English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese,
Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 01/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.november01.20.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Matthew 16/13-20/:’When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he
asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’And they said,
‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one
of the prophets.’He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’Simon Peter
answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’And Jesus answered
him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this
rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven.’Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the
Messiah.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on November 01/2020
Health Ministry: 1,699 new Coronavirus
cases, 12 deaths
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850 selling price at LBP 3900
Annual Synod meeting concludes its works in Bkirki
Shalala outlines President Aoun's mandate achievements: First years were full of
accomplishments at various levels, and those who do not see any positives wish
to ignore the facts
Rahi: Authority in Lebanon Murdered its People
Report: Hariri Could Present Govt Format Saturday or Sunday
Aoun Complains of ‘Barricades’ against him as he Completes 4th Year as Lebanon’s
President
FPM: To speed up government formation, refrain from linking it to any external
development
Al-Akhbar: Three decades delay the formation of the government
Two questions not asked/Samir Attallah/Asharq Al Awsat/October 31/2020
Report: Druze Share in New Govt Emerges as Possible 'Obstacle'
The Druze knot brakes the government impulse … Aoun is a...
The Hariri government is waiting for someone to push it off...
Nicola Nassif wrote in “Al-Akhbar/October 31/2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on November 01/2020
Orthodox priest shot in Lyon, assailant flees in
France’s third attack in two weeks
Macron Says Can 'Understand' Shock of Cartoons
The Nice attacker’s journey from illegal migrant to terrorist
Russia Pledges Help to Yerevan if Fighting Reaches Armenia
Satellite photos show new construction at Iranian nuclear site
Iranian Arab opposition group says Iran abducted former leader in Turkey
Instagram removes Khamenei’s French account after Nice attack
Armenia, Azerbaijan Trade Fresh Accusations of Karabakh Attacks
Sudan signs agreement with US restoring its sovereign immunity
Sudan: Deal with US blocks further compensation claims being filed against us
Fayez Al-Sarraj announces his retreat from the presidency of the Libyan...
Canada warns against Turkish breaches of arms sales agreements
Iraq reopens Tahrir square, epicenter of anti-government protests in Baghdad
At least three killed, 51 injured in southern Iraq blast targeting pipeline
Iraq Kurdish ex-governor wanted for corruption dies in US
For Justin Trudeau “freedom of expression has its limits”
Damascus Raises Price of Bread
UN Security Council Extends Mandate of MINURSO for a Year
Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 01/2020
The Choice Between Trump and Obama Foreign Policies/Sarah N.
Stern/American Thinker/October 31, 2020
Shame on the Girl Scouts: Thin Skin instead of Thin Mints/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone
Institute./October 31/2020
Donald Trump’s Economy Really was Better than Obama’s/Karl W
Smith/Bloomberg/October, 31/2020
From Spain to Italy, Europe Is Fed Up with Lockdowns/Ferdinando Giugliano/Bloomberg/October,
31/2020
Don't Ignore the Good News On Covid-19 From Asia/Lionel
Laurent/Bloomberg/October, 31/2020
Message to Biden from the Arab world: No return to appeasing Iran/Baria
Alamuddin/Arab News/October 31/2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 01/2020
Health Ministry: 1,699 new Coronavirus cases, 12
deaths
NNA/Saturday, 31 October, 2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced, on Saturday, the registration of 1,699
new Coronavirus infections, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed
cases to 81,228.
It also reported 12 death cases during the past 24 hours.
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850 selling
price at LBP 3900
NNA/Saturday, 31 October, 2020
The Money Changers Syndicate announced in a statement addressed to money
changing companies and institutions Saturday’s USD exchange rate against the
Lebanese pound as follows:
Buying price at a minimum of LBP 3850
Selling price at a maximum of LBP 3900
Annual Synod meeting concludes its works in Bkirki
NNA/Saturday, 31 October, 2020
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Rahi, held a Mass service on Saturday in
Bkirki marking the end of the annual retreat for the Synod of Bishops, whereby
he called for strengthening the Christian-Muslim partnership in the world and
dispelling the climate of religions' conflict.
"Our Church strongly condemns the detestable exposure to religious symbols and
the re-publication of insulting cartoons under the guise of freedoms and
secularization, and at the same time it strongly condemns the act of beheading a
teacher in front of his school and the slaughter of three worshipers inside a
church in Nice, France," Rahi stressed. On the cabinet formation dossier, the
Patriarch called for forming a new government away from the influence of
politicians and partisans, who are held captives to their narrow interests and
cheap calculations, for the country's sake.
Shalala outlines President Aoun's mandate
achievements: First years were full of accomplishments at various levels, and
those who do not see any positives wish to ignore the facts
NNA/Saturday, 31 October, 2020
Presidential Media Advisor, Rafik Shalala, hoped Saturday that "the next two
years of President Michel Aoun's mandate will be productive, just as the first
three years of his rule," noting that "despite the difficulties of the past
fourth year, there are priorities, including reforms, that President Aoun
believes in carrying out, and has committed himself before the Lebanese to
achieving them within the upcoming two years, hoping that he will be aided to
that effect.""There is also the fight against corruption with which he will
proceed regardless of the circumstances and challenges, as well as the file of
demarcating the southern maritime borders, in addition to taking care of social
welfare projects," Shalala added. "The President of the Republic will also
follow up on the issue of oil and gas exploration, as well as projects of direct
interest to citizens, while constantly keeping an eye on the preservation of
security and stability in the country," he asserted. Shalala's words came during
an interview with "Sawt Al-Mada" Radio Channel today, on the eve of the start of
President Aoun's fifth year in office, in which he outlined the most prominent
achievements of the past four years of the President's term.
"The first years of President Aoun's mandate were full of achievements at
various levels, but in the fourth year the negative facts were combined and
poured all at once, starting with the turbulent conditions in the world and the
Syrian war and its negative repercussions on Lebanon, then the outbreak of the
Corona epidemic and its impact on citizens and the Lebanese economy,
far-reaching the tragic Beirut Port explosion," highlighted Shalala.
"All of these factors occurred during the fourth year, which was full of
negative events in most countries of the world, including Lebanon, and therefore
it cannot be said that President Aoun's term was all bad," he explained. "Even
in the fourth year, despite everything, laws, decisions and decrees were issued
that dealt with matters of concern to all Lebanese and were of benefit to the
nation and its people. As for those who do not see any positives throughout the
whole mandate period, they want to ignore the facts, which cannot be ignored
because they are constant and irrefutable," Shalala underscored. In this
connection, he gave a brief overview about all that has been accomplished in the
country at the levels of security, social welfare, economy, developmental
projects, reform and combatting corruption, foreign policy, commitment to the
Constitution, addressing the Syrian displacement and Palestinian refugees'
files, initiating negotiations to demarcate the southern maritime borders, and
embracing the demands of the people's uprising. Referring to the cabinet
formation underway, Shalala said: "Everyone wants the birth of a new government
today, before tomorrow, but everyone understands that the formation of
governments in Lebanon is subject to certain balances and considerations."He
added: "President Aoun is exerting every effort to ensure that the next
government would be coherent, productive, and able to face the huge challenges,
and he is in daily contact with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to finalize
the cabinet formation and eliminate the obstacles that arise from time to time."
"The President of the Republic attaches great importance to the formation of the
next government and the role it will play at various levels, based on the
principles that he had set on the eve of the parliamentary consultations, which
served as a road map for it," Shalala emphasized.
Rahi: Authority in Lebanon Murdered its People
Naharnet/Saturday, 31 October, 2020
In his fiercest verbal attack at officials, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi
snapped at them on Saturday urging them to “step down,” saying Lebanon's
“political authority has murdered its people.”“The political authority has
murdered its people and it must admit its failure to represent citizens and
manage the country,” said Rahi. His remarks came in a sermon at the conclusion
of the Holy Synod of the Bishops of the Maronite Church in Bkirki. “The
authority has killed its people economically, financially, and in terms of
living and development. It thrust them into a state of loss, anger, despair,
revolution, emigration and survival,” stated the Patriarch. Rahi urged the
“political group” to “admit its failure in gaining the people's trust and in
managing the country.” He said it should “step down for the sake of Lebanon,
even if only temporarily, to pave way for a unified government team to lead the
country towards the path of advancement.”Rahi said “we want a government
formation as per the constitution and National Pact. Any other government format
is a waste of time,” he said.
Report: Hariri Could Present Govt Format Saturday or
Sunday
Naharnet /Saturday, 31 October, 2020
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is likely to visit Baabda presidential
palace “either Saturday or Sunday” to hand the President a draft of the cabinet
line-up, al-Anbaa daily reported. The daily attributed the information to
sources from Hariri’s Center House who spoke on condition of anonymity. They
said that Hariri “will head to Baabda either on Saturday afternoon or on Sunday
to hand President Michel Aoun a draft of the government format they prepared
together.”According to al-Anbaa, the sources preferred not to mention any
obstacles that could hamper the formation process. “Nothing to be said before
the two presidents meet,” the daily quoted them as saying.
Aoun Complains of ‘Barricades’ against him as he
Completes 4th Year as Lebanon’s President
Beirut - Paula Astih/Saturday, 31 October, 2020
There is no doubt that the four years that Lebanese President Michel Aoun has
spent in power have not been anything close to the people’s expectations. This
is especially true for his Christian popular base that had for decades dreamed
of his return to the Baabda presidential palace that he was forced to flee in
1990 when he was then head of the transitional government. The “strong”
president, as his supporters like to describe him, has not been able to fulfill
the pledges of “reform and change”. He has instead blamed others for “setting up
barricades” that have impeded his ambitions.
Aoun was elected president in 2016 after a presidential settlement was struck
with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and after an agreement was reached with
his rival, Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces. Both agreements had
envisaged electing Aoun as president so that he can achieve his “reform”
plans.However, the deal with the LF soon collapsed and the settlement with
Hariri floundered last year when he resigned as premier in wake of massive
anti-government protests that erupted in October.
Aoun was quick to turn on Hariri, saying he “lost a year and 14 days of my
tenure due to the formation of governments that were headed by the PM.”Hariri
was earlier this month designated as prime minister for the fourth time. Aoun’s
bloc, the largest in parliament, did not nominate him to the post. Ahead of the
parliamentary consultations that eventually led to the naming of the veteran
politician, Aoun complained that some sides were “obstructing the realization of
vital projects for the country.”
He also vowed that he will “continue to confront everyone who is preventing our
people from carrying out reform and building the state.”Aoun’s latest televised
appearance sparked a wave of criticism that called on him to resign if he is
unable to achieve anything for the country.
This prompted his supporters to claim that the president already has limited
constitutional powers, alleging that local and foreign powers were conspiring
against him. MP of Aoun’s Lebanon Strong bloc, Alain Aoun said: “At the
beginning of his term, the president was able to achieve several security
achievements by resolving the Arsal outskirts clashes and defeating ISIS in
Lebanon.”“On the financial level, budgets were approved after nearly a decade of
disputes. Economically, the Cedre conference was held in April 2018 and Lebanon
received international pledges worth 11 billion dollars. Politically, the
proportional electoral law was approved, marking a qualitative shift in
political life,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The past two years, however, witnessed developments that brought this momentum
to a halt, he said, citing political disagreements that led to the squandering
of opportunities and several missteps. He also cited the October 17 revolution
and its repercussions, as well as the financial collapse, the country’s
isolation and the August 4 blast at Beirut port. “All of these developments
worsened the situation and led us to where we are today,” he explained. “We
should not surrender, but invest in the last opportunity that was granted to us
in the shape of the French initiative that is aimed at stopping the downward
spiral and kicking off Lebanon’s economic recovery.” The MP noted that Lebanon
needed to address several “fundamental problems in its political system”. They
demand development and amendments so that the country could become more
productive and avoid impasses whenever disputes arise.
This can take place through constitutional amendments related to expanding the
president’s authority, he remarked, adding, however, that priority at the moment
must be addressing the financial crisis, implementing reforms and restoring
local and international trust in Lebanon.
