LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 28/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth
Book of Revelation 05/01-10/:”Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals; and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’ Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They sing a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation; you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on November 27-28/2019
Meetings to designate Lebanon’s next PM may be postponed 48 hours
Report: Travel of Some MPs Could Delay Consultations to Name PM
Mothers, Residents of Ain el-Rummaneh, Shiyyah March Together after Unrest
Berri Says Formation of Technocrats Govt. 'Not an Option'
Berri: Caretaker Govt. Should Meet, Billions Sent Abroad Must Return
Lebanon's House Speaker Berri: We are concerned with preserving democracy
Sixteen people arrested after several violent incidents across Lebanon
Economic Committees Call Off Strike as Gas Stations Close Indefinitely
Labor Union Wants Emergency Govt. to Stop Deterioration
Overnight clashes in Lebanon injure dozens as tensions rise
Tripoli Protesters Call for Mass Rallies after Night of Tension
113 Syrian Refugees from Lebanon Welcomed in Italy
Lebanon Protesters Demand 'Haircuts for the Rich'
Civil movement young men in Tyre's Alam Square affirm their ongoing sit in
Banks Association: No strike tomorrow
Gas Station Owners Syndicate announces strike as of tomorrow
Protesters continue to flock to Halba's Square despite rain
Economic bodies suspend strike, to meet next week to discuss next steps
Civil Movement activists continue sit in in Hermel
Amid Protests in Lebanon, Financial Collapse and Security Concerns Loom
Overnight Clashes in Lebanon Injure Dozens as Tensions Rise
Second night of clashes in Lebanon amid anti-gov't protests
UN Experts, Amnesty Urge Lebanon Authorities to Protect Protesters
Lebanon: UN experts decry incidents of excessive force against protesters

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 27-28/2019
Hundreds of banks and government sites burned in Iran unrest: Interior minister
Iran says it arrested eight with CIA links during unrest
Iran says 200,000 took part in anti-government demos
Iraqi protesters burn down Iranian consulate in Najaf
Five protesters shot dead in Iraq as demonstrators clash with police
Egypt sentences high-profile militant to death
Syrian President Assad: ISIS members in Syrian Kurds jails to stand local trial
Journalists from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq tour Israel
Top US General in Iraq amid Protests, Questions over Iran's Influence
Moscow Warns Against 'Fabricated' Chemical Attacks in Syria's Idlib

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 27-28/2019
Lebanon: UN experts decry incidents of excessive force against protesters/News Agencies/November 27/2019)
Lebanese face-off at civil war flashpoint as tensions rise/Timour Azhari/Al Jazeera/November 27/2019
How Lebanon's political system brought the country to the brink/Michael Young/The National/November 27/2019
Hezbollah supporters in Tyre fail to deter Lebanese protesters/Sunniva Rose/The National/November 27/2019
No end in sight as parliamentary consultations postponed once again/Georgi Azar/Annahar/November 27/2019
Sources of Contradiction Between Hezbollah, Lebanese Nationalism/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/November 27/2019
*Journalists from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq tour Israel/Jerusalem Post/November 27/2019
Trump and Netanyahu: Both Being Investigated for Made-Up Crimes/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./November 27/2019
China Bids to Replace US Influence in the Middle East/Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute./November 27/2019
Shock Therapy from Islamic History/Raymond Ibrahim/November 27/2019
With Brutal Sophistication and No Internet, Iran Was Quick to Stamp Out Protests/Amos Harel and Yaniv Kubovich/Haaretz/November 27/ 2019
The U.S. Must Blunt Russia’s Adventurism in Libya/Ben Fishman/The Washington Institute/November 27/2019
Netanyahu has fallen but his nefarious legacy will endure/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/November 27/2019
Western allies exchange barbs while Iran plans future attacks/Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/November 27/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on November 27-28/2019
Meetings to designate Lebanon’s next PM may be postponed 48 hours
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Binding consultations with MPs to designate Lebanon’s next prime minister may be postponed 48 hours, Lebanese media outlets reported on Wednesday. The meetings were originally to be held on Thursday, according to a report by Reuters on Tuesday citing sources at the Presidential Palace. The report came shortly after Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he has no intention of forming a new government, and urged President Michel Aoun to hold consultations to designate a new prime minister, in a statement released on Tuesday. Hariri resigned as Prime Minister in October after protests spread across the country. Protesters have been taking to the streets of Lebanon since October 17 and are fueled by deep resentment for a ruling class seen as mired in corruption and having driven the economy into crisis.

Report: Travel of Some MPs Could Delay Consultations to Name PM
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 November, 2019
Amid reports that the binding parliamentary consultations will likely be held on Thursday, other reports said the consultations could be further delayed because some lawmakers were traveling abroad, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Wednesday. Baabda sources had said on Tuesday the consultations to name a new premier will be held on Thursday and the new government will not be a “confrontation government.”But today they said it "could be delayed because some lawmakers are not currently in Lebanon."Said lawmakers allegedly belong to the Strong Lebanon bloc, according to reports. Well-informed said the tendency today is to form a cabinet of 20 ministers, and that it could be composed of 15 technocrat figures and 4 politicians.

Mothers, Residents of Ain el-Rummaneh, Shiyyah March Together after Unrest
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 November, 2019
Mothers and residents of the Beirut suburbs of Ain el-Rummaneh and Shiyyah on Wednesday marched together in a solidarity rally, following overnight unrest in the area.The gathering started outside the landmark Sannine Roastery in Ain el-Rummaneh at the invitation of Lebanese mothers and women who called for rejecting “all the scenes that the streets witnessed over the past two days” and denouncing “segregation and the return to the rhetoric of frontlines and war.”The demonstrators carried Lebanese flags, banners and white roses amid heavy media coverage and security measures by the army and the Internal Security Forces.After chanting the national anthem, the women and residents chanted against civil war and called for national unity. “We, the mothers of the country won’t accept its segregation”, one of the banners read. The demonstrators then marched towards the Asaad al-Asaad street in Shiyyah, where they were welcomed with cheering and clapping, as women threw rice on them from balconies. Residents of Shiyyah joined the demo at this point and voiced similar calls for unity. Many of those who took part in the unity move noted that the two neighborhoods’ residents have coexisted for decades and that the two areas have become largely mixed in terms of residence, markets and social activities. Overnight confrontations in several Lebanese regions, mostly fistfights and stone throwing, injured dozens of people. Stone-throwing clashes took place between young men from Shiyyah and the adjacent Ain el-Rummaneh and were quickly contained by the army. The trouble began after a video circulated on WhatsApp showing Ain el-Rummaneh residents insulting Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The clip was later shown to be several years old. Tensions regularly erupt in this area which saw the first clashes of the 1975-1990 civil war. A shooting in Ain el-Rummaneh in April 1975 triggered the 15-year war that killed nearly 150,000 people.

Berri Says Formation of Technocrats Govt. 'Not an Option'
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 November, 2019
As the country grapples with nationwide protests now demanding the formation of a technocratic government, Speaker Nabih Berri said forming a cabinet of purely technocrat figures was off the table, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday. “We have to form a political-technocratic government. A purely technocrat cabinet is out of the question,” Berri said in remarks to the daily. Berri reiterated: “In general we back a government of technocrats and politicians, it won’t matter if the number of politicians were more or less than the number of technocrats, it is crucial that the government be formed to proceed and rescue the country. Asked who would he name for the premiership during the binding parliamentary consultations with the President, he said: “We will make our position clear at the consultations, and of course we have to see the (nominee’s) work plan.” The name of Samir Khatib, the director general of the Khatib & Alami engineering firm, emerged Tuesday as a strong candidate for the PM post. He announced that he is willing to form the new government should there be “consensus” on his nomination. Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri openly declared Tuesday that he is withdrawing his candidacy for the premiership. The announcement comes nearly a month after he resigned amid ongoing protests as well as a severe economic and financial crisis. The nationwide anti-government protests erupted on October 17 and have since targeted corruption and mismanagement by the country's ruling elite.

Berri: Caretaker Govt. Should Meet, Billions Sent Abroad Must Return
Naharnet/Wednesday, 27 November, 2019
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday said that the caretaker cabinet should have convened amid the extraordinary circumstances in the country. “The situation is very dangerous and we don’t have the luxury of time,” Berri said during the weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting with MPs, wondering why the caretaker cabinet “has not performed its duties.”“Don’t the necessities require the convention of the cabinet to run the affairs of the country and its citizens instead of leaving them suspended?” Berri added. Separately, Berri called for “the return of the funds that were sent abroad to Lebanon,” noting that they are worth “billions of dollars.”“The economic and financial situations can improve once a new government is formed,” he said.

Lebanon's House Speaker Berri: We are concerned with preserving democracy
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Lebanon's Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri claimed on Thursday to be concerned with preserving democracy and criticized the “dictatorship” of the streets in an appearance on al-Manar TV. “Dictatorship should not be practiced on the streets or in institutions,” said Berri, who claimed that “we” are concerned with the preservation of democracy. “There is no room for leisure and we are surprised that the resigning government is not fulfilling its duties,” he added. Berri made the comments to al-Manar TV, which is affiliated with Iran-backed Hezbollah, amid ongoing protests in Lebanon. Berri, who leads the Shia political party Amal, has previously criticized the protests and men waving Amal flags have joined Hezbollah supporters in attacking protesters on several occasions.

Sixteen people arrested after several violent incidents across Lebanon
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Sixteen people were arrested in connection to violent incidents that took place Tuesday night in several Lebanese regions, said the Lebanese Armed Forces on Twitter. Public property was vandalized in the northern city of Tripoli, as well as several banks, and a building belonging to one of the political parties, according to a statement released by the army on Wednesday. The statement also said that 33 soldiers were injured by Molotov cocktails and stones which were thrown at the soldiers. A grenade that didn’t explode was also thrown. Several motorcycles were confiscated after being left behind by those who fled the scene, added the statement. Meanwhile in other regions of the country, over 18 soldiers were injured by stones and physical altercations while attempting to restore order and reopen several roads. Order has been restored in various areas throughout Lebanon, said the statement. An investigation has been initiated into the detainees under the supervision of a special judiciary.

Economic Committees Call Off Strike as Gas Stations Close Indefinitely
Naharnet/November 27/2019
The Economic Committees, a grouping of Lebanon’s business leaders and owners of major firms, on Wednesday called off a strike they had called for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, as the Syndicate of Gas Station Owners declared an open-ended strike in protest at the ongoing dollar shortage crisis.
The Committees said their decision comes after “a lot of requests from private companies, which said that they need every day of work in order to cover their operational costs after the major losses that they suffered.”
They also noted that the strike would have coincided with the Black Friday shopping days. The Syndicate of Gas Station Owners meanwhile declared an open-ended strike starting Thursday morning, accusing the central bank and oil importers of failing to honor an agreement on allowing station owners to pay in Lebanese lira amid a dollar shortage in the country. The Syndicate has staged several strikes in recent months over the same crisis.

Labor Union Wants Emergency Govt. to Stop Deterioration
Naharnet/November 27/2019
General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL) on Wednesday said an emergency government must be formed before the country “collapses” entirely, resenting the unfair dismissal of employees in several sectors. “An emergency government must be formed to save the country from further deterioration,” said CGTL Vice President Hassan Faqih at a press conference. He expressed surprise that the caretaker government has not convened since the resignation of the PM on October 29, to handle the livelihood matters. Lebanon is grappled with nationwide protests ongoing since October 17 and demanding an overhaul of the entire political class. Turning to the economic crisis compelling businesses to dismiss employees, he said: “Arbitrary dismissal of employees in various sectors is a dangerous matter.”

Overnight clashes in Lebanon injure dozens as tensions rise
Arab News/November 27/2019
BEIRUT: Dozens of people were injured in overnight confrontations between supporters and opponents of Lebanon’s president, most of them in fistfights and stone throwing that erupted in cities and towns across the country, the Lebanese Red Cross said Wednesday.
The nationwide uprising against the country’s ruling elite has remained overwhelmingly peaceful since it began on Oct. 17. But as the political deadlock for forming a new government drags on, tempers are rising. President Michel Aoun has yet to hold consultations with parliamentary blocs on choosing a new prime minister after the government resigned a month ago. Outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who was Aoun’s and Hezbollah’s favorite candidate to lead a new Cabinet, withdrew his candidacy for the premiership, saying he hoped to clear the way for a solution to the political impasse after over 40 days of protests. Protesters have resorted to road closures and other tactics in an effort to pressure politicians into responding to their demands for a new government. The prolonged deadlock is awakening sectarian and political rivalries, with scuffles breaking out in areas that were deadly frontlines during the country’s 1975-90 civil war. The violence first began on Sunday night after supporters of the main two Shiite groups, the militant Hezbollah and Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, attacked protesters on Beirut’s Ring Road. That thoroughfare had in the past connected predominantly Muslim neighborhoods in the city’s west with Christian areas in the east.Some of the most intense clashes occurred Tuesday night between the Shiite suburb of Chiyah and the adjacent Christian area of Ein Rummaneh, where stones were hurled between supporters of Hezbollah and rival groups supporting the right-wing Christian Lebanese Forces. A shooting in Ein Rummaneh in April 1975 triggered the 15-year civil war that killed nearly 150,000 people.
Also on Tuesday night, supporters and opponents of Aoun engaged in fistfights and stone throwing in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest, injuring 24 people; seven were taken to the hospital. In the mountain town of Bikfaya, 10 people were injured including five who were hospitalized after scuffles and stone throwing between Aoun’s supports and supporters of the right-wing Christian Lebanese Phalange Party, according to the Red Cross paramedic group. The violence broke out after a convoy of dozens of vehicles carrying Aoun supporters drove into the town, which has been historically a Phalange stronghold. “What happened yesterday was a mobile strife that intentionally tried to provoke our people,” said Phalange leader, legislator Samy Gemayel. “We warn our people that there are attempts to attack their revolution, which should remain peaceful.”Hezbollah and Amal supporters also attacked protesters in the northeastern city of Baalbek and the southern port city of Tyre. Police and troops deployed in the areas of clashes and got the situation under control hours after the violence broke out.
Hariri had resigned on Oct. 29 in response to the mass protests ignited by new taxes and a severe financial crisis. His resignation met a key demand of the protesters but plunged the country into uncertainty, with no clear path to resolving its economic and political problems.
Hariri had insisted on heading a government of technocrats, while his opponents, including Hezbollah, want a Cabinet made up of both experts and politicians. For weeks, the Lebanese security forces have taken pains to protect anti-government protesters, in stark contrast to Iraq, where police have killed more than 340 people over the past month in a bloody response to similar protests.

