English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese,
Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 30/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.november30.20.htm
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2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
We have numerous Talents and all of us are
one body in Christ
Letter to the Romans 12/01-08: “I appeal to you therefore,
brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so
that you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and
perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think
of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober
judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as
in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same
function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are
members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given
to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher,
in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader,
in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on November 29-30/2020
Nothing In The Terrorist Hezbollah is
Lebanese/Elias Bejjani/November 29/2020
Health Ministry: 1266 new cases of Corona, 13 deaths
Al-Rahi Holds 'Important' Talks on Lebanon with Pope FrancisLebanon to ease
virus curbs from Monday
Lebanon to ease virus curbs from Monday
Schools in Lebanon reopen, other sectors gradually/Najia Houssari/November 30,
2020
Hassan Suggests Keeping Lockdown in Some Areas, Says Odd-Even Rule Harmful
Lebanon to Revise Curfew Hours, Reopen Restaurants
Hariri Still Insisting on Govt. of Specialists, Says Alloush
Hariri said to present first draft Cabinet lineup soon
Can Caretaker Government Legalize Public Sector Audit?
Diab Denies Being Hizbullah's PM, Says Did Not Bow to Bassil
Kim Jong Un receives reply message from President of Lebanon
Lebanon qualifies for Asian Basketball Championship after winning over Iraq
Army: Two Sudanese nationals caught trying to enter occupied Palestine from
Lebanon
Frem says he did not regret resigning from Parliament, will return with a
political movement to change the entire system
Biden should look to Lebanon if he wants a deal with Iran/Dr. Dania Koleilat
Khatib/Arab News/November 29/ 2020
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
November 29-30/2020
Israel on High Alert after Iran Vows to Avenge Nuclear
Scientist’s Killing
Questions for Israel Mount after Iran Scientist's Killing
Iran Mulls Response as It Prepares to Bury Killed Nuclear Scientist
Iran vows revenge after assassination of top nuclear scientist
Former CIA official: Iranian scientist was irreplaceable
Iranian scientist's widow: He wanted to be a martyr, his wish came true
Iran approves raising rate of uranium enrichment following killing of senior
scientist
Iranian official: The end of Israel is near
EU condemns elimination of Iranian scientist
J Street condemns killing of top Iranian nuclear scientist
Report: Saudi Crown Prince delayed Israel deal because of US election results
Ethiopia: Military Operation in Tigray Region Over, Hunt for Tigray Leaders
Begins
Afghan Officials Say 34 Killed in Separate Suicide Bombings
New Sanctions on Turkey for Violating Libya Arms Embargo
Titles For The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 29-30/2020
L’Iran et le théâtre des ombres/Charles Elias
Chartouni/November 29/2020
A generation of fighters who died by the sword/Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem
Post/November 29/2020
Court Validates Child Rape: Persecution of Christians, October 2020/Raymond
Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute./November 29, 2020
France must reconnect with its citizens of Arab origin/Faisal J. Abbas/Arab
News/November 29/ 2020
France would not be France without Arab, Muslim contribution/Ludovic Pouille/Arab
News/November 29/ 2020
Republican Senate should thwart US return to JCPOA/Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab
News/November 29/ 2020
Iran’s economy will continue to struggle during Biden presidency/Dr. Majid
Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 29/ 2020
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 29-30/2020
Nothing In The Terrorist Hezbollah is Lebanese
Elias Bejjani/November 29/2020
لا شيء لبناني في حزب الله الإرهابي
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/93002/elias-bejjani-nothing-in-the-terrorist-hezbollah-is-lebanese-%d9%84%d8%a7-%d8%b4%d9%8a%d8%a1-%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%ad%d8%b2%d8%a8-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d9%87-%d8%a7%d9%84/
Sadly, the majority of our Lebanese politicians,
so falsely called political parties, as well as the Terrorist Hezbollah’s hand
picked subservient appointed top officials, and in particular the Christian ones
are mere Trojans.
They are betraying the peace loving Lebanese people, and marginalizing their
deeply rooted great and rich history of 7000 years.
They are evilly practicing with no conscience or shame all sorts of mean
Dhimmitude, cowardice, Taqiyya, Deception, treason, political prostitution,
ethical meanness, stupidity, and ignorance.
Like Judas Iscariot the majority of these Christian Trojans in particular have
sold Lebanon and its people as well as the martyrs, values, and existence with
less than thirty pieces of silver.
They, and with no shame or fear of Almighty God and His Last Day of Judgment are
currently hailing the Terrorist Hezbollah’s crimes, invasions and wars and
feeling sorry not for the victims but for the Hezbollah killers.
These Lebanese deviated Leaders, politicians, corrupted officials and so called
political parties are disastrous on all levels and in all domains.
In reality these leaders and politicians are the actual enemies of Lebanon and
its people.
In a bid to save and liberate our beloved Lebanon from Both the Iranian
terrorist Hezbollah, and at the same time from the current ruling officials and
rotten political we call for the implementation of all the UN resolutions that
address Lebanon’s crisis,
The Armistice Treaty signed with the State Of Israel as well the UN Resolutions
1701, 1559 and 1680
These four resolutions secure in their articles:
*The Liberation of our beloved Lebanon and the reclaiming of its confiscated
independence, freedom and sovereignty.
*The Disarming of all armed militias, Lebanese and non Lebanese and whatever
their names and claims are.
*Give the Lebanese Army and all other Lebanese legitimate armed forces to be the
sole armed Lebanese units on the entire Lebanese soil.
*Give the Lebanese army solely to take control of the Lebanese borders with both
Syria and the state of Israel as well as Lebanon’s maritime borders
May Almighty God Bless and safeguard Lebanon and its loving peace people.
Health Ministry: 1266 new cases of Corona, 13 deaths
NNA/November 29, 2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced, on Sunday, that 1266 new Corona cases
have been reported, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases
to-date to 126,903.
It also indicated that 13 death cases were also registered during the past 24
hours.
Al-Rahi Holds 'Important' Talks on Lebanon with Pope
Francis
Naharnet/November 29, 2020
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has held an “important and noteworthy meeting
in form and content” with Pope Francis in the Vatican, An-Nahar newspaper
reported on Sunday. Al-Rahi traveled to the Vatican specifically to meet with
the pontiff, which gives the one-hour meeting that was held Saturday
“extraordinary indications,” the daily said. “Patriarch al-Rahi expressed to the
pope the concerns of the Lebanese and the fear they have over the possibility of
the loss of the Lebanese religious coexistence model,” An-Nahar added.
Al-Rahi warned that Lebanon and its people, especially Christians, are facing an
“existential danger,” the daily said. “The level of fear of hunger and the
ambition to emigrate are surging in the minds and hearts of the Lebanese, who
now fear for the future of their children,” the patriarch reportedly told the
pope, pointing out that “a quick rescue operation is necessary to pull Lebanon
out of its crisis before it’s too late.” Al-Rahi also urged the pontiff to “play
a role in this rescue process in order to preserve Lebanon’s unity as a model
for coexistence through the Vatican’s international relations.” “Lebanon aspires
to be a unified state that is strong through its people, army and institutions,
and this can happen through positive neutrality whose plan has become ready and
feasible should there be domestic consensus over it,” the patriarch told the
pope. He also invited the pontiff to visit Lebanon.An-Nahar said al-Rahi is
expected to return to Lebanon on Sunday.
Lebanon to ease virus curbs from Monday
AFP/November 29, 2020
Schools would also reopen but with some classes still held online
Restaurants will reopen at 50% capacity, but bars and nightclubs will remain
closed and weddings prohibited
BEIRUT: Lebanon is from Monday to gradually ease restrictions imposed two weeks
ago after a surge in coronavirus infections, in a bid to relieve its struggling
economy in time for the festive season, officials said.
Acting health minister Hamad Hassan told reporters the country “will gradually
reopen from Monday” to give citizens and businesses a respite ahead of Christmas
and end of year holidays.
He said restaurants will reopen at 50 percent capacity, but bars and nightclubs
will remain closed and weddings prohibited, while an overnight curfew will start
from 11 p.m. instead of 5pm. Schools would also reopen but with some classes
still held online, Hassan said after a meeting of Lebanon’s coronavirus task
force. He warned that the “danger” of a rise in infections still exists and that
the hoped-for results to stem the virus thanks to the curbs would not be known
for several days. Before the two-week restrictions went into force in
mid-November, bed occupancy in hospital intensive care units was between 80 and
90 percent while “now it stands at 65-70 percent,” Hassan said.
Since February, the country has recorded more than 125,000 Covid-19 cases,
including around 1,000 deaths. Lebanon, with a population of around six million,
had been recording some 11,000 coronavirus infections on average each week
before mid-November, according to the health ministry.
A first country-wide lockdown imposed in March was effective in stemming the
spread of the virus, before restrictions were gradually lifted as summer
beckoned people outdoors. But the number of cases surged following a monstrous
blast at Beirut’s port on August 4 that killed more than 200 people, wounded at
least 6,500 and overwhelmed hospitals. The blast and the pandemic have
exacerbated tensions in the Mediterranean country which has been grappling with
its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Schools in Lebanon reopen, other sectors gradually
Najia Houssari/November 30, 2020
The death toll in Lebanon has reached 1,000, while the total number of confirmed
cases has jumped to more than 126,000 cases, at a rate of more than 1,200 cases
per day during the past two weeks
BEIRUT: The Ministry of Education will reopen schools for integrated education
starting on Monday. This comes after two weeks of closure and amid objections
from civil bodies and commentators working in the public field.
Hilda El-Khoury, director of the counseling and guidance department at the
Ministry of Education, said: “Returning to education through the combined method
will be within the preventive measures that were previously approved.”
However, the Civil Emergency Authority in Lebanon said: “The decision will lead
to a health crisis affecting the most vulnerable people, namely children and
underage students, especially with the number of cases not declining since
before the closure, and with the noticeable increase in the daily number of
deaths.” The Ministerial Committee for Combating the Coronavirus has meanwhile
maintained its decision to impose a partial curfew in Lebanon but amended its
implementation hours. Instead of starting at 5:00 p.m. each evening, the curfew
now begins at 11 p.m. and ends at 5 a.m., provided that restaurants, cafes and
malls close at 10:00 pm.
During its meeting on Sunday, the committee decided to restore vehicle movement
on roads but maintained the suspension of social activities, cinemas and
nightclubs. Health minister for Lebanon’s caretaker government, Hamad Hassan,
said that the adoption of the strategy, permitting odd/even license plate
vehicles on the roads on alternate days, had doubled the number of COVID-19
cases due to people’s reliance on shared transportation. He said: “The rate of
commitment to complete closure in all Lebanese territories has reached 70
percent over the past two weeks.”
Hassan said that the aim of the measures was to alleviate the pressure on the
medical and nursing staff. “The required medical measures, completed in terms of
expanding the hospitals’ capacity to accommodate the COVID-19 cases, have been
completed,” he said. The death toll in Lebanon has reached 1,000, while the
total number of confirmed cases has jumped to more than 126,000 cases, at a rate
of more than 1,200 cases per day during the past two weeks.