Political science professor Michel Doueihy said that since Aoun’s return to
Lebanon from Paris exile in 2005, his behavior and political alliances all
sought to build his legislative and executive power. He had no red lines and
qualms about striking alliances with allies of the Syrian regime. His Reform and
Change movement soon began to take on the practices of the parties that it had
long criticized, namely the Amal movement of Speaker Nabih Berri. Doueihy told
Asharq Al-Awsat: “Aoun’s political failure is part of the failure of the entire
political system and authority. The alliance between sectarian parties and banks
is what collapsed.” “Alleging that the president has lost his privileges is
unfounded because even though the Taif Accord did diminish them, the president
still retains major authority, such as approving government lineups, judicial
appointments and others,” he said.
FPM: To speed up government formation, refrain from linking
it to any external development
NNA/Saturday, 31 October, 2020
The "Free Patriotic Movement" political body held its periodic meeting today,
chaired by its Chief, MP Gebran Bassil, following which an issued statement
called for "accelerating the formation of the government and not linking it to
any external factor or development, since this is a Lebanese matter, a
constitutional duty, and Lebanon cannot afford to waste time any further."The
FPM polite-bureau statement confirmed "respect for unified constitutional
standards in the formation process," and reminded that "the French initiative,
with its reform points, needs an effective and productive government of
specialists who are capable of implementing its program." Therefore, it
considered that "assigning more than one ministerial portfolio to each minister
would be a blow to the principle of specialization, especially if the minister
arbitrarily combines two portfolios that have no relation in their respective
fields."
Moreover, the statement emphasized FPM's insistence and adherence to "conducting
a forensic audit of the accounts of Lebanon's Central Bank, as a mandatory first
step on the road to reform," and highlighted "the necessity of determining the
causes of Lebanon's collapse due to the accumulated debts, corruption and
economic downfall," pledging to resort to all means of pressure "to uncover the
facts and address the political, legislative and popular obstructions."Over the
recent regretful incidents in France, the FPM political body expressed its great
concern for such acts "that are contradicting to the principles of freedom,
dialogue and coexistence between cultures and religions," voicing its "rejection
to any offense against religious and sacred symbols" and warning of the
"repercussions and consequences of such disrespectful and condemned acts." It
also denounced resorting to violence, murder and physical assault under the
pretext of defending beliefs and sanctities.
Al-Akhbar: Three decades delay the formation of the
government
Translated by AlKhaleej Today/October 31/2020
The beginning of the pitfalls of the number of ministers is not agreed upon.
President Michel Aoun insists that the government include 20 ministers.
Representatives of the Druze community who are opposed to the Progressive
Socialist Party will be given a seat, and another seat will be given to the
Catholic community. Aoun’s opponents accuse him that with this process, he wants
to secure the obstructed third in his possession. On the other hand, Hariri
believes that a government of 18 ministers is the ideal formula, bearing in mind
that the presidential authorities do not consider it a “real knot, but rather it
is dissolved upon agreement on other matters.”The second node is in the
inter-sectarian rotation of the sovereign ministries. Contrary to all the leaked
airspace, the issue was not resolved by keeping the Finance Ministry from the
share of the Shiite community, in exchange for the rotation of other sovereign
portfolios. The Presidency of the Republic believes that either rotation is the
right of everyone, or the distribution remains as it was in previous
governments. As for the third node, it is the distribution of service bags,
“Whoever gets the health, work and energy bags …”. The sources deny that
“Hezbollah has talked about exchanging the health bag for education, since it
did not demand either of the two bags.”
Two questions not asked
Samir Attallah/Asharq Al Awsat/October 31/2020
Whenever I meet or call my dear countryman, Ghassan Salama, we exchange one
question, first of all: What is the news of the country! Immigrants from
previous generations used to call it “the country.” If one of them returns from
Lebanon, he is asked about “the conditions of the country,” and if he returns,
he is returned to the country. One day, Salama added to his international duties
and academic seats, the position of the UN envoy to Libya. And in a spontaneous
form, he added the same second question to the first in our meetings or
conversations: What is the news of Libya? Of course, the two questions have one
meaning, or one content: What is the good news from there? As for the other
news, it is carried by anyone. That is, “whoever was not provided”, as Sayyid
Tarfa bin Al-Abd predicted us in the old days, past the age and the time.
Despite the rulings, fears and gloom of “Corona”, Ghassan and I dated over a
lunch in a Paris cafe, in the open air, who in Paris was divorced and cold
together. After each of us returned home, I realized that we had talked about
many things: the last art exhibitions supervised by his daughter, and his last
purchases from the vegetable market. Because his first hobby is cooking,
especially Halabi from him, which he learned from his wife. Of course, we did
not fail to talk about the circumstances of time and the types of oppression. He
had been waiting for the hour to resign from the Libyan mission, to hang around
between the galleries and libraries of Paris and the sun shelter in southern
France, and if the Coronian breaker would close all doors, including the doors
of homes. All this before the general lockdown, which was announced later. So
what do you think after he signed.
We talked about a lot: lectures he will give in Harvard, an offer to teach in
Colombia. Two questions did not occur to me at all, nor did he have them, one of
them old from the age of friendship, and the other important to Libya. No «Shaw
news of the country». Nor «what news of Libya». There is no news in the crushed
countries, neither the sects of Lebanon nor the regions of Libya. Neither
western Tripoli, nor Tripoli al-Sham, nor hope nor life for whomever you call.
So; The question about “new” in this regard has become a kind of absurdity, and
it raises a kind of distress in the hearts of the people of the country. Or the
people of the two countries. What is new in Libya, in which Erdogan discovered
that he had 350 thousand Turks, came to take them back with the new mercenary
and “Janissary” armies. Just an old royal customs that refuse to acknowledge
what has been new in this world from five centuries ago to this day.
As for the other country, ours, its news does not change. Its single title is
the title of the Shushu play “Brother, Our Country.” These were the details of
the news Two questions not asked | Middle east for this day. We hope that we
have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our
news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems
to provide you with all that is new. It is also worth noting that the original
news has been published and is available at eg24.news and the editorial team at
AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been
completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news
from its main source.
Report: Druze Share in New Govt Emerges as Possible
'Obstacle'
Naharnet/October 31/2020
The political efforts to form a new government are ongoing in Lebanon, amid
alleged obstacles arising related to the ministerial representation of the Druze
community, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported on Saturday. MP Bilal Abdullah
told the daily that Druze leader and head of the Progressive Socialist Party,
ex-MP Walid Jumblat asked PM-designate Saad Hariri to “respect the Druze
environment with the type of ministry to which it would be allocated.”Reports
emerged that the environment ministry portfolio could be allocated to the PSP.
According to Abdullah, “Hariri had promised Jumblat that the PSP would name the
Druze ministers, unlike other parties," whose ministers get to be named by the
PM-designate and President. The PSP MP said: “If the government consists of 20
ministers, the Druze share will be two ministers for the PSP. But if they insist
otherwise, then let there be a Druze minister and a Christian one chosen by the
PSP. "Let them give Talal Arslan a minister from their share,” said Abdullah,
hinting at the PSP rival, Arslan.Abdullah said some "parties close to President
Michel Aoun are trying to blackmail Jumblat and the PSP.”
The Druze knot brakes the government impulse … Aoun is a...
Translated by AlKhaleej Today/October 31/2020
In Asharq Al-Awsat, Caroline Akoum wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat, despite the
insistence of those involved in the formation of the government to create an
optimistic atmosphere, new old decades began to appear, the most recent of which
is related to the Druze representation that would determine the number of
ministers in the government, between 18 and 20 ministers. This knot stems from
the “Progressive Socialist Party” insistence on obtaining the Druze share, based
on an agreement between it and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, while it
appeared that the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, had promised the head
of the Democratic Party, MP Talal Arslan, to a Druze minister Sources familiar
with communications say to Asharq Al-Awsat. The sources indicate that Aoun seeks
for this purpose to increase the number of ministers to twenty, while Hariri is
pushing for a government of 18 ministers, noting that Arslan refused to name
Hariri, and launched an attack against him on the eve of the parliamentary
consultations. Deputy in the “Progressive Socialist Party” Bilal Abdullah
assured to “Asharq Al-Awsat” that the party’s leader, Walid Jumblatt, was a
request from Hariri to respect the Druze environment with the type of ministry
that will be allocated to it, and his recent promise that the Druze share of the
socialist will be, that is to say, to be named. Like the other parties, the
Druze ministers. Abdullah said that “if the government consists of 20 ministers,
the Druze share will be two ministers for the socialist, and if they insist on
the opposite, then let him be a Druze minister and another Christian (Catholic
or Maronite) for the socialist, and let them give two Arsal a minister from
their share,” considering that there is in the vicinity of President Michel Aoun
is the one who is trying to blackmail Jumblatt and the socialist, similar to
what happened when the last Hariri government was formed, and at that time they
brought Minister Saleh al-Gharib.On the other hand, the opponents of the
“socialist” have been active since the first day of Hariri’s assignment to
demand a Druze minister in the upcoming government. And after Arslan,
accompanied by the Minister of Social Affairs in the caretaker government, Ramzi
Musharrafieh, visited the President of the Republic the day after Hariri was
appointed, and so did the head of the “Tawhid” party, former MP Weam Wahhab;
Yesterday Arslan and Wahab held a meeting, after which the latter demanded “not
to blow up the balances” in the Druze community. Wahab pointed out, in a
television interview, that “a government of 18 ministers will cause a problem,
and it has one target, which is to deport the second Druze team, and we do not
accept a single minister for the Druze community,” wishing Jumblatt not to
accept that.
The clerics entered the line of the “Druze knot”, where the media office of
Sheikh Nasreddin al-Gharib, (affiliated with Arslan), said that al-Gharib
“pursues suspicious projects based on political accusations and goals on the
issue of the government to be formed, where, to satisfy their whims, they insist
on a government of 18 A minister in which the Druze are represented by one
minister, and they reject only the 16 or 20 formulas, because they give a
founding component to this entity two ministers.
These were the details of the news The Druze knot brakes the government impulse
… Aoun is a... for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the
full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the
alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is
new. It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is
available at saudi24news and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed
it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or
quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
The Hariri government is waiting for someone to push it off...
Nicola Nassif wrote in “Al-Akhbar/Translated by AlKhaleej Today/October 31/2020
When silence is of no use, it is no longer a meaningful weapon. What is often
intended is either to conceal progress that needs more to complete and to be
careful not to sabotage it, or not at all as if the attempt is still at point
zero. This is the contradictory double impression about the stages of government
formation between Baabda Palace and Bayt Al Wasat.
Contrary to what was accompanying the formation of the government in the past
decade and a half, there were few meetings between the president in charge of
the president of the republic, and many of them with the main blocs implicitly
partner in the authoring efforts, before reaching his final stage. What is
happening now is the opposite: Four meetings between the two presidents in one
week without disclosing the extent of the progress that they have made, while
there is no public mention, at best, of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s
contact with any of the relevant blocs. In parallel, speculation and speculation
abound, without any serious support. Naively, some interpreted the secrecy as
restoring the confinement of authorship to the two presidents alone according to
their constitutional powers, while others included it – to a certain extent – in
the sense that the remainder of the composition in which the basis was
accomplished early before the assignment no longer needed only the two
presidents.
Information disclosed about this ambiguity and contradictory information from
outside the two leaders’ circle:
The first is the final lack of understanding between Hariri and President Michel
Aoun over the number of ministers. The first insists on 18 ministers, so that
the Druze representation is limited to one seat in which the person delegated by
former MP Walid Jumblatt will be appointed, while the second adheres to the
government of the Twenty so that the Druze have two seats, one for Jumblatt and
the other, MP Talal Arslan’s Aoun promised to give him, and it was said that the
promise is the media portfolio, and if they send them Sleeping on silk this
promise. The importance of the portfolio does not lie in the amount of
significance it aims at, which is the presence of a second Druze partner, the
confirmation of his representative presence in the cabinet, and the regulation
of the balance of power within it.
