestern coast of Libya, with the support of Turkey, which interfered through its airforce. Turkey also transported weapons, air defense units, and thousands of militants from the Syrian factions. Turkey is paying them salaries as mercenaries to fight alongside Sarraj’s militias in an attempt to hinder LNA’s progress towards Tripoli. An official from the LNA’s General Command said that Turkey had recently provided GNA militias with new weapons, which arrived at the ports of Misrata and Tripoli through cargo ships. He stressed that the arms were used on the battlefronts in Tripoli, even in residential areas and vital centers. He also noted that sophisticated air defense systems were installed, as well as newly manufactured surface-to-surface missiles, jamming devices, and Turkish-made heavy-caliber mortars. The military official stressed that Turkey continues to financially and politically support the GNA militias, despite international calls to end the fighting and enter a humanitarian truce during the month of Ramadan, which was approved by the LNA.

Russian Report Considers Assad a ‘Burden'
Moscow - Raed Jaber/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
A report by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) said Moscow has become more serious about making changes in Syria because protecting President Bashar Assad has become a burden. The report hints at the possibility that Russia, Turkey and Iran reach a consensus to remove Assad, and establish a ceasefire in exchange for forming a transitional government that includes the opposition, members of the regime and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Russia’s clear impatience with Assad emerged two weeks ago following vague and indirect messages urging Damascus to change its behavior.
The RIAC is led by former Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and is known to be close to the decision-makers in the Russian government. The report said that since the beginning of its military intervention in Syria, Moscow has been keen to avoid being presented as the defender of Assad.
It added that in negotiations it has stressed that “the Syrian people will decide whether or not Assad will remain in power”. Earlier this week, a former Russian ambassador, Alexander Aksenyonok wrote: “It is becoming increasingly obvious that the [Assad] regime is reluctant or unable to develop a system of government that can mitigate corruption and crime.” Russia’s TASS news agency said Russia is suspecting that Assad is not only no longer able to lead the country, but that the head of the Syrian regime is dragging Moscow towards a scenario similar to the Afghan war, which is a very disconcerting possibility for Russia. The news agency said Moscow is working on two scenarios: The first sees forces present in Syria accepting each other’s scope of influence. As a result, Syria would remain divided into a region protected by Tehran and Moscow, the opposition region supported by Turkey, and the East Euphrates supported by Washington and the SDF. As for the second option, TASS explained it requires a complete withdrawal of all foreign forces and the unification of the country after achieving a political transformation in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.
The news agency considered that this option is less costly for all parties.

PLO Accuses Israel of Ethnic Cleansing in Jerusalem
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has accused the Israeli authorities of launching a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem following the detention of Palestinian leaders and officials. The PLO Executive Committee condemned on Tuesday the mounting Israeli violations against civilians and officials in occupied Jerusalem and its suburbs, including the Israeli arrest of 13 Palestinians in East Jerusalem, mostly leaders and officials. Member of the PLO Executive Committee Hanan Ashrawi accused Israel of escalating its violations against Palestinians. She said the occupation forces were also storming homes and searching them.“The daily organized terrorism against Jerusalem and its suburbs reflects the real policy of the occupying state which is part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing, forced displacement and apartheid,” she said. Ashrawi warned that the Israeli practices in Jerusalem are a real danger to the life of Palestinians. “Those practices come as part of the Israeli efforts to foil the attempts of the Palestinian government to fight COVID-19 in occupied Jerusalem by ignoring the health conditions of Jerusalemites and preventing Palestinian authorities from offering them health services and financial aid,” Ashrawi noted.
She called on the international community to intervene to stop the Israeli practices. Ashrawi’s statement came after the Israeli authorities apprehended 13 Palestinians in East Jerusalem, including Bilal al-Natsheh, secretary-general of the Popular Conference in Jerusalem, who was moved to an Israeli hospital right after his arrest. In addition to Natsheh, the massive arrest campaign included his office manager, Lt. Col. Muadh Al-Ashhab, along with 11 others, namely Major General Imad Awad, businessman Mustafa Abu Zahra and writer Rania Hatem.
The Israeli police said in a statement that they had detained "seven suspects from Jerusalem residents for violating the law implementing the interim agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”

Israel Strikes Hamas Posts in Response to 1st Gaza Rocket Fire in More Than a Month
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
The Israeli military said it struck three Hamas militant posts in Gaza early on Wednesday, saying it came in response to the first case of rocket fire from the territory in more than a month. The military claimed that a rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel and landed in an open field. In response, it said it targeted the Hamas positions. No injuries were reported on either side, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, no Palestinian group took responsibility for the fire. Israel says it holds the territory's militant Hamas rulers responsible for any fire emanating from the coastal strip. The typically volatile border has been quiet of late as Israel has been coping with a coronavirus outbreak and back-channel talks have been underway for a potential prisoner exchange.

Court unanimously rejects petitions against Netanyahu, coalition deal
The Times Of Israel/May 06/2020
Clearing path to new government, judges find no legal justification to prevent PM from leading coalition; say accord ‘raises serious difficulties’ but intervention inappropriate.
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday evening unanimously rejected a series of petitions seeking to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government due to the criminal charges against him or to strike down a coalition deal he signed with Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, paving the way for the two to push ahead with their controversial power-sharing deal. In a decision handed out after 11 p.m. on Wednesday, the expanded panel of 11 judges ruled that there is no legal impediment to Netanyahu being tasked to form a government and retaining the premiership even with indictments being filed against him in three corruption cases, including bribery in one of them. However, they also hinted that legislation making its way through the Knesset as part of the deal can still be challenged once passed, and said parts of the agreement raise “significant difficulties.”
In a two-day hearing this week, the court heard arguments from eight petitioners seeking to block the deal, including former Gantz ally Yair Lapid, head of the opposition Yesh Atid party.
At issue was whether a lawmaker under indictment could be tasked with forming a government, as well as objections to various amendments to laws being passed as part of the agreement, which will enshrine a rotating prime ministership and place significant clamps on Knesset activity and senior appointments.
Chief Justice Esther Hayut wrote that Netanyahu still enjoys the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise, and that the law doesn’t prevent a criminal defendant from forming a government. Hayut wrote that there was no reason to intervene “at this time,” which was seen as leaving the door open to challenging the legislation underpinning the coalition agreement in the future. All of the 10 judges on the panel agreed and signed onto Hayut’s ruling. Shortly before the ruling, Netanyahu’s Likud Party and Gantz’s Blue and White announced that the new government would be sworn in on May 13. The Knesset is expected to vote Thursday to pass the proposed amendments agreed to as part of the coalition deal. Under the three-year coalition deal signed April 20, Netanyahu would serve as prime minister for 18 months, with Gantz as his alternate, a new position in Israeli governance.
They will swap roles midway through the three-year deal, while cabinet positions will be split between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Gantz’s Blue and White alliance, as well as their respective allies.
Reacting to the verdict, The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners called the Netanyahu-Gantz government “the exact definition of ‘kosher but odious.” “Morally and ethically, one cannot make peace with a situation in which a prime minister is a criminal defendant,” the group said in a statement, announcing a demonstration for Saturday night. A main issue the court had considered was whether Netanyahu is legally allowed to form a government while under criminal indictment. He has been charged with accepting improper gifts and illegally trading favors in exchange for positive media coverage. He denies wrongdoing and his trial is set to start on May 24. While Israeli law bars ministers from serving while under indictment, there is no such law applying to prime ministers. The deal could offer Israel a rare period of political stability as it seeks to repair the economic damage wrought by the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 16,000 people in the country. Likud and Blue and White on Tuesday informed the court they would adjust some of the provisions that caused concern. Under the coalition deal, the government was to be defined as an “emergency” body for its first six months, tasked exclusively with combating the coronavirus. Following questions about that clause’s legality, the parties said they would amend the deal to say coronavirus will be the priority through the first six months, but other issues can be also handled. They also said they would pause certain public appointments for only 100 days, instead of the originally planned six months. AFP contributed to this report

Arab Economies Incurred $1.2 Trillion Losses Due to Coronavirus
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
The novel coronavirus pandemic had a harsh economic impact on the Arab economy, with total losses so far amounting to about $1.2 trillion, amid expectations that some 7.1 million workers will lose their jobs.
Those numbers were emphasized in a report issued by the Arab League, which called for the establishment of a crisis fund that could alleviate the repercussions of the force majeure. The report, which was prepared by the League’s economic affairs department, shed light on the short and long term repercussions of the virus and their impact on the sectors of health, agriculture, food and development The report detailed the losses as follows: $420 billion in market capital, $63 billion in the GDP of member countries, additional debts of $220 billion, and a daily loss of $550 million in oil revenues, in addition to a decline in exports of $28 billion, more than $2 billion in tariff revenues and loss of about 7.1 million jobs in 2020. The report said that, according to a preliminary evaluation conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the COVID-19 pandemic will have a major impact on labor markets around the world with the soaring unemployment rate. It added that the health care and food security sectors would be affected the most by the crisis, as well as the industries of oil, tourism and air transport. The report examined the short-term repercussions in the Arab world, stating: “Although the situation in the Arab countries is much better compared to the United States, the European Union and China, most countries resorted to precautionary measures to contain the virus… leading to huge losses in the aviation and tourism sectors and the loss of about one million employments and hundreds of thousands of seasonal jobs, in addition to the sharp decline in oil prices.”The report presented a number of proposals, including the establishment of an Arab fund for crises and reviewing the requirements for providing financial support to member-states, by setting more flexible temporary conditions, and postponing outstanding installments during this exceptional period.