Abdul Rahman Al-Bizri, an infectious disease specialist and member of the
emergency committee on coronavirus, regretted the lack of plans for the period
following the closure due to a lack of coordination on COVID-19 between state
departments. He said that this had kept the country in a state of confusion and
chaos while citizens paid a high price in light of the difficult economic and
living conditions. Al-Bizri said: “The repeated closures are unsuccessful, and
one of their consequences is the decline in economic activity, the life cycle,
and the living conditions.”
Meanwhile, video footage of Health Minister Hamad Hassan went viral on Saturday.
It showed him cutting a cake for the birthday of Hezbollah Secretary-General
Hassan Nasrallah in the open market in Baalbek city.
The video was circulated on social media and caused a scandal following a
similar episode in which the same minister was involved months ago. The people
of his town in the Bekaa met him during the peak of the spread of coronavirus,
and he danced among them carrying a sword. Some people carried him on their
shoulders and other social distancing measures were also not observed. The
Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night-Clubs and Pastries has called
in the past few days for the sector to reopen to save what is left of it.
In a statement issued on the eve of the ministerial committees’ meeting, the
syndicate called on the caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, to “adopt a
health-economic approach for the benefit of the rest of the sector.”
The syndicate added: “The sector has fully fulfilled its duties with regard to
the preventive measures. “We have also advanced a new approach related to the
capacity of institutions, whereby chairs and tables are reallocated to
accommodate only 50 percent of the original capacity, guaranteeing that no
overcrowding will occur. “We insist on adopting this as a new measure, and we
discussed it with the minister of interior, and the sector will reopen its doors
on Monday morning while remaining committed to all procedures and laws.”
Bechara Asmar, the head of the General Labor Union, called for the reopening of
the country “because it secures a return to the economic cycle during the month
of the holidays, protects workers, employees and daily-paid workers in all
private, public, and official sectors, and preserves their livelihood at a time
when they risk having their wages reduced, starving to death or dying of the
coronavirus.”
Hassan Suggests Keeping Lockdown in Some Areas, Says
Odd-Even Rule Harmful
Naharnet/November 29, 2020
Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan has recommended keeping some regions
locked-down over the next 15 days in order to curb the spread of coronavirus.
“The odd-even strategy (for the movement of vehicles according to license
plates) has doubled the coronavirus cases and worsened the situation because it
boosted public transportation,” Hassan said in a radio interview. “We’re heading
to a vaccine in February and caution is required until then,” the minister added
noting that “there will be new measures in terms of imposing a curfew from 7pm
until 5am.”Noting that a two-week lockdown that ends today had been “70%
successful,” Hassan said “the objective behind it was to relieve health
workers.”“The medical issues have been accomplished and the detection team
enjoyed rest during the lockdown period and the outcome is our responsibility
all,” the minister added. His remarks come ahead of a meeting for the anti-coronavirus
ministerial committee in which revised measures will be announced.
Lebanon to Revise Curfew Hours, Reopen Restaurants
Naharnet/November 29, 2020
Lebanon’s anti-coronavirus ministerial committee on Sunday decided to reopen the
country and revise curfew hours, TV networks said. “The ministerial panel has
decided to call for an 11pm-5am curfew and the closure of businesses at 10pm,”
media reports said after the panel convened at the Grand Serail under caretaker
PM Hassan Diab. “The country will be gradually reopened, the odd-even rule will
be lifted and restaurants will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity,” the
reports added. Weddings will meanwhile remain banned while nightclubs and pubs
will remain closed. Speaking at a press conference, caretaker Health Minister
Hamad Hassan lamented that some had tried to “outsmart” authorities during the
two-week lockdown. “We have to reopen the country gradually and responsibly,” he
added. “We must allow the people to breathe economically ahead of the holidays,”
he said. Hassan added that caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi will
announce the details of the reopening plan later in the day.
Hariri Still Insisting on Govt. of Specialists, Says
Alloush
Naharnet/November 29, 2020
PM-designate Saad Hariri is still insisting on forming a government of
specialists that is not loyal to any political party, al-Mustaqbal Movement
politburo member ex-MP Mustafa Alloush said Sunday. “This is irreversible for
him,” Alloush added in an interview with MTV. “President (Michel) Aoun still has
to accept the 18-minister cabinet line-up and Hariri is expected to visit Baabda
but no specific date has yet been set,” Alloush went on to say. He also warned
that Hariri’s stepping down would lead to “a quick deterioration” of the
situations in Lebanon. “No one will be able to bear the responsibility for
that,” Alloush added.
Hariri said to present first draft Cabinet lineup soon
Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star/November 29, 2020
BEIRUT: After a two-week hiatus, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is
expected to meet with President Michel Aoun soon to present him with a draft
Cabinet lineup in an attempt to break the weekslong government deadlock,
political sources said Sunday.
The Cabinet formation process has been at a complete standstill for two weeks in
the absence of meetings between Aoun and Hariri as the two leaders remain poles
apart over the naming of Christian ministers in the next government and the
adoption of unified criteria in the formation.
“Hariri is likely to visit Baabda Palace next week to present President Aoun
with a draft Cabinet lineup. But the visit comes amid high expectations that
Aoun will reject the Cabinet lineup due to differences over the mechanism
adopted by Hariri to pick by himself names of all ministers in his proposed
18-member Cabinet of specialists,” a political source familiar with the matter
said. It would be Hariri’s first draft Cabinet lineup since he was designated to
form a new government on Oct. 22.
Aoun and the leading political blocs reject the notion that Hariri would pick
all Cabinet ministers, and they insist on naming their nominees for ministerial
posts, the source said, adding: “So far, the Cabinet formation process does not
appear to be easy.”
The source added that Hariri, backed by France and regional powers, was
scrambling to quickly form a new Cabinet ahead of an international conference
planned by France on Dec. 2 to drum up humanitarian aid to Lebanon following the
Aug. 4 deadly explosion that devastated Beirut Port and destroyed large areas in
the capital.
Hariri’s forthcoming visit to Baabda was confirmed Sunday by former Future MP
Mustapha Alloush. “Prime Minister Saad Hariri is expected to visit Baabda to
present President Aoun with a Cabinet lineup,” Alloush, a member of the Future
Movement’s Political Bureau, said in an interview with MTV broadcaster. However,
he said he was not sure whether Aoun would accept the proposed Cabinet list.
Asked what criteria Hariri was using in forming the next Cabinet, Alloush said:
“Prime Minister Hariri is seeking to form an 18-member mission government made
up of nonpartisan specialists. The only criterion adopted by Hariri is a
government of specialists who are capable of reaching an understanding with the
international community and an understanding with the International Monetary
Fund [over a $10 billion bailout package].”
He added that Hariri’s proposed Cabinet would not include “members who were
slapped with [US] sanctions.” Alloush was referring to the Nov. 6 imposition of
US sanctions on Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Gebran Bassil over corruption
charges and his ties to Hezbollah, long labeled a terrorist organization by
Washington. The sanctions have further complicated Hariri’s attempts to form a
new government, already stalled by differences with Aoun over the naming of
Christian ministers, as well as by rival factions’ horse-trading for key
ministerial seats. Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, responded to the US sanctions by
hardening his stance and setting conditions for the formation that run counter
to Hariri’s proposed 18-member Cabinet.
Alloush ruled out the possibility of Hariri stepping down for now “because such
a move will further aggravate the economic situation.”
In a radio interview last week, Alloush said “Hariri is insisting on naming all
the ministers,” a major bone of contention between the premier-designate and
Aoun and the FPM’s Strong Lebanon bloc which, with 24 MPs, is the biggest bloc
in Parliament with the largest Christian representation.
An official source said no date has been set yet for a meeting between Aoun and
Hariri in the coming week. “When Hariri wants to come to Baabda, he will call
and come,” the source told The Daily Star.
The source said Aoun and Hariri remained at odds over the naming of Christian
ministers. “Nothing has changed in the [Cabinet] crisis. Hariri is still
insisting on naming the Christian ministers and he has in fact named seven
ministers and left the president with the remaining two Christian ministers to
name [for the Interior and Defense portfolios]. But the president did not agree
to this matter,” the source said, adding: “So far, there have been no new
elements suggesting that a breakthrough is imminent.”
MP Mario Aoun from the Strong Lebanon bloc sounded pessimistic about the Cabinet
formation soon and rejected Hariri’s decision to name all ministers.
“We don’t understand why Hariri doesn’t want to adopt a unified criterion in the
Cabinet formation? He wants to name [all] ministers and everyone knows that the
two Shiite groups [Amal Movement and Hezbollah] will name their ministers and
Hariri will name the Sunni ministers. So why don’t the Christian parties name
their ministers instead of being content with the president naming the interior
and defense ministers, while the other seven [Christian] ministers remain in the
custody of Hariri?” Aoun said in an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa.
Judging by the course of developments, Aoun said, “It seems there will be no
government in the foreseeable term.”
Since his designation to form a new government, Hariri has held nine meetings
with Aoun that have failed to resolve differences over the shape and makeup of
an 18-member Cabinet of nonpartisan experts to implement a series of structural
reforms outlined in the French initiative designed to steer Lebanon out of its
worst economic and financial crisis since the 1975-90 Civil War. The reforms are
deemed crucial to unlocking promised international aid to the crises-ridden
country.
In his latest plea to Lebanese leaders to act to quickly form a new government
to enact reforms, French President Emmanuel Macron, in a letter this week to
Aoun on the 77th anniversary of Lebanon’s independence from France, stressed
that the implementation of the French road map was essential to attracting
international aid and averting Lebanon’s economic collapse. Macron’s office
Friday said France and the United Nations would host a new conference next week
about providing humanitarian aid to Lebanon after the port blast. Macron and UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will co-preside over the video conference on
Dec. 2 which will also include Lebanese nongovernmental groups and other
organizations seeking to help. Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem
cited internal and external reasons, including a reported US veto on the group’s
participation in the next government, for the Cabinet crisis.
“The premier-designate should have met with heads of blocs to choose the
ministers. But his decision not to meet with heads of blocs has delayed [the
formation],” Qassem said in an interview with Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV. “The
approval of parliamentary blocs is essential to the Cabinet formation. This is
what the Americans must understand.”“The external reason is the American
position, which gives signals such as the Americans have said they do not want
Hezbollah to be represented [in Cabinet]. The problem is that the Americans are
exerting pressure to control the [next] government and they are posing a real
obstacle,” Qassem added. “No one from outside [Lebanon], America or others, has
the right to say this group can or cannot participate [in the next government].”
Can Caretaker Government Legalize Public Sector Audit?
Naharnet/November 29, 2020
The resigned government is now obliged to legalize the financial audit of state
institutions, although some oppose allocating this jurisdiction to a resigned
government because it can only convene over emergency and extraordinary
situations, parliamentary sources said. “The resigned government cannot sign a
contract with a financial auditing company, because it would need a new spending
contract to cover the cost of this auditing, and the government cannot secure it
because it is acting in a limited caretaker capacity,” the sources added in
remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. Parliament had voted Friday in favor of a
sweeping financial audit of state institutions, a week after a consultancy firm
terminated its contract to audit the central bank over missing data. The
International Monetary Fund and France are among creditors demanding an audit of
Lebanon's central bank as part of urgent reforms to unlock financial support, as
the country faces a grinding economic crisis. But the central bank has claimed
that provisions including Lebanon's Banking Secrecy Law prevent it from
releasing some of the necessary information, a charge the justice ministry and
legal experts have disputed. Parliament on Friday voted to rule out this
justification, clearing the way for the forensic audit to take place. Economist
and anti-government activist Jad Chaaban called parliament's decision "a tactic
to win time." "You didn't need the lifting of bank secrecy or anything to
conduct the" audit, he said. "The problem is again, how do you allow thieves to
audit thieves?" he added, referring to authorities. The forensic audit of the
Banque du Liban (BDL) is one of the main points of the government's economic
rescue plan, approved at the end of April. Several officials, including the
finance minister, have said the government is expected to replace Alvarez and
Marsal with another consultancy firm soon.