The names of the specialists are no longer very important here, since the
principle in the negotiation is the distribution of portfolios to the blocs that
name their ministers. The distribution of bags among the sects is also
insignificant – with the exception of the money bag exception – as the blocs
approach their shares as representing their sects as well.
Second, although it is known that communication is completely cut off between
Hariri and the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, directly
or through intermediaries, maintaining confusion about the Christian share
reinforces the belief that Bassil is not absent from the negotiation, deriving
his role from Aoun, the actual negotiator for Hariri in Authoring.
This indicates a tangible change in the constitutional mechanism sponsored by
Article 53, when the stages of forming the government are divided into three
non-overlapping stages, each separate from the other and having their own
timing: first of which is the binding consultations to designate an appointed
president at the end of which his temporary constitutional entity will be
established without having yet to become a speaker of the Council. Ministers,
except after issuing a decree signed by the President of the Republic
unilaterally. The second is the sole role of the president in charge of
conducting consultations and then, in his turn, to draft his government, without
the president of the republic having any role at this stage, and if it is
necessary for the president-designate to visit him to inform him of those
consultations, as the conceptualization is limited to the designated president.
The third is when the president-designate carries his draft to the president of
the republic, and the role of both becomes equal, what requires them to agree so
that the issuance of the authoring decree is linked to their signature,
otherwise there is no decree, then the president of the republic has a double
role, linked to his approval, amendment, or rejection of the draft in order to
accept the signature. Otherwise, the designated president remains assigned or
takes the initiative to apologize.
What is happening today contravenes the cycle of Article 53. Before Hariri
drafted his draft, it became common that his only negotiator for the Christian
share was the President of the Republic who represents himself, the extent of
his representation of his party, which constitutes the largest parliamentary
bloc and the largest Christian bloc in Parliament. Because Aoun now occupies a
dual role, as head of state and concerned with the Christian share, it is no
longer important for Basil to be in the form of a juvenile, and he does not
necessarily need a reconciliation between him and Hariri. Confirming this,
information began to circulate about Christian names being placed in basic
portfolios, directly linked to Aoun or Basil, without meaning that they would
monopolize the entire Christian share.
Third, some people miss what appears to be a detail in the final stage of
composition, very shortly before the issuance of the government decree, and it
is not a detail of what has become in the core of the traditions of the game:
Before announcing the government formation and printing the three decrees, it is
necessary that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri go to the palace Baabda to review
the final version, devoid of the names of the Shiite ministers who personally
carried their list with him. He is the one authorized in the name of the Shiite
duo to hand over the names to the President of the Republic and the
President-designate at this particular time and not before, lest they be
subjected once to bargaining and the other to bargaining as names. Thus, their
names are visualized as never touched. Such a tradition is neither new nor
urgent, nor is it necessarily a formality. It has an additional connotation,
which is the existence of a third co-author, the Shiite partner, who is always
represented by Berri. Without his moral approval at best, no decrees, because
there are no names of Shiite ministers. In the category of acknowledging this
tradition, Hariri, like all of his predecessors, fell into line with the third
Shiite role in composition. Some remember that Berri was the first to leave the
Baabda Palace on February 15, 2014, minutes before the decree of President
Tammam Salam’s government was printed, and he supervised the unexpected,
unexpected settlement in the last minute by giving the Interior Ministry
portfolio to MP Nihad Al-Machnouk and justice to Major General Ashraf Rifi. At
the time, the plane that was taking him abroad had turned its engines, waiting
for his arrival at the airport.
Hariri finally went further. In advance, before he was commissioned to pay the
price of the assignment, he agreed to give the money bag to the Amal Movement
and leave naming the Shiite ministers to their reference (Amal Movement and
Hezbollah), not to mention his pledge to limit the Druze representation to
Jumblatt. The fruit of these two early concessions – the first steps in the
ladder of concessions – the Druze leader supported his assignment.
It is not a secret that between October 2019, when he resigned, and October
2020, when he was reassigned, that Hariri climbed the ladder of conditions and
concessions over and over again, trying one after another. He inflicted three
“victims” on the road, namely, the former minister, Muhammad Safadi, Samir Al-Khatib,
and Ambassador Mustafa Adeeb. His victims were the one who nominated it for
assignment and then abandoned it, like someone who liked a game and then got
bored with it to ask for another. In terms of offering – he is not the third of
those – the most precious concessions to the Shiite duo in order to gain access
to the Saraya.
Such a performance has become sufficient for him today, even if with a
government of specialists, for the other blocs to ask for a privilege similar
to, or slightly less, than what was given to the Shiite duo, by naming their
ministers. The argument that the president of the republic is armed with first.
These were the details of the news The Hariri government is waiting for someone
to push it off... for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the
full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the
alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is
new.It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is
available at saudi24news and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed
it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or
quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
When silence is of no use, it is no longer a meaningful weapon. What is often
intended is either to conceal progress that needs more to complete and to be
careful not to sabotage it, or not at all as if the attempt is still at point
zero. This is the contradictory double impression about the stages of government
formation between Baabda Palace and Bayt Al Wasat.
Contrary to what was accompanying the formation of the government in the past
decade and a half, there were few meetings between the president in charge of
the president of the republic, and many of them with the main blocs implicitly
partner in the authoring efforts, before reaching his final stage. What is
happening now is the opposite: Four meetings between the two presidents in one
week without disclosing the extent of the progress that they have made, while
there is no public mention, at best, of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s
contact with any of the relevant blocs. In parallel, speculation and speculation
abound, without any serious support. Naively, some interpreted the secrecy as
restoring the confinement of authorship to the two presidents alone according to
their constitutional powers, while others included it – to a certain extent – in
the sense that the remainder of the composition in which the basis was
accomplished early before the assignment no longer needed only the two
presidents.
Information disclosed about this ambiguity and contradictory information from
outside the two leaders’ circle:
The first is the final lack of understanding between Hariri and President Michel
Aoun over the number of ministers. The first insists on 18 ministers, so that
the Druze representation is limited to one seat in which the person delegated by
former MP Walid Jumblatt will be appointed, while the second adheres to the
government of the Twenty so that the Druze have two seats, one for Jumblatt and
the other, MP Talal Arslan’s Aoun promised to give him, and it was said that the
promise is the media portfolio, and if they send them Sleeping on silk this
promise. The importance of the portfolio does not lie in the amount of
significance it aims at, which is the presence of a second Druze partner, the
confirmation of his representative presence in the cabinet, and the regulation
of the balance of power within it.
The names of the specialists are no longer very important here, since the
principle in the negotiation is the distribution of portfolios to the blocs that
name their ministers. The distribution of bags among the sects is also
insignificant – with the exception of the money bag exception – as the blocs
approach their shares as representing their sects as well.
Second, although it is known that communication is completely cut off between
Hariri and the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, directly
or through intermediaries, maintaining confusion about the Christian share
reinforces the belief that Bassil is not absent from the negotiation, deriving
his role from Aoun, the actual negotiator for Hariri in Authoring.
This indicates a tangible change in the constitutional mechanism sponsored by
Article 53, when the stages of forming the government are divided into three
non-overlapping stages, each separate from the other and having their own
timing: first of which is the binding consultations to designate an appointed
president at the end of which his temporary constitutional entity will be
established without having yet to become a speaker of the Council. Ministers,
except after issuing a decree signed by the President of the Republic
unilaterally. The second is the sole role of the president in charge of
conducting consultations and then, in his turn, to draft his government, without
the president of the republic having any role at this stage, and if it is
necessary for the president-designate to visit him to inform him of those
consultations, as the conceptualization is limited to the designated president.
The third is when the president-designate carries his draft to the president of
the republic, and the role of both becomes equal, what requires them to agree so
that the issuance of the authoring decree is linked to their signature,
otherwise there is no decree, then the president of the republic has a double
role, linked to his approval, amendment, or rejection of the draft in order to
accept the signature. Otherwise, the designated president remains assigned or
takes the initiative to apologize.
What is happening today contravenes the cycle of Article 53. Before Hariri
drafted his draft, it became common that his only negotiator for the Christian
share was the President of the Republic who represents himself, the extent of
his representation of his party, which constitutes the largest parliamentary
bloc and the largest Christian bloc in Parliament. Because Aoun now occupies a
dual role, as head of state and concerned with the Christian share, it is no
longer important for Basil to be in the form of a juvenile, and he does not
necessarily need a reconciliation between him and Hariri. Confirming this,
information began to circulate about Christian names being placed in basic
portfolios, directly linked to Aoun or Basil, without meaning that they would
monopolize the entire Christian share.
Third, some people miss what appears to be a detail in the final stage of
composition, very shortly before the issuance of the government decree, and it
is not a detail of what has become in the core of the traditions of the game:
Before announcing the government formation and printing the three decrees, it is
necessary that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri go to the palace Baabda to review
the final version, devoid of the names of the Shiite ministers who personally
carried their list with him. He is the one authorized in the name of the Shiite
duo to hand over the names to the President of the Republic and the
President-designate at this particular time and not before, lest they be
subjected once to bargaining and the other to bargaining as names. Thus, their
names are visualized as never touched. Such a tradition is neither new nor
urgent, nor is it necessarily a formality. It has an additional connotation,
which is the existence of a third co-author, the Shiite partner, who is always
represented by Berri. Without his moral approval at best, no decrees, because
there are no names of Shiite ministers. In the category of acknowledging this
tradition, Hariri, like all of his predecessors, fell into line with the third
Shiite role in composition. Some remember that Berri was the first to leave the
Baabda Palace on February 15, 2014, minutes before the decree of President
Tammam Salam’s government was printed, and he supervised the unexpected,
unexpected settlement in the last minute by giving the Interior Ministry
portfolio to MP Nihad Al-Machnouk and justice to Major General Ashraf Rifi. At
the time, the plane that was taking him abroad had turned its engines, waiting
for his arrival at the airport.
Hariri finally went further. In advance, before he was commissioned to pay the
price of the assignment, he agreed to give the money bag to the Amal Movement
and leave naming the Shiite ministers to their reference (Amal Movement and
Hezbollah), not to mention his pledge to limit the Druze representation to
Jumblatt. The fruit of these two early concessions – the first steps in the
ladder of concessions – the Druze leader supported his assignment.
It is not a secret that between October 2019, when he resigned, and October
2020, when he was reassigned, that Hariri climbed the ladder of conditions and
concessions over and over again, trying one after another. He inflicted three
“victims” on the road, namely, the former minister, Muhammad Safadi, Samir Al-Khatib,
and Ambassador Mustafa Adeeb. His victims were the one who nominated it for
assignment and then abandoned it, like someone who liked a game and then got
bored with it to ask for another. In terms of offering – he is not the third of
those – the most precious concessions to the Shiite duo in order to gain access
to the Saraya. Such a performance has become sufficient for him today, even if
with a government of specialists, for the other blocs to ask for a privilege
similar to, or slightly less, than what was given to the Shiite duo, by naming
their ministers. The argument that the president of the republic is armed with
first. These were the details of the news The Hariri government is waiting for
someone to push it off... for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving
you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe
to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all
that is new. It is also worth noting that the original news has been published
and is available at saudi24news and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has
confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely
transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its
main source.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 01/2020
Orthodox priest shot in Lyon, assailant flees in
France’s third attack in two weeks
Arab News/October 31/2020
LYON: A Greek Orthodox priest was shot and injured on Saturday at a church in
the centre of the French city of Lyon by an assailant who then fled, a police
source and witnesses said. The priest was fired on twice at around 4 p.m. (1500
GMT) as he was closing the church, and he was being treated on site for
life-threatening injuries, the source said. Witnesses said the church was Greek
Orthodox. Another police source said the priest was of Greek nationality, and
had been able to tell emergency services as they arrived that he had not
recognised his assailant. The incident came two days after a man shouting "Allahu
Akbar!" (God is the Greatest) beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a
church in Nice. Two weeks ago, a schoolteacher in a Paris suburb was beheaded by
an 18-year-old attacker who was apparently incensed by the teacher showing a
cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad during a class.