Tripoli Protesters Call for Mass Rallies after Night of Tension
Naharnet/November 27/2019
Anti-government protesters in the northern city of Tripoli have called for mass rallies on Wednesday after a night of tension that left many individuals injured as Lebanon’s uprising enters day 42. Tension heightened in Tripoli at night on Tuesday. Residents asserted that a group of people from outside Tripoli wreaked havoc at night in the city, they told MTV reporter. “They won’t scare us out of the streets,” the people shouted angrily stressing that a “fifth column” intervened to sabotage the peaceful demonstrations in the north’s capital. A group of men smashed the ATMs of Fransabank and MedBank and burned the latter’s in Tripoli’s street of Gemayzet, the National News Agency reported. In a statement, the Lebanese army said four individuals were arrested in Gemayzet after attacking the offices of a political party and a bank. One of the men tossed a hand grenade at the troops that did not explode. A soldier was injured by stones tossed by demonstrators and two motorbikes were confiscated, said the statement. Reports said supporters of President Michel Aoun clashed with opponents in the city of Tripoli and in the mountain town of Bikfaya injuring 34. Tripoli has been a hotspot of the anti-government protests and become known as "the bride of the revolution" for its festive night-time rallies. Tripoli has emerged as a festive nerve centre of anti-graft demonstrations across Lebanon since October 17. The massive nationwide protests against the country’s ruling elite remained overwhelmingly peaceful since they began last month. But as the political deadlock for forming a new government drags on, tempers are rising.

113 Syrian Refugees from Lebanon Welcomed in Italy
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 27/2019
More than a hundred Syrian refugees arrived in Rome on Wednesday, the latest wave of refugees from the war-torn country to be escorted to safety in Europe. The 113 men, women and children arrived at Rome's Fiumicino airport from Lebanon where church groups had arranged their safe passage out of refugee camps. "Viva Italy," shouted the approximately 30 children among the group, as a host families and volunteers greeted the new arrivals -- some of them family members -- with smiles and tears. "These kids have only known the war and refugee camps. But now they'll have a future in Italy," said Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Community of Sant'Egidio, which together with the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI) and the Waldensian Evangelical Church, organized and financed the safe passage. Since 2016, the groups have together brought over 3,000 Syrians to Italy, France, Belgium and Andorra, 1,800 of them to Italy alone.
For the new arrivals, the network provides housing and organizes schooling for children as well as language classes. Within about a year, most families have begun to integrate into society, organizers say. One, Rola Alattal, 20, came to Italy a year and five months ago with her immediate family, and was again at the airport on Wednesday to greet her uncle, a beaming Ibrahim Bitar, and his young family. "Things were getting a bit bad for him in Syria," said Alattal, explaining how Bitar escaped to Lebanon after being pressured to join the Syrian army two years ago. But without documents, he couldn't work and his situation became more desperate. Another new arrival, Bushra Alkanj, 26, was to travel to Padua to live with other young women, since she had arrived alone without family.
"Just like the others here, we're excited to go to our new home," said Alkanj.
Alkanj left her home and family in 2012 in Syria for Lebanon, where she continued to study and volunteer to help other exiled Syrians. "But like so many other Syrians in Lebanon the situation is getting worse and so I was forced to ask for help," said Alkanj. "Now I feel safe, I'm in Italy."
Syria's war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions, mostly to Turkey and Lebanon, since it erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wants to repatriate some of the 3.6 million Syrians in the country to a "safe zone" in northern Syria, a move humanitarian groups such as Amnesty International say amounts to sending them back to a war zone. Last month, Erdogan threatened to send millions of Syrian refugees to Europe, increasing fears of a new wave of migrants.
Organizers of Wednesday's safe passage expressed concern, saying governments were increasingly impeding humanitarian groups' work, with the result that refugees were even more desperate. "People are more afraid, they're risking more, their lives," said Christiane Groeben, vice president of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy."When government people say … that the numbers (of migrants arriving in Europe) have gone down, they have gone down because more people have drowned," said Groeben, referring to migrants, including Syrians, who continue to take the perilous sea route for Europe.
"You're not allowed to save them anymore."

Lebanon Protesters Demand 'Haircuts for the Rich'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 27/2019
Lebanese anti-government protesters lined up for free haircuts outside the central bank in Beirut Wednesday in a symbolic plea to make the rich pay and help rescue an economy in freefall. "We're here to teach them what a good haircut looks like," said 34-year-old Rebecca Saade, waiting for a volunteer barber to snip away at her short brown hair. She was among dozens of activists to have their locks trimmed in the latest of a wave of colorful protests to sweep the small Mediterranean country since October 17. "The economic crisis is what pushed us into the revolution," said master’s student Racha, 24, drinking a coffee after she spent a chilly night in a tent outside the bank building. Lebanese of all political and religious backgrounds have taken to the streets, angered by poor governance and corruption as well as by an economic downturn, bank closures and a dollar shortage that sparked mass capital flight.
Amid the turmoil, the government resigned on October 29, but the bitterly divided leadership has since failed to agree on the new cabinet desperately needed to implement economic reforms. Protesters demand that measures to redress the economy do not unduly impact the poor but instead draw money from the richest, many of whom they accuse of corruption. "It has to be done to the top financiers who have benefitted from corruption until now," Saade said just before sitting under a black barber's cape. "The haircut should not be on us, especially since in the first few weeks they let all the biggest depositors take out all their capital," she said.Around her, dozens waved flags and chanted, seeking to grab the attention of the central bank chief, whose stenciled portrait with devil's horns had been spray-painted onto a nearby wall.
Economic downturn
The World Bank says about a third of Lebanese live in poverty, and that this could soon rise to half. Lebanon also has a yawning wealth gap, according to the World Inequality Database. The top one percent of the population control nearly 25 percent of national income, while the bottom half have little more than 10 percent. The recent unrest has accelerated the downturn and sent the economy into "freefall", according to Maha Yahya, director of think tank the Carnegie Middle East. Debt-saddled Lebanon has had a liquidity crisis since September, with banks rationing the supply of dollars. As a result, the exchange rate in the parallel market has shot up from the pegged rate of 1,507 pounds to the greenback to more than 2,000. Fear of financial collapse drove capital flight, experts said in a Carnegie Middle East paper this month. Some $800 million appeared to have left the country from October 15 to November 7, a period during which the banks were mostly closed. Parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday called for the money moved abroad to be returned, the National News Agency said.
- 'Bridge trust gap' -
Meanwhile Lebanon still lacks a functioning government. Outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday he would not head the next government, in a move intended to speed up cabinet formation. Protesters want a government made up only of technocrats not affiliated to traditional political parties, but analysts say that is a tall order. They say a mixed cabinet of experts and political candidates -- or independents picked by political parties -- might be more likely. A fresh name has been floated as a possible new premier -- that of businessman and engineer Samir Khatib -- but Racha said she had never heard of him. "Right now we really need someone whose specialty is the economy," the protester said. Analyst Yahya said that, to revive the economy, any new cabinet would have to "bridge the trust gap with the international community -- but more importantly with the street."

Civil movement young men in Tyre's Alam Square affirm their ongoing sit in
NNA/November 27/2019
Civil Movement young men in Tyre's Al Alam Square have affirmed the continuation of their peaceful sit-in until their demands are met.
The young men stressed that they shall spare no means to protest and demonstrate in a peaceful manner, along with the people in Tyre and the South.

Banks Association: No strike tomorrow
NNA/November 27/2019
The Board of Directors of the Banks Association, which convened this Wednesday afternoon, decided "not to strike and to consider tomorrow a regular working day."

Gas Station Owners Syndicate announces strike as of tomorrow
NNA/November 27/2019
Gas Station Owners Syndicate on Wednesday announced in a statement an open-ended strike to begin as of tomorrow morning [Thursday] across all Lebanese territories. The Syndicate said the strike came due to the losses sustained by this sector as a result of the presence of two dollar exchange rates in the Lebanese market,, and the failure of both parties of the agreement,, the Central Bank and petroleum importing companies, to commit to its terms.

Protesters continue to flock to Halba's Square despite rain
NNA/November 27/2019
protesters continued to flock to Halba's Square despite rain, calling for the formation of a national rescue government and the restoration of public looted funds. Protesters also called for the formation of a government made up of dignitaries enjoying integrity, and called for holding the corrupt accountable.

Economic bodies suspend strike, to meet next week to discuss next steps
NNA/November 27/2019
The Lebanese Economic bodies issued this Wednesday the following statement:
"After the many comments received by the economic bodies on private enterprises’ need for each and every working day to compensate for their operation expenses after the large losses they incurred and which threaten their survival, and in a bid to avoid adverse results to the objectives of the strike and maintain the continuity of private institutions' work (...) at the service of the national economy, under the extremely difficult circumstances faced by our country, and since the strike scheduled for November 28, 29 and 30 coincides with the dates of payment of employees' salaries on the one hand, and with the 'Black Friday' shopping days, (...) and after wishing on the Banks Association to align its position with that of economic bodies, the latter decided to suspend its general strike and will convene at the beginning of next week to decide on the appropriate steps."

Civil Movement activists continue sit in in Hermel
NNA/November 27/2019
Civil Movement protesters on Wednesday gathered in front of the government Serail in Hermel, holding the Lebanese flags and chanting national anthems. Protesters affirmed the continuation of their sit-in until a technocratic government if formed and the corrupt are held accountable.
Internal Security Forces are maintaining order in said square.

Amid Protests in Lebanon, Financial Collapse and Security Concerns Loom
Naharnet/November 27/2019
Amid a political impasse after more than 40 days of protests, sectarian and political rivalries are awakening in Lebanon, with scuffles breaking out daily, including in areas that were deadly front lines during the country's 1975-90 conflict.
The tiny Mediterranean country is also reeling under the worst financial crisis in decades with unprecedented capital controls, and as tempers flare, there are real concerns Lebanon could be sliding toward a prolonged period of instability.
"We are standing before two dangers that are racing with each other, the danger of financial collapse and the danger of security collapse. It is an unprecedented situation," said Nabil Bou Monsef, deputy editor-in-chief of the An-Nahar newspaper.
Overnight confrontations Tuesday in several Lebanese regions, mostly fistfights and stone throwing, injured dozens of people and 16 people were detained for their involvement, the Lebanese Red Cross and the army said Wednesday.
President Michel Aoun has yet to hold consultations with parliamentary blocs on choosing a new prime minister after the government resigned a month ago.
Outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who was Aoun's and Hizbullah's favorite to lead a new Cabinet, withdrew his candidacy for the premiership, saying he hoped to clear the way for a solution to the political impasse after over 40 days of protests. Protesters have resorted to road closures and other tactics to pressure politicians into responding to their demands for a new government.
The most recent violence first began Sunday night after supporters of Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement attacked protesters on Beirut's Ring highway. During the civil war, that thoroughfare had connected predominantly Muslim neighborhoods in the city's west with Christian areas in the east.
A standoff meanwhile took place Tuesday night between people in the Shiite suburb of Shiyyah and the adjacent majority Christian area of Ain el-Rummaneh, where stones were hurled between supporters of Hizbullah and residents and rival groups supporting the Lebanese Forces. A shooting in Ain el-Rummaneh in April 1975 triggered the 15-year civil war that killed nearly 150,000 people. Also on Tuesday night, unknown rioters clashed with the army in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest, injuring 24 people. Seven were hospitalized.
In the mountain town of Bikfaya, 10 people were injured, including five who were hospitalized, after scuffles and stone throwing between Aoun's supporters and supporters of the Kataeb Party, according to the Red Cross. The violence broke out after a convoy of dozens of vehicles carrying Aoun supporters drove into the town, which has been historically a Kataeb stronghold.
On Thursday, about 300 women marched on the former front line between Ain el-Rummaneh and Shiyyah after meeting each other in the middle and exchanging white roses. Some held banners that read: "All one nation" and "All one pain."
"No to civil war!" they shouted. But in the absence of a government and any political solution, analysts say more turmoil and instability is inevitable.
"I expect more chaos. As long as the country is without political cover, it is subjected to dangers. There is no government and there is complete failure in the constitutional process of forming a government," Bou Monsef said.
The growing security concerns also reflect a fast deteriorating financial crisis in a country that is among the most indebted in the world. Amid dollar shortages, Lebanese banks have imposed unprecedented financial controls to preserve liquidity, further paralyzing the country and forcing up prices amid fears of financial collapse.
Businesses and households have been thrown into disarray. Residents say they don't know how they will come up with dollar payments needed to pay for tuition, health insurance and housing loans. Companies are struggling to transfer salaries to staff, others have cut salaries or are simply laying off employees.
Some experts have suggested that a so-called haircut, in which the state takes a cut of depositors' money to cover its debts, is inevitable to deal with the crisis. Central Bank Gov. Riad Salameh has denied this was an option.
On Wednesday, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Central Bank in Beirut's commercial Hamra district, calling for fiscal measures that will not affect small depositors and the poor. Next to them, barbers and hairdressers were giving men and women free haircuts amid concerns about depositors' savings.
"They are imposing on us certain restrictions where people are not able to purchase medicine, and are unable to go to the hospital, while the big businessmen are able to transfer their money," said Rebecca Saadeh, a protester, as a hair dresser cut her hair.
"People are desperate to get dollars to pay their rent or to buy food, which is spiking fabulously and then they accused us of protesting," she said.
The Lebanese Army said in a statement that 16 people involved in the violence were detained, adding that 33 troops were injured in Tripoli after soldiers were hit with stones and molotov cocktails. It added that 10 other soldiers were injured as they separated crowds in Shiuyah and Ain el-Rummaneh, while eight were injured in Bikfaya.
Clashes between protesters and supporters of Hizbullah and AMAL are putting Lebanon's military and security forces in a delicate position, threatening to crack open the country's dangerous fault lines amid a political deadlock.
Hariri had resigned Oct. 29 in response to the mass protests ignited by new taxes and the severe financial crisis. His resignation met a key demand of the protesters but plunged the country into uncertainty, with no clear path to resolving its economic and political problems.
Hariri had insisted on heading a government of technocrats, while his opponents, including Hizbullah, want a Cabinet made up of both experts and politicians. Bou Monsef said Hizbullah believes that a Cabinet comprised of technocrats that excludes the group would be a gift for America, which wants to keep it out of government. "Some are betting, especially the parties of the state, that the more the uprising is weakened the conditions that Hariri has put will weaken as well," said Mustafa Alloush, an official with Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement.