Diab Denies Being Hizbullah's PM, Says Did Not Bow to
Bassil
Naharnet/November 29, 2020
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Sunday denied being “Hizbullah’s
candidate” as he noted that he did not bow to Free Patriotic Movement chief
Jebran Bassil. “I was not Hizbullah's candidate, my government was not
Hizbullah's government and I was rather an independent candidate,” Diab said in
an interview with MTV’s veteran talk-show host Ricardo Karam. Describing his
relation with President Michel Aoun as “very good, cordial and governed by the
constitution,” Diab stressed that he did not bow to the will of Aoun’s
son-in-law Bassil. “My authority was the constitution and I communicated with
him the same as I communicated with the heads of the other blocs,” the caretaker
PM added. “Those who know me know that I cannot be subjugated,” Diab stressed.
As for the rampant corruption in the country, the premier said “the corruption
network is deep-rooted in the country and blocks every reformist project.”
“Unfortunately it has become a culture and we need to destroy this culture and
replace it with the culture of the state,” Diab added, decrying that “corruption
is what is ruling the state today.” As for the catastrophic Beirut port
explosion, Diab said the blast was “a form of corruption.”Asked why he postponed
a visit to inspect the port’s hangar 12 a few weeks before the explosion, which
could have averted the disaster, the caretaker PM said he preferred to wait for
concrete information after he received “conflicting reports” about the nature of
the stored material.
“To date, my government has not received any satellite images of the Beirut port
explosion,” he said about the footage that Lebanon has requested from Western
countries. Asked whether the blast was “deliberate,” Diab said “it is up to the
judiciary and not the executive authority to rule on this.”“Beirut will rise
again as it did in the past,” he reassured. Diab also called for a “technocrat”
new government that can address the country’s multiple crises “away from
divisions.”
Kim Jong Un receives reply message from President of Lebanon
Political Lore/November 29/2020
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un received a reply message from the Lebanese
President Michel Aoun, KCNA reports.
In his message, Lebanon’s President expressed his deep gratitude for the
congratulations sent by Kim on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the
independence of Lebanon.
President Aoun said he highly appreciates those sincere feelings and heartfelt
wishes conveyed to the Lebanese people. Over the decades, the two peoples of
Lebanon and North Korea reflect the excellent relations, which should be
strengthening further. In his letter, President of Lebanon wished Kim good
health as ever and expressed hope he will lead North Korea into further progress
and prosperity. Since 1981 when Lebanon and North Korea have established
diplomatic ties, both countries remain the trade and geopolitical partners.
Lebanon qualifies for Asian Basketball Championship
after winning over Iraq
NNA/November 29, 2020
Lebanon has officially qualified for the AFC Men's Basketball Championship to be
held next year, with a fourth successive victory over Iraq, with a difference of
nine points (78-69) in the match that took place between both teams this
afternoon in the Bahraini capital, Manama, within the "second window" of the
qualifiers. It is to note that Lebanon opened this window on Friday with a
successful victory over India, and it also achieved the full mark in the "first
window" matches that it hosted in the Nohad Nauffal Complex in Zouk Mikael last
February, with two victories over Bahrain (116-73) and Iraq (87-68).
Army: Two Sudanese nationals caught trying to enter occupied Palestine from
Lebanon
NNA/November 29, 2020
A Lebanese Army Intelligence patrol unit arrested two Sudanese nationals with
initials (M.A) and (A.A) in the vicinity of Mays al-Jabal in the South at dawn
today, as they were attempting to cross the technical fence into occupied
Palestine from Lebanon, the Army Directorate said in a statement on Sunday.
The Israeli enemy forces forced them to return to the Lebanese territory.
Investigations with the detainees have begun under the supervision of the
concerned judiciary.
Frem says he did not regret resigning from Parliament, will
return with a political movement to change the entire system
NNA/November 29, 2020
Resigned MP Neemat Frem reiterated, in an issued statement on Sunday, that he
did not regret "resigning from the Parliament Council, especially in light of
the prevailing status quo." Frem said he ran in the parliamentary elections with
the aim of triggering change in the country, but then he resigned when he felt
that he turned into a "false witness" and could no longer achieve anything from
within the council. "When I re-run for said elections, I will return with a
major political movement aimed at changing the entire system," he pledged. "When
I talk about a political movement, I am referring to institutional work that
leads to a structural and fundamental change in political action in Lebanon and
reaches the Parliament, which includes all sects and various Lebanese regions,
and its main goal is the new Lebanon," Frem explained. He added:
"Professionalism and expertise will be the common denominator among all
individuals in this movement, which will be based on productivity in all
sectors. Its goal will be the human being and how to develop one's life, and it
will see the light during the first quarter of the upcoming year." Touching on
the early parliamentary elections issue, Frem said: "My first and preferred
option is to head quickly to parliamentary elections which would yield a new
political class. In this context, however, I am against amending the current
election law, for dwelling on this issue will delay the elections for five
years." He added: "The most important question today is: does the current
parliament still represent the Lebanese people?Referring to the forensic audit
issue, he said: "The political class will not allow it to pass, and its
rejection by some is because it exposes everything. Those involved in corruption
are many, and when a party falls, everyone falls because no one will accept to
fall alone."
"Lebanon today is rapidly sliding into a swamp outside of history, and if it
remains within the axis of unwillingness to open-up to the Arab world and the
West and fails to adopt neutrality, its status will be disastrous," cautioned
Frem.
"Putting an end to theft and corruption, and working to reform the institutions,
advance the economy and achieve societal protection with a specialized
professional class that would restore the true facet of Lebanon, the concept of
productivity and the Lebanese notion of a better life, actually parallels the
issues of sovereignty and arms in the hands of Lebanese legitimacy," the
resigned MP concluded.
Biden should look to Lebanon if he wants a deal with
Iran
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/November 29/ 2020
Iran’s chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in Tehran on
Friday. Fingers are subsequently being pointed at Israel. The US allies in the
region are quite worried about a potential Joe Biden overture toward Iran. For
many in the region, the main concern is not Iran’s nuclear portfolio as much as
it is the malignant activities of Tehran’s proxies, added to its ballistic
missile capabilities.
Fakhrizadeh’s assassination shows that America’s allies are preparing for a
potential US detente with Iran. The rapprochement that was witnessed during the
Obama era does not inspire any optimism. The nuclear deal that was supposed to
convince Iran to give up its ideology and focus on prosperity and growth had the
reverse effect. In order not to lose face and appear to have bowed to the US in
return for some economic perks, the Iranians compensated for its compromise on
the nuclear front with an increase in proxy activities, causing havoc in the
region. This increase in Iranian activity provoked a reaction on the other side,
as the Arab Gulf states felt led down by their American partner and decided to
take their security into their own hands. The result was an increase in
turbulence and tensions in the region.
Today, as President-elect Joe Biden plans to return to the negotiating table
with Iran, which is one of his campaign promises, he faces a dilemma. He wants
to go back to the 2015 nuclear treaty but he does not want to repeat the
mistakes of the past. He has also promised to work with allies and adopt a
multilateral approach. How can he convince Iran to accept a deal that will
include its ballistic missile program and its proxies? Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo’s previous 12-point requirement for the lifting of sanctions was met with
a flat refusal from the Iranian part. Biden has to modify the nuclear deal, but
he also has to introduce conditions that are realistic.
He cannot adopt one of Pompeo’s conditions, which was for Iran to cut all its
connections and financing of its proxies in the region. This is because, since
its inception, the Iranian regime has positioned itself as the protector of
Shiite communities across the Muslim world. It has been nurturing them
ideologically, militarily and economically for decades. It will not give up on
them just to have the US sanctions lifted.
Since politics is the art of the possible, rather than asking Iran to cut its
connections with its proxies, it would be more realistic to ask it to pacify
them.
In addition to the emotional attachment between Iran and its proxies, Tehran
sees them as a deterrent. Iran views itself as being in a hostile environment.
Soon after its inception in 1979, the regime’s neighbors financed Saddam Hussein
to launch a war against it to contain the export of the Khomeinist revolution.
Added to that, embargoes meant Iran was not allowed to modernize its arsenal.
Therefore, the regime sees its proxies as elements that can create a balance of
power or even a balance of terror between Iran and its neighbors.
Since politics is the art of the possible, rather than asking Iran to cut its
connections with its proxies, it would be more realistic to ask it to pacify
them. In this respect, Hezbollah offers a good example. The group is suffering
from Israeli strikes in Syria, while there is talk of a possible overture toward
its backer Bashar Assad on Israel. Hence, the Syrian regime’s support for the
group seems shaky. Meanwhile, at home in Lebanon, US sanctions are starting to
exhaust the group. Hezbollah is also facing popular wrath, as it is seen as
being part of the corrupt political class that has led the country down the
drain.
In this scenario, Hezbollah might be able to compromise if it is offered
guarantees that will secure its survival, while giving it a graceful exit. So
the Biden administration has a chance to score a win in Lebanon by striking a
deal with Hezbollah and Iran. The US can give Hezbollah guarantees that Israel
will not strike its facilities or target its personnel. Israel could also commit
to defining its borders with Lebanon and withdrawing from the Shebaa Farms. In
return, Hezbollah could put its arsenal under the supervision of the Lebanese
Army and the Lebanese state could, in turn, sign a non-aggression pact with
Israel that would not include a normalization of relations but would release the
two countries from mutual aggression. This would be an easy win for the Biden
administration. It would stabilize Lebanon and could pave the way for a larger
deal with Iran.
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on
lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace
Building, a Lebanese NGO focused on Track II. She is also an affiliate scholar
with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at
the American University of Beirut.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 29-30/2020
Israel on High Alert after Iran Vows to Avenge Nuclear
Scientist’s Killing
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday,
29 November, 2020
Israel put its embassies around the world on high alert on Saturday after
Iranian threats of retaliation following the killing of a nuclear scientist near
Tehran. Military experts in Tel Aviv described the assassination of Mohsen
Fakhrizadeh as a “dramatic operation” as significant as the assassination of
Iran's Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in January. Security sources in Tel
Aviv said that Iran is likely to retaliate through its militias or sleeper cells
abroad, because a direct response would trigger to an all-out war. Tehran has
blamed Israel for the assassination. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani threatened
an aggressive response to the killing of Fakhrizadeh, while the Iranian
Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warned that “severe revenge and punishment” has
been put on Iran's agenda. Moreover, Lebanon’s Hezbollah announced in a
statement that it will strongly stand by Iran. A senior US official said that
the United States had nothing to do with the scientist’s killing, reported the
Washington Post. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
discuss a sensitive matter, said there was little doubt Israel was behind the
attack. Dr. Eran Lerman, vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy
and Security, said that the assassination was a message to US President-elect
Joe Biden that Iran’s nuclear program file was not just any other political
file. Lerman revealed that Fakhrizadeh was not only responsible for developing
Tehran’s nuclear program, but in charge of relations with North Korea, which is
seen as a major source of Iran’s nuclear expertise. He added that the
assassination is no less significant that the killing of Soleimani. “This is
strong blow to the Iranian leadership on several levels. First, it is a blow to
its nuclear project. No person is irreplaceable, but it will be difficult to
recover from this blow. Second, the assassination reveals that Iran is suffering
from a serious crisis among its intelligence agencies,” he added. They are
remarkably exposed and easily infiltrated, he added.