While the motive for Saturday's attack was not known, government ministers had
warned that there could be other Islamist militant attacks. President Emmanuel
Macron has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect sites such as places of
worship and schools.
Prime Minister Jean Castex, who was visiting Rouen, said he was heading back to
Paris to assess the situation. The Nice attack took place on the day Muslims
celebrate the Prophet Mohammad's birthday. Many Muslims around the world have
been angered about France's defence of the right to publish cartoons depicting
the Prophet. A third person has been taken into police custody in connection
with that attack, a police source said on Saturday. The suspected assailant was
shot by police and remained in critical condition in hospital. Macron took to
Arabic-language airwaves on Saturday, saying he understood the publication of
cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad may shock some people but that there was
no justification for acts of violence."I understand and I respect the fact that
people might be shocked by these caricatures, but I will never accept any
justification for acts of violence over these caricatures," Macron said. The
teacher killed on Oct. 16, Samuel Paty, had showed cartoons in class to prompt
discussion of free speech.
Macron Says Can 'Understand' Shock of Cartoons
Agence France Presse/October 31/2020
President Emmanuel Macron said that he could understand if Muslims were shocked
by cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, as French authorities on Saturday sought to
ascertain if a young Tunisian suspected of killing three people in a knife
rampage inside a Nice church had outside help. France is on edge after the
republication in early September of cartoons of the prophet Mohammed by the
Charlie Hebdo weekly, which was followed by an attack outside its former
offices, the beheading of a teacher and now the attack in Nice. Macron sparked
protests in the Muslim world after the murder earlier this month of teacher
Samuel Paty -- who had shown his class a cartoon of Mohammed -- by saying France
would never renounce its right to caricature. But in an apparent bid to reach
out to Muslims, Macron gave a long interview setting out his vision to
Qatar-based TV channel Al-Jazeera, seeking to strike a softer tone. "I can
understand that people could be shocked by the caricatures but I will never
accept that violence can be justified," he said. "I consider it our duty to
protect our freedoms and our rights," he added in an extract of the interview to
be broadcast from 1600 GMT.
- 'Too early to say' -
France is still reeling from the latest attack in Nice which Macron has already
described as "Islamist" terror. Brahim Issaoui, 21, only arrived in Europe from
Tunisia last month and, according to prosecutors, killed the sexton, a Brazilian
woman and a French woman in the attack in the Notre-Dame Basilica on Thursday
morning. The attacker cut the throat of Nadine Devillers, 60, and the sexton
Vincent Loques, 55. A Brazilian mother, Simone Barreto Silva, who was stabbed
several times, took refuge in a nearby restaurant but died of her wounds there.
Issaoui was shot by police multiple times and is currently in a grave condition
in hospital. Investigators have been unable to question him and his precise
motivations remain unclear. "It is still too early to say if there were others
complicit, what his motivations were in coming to France and when this idea took
root in him," said a source close to the inquiry who asked not to be named.
Investigators believe Issaoui arrived illegally in Europe on Italy's
Mediterranean island of Lampedusa on September 20. He then arrived at the
mainland Italian port of Bari on October 9 before coming to Nice just one or two
days before the attack. French police are currently holding three people for
questioning in the investigation, which is focusing on two telephones found on
the suspect after the attack. A first man, 47, was detained on Thursday evening
after being seen next to the attacker on surveillance footage the day before the
attack. The second individual, suspected of contacting Issaoui the day before
the attack, was held on Friday. Police said Saturday a third man, aged 33, was
arrested after being present when the home of the second suspect was raided.
- Global threat to France -
The attack came with France still in shock over the October 16 beheading of
teacher Paty by a suspected Islamist radical from Russia's region of Chechnya.
The teacher had shown a class a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed in the wake of
the controversy generated by the reprinting by satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo
of the caricatures to mark the beginning of the trial of suspects over the
massacre of its staff in January 2015. Even before that attack, Macron had
promised a tough new campaign against Islamist radicalism which had aroused
controversy and condemnation from Muslims around the world. Protests erupted
Friday in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mali, Mauritania and Lebanon, the
latest in a string of mass rallies denouncing France. Indonesian President Joko
Widodo on Saturday "strongly condemned" Macron's defence of the right to publish
such cartoons. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that French citizens
face a security risk "wherever they are" in the wake of the attack, saying
alerts had been sent to all French nationals abroad. In Issaoui's hometown of
Sfax in central Tunisia, his family told AFP they struggled to believe he had
carried out the attack but relatives said he had turned to religion and isolated
himself in the past two years.
The Nice attacker’s journey from illegal migrant to
terrorist
The Arab Weekly/October 31/2020
TUNIS--Nothing was to suggest that Brahim Aouissaoui, a 21-year old man from a
large and poor family, would turn his fate from being an illegal immigrant
looking to for a better life in France to a suspect in a terrorist attack.
Politicians and experts in Islamic extremist groups say that the social and
economic crisis following Tunisia's 2011 uprising has created an environment
conducive to transforming young people searching for a decent living into
desperate people who can easily be recruited by extremists and criminals of all
kinds.
Brahim Aouissaoui was just one of the many illegal migrants jumping on the
adventure of crossing over to Italy. Sources said he had arrived about a month
ago on the Italian island of Lampedusa coming from the governorate of Sfax in
Tunisia. After quarantining, he was told to move on and that’s he ended up in
the city of Nice on the eve of his heinous attack.
His family said that he had turned to religion about two years ago, but he did
not display any extremist ideas or stances. “Two and a half years ago, Brahim
started praying. He became a loner moving only between work, mosque and home. He
had no acquaintances,” his grief-stricken mother, Gamra, said.
“Before that, he used to drink and do drugs. I used to ask why he was wasting
his money when we are in need, and he would answer ‘If God guides me, He will
guide me for myself,” She added. Brahim tried to immigrate illegally several
times before until he succeeded about a month and a half ago. When he arrived in
Lampedusa, he told his family he was working picking olives, according to his
brother. Brahim told his family he had arrived in France on Wednesday to look
for work. According to his sister Afef, her brother went to a building opposite
Notre Dame Basilica upon his arrival in Nice on Thursday morning to sleep, and
that he showed them the area.
Brahim’s mother and sister were in shock from the horror of what he did, while
they were answering questions from the press in their modest home in Tunisia.
“When he dropped out of school, he worked in a motorcycle repair shop,” his
mother related. “he was able to save between 1100 and 1200 dinars (about 400
euros) and has set up a booth to sell (bootlegged) gasoline,” like many young
people in the region who were earning a living from such an illegal project. The
Nice attack perpetrator was born in a family of seven girls and three boys,
living in a poor neighbourhood, with practically no existing infrastructure,
near an industrial zone in the Sfax governorate. Analysts and sociologists say
that social conditions such as those where Brahim Aouissaoui was living
represent the perfect hunting ground for Islamist militant groups. A few years
back, these groups would target the young men and women living in such
conditions, brainwash them with their radical ideologies and send them to
conflict zones in Syria and Libya. The groups were particularly active in the
poor regions of the interior of the country, where they were able to recruit and
train a sizeable number of desperate young men to carry out terrorist operations
against the security forces and the army in Tunisia, while taking refuge in the
mountains in the back-country.
Analysts point out that the difficult economic situation in the country is
pushing many young people to despair and making them resort to suicide, illegal
migration or joining militant groups. They say that the incessant politicians’
squabbles and disagreements while riding on the bandwagon of decrying these
desperate conditions, have done nothing but exacerbate these conditions.
Tunisian youth had high hopes of the 2011 uprising, but the dismal results of
the last ten years led to more than disillusionment. The Tunisian judiciary
began investigating the family of the suspect in the Nice attack. The public
prosecutor at the lower court of Tunis, Mohsen Daly, said that the suspect “was
not classified as a terrorist with the Tunisian authorities and left the country
illegally on September 14, and has judicial precedents in acts of violence and
drugs.” Mazen Cherif, a Tunisian specialist of terrorist groups, highlighted the
role of terrorist groups that always exploit to their advantage situations of
deteriorating social and economic conditions and insecurity in the country, as
well as the role of inciting discourse coming from some religious clerics.
Cherif told The Arab Weekly that the bad situation has not resulted from just
radical discourse, but also from the existence of a moral and religious vacuum,
coupled with frustration, trauma, poverty and despair. All of these factors
transformed the country into something like a prison in the eyes of these
desperate young men and created false alternatives for them.
For his part, Zouheir Maghzaoui, Secretary-General of the People’s Movement
(pan-Arabist party), said, “The causes are many, including the state of general
frustration that the takfirist groups exploit in their activities.” He also
admitted that “violent and anger-charged political discourse serves the
interests of terrorists.”Talking to The Arab Weekly, Maghzaoui said, “The
political crisis has also cast its shadow—in terms of rhetoric, social media,
demonisation and hatred—on the climate of justifying terrorism and creating a
political cover for it.”Successive governments since 2011 have been accused of
having focused on the process of political transition by ensuring the success of
three major electoral episodes, but failed to address the economic and social
issues, which prompted thousands of people to venture into illegal immigration,
leading to the death by drowning of some, while the fate of many others is still
unknown. Those who had made it to Europe continue to live under the threat of
deportation because of their illegal status. The so-called “death boats” of
illegal migration continue to plough the waters of the Mediterranean between the
Tunisian coast and Europe, and the local authorities continue to arrest
candidates for illegal migration almost daily. Statistics of the Tunisian
Ministry of the Interior show that since the beginning of this year until
mid-September, 8581 people tried to cross Tunisian waters towards European
coasts, including 2104 foreign nationals.
Russia Pledges Help to Yerevan if Fighting Reaches
Armenia
Agence France Presse/October 31/2020
Russia said Saturday it would provide "necessary" assistance to Yerevan in its
conflict with Azerbaijan if fighting reached Armenian territory after its ally
requested help. Earlier Saturday Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
formally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin "urgent" consultations
on security assistance in its conflict with Azerbaijan over the breakaway region
of Nagorno-Karabakh. Pasninyan sent the letter to Putin after Armenia and
Azerbaijan failed to agree a fresh ceasefire during talks in Geneva on Friday,
as fighting continued overnight and Saturday.
The announcements further raised fears of an escalation in fighting between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. Some observers are concerned it risks sucking Yerevan's
ally Russia, and Turkey, which backs Baku, into the decades-long conflict.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been engaged in fierce fighting for more than a
month over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan controlled by Armenian
separatists in the wake of the break-up of the Soviet Union.
The flare-up has left more than a thousand dead, with world powers so far unable
to persuade either side to stop fighting. Russia has a military base in
Armenia's second-largest city of Gyumri and has a defence treaty with Yerevan.
Moscow, which has previously said that its defence pact with Armenia does not
extend to the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, reiterated that help would
be provided if the fighting expanded. "Russia will render Yerevan all necessary
assistance if clashes take place directly on the territory of Armenia," the
foreign ministry said.
At the same, time Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in
televised remarks "concrete formats" of assistance to Armenia would be
discussed. The Russian foreign ministry also called on the warring sides to
immediately cease fire, de-escalate tensions and begin "substantive" talks.
Pashinyan in his letter to Putin said that hostilities were getting closer to
Armenia's borders and reiterated that Azerbaijan's ally Turkey was backing Baku,
the foreign ministry said. "The prime minister of Armenia has asked the Russian
president to begin urgent consultations with the aim of determining the kind and
amount of aid which the Russian Federation can provide Armenia to ensure its
security," the ministry said in a statement. Pashinyan requested Moscow's help,
invoking the two countries' close ties and a 1997 treaty on friendship,
cooperation and mutual assistance.