During Coronavirus, Domestic Violence is on the Rise in Several Countries
Ankara - Ramallah -Saeed Abdulrazek and Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 6 May, 2020
Domestic violence is on the rise globally during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to other crimes, including in Turkey and Palestine. The crime rate in Palestine has decreased significantly, compared to violence against women. Palestinian police spokesman Louay Arzaiqat said that there is a significant drop in crimes such as murder, theft, and traffic accidents. However, this did not seem to apply to violent crimes against women. Member of General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW) Fitna Khalifah documented an increase in domestic abuse. Khalifah indicated that in the first two weeks of the spread of the COVID-19, women’s organizations received over 500 calls from women saying they were subject to psychological or physical abuse under the lockdown. These figures remain relatively low compared to domestic violence in Israel, which witnessed a 16 percent increase. Israeli police confirmed that violence and in public spaces dropped, while domestic violence spiked. Data showed that in the past week alone, various centers received 222 calls from women who reported being subjected to abuse at home, compared to 191 calls last March. Four women have been killed in Israel in domestic crimes since mid-March.
The situation is similar in Turkey, where most crime rates such as robbery, kidnapping, and murder, have fallen by more than 35 percent, compared to a nearly 40 percent increase in domestic violence, according to data released by the Turkish General Security Directorate.
The Istanbul Security Directorate reported that 80.4 families witness a violent crime daily, 99 percent of which are within the city. A number of women's rights associations in Turkey announced the death of 29 women last March, including 21 within a period of 20 days.
Turkish security expert Muhammed Agar said the change in crime rates in Turkey is consistent with changes in different parts of the world. Agar indicated that domestic violence increased as a result of the pressures of lockdown and people staying indoors, coupled with economic problems.
Other crimes, such as theft, kidnapping, and murder fell as majority of citizens remain indoors.

Warming US-Sudan ties are about more than just politics
The National/May 06/2020
Strengthening Khartoum's ties with Washington is crucial for the Arab nation's economic development.
Sudan has made yet another historic step forward in the past few days. On Saturday, the government approved a draft law to criminilise female genital mutilation and on Monday, Khartoum officially appointed its first ambassador to the United States in a quarter of a century. Sudan’s choice is Noureddine Sati, a well-known diplomat. His appointment comes after an ongoing strengthening of ties with Washington, culminating in the decision by both countries in December to exchange ambassadors. The US is yet to nominate its own chief diplomat in Khartoum.
American relations with Sudan are warming after decades of tensions under the rule of former dictator Omar Al Bashir. In 1993, Sudan was added to the US government’s list of state sponsors of terrorism as a result of Al Bashir’s support for extremist militant groups. Al Bashir’s regime had gone so far as providing a safe harbour for Al Qaeda’s late leader Osama Bin Laden. The designation made it impossible for Khartoum to apply for much-needed financial assistance from international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund or the World bank. The terror listing also came with a host of economic sanctions, which were strengthened in 2006 after Al Bashir and his allies led an ethnic cleansing campaign in Sudan’s Darfur region. In addition to international sanctions, incompetent governance and widespread corruption took a toll on the formerly oil-rich country’s economy. Under Al Bashir, Sudan was largely a one-man regime where every aspect of life, including the economy, was monopolised by the former leader and his entourage. This left no room for an independent banking sector to flourish or for ordinary Sudanese businesses and entrepreneurs to succeed. According to a report published by The Sentry, a watchdog for financial wrongdoing and war crimes in Africa, Al Bashir’s adopted son ran a complex scheme that allowed him to fund his own business operations using bank loans intended for the central government. The scam left Khartoum with crippling debt. Sudan’s economic woes led to Al Bashir’s toppling last April. In December 2018, protests erupted in the capital against a sudden hike in the price of bread, fuel and other basic necessities, as well as a corresponding deterioration in living conditions. The protests quickly turned into a full-scale uprising. oday, Khartoum is working towards finding solutions to these pressing issues. Weeding out corruption and preventing pro-Al Bashir networks from reviving their grip on the economy are pivotal steps to building a better future for Sudan. As is opening up the country to the rest of the world, including the restoration of diplomatic ties with the US.
In the meantime, Sudan is in need of financial and humanitarian assistance, especially in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Gulf countries have been major supporters of Khartoum’s political and economic transition, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE alone pledging $3 billion in aid to the country.
Since Omar Al Bashir’s fall from power one year ago, Sudan has become a beacon for good governance and opportunity. After three decades of ruthless dictatorship, Khartoum cannot turn the page on its dark past overnight, but with its recent efforts the nation may be set to rise from its ashes and inspire the world.

Trump Says Coronavirus Crisis 'Worse than Pearl Harbor' or 9/11
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 06/2020
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic has hit the United States harder than Pearl Harbor in World War II or the 9/11 attacks. "We went through the worst attack we've ever had on our country. This is really the worst attack we've ever had," he told reporters at the White House. "This is worse than Pearl Harbor. This is worse than the World Trade Center," he said. The surprise Japanese attack in 1941 on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii drew the United States into World War II.
The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks killed about 3,000 people, mostly in the World Trade Center in New York, triggering two decades of U.S. wars and anti-terrorism operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.
So far, more than 70,000 Americans have died in the flu-like global pandemic, while severe social distancing measures to stop the virus have forced the shutdown of much of the economy.

Expert Tells U.S. Congress that Virus Fight Could last Years
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 06/2020
A top health expert warned U.S. lawmakers Wednesday to brace for a "long and difficult" war against the coronavirus outbreak, as he urged dramatically expanding testing to rein in the pandemic. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Obama administration, said the government must prepare better to enable it defeat the virus that has ravaged much of the world. "Until we have an effective vaccine, unless something unexpected happens, our viral enemy will be with us for many months or years," Frieden told a House health panel, in the first congressional hearing addressing the federal response to the pandemic. "As bad as this has been so far, we're just at the beginning," added Frieden, who spearheaded the US response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak and heads a global health initiative, Resolve to Save Lives.
The United States has a world-leading 1.2 million confirmed coronavirus infections, and more than 71,500 deaths. The death toll was on track to top 100,000 by the end of May, particularly if the response is not substantially boosted, warned Frieden, who like lawmakers often wore a mask when he wasn't speaking. "The bottom line is that our war against COVID-19 will be long and difficult," he said.
Like many states and communities, Congress has slowly begun resuming its work, with new measures in place to accommodate social distancing guidelines. Two Senate panels were convening coronavirus hearings Wednesday, including one addressing the devastating economic impact on the aviation industry.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Donald Trump's latest federal judge nominee, leading Democrats to complain that Republican leadership was pushing the president's political agenda rather than addressing the coronavirus crisis. Trump administration officials have yet to publicly testify before Congress about the government's pandemic response. The nation's top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci is scheduled to testify before a Senate health committee next Tuesday alongside the CDC's current director, Robert Redfield. Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, was barred from appearing before the Democratic-led House by Trump, who has admitted the move was political.Rick Bright, an administration vaccine director who says he was ousted for opposing an unproven coronavirus treatment pushed by Trump, is now expected to testify before a House health subcommittee next week.
'Box it in'
House Republican Tom Cole said that while fighting coronavirus was priority one, state "economies need to get moving again.""Even though the fight against COVID-19 is far from over, keeping businesses closed and workers at home is not a sustainable option," Cole said. Frieden too acknowledged that Americans are eager to return to normal, with states reopening and allowing businesses to resume operations, but he urged caution. He advocated a "Box It In" approach to stop transmission including "widespread testing, isolation of cases, contact tracing and quarantine of contacts." Congress is already negotiating the next phase of federal funding, after it approved an unprecedented $3 trillion to battle coronavirus and help alleviate crushing effects of the economic shutdown. But debate has raged about which path to take, with Democrats demanding more money for state and local governments, the White House seeking a payroll tax cut and congressional Republicans pushing for corporate liability immunization.