Overnight Clashes in Lebanon Injure Dozens as Tensions Rise
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 27 November, 2019
Overnight confrontations between supporters and opponents of Lebanon´s president - mostly fistfights and stone throwing - erupted in cities and towns across the country, injuring dozens of people, and 16 people were detained for their involvement, the Lebanese Red Cross and the army said Wednesday. The nationwide uprising against the country´s ruling elite has remained overwhelmingly peaceful since it began Oct. 17, but as the political deadlock for forming a new government drags on, tempers have risen. President Michel Aoun has yet to hold consultations with parliamentary blocs on choosing a new prime minister after the government resigned a month ago.
Outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who was Aoun´s and the militant Hezbollah´s favorite to lead a new Cabinet, withdrew his candidacy for the premiership, saying he hoped to clear the way for a solution to the political impasse after over 40 days of protests. Protesters have resorted to road closures and other tactics to pressure politicians into responding to their demands for a new government. The prolonged deadlock is awakening sectarian and political rivalries, with scuffles breaking out in areas that were deadly front lines during the country´s 1975-90 civil war.
The most recent violence first began Sunday night after supporters of the two main Shiite groups, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, attacked protesters on Beirut´s Ring Road. That thoroughfare had in the past connected predominantly Muslim neighborhoods in the city´s west with Christian areas in the east.
Intense clashes took place Tuesday night between people in the Shiite suburb of Chiyah and the adjacent Christian area of Ein Rummaneh, where stones were hurled between supporters of Hezbollah and rival groups supporting the Christian Lebanese Forces. A shooting in Ein Rummaneh in April 1975 triggered the 15-year civil war that killed nearly 150,000 people. Also on Tuesday night, supporters and opponents of Aoun engaged in fistfights and stone throwing in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon´s second largest, injuring 24 people; seven were hospitalized.
In the mountain town of Bikfaya, 10 people were injured, including five who were hospitalized, after scuffles and stone throwing between Aoun´s supporters and supporters of the right-wing Christian Lebanese Phalange Party, according to the Red Cross. The violence broke out after a convoy of dozens of vehicles carrying Aoun supporters drove into the town, which has been historically a Phalange stronghold.
"What happened yesterday was a mobile strife that intentionally tried to provoke our people," said Phalange leader and legislator Samy Gemayel. "We warn our people that there are attempts to attack their revolution, which should remain peaceful." Hezbollah and Amal supporters also attacked protesters in the northeastern city of Baalbek and the southern port city of Tyre. Police and troops deployed in the areas of the clashes and got the situation under control hours after the violence broke out. The Lebanese army said in a statement that 16 people involved in the violence were detained, adding that 33 troops were injured in Tripoli after soldiers were hit with stones and molotov cocktails. It added that 10 other soldiers were injured as they separated crowds in Chiyah and Ein Rummaneh, while eight were injured in Bikfaya.
"Army units returned conditions to normal in all areas and the detainees are being questioned," the army said. Hariri had resigned on Oct. 29 in response to the mass protests ignited by new taxes and a severe financial crisis. His resignation met a key demand of the protesters but plunged the country into uncertainty, with no clear path to resolving its economic and political problems. Hariri had insisted on heading a government of technocrats, while his opponents, including Hezbollah, want a Cabinet made up of both experts and politicians. For weeks, the Lebanese security forces have taken pains to protect anti-government protesters.

Second night of clashes in Lebanon amid anti-gov't protests
Aljazeera/November 27/2019
Hezbollah and Amal supporters reportedly attack demonstrators in Beirut and southern town of Tyre.
Clashes have erupted between protesters calling for an overhaul of the political system and supporters of the main Shia groups Hezbollah and Amal amid reports of gunfire in some parts of Lebanon, according to local media.
For the second consecutive day, security forces intervened in a bid to break up confrontations late on Monday between the groups' supporters and demonstrators protesting against Lebanon's political elite.
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The violence is threatening to tip largely peaceful demonstrations directed at the country's government and its ruling officials in a more bloody direction.
A video posted by Lebanese broadcaster LBCI showed heavy gunfire around Cola bridge in the capital, Beirut. The source of the gunfire was not immediately clear. No injuries were reported. Separately in Beirut, two protesters were reportedly wounded after Hezbollah and Amal supporters attacked demonstrators there.
In the southern town of Tyre, supporters of Hezbollah and Amal tore up protest tents and set them on fire, prompting security forces to intervene and fire into the air, according to Lebanese media.
Lebanon has faced five weeks of anti-government protests, fuelled by anger at corruption among the sectarian politicians who have governed the country for decades. Demonstrators want them all to leave office.
Supporters of Amal and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have occasionally sought to break up the demonstrations and clear roads cut off by protesters. Last month, they destroyed a main protest camp in central Beirut.
The groups were both represented in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned on October 29 after the protests began. They had opposed Hariri's resignation.
In a statement, Hariri's Future Movement warned its supporters to refrain from protesting and stay away from large gatherings to "avoid being dragged into any provocation intended to ignite strife".
Groups of men on motorcycles, some waving Amal and Hezbollah flags, were seen roving streets in Beirut and Tyre, according to witnesses and videos broadcast on Lebanese media.
Separately, two people were killed when their car slammed into a traffic barrier on a coastal road on Monday, sparking criticism from Hezbollah and others of protesters who cut off roads as a primary tactic to keep up the pressure.
The confrontations were some of the worst since protests erupted in Lebanon, a country that is facing the worst economic strains since its 1975-1990 civil war.
There are widespread concerns over Lebanon's deteriorating economy and a shortage of US dollars.
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr said that the shortage was "causing a crisis".
"The [Lebanese] economy doesn't rely on the local currency, the lira, importers pay in dollars and many businesses demand payment in the US currency," she said.
The UN Security Council on Monday urged all actors in Lebanon to engage in "intensive national dialogue and to maintain the peaceful character of the protests" by respecting the right to peaceful assembly and protest.
Calling this "a very critical time for Lebanon," the UN's most powerful body also commended Lebanon's armed forces and state security institutions for their role in protecting the right to peaceful assembly and protest.
Overnight Sunday, Hezbollah and Amal supporters attacked demonstrators with stones, tore down protesters' tents and damaged storefronts in the capital, Beirut.
"Shia, Shia, Shia!" Hezbollah supporters waving the group's yellow flag shouted, taunting the protesters, who chanted back, "This is Lebanon, not Iran," and "Terrorist, terrorist, Hezbollah is a terrorist".
At least 10 demonstrators were wounded in the clashes, according to the civil defence.
The consecutive nights of clashes have raised fears that some groups may turn to violence in an attempt to break up the protest movement, while displaying the political and sectarian divisions that protesters say they want to put an end to.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/night-clashes-lebanon-anti-gov-protests-191126062640907.html

UN Experts, Amnesty Urge Lebanon Authorities to Protect Protesters
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 27 November, 2019
UN human rights experts and Amnesty warned Tuesday that Lebanese authorities were failing to protect protesters, following attacks on demonstrators by government supporters. The authorities have "failed to adequately protect protesters from violent attacks by others", said a statement signed by a group of independent rights experts affiliated with the United Nations. Signatories included Agnes Callamard, special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and Michel Forst, special rapporteur on human rights defenders. "Security forces have reportedly failed to intervene to protect peaceful protesters or arrest perpetrators on at least six occasions," they said. London-based rights watchdog Amnesty International warned that attacks on protesters could signal a "dangerous escalation". "The authorities must act immediately to protect protesters and uphold the right to peaceful assembly," said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty´s Middle East research head. Street protests demanding an overhaul of Lebanon's entire political system have rocked the small Mediterranean country since mid-October. As its bitterly divided political leaders struggle to form a new cabinet, supporters of political factions have targeted demonstrators. On Sunday night, supporters of Lebanon's two main Shiite parties -- Hezbollah and Amal -- briefly attacked protesters blocking a key Beirut flyover, in the most serious such confrontation since the start of protests. The following night, dozens of youths again taunted anti-government activists in central Beirut and the southern port city of Tyre. On Tuesday, supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement -- a party founded by President Michel Aoun -- confronted dozens of protesters who were calling on the head of state to schedule parliamentary consultations.

Lebanon: UN experts decry incidents of excessive force against protesters
GENEVA (26 November 2019) – Lebanon's security forces have reportedly used excessive force and failed to adequately protect protesters from violent attacks by others, despite the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of the past month's demonstrations across the country, according to UN human rights experts*.
"The State is responsible under international law to protect peaceful protesters and ensure a safe and enabling environment for people to exercise their freedom of expression and peaceful assembly," said the experts. "Even where roadblocks are used as a means of protest, which may in rare cases warrant dispersal of protesters, only the minimum use of force necessary should be used and only if less intrusive and discriminatory means of managing the situation have failed."
The experts held that although the overall response by security forces appears to have been largely proportionate and responsible, actions by the authorities raise several areas of concern.
"Lebanon's Internal Security Forces and the Lebanese Armed Forces have reportedly used live ammunition, rubber bullets and large quantities of tear gas to disperse protesters, and have at times hit, kicked and beaten protesters with batons while making arrests. Some protesters are alleged to have been ill-treated while being taken to police stations and some have been released bearing marks of abuse."
On 12 November, a Lebanese soldier reportedly shot and killed a protester in Khalde in southern Beirut, after attempting to disperse protesters blocking a road by firing live warning shots.
Sympathisers of political groups have allegedly attacked protesters on multiple occasions, destroying their encampments and attacking them and journalists with rocks, metal rods, batons and sticks. Security forces have reportedly failed to intervene to protect peaceful protesters or arrest perpetrators on at least six occasions in Beirut, Bint Jbeil, Nabatieh and Tyre (Sour). They have also reportedly attempted to stop protesters and journalists from filming their actions, including by force, arrest, or confiscating equipment, the experts said.
The Lebanese Red Cross and Lebanese Civil Defence reported treating 1,790 people for protest-related injuries, including at least six members of the security forces, between 17 to 30 October.
The demonstrations have taken place against a backdrop of the failure by successive governments to pay serious attention to economic and social rights in the three decades since the Lebanese civil war. The result has been a crisis of affordable housing, daily electricity outages, a struggling public education system, widespread corruption, the collapse of the waste management system, environmental hazards, an insecure water supply, and widespread unemployment.
"After decades of neglect, the Government needs to take seriously the protesters' socioeconomic grievances," said the UN experts. "This is not only a matter of legal and institutional reforms such as the draft law on the independence of judges and lawyers, along with measures to curb corruption, embezzlement and illicit enrichment, but also of the recognition and fulfilment of essential economic and social rights."
The experts have written to the Lebanese authorities to register their concerns, and called on the Government to explain the measures it has taken to ensure the use of force is exercised in compliance with international law; investigate allegations of excessive use of force and ill-treatment of protesters; and identify the measures it has taken to address the root causes of protests and longstanding socioeconomic grievances.
ENDS
*The UN experts: Mr. Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Ms Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Mr. Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Mr. David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Mr. Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Mr. Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the right to peaceful assembly and association; and Ms. Meskerem Geset Techane, Chair of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls.
The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms of the Human Rights Council that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
UN Human Rights country page: Lebanon
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25354&LangID=E&fbclid=IwAR2YohcfVM7GndkfBTEU40ngBKI4mH4NtsFwzlQkkiO_VHaWydw8xmrcHQE
For more information and media requests, please contact Ms. Patricia Varela (E-mail: pvarela@ohchr.org / Tel: +41 22 928 9234) or write to srextremepoverty@ohchr.org

Lebanon: Protesters cautious after clashes with sectarian groups
Leila Molana-Allen /Aljazeera/November 27/2019
Demonstrations recently turned violent after supporters of the two Shia groups attacked protesters on Sunday.
Beirut, Lebanon - As Lebanon enters its seventh week of anti-government demonstrations, protesters reacted with cautious defiance after three days of repeated clashes with sectarian supporters.
After a relatively quiet weekend following nationwide celebrations of Lebanon's 76th independence day on Friday, the trouble began on Sunday night when protesters blocked roads across the country in advance of calls for a general strike on Monday.
That night saw some of the most sustained clashes since the protests began, as demonstrators and sectarian supporters of leading Shia parties Hezbollah and Amal riding scooters faced off repeatedly until the early hours on Beirut's arterial ring road.
Scores of riot police attempted to keep the two sides apart as sectarian supporters threw rocks at protesters, who retaliated in kind.
Using alleyways on either side of the highway, Hezbollah and Amal Movement supporters tried several times to infiltrate the group of protesters, some of whom armed themselves with sticks and metal bars.
At one point protesters chased the infiltrators, bringing back and setting fire to one of their scooters as a trophy.
"It hasn't deterred me at all, of course, I will be out again," said protester Marie-Nour Hechaime, who fled the scene twice before returning to continue blocking the road. "It was scary on the spot, but not more than that."
Demonstrator Wael Abdel Khaled pulled up his sleeves to show Al Jazeera the cuts and bruises he sustained.
"They hit both my arms and my leg with a rock," Abdel Khaled said. "It was raining rocks on us. It was a battle, really like a battle. But we are not scared. We want it peacefully, but we are not scared of anyone. We want to build a better Lebanon."
Another group on mopeds headed to Martyr's Square, where they destroyed protesters' tents and cars parked nearby.
Shortly after 3am (01:00 GMT), riot police deployed large clouds of tear gas to clear the crowds and by morning, the road was open again. The general strike planned for Monday did not go ahead.
Such attacks by sectarian supporters have been seen several times in recent weeks, but Sunday night's clashes marked the first occasion when mostly peaceful anti-government protesters retaliated en masse.
'Self-defence'
On Monday night, a smaller number of protesters took to Martyr's Square and Riad el Solh, many pacing the streets carrying metal bars after news spread that groups of Hezbollah and Amal supporters were once again riding their motorcycles through downtown Beirut.
The atmosphere was oppressively tense, a marked change from the celebratory, hopeful mood that has defined the protest movement until now.
Protesters maintained they carried the sticks purely for self-defence; many, however, appeared on a hair-trigger and spoiling for a fight.
As the gang of riders drove past, scores of protesters broke through the barriers riot police had erected to separate the two groups and ran at the riders, yelling and waving their improvised weapons.
Several riders stopped and hurled rocks back before driving off. The scene repeated itself several times throughout the night as the riders returned and security forces struggled to keep the two groups apart.
"This is self-defence at the end of the day, the people here are very peaceful but when you are getting hit a first, second, third, fourth, fifth time, you need to protect yourself in the end," said Abdel Khaled.
"Anyone, by human nature, when he's scared he is going to defend himself."
Other protesters, however, were concerned by the violent development.
"[When I saw them holding weapons] I told everyone, 'What you're doing does not represent our protest,'" said artist Michel el-Hachem, adding the change in atmosphere on Monday made him uncomfortable.
"I was telling everyone, 'Please leave the square' and I and a lot of other people who didn't agree with this type of protest actually left."
By Tuesday the tensions spread to other sectarian groups: in the Ain el Remmaneh and Chiyah neighbourhoods of Beirut, Hezbollah and Amal Movement supporters clashed with locals, many of whom support the Christian Lebanese Forces party, throughout the evening.
As the two groups stood on either side of a street - which marked a major front line between Christian and Muslim sides of the city during the country's 15-year civil war - onlookers remarked on the eerie echoes conjured by the scene.
'Honeymoon is over'
While fewer protesters have continued to turn out since the clashes escalated, the smaller numbers on the streets this week was attributed to a need to recover and regroup, said Abdel Khaled, rather than any loss of determination.
"Because we had a battle on Sunday night, so, of course, some people, they want to rest - in Arabic, we call it the 'warrior's break'. They need to breathe a bit after what happened, maybe there is damage. But people are still talking, they're having meetings and trying to find a solution."
Hechaime noted things have changed after the past few days of violence.
"About the future, I feel that the honeymoon is over ... People are starting to feel that this is going to last. We're really going to have to be strategic and even the 'we' is starting to be re-evaluated a bit.
"I feel a bit discouraged at the moment, but I think it's normal that you have ups and downs, so I think we just have to continue."
Dichotomous discourse
Some, however, argue if the anti-government protesters aim for a truly united Lebanese movement, they ought to consider what they have to offer the young Lebanese coming out in support of Hezbollah and Amal.
"There is a kind of discourse that is very dichotomous: us and them, we are civilised, we want to bring about a new country, we know how to protest. While they are thugs, and mobs. It's very pejorative, reducing their whole identity to them riding around on mopeds causing tension," said Jamil Mouawad, a politics lecturer at the American University of Beirut.
"The superficial reading is that they're counter-revolutionaries, sent by parties to beat up protesters and push forward a counter-revolution; but that's not the main cause. They consider the road closures an act of aggression against their mobility as these are the main routes of access to their neighbourhoods. The more protesters are closing roads, the more they are irritated."
Rather than reacting to aggression from sectarian supporters, protesters should attempt a dialogue, said Mouawad.
"I don't see that protesters have opened any channels to reach out to these people, other than the chants saying 'all of us'."
As the protesters grow fearful and weary, a second, equally pressing concern is where they go from here.
President Michel Aoun announced on Tuesday that consultations to select a new prime minister will be held at the presidential palace in Baabda on Thursday, a full month after caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned.
What next?
If Parliament's next choice is anything like the last - Tripoli billionaire Mohammad Safadi was briefly nominated a two weeks ago before widespread protests in response convinced him to withdraw his name - demonstrators are unlikely to accept it.
If, however, the popular chant calling for the rejection of the entire existing political class, "all of them means all of them", is fulfilled, who will lead the country next?
So far, a key tenet of the anti-government protests' success has been their lack of a defined leadership. Having no one in charge has allowed protesters to dodge calls for negotiation from politicians and represent themselves as truly grassroots.
Some, however, in the ubiquitous WhatsApp groups where many of the protests are organised, have begun to voice concern that without leaders and a clear strategy for the future, confidence is waning as to the long-term gains of opposing a new government formed from existing politicians.
"Who will replace them, after all? We need, at the very least, a mission statement and some lists of candidates," said one poster.
Before a new breed of politicians can be carved out, the priority must be solving the economic crisis looming over the country, said university professor and activist Mona Fawaz.
"This is the way forward but it's not easy. You cannot reverse 40 years of corruption in 40 days. Unless there is an intervention [by the current government] to move us out of the deadlock we are in … the danger is grave."
Civil society organiser Zeina al-Helou, however, said among some groups plans for the future are already under way.
"The protests did not start from scratch, a number of political groups actively working towards change had already started way before 17 October," she said. "The next step is obviously elections and this is on the agenda, of course. We are working at the grassroots level with the protesters and in different regions to ensure that the achievements [of the protests] yield themselves in election results. So yes, there is a plan; yes, there is a will and; no, we will not stop," said al-Helou.