- 'Impossible to calculate risks' -
Carey Cavanaugh, a former US ambassador and co-chair of the OSCE Minsk group,
said Putin was aware that expanded military engagement in the conflict was not
in Moscow's interest. "It is impossible to calculate the risk, but injection of
either Russian or Turkish armed forces at this point would mark a significant
escalation of the conflict," Cavanaugh, a professor of diplomacy at the
University of Kentucky, told AFP. At the same time, he said, "Russia could move
some forces out of barracks in Gyumri to enhance border protection (they already
cooperate on that) or to assist with any outflow of displaced civilian
population fleeing from the fighting." Hikmet Hajiyev, an aide to the
Azerbaijani president, told AFP that Baku would not comment. On Friday,
mediators from France, Russia and the US said in a statement from Geneva that
the warring sides had committed to "not deliberately target civilian populations
or non-military objects in accordance with international humanitarian law". But
the defence ministry of the Karabakh separatist leadership on Saturday accused
Azerbaijan of violating the Geneva agreements and targeting the main city
Stepanakert and the strategically important town of Shusha.
The ministry said there were "wounded among civilians" in Shusha. Baku denied
targeting the main city in Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in
a bitter conflict over Karabakh since Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan
seized control of the mountainous province in a 1990s war that left 30,000
people dead. The current clashes broke out on September 27 and fighting has
persisted despite repeated international attempts to secure a ceasefire. The
warring sides have three times agreed to ceasefires during recent talks mediated
by Russia, France and the United States but the truces have all quickly fallen
apart. More than 1,200 people from both sides have been reported dead since the
fighting began but the actual death toll is believed to be substantially higher.
Satellite photos show new construction at Iranian
nuclear site
DEBKAFile/October 31/2020
Iran is shown actively building a new facility for advanced centrifuge
production at the Natanz nuclear center – this one underground – to replace the
plant destroyed in an explosion last summer. Satellite images released on
Wednesday, Oct. 28, by the San-Francisco-based Planet Labs, show a road going
into the mountains south of Natanz to an apparent structure, most likely a
tunnel in the mountains. The sabotaged facility was manufacturing high-speed
centrifuges to accelerate the enrichment of high-grade uranium for nuclear fuel.
The explosion at Natanz substantially set this project back. Iran is clearly
embarked on sinking its most sensitive nuclear facilities underground as a
safeguard against sabotage. While slowing down direct military tensions with the
Washington until the winner of the US presidential election emerges, Tehran is
busy on the quiet updating and advancing its nuclear program.
Iranian Arab opposition group says Iran abducted former
leader in Turkey
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Saturday 31 October 2020
An Iranian Arab opposition group accused on Friday the Iranian regime of
abducting one of its former leaders in Turkey. The Arab Struggle Movement for
the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), an Iranian-Arab separatist group, said in a
statement that Iranian intelligence agents abducted Habib Chaab – also known as
Habib Eseywed – after “luring” him to Turkey. ASMLA said a Gulf state aided in
the abduction of Chaab. The group, however, did not specify which country.
Activists say Ankara has deported dozens of Iranian activists and asylum
seekers. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network says Turkey deported 33 Iranian
Kurdish activists to Tehran last December. Iran, which considers ASMLA a
terrorist organisation, is yet to comment on the matter. The Arab nationalist
group seeks a separate state inside Iran’s oil-rich southwestern Khuzestan
province. Ahwazi Arabs say they are deprived of decent living standards and
civil rights, as well as facing discrimination due to their Arab identity. Some
see themselves as under Persian occupation and want independence or autonomy. In
2017, Ahmad Mola Nissi, ASMLA’s founder, was shot dead in the Netherlands. A
year later, Iran accused the group of being responsible for a deadly attack on a
military parade in Ahwaz that killed 25 people. AMSLA denies the accusation. In
recent years, a number of Iranian dissidents have been arrested in neighbouring
countries and taken to Iran. In August, Iran said it arrested US-based
opposition figure Jamshid Sharmahd. Details of his arrest and subsequent travel
to Iran remain a mystery. Last year, Iran announced the arrest of Iranian
journalist-turned-activist Ruhollah Zam. Last October, Iran’s Revolutionary
Guards (IRGC) said they had “trapped” Zam, who had been given political asylum
in France and was also based in other parts of Europe, in a “complex operation
using intelligence deception.”He was sentenced to death in June for allegedly
fuelling anti-government unrest in late 2017 on social media, according to
Iranian media.
Instagram removes Khamenei’s French account after Nice
attack
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Saturday 31 October 2020
Instagram temporarily removed and later restored the French account of Iran’s
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the social media platform on Friday, a
day after a knife-wielding man killed three people at a church in the French
city of Nice.
A Tunisian man armed with a knife shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest)
beheaded a woman and killed two others in a church in the Mediterranean city of
Nice on Thursday before being arrested. A day before the attack, Khamenei had
published a message addressed to “young” French people on his numerous social
media accounts, including his French Twitter and Instagram accounts, urging them
to ask President Emmanuel Macron “why he supports insulting God’s Messenger
(Prophet Muhammad) in the name of freedom of expression.”Macron had defended the
publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad last week, saying France
“will not give up cartoons.”His remarks came after a French history teacher who
had shown cartoons of Prophet Muhammad during a discussion about free speech was
beheaded near Paris earlier this month. “Does freedom of expression mean
insulting, especially a sacred personage? Isn’t this stupid act an insult to the
reason of the ppl who elected him?” Khamenei’s message read. Khamenei, who has
publicly referred to the Holocaust as a “myth” in the past, continued: “The next
question to ask is: why is it a crime to raise doubts about the Holocaust? Why
should anyone who writes about such doubts be imprisoned while insulting the
Prophet (pbuh) is allowed?” Instagram removed Khamenei’s French account for a
few hours on Friday and later restored it after the post was deleted. The
supreme leader’s other Instagram accounts – including his English, Arabic and
Persian accounts where the post has not yet been deleted – have remained
unblocked. Instagram is the only major social media platform that is not banned
in Iran.
Armenia, Azerbaijan Trade Fresh Accusations of Karabakh
Attacks
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 31 October, 2020
Armenia and Azerbaijan once more accused each other of bombing residential areas
on Saturday, in defiance of a pact to avoid the deliberate targeting of
civilians in and around the mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Shelling was
reported by both sides within hours of the latest agreement to defuse the
conflict, reached after talks in Geneva between the two countries’ foreign
ministers and envoys from France, Russia and the United States. The agreement
with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group fell short of what would have been a
fourth ceasefire since fighting began on Sept. 27. The death toll in the worst
fighting in the South Caucasus for more than 25 years has surpassed 1,000 and is
possibly much higher. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of
Azerbaijan, but is populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians. About 30,000
people were killed in a 1991-94 war in the region.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Emergency and Rescue Service said the central market in
Stepanakert, the enclave’s largest city, had come under fire and that large
parts of it had been burned. Shushan Stepanyan, spokeswoman for the Armenian
defense ministry, also said several civilians had been wounded in attacks on the
strategic city of Shushi, 15 km (9 miles) to the south of Stepanakert.
Azerbaijan’s defense ministry denied both accusations. It said that the regions
of Terter, Aghdam and Aghjabedi had come under artillery fire, as had Gubadli, a
town between the enclave and the Iranian border that was taken by Azeri troops
this week. More than 1,000 fighters from the Nagorno-Karabakh army have been
killed. Azerbaijan has not disclosed its military casualties, while Russia has
estimated as many as 5,000 deaths on both sides. Three ceasefires have failed to
halt the fighting, the most recent brokered in Washington last Sunday by US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The OSCE Minsk Group said Armenia and Azerbaijan
had also agreed to exchange the bodies of fighters and to provide within a week
lists of detained prisoners of war, with the aim of an eventual exchange.
Sudan signs agreement with US restoring its sovereign
immunity
Reuters/Saturday 31 October 2020
Sudan and the United States signed an agreement to restore the African country's
sovereign immunity, the Sudanese Ministry of Justice said on Friday. The
ministry said in a statement the agreement will settle cases brought against
Sudan in US courts, including for the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania in 1998, for which Sudan has agreed to pay $335 million to victims. The
deal is part of a US pledge to remove Sudan from its designation as a state
sponsor of terrorism, which goes back to its toppled Islamist ruler Omar al-Bashir
when Washington believed the country was supporting militant groups. President
Donald Trump said this month that the United States will remove Sudan from the
list as soon as Khartoum sets aside the $335 million it has agreed to pay to
American victims of militant attacks and their families. To avoid new lawsuits
Sudan needed its sovereign immunity restored, which it lost as a designated
sponsor of terrorism. The designation makes it difficult for its transitional
government to access urgently needed debt relief and foreign financing as it
fights an economic crisis. Sudan has under US pressure also agreed to normalize
ties with Israel, making Khartoum the third Arab government after the United
Arab Emirates and Bahrain to establish relations with Israel in the last two
months.
Sudan: Deal with US blocks further compensation claims
being filed against us
The Associated Press/Saturday 31 October 2020
Sudan says it has signed an agreement with the US that could effectively stop
any future compensation claims being filed against the African country in US
courts, following Washington's decision to remove the country from its list of
state sponsors of terrorism. The deal restores in US courts what is known as
sovereign immunity to the Sudanese government, and comes after a year of
negotiations between the Trump administration and Sudan's new leadership, the
Sudanese Justice Ministry said. A transitional government led by a mix of
military and civilian figures currently rules Sudan, after the overthrow of
former leader Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 led to the country seeking better
ties with the US. Sudanese Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari said that the
agreement will allow Sudan “to resolve historical liabilities, restore normal
relations with the United States, and move forward toward democracy and better
economic times.” The ministry said the deal, signed at the US State Department
Friday, was meant to settle all lawsuits against Sudan in American courts,
including those related to the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania. The deal would enter into force after US Congress passes legislation
needed to implement the agreement. Sudan’s transitional government has agreed to
pay $335 million in compensation for victims of the attacks that were carried
out by Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network while the militant leader was living
in Sudan. The ministry said the money would be held in an escrow account till
the US finalizes the restoration of Sudan’s sovereign immunity. The State
Department has notified Congress of the agreement, which it described as a
“monumental win for victims of terrorism.”It said the deal also included
compensation settlement for victims of the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole
at Yemen’s southern port of Aden which killed 17 Marines, and for the killing of
John Granville, an official with the US Agency for International Development,
who was killed in a drive-by shooting in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum in
2008. “The signing .. marks a critically important step toward achieving justice
for the tragedy our families,” said Edith L. Bartley, spokeswoman for the
families of the Americans killed in the Kenya attack.Bartley urged US Congress
to “immediately” pass legislation needed to implement the settlement and release
the money. The US designation of Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism dates
back to the 1990s, when al-Bashir ruled Sudan and his government briefly hosted
bin Laden and other wanted militants. Sudan was also believed to have served as
a pipeline for Iran to supply weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza
Strip. De-listing Sudan from the blacklist was part of the US administration's
efforts to have Sudan normalize its ties with Israel. Sudan has become the third
Arab country — after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — to normalize ties
with the Jewish state in the run-up to Election Day on Nov. 3. Sudanese
transitional authorities have promised by hold elections by 2022.
Fayez Al-Sarraj announces his retreat from the presidency
of the Libyan...
Translated by AlKhaleej Today/October 31/2020
The head of the Libyan Government of National Accord, Fayez Al-Sarraj, announced
today, Friday, that he has withdrawn his resignation decision, which he would
have implemented at the end of this month. Al-Sarraj reasoned his retreat by
saying that it comes in response to demands for his continuation in his post,
according to a statement by his spokesman, which Sputnik obtained a copy of. In
mid-September, Al-Sarraj announced his intention to hand over his duties to the
new executive committee that is working to form the dialogue committee, no later
than the end of this October.
On Thursday, the Libyan Supreme Council of State, which is loyal to the Tripoli
government, asked Al-Sarraj to continue in his position and postpone his
decision to hand over power until a new presidential council is chosen. These
were the details of the news Fayez Al-Sarraj announces his retreat from the
presidency of the Libyan... for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by
giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can
subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you
with all that is new. It is also worth noting that the original news has been
published and is available at eg24.news and the editorial team at AlKhaleej
Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely
transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its
main source.