Maduro Says Captured Americans to be Tried in Venezuela
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 06/2020
Venezuela will try two Americans allegedly captured during a failed raid by mercenaries, President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday. "They are convicts, confessed, caught red-handed and are being judged by the republic's attorney general, by Venezuela's civil courts, and the process will be full of guarantees and fair," said Maduro. The socialist leader insisted the Americans, previously identified as Luke Denman and Airan Berry, were being "well treated, with respect." Venezuela announced on Monday it arrested the pair on suspicion of trying to topple Maduro as part of a mercenary invasion force supported by the US-backed opposition. Maduro showed the passports of Denman, 34, and Berry, 41, on state television and claimed they were members of the U.S. security forces. U.S. President Donald Trump denied his administration had anything to do with the mission while Washington accused Maduro of launching a "disinformation campaign."Earlier Wednesday, however, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would "use every tool that we have available to try to get them back."Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab had said on Monday that opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is backed by the US and more than 50 countries, had signed a $212 million contract with "hired mercenaries" using funds seized by the United States from the state oil company PDVSA.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 06-07/2020
This is What Emerged Victorious with the Defeat of the Syrian Revolution
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 06/2020
The Syrian Revolution was indeed defeated, but what won?
Events and implications that packed the news of the past few weeks, can be put under a broad title: the family. The family, today, is spitting out its achievements over the nation. This is the answer to the question above.
Before going over what happened and continues to happen, there would be no harm in reminding ourselves of the family’s past and the place of kinships in the Syrian regime, in order to say that this is exactly the regime’s core characteristic; it is the regime.
While Hafez Assad and his brother Rifaat were fighting in the early eighties, after the illness of the former had opened the battle of succession, the prospect of civil war loomed over the whole of Syria. However, in those days, we were familiar with the names of Hafez, Rifaat and their third brother Jamil's sons and daughters, and with their in-laws as well. We learnt a lot about the brothers and their offsprings, their preferences, predispositions, character and morals, as well as their relationships with one another, even their relationships with their in-laws. We became aware of the position each of them occupied in Hafez's mother, Naisa's ladder of approval, closeness and aloofness, then that of his wife, Anisa, and how their immediate relatives felt about each of them.
During the revolution, with the assassination of Asef Shawkat, the son in law, this kind of news came back once again to the forefront: who killed Shawkat (who remembers: who shot J. R.?) How is the relationship between Asma, the wife, and Bushra, sister? Is it going well between Anisa and each of them?
Rumors also circulated on a monthly basis regarding the brother Maher, on his being 'injured' or 'killed' or 'prepared to inherit' from his brother, and there was also talk of whom the family would side with him and vice versa.
On a smaller scale, this was repeated when the Assad and Tlass families took divergent positions on issues. Hafez’s relationship with Mustafa Tlass was almost one of kinship: in addition to being in the same party, colluding together in several conspiracies and being partners in power and wealth, their friendship was made an example of. The sons of "Mr. President" and "Mr. Minister of Defense" were not separated when they went out or in their homes and schools.
But, of course, since Hafez and Anisa paired up, the most famous and enduring story has been that of the relationship between the Assad and Makhlouf families. Their marriage was not just a marriage: the social ascension that the groom made by marrying someone of a much higher social standing was major, and the marriage had great implications for the relationship between the Baath Party (Assad) and the Syrian Nationalists (Makhlouf). Even values did not escape the marriage's repercussions: for "loyalty" required repaying the debt to Muhammad Makhlouf, Anisa's beloved brother. Muhammad became a millionaire.
This rot, not the defeat of American imperialism, is precisely what emerged victorious.
Today, the rot records a new victory, which was made public via two videotapes addressed to the paternal cousin Bashar, released by the maternal cousin, Rami, days after the news that the former bought his wife a 30-million-dollar painting came to light.
The media and social media platforms left no room for uncertainty concerning this “science” and its heroes and details. The content may not necessarily be accurate, but its description of the climate is. It was reported, for example, that Muhammad, Bashar's uncle and Rami's father, fled to Russia and that his son, Ihab, was removed from his posts. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 28 managers at Makhlouf's companies were arrested. Rami's brother, the heavy-handed intelligence officer Hafez Makhlouf, has not been heard from, but it will not be long before we hear his news.
It is also said that Asma, the wife, is the one supervising the curtailment of the Makhlouf family's influence, and that she has nominated her cousin, Muhannad Dabbagh, to replace them (it appears that something from Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong's wife, is hiding in Asma).
It is also repeated, in the analyses of the event's seismic repercussions, that a planned marriage between Mohammed, Rami's son and the daughter of the sister-in-law, Bushra, was thwarted. Some sources have also added that sons of Rifaat, known to be hostile to the Makhlouf family, being allowed to return and set up business projects in Syria (otherwise what will they do there?!)
The battle that will redistribute the shares is not devoid of heavy weaponry. Some say that Russia and Iran are involved, which suggests that each of the branches of the family, along with those close to them, are developing their 'foreign and diplomatic' relationships. However, the leaking is certainly out of control: someone leaked the news of the painting Bashar donated to his wife, and there is someone else, on the other side, who leaked the accusation that Rami tried to smuggle a shipment, seized by the Egyptian authorities, containing illicit substances packed into milk cartons of the "Milkman" company, which is owned by Makhlouf himself.
Meanwhile, other news became of interest: the ambiguity of Kim Jong Un's health status and his potential heirs. As we know, the North Korean regime graced the Syrian regime with two lessons: it taught the regime republican succession after it had inspired the concept of "the vanguard of the Baath".
However, by then, the first trial for war crimes in Syria was taking place. Two Syrian officers, one of whom worked under Hafez Makhlouf's command, appeared before the Federal Court of Justice in Germany, as Israeli aircraft continued flying in Syrian airspace, undeterred by the coronavirus “armistice”.
Why should the revolution have won? The events of the past few weeks ought to have provided the answer to those who had not found one.