Lebanese face-off at civil war flashpoint as tensions rise
Timour Azhari/Al Jazeera]/November 27/2019
Third night of clashes between party supporters and protesters threatens largely peaceful Lebanon rallies.
Beirut, Lebanon - Clashes broke out in towns and cities across Lebanon on Tuesday in the third night of confrontation between party supporters and demonstrators, which threatens to derail a peaceful protest movement.
The most symbolic was an hours-long standoff between residents of Ain al-Remmaneh, where Lebanon's 15-year civil war began, and neighbouring Chyah. Supporters of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement threw rocks and other objects across a road between the two areas that marked the dividing line between Christian East Beirut and Muslim West Beirut during the 1975-1990 war. The men on the other side, many of whom support the Lebanese Forces party, retaliated before the army intervened to keep both sides apart. But even after the confrontations died down, hundreds of men continued to gather in the dark alleyways of Ain al-Remmaneh, wielding batons, smoking cigarettes and inspecting cars.
Lebanon protests
'Our area'
A number gathered in an open doorway, watching developments just a couple of hundred metres away, discussing how to protect what they called "our area". "They attacked us, the residents of this place, knowing it is sensitive. This was a front line before. Do they want to repeat history?" Joseph, a 72-year-old holding a large club, told Al Jazeera. Joseph pulled down his shirt to reveal an old bullet wound beneath his collar bone which he said he had sustained during his time as a wartime commander in the area. "We don't want to go back to that, but we need to protect our families. This is our border and they want to cross it, would anyone accept that," he asked. "They are doing all this to try to destroy the revolution. We are from the ranks of the revolutionaries, but they are dragging us somewhere we don't want to go."For more than 40 days, Lebanese across Lebanon's religious and political divides have staged mass demonstrations demanding the civil war-era ruling class be held accountable for years of mismanagement and corruption. But since Sunday, the largely peaceful protest movement has witnessed increasing violence and sectarian tensions, in incidents perpetrated largely by supporters of Hezbollah and Amal, which were part of the government of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Supporters of those parties first attacked protesters on Beirut's main Ring road on Sunday - the third such attack since the protests began. A group of hundreds threw rocks at protesters and security forces and then entered back streets in the Christian-majority Monot area, setting fire to cars and vandalizing shops. All the while, they chanted: "Shia, Shia".
Syria rift
On Monday night, large motorbike convoys of men roamed the streets of Beirut and headed to the Cola area, clashing with supporters of caretaker Prime Minister Hariri's Future Movement. That night, they also attacked a protest camp in southern Tyre and on Tuesday another in Baalbeck.
Hezbollah allies have also been involved. A convoy of supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) drove through Bikfaya - the mountain stronghold of the rival Kataeb Party - on Tuesday night, honking horns and chanting slogans against one of the party's main figures. Kataeb supporters blocked the road and clashes ensued, in which several people were injured, before the army was deployed in force.
Lebanon protests
Then came Ain al-Remmaneh.
On the other side of the road, Hezbollah and Amal supporters, many of whom are residents of the area, said the men in Ain al-Remmaneh had provoked them with curses. Few agreed to speak on the record. Many chanted slogans in support of Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri and shouted vulgarities across the street. A number of peaceful protests also continued in Beirut and across Lebanon on Tuesday night even as tensions spiked in other parts of the country. Hundreds turned out for an overnight demonstration at the Central Bank, while scores gathered in Tyre in solidarity with those who had been attacked by Hezbollah and Amal supporters the night before. But many protesters fear that the increasing provocations by partisan supporters will undermine the anti-sectarian, anti-establishment values of the uprising and drive people back towards traditional alliances.
Future, the Lebanese Forces and the Druze Progressive Socialist Party have already aligned their rhetoric in support of the protesters, while Hezbollah, Amal, the FPM and their allies have been more opposed, echoing the rift between pro and anti-Damascus camps that emerged after Syria's 2005 withdrawal from Lebanon.
Joseph was pessimistic about the future. "If it keeps going like this, we are heading towards ruin and strife," he said. Just after midnight, a group of men assaulted a burly man on a crossroads in Ain al-Remmaneh. A number of them told Al Jazeera that the man they attacked had arrived to play poker at a small casino in the neighbourhood, but as he sat down, his phone screen lit up showing an Amal Flag. The men said they chased him out of the establishment, and down the street before beating him. "Keep him prisoner," one said, before a man who identified himself as belonging to an intelligence branch intervened and drove him away, across the de-facto front line towards Chyah.
As the group of men walked back towards their side, one told Al Jazeera: "We forced him to go back to his area and tell them we're not p*****s. We are men."

How Lebanon's political system brought the country to the brink
Michael Young/The National/November 27/2019
Post-war constitutional agreements embedded the corruption that plagues the country to this day
With the Lebanese sinking deeper into the realisation that their country's national finances have been plundered, many are reflecting on the system that made this possible. They are beginning to comprehend that the post-war economy was something of a giant Ponzi scheme, enriching a few leading politicians and banks, with no regard for their own welfare, as they now face the prospect of losing all their savings.
Two things characterised the Lebanese system that evolved after the end of the civil war in 1990. The first was the political order put in place by the new constitution agreed in 1989, which effectively created the conditions for a division of the nation’s spoils among major sectarian leaders; the second was the way post-war reconstruction was managed by the late prime minister Rafik Hariri after 1992.
In 1989, Lebanese parliamentarians agreed to a new constitution in Saudi Arabia. The Taif Agreement integrated a number of reforms agreed over the previous decade and a half, and effectively took much power away from the Maronite president and redistributed it to the council of ministers, which would no longer be subordinate to the presidency. The cabinet became Lebanon’s prime executive authority and the system of compromise ensured that it would most often be made up of the country’s main sectarian representatives.
The new constitution mandated equal representation of Christians and Muslims in government institutions – parliament, the government and the civil service. This quest for balance came to mean that all decisions had to be decided by compromise. Consequently, cabinets became unwieldy as every decision had to be negotiated between political forces to reach a consensus. With billions of dollars at stake in the reconstruction process, each of these forces had a rationale for blocking policies to secure a larger share of state contracts.
Over the years, Lebanese banks rolled over the debt by purchasing new treasury bills, creating a ballooning domestic debt. AP Photo
Over the years, Lebanese banks rolled over the debt by purchasing new treasury bills, creating a ballooning domestic debt. AP Photo
The behaviour of then prime minister Rafik Hariri, the main patron of the reconstruction project, only consolidated this unhealthy trend. The late prime minister was in a hurry to rebuild Lebanon and hence resorted to numerous strategies to remove obstacles to his major projects swiftly.
That resulted in a system that allowed major politicians, many of them former warlords, to take a cut from major reconstruction contracts, which would give them an incentive to facilitate their passage and implementation. They were handed key ministries, which created a nexus between the warlords or their followers, and the extraction of rent from state bodies.
Hariri also guided reconstruction through the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), which directly answered to his office. The CDR became a sort of super reconstruction ministry in the early post-war years, and through its authority pushed many ministries into a subordinate role. The result was that former warlords gained in wealth and power while ministries often became toothless organisations, dominated by politicians and marginalised by the CDR.
In parallel, Hariri funded post-war reconstruction mainly by stabilising the national currency and preserving its pegging to the dollar. This allowed him to issue domestic debt with high interest rates, enriching the banks that had ties with the political class. The problem was that the interest rates effectively killed any incentive for banks to make money by loaning to the private sector, since they could earn much more by holding high-interest treasury bills.
A Lebanese protester wears a mask and holds a national flag as other protesters block the highway leading to the presidential palace. The country could be on the verge of a social revolution. Wael Hamzeh / EPA
A Lebanese protester wears a mask and holds a national flag as other protesters block the highway leading to the presidential palace. The country could be on the verge of a social revolution. Wael Hamzeh / EPA
This induced apathy in banks, who over the years rolled over the debt by purchasing new treasury bills, creating a ballooning domestic debt. That, and the fact that the political class was digging deep into reconstruction funding to finance itself and its partisans, meant that the bank deposits of Lebanese citizens only existed on paper while their money was siphoned off through corrupt practices into the accounts of politicians who divided the nation’s wealth among themselves.
This theft of state resources has now reached breaking point. The political cartel knows that if the economy were to collapse, politicians would struggle to revive the system that lined their pockets for three decades. More worrying for them, Lebanon could be on the verge of a social revolution, with all that entails for their personal interests. Today only Hezbollah offers them protection, because the party views the corrupt system as having provided it with cover to retain its weapons.
The Taif constitution and Hariri’s reconstruction programme were needed at their particular moment. However, they became instruments facilitating Lebanon’s descent into a system consisting not so much of power-sharing, as many claimed, but of pie-sharing. Lebanese citizens knew their politicians were noxious and that the system was unsustainable but their support was always built on the notion that sectarian leaders would redistribute the wealth downwards. Today, Lebanon is bankrupt and there is no longer anything to distribute.
This suggests that the old system cannot simply be rebuilt as it was. However, neither the politicians nor Hezbollah have a desire to give it up. Lebanon is heading toward much more than bankruptcy; it is entering a long period of political emergency, where there is a need to transform the system into something that can benefit the majority. A political crisis on top of an economic calamity is a recipe for many years of strife ahead.
*Michael Young is editor of Diwan, the blog of the Carnegie Middle East programme, in Beirut

Hezbollah supporters in Tyre fail to deter Lebanese protesters
Sunniva Rose/The National/November 27/2019
Protesters still take to streets in group's stronghold
Protesters returned to the streets of Hezbollah stronghold Tyre on Tuesday in defiance of attacks by the group’s supporters the previous night. The last big coastal city before the Israeli border, Tyre was the site of violent clashes on Monday after a mob of young men supporting Hezbollah and ally Amal burned down a tent set up by protesters on one of the city’s main squares. Undeterred, dozens turned out in Tyre late on Tuesday afternoon from the neighbouring cities of Saida and Nabatieh to show their support, and a new tent was erected. Protesters said that the mob was trying to cause ruptures within the movement.
“Those who attacked us are not with the people, they are with the power,” student midwife Rita Chouceir, 28, told The National. "Half the protesters here are Shiite. They are trying to divide us."
A bus full of schoolchildren drove past chanting “revolution” and cars blared their horns. These small gestures of moral support kept the protesters going when many of those who had originally joined stopped showing up because of the threats, Ms Chouceir said.
She said that the protests would eventually achieving their goals, including a government of independent specialists who would fight the corruption that plagues Lebanon. “The protests are not over otherwise they would have no reasons to attack us," Ms Chouceir said. "It’s a sign that they are under pressure."Speaking to a crowd of demonstrators from a stage that had been broken during the attacks, beautician Amal Wazny, 46, said she had been surprised by the assault.
“I thought the men were coming to be with us, I didn’t think they were coming to attack us and break our tent," Ms Wazny said. "Our demands are the same as theirs. We want to fight corruption and want stolen money to be returned by politicians.”Hezbollah and Amal recently intensified pressure against protesters across Lebanon as the economic crisis worsened. The country has been without a government since October 29, when Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned.
In another attack, in Beirut on Sunday night, Hezbollah supporters attacked people who were blocking a Beirut highway. The violence was fuelled by Hezbollah’s outrage at the death of two people in a car accident after they hit a barrier set up to divert traffic near a protest south of the capital on Sunday morning. The party described it as a “horrific crime” committed by “bandits”, but protesters said security footage clearly showed the car was speeding.
Hezbollah and Amal deny sending men out to attack protesters, but they have not condemned the violence. Demonstrators say that the highly organised attacks could not have occurred without at least implicit support from both parties. Hezbollah is widely respected for fighting Israel in the 1980s and 1990s, and a strong social network has strengthened its footing in Lebanese society.