Canada warns against Turkish breaches of arms sales
agreements
The Arab Weekly/October 31/2020
OTTAWA - A Turkish-made military drone shot down by Armenia in the conflict with
Azerbaijan was equipped with Canadian imaging and targeting systems, Canadian
daily The Globe and Mail said on Friday. Canada suspended arms exports to Turkey
in early October as it investigates the possible diversion of restricted
Canadian military equipment to Azerbaijan. At a news conference, Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau pointed to possible breaches of arms sales agreements. “We need
to make sure that the rules and the agreements that were in place on the
contract for use (of Canadian arms) are being respected,” he said.
“We heard that there were concerns that they were not, and indeed we continue to
see examples and evidence that they possibly were not.” Turkey has blasted
Ottawa over its suspension of arms shipments to a NATO ally. Ankara is backing
its longtime ally Azerbaijan in fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic
Armenian province that broke away from Azerbaijan in a bitterly fought war in
the 1990s. Photos of parts of the downed drone were taken Thursday by a
photographer from The Globe and Mail dispatched to an Armenian military complex.
Arms exports researcher Kelsey Gallagher was quoted by the Canadian daily as
saying the photos clearly show an MX-15D imaging and targeting device made by
Canadian company L3Harris Wescam. “While we know this is a Wescam sensor just by
looking at the turret itself, the inclusion of ‘CMX-15D’ on the serial code of
the base plate makes it irrefutable this is Canadian-made hardware,” he said.
“The same base plate is also branded with ‘Baykar,’ the manufacturer of the
Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone.”Trudeau renewed calls for de-escalation, respect
for ceasefires and a negotiated solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Canada suspended the export of some drone technology to Turkey earlier this
month as it probes allegations the equipment was used by Azeri forces involved
in fighting with Armenia. Turkey’s military exports to its ally Azerbaijan have
risen six-fold this year, with sales of drones and other military equipment
rising to $77 million last month alone before fighting broke out over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to exports data.
Iraq reopens Tahrir square, epicenter of
anti-government protests in Baghdad
AFP/Saturday 31 October 2020
Iraqi authorities reopened Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and Al-Jumhuriyah bridge on
Saturday, symbolically ending more than a year of demonstrations in epicenters
of an anti-government protest movement. Protester tents have been dismantled at
the Tahrir roundabout, now again circled by cars, and the towering concrete
walls used to close off the Al-Jumhuriyah bridge across the Tigris River have
been removed. Tahrir Square and its massive Freedom Monument was at the heart of
the movement that brought together hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in October
2019, paralyzing the capital and southern Iraq for months.
The Al-Jumhuriyah bridge leading to the highly fortified Green Zone – where
government offices, parliament and the US embassy are housed – was a hotspot of
clashes during the protests. Clashes with security forces during the revolt left
around 600 people dead and 30,000 wounded, the vast majority demonstrators. “The
reopening of these places does not mean the revolt is over,” said Kamal Jabar,
one of the figures of the movement dubbed the “October Revolution.”“The
protesters have lost a battle, but the movement endures and is now working to
set up political organizations,” he told AFP.
The movement had called for jobs, basic services, a total overhaul of the ruling
class and an end to corruption. But it lost momentum and then ground to a halt
in the spring due to an outbreak of tensions between arch-foes the United States
and Iran on Iraqi soil and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The protests helped usher in Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in May, but he
has yet to deliver on any major reforms. Lockdown measures imposed to stem the
virus and the fall in oil prices precipitated Iraq’s tumble into its worst
economic downturn and doubled the country’s poverty rate to 40 percent. Amid the
crisis, public pressure mounted to reopen Tahrir Square and Al-Jumhuriyah bridge
to ease traffic in Baghdad - a city of 10 million inhabitants - and to revive
trade in the center of the Arab world’s second most populated capital.
At least three killed, 51 injured in southern Iraq
blast targeting pipeline
Reuters, Basra/Saturday 31 October 2020
At least three people were killed and more than 50 injured in a gas pipeline
explosion in southern Iraq, police sources said on Saturday. The military said
in a statement that the cause of the blast was not known. It said nine Shia
militia fighters were among the wounded and two children had been killed. Police
sources said the blast, near the southern city of Samawa, 270 km (170 miles)
south of Baghdad, occurred along a stretch of pipeline that goes near a militia
camp. Gas officials said the pipe there had seen leaks in the past. Firefighters
managed to contain the fire after shutting down the gas line, police said. The
oil ministry said in a statement it had sent technical crews to repair the
damaged section. Gas flows would resume in the “next hours” via an alternative
pipeline, to avoid shortages of supplies to power stations. An investigation was
launched to determine cause of blast, the statement cited Deputy Oil Minister
Hamid Younis as saying. Iraqi energy officials said the domestic line transports
gas from some of the southern fields to feed power stations in some southern
cities and a key power station near Baghdad. The explosion has no effect on
Iraq’s gas production and processing operations, two gas officials said.
Iraq Kurdish ex-governor wanted for corruption dies in
US
AFP/Saturday 31 October 2020
Former Kirkuk governor Najmeddin Karim, who was forced to quit for organizing a
referendum in defiance of Iraq’s federal government and wanted for corruption,
died on Saturday, his family said. Aged 71, Karim passed away at dawn in a
hospital in the United States. He held both Iraqi and US citizenship. He would
be buried in Iraqi Kurdistan, said the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of
which he was once a member. Kirkuk is one of several regions that Kurdish
peshmerga fighters took over in 2014 as extremists from ISIS terrorist group
swept through much of northern and western Iraq. Angered by the 2017 referendum
for independence from Iraq, Baghdad deployed federal forces and retook the
oil-rich province in October 2017. Karim had organized the referendum in Kirkuk
in defiance of the federal government and had also taken to the airwaves to call
people to arms against federal forces. Days before the referendum was held
across the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, federal authorities had
fired Karim from the governorship.Karim, who had defied the order to step down
and raised the Kurdish flag on Kirkuk’s official building, fled after federal
forces took control of Kirkuk. Oil is the lifeblood of the economy in Iraq which
relies on crude sales to fund around 90 percent of its budget. But the country,
one of the most corrupt in the world, has lost billions of state funds since
2003, representing almost three times its budget and twice its gross domestic
product.
For Justin Trudeau “freedom of expression has its limits”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended freedom of expression on Friday
while believing that it was “not without limits“and should not”injure
arbitrarily and needlessly“some communities. “We will always defend freedom of
speech“said Mr. Trudeau, in response to a question about the right to caricature
the Prophet Muhammad, as did the magazine Charlie Hebdo.”But freedom of
expression is not without limits“, he argued at a press conference.”We owe it to
ourselves to act with respect for others and to seek not to arbitrarily or
needlessly harm those with whom we are sharing a society and a planet.“.“We are
not allowed, for example, to cry fire in a crowded cinema, there are always
limits“, argued the head of government. Distancing himself from the position of
French President Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Trudeau pleaded for use “prudent“freedom
of speech.”In a pluralistic, diverse and respectful society like ours, we owe it
to ourselves to be aware of the impact of our words, our actions on others,
particularly these communities and populations who still experience a lot of
discrimination.“, he pleaded. As he had done the day before with the leaders of
the European Union, Mr. Trudeau wanted to condemn the recent terrorist attacks
“awful and dreadful” in France. “It is unjustifiable and Canada wholeheartedly
condemns these acts while always standing with our French friends who are going
through extremely difficult times.“, he insisted.
Damascus Raises Price of Bread
Damascus - London/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 31 October, 2020 -
The Syrian government increased on Thursday the price of bread in
regime-controlled areas, while several bakeries in the countryside of Damascus
stopped operating over a fuel and flour crisis. The Syrian official news agency,
SANA, reported that the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection
issued a decision setting the sale price of 1kg of “subsidized bread” without
bag at 75 Syrian liras and the price of 1.1kg bundle of bread packed in a
plastic bag at 100 liras. Before the decision, the 1kg of subsidized bread was
sold at 35 liras while the bundle of bread was 50 liras. The Ministry justified
its decision to "high costs and difficulties in securing wheat flour as a result
of the conditions of war and the unjust blockade.” The US dollar is worth around
2,200 Syrian liras in the black market. The bread crisis drove state-owned
bakeries in Damascus to place people, queuing for bread, in iron cages. The
director of Damascus bakeries, Nael Asmander, was quoted as saying that this is
the way to separate men, women and army soldiers, adding that the “culture of
queuing does not exist in our country.”Last month, the Syrian government tried
in vain to solve the bread crisis by ordering that daily family bread rations be
reduced after failing to provide subsidized bread and gasoline to the people.
The move sparked outrage among the public, who accused Damascus of “starving”
the people to cover up for its shortcomings. SANA announced a new mechanism for
people to buy bread. A family of one or two people will be allowed one pack of
bread per day, while a family of three or four will be allowed two. A family of
five or six can have access to three packs and a family of seven or more will be
allowed four. Prime Minister Hussein Arnous said this week that “bread is a red
line.”At a meeting with unions, the PM said that 690,000 tons of wheat had been
bought this year, including 300,000 from Hasakah in northeast Syria. Damascus
has sharply increased petrol prices in regime-held areas, blaming the decision
on "the huge cost of the government in securing oil derivatives and the increase
in transport costs in light of the unjust blockade imposed by the US
administration.”
UN Security Council Extends Mandate of MINURSO for a Year
London - Hatem Betioui/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 31 October,
2020 -
The Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the
Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for one year, indicating that it looks
forward to appointing a new envoy after the resignation of Horst Kohler. The
voting results were announced by videoconferencing as the Security Council was
not able to convene after members of the Niger delegation contracted the
coronavirus. The Council expressed its full support for the ongoing efforts of
the Secretary-General and his incoming personal envoy to sustain the renewed
negotiations process. The Council noted the intention of the Kohler to invite
Morocco, the Frente Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania to meet again, and
welcomed the commitment of those parties to remain engaged throughout the
process in order to ensure a successful outcome. The Council commended Kohler
who resigned for health reasons on May 22, 2019, lauding his efforts in
convening the roundtable discussions which created a new momentum in the
political process. It reaffirmed its commitment to assist the parties in
achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution. In calling
for the resumption of negotiations, the Council asked the parties to take into
account the efforts made since 2006, as well as subsequent developments, aiming
to reach a solution accepted by Morocco and the Polisario. It invited Member
States to lend appropriate assistance to such talks. The Security Council took
note of the Moroccan proposal submitted to the UN Secretary-General on April 11,
2007, and welcomed the serious and credible Moroccan efforts to advance the
process towards a solution. Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that this
paragraph of the report was drawn up by the US, in confirmation of Washington's
support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara.
“Reaffirming the need to fully respect military agreements previously reached
with MINURSO regarding a ceasefire,” the Council also called upon the parties to
fully adhere to those agreements, and refrain from any actions that could
undermine negotiations or further destabilize the situation in Western Sahara.
The Council also took note of the commitments made by the Polisario Front to the
former envoy. It welcomed the assessment of the UN Secretary-General, which
indicated that the situation in the Sahara remained relatively calm as parties
continued to respect the ceasefire and MINURSO’s tasks.
The Security Council encouraged the two parties to increase cooperation with the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in identifying and
implementing confidence-building measures necessary for the success of the
political process.
It stressed the importance of improving the human rights situation in the Sahara
and the Tindouf camps, in southwestern Algeria. The Council encouraged the
parties to work with the international community to develop and implement
independent and credible measures to ensure full respect for human rights,
taking into account their relevant obligations under international law. The
Security Council strongly encouraged the parties to enhance cooperation with the
UNHCR by facilitating its visits to the region. The Council noted with great
concern the difficulties faced by Sahrawi refugees and their dependence on
humanitarian assistance. It also noted with deep concerns the insufficient
funding for those living in the camps and the risks associated with reducing
food assistance.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 01/2020
The Choice Between Trump and Obama Foreign Policies
Sarah N. Stern/American Thinker/October 31, 2020
A new book by Dr. Walid Phares, titled The Choice: Trump vs Obama Biden in US
Foreign Policy is getting attention in Washington, D.C. and around the world.
Released in late September, it stands alone as a definitive discussion and
analysis of foreign policy and national security within a loud and crucial
presidential election season which seems determined to focus only on domestic
issues, personas, and inflammatory accusations.