Death on a Hunger Strike Unmasks a Hate-Filled Turkey
Burak Bekdil/The Gatestone Institute/May 06/ 2020
When someone dies on a hunger strike, there is often a political motivation. It is understandable, therefore, if supporters of that political motivation mourn the victim while opponents just shrug it off. One such death in Turkey, however, again unveiled how dangerously a thin line of deep hatred divides Turks along pro- and anti-government lines. This is a psychological cold war.
The Turkish state is notoriously cruel to every ideology and its adherents that it considers "hostile."
During 2000-2007, a total of 122 prison inmates died on hunger strikes and nearly 600 suffered permanent paralysis. They were protesting prison conditions. A more recent hunger strike in Turkey revealed how inhumane Turks (and their state) could turn when protesters are of an ideology that the state apparently regards as "hostile."
The Turkish state is notoriously cruel to "hostile" ideologies and their adherents.
In March 2017, a professor of literature, Nuriye Gülmen, and a primary school teacher, Semih Özakça, both victims of a massive purge, started protesting being fired by the government by going on a hunger strike. On the 76th day, the police broke down their door and arrested them. For what? The police, it appears, feared "that their protest could turn into death fasts and new protests."
When their hunger strike was in its seventh month and their health in critical condition, the police refused to bring the "suspected terrorists" to a court hearing on the grounds that "they could try to escape."
In the earlier days of their hunger strike, Suleyman Soylu, Turkey's interior minister, said that the two teachers had lost their jobs because of links to the leftist militant group Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C). "There are organic ties between these two persons and the DHKP-C terrorist organisation... It is very clear," Soylu announced.
Soylu's claim was galactically far from the truth. The teachers' lawyer said they had both been acquitted of the charges the minister had claimed. In 2012, they were cleared of being members of a militant organization; yet, in 2017, they were fired from their jobs for supposedly having been suspects in a case for which they had been acquitted five years earlier.
In this Kafkaesque trial, the teachers were stating that their purge, based on their links with the militant left-wing organization, DHKP-C, was illegal because they had been acquitted of the charge in 2012. They simply wanted their jobs back, based on their acquittal. But not even sky was as vast as the state's remorselessness. At a soccer game, a group of fans displayed a placard in support of Özakça and Gülmen. The placard read: "Let Nuriye and Semih live." Just one line -- it was a simple, peaceful wish that the two teachers would not die in prison during their hunger strike. The governor's officials and law enforcement authorities acted immediately. From security cameras, they identified the persons who displayed the placard and launched a criminal probe against them on charges of "supporting a terror organization." The teachers were finally persuaded to stop their death fasts. But not all future protesters would be as lucky.
Members of Grup Yorum were prosecuted for allegedly sympathizing with terrorists through songs.
In 2016 members of a popular Turkish folk band, Grup Yorum, were detained on charges of supporting the same terrorist organization, DHKP-C. Their concert performances were banned. The band, known for its protest songs, is a folk collective with rotating band members. Founded in 1985, the group's concerts have attracted crowds of tens of thousands. A 2015 concert had an audience of 500,000 people. Upon their detention, the American folk singer Joan Baez said: "Your detention is proof that the ideas you believe in are right ... While singing I will also tell your story."
While in prison, two of the group's members, Helin Bölek and Ibrahim Gökçek, embarked on a hunger strike. They were asking the government to lift its ban on the group's performances and release their detained band members. In November, two members were released. But Bölek and Gökçek kept asking that Grup Yorum be allowed to return to concert halls, that jailed band members be released and that lawsuits against the group be dropped.
In response the Turkish state resorted to its "let them die" attitude. On the 288th day of the death fast, Bölek died at the age of 28. "This is the result of a political authority that divides people as 'one of us' against 'one of them,'" wrote columnist Barıs Can in Ileri Haber.
Bölek had a dream about a fair country, her country. Justice for all, she sang. "I am going today but we will come back in millions," she wrote. She would probably regret the way she chose to end her life if she read how the average Turk cheered over her death. Here is a small compilation of "condolences" Turks posted on social media after her death:
Everyone at her funeral must be arrested.
Her hunger strike alone was not good enough. People like her should embark on death fasts by 300-500 participants.
Since when is terrorism art and music?
Look at that arrogance! Crowds are gathering in the days of coronavirus (referring to Helin's funeral) endangering other people's lives.
She is a sack of bones (over a photograph showing Helin reduced to about 63 pounds)
She died to get applause.
Time to cheer up! The number of traitors went down by one.
Let them die like dogs!
Terrorist bitch!
Police should arrest those who mourn her.
May other enemies of the state die like her.
The world is cleaner now.
She should have died earlier.
Mouse-faced bitch!
Burn in hell!
She should have been killed by a bullet.
This is a compilation of shame for Turkey. Bölek and other members of Grup Yorum have never been charged with engaging in any terrorist activity. They were prosecuted for allegedly sympathizing with a terrorist organization with their songs. With their songs, not guns or bombs. The level of hatred for a 65-pound body shows the depths of polarization to which Turkey has fallen.
The level of hatred for a 65-pound body shows the depths of polarization to which Turkey has fallen.
This kind of state cruelty based on an ideological "other" illustrates how much more deeply social polarization is ensnaring Turkey. It also illustrates that for Erdoğan, Turkey is increasingly unmanageable; that polarization distracts him from furthering his widening Islamist agenda and that the 2023 presidential election is becoming a real challenge for him. Those in the free world do not have to care what ideology Grup Yorum adopted; what they should be aware of is the level of religious zealotry and overbearing governmental control that has been reached in a presumably "Western," NATO-member country.
*Burak Bekdil is an Ankara-based political analyst and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Palestinians, Israel and the Coronavirus
Richard Kemp/Gatestone Institute/May 06/2020
Israeli and PA health departments meet regularly to coordinate action and share vital information. Troops from the IDF's Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) are organising joint training for medical teams. Israel provides test kits, laboratory supplies, medicines and personal protective equipment for Palestinian health workers.
Some Palestinian Arab leaders today seem to prefer that their own people succumb to disease rather than cooperate with Israel. While Palestinians and Israelis on the ground pull together against Coronavirus.... articles in official Palestinian Authority publications assert that Israel is deliberately spreading the infection and trying to contaminate Palestinian prisoners, using Coronavirus as a biological weapon. Of course, Israel-haters in both mainstream and social media are only too eager to amplify such defamatory and divisive outbursts.
A recent Coronavirus op-ed in the Washington Post demanded that Israel "lift the siege on Gaza". Predictably, the author ignores the fact that Israel's lawful blockade of the Gaza Strip -- also imposed by Egypt -- is in place for one reason only: the regime there remains intent on using Gaza as a base for terrorist attacks against both Israel and Egypt. But even in Gaza, a form of cooperation has been achieved.
Israel-haters don't want to know this, but what the author calls for is of course exactly what has been happening since the Coronavirus outbreak.
Across Israel, the IDF has established discrete Coronavirus isolation facilities in 21 hotels, tailor-made to specific communities, including strictly kosher for Orthodox Jews and halal for Muslims. Pictured: Volunteers wearing protective outfits deliver food supplies at the Saint George Hotel in Jerusalem, turned into a halal quarantine center for residents returning from abroad, on April 22, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
Coronavirus has turned the world upside down. One Through the Looking Glass moment was the UN's praise for Israel over "unprecedented cooperation on efforts aimed at containing the epidemic". Those of us who follow the Middle East know that any judgement on Israel apart from outright condemnation is unprecedented for the UN.
What is not unprecedented is cooperation between Arabs and Israelis such as we see today. One hundred years ago, a Jewish microbiologist, Dr Israel Kligler, led the fight to eradicate malaria from this land. For centuries, the territory had been ravaged by the mosquito, decimating the people that tried to live there, leaving it barren and sparsely populated. Shortly before Kligler's war on malaria, British General Edmund Allenby, speaking of his 1917-18 fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine, had said: "I am campaigning against mosquitoes". His battle plans against the Turks were shaped above all by the need to overcome the murderous effects of malaria on his own forces.
Like Coronavirus, malaria did not differentiate between Jews and Arabs, and both communities learnt the need to work together against a disease that had for so long caused devastation to both their peoples. Despite violent efforts by Amin al-Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, to prevent his people from cooperating with the hated Jews, Kligler's endeavours enabled the land to be cultivated, populated and developed, and eventually to the total elimination of the disease in the area.
Like al-Husseini, some Palestinian Arab leaders today seem to prefer that their own people succumb to disease rather than cooperate with Israel. While Palestinians and Israelis on the ground pull together against Coronavirus, Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh says: "Some soldiers are trying to spread the virus through the door handles of cars. It is a case of racism and hatred by people who hope for the death of the other." More Alice in Wonderland fantasy.
A PA spokesman accused the Israeli authorities of "racist and inhumane" behaviour and articles in official PA publications assert that Israel is deliberately spreading the infection and trying to contaminate Palestinian prisoners, using Coronavirus as a biological weapon. Of course, Israel-haters in both mainstream and social media are only too eager to amplify such defamatory and divisive outbursts.
Meanwhile Israeli and PA health departments meet regularly to coordinate action and share vital information. Troops from the IDF's Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) are organising joint training for medical teams. Israel provides test kits, laboratory supplies, medicines and personal protective equipment for Palestinian health workers.
COGAT is also working to coordinate safe transit for Palestinian Arabs from their homes into places of work across the Green Line in Israel. Their earnings put food on the table for tens of thousands of Arab families. Authorities ensure these workers observe the same social distancing as Israeli citizens and are equipped with the same protective equipment. Unprecedented arrangements have been made to allow them to remain in Israel for extended periods to avoid cross-contamination. Despite that, PA leaders maliciously accuse Israel of using their workers, who are so vital to the Palestinian economy, to transmit infections back into Arab areas.
The IDF is closely cooperating with local authorities among Israeli Muslim communities, providing testing and medication and evacuating the sick to hospitals and hotels. Across Israel, they have established discrete isolation facilities in 21 hotels, tailor-made to specific communities, including strictly kosher for Orthodox Jews and halal for Muslims.
The IDF have distributed more than 100,000 food packages to Israeli Muslims in places where there have been significant outbreaks, and are supplying groceries for those who are unable to leave their homes. IDF uniforms inside Muslim villages are often seen among locals as provocative. In places where the Ministry of Health identifies hotspots, deployment of Muslim IDF soldiers and careful messaging and coordination with village leaders have so far helped prevent incidents. In some cases, Muslim civilians carrying out official roles have donned fluorescent vests with IDF Home Front Command markings, something normally unheard of and indicative of understanding the need to pull together.
A recent Coronavirus op-ed in the Washington Post demanded that Israel "lift the siege on Gaza". Predictably, the author ignores the fact that Israel's lawful blockade of the Gaza Strip -- also imposed by Egypt -- is in place for one reason only: the regime there remains intent on using Gaza as a base for terrorist attacks against both Israel and Egypt. But even in Gaza, a form of cooperation has been achieved.
The Washington Post article goes on:
"Israel must immediately lift restrictions on supplies and equipment entering Gaza and ensure Palestinian doctors and nurses have the resources they need to ensure the health and safety of their patients."
Israel-haters don't want to know this, but what the author calls for is of course exactly what has been happening since the Coronavirus outbreak.
Israel has continued, as usual, to supply essential aid to the people of Gaza, including electricity and water. COGAT facilitates unhindered all international aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip, including testing equipment, protective garments, disinfectant, medical stocks and other humanitarian supplies provided by WHO, the EU, UNRWA, Qatar, Norway and other countries. Last week alone this included 197 tons of medical supplies among the 2,563 truckloads of goods that crossed from Israel into Gaza.
Despite scaremongering in the Washington Post and other papers, the Gaza health authorities report very low levels of Coronavirus, and restaurants re-opened last week. Hamas seems to have been managing the crisis effectively, no doubt anxious to avoid unrest that could destabilise its regime.
The cooperation between Israel and Palestinian Arabs will enable Coronavirus to be contained and perhaps eventually eradicated there. But will it lead to improved long-term relations between the two sides? If history is any guide, the answer is unfortunately no. Despite the extraordinary mutual benefits achieved by cooperation against malaria in the 1920s, which literally enabled life to flourish throughout the land, the obsessive hatred stirred up by Amin al-Husseini and his henchmen prevailed, leading to relentless conflict from that day to this. Despite the insight into Israel's true nature gained by many ordinary Palestinians in this crisis, it looks likely that al-Husseini's modern-day successors will continue to betray their own people as he did, with the same self-destructive animosity and aggression.
*Colonel Richard Kemp is a former British Army Commander. He was also head of the international terrorism team in the U.K. Cabinet Office and is now a writer and speaker on international and military affairs.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Palestinians: Using Coronavirus to Silence Critics
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/May 06/2020
"If you want to use the state of emergency for more encroachment [on public freedoms], we prefer to die from coronavirus and not from coercion, repression, and authoritarianism." — Yousef Shayeb, Palestinian journalist, to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, Facebook post, April 22, 2020.
"Some of the detainees complained that they had been tortured while they were held in prison." — Muhanad Karajah, Director of Lawyers for Justice, YouTube, April 22, 2020.
Palestinians who thought that the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic would prompt their leaders to replace bad habits with good ones are in for disappointment.
For these leaders, the state of emergency is a suitable occasion to intimidate and silence critics. The suspension of the salaries of the two journalists aims to send a warning to all journalists: "If you dare to say anything negative about your leaders, you will lose your bread and butter."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his officials are taking advantage of the world's preoccupation with coronavirus to intimidate and silence their critics at home. Pictured: Abbas delivers a speech in Ramallah, on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Nasser Nasser/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Palestinian leaders are using the state of emergency announced in the West Bank after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic to restrict freedom of expression, punish journalists and arrest political rivals.
This crackdown is happening at a time when the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership is continuing its campaign of incitement against Israel -- by falsely accusing Israelis of, among other things, deliberately spreading the disease to Palestinian villages and cities.
On April 14, PA government spokesman Ibrahim Milhem came out with the latest libel against Israel. He told reporters:
"The settlements are incubators for the [coronavirus] epidemic, and also the workplaces in Israel, hotels, buses, gas stations, and direct mutual contact with Israelis. Israel is having trouble because Israelis are not observing the preventative measures because they love money and want to continue to turn the wheels of production."
On the one hand, the Palestinian leadership is proceeding with its vicious campaign of incitement; on the other hand, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his officials are taking advantage of the world's preoccupation with coronavirus to intimidate and silence their critics at home.
On March 5, Abbas issued a "presidential decree" declaring a "state of emergency in Palestine for one month," after seven cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Bethlehem. The state of emergency has since been extended by another 30 days.
Palestinian journalists and human rights activists are now accusing Abbas and his government of using the state of emergency not only to fight the pandemic, but also to silence and intimidate those who dare to criticize Palestinian leaders or call into question their handling of the coronavirus crisis.
The most recent victims of the Palestinian leadership's clampdown on public freedoms are two journalists working for the Palestinian Authority's official news agency, Wafa. The two, Jafar Sadaqa and Rami Samara, were recently informed by their superiors of the decision to suspend their salaries. Their crime: "Failing to comply with the state of emergency."
Palestinian journalists have strongly denounced the decision to suspend the salaries of Sadaqa and Samara as a "flagrant assault on freedom of expression."
Wafa, which serves as a mouthpiece for the Palestinian leadership, did not provide details regarding its decision to deprive the journalists of their salaries. The two men were only told by the news agency that they had "failed to comply with the state of emergency." They were also told that they would be questioned by an investigative committee after the state of emergency ends.
Ahmed Assaf, the General Supervisor of the Palestinian Official Media, did not even wait until then. Assaf instructed the Palestinian Ministry of Finance immediately to halt the salaries of the journalists, without offering any explanation.
The Palestinian journalists, however, said the decision was taken because of comments Sadaqa and Samara had posted on social media platforms about the Palestinian government's handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Apparently, the comments (which were later deleted) included criticism of, and sarcastic remarks about, the Palestinian government's performance during the coronavirus pandemic.
Palestinian political analyst and journalist Nour Odeh, who previously served as the first female spokesperson of the Palestinian government, expressed concern in a Facebook post that the Palestinian Authority was taking advantage of the coronavirus state of emergency to crack down on public freedoms, particularly freedom of speech:
"From the very first moment of the declaration of the state of emergency [in mid-March], the government asserted that the state of emergency was linked to the pandemic and that it would not allow it to be used to infringe on the rights of citizens, including freedom of expression. Unfortunately, for more than two weeks, we have been quietly following the consequences of exploiting the state of emergency to suspend the salaries of our colleagues, Sadaqa and Samara. According to the [Palestinian] Civil Service Law (Articles 68, 69 and 70) and according to the [Palestinian] Basic Law, what happened with the two colleagues is illegal and a flagrant violation of their civil rights and their rights as employees in the public sector. The law prohibits the imposition of any punishment on an employee before the investigation is completed. In addition, the law does not allow at all the suspension of a salary as a punishment. This is a disgraceful exploitation of the state of emergency. Blackmailing people is immoral and legally unacceptable."
Palestinian journalist Yousef Shayeb condemned the punitive measure against the journalists, dubbing it "catastrophic." He said in a Facebook post that he was particularly outraged because the journalists were punished before their case was brought before an investigation committee. He pointed out that Sadaqa and Samara were being punished for simply expressing their personal views on social media platforms. "We are horrified that the Palestinian Authority is using the pandemic-related state of emergency as a gag policy," Shayeb remarked.
Addressing Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, he added:
"If you want to use the state of emergency for more encroachment [on public freedoms], we prefer to die from coronavirus and not from coercion, repression, and authoritarianism. Either freedoms are safeguarded, or you publicly announce that you are no better than others in terms of violating public freedoms. We don't want our fellow citizens to run over us with the coronavirus truck or cut off our tongues."
As many journalists were complaining about assaults on freedom of expression by the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian human rights group Lawyers For Justice revealed that Palestinian security forces in the West Bank have used the coronavirus to arrest several Palestinians political activists.
In the past two weeks, the group said, Palestinian security forces arrested six activists for carrying out political and relief activities during the coronavirus state of emergency. The relief work includes the distribution of food parcels to needy families, Lawyers For Justice added.
The six detainees are: Mujahed Amarneh, Eyad Nasser, Mujahed Salim, Zakariya Khweiled, Ahmad al-Khawaja, and Mujahed al-Khatib.
"During its follow-up on the cases of political detainees, Lawyers For Justice noted a failure [by the PA] to ensure fair court proceedings," the group said in a statement published on April 20.
"We were unable to submit requests for the release of the detainees because the courts are on holiday. The six men were arrested because of their political activities and for expressing their views [on social media]."
Muhanad Karajah, director of Lawyers for Justice, said that the Palestinian security forces have arrested another five political activists since Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the state of emergency last month. "Some of the detainees complained that they had been tortured while they were held in prison," Karajah added.
"At the beginning of the [coronavirus] crisis, we documented only one politically-motivated arrest. Later, however, we began receiving reports about several people who were either arrested or summoned for interrogation by the Palestinian security services. I believe that there is a decision from the political leadership to carry out arrests [of political opponents]. I believe the arrests will continue after the state of emergency is lifted. I hope that international organizations would exert pressure on the Palestinian Authority and those who fund it to stop the arrests of political activists and human rights advocates."
Palestinians who thought that the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic would prompt their leaders to replace bad habits with good ones are in for disappointment. Palestinian leaders have never tolerated criticism, particularly when it comes from Palestinian journalists and political activists.
For these leaders, the state of emergency is a suitable occasion to intimidate and silence critics. The suspension of the salaries of the two journalists aims to send a warning to all journalists: "If you dare to say anything negative about your leaders, you will lose your bread and butter."
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Coronavirus: Constitution Abuse
Karen Lugo/Gatestone Institute/May 06/2020
Once freedoms were surrendered, [Chief Justice William] Rehnquist warned, they would be even easier to take away when a future crisis or greater good came calling.
The very orders that citizens across this land were protesting have been delivered wrapped in lack of transparency: forbidding only some assemblies; preferring big box stores; shutting down churches and gun stores but not liquor or cannabis stores; motor-boating prohibited but sailing is not; vacation rentals banned but not lodges; among many more disparities.
It is vital that "We the people" keep on overseeing this process to ensure that the attempted power grabs -- for instance by those who would use this crisis to "restructure things to fit our vision" -- continue to be judged as intolerable acts.
This spring, Americans have been enrolled in a "flatten the curve" regime, but when the government's justification for home confinement shifted to some vague prescription for safety, the constitutional supports for unreasonable confinement dissolved. (Image source: iStock)
Shutting down America has caused many to ask who suspended the Bill of Rights. The re-opening of this country would do well to include close attention to righting wrongs that may -- deliberately or inadvertently -- have been inflicted on the US Constitution.
At the end of Chief Justice William Rehnquist's life, one of his great concerns was the government's use of crisis power at the expense of civil liberties, a concern he shared with law students during his last summer constitutional survey course in Cambridge, England.
"The Chief'", as he was respectfully known, revealed how deeply troubled he was with historical episodes that justified denial of constitutional rights. He pressed the students -- some of them future judges, government attorneys, state attorneys general -- to suggest alternatives that might better preserve civil liberties. Once freedoms were surrendered, Rehnquist warned, they would be even easier to take away when a future crisis or greater good came calling.
This spring, Americans have been enrolled in a "flatten the curve" regime, but when the government's justification for home confinement shifted to some vague prescription for safety, the constitutional supports for unreasonable confinement dissolved.
The government's promise to "make us safe" started to take on god-like proportions, based merely on the circumstance that government has the power to enforce irrational edicts. Worse, within that promise, there was no recognition of the increasing collateral damage on the other side of the equation: businesses, families, fortunes, and the generally ill who still needed doctors. There is also the looming burden of debt to be shouldered by future generations.
Now that America is pushing back on the coronavirus, there is healthy attention to the excess of some government orders. Complaints of constitutional violations cover almost the entire range of First to Fourteenth Amendment overreaches.
It is the disregard for due process -- the essential insurance policy against constitutional breaches -- that should alarm Americans. Due process is an important shield against tyranny -- especially of the local kind.
Due process is the general promise to citizens that government may not take life, liberty or property without proper notice and hearings. This protection implies, as courts have instructed, that laws are clear, that the hearing process is transparent, and that government is accountable.
The very orders that citizens across this land were protesting have been delivered wrapped in lack of transparency: forbidding only some assemblies; preferring big box stores; shutting down churches and gun stores but not liquor or cannabis stores; motor-boating prohibited but sailing is not; vacation rentals banned but not lodges; among many more disparities.
Stay-at-home orders and state quarantine blockades also were directed at wide swaths of territory and whole states rather than targeted "hot zone" areas.
When edicts are written in a careless, overbroad, or vague fashion, local authorities may be given, or assume, too much power. Some places, such as Florida, had border checkpoint instructions that provided for a two-week quarantine for "any person who had spent time in an area of substantial community spread." Such an instruction does not inform law enforcement -- or returnees or travelers into Florida -- who may be deprived of liberty.
Americans are right to protest when executive orders pick winners and losers while "not thinking of the Bill of Rights." Many of these orders make petty criminals of understandably confused violators.
While we have all learned much about the expansive Tenth Amendment's state police powers to oversee health and safety matters during a crisis, there are still limits. Emergency orders must have a legitimate connection to a justifiable government goal, they must not be arbitrary, and must not target any group in discriminatory way.
Courts are already affirming complaints of government overreach in cases that concerned the First Amendment's freedom of religion and assembly. The federal government and Texas Attorney General issued proclamations, amid a flurry of gun store restrictions, defending Second Amendment right to purchase a firearm.
Business owners in Pennsylvania are already appealing to the U.S. Supreme about "arbitrary and capricious" definitions that categorize "life sustaining businesses", while excluding others.
The lawyers at the American Freedom Law Center have filed a lawsuit against the governor of Michigan's irrational Executive Order 2020-42. Our "liberties are not conferred or granted by government to then be rescinded at the will and whims of government officials." Even more fundamental is that "These God-given liberties are possessed by the people, and they are guaranteed against government interference by the United States Constitution."
It is vital that "We the people" keep on overseeing this process to ensure that the attempted power grabs -- for instance by those who would use this crisis to "restructure things to fit our vision" -- continue to be judged as intolerable acts.
*Karen Lugo, a constitutional law attorney, is a former member of the California Advisory Committee to U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Turkey’s Looming Gordian Knot
Marc Lierini/Carnegie MEC/May 06/2020
Ankara is pushing problematic policies as its president’s political survival is hitting up against economic imperatives.
Turkey is fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and is helping other countries do the same. However, the health crisis has exposed the country’s vulnerabilities because of its political, economic, and foreign policy choices. Maintaining these choices in the midst of a global recession will be a tall order.
From a sanitary standpoint, and political scuffles apart, Turkey’s health system seems to be coping well with the pandemic. Ankara is also helping a number of countries, ranging from Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, to countries in the western Balkans and Africa. Its carefully choreographed delivery of a consignment of six pallets of medical supplies to Washington, D.C. on April 28 was accompanied by a letter from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan telling President Donald Trump that he was “a reliable and strong partner of the United States.”
The not so subliminal message was that Turkey expects to avoid anticipated U.S. sanctions for its S-400 missile deal with Russia and wants to benefit from a “swap scheme” implemented by the U.S. Federal Reserve for countries most affected by Covid-19.
However, this “Covid-19 diplomacy” will hardly hide the more problematic realities that Turkey faces in its political, economic, and foreign affairs. For starters, the country presents all the trappings of a full autocracy. Freedom of speech and freedom of media are severely limited. The judiciary is politicized. Opposition leaders are verbally assaulted on a regular basis, when not harassed or even dismissed. Prisoners of opinion are kept in jail while organized crime figures have been freed under special Covid-19 legislation.
On the financial front, the reserves of the Turkish central bank are dramatically low and are being used to endlessly defend the Turkish lira against all odds, given the monetary policy that is currently in place. At the same time, Ankara refuses to take advantage of the International Monetary Fund’s special Covid-19 facilities, essentially for reasons of principle, despite their low cost and conditionality. This will make ulterior adjustments more painful.
Meanwhile, the military intervention in northern Syria has ended up illustrating the profound divergences of views with Russia when it comes to Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Elsewhere, the Turkish intervention in favor of Libya’s Government of National Accord has also created tensions with several Arab countries, and more importantly with Russia. Unilateral decisions in the eastern Mediterranean, such as the redefinition of maritime boundaries and gas drilling operations in contested waters around Cyprus, have exacerbated relations with Cyprus, Greece, the European Union, and the United States. Making matters worse, the government-organized assault on the Greek border in early March—the first ever by a NATO member against another—using refugees as pawns, ended in failure and added to their suffering.
Finally, Turkey’s deployment of the Russian S-400 air defense system, accompanied by Russian specialists, constituted alignment with Moscow and upset NATO’s missile defense architecture. The U.S. Congress will not be mollified by a shipment of face masks as it considers its response to this.
From a theoretical standpoint, and with a dose of hubris, it could be argued that Turkey has reached such a degree of economic development and military power that it doesn’t need to belong exclusively to the Western alliance anymore. In this vein, it would be legitimate for Ankara to seek a place on the world stage equidistant from all big powers, pursuing an economic policy free of prevailing rules and institutions. However, its leadership’s artificial and hostile narratives, or well-choreographed diplomatic actions, do not represent a policy for two main reasons.
First, becoming a “power in the middle” and acting on par with China, the European Union, Russia, and the United States requires a steady hand and a consistent foreign policy. Assaulting the Greek border with riot police in order to conceal the heavy blow dealt by Russian forces to a Turkish battalion in Saraqeb in Syria’s Idlib Governorate doesn’t buy respect or fear. It just wrecks Turkey’s diplomatic standing. The same goes for the so-called agreement with Libya over maritime boundaries.
Second, hubris notwithstanding, one can’t ignore economic fundamentals. Turkey is a deficit country and relies heavily on the West, primarily Europe, for its export of manufactured goods, its import of technology, and its financial needs, both in terms of short-term and direct investment. China, Russia, and the Gulf countries are not alternatives to Turkey’s European anchor. Even when Qatar or China is willing to help Turkey economically, this is not commensurate with the country’s current financial gap. Besides, beyond hopes, a functioning European economic anchor requires two features that Ankara cannot currently provide—the rule of law as well as respect and dialogue.
Turkey is facing a quandary. The political survival of its president, whose party has lost its electoral hegemony, seems to require an ever-increasing nationalistic narrative as well as a full-fledged authoritarian system. At least, this is what the leadership has decided. At the same time, Turkey’s economic salvation requires cooperation with Europe and international financial institutions. But, here too miscalculations resulting from a one-man power system have sent the country in the other direction. Given the pandemic-induced recession in Turkey, this quandary is bound to become a Gordian knot. That is unless permanent chaos is Erdoğan’s preferred option.