No end in sight as parliamentary consultations postponed once again
Georgi Azar/Annahar/November 27/2019
On Wednesday, sources close to the presidency announced that binding parliamentary consultations were set to kick-off Thursday, hours after caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri withdrew his candidacy.
BEIRUT: Sources have confirmed that parliamentary consultations, initially set for Thursday, have been postponed indefinitely citing the absence of a number of MPs.
On Wednesday, sources close to the presidency announced that binding parliamentary consultations were set to kick-off Thursday, hours after caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri withdrew his candidacy.
A mere 24 hours later, officials backtracked on that notice, with sources telling Annahar that discussions with Hariri are still ongoing to secure his backing for another candidate at the very least.
Hariri had signaled his unwillingness to head a government made up of both specialists and politicians, arguing that a "fully independent Cabinet is the only way out of the sharp economic crisis facing Lebanon."
Hariri withdraws candidacy as parliamentary consultations set for Thursday
The announcement had offered a sign of relief for protestors, who have been demanding the formation of a new government since Hariri submitted his resignation a month ago.
However, dozens of people were injured in overnight confrontations between supporters and opponents of the country’s president, according to the Lebanese Red Cross. Fistfights and stone-throwing erupted in a northern city and a mountainous town.
Lebanon’s massive nationwide protests against the country’s ruling elite remained overwhelmingly peaceful since they began last month. But as the political deadlock for forming a new government drags on, tempers are rising.
The protests have slid into violence in recent days. That’s particularly after supporters of the main two Shiite groups attacked protesters in Beirut Sunday night. On Tuesday night, Aoun’s supporters and opponents clashed in the city of Tripoli and in the mountain town of Bikfaya injuring 34.
In the midst of the political deadlock and financial uncertainty, Lebanon's Economic Bodies group called for a general strike and the complete closure of all private institutions across the country from Thursday to Saturday to push major political parties to form a new government and avert further economic damage. “The political forces have not assumed their national responsibilities and have not shown the seriousness necessary to produce solutions to the current crisis,” it said.
Lebanon has been dealt a hard blow to its foreign currency liquidity, prompting banks to assume a more conservative approach to preserve its reserves. Lines of credit have been slashed while withdrawals have been limited across the board, giving rise to black market rates which had surged to near the 2000 LBP to the dollar mark, about a third higher than the pegged rate of 1,507.5.
Banks' informal capital controls have yet to be ratified into law by Parliament, with a political consensus on the issue still lacking. Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has maintained on a number of occasions that capital controls are off the table while assuring that haircuts on deposits remain far fetched.
--- With AP.

Sources of Contradiction Between Hezbollah, Lebanese Nationalism!
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/November 27/2019
In Lebanon and elsewhere, when a sect, any sect, at the peak of its power and aggression, is confident in its weapons and satisfied with its external relations, it is impossible for a national project to arise.
This happened twice, but then, there was no national project at all. The first time, when a sectarian branch was strengthened with the strength of the Palestinian resistance weapon; and the second time, when a sectarian counter-branch was strengthened with the weapon of the Israeli invasion.
Today, for the third time, a third sectarian thought is intensifying while a national project is being born. This makes a significant difference: in the two previous cases, the two sectarian projects could fabricate a national ideology and pretend to adopt it. In the first case, this “leftist” patriotism was linked to resistance to Israel and colonialism. Moreover, this camouflaged sectarianism has been able to claim a social and reformist extension of that patriotism.
In the second case, the right-wing patriotism was linked to the resistance to “outsiders”, the control of arms and the provision of stability to preserve the status quo described as “superiority”.
Kamal Jumblatt on the one hand, and Bashir Gemayel on the other. The two were assassinated as leaders of two groups, each saying it was Lebanon.
In the present case, such an assertion, one that adopts patriotism, will become increasingly difficult. It is enough to return a few days to the “civilian parade” that gathered tens of thousands of people on the occasion of Independence Day, to see that the fledgling patriotism is completing its mission, and it does so at a distance of the light from Hezbollah. That celebration of independence seemed independence by itself.
Independence from the stubbornness of previous celebrations, from the shield that used to separate the people and civilians on one hand, from the military and the authority on the other… Independence from the former superior nature of the event, which was replaced by a celebration that ascends from the street… Independence from a dead language with dull and folkloric messages…
The same occasion was also a break from an absurd way of criticizing the independence: “We have not paid blood for it. We have achieved political independence, but not an economic one. It is a fabricated independence of a fabricated country ...” These are also arguments buried with their counter-arguments.
In other words, the new Lebanese took to the street to reject a whole set of ideas and perceptions… To declare their adherence to a homeland that should be based on rules other than those on which it was founded and led to the current situation.
The men in power, on the other hand, re-played the celebration they performed year after year since 1943. This time, they looked like an unnecessary surplus. They looked funny and sad at one time.
Beyond this, the Lebanese national project has already come a long way towards self-formation. Hezbollah’s resistance seemed completely remote. Here, it is fine to say that such a sectarian and religious party is ineligible to coexist with a national project that is anti-sectarian by definition.
A solely religious party? It might coexist. An adaptable sectarian party? Perhaps. But for both; a religious and sectarian party, the difficulty is great. In this case, being national is also confronted with the big extent to which the party is linked to Iran. Here, it is not only about being influenced by a model, or about a mere religious loyalty, a mere tradition of clothing and behavior, rituals, or mere financial assistance, or armament. Here, all these dimensions come together in a unique relationship, one that is difficult to digest patriotism.
Other elements have complicated the relationship between the two sides: by intervening in Syria, the party has provoked very broad segments of Lebanese interested in change.
There are two more important points: the party’s way of avoiding the Israeli threat is not unanimous,
as many Lebanese believe that this method, imposed on them, is more costly than the cost of the Israeli danger itself, at the security, economic and political levels.
Second, the requirements of the current situation, especially the blockade of Iran and its allies, and the uprising of Iraqis and Iranians threaten the Lebanese with more sacrifices and put their national project at risk.
Thus, the interests of the party in facing the “US attack”, is now identical to the interests of the system that the people are revolting against.
The resistance has become a cold and obsolete project, afraid of the new nationalism and frightening it. The party’s conspiratorial arguments are not convincing. Some leftists, who considered it an ally in the social battle, discovered that the Aounists were its only ally.
There lies the dilemma that is as difficult to ignore as it is difficult to solve, which may end the homeland itself. If the reality requires the Lebanese patriotism to turn a blind eye to the issue of arms, pending the judgment of God; then the same reality prevents Hezbollah from turning a blind eye to the nascent Lebanese patriotism. The attacks of the Ring Bridge, Martyrs’ Square, Riad El Solh and the city of Tyre are a living example.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 27-28/2019
Hundreds of banks and government sites burned in Iran unrest: Interior minister
Reuters, Geneva/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Approximately 731 banks and 140 government sites were torched in recent unrest in Iran, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency on Wednesday. More than 50 bases used by security forces were attacked and approximately 70 gas stations were also burned, he said, without specifying where the attacks took place. According to IRNA, Rahmani Fazli also said up to 200,000 people took part nationwide in the unrest that began on Nov. 15 after the announcement of gasoline price hikes. Meanwhile, one lawmaker was quoted as saying authorities arrested more than 7,000 people, in a sign that Iran is beginning to acknowledge the scale of recent protests that swept across the Islamic Republic. The comment by Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, who sits on parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, came as Iran’s interior minister also alleged demonstrators wanted to take over state television. Iran has yet to offer any definitive statistics for the unrest, which began Nov. 15 when officials sharply raised government-set gasoline prices. London-based Amnesty International said on Monday it had recorded at least 143 protesters killed in the protests, the worst anti-government unrest in Iran since authorities put down the “Green Revolution” demonstrations against election fraud in 2009. Iran has rejected Amnesty’s death toll. It says several people, including members of the security forces, were killed and more than 1,000 people arrested. The Center for Human Rights in Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, said the number of arrests was probably closer to 4,000. Amnesty also reported that Iranian security forces shot unarmed protesters from a helicopter and rooftops. The death toll continued to climb on Tuesday, with one Iranian opposition group saying as many as 400 Iranians had been killed. The protests quickly turned political, with protesters calling on top leaders to step down. The government has blamed “thugs” linked to exiles and the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia for stirring up the street unrest. The protests came as new US sanctions imposed this year cut off nearly all of Iran’s oil exports, and as similar protest movements erupted in Iraq and Lebanon against governments that include heavily armed pro-Iran factions.- With AP

Iran says it arrested eight with CIA links during unrest
Reuters, Dubai/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Iranian security agents arrested at least eight people linked to the US Central Intelligence Agency during last week’s unrest over gasoline price hikes, the official news agency IRNA reported on Wednesday. “These elements had received CIA-funded training in various countries under the cover of becoming citizen-journalists,” IRNA quoted the Intelligence Ministry as saying. “Six were arrested while attending the riots and carrying out (CIA) orders and two while trying to ... send information abroad.”

Iran says 200,000 took part in anti-government demos
Reuters, Geneva/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Iran gave a glimpse on Wednesday into the scale of what may have been the biggest anti-government protests in the 40 year history of the Islamic Republic, with officials saying 200,000 people had taken part and a lawmaker saying 7,000 were arrested. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in his strongest remarks since the unrest peaked, described the two weeks of violence as the work of a “very dangerous conspiracy,” while insisting it had since been completely put down. Iran has given no official death toll for the unrest, but Amnesty International said earlier this week that it had documented the deaths of at least 143 protesters, a total Tehran has said it rejects. A figure anywhere close to that would make it the deadliest anti-government unrest at least since the authorities put down a “Green Revolution” of election protests in 2009, and probably since the 1979 Islamic Revolution itself. According to IRNA, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said up to 200,000 people took part nationwide in the unrest. Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini, a member of parliament’s national security committee, said about 7,000 people had been arrested, news website Entekhab reported. Full details of the unrest have been difficult to report from outside Iran, especially as the authorities have shut down the internet. Fazli said around 731 banks, 70 petrol stations and 140 government sites had been torched. More than 50 bases used by security forces were attacked, he said, in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency.
The struggle of ordinary Iranians to make ends meet has become harder since last year when Washington quit an agreement to lift sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program. The US administration says its aim is to force Tehran to negotiate a more comprehensive deal. There has been about a 20 million liter drop in daily gasoline consumption since the price hike, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. Daily consumption was about 98 million liters before the hike, the state fuel distribution company NIOPDC reported on Tuesday.
The government said the gasoline price rises of as much as 50 percent aim to raise around $2.55 billion a year for extra subsidies to 18 million families struggling on low incomes.

Iraqi protesters burn down Iranian consulate in Najaf
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
An Iraqi police official said anti-government protesters have burned down the Iranian consulate in southern Iraq late Wednesday. Protesters torched the Iranian consulate building in the holy city of Najaf, the seat of the country’s Shiite religious authority. Iranian staff working in the consulate escaped through the back door and were not harmed. The demonstrators lowered the Iranian flag from the consulate building and raised the Iraqi flag. The police have imposed a curfew until further notice. Iraqi security initially responded by shooting at the demonstrators and then withdrew along with the diplomatic corps. Around 17 demonstrators were injured during the clashes with security forces in the vicinity of the Iranian consulate in Najaf. Protesters took to the streets on October 1 to decry rampant government corruption, poor services and rising Iranian influence in Iraqi state affairs. At least 350 people have died since the unrest started. - With The Associated Press.

Five protesters shot dead in Iraq as demonstrators clash with police
Reuters, Baghdad/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Protesters blocked roads with burning tires in southern Iraq and clashed with police in Baghdad on Wednesday, aiming to use economic disruption as leverage to push the government from power and root out state corruption. Security forces shot dead two people in Karbala overnight and two in Baghdad on Wednesday, while a fifth person died from gunfire by security forces during protests in the southern oil capital of Basra. Demonstrators prevented government employees getting to work in Basra by installing concrete barriers painted as mock-up coffins of relatives killed in weeks of unrest, a Reuters witness said. Young, mostly Shia protesters say politicians are corrupt and blame them for Iraq’s failure to recover from decades of conflict and sanctions despite two years of relative calm following the defeat of ISIS. Government reform has amounted to little more than a handful of state jobs for graduates, stipends for the poor and pledges of election reform which lawmakers have barely begun to discuss. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi expressed concern over both the violence and the financial toll of unrest late on Tuesday, but mostly blamed unidentified saboteurs for the damage. “There have been martyrs among protesters and security forces, many wounded and arrested ... we’re trying to identify mistakes” made by security forces in trying to put down the protests, he told a televised cabinet meeting. “The blocking of ports has cost billions of dollars,” he said. Protesters have blocked traffic into Iraq’s main commodities port near Basra this month and tried to surround the Central Bank in Baghdad, apparently bent on causing economic disruption where calls for removal of the government have failed.

Egypt sentences high-profile militant to death
The Associated Press, Cairo/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
An Egyptian military court has handed down a death sentence to one of the country’s most high-profile militants for his participation in scores of attacks on government targets. The court convicted Hisham el-Ashmawi, a former army officer turned militant, and sentenced him Wednesday to hanging. He was captured in Libya by Cairo-allied forces and returned to Egypt last year. Egyptian authorities link el-Ashmawi, 40, to several major attacks, including a 2013 attempt to assassinate Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim and a 2017 ambush that killed 30 Christian pilgrims. He is also been convicted of leading assaults on security forces near Egypt’s desert border with Libya.

Syrian President Assad: ISIS members in Syrian Kurds jails to stand local trial
The Associated Press, Damascus/Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Syrian President Bashar Assad says ISIS members held in the country will stand trial in local courts specialized in terrorism cases. Assad made his comments in an interview with Paris Match when asked about a deal with a Kurdish-led force that would eventually bring their areas under government control. The Syrian Democratic Forces, who defeated ISIS in March with the help of the US-led coalition, is holding more than 10,000 militants, including some 2,000 foreigners. Abandoned by their US allies, the Kurds turned to Assad and Russia for protection and over the past weeks Syrian and Russian forces have moved into areas once held by Kurds. Every terrorist in the areas controlled by the Syrian state will be subject to Syrian law,” said Assad.