In The Choice, Phares examines the shifts in foreign policy that occurred during
the Obama-Biden administration between 2009 and 2016, analyzes these shifts in
strategy, and highlights the domestic and geopolitical consequences. Of primary
concern to the author was the Obama-Biden administration’s "partnership with the
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the region". This implicit and explicit
partnership, Phares argues, created additional domestic and regional problems,
including the emboldening of Jihadists. Just as important to the author was the
Iran Deal. According to Phares, it was for this deal that the Iranian people
were abandoned, ISIS could not be defeated, and allies such as the Gulf and
Israel were sidelined.
Phares also paints a picture of paralysis surrounding the peace process. By
strictly adhering to a failed paradigm for finding peace in the Middle East, the
Obama-Biden administration failed to foster peace agreements between Israel and
moderate Arab countries. Under Obama-Biden, relations between Washington and
Jerusalem deteriorated, delaying any substantive movement until Trump’s
administration. Phares cites other crises with impact on U.S. national security,
including the abandonment of civil societies during the Arab Spring, rejection
of vetting, the removal of instructional material from U.S. agency programs
needed to understand the Jihadi threat, and the Obama administration’s
encouragement of the entrance into the United States of immigrants who might not
share our American value system.
Phares argues that the Obama administration and the Clinton campaign tried to
crush the Trump campaign, not just out of traditional political interests and
party dichotomy, but also because a Trump win would mean a near reversal of what
they viewed as a “realism-based” foreign policy. That would include withdrawal
from the Iran Deal, which would affect the interests of several circles
profiting from that deal. The author also argues it was Obama's bureaucrats who
created and used the Mueller Probe to derail Trump's foreign policy in an
attempt protect power interests, including political and financial windfalls
resulting from the Iran Deal and other detrimental partnerships in the region.
By in large, The Choice is a compelling and extremely worthwhile read,
particularly for those who have not yet cast their votes. However, the author
tends to gloss over a few of the weaknesses of Trump’s foreign policy, such as
his abandonment of our Kurdish allies who had worked valiantly to defeat ISIS
alongside us, to Turkish forces, particularly in the Idlib province of Syria.
He, instead, casts the responsibility for this on the extremely powerful Qatar
and Turkish Muslim Brotherhood lobby in Washington, ignoring the enormous power
of the presidency.
Having had said that, in The Choice, Phares demonstrates that despite an array
of weapons set against him, Trump was able to move decisively on several of the
foreign policy and national security issues the Obama administration left in its
wake. The Trump administration’s successes included withdrawal from the Iran
Deal, decisively crushing ISIS, launching an Arab Coalition, isolating
Venezuela's regime, renewed Brazil-U.S. relations, and countering China's
financial takeover of U.S. interests, among others. And his single most symbolic
and historic achievement was sponsoring two peace agreements under the Abraham
Accords between UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Israel.
Phares admits that not everything was successfully resolved and there are still
more critical actions that must take place to secure foreign policy initiatives
and strategies in the best interest of the United States, but Trump was able to
produce the results he did despite the investigations, obstruction, and
impeachment processes. Indeed, mistakes were made, and many staff changes rocked
the White House, but Phares argues that the choice in 2020 is between the
disastrous eight years of Obama-Biden foreign policy and the four years of
Trump-Pence, which took the first steps toward a startlingly successful reversal
of those disastrous policies. The title and analysis by the author suggest that
the next four years under Biden-Harris would be, in fact, a third Obama foreign
policy term, while re-electing Trump would provide opportunity to successfully
address the remaining challenges.
Walid Phares’ bio is as long as it is impressive. He has been influential within
circles of think tanks and foreign policy, appearing in media foreign and
domestic for years, but most notably, he served as the first foreign policy
advisor to Donald Trump in 2016. Prior to the Trump campaign, in addition to
advising many members of Congress and the European Parliament, Phares served as
Mitt Romney's national security advisor in the 2012 campaign. Phares is a
prolific author with 14 books in English, French, and Arabic. Three of his books
drew universal attention: Future Jihad in 2005, predicting the evolution of the
Jihadist networks, The Coming Revolution in 2010, predicting the Arab Spring,
and The Lost Spring in 2014, projecting the rise of post al Qaeda ISIS and the
Iran Deal effects.
In contrast to Phares’ scholarly books on geopolitics, The Choice debuts as his
first nonacademic political book, yet it could well prove to be the most
important as it reveals two distinct paths for the future of U.S. foreign policy
emerging from 12 years of dueling between two diametrically opposed strategies.
**Sarah N. Stern is Founder and President of the Endowment for Middle East
Truth, EMET, an unabashedly pro-American and pro-Israel think tank and policy
institute in Washington, D.C.
Shame on the Girl Scouts: Thin Skin instead of Thin Mints
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./October 31, 2020
The Tweet was anything but partisan or political. It was a girl's organization
dedicated to educating young women about their unlimited possibilities in life.
The Tweet itself was innocuous. Here is what it said: "Congratulations Amy Coney
Barrett on becoming the 5th woman appointed to the Supreme Court since its
inception in 1789."
When the Girl Scouts can't even congratulate a woman for helping to break a
longstanding glass ceiling, we know that we are in trouble.
The reason I am so angry at the Girl Scouts' decision to withdraw their original
Tweet is that it is a reflection of the divisive nature of our nation and the
growing intolerance, particularly by the hard left, of dissenting speech that is
seen as supporting the other side.
The Girl Scouts' decision to withdraw their original Tweet...is a reflection
of...the growing intolerance, particularly by the hard left, of dissenting
speech that is seen as supporting the other side.
I don't know why I am so mad at the Girl Scouts for having withdrawn their Tweet
congratulating Justice Amy Coney Barrett for being the fifth woman nominated to
the Supreme Court in its long history. The Tweet was anything but partisan or
political. It was a girl's organization dedicated to educating young women about
their unlimited possibilities in life. The Tweet itself was innocuous. Here is
what it said: ""Congratulations Amy Coney Barrett on becoming the 5th woman
appointed to the Supreme Court since its inception in 1789."
It was accompanied by a collage of photographs of the five women who have served
on the high court – three of them liberals and two conservatives. But when a few
angry leftists led by Cambridge U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and actor Amber
Tamblyn complained, the Girl scouts quickly removed the Tweet and apologized for
doing something that could be "viewed as a political and a partisan statement."
Megyn Kelly responded quite appropriately to that absurd claim saying:
"This is pathetic. It's not 'partisan' to generically congratulate the 5th woman
ever to join the High Court. It's patriotic. Taking your tweet down is partisan,
however, and a real disappointment.
In reporting the story, the USA Today said that: "The retreat by the Girl Scouts
was quickly assailed by many of Barrett's conservative supporters." That
entirely missed the point. I am neither conservative, nor a Barratt supporter. I
was opposed to the Republican Senate rushing this nomination through after
denying an earlier one from President Obama when he nominated the highly
qualified Merrick Garland, and the Republicans refused to process the
nomination. I believe that Barrett is also highly qualified but the Senate
should have waited until after the election and allowed the winner to make the
nomination.
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska may have gotten it right when she voted against
allowing the Senate to consider the nomination, but after that view was
rejected, she then voted to confirm Justice Barrett, arguing that the process
issues should not be used against a highly qualified nominee.
The reason I am so angry at the Girl Scouts' decision to withdraw their original
Tweet is that it is a reflection of the divisive nature of our nation and the
growing intolerance, particularly by the hard left, of dissenting speech that is
seen as supporting the other side.
When the Girl Scouts can't even congratulate a woman for helping to break a
longstanding glass ceiling , we know that we are in trouble. I was a Boy Scout
and had many friends who were Girl Scouts. We loved scouting. We never
considered it political or partisan. My family and I always buy the thin mints
that are our favorite Girl Scout cookies. I will continue to enjoy the thin
mints, but from now on they will cause a bitter taste in my mouth because of the
thin skin manifested by the Girl Scout leadership in submitting to censorial
pressures from intolerant hard left activists.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at
Harvard Law School and author of the book, Guilt by Accusation: The Challenge of
Proving Innocence in the Age of #MeToo, Skyhorse Publishing, 2019. His new
podcast, "The Dershow," can be seen on Spotify, Apple and YouTube. He is the
Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
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or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Donald Trump’s Economy Really was Better than Obama’s
Karl W Smith/Bloomberg/October, 31/2020
Joe Biden has argued that President Donald Trump didn’t so much build a strong
economy as inherit one. It’s a good line — but it ignores the successes, at
least before the pandemic, of Trump’s unconventional policy. If Biden is elected
president, he should continue Trump’s economic approach rather than returning to
Barack Obama’s. Between December 2009 and December 2016, the unemployment rate
dropped 5.2 percentage points, from 9.9 percent to 4.7 per cent. By December
2019, it had fallen another 1.2 percentage points, to 3.5 percent. A cursory
look at those numbers might lead you to believe that the improvement under Trump
was at best a continuation of a trend that began nearly a decade earlier. It’s
necessary to place those numbers in context. By 2016, officials in the Treasury
Department and at the Federal Reserve had concluded that the economy was at full
employment and that further improvement in the labor market was unlikely. This
was in line with the Congressional Budget Office’s guidance that further
declines in the unemployment rate would push the economy beyond its sustainable
capacity.
Once in office, Trump ignored this consensus. He implemented a program of tax
cuts, spending increases, and unprecedented pressure on the Fed to cut interest
rates to zero and keep them there. Trump’s goal of 3 percent growth was derided
as delusional, while a bipartisan chorus of commentators declared his policies
reckless and irresponsible.
They were anything but. Not only did the unemployment rate continue to fall, but
the percentage of Americans aged 25 to 54 either employed or looking for a job
saw its first sustained rise since the late 1980s. This inflection point changed
the character of the labor market.
In 2016, real median household income was $62,898, just $257 above its level in
1999. Over the next three years it grew almost $6,000, to $68,703. That’s
perhaps why, despite the pandemic, 56 percent of US voters polled last month
said their families were better off today than they were four years ago.
The key to that number is the breadth of Trump’s expansionary agenda. Republican
presidents have typically focused on tax cuts, particularly for businesses, with
the idea that they will encourage an increase in investment and wages. Democrats
have tended to seek spending increases, often with the hope that they will
stimulate the overall economy and increase job growth. Presidents of both
parties have traditionally left interest-rate policy to the Fed. Trump broke the
mold by aggressively battling on all three fronts. He also sought to increase
jobs in manufacturing and agriculture by pursuing a series of trade wars (most
economists, from across the ideological spectrum, think this policy backfired.)
Nonetheless, if one had to choose between Trump’s three good policies plus trade
wars, or the more modest economic policies of his predecessors, the easy choice
is Trump.
Ideally, a Biden administration — which looks increasingly likely — would keep
Trump’s three growth-enhancing policies and jettison his trade initiatives. What
is crucial, however, is that it not believe its own campaign rhetoric and be
satisfied with merely returning to the policies of the Obama administration.
Trump proved that an aggressive growth strategy can improve the fortunes of the
average American family, that strategy should continue.
From Spain to Italy, Europe Is Fed Up with Lockdowns
Ferdinando Giugliano/Bloomberg/October, 31/2020
After a summer of hope, Europe looks set for a tragic winter. The dream of
keeping the pandemic in check with limited sacrifices is gone. Governments are
readying themselves for a new round of tough containment measures.
Ireland paved the way a week and a half ago, imposing a national lockdown while
keeping schools and essential stores open. France has similarly ordered a
shutdown, just a few months after president Emmanuel Macron categorically ruled
one out. In Germany, chancellor Angela Merkel has spearheaded a partial lockdown
for the month of November, one that will put a stop to leisure activities. Italy
has imposed a 6 p.m. curfew for bars and restaurants but could opt for more
draconian rules.
As new curbs on personal freedom loom, it’s worth asking: Are citizens going to
accept them as they did during the first wave of the virus? From Italy to Spain,
many are already taking to the streets to protest the impact of restrictions on
their financial security. Politicians must find ways to address their concerns
or risk a collapse of social cohesion.