Questions for Israel Mount after Iran Scientist's
Killing
Agence France Presse/Sunday, 29 November, 2020
Questions mounted in Israel on Sunday following the assassination of a top
Iranian nuclear scientist, with experts speculating on whether Israeli agents
were responsible, and if so, how Tehran might respond. Iran's President Hassan
Rouhani has blamed Israel for Friday's killing of 59-year-old Mohsen Fakhrizadeh,
accusing it of acting as a U.S. "mercenary" and vowing revenge. Officials in
Israel have declined to comment on the attack near Tehran, which Iran said was
carried out by assailants who opened fire on Fakhrizadeh's car before engaging
his bodyguards in a gunfight. The assassination could been have plucked from a
script of the new Israeli-made television series "Tehran", which features
operatives from the Mossad intelligence agency on a secret mission inside the
Islamic Republic. But if Mossad was responsible, Israeli observers were zeroing
in on the significance of the timing. Did Israel simply see a chance to carry
out an operation long in the planning, or was there a direct link to U.S.
President Donald Trump's imminent departure from the White House? For
left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, the Trump link was clear. "The timing of the
assassination, even if it was determined by purely operational considerations,
is a clear message to President-elect Joe Biden, intended to show Israel's
criticism of the intent to return to the nuclear accord with Iran," it said.
Biden has promised a return to diplomacy with Iran after four hawkish years
under Trump, who withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and began
reimposing crippling sanctions. Biden has said he will prioritize a revival of
the nuclear deal agreed between Tehran and world powers during Barack Obama's
administration, in which Biden served as vice president. Yossi Kuperwasser, the
former head of Israel's strategic affairs ministry, also tied the assassination
to Biden's January 20 inauguration. Those responsible for the killing "had a
short period of time to take action to weaken the Iranian nuclear program and to
convince Biden that once he becomes president he should not return to the
(nuclear) agreement," he said.
'Remember this name'
Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman, author of a 2018 book documenting Israel's
covert assassination of its enemies over the years, said Sunday that such an
attack, deep in enemy territory, "has to be planned for many months, if not for
years." "It cannot be carried out merely by pressing a button," he added,
writing in top-selling Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot. Bergman's piece
highlighted Netanyahu's 2018 television appearance to announce that Israeli
agents had penetrated a "secret atomic archive" in Tehran and removed tens of
thousands of files proving its arms plans. Netanyahu said that Fakhrizadeh
played a central role in those plans, adding "remember this name."Iran denies
its nuclear program has a military purpose.
Retaliation 'postponed'
Rouhani stressed the country would seek its revenge for the attack in "due time"
and not be rushed into a "trap." For Israel's former military intelligence
chief, Amos Yadlin, Tehran was unlikely to respond immediately. "I think, in
this case, since nobody took responsibility and it's part of the covert war,
they might postpone retaliation until at least Trump's last day," Yadlin told
journalists. Tehran could target Israeli scientists, use "proxies" like
Lebanon's Hizbullah to attack Israel, "launch missiles from Iran," or target
Israeli media, he said. Kuperwasser warned that Iran had "a wide variety of
options" for retaliation and Israel needed to "be ready." "These are things that
embarrass the Iranians and they have to make it clear that they will not live
with these types of actions against their interest and retaliate in some type of
way," he said. Local media said Israel had put its embassies abroad on
heightened alert. Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi was due this week to
visit Bahrain, which has just normalized relations with Israel. But he has
canceled the visit to the Gulf state, which like Iran is predominantly Shiite,
diplomatic sources told AFP on Sunday. There was, however, no confirmation that
Ashkenazi changed his plans in response to Fakhrizadeh's killing.
Iran Mulls Response as It Prepares to Bury Killed Nuclear
Scientist
Agence France Presse/November 29/2020
Iran was weighing its response Sunday to the killing of its top nuclear
scientist, which it blames on arch-foe Israel, as his body was taken to Shiite
shrines ahead of being buried. Two days after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh died following
a firefight between his guards and unidentified gunmen outside Tehran,
parliament called in a statement for international inspectors to be barred from
nuclear facilities. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council usually handles
decisions related to the country’s nuclear program. President Hassan Rouhani has
stressed the country will seek its revenge in "due time" and not be rushed into
a "trap."Israel says Fakhrizadeh was the head of an Iranian military nuclear
program, the existence of which the Islamic republic has consistently denied.
His body arrived in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad late Saturday and was
taken to the shrine of Imam Reza for prayers and a ceremonial circling of the
tomb, state news agency IRNA reported. The they were taken Sunday to Fatima
Masumeh's shrine in Qom, south of Tehran, and later to that of the Islamic
republic's founder Imam Khomeini, according to Iranian media. Fakhrizadeh's
funeral will be held Monday in the presence of senior military commanders and
his family, the defense ministry said on its website, without specifying where.
Demands for 'strong reaction' -
Israel has declined to comment on Fakhrizadeh's killing, less than two months
before US President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office following four years
of hawkish foreign policy under President Donald Trump. Trump withdrew the U.S.
from a multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018 and then reimposed and
beefed up punishing sanctions as part of its "maximum pressure" campaign against
Tehran. Biden has signaled his administration may be prepared to rejoin the
accord, but the nuclear scientist's assassination has revived opposition to the
deal among Iranian conservatives. On Sunday, Iran's parliament held a closed
session to "investigate the assassination," ISNA news agency reported. Speaker
Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf called Sunday for "a strong reaction" that would "deter
and take revenge" on those behind the killing of Fakhrizadeh, who was aged 59
according to Iranian media. In an op-ed on Sunday, the ultraconservative Kayhan
daily called for strikes on Israel if it is "proven" to be behind the
assassination. It called for the port city of Haifa to be targeted "in a way
that would annihilate its infrastructure and leave a heavy human toll". That
will "certainly achieve deterrence, since the U.S. and the Zionist regime ...
are in no way ready to fight a war," it added. The United States slapped
sanctions on Fakhrizadeh in 2008 for "activities and transactions that
contributed to the development of Iran's nuclear program." Almost a year after
the US withdrawal, Iran responded by gradually abandoning most of its essential
nuclear commitments under the deal. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
called Saturday for Fakhrizadeh's killers to be punished. On Sunday, parliament
said the "best response" to Fakhrizadeh's assassination would be to "revive
Iran's glorious nuclear industry" by halting the voluntary implementation of the
additional protocol, a document which under the 2015 accord prescribes more
intrusive inspections of Iran's nuclear facilitates. In a statement following
its meeting, the legislature said the killing showed that Israel, the U.S. and
their allies had become "brazen" in their "terror and sabotage" against Iran.
'Mistrust' of inspectors -
Signed by all 290 members of parliament, the statement called for International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to be barred from the country's atomic
sites, said the legislature's news agency ICANA. Some MPs had earlier accused
inspectors of acting as "spies" and potentially leading to Fakhrizadeh's death.
But the spokesman for Iran's atomic energy organization, Behrouz Kamalvandi,
told IRNA on Saturday that the issue of inspectors' access "must be decided on
at high levels" of the Islamic republic's leadership.
Tehran representative Mahmoud Nabavian told Tasnim news agency inspectors should
be barred "from interviewing experts and scientists, since our mistrust of the (IAEA)'s
inspectors has been proven (to be correct)." "The enemy could have identified
martyr Fakhrizadeh either through intelligence work or direct interviews," he
added. Firebrand MP Javad Karimi Ghodousi, had on Friday accused Rouhani of
setting up a meeting between Fakhrizadeh and IAEA officials in the past -- a
claim strongly denied by the Rouhani administration.
Iran vows revenge after assassination of top nuclear
scientist
Jerusalem Post/November 29/2020
Iran vowed revenge on Saturday for the assassination a day earlier of its top
nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, raising the threat of a new confrontation
between the Islamic Republic and the West with just over seven weeks left of US
President Donald Trump’s term in office.
“Once again, the evil hands of global arrogance were stained with the blood of
the mercenary usurper Zionist regime,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.
“Iran will surely respond to the martyrdom of our scientist at the proper time.”
Head of Iran’s covert nuclear weapons program, Fakhrizadeh was shot and killed
in Damavand, east of Tehran on Friday afternoon.
Pictures from the scene showed two vehicles, one damaged in an explosion and
another riddled with bullets in what appeared like a professional hit.
Fakhrizadeh was a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officer and
headed Iran’s nuclear weapons project. He was a professor of physics at the Imam
Hussein University in Tehran and was former head of Iran’s Physics Research
Center (PHRC). He was the only Iranian scientist named in the IAEA’s 2015 “final
assessment” of open questions about Iran’s nuclear program. It said he oversaw
activities “in support of a possible military dimension to (Iran’s) nuclear
program.”
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged to continue the work of
Fakhrizadeh, whom Western and Israeli governments have dubbed the Iranian
version of Robert Oppenheimer, one of the heads of the Manhattan Project.
A military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accused Israel of
trying to provoke “a full-blown” war by killing Fakhrizadeh. “In the last days
of the political life of their... ally (US President Donald Trump), the Zionists
(Israel) seek to intensify pressure on Iran and create a full-blown war,”
commander Hossein Dehghan tweeted.
“We will strike as thunder at the killers of this oppressed martyr and will make
them regret their action,” Dehghan wrote.
Fakhrizadeh has been a target of interest for Israeli intelligence agencies for
the last 15 years.
In 2018, at the unveiling of Iran’s secret nuclear archive acquired by the
Mossad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Fakhrizadeh and said:
“remember that name, Fakhrizadeh.”
The files retrieved by the Mossad focused on Iran’s weapons program known as
“Project Amad,” which was led by Fakhrizadeh. When Iran entered the 2015 nuclear
deal, it denied that such a program existed.
In 2003, Iran was forced to shelve Project Amad, but not its nuclear ambitions.
It split its program into an overt program and a covert one that continued the
nuclear work under the title of scientific knowhow development, Netanyahu said
at the time.
It continued this work in a series of organizations, which in 2018 were led by
SPND, an organization inside Iran’s Defense Ministry led by the same person who
led Project Amad – Dr. Fakhrizadeh, Netanyahu said.
Following Fakhrizadeh’s assassination, Iran wrote a letter to UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council claiming “serious
indications of Israeli responsibility” and that it reserves the right to defend
itself.
Guterres urged restraint. “We have noted the reports that an Iranian nuclear
scientist has been assassinated near Tehran today. We urge restraint and the
need to avoid any actions that could lead to an escalation of tensions in the
region,” Guterres’ spokesman Farhan Haq said.