Journalists from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq tour Israel
Jerusalem Post/November 27/2019
The delegation, which toured the country for five days, included senior journalists from Saud Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Egypt, as well as two musicians from Iraq.
The Foreign Ministry hosted a delegation of Arab journalists last week – including from countries with which Israel has no diplomatic relations – in an attempt to chip away at Israel-hatred in the Middle East.
“My goal is to bring people here to get to know the real Israel, to see it first hand, and not through television or social media, and see how Israel is unjustly slandered,” said Hassan Kaabia, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman for the Arabic media who organized and accompanied the group.
This is the second such delegation in four months.
The delegation, which toured the country for five days, included senior journalists from Saud Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Egypt, as well as two musicians from Iraq.
Israel has no ties with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Iraq, and Kaabia said he did not know whether the governments of those countries knew about the visits.
“I deal with people, not governments,” he said, adding that he knows the members of the delegation from interactions he has had with them on social media. The Foreign Ministry has an active Arabic Facebook and Twitter pages.
Unlike the six person delegation that came in July, where one member – Saudi blogger Mahmoud Saud – was willing to be identified and go public, none of the members of the current delegation would identify themselves. Saud was cursed, jeered and spat upon by Palestinians when he visited the Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount during his visit here. He frequently posts pro-Netanyahu items on social media.
IDF attacks Gaza again after rocket fire
The Saudi journalist in the most recent group, whom Kaabia said was very well known in his home country, said in reference to the Palestinians in an interview with Army Radio’s Jacky Hugi that he did not understand why there had to be problems with Israel because of a “small minority” who had refused the opportunity to create a state in 1947 because they were busy asking why Jews should have an independent state.
Faced with a sea of hatred toward Israel in the Arab world, Kaabia said that these delegations – though small – can have a major impact. He said that the members of the current delegation are well known in their countries – with a YouTube release of one of the Iraqi musicians songs garnering 24 million views – and that they will all write about their visit, as well as talk about it with their family and friends.
The delegation met for two hours with Foreign Minister Israel Katz, as well as other Foreign Ministry officials and Knesset members from across the political spectrum. They also toured Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other parts of the country.
As to why they were not willing to go public, Kaabia said that their reply was that the Arab street is not yet ready for open ties with Israel, “So let’s do it slowly.”
The delegation’s visit came the same week that an organization called the Arab Council for Regional Integration held an inaugural meeting in London and supported engagement with Israel.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday posted a link to a New York Times story on the conference, and wrote: “It’s time for Arab countries to abandon boycotts and engage #Israel.” Pompeo added that “Arab thinkers who risk their lives to bravely advocate a regional vision of peace and coexistence shouldn’t face retribution. We need dialogue.”

Top US General in Iraq amid Protests, Questions over Iran's Influence
Asharq Al-Awsat/Asharq Al-Awsat/November, 27/2019
The top US general, Mark Milley, arrived in Iraq on Tuesday amid a spate of anti-government protests in the Middle East and questions about how they could impact Iranian influence in the region. Anti-government protests in Iraq erupted in early October and have grown into the largest demonstrations since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Lebanon has faced five weeks of anti-government protests, fueled by anger at corruption among the sectarian politicians. As the governments in Iraq and Lebanon struggle with huge waves of popular protest, powerful factions loyal to Iran are pushing to quash political upheaval that challenges Tehran’s entrenched influence in both countries. Some experts believe that protests in the region, including those in Iran itself, could give the United States an opportunity to reduce Tehran’s regional influence. But they warn they could hurt American interests as well.
“Everybody looking at popular protests in the Middle East has to keep very much in mind that we rarely have an idea where these are going to go,” said Jon Alterman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It could displace a number of vital partners as it could displace the Iranians... Ultimately, I don’t think you can ever get the Iranians out of Iraq,” Alterman said, according to Reuters. There are more than 5,000 US troops in Iraq supporting local forces, though Iraq has rejected any long-term presence of additional US forces that crossed its border during an American drawdown from northern Syria. There are also concerns Iran could lash out militarily against US allies in the region to deflect from pressure being built up by protests within Iran. Iran’s clerical rulers have blamed “thugs” linked to exiles and foreign foes - the United States and Israel - for stirring up unrest that has led to some of the worst violence in the country in a decade. US-Iran tensions have risen after Sept. 14 strikes on Saudi oil facilities, following attacks on tankers in Gulf waters. Washington has blamed the attacks on Iran, a charge Tehran denies. “Iran is aggressive in the region against their neighboring states, both overtly and covertly,” Army General Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters this week. “So will they continue to do that in the future? I don’t know. I would like to say no, but it is certainly possible that they will,” he added. Milley, who is in the Middle East for the first time since taking the chairman job in September, is meeting with allies in the region. He met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday. The United States has deployed about 3,000 additional military forces to Saudi Arabia in recent months to bolster Saudi defenses, including an air expeditionary wing and air defense personnel.

Moscow Warns Against 'Fabricated' Chemical Attacks in Syria's Idlib
Moscow - Raed Jabr/Asharq Al-Awsat/November, 27/2019
Moscow again warned Tuesday from fabricated chemical attacks that militants and the White Helmets are preparing in Syria’s Idlib. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that several sources have confirmed that militants from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the White Helmets organization are planning on attacking settlements in the Idlib de-escalation zone in order to stage incidents of airstrikes with the use of chemical weapons. Later on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also commented on the issue after meeting with his Icelandic counterpart Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, saying that Moscow received reports of impending provocations in Idlib. “We receive these messages regularly. In most cases, this information is confirmed. We, together with the Syrian government, are making this public, and this is exactly why these provocations have not yet been implemented, but we know that they are being prepared,” the FM said. Lavrov said provocateurs from the so-called White Helmets, created and led by British special services with the support of a number of Western countries, including the US, are taking part in the preparations. According to the Ministry, residents of the Sarmada settlement had seen militants arriving at the town early this month in three trucks that were loaded with containers with chemicals as well as professional video-making equipment and pieces of Russian artillery. "It is being planned to make fake videos of destruction caused by airstrikes and artillery shooting at civil targets and the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Idlib province,” the Russian FM statement said. It said that militants planned to publish those fake videos on social media to be used to blame the Syrian regime and Russia over their alleged actions against civilians. The Russian warning precede an expected confrontation between Russian and Western parties during the yearly meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), whose state parties are expected to issue, for the first time, a report defining the responsibility for the chemical attacks in Syria. However, Moscow already rejected the results of this report, accusing western parties of politicizing the investigations. “We very much expect that both the director-general of this organization [Fernando Arias] and all other employees will be strongly guided by the principle of impartiality and not receiving specific instructions from any country. So far, we doubt that these principles are respected by the OPCW leadership,” Lavrov said on Tuesday.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 27-28/2019
Trump and Netanyahu: Both Being Investigated for Made-Up Crimes
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute./November 27/2019
The most striking similarity is that both are being investigated for actions that their legislatures have not explicitly made criminal.
Politicians always seek good coverage and many vote with that in mind. Some even negotiate good coverage in advance of voting. That is why they have press secretaries and media consultants.
Nor could a reasonable statute be drafted that covered Netanyahu's alleged conduct, but not that of other Knesset members who bartered their votes for good coverage. That is why no legislature in a country governed by the rule of law has ever made positive media coverage the "quid" or "quo" necessary for a bribery conviction, and that is why the bribery indictment of Netanyahu should not be upheld by the courts.
[I]t is simply not a crime for a President to use his power over foreign policy for political, partisan or even personal advantage. Imagine Congress trying to pass a law defining what would constitute a criminal abuse of the foreign policy power, as distinguished from a political or moral abuse.... Presidents have even engaged in military actions for political gain.
The central aspect of the rule of law is that no one may be investigated, prosecuted or impeached unless his conduct violates pre-existing and unambiguous prohibitions. Neither Congress nor prosecutors can make it up as they go along, because they, too, are not above the law.
The most striking similarity between the investigations being conducted against US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is that both are being investigated for actions that their legislatures have not explicitly made criminal. Pictured: Trump and Netanyahu at a joint press conference in Washington, D.C. on February 15, 2017.
There are striking similarities, as well as important differences, between the investigations being conducted against American President Donald J. Trump by the US Congress, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was just indicted.
The most striking similarity is that both are being investigated for actions that their legislatures have not explicitly made criminal. Moreover, no legislature in any country governed by the rule of law would ever enact a general statute criminalizing such conduct. The investigations of these two controversial leaders are based on using general laws that have never previously been deemed to apply to the conduct at issue and stretching them to target specific political figures.
Netanyahu has been indicted for bribery on the ground that he allegedly agreed to help a media company in exchange for more positive coverage and/or less negative coverage. There are disputes about the facts, but even if they are viewed in the light least favorable to Netanyahu, they do not constitute the crime of bribery.
Nor would the Knesset ever enact a statute making it a crime for a member of Knesset to cast a vote in order to get good media coverage. If such a law was ever passed, the entire Knesset would be in prison. Politicians always seek good coverage and many vote with that in mind. Some even negotiate good coverage in advance of voting. That is why they have press secretaries and media consultants.
Nor could a reasonable statute be drafted that covered Netanyahu's alleged conduct, but not that of other Knesset members who bartered their votes for good coverage. That is why no legislature in a country governed by the rule of law has ever made positive media coverage the "quid" or "quo" necessary for a bribery conviction, and that is why the bribery indictment of Netanyahu should not be upheld by the courts.
Upholding a conviction based on positive media coverage would endanger both the freedom of the press and democratic processes of governance. Prosecutors should stay out of the interactions between politicians and the media unless specifically defined crimes, as distinguished from arguable political sins, are committed, and no one should ever be prosecuted for actions that were never made criminal, and would never be made criminal, by the legislature.
President Trump is also being investigated for alleged bribery. Originally the Democrats thought they could impeach him for non-criminal conduct, such as alleged maladministration, abuse of office or immoral conduct. I think they have now been convinced by me and others that no impeachment would be constitutional unless the President were found guilty of the crimes specified in the Constitution, namely, "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors." So the Democratic leadership has now settled on bribery as an offence for which they can impeach President Trump. The problem with that approach -- similar to the problem with the Israeli approach against Netanyahu -- is that it is simply not a crime for a President to use his power over foreign policy for political, partisan or even personal advantage. Imagine Congress trying to pass a law defining what would constitute a criminal abuse of the foreign policy power, as distinguished from a political or moral abuse.
Presidents have even engaged in military actions for political gain. They have given aid to foreign countries to help themselves get elected. They have appointed ambassadors based not on competence but on past and anticipated future political contributions. None of these has ever been deemed criminal, and Congress would never dream of enacting a criminal statute that sought to cover such conduct.
Could it carve out a specific crime based on seeking personal political advantage rather than partisan political advantage? I doubt it. But even if it could parse such a statute, it has not done so. And if it has not done so, neither Congress nor prosecutors can seek to criminalize the exercise of a President's foreign policy power on the ground that they do not like the way he used it or even if he abused it.
The central aspect of the rule of law is that no one may be investigated, prosecuted or impeached unless his conduct violates pre-existing and unambiguous prohibitions. Neither Congress nor prosecutors can make it up as they go along, because they, too, are not above the law.
Now to the differences. Israel is a parliamentary democracy in which the Prime Minister can be removed by a simple vote of no confidence. There is no requirement of, or need for, an impeachment mechanism. The United States, on the other hand, is a Republic with separation of powers and checks and balances. The Framers, led by James Madison, saw the impeachment power as central to preserving our Republic and not turning it into a parliamentary democracy. That is why they rejected a proposal that would have permitted impeachment on the ground of "maladministration." Such an open-ended criteria, according to Madison, would have resulted in a situation in which the President served at the will of Congress. That is why Madison insisted on the specific criteria for impeachment that the Framers ultimately accepted.
Although the differences between Israel and the United States are significant, they share in common the rule of law. Under the rule of law, properly applied, neither Netanyahu nor Trump should be deemed guilty of bribery.
Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law Emeritus at Harvard Law School and author of The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump, Skyhorse Publishing, 2019, and Guilt by Accusation, Skyhorse publishing, 2019.
*Follow Alan M. Dershowitz on Twitter and Facebook
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