How Iran’s Syria project ground to a halt over six months
Seth J.Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/May 06/2020
This has not been a good year for Iran in Syria.
It has become an almost nightly occurrence. Syrian social media watchers await the explosions from airstrikes that are likely to occur. From villages near Deir Ezzor and Al Bukamal, to five hundred kilometers north to the Aleppo countryside and then four hundred kilometers south to Damascus, those watching Syria’s skies have become used to aerial bombardment.
The night of May 4 was no different. Syria’s SANA state media reported its air defenses confronting an Israeli attack near Aleppo before midnight. Those details were picked up by pro-Hezbollah and pro-Iranian media networks. Then, an hour later, more reports emerged from the Euphrates river valley of explosions along the road that runs from Deir Ezzor to Al Bukamal on the Iraqi border. Rumors circulated of Iranian-backed militias being targeted. Later reports would indicate that Iranians were killed in the strikes.
May 4 was a transformative night in two weeks that have seen at least five airstrikes on Syria. These include an April 20 airstrike near Palmyra, April 27 airstrikes at Mazzeh airport in Damascus, rocket fire near Quneitra on April 30 and the explosion of a warehouse south of Homs on May 1.
If we look back a little further, local Syrians also reported strikes that ripped apart Iran’s Imam Ali base on March 11 near Al Bukamal, a major attack on Shayrat airbase in Homs on March 31 and an airstrike that missed a Hezbollah vehicle on April 15 near the Lebanese border. There were other incidents in Homs on March 5, February 27 near the Golan and January 9 near Al Bukamal. The airstrikes have targeted Hezbollah, Iranian-backed militias, warehouses where Iran stocks weapons and munitions and bases that Iran and its allies use in Syria.
In short: This has not been a good year for Iran in Syria. However, Iran’s media is wary of discussing the full extent of the blows Iran’s project in Syria has been hammered with. Instead it has been pushing a different narrative: Iran blames the US for increased ISIS attacks in Iraq. Over the past week, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq suffered casualties at the hands of ISIS, which has exploited the pandemic and instability in Iraq to carry out assaults. Iran’s Fars News, Press TV and its proxies in Iraq blame the US for the attacks. Iran has also been pressuring the US in the Persian Gulf, sending boats to harass the US Navy. On April 22, US President Donald Trump warned Iran that the US would sink the boats. Iran, in turn, launched a military satellite it says can be used to spy on its adversaries, including the US and Israel.
Iran seeks to draw focus from losses in Syria by bragging about its new drone programs, including anti-tank missiles that it designed by copying, at least on the outside, Israeli anti-tank missiles. Iran’s ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, has had to make due with its own attempt to respond to the strikes. It sent a small model airplane drone over the border on March 25. After two Hezbollah members were killed on February 27 and April 5, and following an airstrike on a Hezbollah vehicle on April 15, it launched an operation to sabotage three parts of the fence between Israel and Lebanon. But overall Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s speeches have not said anything unique about Israel in recent weeks. He has concentrated on a budget crisis in Lebanon and anger over Germany blacklisting Hezbollah. In short: Hezbollah has suffered setbacks and focuses its rhetoric at home.
The Syrian regime is in an even tougher spot than Iran and Hezbollah. A key businessman and cousin of Bashar al-Assad has become a critic. Rami Makhlouf released videos over the last week slamming the regime, a rare criticism from an insider. Meanwhile rumors swirl in Syria that Russian-supplied air defense has not prevented recent airstrikes, and that the regime should use Chinese radars instead. In addition, there are rumors of a rift with Iran.