The death of Fakhrizadeh has the potential to complicate efforts by US
President-elect Joe Biden to revive the detente of Barack Obama’s presidency,
and may lead to confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks of
Trump’s presidency.
“Whether Iran is tempted to take revenge or whether it restrains itself, it will
make it difficult for Biden to return to the nuclear agreement,” Amos Yadlin, a
former Israeli military intelligence chief and director of Israel’s Institute
for National Security Studies, wrote on Twitter.
At least four scientists were killed between 2010 and 2012 in what Tehran said
was a program of assassinations aimed at sabotaging its nuclear energy program.
Iran has always denied pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its aims are only
peaceful.
The United States deployed US aircraft carrier Nimitz with accompanying ships to
the Gulf on Wednesday, shortly before the killing, but a US Navy spokeswoman
said the deployment was not related to any specific threats.
Germany also urged all sides to show restraint. “A few weeks before the new US
administration takes office, it is important to preserve the scope for talks
with Iran so that the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program can be resolved
through negotiations,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
“We therefore urge all parties to refrain from any steps that could lead to a
further escalation of the situation.”
Former CIA official: Iranian scientist was irreplaceable
Aruth Sheva/November 29/2020
Former National Intelligence Manager for Iran says memory of Iranian nuclear
program carried by scientist who was killed made him unique. Norman Roule,
formerly National Intelligence Manager for Iran at the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence in the US, spoke with Efi Triger on Galei Tzahal about the
killing of senior Iranian scientist Muhsin Fahrizadeh, considered the father of
Iran’s nuclear program. Roule would not comment on whether Israel and US were
behind the killing. He emphasized, however, that Fahrizadeh was “definitely an
irreplaceable individual” for Iran. Roule noted that although Fahrizadeh played
no role in Iran’s civilian program, “the memory he carried of Iran’s
weaponization program would make him unique in Iran itself. He also maintained
close relations with Iran's Supreme Leader, NSC leadership and its ministry of
defense. He understood the bureaucratic intricacies of a weaponization
program.”Furthermore, “Much of the information on that program was taken by
Israel when it uncovered a cache of secret documentation. So there may even be
some things that only he would [have remembered] from the time of [Iran’s]
covert weaponization program.”Citing the recent killings of Quds Force commander
Qasem Soleimani and the number-2 official in Al-Qaeda, as well as Israel’s
acquisition of secret nuclear documents and the recent series of unattributed
explosions within Iran, Roule asserted that “Iran has a significant problem in
its ability to hide its most dangerous officials, as well as a number of other
individuals.”“Iran understands that there is little in the country that is
secret or dangerous that cannot be addressed by foreign actors,” he added.
Iranian scientist's widow: He wanted to be a martyr, his
wish came true
Aruth Sheva/November 29/2020
Widow of top Iranian scientist killed on Friday says death of her husband would
spur a thousand others to take up his work. The widow of the Iranian nuclear
scientist Muhsin Fahrizadeh killed on Friday said over the weekend that "he
wanted to get martyred and his wish came true" as she appeared on state TV
following his death, The Daily Mail reported. The unnamed widow said the death
of her husband would spark a thousand others to take up his work. On Sunday
morning, Norman Roule, formerly National Intelligence Manager for Iran at the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the US, spoke with Efi Triger
on Galei Tzahal about the killing of Fahrizadeh, considered the father of Iran's
nuclear program, emphasizing that Fahrizadeh was “definitely an irreplaceable
individual” for Iran. Roule noted that although Fahrizadeh played no role in
Iran’s civilian program, “the memory he carried of Iran’s weaponization program
would make him unique in Iran itself. He also maintained close relations with
Iran's Supreme Leader, NSC leadership and its ministry of defense. He understood
the bureaucratic intricacies of a weaponization program.”Furthermore, “Much of
the information on that program was taken by Israel when it uncovered a cache of
secret documentation. So there may even be some things that only he would [have
remembered] from the time of [Iran’s] covert weaponization program.”
Iran approves raising rate of uranium enrichment following
killing of senior scientist
Aruth Sheva/November 29/2020
Iranian parliament approves raising the rate of uranium enrichment to 20%,
sufficient for the construction of nuclear weapons.The National Security
Committee of the Iranian parliament this morning, Sunday, approved raising the
rate of uranium enrichment to 20%, a degree of enrichment sufficient for the
construction of nuclear weapons. The committee decided to remove all
restrictions and oversight of Iran's uranium enrichment program as per the
nuclear deal with the six powers in 2015. According to Israel Hayom, a spokesman
for the committee, MP Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, announced after the vote: "I
hope our decision will put an end to the nonsense and terrorism that our enemies
are promoting." The move in Iran comes after the elimination on Friday of senior
Iranian scientist Muhsin Fahrizadeh, considered a driving force behind Iran's
nuclear weapons program.
Iranian official: The end of Israel is near
Aruth Sheva/November 29/2020
Iranian officials accuse Israel and the United States of being responsible for
elimination of senior nuclear scientist in Tehran. Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani,
Commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, blamed
Israel for the elimination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. "The
enemy (Israel) does not dare to wage war against Iran like men, but the end of
Israel is approaching ... This assassination is one of the desperate attempts of
the arrogant international thieves,” said Ghaani, according to the IRNA news
agency. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stressed the importance of
prosecuting those involved in the crime of eliminating the scientist. In a
letter to the Iranian nation, Khamenei said the assassination was carried out by
"criminal agents" and that Fakhrizadeh scientific way would continue even after
his death. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also blamed Israel (and the US) for
the murder. Iran's enemies, stated Rouhani, know that the elimination of
Fakhrizadeh will not stop Iran's scientific development but would increase its
determination to continue his work. Iran has in the past claimed that Israel
hires assassins to kill nuclear scientists throughout the Middle East. Between
2010 and 2012, four nuclear scientists were assassinated inside Iran and a fifth
survived a bomb attack. The government in Iran has blamed the attacks on US,
British and Israeli intelligence services.The US and Britain denied involvement,
while Israel has not commented.
EU condemns elimination of Iranian scientist
Aruth Sheva/November 29/2020
EU says elimination of senior Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh is a
"criminal act".The European Union on Saturday condemned the elimination of
senior Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. “This is a criminal act and
runs counter to the principle of respect for human rights the EU stands for,” an
EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said in a statement.
“The High Representative expresses his condolences to the family members of the
individuals who were killed, while wishing a prompt recovery to any other
individuals who may have been injured,” added the statement. “In these uncertain
times, it is more important than ever for all parties to remain calm and
exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid escalation which cannot be in
anyone’s interest,” it concluded. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif,
said on Friday that there were “serious indications” that Israel was involved in
the elimination of the top nuclear scientist and called on the international
community to condemn the elimination. Meanwhile, three intelligence officials
told The New York Times that Israel was behind the attack in which Fakhrizadeh
was eliminated. Top Iranian officials have threatened to avenge the death of the
scientist
J Street condemns killing of top Iranian nuclear scientist
Aruth Sheva/November 29/2020
J Street president defines assassination "an attempt to sabotage the ability of
the incoming Biden administration to re-enter the JCPOA"
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued a statement in response to the
assassination of senior Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. "The
assassination of a senior Iranian nuclear scientist appears to be an attempt to
sabotage the ability of the incoming Biden administration to re-enter the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)", Ben-Ami wrote, "as well as the chances of
further diplomacy, either by limiting the political leeway of Iranian officials
who want to restore the deal, or by triggering an escalation leading to military
confrontation". Ben-Ami claims that "those who oppose the JCPOA will stop at
nothing to kill the agreement once and for all, despite repeatedly being proven
wrong about the deal’s success in blocking Iran’s paths to a nuclear weapon and
the disastrous consequences of Donald Trump’s violation of the pact". "The facts
speak for themselves", Ben-Ami continues, "Iran now has twelve times as much
enriched uranium as when Trump took office. Its forces have openly launched
missiles at US troops. The Iranian people — suffering cruel sanctions in the
midst of a pandemic — blame the United States rather than their own government’s
hardliners for their predicament".
The J Street president says that "thankfully, change is on the way", but states
that for President-elect Biden to have a real opportunity to restore and build
on the JCPOA, "others must step up in the remaining weeks of the defeated Trump
administration". "We call on Congress to make clear that it supports diplomacy
as the primary means to address threats emanating from Iran", Ben-Ami concludes,
"beginning with the restoration of the JCPOA. We call on our allies around the
world to seek calm and refrain from any actions that would further escalate
tensions. We call on the Iranian government not to respond to the provocation of
the assassination, and exercise restraint in anticipation of responsible,
competent American leadership again being in place".
Report: Saudi Crown Prince delayed Israel deal because of US election results
Aruth Sheva/November 29/2020
Officials say Saudi Crown Prince pulled back from normalization with Israel in
part because of US election results. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
pulled back from a normalization deal with Israel largely because of the US
election result, Saudi advisors and US officials told The Wall Street Journal.
Saudi aides said the prince, eager to build ties with the incoming
administration of President-elect Joe Biden, was reluctant to take the step now,
when he could use a deal later to help cement relations with the new American
leader. Other factors played a role in Prince Mohammed’s decision, the officials
told The Wall Street Journal. The crown prince and his father, 84-year-old King
Salman, are still divided over how to address the issue of Palestinian Arabs who
are seeking their own state. Saudi royal advisers said he was aware of his son’s
talks with Israel but that his poor health prevented him from grasping the full
extent of the discussions.“Saudi Arabia is trying to figure out how best to use
this to repair its image in Washington and generate goodwill with Biden and
Congress,” one of the US officials said. The report follows Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu’s secret visit to Saudi Arabia this past week, where he
reportedly met the Saudi Crown Prince. An unnamed senior Saudi official told The
Wall Street Journal after the meeting that Netanyahu and the Saudi Crown Prince
discussed the possibility of normalizing relations between their two countries
but did not reach a substantial agreement. Saudi officials have repeatedly
stressed that while the country backs full normalization with Israel, but a
peace deal with the Palestinian Authority that results in a Palestinian state
must come first.
Ethiopia: Military Operation in Tigray Region Over,
Hunt for Tigray Leaders Begins
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 November, 2020 - 11:00
The Ethiopian government launched a manhunt on Sunday for leaders of a
rebellious faction in the northern region of Tigray after announcing federal
troops had taken over the regional capital and military operations were
complete. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed government has been trying to quell a
rebellion by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a powerful
ethnically-based party that dominated the central government from 1991 until
Abiy came to power in 2018. He said on Saturday evening federal troops had taken
control of the Tigrayan capital Mekelle within hours of launching an offensive
there, laying to rest fears of protracted fighting in the city of 500,000
people. The prime minister, who refers to the three-week-old conflict as an
internal law and order matter and has rebuffed international offers of
mediation, said federal police will try to arrest TPLF "criminals" and bring
them to court.
However, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael told Reuters in a text message on
Saturday evening that TPLF forces would fight on, raising the prospect that the
conflict could drag on. Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and
nearly 44,000 have fled to Sudan since the fighting began on Nov. 4. The
conflict has been another test for Abiy, who took office two years ago and is
trying to hold together a patchwork of ethnic groups that make up Ethiopia's 115
million people. The flow of refugees and attacks by the TPLF on neighboring
Eritrea have also threatened to destabilize the wider Horn of Africa region.