China Bids to Replace US Influence in the Middle East
Con Coughlin/Gatestone Institute./November 27/2019
In what could prove to be a serious challenge to the long-standing hegemony Washington has enjoyed in the region, Beijing is seeking to deepen its commercial ties in the Arab world, thereby encouraging Arab states to look to China to safeguard their future security needs rather than maintaining their traditional reliance on the US.
Beijing is particularly keen to stress China's high-tech capacities in areas such as its position as a global leader in building 5G telecoms networks, as well as its Belt and Road Initiative, the ambitious economic plan to build trade networks across the world which is designed to deepen commercial ties with the Middle East.
The US, however, might bear in mind that "withdrawing from 'forever wars'" might be seen by adversaries of the West as an invitation to move in.
China's commitment to supporting Iran is the main reason that Arab leaders remain wary of relying too heavily on China for their future security needs. Pictured: China's President Xi Jinping meets with Iran's "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on January 23, 2016, in Iran.
The confusion among Arab leaders over the Trump administration's policy towards its traditional allies in the region has opened the way for China to intensify its efforts to extend its influence in the Middle East.
In what could prove to be a serious challenge to the long-standing hegemony Washington has enjoyed in the region, Beijing is seeking to deepen its commercial ties in the Arab world, thereby encouraging Arab states to look to China to safeguard their future security needs rather than maintaining their traditional reliance on the US.
Beijing is particularly keen to stress China's high-tech capacities in areas such as its position as a global leader in building 5G telecoms networks, as well as its Belt and Road Initiative, the ambitious economic plan to build trade networks across the world which is designed to deepen commercial ties with the Middle East.
Other aspects of China's bid to expand its commercial interests in the region include Chinese-built communications networks, fast railways, state-of-the-art airports and ports costing hundreds of billions of dollars.
Many oil-rich Gulf states, such as the United Arab Emirates, have already developed close ties with Beijing, with Emirati ministers saying they are keen to advance bilateral relations with China.
US officials are concerned that other countries will follow suit as a result of continuing concerns over the Trump administration's future engagement with the region.
Previous American administrations have taken the view that maintaining close ties with pro-Western Arab states has been vital to protecting America's global interests. Since US President Donald J. Trump took office, though, Washington's dealings have been conducted on a more transactional basis, with Mr Trump's primary focus being what the US can gain from the relationship.
Concerns about the direction of American policy under Mr Trump have been heightened by Washington's contradictory approach towards Iran. On one level, the White House seems keen to maintain its punitive sanctions regime against Tehran, a move that Administration officials believe is the reason Iran's regime faced nationwide protests recently over its decision to raise fuel prices by 50 per cent.
On another level, Arab leaders have been dismayed at Washington's tepid response to recent acts of Iranian aggression in the region, such as Iran's shooting down of a US Navy drone over international waters in the summer and the carefully- orchestrated Iranian missile and drone attack on Saudi Arabia's Aramco oil facilities.
Thus, when key Arab policymakers convened in the Gulf state of Bahrain last weekend for the annual Manama Dialogue security conference, which is organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, much of the discussion focused on the geopolitical struggle taking place between Beijing and Washington for influence in the region.
American officials found themselves in the unusual position of having to defend Washington's commitment to maintaining ties with the region, with John Rood, the US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy, pointing out that the US had agreed to $152 billion in arms sales to the Middle East during the past five years, as well as sending additional troops and $74 million in US spending to train 3,200 local security personnel.
Arguably, the most telling point in Washington's favour is that China remains committed to supporting Iran, a country most Arab leaders regard as being a pariah state. Beijing is committed to spending at least $250 billion in new investments in Iran, with Chinese officials blaming the rise in tensions in the Gulf on the US, following Mr Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal.
China's insistence on maintaining ties with Tehran is the main reason, though, that Arab leaders remain wary of relying too heavily on China for their future security needs.
As Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Jubeir said in a speech to the conference, it was important that world powers did not try to appease Tehran. "Appeasement did not work with Hitler. It will not work with the Iranian regime," he warned.
Consequently, so long as Beijing remains committed to maintaining its support for the ayatollahs, it is unlikely to prevail in its struggle to replace the US as the main powerbroker in the Middle East. The US, however, might bear in mind that "withdrawing from 'forever wars'" might be seen by adversaries of the West as an invitation to move in.
*Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Shock Therapy from Islamic History
Raymond Ibrahim/November 27/2019
The following article/review of Sword and Scimitar was originally written in the Czech language by Benjamin Kuras, a journalist and author (original here). Titled “Shock Therapy from Islamic History,” it was published on Nov. 25, 2019:
Here and there a book appears that has the effect of a therapeutic shock. In today’s confused world, crowded with ever-gathering information, pseudo-information and disinformation, we need it as a salt. This therapy is Raymond Ibrahim’s Sword and Scimitar this year .
Guaranteed cure for a mental disorder called Islamophilia. This is an irrational and unsubstantiated self-deception that Islam is a religion of peace, a civilization system and cultural wealth from which we have much to learn, so we need to set it up in Europe as an alternative to the current civilization decline in order to cease to perceive the world aka racist). Not to be confused with Islamophobia, which is, on the contrary, a rational and historically confirmed concern that Islamophilia could result in the disappearance of Western civilization, if not civilization itself.
Raymond IbrahimRaymond Ibrahim is an American historian of Egyptian Christian descent with a doctorate in Middle East history at California State University, where he studied under Professor Victor Davis Hanson, a renowned military history specialist and author of twenty books, including several international bestsellers. This preface gives Ibrahim’s book a hallmark of “world-class military history and the product of solid scientific work and philological research, a carefully explored chronicle of the major battles between Islam and the West, while offering wider cultural and religious arguments.” There are so many research references in the book that they almost disturb the unscientific reader from reading fluently.
Ibrahim’s previous bestseller Crucified Again , reporting in detail about the current persecution of Christians in Islam, established him as a leading authority on Christian-Islamic relations and a leading figure in the current “counter-jihad”. The new book “Sword and Saber” explains today’s persecution historically, from the first Islamic attacks on the Eastern (Byzantine) Roman Empire in the 7th century, through the Islamic occupation of the Iberian Peninsula and the conquest of Byzantium, to the rescue of Europe at the Battle of Vienna in 1686. battles, of which four offensive won Islam, four defensive Europe.
To understand the whole history of Euro-Islamic relations, we need to know these basic historical facts presented in the book in generous doses.
1. Muhammad’s religion began to spread from the Arabian Peninsula only when it became a strategy of conquering other territories and appropriating their wealth.
2. The Allah-sanctified war strategy contained in the Qur’an and its associated writings allowed all forms of violence, robbery, murder, and enslavement of non-believers.
3. The so-called “people of the book” (Christians and Jews) have a special position in Islam as de facto serfs, with a duty to pay taxes and prohibitions to defend, take into account, question, criticize or in any way report any negative aspect of Muslims , and with limited civil rights. Many of the scientific or cultural achievements attributed to Islam are the work of their or new converts from non-Arab ethnicities.
4. Western civilization (then more precisely called “Christianity”) dates back to the Roman Empire (western with center in Rome and eastern byzantine with center in Constantinople aka Constantinople) before the Islamic invasions of the 7th and 8th centuries from present-day Morocco and Spain to Iraq.
5. Islam gradually conquered, conquered and converted three quarters of Christian territory.
6. What was later called the West is the remaining quarter of Europe, which managed to defend itself in two major battles: Tours (or Poitier) in France in 732, which drove the Muslims back to the Pyrenees, and Vienna 1683, which returned them to the Balkans . However, even this truncated quarter of the West has been repeatedly robbed and plundered, with at least a million slaves (mainly sought-after, blue-eyed slave slaves) dragged to Islamic countries. In 846 the invasion reached the edge of the city of Rome, in 1668 to Vienna. The crusader wars were not imperialist conquest of foreign territory, but rather belated and poor attempts to liberate the lost territory of their own. Which, of course, does not excuse their “hipsters” as massacres of Jews on their way through Europe and stealing Byzantium instead of defending them.
7. What is called the “Spanish Golden Age of Coexistence of the Three Religions” (the famous conviviencia ), was in fact seven centuries of almost continuous warfare, subjugation, murder and enslavement. The fairy tale of friendly selance was created by the French Enlightenment out of hatred of Christianity.
8. Islamic invasions were everywhere accompanied by a mass murder of brutality and magnitude that history had not known before and the Christians could not imagine, were not prepared for it, and therefore did not resist it.
9. This brutality was not (and is not today) some “exception of a fanatical minority”, but a literal observance of the orders and rules of the Qur’an, the Hadith and Sulfur (Muhammad’s quotations and records of his actions).
10. The combat capability of Islamic warriors was strengthened both by the right to retain loot, including slaves and sex slaves, and by Allah’s promise that killing infidels and his own death in the struggle for Allah go straight to paradise.
11. All the “Christianophilic” and “Jewishophilic” early verses of the Qur’an invoked by Islamophiles were overcome by later hate verses.
“I was commanded to wage war against humanity until it acknowledged that there was no other god than Allah and Muhammad was the Messenger of Allah.”
With this Hadith quotation, Ibrahim launches his book and explains from the beginning the war theory and strategy called jihad, which is the root and driving force of all Islamic wars and occupations. The law of “killing or falling for Allah is the way to paradise” guarantees salvation and forgiveness of all sins and crimes. It is therefore a victor’s victory in defeat. Whoever wages in the jihad (written in the Qur’an) “grants Allah a benevolent loan” which Allah “will repay him many times.” A logical explanation of the common question of how Muslim non-gods and sinners can suddenly become suicide bombers, and how so many of them are recruited from imprisoned criminals. A Muslim who does not participate in jihad by at least ideological or financial support, propaganda and cultural invasion is classified as a hypocrite and, as a last resort, a renegade risking the death penalty.
After this introduction to jihad, Ibrahim embarks on a description of the main battles derived from both Arab and Greek sources. One of the Arabs is the words of the still celebrated Muslims, Khalid bin al-Walid, nicknamed the “Sword of Allah,” who commanded the first major invasion victorious in 636 by the battle of the Yarmuk River in present-day Syria.
“We are not driven out of our country by hunger or poverty. We Arabs are blood drinkers, and we know that the blood of the Romans is more disgusting. That is why we came to shed and drink your blood. ” Thus, Khalid replied to the offer of Christians to take away all the stolen wealth and return peacefully home.
The drinking may have meant symbolically, shedding literally. After six days of warfare in the night battle, his warriors massacred and chased a thirty thousand Christian outnumbered into the abyss, of which no one survived. With new recruits looking for another loot, Khalid’s army ventures into the siege of Jerusalem, which after a few months is starved, thirsty and slaughtered – to the desperate misunderstanding of survivors, leaving testimonies like this, from the patriarch of Jerusalem Sopronia:
“Why so much destruction and plundering? Why the endless shedding of human blood? Why do birds eat human corpses? Why are churches destroyed? Why desecration of the crosses? … The vengeful God hating the Saracens, the terrible devastation predicted by the prophets, plundering cities, destroying fields, burning villages, burning holy churches, demolishing holy monasteries, defeating Byzantine armies and going from victory to victory. ”
The devastation foretold by the prophets is the only explanation that Byzantine Christians are capable of in the initial onslaught. “Demons” is the most common nickname that the Saracens (the Greek name of the Arabs) deserve.
This is followed by the mass martyrdom of the Christian defenders of Gaza and the Muslim conquest of Egypt, to which are added by thousands of Bedouins receiving Islam and hungry for the prey of Byzantine wealth, Egypt being a luxury example and accumulated cultural wealth over the centuries. Its center is Alexandria, which falls after a six-month siege by the betrayal of one of the Byzantine clerics. “Bloodbath” is the most common name in the Greek documents for the occupation of Alexandria. Arab and Coptic sources confirm the burning of the local century library with tens of thousands of books in a fire lasting six months.
With the conquest of Egypt and its long coastline, the appropriation of its wealth and the acquisition of maritime skills, desert Islam has turned into a maritime superpower one seascape after another, preventing Mediterranean Europe from free trade. Just thirteen years since the first invasion of Syria. Where he wins, he introduces a system of “dhimi” of subjects of Christians and Jews, which keeps them alive to work on him and pay high taxes. He is forcing many to convert to Islam, which is spreading through rich Christian North Africa as a fire through a dry forest. By the end of the 7th century, he would reach the Atlantic, bring down the “Mediterranean jewel” of Carthage and cruelly conquer and enslave even stubborn Berbers. As soon as they also convert to Islam to free themselves from slavery, in 708, under a black banner of Islam, they invade Spain, which they take over ten years, and go to France.
Meanwhile, in the east, jihad has conquered almost all of today’s Turkey, and in 717 it first sieges Constantinople. For now, we will draw our teeth and have to settle for the plundering of Armenia, Anatolia and Capadocia that has been going on for decades. This is what the eyewitness records look like:
“Commander Muawiya ordered all the inhabitants to be killed with the sword and set up guards so that no one would escape. When they took all the wealth of the city, they began to torture leaders to divulge their other hidden wealth. Then the Arabs took them all into slavery – men, women, boys and wives – and committed many perversions and immorality in churches. ”
Elsewhere:
“They killed all the inhabitants of the city, one hundred and fifty thousand people. They plundered a city with eight hundred churches and set them on fire. The city was filled with corpses, and no one could count how many had disappeared in flames. Over a thousand virgins have been taken into slavery. ”
And so on, city by city. Six hundred churches destroyed, many virgins taken to slavery. Countless people burned. The whole country smelled of corpses. There was no street where you could walk without crossing the corpses.
Seventy thousand Christians drafted into slavery. Priests and monks burned to death, others skinned from head to toe. Men of all kinds and ages, boys, minors, elders, nobles, villagers, but mainly priests and monks and even bishops, raped by the sin of sodomy.
Quotes from Greek and Arabic sources. And Latin letters to the Roman Pope asking for help. The latter, with a long delay at the end of the 11th century, will come in the form of crusader wars that last for less than two centuries. After them, all dreams of saving Eastern Christianity will end. From now on, there is only jihad, full steam. And other descriptions of battles and conquest of cities.
“Corpses scattered across hills and valleys, chopped limbs scattered across the battlefield, torn heads, slit necks, broken bones, chopped noses, chopped limbs, pierced eyes, cut belly …”
Meanwhile, in Spain ….
Churches all over the peninsula destroyed or converted into mosques. Christian books burned. Deportation of thousands of Christians to African slavery. Thousands of Christian slaves are building Granada’s Alhambra. Four thousand Jews massacred by Muslims in Granada in 1066. But yes, somewhere in the meantime, Jihad-Jihad developed a remarkable culture, read and translated philosophical writings, studied Kabbalah, medicine, mathematics and astronomy, wrote erotic poetry and drank wine , as the Islamic occupiers of Almohade slowly “degenerate” to the level of their subjects. Another invasion and criminal expedition of the new Islamic fanatics of the Almohads against the comforting and overly tolerant Almoravids put an end to this. This was followed by the slaughter of the rest of Christians in Granada, 1164.
At the same time in the east …
Mongol invasions pushed to Anatolia as far as the Dardanelles, in sight of Constantinople, the Turks. Freshly converted to Islam. And assembling an Ottoman military machine determined to “promote Islam with weapons” and “continually and constantly besiege the infidels.” The brilliant machine is the “Janissaries”, kidnapped boys from Christian families into slavery, converted to Islam, and trained in a heartless murder army against Christians. They siege Constantinople several times. After two centuries of almost continuous Jihad throughout Southeast Europe, with 30,000 Hungarians, Serbs and Romanians being routed in one day to Islamic slave markets, in which “a very beautiful slave is sold for a pair of shoes and four Serbian slaves for one horse “.
Despite the heroic but disorganized defenses of knights from all over Europe, Jihad conquers Constantinople in 1435 and introduces a new genre of show business: cutting the defeated Christians to pieces in front of the winning enthusiastically applauding audience for his hilarious applause. The remaining tens of thousands of happily chopped march in chains to slave markets. Islam is gaining a strong base on the European continent, chopping up Romania, Hungary and Ukraine, and settling in Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania.
In 1492, the Spanish Christians defeated the last Islamic possession of Granada and expelled Muslims (and with them Jews whom they could not forgive for being better off under Islam because they could read, write and count). After many attempts to conquer Vienna, after a long siege from the very walls of the city, the Turks were driven back to the Balkans in 1683, thanks to the last-arriving army of the Poles of 25,000 under the command of King John III. Sobieski.
Muslim pirate raids on Mediterranean European cities have continued for two centuries. But this gave Western Europe time for a scientific and technical revolution that could gain the arms and strategic superiority, confidence to regain and dominate Islamic countries. Defeated Islam has no choice but to become the religion of peace for two centuries, as Western liberals now have the naive notion of staying, even if we allow it to turn historical defeat into victory and allow it to be part of our culture and society , as we are forced by the suicidal European liberal elites.
After those two centuries, his innate aggression was forgotten. It is time to remind her again, study her history, watch her revive and defend herself while we are still allowed to publish and read such books.