Collecting and analyzing Shiite militia attacks against the U.S. presence in Iraq
Behnam Ben Taleblu/FDD's Long War Journal/May 05/2020
There is a growing consensus that attacks against U.S. facilities and personnel in Iraq by Iran-backed Shiite Militia Groups (SMGs) are increasingly becoming a “new normal.” These attacks ebb and flow pursuant to several political conditions, some of which remain outside the control of the U.S. Having both quantitative and qualitative data about each attack can help parse Iranian and allied-Shiite militia intentions, contextualize their strategy, and provide an in-depth understanding for U.S. policymakers and the general public about potential buffers and drivers of escalation in Iraq.
Making Sense of Escalation Drivers by Shiite Militias in Iraq
Escalation by SMGs in Iraq is not mono-causal, but it is generalizable and therefore assessable. In the past two years, escalation against the U.S. presence in Iraq via rocket and mortar attacks has featured at least one of the three drivers below:
1) Iran responding to the U.S. maximum pressure campaign through its militia network.
2) Pro-Iran forces in Iraq responding to a shifting balance of power; be it on the battlefield, in Baghdad/Iraqi domestic politics, or both. Often, this escalation seeks both political and military ends. For example, the eviction of the U.S. forces from Iraq, or improving the relative position of a militia in the eyes of its patron or peers.
3) Iran and pro-Iran forces responding to the targeted killing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) Commander Qassem Soleimani and the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit (PMU) Deputy Commander Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad by the U.S.
Unpacking the Drivers
Prior to the onset of the maximum pressure campaign (which commenced with the U.S. leaving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] nuclear deal in May 2018) the military activities of Iran’s militia network in Iraq were almost entirely driven by localized conditions, be they from the battlefield or from Iraq’s turbulent domestic politics, aka, driver number two. During this period, escalation was less about political signaling, and more overall warfighting. As it relates to a more generalizable patron-proxy relationship, this approach would be akin to the patron providing a “longer leash,” and intervening for purposes of coordination.
However, with the one-year anniversary of the U.S. JCPOA walkout (May 2019), proxy attacks became one source of leverage for Iran to turn up the heat on Washington as well as to signal resolve in the face of ongoing maximum pressure. Accordingly, analysts can better understand escalation by SMGs in Iraq during this time as (primarily, but not exclusively) a product of driver number one. Transposing this dynamic onto patron-proxy relationships more generally, this period would theoretically feature a “shorter leash,”� or more oversight for the proxy by the patron.
Of note during this period (and as is reflected in the table and graph further below) are the months of July and August, where there appear to be zero reported attacks. Instead, during those months reports began to surface about Israeli military strikes against Iranian/SMG interests in Iraq, something SMGs could (and have) blamed America for. Escalation in the fall of 2019 may also be, in part, a response to this phenomenon.
With the killing of Soleimani and Muhandis in January 2020 by the U.S., escalation returned to being driven by more localized factors, including a desire to exact vengeance directly against the U.S. The surge in attacks against the U.S. presence in Iraq in January best exemplifies this. Since January however, escalation is best understood as a combination of drivers three, two, and one, but in that order. The reason driver three is the main component here is because the killing of Soleimani and Muhandis continues to have an outsized impact on Iran’s regional threat network. Iran is now working to reorganize its partners and solidify gains in an ever-changing Baghdad. This means that escalation will not only tell us about patron/proxy intentions and strategy, but militia loyalty and emerging leadership hierarchies. For example, Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in Iraq have been splitting along pro-Najaf and pro-Tehran/Qom lines. This will force Tehran to further rely on groups that distinguish themselves through violence.
A Different Kind of Intentionality
An important thread running through any assessment about escalation is intention and motivation. While the above three drivers all feature violence as a tool of political communication (vindicating part of the work of noted political scientist Thomas Schelling, who wrote about “the diplomacy of violence”), intention and motivation here relates to the desired kinetic impact after each escalation. More specifically, it warrants pondering; when do Iran and its militias want to kill Iraqis, Americans, and Coalition members, vs. when do they simply want to cause damage to send a signal that they cannot be deterred? This is where the data only permits one inference. The greater the number of rockets or mortars fired in each attack, the more devastating the weapon (per the diameter of the rocket, for instance), or the greater the number of attacks per month, the more likely that the escalation aims at taking lives, rather than only damaging infrastructure and/or sending a political message.
The Escalation Spiral – Numbers, Sources, and Methods
At present, there is no open-source consensus about the exact number of attacks by SMGs against U.S. positions or interests in Iraq. What constitutes an attack is also not clearly defined, nor does there appear to be an agreed-upon criterion for what locations can/should be counted, as well as what is an acceptable scope of time to study. In this absence of an official standard, news agencies have been reporting various numbers of attacks, but with no clear methodology. The same appears true for press reports carrying information from unnamed government sources which cite varying attack numbers over a period of months.
This assessment, and the following table, is an attempt to change that. The data collection period for the table was one year (May 1, 2019 – April 30, 2020), hoping to account for all three aforementioned drivers of escalation above, rather than discriminating between them. The table is meant as a public compendium (the first of its kind) of attacks against the U.S. presence with at least one single-source for each instance (to be able to examine the sources for each attack, there is a downloadable table available). Previous analyses focused on select weapons systems like rockets, or were limited in scope due to the time of publication. In both instances, sourcing for each attack was not provided. Beneath the table, an interactive map is offered for further assessment of these reported attacks, as well as a simplified histogram.
Key Finding
Based on available open-source data, from May 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020, there have been at least 43 attacks using rockets and/or mortars on U.S. positions in Iraq by SMGs.
Note on Methodology
The table below compiles all “attacks” in Iraq attributable to, or more often, plausibly assumed to be conducted by SMGs, using only rockets and/or mortars that target U.S. forces, personnel, bases, or areas where Americans are co-located (note: this broad list includes attacks on oil installations and any associated infrastructure where American oil companies are). It omits any attack that is directly attributed to the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda (regardless of whom they target). The table further omits any attack by missile, drone, or improvised explosive device (IED), any attack that does not appear to emanate from Iraqi territory, as well as any attack that is not perceived as directed against the American presence in Iraq. It therefore excludes domestic attacks, such as on TV stations, for instance. Lastly, rather than count the number of individual munitions launched per attack, an attack is defined as any number of strikes within a one-day period against a specific location.
Hypothetically, if 10 rockets were fired at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in the Green Zone on February 3, that would count as one attack. But if on the same day, three mortars are also fired at the K-1 base, it would be marked as two separate attacks, requiring two separate entries, for February 3.
As with any data-collection effort, there may be gaps between the data represented below and available open-source material, a potential shortcoming for which the author is solely responsible.
The above histogram represents the distribution of attacks against U.S. forces from May 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020. The X-axis represents time in months, and the Y-axis represents the number of reported (rocket and/or mortar) attacks.
The U.S. Response and Conundrum Ahead
The de-facto U.S. response has been to absorb much of the SMG-based escalation out of Iraq. But on select instances where the now apparent redline – the taking of an American life – was crossed, the U.S. military opted for kinetic force. Each time however, the U.S. chose to frame its response as highly targeted and strictly defensive. In the view of this author, such language could have the psychological effect of circumscribing the efficacy of the strike in the mind of the adversary.
Omitting the attack that killed Soleimani and Muhandis, the U.S. has used military force against SMGs two times during the scope of this study (May 1, 2019 – April 30, 2020).
For purposes of comparison with attacks against the U.S. presence in Iraq, the table below aggregates reported instances where the U.S. military used kinetic force against SMGs, omitting any time where fire may have been returned for suppressive purposes at a lower level. As was the case with the previous table, there is a link to download the data and examine the sources used.
The Conundrum
As is apparent in the data above, Washington faces a conundrum. While the strike against Soleimani and Muhandis caught Iran and its proxies off-guard and led to a resetting of the pieces on the militia board, SMG-backed escalation continues. Additional attacks by such groups creates a problem for the U.S., as Washington – the greater and conventional military power here – struggles to deter Iran and SMGs from escalation at lower levels.
This deterrence challenge comes amid a turbulent time in Iraqi domestic politics and the U.S-Iraq relationship. Moreover, Washington’s current – and in the eyes of this author, needlessly high – bar for the use of military force has not induced Iran-backed SMGs towards restraint. Instead, coupled with signals that read as weakness, such as repeated news of base closures and transfers, as well as a divided Iraqi political class divorced from the needs of its people while under an oil-price and public health crisis, SMGs are incentivized to press their advantage through a cycle of violence.
All of this points to Washington needing a new modus operandi in Iraq to counter Iran-backed escalation. This plan of action cannot be built off of statements alone, be they about an indistinguishability in U.S. policy between escalation by an Iranian patron or Iraqi proxy, or about generically holding Iran accountable. It will have to be developed from action that weighs the merits of any future military response against a whole host of factors ranging from the needs of the maximum pressure campaign against Iran to the future and sustainability of the U.S. military presence in Iraq and the broader Persian Gulf region.
In short, Washington will need a fundamentally new Iraq policy to change or reverse the trends in the data above.
*Behnam Ben Taleblu is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.*