Claims from all sides are difficult to verify since phone and internet links to
Tigray have been down and access tightly controlled since the fighting began.
The police late on Saturday issued arrest warrants for 17 more military officers
charged with crimes in connection with the conflict that include treason and
embezzlement of public properties, state-affiliated Fana TV reported. They add
to the 117 warrants issued for senior military officers it says are connected to
TPLF since the conflict broke out. It was not clear if any TPLF leaders had
surrendered, their whereabouts or their next plans. "Their brutality can only
add (to) our resolve to fight these invaders to the last," the TPLF's Debretsion
told Reuters in a text message on Saturday. Asked by Reuters if that meant his
forces would continue fighting, he replied: "Certainly. This is about defending
our right to self-determination."Debretsion said in another text message that
Tigrayan forces were withdrawing from around Mekelle.
History of resistance
Regional diplomats and experts have warned that a rapid military victory might
not signal the end of the conflict. The TPLF has a history of guerrilla
resistance. Tigray's mountainous terrain and borders with Sudan and Eritrea
helped the TPLF during its long struggle against Marxist ruler Mengistu Haile
Mariam, whom it eventually toppled in 1991. The TPLF and Eritrean forces fought
together against Mengistu, but relations later soured after Eritrea became
independent in 1993. The two nations fought over a border dispute in 1998-2000
and the TPLF sees Eritrea as a mortal enemy. Eritrea signed a peace deal with
Abiy in 2018, and the prime minister won the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
Explosions in Eritrea’s capital
Six explosions were reported in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, on Saturday night,
the US State Department said, although it was not immediately clear if they were
related to the Tigray conflict. The State Department post did not mention the
cause or location of the explosions. Tigrayan forces fired rockets at Eritrea on
Nov. 14. Reuters was unable to reach the Eritrean government or Tigrayan forces
for comment. The TPLF, which denounces Abiy's warm relations with Eritrea, has
accused Eritrea of sending troops to Tigray to join the Ethiopian government's
fight. It has not been possible to contact the Eritrean government for comment
on this. The TPLF also accuses Abiy of wanting to centralize control at the
expense of Ethiopia's 10 regions. The constitution grants the regions
wide-ranging powers over matters like taxation and security. Abiy has denied he
wants to centralize power. This year, Abiy postponed elections scheduled for
August to next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Calling this a power grab,
the TPLF held its own regional elections in September and announced it no longer
recognized federal authority. Abiy's government declared the Tigray election
illegal.
Afghan Officials Say 34 Killed in Separate Suicide
Bombings
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 November, 2020
At least 34 people were killed on Sunday in two separate suicide bombings in
Afghanistan that targeted a military base and a provincial chief, officials
said. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks, which
took place as Afghan government representatives and the Taliban hold
face-to-face talks in Qatar for the first time to end the country’s decades-long
war. In eastern Ghazni province, 31 soldiers were killed and 24 others wounded
when the attacker drove a military humvee full of explosives onto an army
commando base before detonating the car bomb, according to an official in
Afghanistan’s National Security Council, who spoke anonymously because he was
not permitted to speak directly to the media. Ghazni's provincial health
department chief, Zahir Shah Nikmal, also confirmed the death toll and casualty
figures from the attack. Afghanistan's Defense Ministry released a statement
claiming 10 soldiers were killed and nine wounded. The ministry also offered a
different account of what happened than the official at the National Security
Council, saying the vehicle exploded near the army base after security forces
opened fire on the car. It was not immediately clear why there was a
discrepancy. Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said a suicide bombing took
place, though he did not provide further details. The soldiers stationed at the
base were responsible for conducting night raids, providing support to the army
and police forces under siege, and taking part in large-scale operations against
the Taliban and ISIS group in eastern and southern provinces of Afghanistan. The
base is located in a desert region, about three miles (five kilometers) outside
the city of Ghazni. Parts of the base and a nearby police building were
partially destroyed by the powerful explosion. Windows were also blown out in
buildings of the city near to where the bombing occurred. In southern
Afghanistan, another suicide car bomber targeted the convoy of a provincial
council chief in Zabul province, killing at least three people and wounding 21
others, including children, according to provincial spokesman Gul Islam Sial.
The council chief, Attajan Haqbayat, survived Sunday's attack with minor
injuries, although one of his bodyguards was among those killed, said provincial
police spokesman Hikmatullah Kochai. There has been a sharp rise in violence
this year and a surge of attacks by the Taliban against Afghanistan’s
beleaguered security forces since the start of peace talks in September. There
have also been deadly attacks this month claimed by ISIS militants in
Afghanistan, including a horrific attack on Kabul University that killed 22
people, most of them students. The US, meanwhile, plans to withdraw an estimated
2,500 troops before the middle of January, leaving about 2,000 soldiers in
Afghanistan as part of America’s longest war. Afghan officials, however, have
expressed concerns that a rapid reduction in American troops could strengthen
the negotiating position of the Taliban. The US has been pressing in recent
weeks for a reduction in violence, while the Afghan government has been
demanding a ceasefire. The Taliban have refused, saying a ceasefire will be part
of negotiations, although the group have held to their promise not to attack US
and NATO troops.
New Sanctions on Turkey for Violating Libya Arms
Embargo
Berlin - Raghida Bahnam/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 November, 2020
A week has passed since the crisis of the Turkish ship that German troops tried
to search on suspicion of carrying arms to Libya, but the crisis doesn’t seem to
be abating. The European Union has satellite images as evidence on the ship’s
involvement in breaching the arms embargo on Libya.
EU-Irini military analysts had previously spotted military aircraft being
unloaded in the Libyan port of Misrata in satellite images, the German news
magazine Der Spiegel reported. Suspicious cargo was again sighted in November
while the ship was docked in the Turkish port of Ambarli, said the confidential
EU report's authors. Although the Foreign Ministry in Ankara accused the EU of
an “unacceptable” approach, the latter confirmed that there were enough reasons
to inspect the ship. German media outlets quoted European officials as saying
that they suspected Roseline-A and put it under surveillance. They added that
the vessel has moved between Turkish and Libyan ports eight times since the
beginning of the year. Der Spiegel reported that the EU countries are pushing
for new sanctions against violators of the arms embargo on Libya, hinting at
Turkey. The EU imposed sanctions on three companies – one Turkish, one Kazakh,
and one Jordanian – for breaching the embargo. The European leaders are expected
to call for sanctions, decrying Erdogan’s visit earlier this month to the
breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of the island of Cyprus. The European Parliament
adopted a resolution on the Cypriot coastal town of Varosha on Thursday, calling
on the European Council to impose sanctions on Turkey.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on November 29-30/2020
L’Iran et le théâtre des ombres
Charles Elias Chartouni/November 29/2020
شارل الياس شرتوني: إيران ومسرح الظلال/29 تشرين الثاني/2020
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/93025/charles-elias-chartouni-liran-et-le-theatre-des-ombres-%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%b4%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%88/
L’assassinat de Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, coordinateur
du programme nucléaire iranien, déploie une des figurations de la guerre des
ombres qui oppose l’Iran aux USA et Israël suite à la répudiation unilatérale
actée par l’administration Trump ( 8 mai, 2018 ), à la relance du programme de
recherches nucléaires à visée militaire, et aux affrontements alternés qui leur
ont succédées. Contrairement à l’impression communément relayée par l’Iran et
certaines mouvances de la gauche, le côté ombrageux de cet accord,
laborieusement négocié par l’administration Obama et le tandem Rouhani-Zarif au
sein du régime iranien, n’a jamais été dissipé et a failli capoter bien avant
l’accès de l’administration Trump. L’administration Obama a édicté des mesures
de rétorsion financière à l’endroit de l’Iran, en vue de sanctionner sa
duplicité, son louvoiement à l’égard des stipulations de l’accord, ses
recherches et productions balistiques, et son instrumentalisation au profit
d’une stratégie de sabotage et déstabilisation qui s’est étendue sur l’ensemble
du Moyen Orient. L’esprit de l’accord a été déjoué en faveur d’une latitude
manœuvrière qui a donné lieu à une politique de subversion tous azimuts, tout en
laissant planer des doutes sur la nature de l’adhésion au présumé accord.
Les préalables à cet accord laissaient croire à une hypothétique normalisation
du régime iranien, une intégration progressive aux normes de la communauté
internationale, et une forme de desserrement à l’endroit des libertés publique
et privée en Iran. Or il n’en était rien depuis le commencement, lorsque la
démarche et les négociateurs ont été remis en question par les extrémistes du
régime, et le processus n’a avancé que de manière cahotante et à coup de
compromis boiteux entre les différents fiefs d’une révolution islamique
dépouillée de toute légitimité démocratique. Du côté américain, les querelles de
l’investiture démocratique n’ont pas tardé, au lendemain de l’élection de Donald
Trump, à exhiber leurs contradictions, et monter en épingle les divergences de
scénarios en matière de politique étrangère peu soucieuse de consensus, alors
que l’Iran offrait, en l’occurrence, le point de cristallisation de la nouvelle
guerre froide dans ses versions interne et externe. Loin de céder à l’hypothèse
d’une stratégie de changement de régime, comme le laissait entendre John Bolton,
Donald Trump se rétracte de l’accord nucléaire négocié et finalisé par
l’administration d’Obama, dont il cherchait à se démarquer ostensiblement,
propose au régime iranien un accord global basé sur des stipulations
stratégiques ( sécuritaire, économique, et politique ) qui n’ont eu,
paradoxalement, aucun effet d’entraînement, à cause de la stratégie frontale de
rupture adoptée par l’administration Trump, et ses effets contraignants à
l’endroit d’un régime dont la survie est principalement due aux zones d’ombre
qu’il s’est aménagé aux croisements des géopolitiques controversées d’un Moyen
Orient éclaté.
Le complexe obsidional de l’Iran chiite en quête d’amarrages sécuritaires dont
les contours s’alignent sur le tracé de la présence chiite au Moyen Orient, le
récit d’une dystopie religieuse qui tient par les mythes d’une révolution
islamique prématurément discréditée et la politique de répression sauvage à
l’égard de toutes formes de dissidence, et par les avancées hasardeuses d’une
politique d’expansion régionale qui a alimenté les entropies d’un ordre régional
qui n’a jamais pu asseoir une légitimité politique normative, permettent
d’établir les coordonnées d’une idéocracie en état de crise endémique. Les
échecs d’une gouvernance idéologique inepte qui a failli dans tous les domaines
de l’administration publique ( financière, économique, énergétique, sociale,
urbaine, environnementale, sanitaire ,... il suffit de récapituler les
indicateurs respectifs ), la loi d’airain de l’oligarchie religieuse, et la
corruption systémique ont fini par écorner la légitimité d’un régime
révolutionnaire qui prétendait au changement. La politique de nucléarisation ne
se comprend qu’à la lumière de cette instabilité endémique à un régime qui n’a
d’autre recours pour survivre, que la répression à l’intérieur et la
déstabilisation à l’extérieur ( c’est la règle de survie de tous les régimes
arabes ).