With Brutal Sophistication and No Internet, Iran Was Quick to Stamp Out Protests
Amos Harel and Yaniv Kubovich/Haaretz/November 27/ 2019
Tehran fears a mass boycott of upcoming elections that might chip away at its legitimacy even more, Israeli intelligence officials say.
Less than two weeks after Iran’s protest wave began, Western and Israeli intelligence agencies believe that the regime in Tehran is on the verge of containing it. The violence, which is thought to have taken around 300 lives, is considered the strongest uprising in Iran since the Islamic Revolution brought the current regime to power in 1979. Israeli intelligence officials believe that the authorities have combined brutality and sophistication to stifle the unrest.
The rioting in Iran began over the weekend at mid-month after the government’s decision to sharply raise fuel prices. The hike was caused by Iran’s economic woes following the tough international sanctions led by the United States.
The regime blames the intelligence services of the United States, Britain and Israel for inflaming the atmosphere and sparking the disturbances. According to Western intelligence assessments, the Iranians believe a campaign is being waged against them led by the United States as part of a plan to bring down the regime. In their eyes, the U.S. sanctions are part of this process, along with the Israeli strikes against Iran’s efforts to entrench itself militarily in Syria.
Besides the growing impact of the sanctions, regime leaders fear that most Iranians are losing their enthusiasm for Islamic revolutionary values and are increasingly questioning the legitimacy of the regime due to allegations that senior officials are tainted by corruption and their families are living lives of luxury. During the most recent demonstrations there were calls akin to “the revolution was a mistake.” Meanwhile, a parliamentary election is set for February, and Tehran fears a mass boycott of the vote that will further undermine the legitimacy of the election process and the regime.
During the failed Green Revolution of June 2009 and other demonstrations in later years, most complaints touched on economic demands, corruption and election rigging. But since 2017, the slogans have been more aggressive, including “death to the dictator.” The regime’s swift and violent response to the protests is part of the lesson learned from 2009: Suppress protests as quickly as possible before they spread.
Despite Iranians’ rage over the worsening economy, and despite the severe turmoil that two governments friendly to Iran – Lebanon and Iraq – have faced over the past month, the Iranian regime is apparently coping. Intelligence agencies describe the events in Iran as a deliberate display of brutal repression. Alongside widespread arrests and the violence against protesters, the regime quickly blocked almost the entire population from the internet.
This shutdown, which seemed planned in advance to be implemented during a crisis, cut Iranians off almost totally from the wider world in less than 24 hours. Thus videos could not be uploaded documenting the violence by the security forces, and demonstrators had a hard time coordinating their moves.
But this move had serious economic implications for the regime itself; the damage is estimated at $1.5 billion. At the beginning of the week the internet in Iran returned gradually and by Monday had reached a connection rate of around 80 percent of normal. It appears the leaders relaxed the crackdown because of the economic fallout and the feeling they had the protests under control. As far as is known, no Western country tried to restore partial service during the demonstrations, even though this would have helped the protesters.
Although the government has had success curbing the disturbances, we can assume that the public’s rage against the regime is now even greater and that major protests will resume the next time there are grounds for a flare-up. Iran’s economy is still in bad shape. For the next fiscal year, projections show the economy contracting by an unprecedented 9.5 percent. The government isn’t paying salaries and is being forced to dip into its national development fund to try to cover the shortfall. There seems to be no way to avoid more sharp cuts in government spending next year.
Despite the criticism of President Hassan Rohani, a relative moderate, Iran’s leaders have closed ranks against the pressure from abroad. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei hasn’t held Rohani responsible for the situation and has backed all his moves. And despite the demonstrations, the regime isn’t rolling back the planned gasoline price hike that spurred the protests in the first place.

The U.S. Must Blunt Russia’s Adventurism in Libya
Ben Fishman/The Washington Institute/November 27/2019
The deployment of Kremlin-linked mercenaries will make a costly civil war even more difficult to end. Until recently, very little had changed in Libya since April, when General Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the self-styled “Libya National Army,” attacked Tripoli. Now, two high-profile stories have highlighted the presence of Russian mercenaries on the front lines of the war and their impact on the fight over Libya’s capital. For the first time, a spokesperson from the U.S. Africa Command confirmed the presence of “Russian private military companies” in the west of Libya (Russia’s presence in the east, away from the fighting, has long been suspect). And in an unusual step, a U.S.-Libya dialogue decried “Russia’s attempts to exploit the conflict against the will of the Libyan people.”After seven months of equivocating about Libya’s third civil war in nearly nine years, the Trump administration has an opportunity to play a meaningful role in stopping it. To do that, however, the administration would have to engage in uncharacteristically aggressive, and disruptive, regional diplomacy. Neither it nor the Obama administration before it has ever given Libya the U.S. attention it deserves.
The stakes are higher this time, with Russia threatening to tilt the balance of power and extend its presence on NATO’s southern flank. The administration can acquiesce to Russia’s spreading influence, or contest it by assembling like-minded states to give one last push to a political solution in Libya.
Libya’s latest civil war has left well over a thousand dead and tens of thousands internally displaced. It has also paralyzed a political process led by the United Nations that sought to bring the country closer to a durable political settlement. Although the internationally recognized Government of National Accord’s forces repelled Haftar’s April assault, Tripoli has since suffered a mix of indiscriminate shelling and precision bombing, which has caused civilian casualties and extensive destruction to neighborhoods.
In addition to aid from Russia, Haftar has been helped by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and (to a lesser extent) France. The Government of National Accord has turned to Turkey to provide its militias with drones, armed vehicles, and other weaponry. A long anticipated UN report is expected to detail such arms transfers, which violate sanctions dating back to 2011. Separately, the UN Mission in Libya estimates that the LNA is responsible for well over 800 drone strikes, while the GNA-supported side is responsible for around 240.
The idea of permitting Russian interference in Libya contradicts the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the National Security Council’s Africa Strategy, which all focus on great power rivalry and countering Russian (and Chinese) influence. Libya is a test case for these strategies. If Russia tilts the war in Haftar’s favor, it will strip the West of influence in Libya either by ensuring pervasive instability or ending hopes of a peaceful political transition. The U.S. has managed to keep a lid on terrorism emanating from Libya after the 2016 defeat of ISIS in Sirte through targeted strikes against Al Qaeda and ISIS-affiliated groups. If the U.S. Africa Command is no longer able to strike targets in Libya and leaves counter-terrorism action to Russia, ISIS will likely reemerge. See Syria for Russia’s track record.
The Nov. 14 statement issued by the State Department condemned the “LNA’s offensive” and Russian interference. Yet skepticism remains about the administration’s seriousness and willingness to act. Since the statement was released, Haftar’s forces have perpetrated a mass-casualty attack on a civilian target in Tripoli and a suspected military target in Misrata.
To allay doubts of a renewed commitment to Libya, the White House needs to reiterate the Nov. 14 U.S. statement—and clarify its response to Russia’s interference. First, the administration should shed more light on Russia’s actions in Libya, to the extent that it can without compromising intelligence sources. Various Libyan and Western officials have cited the presence of between 200 and 1,400 Russian private military contractors, most belonging to the Wagner group linked to one of Vladimir Putin’s close associates. The U.S. should provide an official estimate of the number, and share what it can about their deployment and impact. Russia benefits from the deniability of Wagner; the U.S. should take away that advantage.
Second, the U.S. should threaten to sanction all groups involved in providing arms to Libya, including arms suppliers, shipping companies and insurers. To date, the arms embargo continues to be violated with impunity. The administration has existing authorities to sanction actors who “threaten the peace, security, or stability of Libya,” and the House and Senate have proposed legislation to support such sanctions, particularly against Russia. So far, these sanctions have been applied by both the Obama and Trump administrations only to internal Libyan actors.
Finally, the U.S. must vigorously back the Berlin Conference intended to unite international support for a ceasefire and reconvene a Libyan political dialogue. To do this, the U.S. must lean heavily on its partners in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, and Ankara to commit at least to a pause in arms shipments—or face potential sanctions.
Exposing and isolating Russia in its attempts to tilt the balance of power in Libya may be the best way to stop its attempts to increase its influence in North Africa. As the Trump administration itself acknowledges, that goal is profoundly in the U.S. strategic interest.
*Ben Fishman is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and former director for North Africa at the National Security Council. This article was originally published on the Bloomberg website.

Netanyahu has fallen but his nefarious legacy will endure
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/November 27/2019
One cannot but feel a sense of glee watching the dramatic fall from grace of Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was indicted for fraud, bribery and breach of trust last week. Few expect the most controversial premier in Israel’s history to survive this latest challenge. He has vowed to fight on and he may be able to buy a few months by securing temporary immunity from a divided Knesset, but odds are that he will be tried, found guilty and go to jail.
Netanyahu’s fall will have deep political repercussions for Israel. For more than a decade he was able to reconstruct the political stage in his own image. A gifted orator and committed ideologue, he was able to manufacture and then ride a populist right-wing wave that ensured his own survival — and for him that was always the main goal.
Never mind that he has chased out centrist and left-leaning parties; aligning his Likud party with far-right racist political opportunists. And never mind that he had demonized his critics and opponents, including Israel’s Palestinian citizens, thus creating a culture of fear, discrimination and doubt. And never mind that he had distanced Israel from most of its European allies and America’s Jewish organizations by abandoning the two-state solution. For “King Bibi” it was always about him and his nefarious project: to extend Israel’s authority over all of the West Bank and kill the Palestinian aspiration for self-determination.
Netanyahu’s opportunist tactics helped him to rise to the top almost 30 years ago. He incited religious fanatics and far-right activists against Yitzhak Rabin for signing a peace accord with the Palestinians. Rabin was later assassinated by a Netanyahu follower. The rising star in Israeli politics never showed remorse.
Netanyahu is said to be the most educated and well informed of Israel’s prime ministers. He is able to communicate his message fluently in English as well as in Hebrew. He was never a believer in mutual co-existence, the land-for-peace formula and the two-state solution. To the outside world his message was there was no Palestinian partner to negotiate with. To his extremist followers at home the message was that any peace with the Palestinians would spell the end of the Zionist/Jewish project.
In recent years he was able to create a distraction from the plight of the Palestinians. Iran was now Israel’s main enemy; an enemy that it shared with the Arabs. As he took to the UN General Assembly podium last year, Netanyahu did not once mention the Palestinians. For him they were invisible, underlining his racist and disparaging view of more than five million of them under Israel’s ruthless military occupation.
It is no wonder that during his decade-long rule he was able to wriggle out of Israel’s commitments under Oslo by accelerating the building of settlements to unprecedented levels, especially in Arab East Jerusalem. As the world stood by and did nothing, an emboldened Netanyahu dissected the West Bank, beefing up settlements and building new ones thus making it impossible for the two-state solution to survive. This was to be his enduring legacy.
As the world stood by and did nothing, an emboldened Netanyahu dissected the West Bank, beefing up settlements and building new ones thus making it impossible for the two-state solution to survive.
As he sought a historic fifth-term as premier, Netanyahu faced new challenges. He had become a true king with absolute powers and he had created enemies. Two elections this year had failed to deliver him the prize. Israel had become a divided home — the product of Netanyahu’s own doing — small religious parties that side with the candidate who offers the most concessions, disgruntled former generals who differ little with Bibi’s colonial schemes but are fed up with his corruption and former allies who now believe that they deserve a shot at the coveted job.
Netanyahu has complained of a conspiracy against him and called for “investigating the investigators.” He described the indictment as “an attempted coup.”
Donald Trump’s presidency was essential to Netanyahu’s plan to liquidate the Palestinian issue. The White House has been implementing a far-right Israeli agenda. Now the two men face existential challenges. Trump may well survive the impeachment charge at a Republican-controlled Senate. The same cannot be said of Netanyahu. His downfall is almost certain and while his successor may not be better for the Palestinians, he may be able to change Israel’s political trajectory that Netanyahu has sponsored; one that will surely stigmatize Israel as an apartheid and racist state.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010

Western allies exchange barbs while Iran plans future attacks
Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/November 27/2019
At the Manama dialogue last week in Bahrain, there was clear competition between the US, Europe and Asian powers on who can contribute more to Gulf security. Some officials lamented what they described as US disengagement or withdrawal from the region, and vowed to fill the perceived vacuum.
In response, US officials reiterated Washington’s firm commitment to Gulf security, citing the additional troops and military hardware that the US has dispatched in response to Iranian attacks earlier this year, and the pre-existing American military bases throughout the region and their formidable blue-water navy. They called for greater commitment to support US efforts to build a robust naval coalition to safeguard freedom of navigation in the Gulf.
Those discussions were especially important in light of recent revelations of Iran’s planning and execution of the September attacks on Saudi Arabia, and its apparent intention to launch more of them.
While the world awaits the results of the international investigation of the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi oil facilities, earlier this week Reuters published a credible account verifying Iran’s responsibility for those attacks, and indicating that it is planning new ones.
The report, based on first-hand knowledge, describes how top commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), led by Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, plotted and executed the attacks after getting approval from Iran’s senior leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The Reuters report shows that it was Iran, not the Houthis in Yemen, that carried out the attacks. The plan took months until the order to carry out the attacks was given in early September. The initial list of targets included a seaport in Saudi Arabia, an airport and American military bases, but the plotters settled eventually on the Abqaiq and Khurais oil installations to avoid a direct confrontation with the US.
The report cited several sources corroborating that the launch site was the Ahvaz air base in southwest Iran, but instead of flying directly from Iran to Saudi Arabia over the Gulf, the missiles and drones took circuitous paths to the oil installations, to hide the fact that they came from Iranian territory.
The attacks on oil shipping and Saudi oil facilities were meant, according to the report, to punish the US for pulling out of the nuclear deal and re-imposing sanctions on Iran. One commander was quoted as saying: “It is time to take out our swords and teach them a lesson.”
But the attacks had other sinister objectives as well: Hurting the Saudi economy, destabilizing the oil markets, and putting pressure on the US to change its Iran strategy. More ominously, Iran wanted through those attacks to size up US President Donald Trump and his administration to see how far it could go without provoking an all-out war that Tehran would lose.
The attack cut Saudi oil production nearly in half, reducing global oil supply by about 5 percent. Oil prices went up by about 20 percent. The Reuters report showed Iranian officials gloating over the havoc that the attacks wreaked on oil markets worldwide. But all that was temporary as Saudi Arabia quickly restored supplies and oil prices quickly went down.
The assault on Saudi Arabia followed months of Iranian provocations: Attacks on oil shipping, seizure of oil tankers, and the downing of a US surveillance drone. Although the US was furious, there was no immediate military retaliation.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the attack on Saudi Arabia as an “act of war,” and Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned Iran: “Do not strike another sovereign state, do not threaten American interests, American forces, or we will respond.” The US did impose additional sanctions on Iran and reportedly launched cyberattacks. It also bolstered its military presence in the region.
The Iranian leadership may have concluded that Trump’s bark was worse than his bite. It may calculate that as Trump faces domestic troubles and a difficult re-election contest, he would not risk escalation with Iran. In one of the meetings described by Reuters, an IRGC commander told senior security officials: “Start planning for the next one (attack).”
The conclusion here is that Tehran is serious about further escalating the conflict in the Gulf, but that is not motivating its opponents to unite. In particular, there is less-than-ideal coordination between the US and its partners on the one hand, and the EU and its key players on the other.
Out of deference to Tehran and fear of its withdrawing from the nuclear deal, some EU states are avoiding the appearance of working closely with the US-led coalition, despite the fact that Iran has breached the deal in very serious and material ways. France’s defense minister said her country was conducting its efforts from a French base, and speaking with other European countries to work together, apart from the US.
Greater coordination and collaborative efforts are needed instead of competition and exchanging verbal barbs.
It is not clear who else is joining the French effort, other than a dozen officers from the EU to start working in 2020, which appears to be a token presence for now. On the other hand, the US has welcomed new members to its coalition, which now includes about a dozen members and many more non-members joining its efforts.
Greater coordination and collaborative efforts are needed instead of competition and exchanging verbal barbs. Such commitment is needed now more than ever to counter what has been revealed about Iran’s plans for further attacks in the Gulf, which could be more devastating than the previous ones.
There was an element of truth, perhaps, in the criticism directed at the US at the dialogue last week. While most have acknowledged that the US and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are carrying out the lion’s share of military preparedness and financial cost, they asked for more political direction and clarity from Washington. That observation may be accurate.
*Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the GCC’s assistant secretary-general for political affairs and negotiation, and a columnist for Arab News. The views expressed in this piece are personal, and do not necessarily represent those of the GCC. Twitter: @abuhamad1