As I argued in August, more lockdowns were never off the table. Although leaders
vowed to tackle a second wave through tracking, tracing and “smart,” localized
lockdowns, the rising number of deaths and hospitalizations is giving them no
choice but to impose stricter measures. Even Sweden, which opted for a
relatively light-touch strategy during the first wave, is now enforcing more
restrictions, at least in some areas.
The current approach across Europe differs, however, from that taken during the
spring. Governments appear desperate to keep open as much of their economies as
possible, as they fear a spike in bankruptcies, unemployment and ever larger
budget deficits. Spain and Italy are resisting the blanket bans on non-essential
activities they had previously adopted. Politicians also want to keep schools
open, even though this likely contributes to propagating contagion. Italy has
reverted to distant learning for high school kids, but elsewhere on the
continent we are not seeing the same widespread school closures we had in the
first half of 2020.
Still, any lockdown is going to require collaboration from the population. Most
European countries benefited from exceptional levels of compliance to
stay-at-home orders in the spring. Now, as protests in cities such as Rome and
Barcelona show, people’s frustration and rage are growing.
To some extent, this is the natural consequence of earlier policies. There was
always a risk that people would become tired of staying home, especially if it
looked like their efforts weren’t paying off. Generalized lockdowns were always
an imperfect long-term containment strategy for the virus, as the economic shock
hits citizens hard. It also hits the same people again and again, from waiters
to ballet dancers.
But European governments have themselves to blame for this wave of discontent.
During the spring, they could be excused for being caught off guard. This line
of defense no longer holds. As citizens continue to face shortages of tests and
hospital beds, many are asking what exactly politicians did to prepare for the
colder season. There is also anger that businesses were forced to invest in
sanitizers and other health precautions only to then be shut down again. Policy
makers should have been more honest about the long-term uncertainty linked to
the pandemic, rather than raising expectations of a swift return to normality.
Leaders must now do a better job of bringing citizens on board with new
restrictions. They must ensure that measures are proportionate and based on
scientific advice, and that the public sector does its part to limit the spread
of contagion — for example by reducing crowds on public transport. They must do
better at communicating the thinking behind their decisions. Finally, they must
put together adequate financial support and get it swiftly to those in need.
During the first wave, countries such as Germany managed this far more
efficiently than others such as Italy.
Europe is heading into winter with a tired and scared population. The challenge
will be finding a way to fight the pandemic while keeping social peace.
Don't Ignore the Good News On Covid-19 From Asia
Lionel Laurent/Bloomberg/October, 31/2020
It’s easy to feel that there’s no light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel.
Europe’s intensive care wards are filling up again, pushing France and Germany
into a fresh round of stay-at-home restrictions and lockdowns — albeit ones
designed to be softer than the first. Even countries hit hard by the first wave,
such as Italy and Sweden, are seeing rising cases, suggesting herd immunity is a
long way off. The US looks to have given up on controlling the pandemic until a
vaccine arrives.
Yet we shouldn’t ignore the better news from Asia. The strategies pursued by
South Korea, Vietnam, China and others do still seem to be paying off. While the
total Covid-19 death toll is between 500-700 per million people in France, the
UK, Spain and the US, in China and South Korea it is below 10 per million. Cases
are a less perfect measure, but there’s a similar observable gap. Wuhan, once
the epicenter of Covid-19, is welcoming tourists again.
The perception of an Asian advantage in this pandemic often falls prey to
essentialist thinking: That somehow the East is doing things the West could
never do, and that it’s largely down to profound differences in values, politics
and culture. If China is able to contain Covid-19, it must be because of
draconian government policy and the social bonds of Confucianism. If Singapore
has 28 deaths, credit must lie with Lee Kuan Yew’s founding legacy of
authoritarian pragmatism.
There are likely far less intangible forces at work. If the key to avoiding more
lockdowns is finding a way to “live with the virus” — through widespread
testing, tracing of contacts and isolating positive cases to slow transmission —
Western countries have made structural, not cultural, errors.
Extensive testing was rolled out in Europe after the first wave, but too slowly
and too late to avoid delays and bottlenecks. Contact tracers were too few;
digital apps were left to wither on the vine. Positive cases didn’t take
isolation seriously, because of a lack of enforcement and patchy financial
support. These aren’t questions of philosophy, but about implementation of
policy. Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, admitted as much on Thursday when
she said European Union leaders should have acted sooner. Even the famously
organized Germans failed to halt the second wave.
Compare that with Asia, where public-health systems have proven more robust.
South Korea tested early, and often, using walk-in centers and drive-throughs.
In Wuhan, the authorities tested 11 million people over 2 weeks. The share of
tests coming back positive in South Korea and Vietnam is below 1%; in France and
Spain it has risen to 10%.
While contact-tracing strategies such as Vietnam’s “third-degree” sweep of
personal data — or Hong Kong’s geofencing wristbands — would spook the average
Londoner, Europeans failed to implement their own alternatives properly. Between
July and August, for example, the number of contacts traced per positive case in
France fell to 2.4 from 4.5. If test-and-trace slackens off like this, no wonder
we can’t control the virus’s spread.
As for the quarantining of positive cases, the decision by China and South Korea
to monitor — or imprison, some might grumble — patients with milder cases in
special-care centers is worth considering. Keeping people cooped up at home
doesn’t seem that much more liberal, especially when people are tempted outside
by the need to earn a living. It’s also far less effective, with one study
estimating that isolation in institutions could avert almost three times as many
cases as home-based isolation throughout an epidemic.
The differences between Asia and Europe look more rooted in recent, not ancient,
history. Over the past 20 years, Asia has been hit with several epidemics, such
as SARS in 2003 and MERS in 2015, which forced countries to adapt and improve
their institutions. This also spurred countries to invest in public health:
Between 2000 and 2016, Vietnam’s per-capita health spending increased by an
average of 9% per year. By contrast, European countries have been shutting
hospitals and beds, with financial crises more front of mind than disease.
As Europeans start their winter lockdown, they should remember that improvements
are achievable. And the good news is that countries are collaborating more at
the EU level, on efforts such as rolling out quicker antigen tests and sharing
resources. If Asia managed to learn from past pandemics, the West should be able
to as well.
Message to Biden from the Arab world: No return to
appeasing Iran
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/October 31/2020
بارعة علم الدين/رسالة من العالم العربي إلى جو بايدن تقول: لا عودة إلى استرضاء
إيران والتملق لها
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/91959/baria-alamuddin-message-to-biden-from-the-arab-world-no-return-to-appeasing-iran-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%b1%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a9-%d9%85/
As a Joe Biden victory in the US election has seemed increasingly probable over
recent weeks, there has been an immense volume of debate throughout the Arab
world as to what a Biden presidency would mean for this troubled region; from
those desperate to see an end to the chaos of the Trump years, to those who fear
an Obama-inspired return to appeasing Tehran.
The Arab world primarily looks to a prospective Biden administration for global
re-engagement, working with European, NATO and Arab allies to re-establish a
rules-based order so that dictatorial strongmen and pariah regimes can’t
dominate near-neighbors with ruthless impunity. Enough of Putin, Erdogan,
Netanyahu and Khamenei grappling for supremacy throughout the region, trampling
Arab sovereignty and identity underfoot.
Leaders in Tehran, meanwhile, hope Biden leadership means easing of sanctions
and unmolested continuation of their belligerent regional policies, while
waiting for America to come begging for a diluted version of the 2015 nuclear
deal. Biden should thus strengthen his hand by affirming that there will be no
sanctions respite until Iran definitively agrees to live peacefully within its
own borders, renouncing terrorism, paramilitarism and nuclear ambitions.
The fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency recently revealed that the
regime, at immense cost, is building a new underground site for enriching
uranium at Natanz is proof enough that the ayatollahs aren’t preparing for a
rapid return to compliance with their obligations. While ordinary Iranians
starve, this regime squanders its wealth on nuclear weapons.
Immediately after the US presidential inauguration, Iran will enter its own
presidential elections season, making hopes for a quick deal expressed by some
Biden aides appear wildly optimistic. Indeed, rushed efforts to revive the 2015
deal risk repeating Obama’s mistake in appearing more eager than Tehran for an
agreement, resulting in one side making most of the concessions.
On the contrary, Iran should be the one compelled to come and beg for a deal.
Khamenei’s xenophobic regime believes nuclear arsenals and paramilitary armies
guarantee its survival against a hostile world. It will make concessions in
these domains only as a last resort to stave off regime collapse. Reports have
been circulating about behind-the-scenes communications between Iranians,
Israelis and US officials. Indeed, after three years of intensified sanctions,
it may be that Tehran is already more desperate for a deal than it would like us
to believe.
The Obama and Trump presidencies were broadly defined by a desire to reduce
America’s embroilment in foreign quagmires. Yet in Beirut, Baghdad, Kabul and a
host of other capitals today, there is a veritable thirst for the re-emergence
of muscular Western diplomacy, to outmaneuver Iran and its allies, and in
defense of stability and effective governance.
Biden should strengthen his hand by affirming that there will be no sanctions
respite until Iran definitively agrees to live peacefully within its own
borders, renouncing terrorism, paramilitarism and nuclear ambitions.
A swift Biden intervention could have a major impact in Lebanon. After months of
prevarication, with Saad Hariri back in the frame as prime minister, vigorous
Biden support for French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts in favor of a
competent, technocratic government could open the floodgates for an IMF deal,
while also thwarting Hezbollah.
US readiness to recommence talks with Tehran should be premised on Iran
instructing its paramilitary allies in Lebanon and Iraq to allow democratic
processes to take their course, halting attempts at destabilization with the
objective of capturing the political system for themselves. Ultimately, America
and its allies must follow through and ensure the wholesale disarmament and
dismantlement of these militias, if the region is to enjoy any kind of long-term
stability and security.
Biden will also need to grapple with the Palestine issue. He should set aside
Trump and Netanyahu’s attempts to prejudice the issue, and instead acknowledge
Palestinian territorial rights throughout the occupied territories and East
Jerusalem. Biden’s commitment to Israel’s security may be “ironclad,” but Israel
can enjoy long-term security only in the context of a just peace deal with
Palestinians, as well as with Arab neighbors.
The aspirations of ordinary people throughout the Arab world are remarkably
normal: They want jobs, stability, and quality education and health services for
their families. Women demand the same freedoms and opportunities as men.
Citizens don’t desire to be dominated by extremists — not Daesh, the Muslim
Brotherhood, or Iran’s proxies. Faced with water shortages, desertification,
extreme temperatures and overdependence on oil, this is a region that stands to
benefit from Biden’s emphasis on climate change.
This is furthermore a region burdened by vast displaced populations — Syrians,
Palestinians, Yemenis, Iraqis, Libyans, Sudanese, and now even Lebanese looking
for a better life overseas. By rolling back Trump’s funding cuts for refugees
and giving immediate attention to this challenge, Biden can prevent fresh
humanitarian catastrophes and the knock-on ramifications of extremism; mass
population movements. smuggling of people, arms and narcotics, and chronic
regionwide instability.
A Biden administration will be faced with a massive pile of domestic and foreign
priorities, not least of which will be reaching strategic understandings with
China. Meanwhile, an outgoing Trump administration is widely expected to adopt a
scorched-earth policy, making life as problematic as possible for its successor.
After four years of Trump, US institutions are already in chaos; for example;
the hollowed-out and politicized State Department, where a host of diplomatic
positions remain empty. Thus, it may be many months before Biden makes any
progress toward unveiling an ambitious multilateral global agenda, let alone
striking a quick-win deal with Tehran.
Americans have been attracted to Biden’s candidacy because he is a moderate,
non-divisive figure, a contrast to the controversies and confrontations of the
Trump years. Let’s hope that Biden also has the caliber to be a unifying force
on the global stage.
The Middle East enjoys immense potential and vast resources. But we have learned
from bitter experience that the wider world can enjoy tranquility and prosperity
only when the threats of extremism, instability and inequality in this
strategically crucial region are confronted head-on.
* Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.