Le régime iranien, indépendamment, des alternances démocratiques aux États Unis
et en Israël, est loin de pouvoir engager une politique de normalisation à
l’extérieur, et de libéralisation à l’intérieur, car il entrevoit dans les deux
cas, les prémisses de sa fin imminente. Le recours aux théories complotistes et
aux anathèmes fortement prisés par les totalitarismes du siècle dernier,
n’arriveront jamais à bout d’un échec patent, celui de l’idée et des schémas
politiques de désastre qu’elle a pu inspirer. Les aléas d’une guerre à court de
moyens, les failles sécuritaires évidentes d’un régime aux abois, les effets
délétères d’une gouvernance publique entièrement faillie, les crises économique,
sociale et environnementale, la gestion désastreuse des infrastructures
nucléaires et de leurs doubles sécuritaire et stratégique, renvoient le régime
iranien à ses scotomes idéologiques, aventures militaires hasardeuses, et
politique de terreur comme équivalents fonctionnels à une stabilité aussi
illusoire que convoitée. Les assassinats de l’architecte en chef du plan
nucléaire, de Qassem Suleimani, d’Abou Mohammad al Masri un des chefs d’Al Qaida
réfugié en Iran, le sabotage des installations nucléaires adjacentes à Natanz,
et le vol des archives nucléaires, envoient un message prémonitoire à l’Iran:
c’est soit la fin d’une ère et le commencement d’une nouvelle, ou la
continuation d’un scénario de pourriture et de conflits ouverts que le babillage
idéologique n’est plus en mesure de dissimuler.
A generation of fighters who died by the sword
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/November 29/2020
In some ways it is a tragedy that these men turned their fire and anger against
Israel and the US.
There was a time when Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, his No. 2 Imad Mughniyeh and
IRGC Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani would sit together and feel safe. They
were leading the “resistance” against Israel, and the Jewish state would soon be
defeated, or so they believed. These men had come through the fire of the 1980s,
the civil war in Lebanon, or the Iran-Iraq War, and they knew the privations of
the past.
In some ways, it is a tragedy that they turned their fire and anger against
Israel. These men, like nuclear scientist and general Mohsen Fakhrizadeh who was
killed over the weekend, possessed qualities that surpassed others of their
generation. They had legitimate grievances as well, coming from a time when
Shi’ites were a suppressed minority and suffering the slaughter that Saddam
Hussein’s regime and others had imposed.
However, they channeled their energy from those grievances to set their sights
on the US, Israel and their partners in the region.
Arrogance led them to confront Israel and the US. This was born of the years in
which terrorists could do as they pleased, bombing Jewish centers like the AMIA
in Argentina, killing Jews at synagogues in Europe and being freed quickly by
local authorities with a wink and a nod. After all, the Israeli Olympic team had
been seen as a legitimate target by Palestinians, and most European countries
and coffee-sipping Western diplomats had barely shed a tear.
Surely Hezbollah could stockpile rockets and threaten and kill as it pleased.
Hezbollah’s narrative was that it was resisting Israeli occupation of southern
Lebanon. Then when Israel left, the organization didn’t put down its arms with
any kind of Good Friday Agreement, but planned more killing instead.
That was their mistake. In 2000 when the Second Intifada broke out these men
could have channeled their resources elsewhere.
THEY BELONGED to the same generation. Mughniyeh was born in 1962 and died in
2008. A car bomb killed him in Damascus. Later reports at The Washington Post
said the CIA and Mossad were behind it. Hezbollah vowed revenge.
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was born in 1954 in Basra, Iraq. An activist in the Dawa
Party, he fled to Iran to fight alongside the IRGC against Saddam Hussein. He
planned bombings of US and French embassies in Kuwait, and eventually came to
lead Kataib Hezbollah, the Iraqi version of Hezbollah.
A deputy of the Popular Mobilization Units in Iraq he was a key part of Iran’s
operations in the country and also played a role in defeating ISIS and
supporting the Syrian regime, which in turn worked with Hezbollah. He was killed
in January by a US airstrike after he went to Baghdad International Airport to
greet Qasem Soleimani.
Soleimani was born in 1957 in Kerman, Iran. He was a fighter in the 1980s in the
Iran-Iraq War and gained experience on the frontline and in suppressing Kurdish
dissidents. He also was put in contact with foreign fighters, such as the Badr
Brigade of Iraqis serving with the IRGC. This led him to command the Quds Force
of the IRGC in the late 1990s, putting him in charge of foreign operations.
He became key to supporting Hezbollah and worked closely with Nasrallah and
Mughniyeh, and also with Muhandis and Fakhrizadeh. They were a kind of
brotherhood, and leaders of their generation in Iran. Men whose worldview was
formed in the 1970s and who came of age during the Revolution in Iran. Now in
their sixties, these men were at the pinnacle of achievement, before retirement.
They didn't live to enjoy it, however: Soleimani was killed by a US drone strike
with Muhandis in January.
Fakhrizadeh was born in Qom in 1958. Like Soleimani, he joined the IRGC after
the revolution and grew up in its ranks. Photos now published online show him in
the fatigues of the time, clearly an operator and later an officer, despite his
ostensibly having a more technocratic role as head of the military industrial
complex that was building Iran’s nuclear weapons. He was on America's radar by
the early 2000s and spotlighted by sanctions: by the UN in 2011 and by Israel in
2018. He died in his car driving east of Tehran on November 27, 2020.
IT'S IMPORTANT to understand the generational aspect of these four men who were
killed in assassinations. Two of them were killed by a US drone strike, and Iran
and its allies have sought to blame Israel for the other two – although
commentators have also suggested a US role.
What’s clear is that this is a generation of men who came to the pinnacle of
achievement in their various roles: One in Lebanon, one in Iraq and two in Iran.
This was the arc of Iranian influence, what some call the “Shia crescent” – a
corridor of influence from Tehran to Beirut.
They are unique, and different from the Iranian-backed Shi’ites, because they
knew each other and came of age during the same struggles. For Hezbollah, the
struggle was against Israel in the 1980s, and to assert a muscular Shi’ite role
in politics alongside Amal and other groups.
For the Iraqi Shi’ites, it was a struggle against Saddam – and later they had
the good luck of having a US invasion topple Saddam and having Baghdad handed to
them. All they had to do was go and vote, and demographics brought them to
power.
The question was then whether to turn Iraq into a colony of Iran or make it a
non-sectarian state. Muhandis chose to make Iraq a launchpad for Iranian
ambitions in the region. Similarly, Hezbollah hijacked Lebanon, making it a tool
for military power in the region.
And what of Fakhrizadeh? His goal was to give Iran a nuclear option by becoming
a military nuclear power. This goal was slow – and it was slowed by various
assassinations of other scientists and the Stuxnet computer virus.
Eventually, like his colleagues, he met with an explosion and died by the sword
– the same sword that he and Mughniyeh, Soleimani and Muhandis had sought to
unsheathe and wield against their enemies in Washington, Jerusalem and the Gulf.
Court Validates Child Rape: Persecution of Christians, October 2020
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute./November 29, 2020
One of the men captured confessed that he was "promised a monthly 2000 dollar
payment for fighting against 'kafirs' in Artsakh, and an extra 100 dollar for
each beheaded "kafir." (Kafir, often translated as "infidel," is Arabic for
non-Muslims who fail to submit to Islamic authority, which makes them enemies by
default.) — Armen Press, November 1, 2020, Armenia/Azerbaijan/Turkey.
"It is not possible to get justice in this part of Somalia where almost everyone
is a Muslim. We are being hunted down like wild animals because of putting our
faith in Issa [Jesus]." — The father of a 7-year-old boy who was beaten and
hospitalized, Morning Star News, October 30, 2020, Somalia.
"A sexual act with a minor is felony even if she is willing. The court has
validated a rape despite the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014 that
punishes contractors of child marriage with up to three years' imprisonment....
What is the future of minority girls in Pakistan?" — Samson Salamat, the
Christian chairman of an interreligious organization, Union of Catholic Asian
News, October 28, 2020, Pakistan.
"As an Egyptian, I have rights—including the right to see my daughter and sit
with her and make sure she is okay. If she wishes to follow another path
[Islam], that is her right, but my right is to see her.... She is not some
"chicken" I can forget about... As for the video, I am a father and know well
how my daughter talks, and she [appeared] terrified... Is it that hard for the
Egyptian police to return the girl?" — Coptic Solidarity, October 6, 2020,
Egypt.
In Pakistan, Ali Azhar, 45, kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam, and
"married" Arzoo Raja, a 13-year-old Christian girl, on October 13. Despite the
fact that sexual intercourse with girls under 16 is statutory rape and carries a
minimum prison sentence of 10 years, the High Court of Sindh ruled in favor of
the kidnapper on October 27. Pictured: The building of the Sindh High Court in
Karachi, Pakistan. (Image source: A.Savin/Wikimedia Commons/WikiPhotoSpace)
The following are among the abuses that Muslims inflicted on Christians
throughout the month of October 2020:
Slaughtered Christians and Terrorized Churches
France: On October 29, a Muslim man who wielded a knife entered the Notre Dame
Cathedral of Nice and, while shouting "Allahu Akbar" ["Allah is greatest"],
beheaded a Christian woman and stabbed two others to death. According to one
report:
"Married Nadine Devillers, 60, was the first person attacked by Tunisian
knifeman Brahim Aoussaoui, 21, who slit her throat near the baptismal font.
After he tried to decapitate Devillers [other reports state the beheading was
complete], Aoussaoui hacked 54-year-old sacristan Vincent Loques to death as he
prepared for the first Mass of the day. Brazilian-born Simone Barreto Silva, 44,
was then stabbed multiple times but managed to escape the church, running to a
nearby burger bar where she succumbed to her injuries. The mother-of-three's
last words to paramedics were: 'Tell my children that I love them'. On arrival,
French police shot Aoussaoui 14 times as he screamed 'Allahu Akbar' ... a phrase
he kept shouting even after being sedated and put into an ambulance."
According to an interview with his mother, the 21-year-old murderer had "start[ed]
praying and taking his religion more seriously a few months ago." A Koran and
several extra knives were found in his possession after the attack.
Hours after the attack, police shot and killed another man, who was also
shouting "Allahu Akbar," while threatening passers-by with a handgun in
Montfavet. Two weeks earlier, in Paris, an 18-year-old Muslim beheaded a
teacher, Samuel Paty, for showing a cartoon of Muhammad as part of a discussion
of freedom of expression in class.
Discussing the recent church attack, Nice's mayor, Christian Estrosi, said
"Enough is enough. It's time now for France to exonerate itself from the laws of
peace in order to definitively wipe out Islamo-fascism from our territory."
France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that France was "at war with
Islamist extremism... an enemy that is both internal and external."
Democratic Republic of Congo: On October 28, Islamic militants raided a village
where they slaughtered at least 18 people "in an atrocious way," and torched
their church to the ground. "It really creates pain in our hearts, a total panic
in the village," said a local official. "We don't know if tomorrow the ADF will
come back here again." ADF is an acronym for the Allied Democratic Forces, "an
Islamist militant group" which has been terrorizing the Christian-majority
nation and slaughtering Christians for more than two decades.