What Jihadists Are Saying About The Coronavirus
Steven Stalinsky/MEMRI/May 06/2020
he following is an op-ed by MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky that was originally published in The Wall Street Journal on April 5, 2020.
Jihadist groups are closely following the spread of the new coronavirus. In their publications and on social media their members post analyses, threats and even sanitary guidelines. Counterterrorism officials should monitor these communications for a window into their thinking.
Jihadists and their supporters have been gloating over the health restrictions enacted across the world, especially in the U.S. "They used to mock women wearing the Islamic niqab – now they are doing the same. We ridicule you like you ridiculed us," reads a typical post, dated March 17, on the jihadist al Tawhid Awalan channel on Telegram, the encrypted messaging app. The statement accompanied a photo of Westerners in layers of protective clothing.
Many jihadists are cheering the virus on. Balagh, a monthly magazine published out of Idlib, Syria, by clerics with al Qaeda sympathies, calls the virus "one of Allah's soldiers": the "corona-soldier." This is a popular theme. Jihadist writer Khalid al Sibai warned on the Thabat news agency's Telegram channel that this "tiny soldier," which has so devastated the U.S. and its allies, could soon be joined by jihadist soldiers in the flesh – a threat. On Hamas's al Aqsa TV, Imam Jamil al Mutawa boasted that Allah "sent just one soldier," the virus, "and it has hit all 50 states" in America, driven Israel into lockdown, but left Palestinians mostly unaffected.
One of the most significant early statements was a Jan. 23 fatwa by the Syrian cleric Abdul Razzaq al Mahdi. He said Muslims are permitted to pray for the virus to annihilate the Chinese "enemies of Allah" for having "killed, slaughtered, imprisoned and oppressed the Uighurs," a Muslim ethnic minority in China's Xinjiang province. Islamic State concurred in its al Naba weekly magazine and also held up Iranian coronavirus deaths as a sign from Allah of the "blindness" and "insolence" of Shiite Muslims, who should "abandon polytheism."
Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi, the prominent Jordan-based sheikh and spiritual mentor of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the man who founded the al Qaeda offshoot that would later become ISIS, posted a series of messages on Telegram about the pandemic's "hidden benefits" for Muslim societies. These include the closing of bars and nightclubs, and that more women are covering their faces with niqabs to protect from the virus. Most recently he added, "There is nothing wrong with a Muslim praying for the deaths of infidels and wishing that they contract coronavirus."
Syrian jihadist commander Asif Abdul Rahman pointed out on his Telegram channel that Iran could use "alive or dead" coronavirus patients as a biological weapon – like the Mongols reportedly did in the 14th century, when they catapulted the bodies of plague victims into the city of Kaffa (now Feodosia, Ukraine). Iranian authorities, he added, could certainly persuade patients to die as martyrs.
This followed a threat by New York-based Muslim Brotherhood activist Bahgat Saber, in a video uploaded March 1 to his Facebook page, that if he became sick he would go to the Egyptian Consulate in New York to infect its staff as revenge against Egypt's government. He exhorted others to do likewise.
The coronavirus pandemic is also causing the global jihadist movement to focus on keeping the disease from spreading within its ranks. Wiping, sanitizing, taking temperatures and sharing health tips are a new part of jihadist daily life. The March 12 issue of al Naba, the ISIS weekly, included a colorful infographic of "shariah guidelines for dealing with the epidemic," advising hand-washing and even quarantines: "The healthy should not enter the land of the epidemic and the afflicted should not exit from it." On March 18 the al Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al Sham put out health guidelines that cite the recommendations of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It seems America isn't all bad.
Many of the groups and people mentioned above have been involved in attacks on the U.S. and other Western countries. As the world fights Covid-19, the jihadists continue to look for vulnerabilities to exploit. In the March 19 issue of al Naba, ISIS warned that jihadists won't hesitate to take advantage of the chaos, and that the "financial losses of the Crusaders and tyrants" – Americans and their Arab allies – and "their preoccupation with protecting their countries from themselves and their other enemies" will contribute greatly to "weakening their capabilities to fight the mujahedeen." Let's disappoint them.
*Mr. Stalinsky is executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Abbas has little choice but to end US boycott
Daoud Kuttab/Arab News/May 06/ 2020
Palestine’s leadership made a very difficult decision in December 2017. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is also chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), decided to break off all ties with the US administration. In the 1980s, the PLO yearned for US recognition and communication, but Abbas’ move took them on to the opposite track. The decision of the Trump administration to move the US embassy to Jerusalem forced the Palestinian leader to do the unthinkable.
However, for the sake of preserving whatever is left of the Palestinian aspiration for an independent state, Abbas now needs to make an equally courageous move and reverse that decision.
There is no doubt that what the Palestinian president did was right at the time. In fact, Abbas’ hunch that the embassy move was the forerunner of even worse and more biased decisions proved to be right. Standing in a crowded room of pro-Israel Zionists (both Jewish and Christian) in January, President Donald Trump unveiled a map that showed Palestinian lands, especially in the Jordan Valley, given to Israel in return for patches in the desert made available to the Palestinians.
It is this one-sided American vision that has given the Israelis the opportunity to do something they have not dared to do in 53 years: The April 20 coalition agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz calls for the unilateral annexation of large swaths of Palestinian land. Since this move is based on the Trump plan, the coalition agreement says the annexation — which could be enacted on July 1 — will need the “consent” of the Trump administration.
This is why some Abbas-Trump communication and the end of the self-imposed boycott become necessary. Engaging the Americans at this important time does not in any way mean the acceptance or legitimization of the US vision that is commonly referred to as “the deal of the century.” What the Palestinians will want from Trump is to refrain from granting the Israelis his blessing for a unilateral act that is in violation of international law.
Ever since the end of the Second World War, the international community has opposed the acquisition of land during war. In fact, UN Security Council resolution 242, which has been the basis of all peace agreements in the region, emphasizes in its preamble “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every state in the area can live in security.” Unilaterally annexing Palestinian land opposes this and international humanitarian law.
The concept of land exchanges in order to facilitate peace had been approved by Palestinians during the 2000 talks at Camp David. At that time, Yasser Arafat accepted the principle of land swaps so long as they were agreed to and were equal in size and quality — neither of which are present in the current Israeli plans.
After the US defunded the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees and stopped committing funds to Jerusalem’s hospitals and USAID infrastructure programs, the Trump administration last month made a surprise contribution of $5 million to help Palestinians deal with the global coronavirus pandemic. While this grant is only 1 percent of what the White House had already cut, it could be a means for Abbas to break his boycott, thank the US president and the American people for their generosity, and beseech the administration not to bless the radical Israeli plans.
The Gantz-Netanyahu coalition agreement also suggests that, in addition to US consent, the proposed annexation of Palestinian land needs the support of neighboring Arab countries. The agreement stipulates that the two leaders will aim to “preserve the security and strategic interests of the state of Israel, including the need to keep regional stability, keep existing peace agreements and pursue future peace agreements.”
The Palestinians want Trump to refrain from granting the Israelis his blessing for a unilateral act that is in violation of international law.
Both Egypt and Jordan, along with other Arab states, leading European countries, UN experts and more than 220 former Israeli military leaders, have publicly opposed the proposed Israeli annexation. Additionally, almost 130 members of the UK parliament have called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to slap sanctions on Israel if it carries out such an illegal act.
Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are currently deeply involved in an unprecedented health and economic crisis. Trump is already in election mode, which could greatly cloud his decision-making process. Trying to lobby Washington with an eye on the fall elections, Netanyahu has appealed to Christian Zionist groups to encourage them to press Trump to give his approval to the annexation plan.
It is not clear if ending the Palestinian boycott of Washington or if the stand of Arab and European leaders will succeed in stopping the madness of Israel’s radical settler-influenced policies. Nevertheless, it is important that Abbas, who met Trump and his envoys more than 20 times before this boycott, make an effort to put a stop to this potentially dangerous Israeli move, which would further lessen the chances for peace. If his effort fails, it will be further proof as to who is for a just peace and who is trying to derail it.
*Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist. He is a former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. Twitter: @daoudkuttab

Now is the time for true negotiations, not annexation
Alistair Burt/Arab News/May 06/2020
Three notable interventions from UK sources this week gave an indication that the country’s long relationship with and support for the state of Israel is imminently facing its greatest ever test.
Almost 130 cross-party and nonaligned parliamentarians signed a letter drawing attention to the Israeli coalition government’s declared intention, post-July 1, to carry out a policy of annexation of territory in the West Bank and to bring Israeli law to existing settlements in land internationally designated as occupied. It compared such action to Russia’s seizing of Crimea and warned of the consequences of imitation in allowing such actions to go unchallenged, urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to go beyond concern and be prepared to take action, including sanctions.
Perhaps more shocking and telling was a long article in Jewish News by Sir Mick Davis, a former Conservative Party treasurer, a major donor to Israel, and chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council. In a piece highly critical of Israel’s “dysfunctional political system,” he wrote of an “existential challenge to relations with the diaspora,” adding: “When we talk of existential threats to Israel, annexation is the genuine article.”
And, at the UN, the UK joined with France, Germany and other EU states in a strong and united warning to Israel, with the British representative saying: “Any unilateral moves towards annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel would be damaging to efforts to restart peace negotiations and would be contrary to international law.”
This is not stuff to be brushed aside. Support for the existence of the state of Israel has never wavered in the UK since 1948, symbolized last week by mutually warm articles from the UK’s Minister of State for the Middle East James Cleverly and Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev. They rightly celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations and the wide-ranging nature of the countries’ trade, technological and security association. But divergence on policy with the current government of Israel has been growing, and is becoming harder to mask.
We are not alone. In the US, 149 prominent Jewish leaders from pro-Israel groups expressed their concern about annexation. And, while this might be waved away as naive or misguided external attention, the 220 senior retired Israeli security figures who have also signed a public advertisement against unilateral annexation don’t fall into that bracket. All in all, the government of Israel is facing not murmurings of discontent from abroad that can be brushed away, but a potential tsunami of objection that is set to undermine the fundamental relationships of the state of Israel with many of its staunchest defenders. David Petraeus’ famous words, “Tell me how this ends,” are pertinent.
It need not be like this. The UK understands and has stood, publicly and privately, with Israel against those who threaten it. We know that it faces missiles on its borders, that Hezbollah is heavily armed in Lebanon, and that the occupied Golan Heights is unlikely to ever be in anyone else’s hands. We have shared frustrations over the years as peace agreements have faltered for many reasons unconnected with Israel and where previous land-for-peace offers have not delivered. We understand, and are not uncritical of, failures in the Palestinian leadership over the years — and now.
Divergence on policy with the current government of Israel has been growing, and is becoming harder to mask.
But none of this justifies the imminent risk of what many are terming an irrevocable step. This is the result of a process of non-negotiation handled by the US, whose attempt to forge a “deal” excluded the Palestinian voice and ended in a series of unilateral declarations, putting the friends of Israel and the US in an impossible position. It compromised those Palestinians and Arab states, not least Egypt and Jordan, which had accepted Israel’s existence but longed for a just, two-state future in which Palestine’s economy and security were plugged into that of the Middle East as a whole. Those friends of Israel and the Palestinian people — and many are one and the same — want to see, despite all the frustrations of the past, a true negotiation revived. They fear that, in another well-worn phrase, this may really be the last chance. Despite all the consequential finality of the rhetoric following the Washington announcement, many are begging that all sides be genuinely prepared to try again and must search themselves for the determination to do so. They will not be alone if they do.
UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov deserves full support in his efforts to ensure that the region turns aside at this critical hour, so that the legitimate rights of all — to existence, security and justice — are addressed. The coronavirus, reminding us all of our frailty and vulnerability without boundaries or politics, can either serve as cover for an action that cannot go without consequence or a bridge on which to build from the basic, but real, cooperation currently being experienced between Israel, Ramallah and Gaza.
I know full well what the UK wants to see.
*Alistair Burt is a former UK Member of Parliament who has twice held ministerial positions in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office — as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State from 2010 to 2013 and as Minister of State for the Middle East from 2017 to 2019. Twitter: @AlistairBurtUK