Armenia/Azerbaijan: Armenian churches that have come under Azerbaijani control
have been desecrated — despite promises from the authorities to protect them. In
one instance, a soldier — unclear whether an Azeri or a jihadi mercenary from
Syria or Iraq — was videotaped triumphantly shouting "Allahu Akbar!" while
standing atop a church chapel where the cross had apparently been broken off.
Days earlier, on October 8, the Azerbaijani forces shelled and destroyed Holy
Savior, an iconic Armenian cathedral in Shusha that was "consecrated in 1888 but
was damaged during the March 1920 massacre of Armenians of the city by
Azerbaijanis and experienced a decades-long decline."
Syria: An unknown person hurled a grenade at an Armenian church in Hasakh; two
people were injured. No group claimed the attack. Arguing that "Armenians have
always been targeted in the region," the report elaborated:
"In November of 2019, Armenian priest Hanna Ibrahim, and his father Ibrahim
Hanna Bido were shot and killed by sleeper-cells on their way from Hasakah to
Deir al-Zor in order to restore the Armenian memorial church in Deir al-Zor...
This is a clear example of extremists groups specifically targeting religious
Armenian figures and sites. That being said, the recent conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan is likely to give added fuel to the fire when it comes to
persecution of Armenians. Especially when you consider the claims that
Turkish-backed Syrian rebel groups are being sent to Azerbaijan."
Austria: On October 29, a Muslim mob consisting of some 50 people entered and
rioted inside a church in Vienna while screaming "Allahu Akbar." Police, acting
fast, managed to disperse the crowd — much of which had gathered around the
baptismal font and confessionals — and made some arrests. Discussing this
incident, Integration Minister Susanne Raab remarked: "Parallel societies are
the breeding ground for violence. We have to fight every form of extremism and
Islamism right from the start in order to prevent it from getting worse. It is
good that the police intervened...."
Two days later, on October 31, a 25-year-old Afghan man stormed into St.
Stephen's Cathedral where he started to cry out "Islamist slogans."
Italy: A "half naked," 25-year-old man of North African origin broke into and
terrorized a convent for nuns. According to the October 3 report, the man
shouted "Allahu Akbar" several times while breaking down the front door of the
Heart of Jesus Convent in the historic center of Mazara del Vallo. On entering,
he turned the rooms where the nuns live "upside down" and hurled some of their
property outside a window. Luckily, the nuns were not in their rooms but rather
eating in the refectory; they eventually fled and hid outside the building. Due
to all the "bustle and screams," an Italian living near the convent alerted
police, who arrested the man as he tried to flee the scene. The same report
states that a few weeks earlier, another North African migrant created fear and
panic in the streets of Ferrara, Italy, by screaming "Allahu Akbar" while
pretending to be armed.
Mali: After spending nearly five years in captivity in an Islamic group, and
after rejecting invitations to embrace Islam, Beatrice Stöckli, a Swiss
missionary who had been evangelizing in Mali and assisting mostly women and
children since 2000, was killed by her captors. This information was shared by
another French charity worker, also abducted in 2016 but who did convert to
Islam during her captivity, and was released on October 8. A later report offers
more details:
"[Stöckli] was killed ... by members of the Islamist terrorist organisation
Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslim (JNIM). An affiliate of al-Qaeda in Mali and
West Africa, JNIM has been responsible for numerous attacks on Christians and
Westerners since its formation in March 2017. Beatrice Stöckli was kidnapped by
armed men from her home in Timbuktu in northern Mali in January 2016. She had
been previously abducted in April 2012 and endured nine days of torture and
threats at the hands of jihadist group, Ansar al-Dine, before she was freed. On
her release, she decided to return to Timbuktu to continue her missionary work."
Armenia/Azerbaijan/Turkey: Although the region of Nagorno-Karabakh is ethnically
Armenian, it was allotted to Azerbaijan after the dissolution of the USSR,
causing problems ever since, and culminating in open war throughout October.
Several reports and testimonials, one by an independent French journalist,
confirmed that Turkey was funneling jihadi groups — including the pro-Muslim
Brotherhood Hamza Division, which kept naked, sex slave women in prison —
operating in Syria and Libya. Discussing why Turkey was so heavily involved,
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Turkey had returned "to
continue the Armenian Genocide."
Anti-infidel rhetoric and ideology also seem to have motivated the mercenaries
funneled into this latest theater of war by Turkey. One of the men captured
confessed that he was "promised a monthly 2000 dollar payment for fighting
against 'kafirs' in Artsakh, and an extra 100 dollar for each beheaded "kafir."
(Kafir, often translated as "infidel," is Arabic for non-Muslims who fail to
submit to Islamic authority, which makes them enemies by default.)
Attacks on Converts to Christianity
Iran: On October 14, Mohammad Reza Omidi (Youhan), a Christian convert, received
80 lashes for drinking wine, as part of holy communion. According to a report:
"It is illegal for Muslim Iranians to drink alcohol, but exceptions are made for
recognised religious minorities, including Christians. However, Iran does not
recognise converts as Christians. This lack of recognition is also the reason
Youhan spent the last two years in prison and is now living in internal
exile—because of his membership of a house-church, which is the only available
Christian fellowship for converts in Iran."
This is not the first time Youhan was flogged. He first received 80 lashes,
alongside another convert, in 2013, for the same "crime": sipping wine during
communion.
Somaliland: During an October 5 press conference, a Somaliland police colonel
announced that a husband and wife had been arrested for being "apostates and
evangelists spreading Christianity." Police reportedly entered the couple's
house after being alerted by "suspicious activities." On finding Christian
materials inside their home, police apprehended and hauled away the couple, who
have three children. During the same conference, the police colonel repeated
that "whoever dares to spread Christianity in this region, should be fully aware
that they won't escape the hand of the law enforcement officers and that the
spread of Christianity will not be allowed and is considered blasphemy." He also
encouraged citizens to report on those they suspected of being Christian.
Somalia: On October 9, Muslim youths beat and hospitalized the 7-year-old child
of a Christian convert. "My son was attacked by three boys who beat him and
injured his private parts," said the father, whose name is withheld. "He
suffered a swollen and injured face as well as an injured left hand from a
knife. My son lost a lot of blood and was rushed by one of the secret believers
to a nearby dispensary in Dhobley." The father discussed how he and his family,
which includes five children, have been on the run since 2012, when "Muslims
[first] discovered my new faith in Christ." Early on, his wife also converted
and, when her Muslim father learned of it, "He was so furious he forcefully
entered into my room and destroyed some of my belongings, beddings and utensils.
Then he turned to my wife and began slapping her and beat her with a stick,
which led to a miscarriage of a 6-month fetus."
The wife's Muslim father seized his daughter, along with her husband's
possessions, and went to a distant location. Years later, after the convert and
his wife, who had remained Christian, were reunited, in November 2018, "my
father-in-law and other Muslims organized to kill me while I was coming from the
market. Three men stopped me and started beating me with sticks and blows. I
became unconscious." In July 2019 his father-in-law again "entered my house and
started quarreling and uttering abusive words and immediately began slapping her
[his wife] in front of me, and then he took her away the second time and locked
her in his house while she was eight months pregnant." The husband reported the
abduction and police eventually recovered his wife. "After three days, she gave
birth. My father-in-law was locked down in the jail cell [in Kenya]. The Muslims
threatened to kill me, so I requested the police to release him, which they
did." The family has since still been on the run:
"It is not possible to get justice in this part of Somalia where almost everyone
is a Muslim. We are being hunted down like wild animals because of putting our
faith in Issa [Jesus]. Always our security is at stake. We need prayers and
financial support for the treatment of my son."
General Hate for and Abuse of Christian Minorities
Pakistan: On October 13, Ali Azhar, 45, kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam,
and "married" Arzoo Raja, a 13-year-old Christian girl. On that same day, her
parents registered a kidnapping case with local police. Two days later, on
October 15, "we were summoned to the station," explained her father Raja Lal,
"where we were shown documents which claimed that Arzoo was 18 and had willingly
converted to Islam after marrying Ali Azhar." Despite the fact that the National
Database and Registration Authority records Arzoo as being born on July 31, 2007
and is therefore 13-years-old, and despite the fact that sexual intercourse with
girls under 16 is statutory rape and carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in
prison in Pakistan, on October 27, the High Court of Sindh ruled in favor of the
kidnapper/husband by relying on a Sharia stipulation that abrogates all the
rules for those who convert to Islam. According to the court order,
"The petitioner [the 13-year-old] initially belonged to the Christian religion.
However, after the passage of time, the petitioner understood and realized that
Islam is a universal religion and she asked her parents and other family members
to embrace Islam but they flatly refused. Subsequently she accepted the religion
of Islam before the religious person of Madressah Jamia Islamia. After embracing
Islam, her new name is Arzoo Faatima; per learned counsel, petitioner contracted
her marriage to Azhar of her own free will and accord without duress and fear."
On hearing this decision, Rita Masih, the girl's mother — who was apparently
banned from entering the courthouse and who, with her husband, had fallen at and
"even touched the feet of police to meet their daughter" — cried for her
daughter with open arms outside the courthouse: "Arzoo, come to your mama. He
will kill you." She eventually fainted on the pavement. Earlier, when the girl
saw and tried to go to her mother, her Muslim abductor/husband snatched and took
her into the courtroom. Discussing this matter, Samson Salamat, the Christian
chairman of an interreligious organization, stated how he felt about the
position taken by the court:
"I am distressed and disappointed with the position taken by the honorable
court. A sexual act with a minor is felony even if she is willing. The court has
validated a rape despite the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014 that
punishes contractors of child marriage with up to three years' imprisonment. Can
a judge, an army officer or a Pakistani politician tolerate handing over their
minor daughter to a middle-aged man? What is the future of minority girls in
Pakistan? Our courts favor the powerful. We still don't have strong calls from a
joint minority platform on forced conversions."
This is the second recent forced conversion and marriage of an underage
Christian girl just in Karachi. To justify marriage to Huma Younus — a
14-year-old Christian girl who was also abducted, forced to convert to Islam,
and wed to a Muslim man — on February 3, 2020, the Sindh high court in Karachi
ruled that men may marry underage girls once they have their period, in direct
compliance with Islamic sharia law, but against Karachi's own laws. "Our
daughters are insecure and abused in this country," Huma's mother later
remarked. "They are not safe anywhere. We leave them at schools or home but they
are kidnapped, raped, humiliated, and forced to convert to Islam."
Similarly, in August 2020, Maira Shahbaz, a 14-year-old Christian girl, escaped
from the home of Mohamad Nakash — her kidnapper, whom the Lahore High Court had
recently ruled is her legitimate husband despite her and her family's
objections. She fled to a police station, where she gave testimony that included
how she was being "forced into prostitution" and "filmed while by being raped,"
accompanied by threats that the video would be published unless she complied
with the demands of her rapist/husband and friends. "They threatened to murder
my whole family," the girl said. "My life was at stake in the hands of the
accused and Nakash repeatedly raped me forcefully." She and her family are
currently in hiding.
In a separate incident of "religious hatred" in Pakistan, a Muslim man and his
son beat and humiliated a Christian woman in public for arguing with him. On
October 12, Balqees Bibi, the Christian woman, called out in public to a
relative — whose name is distinctly Christian — thereby angering Muhammad Abass
Butt. "Abbas was [always] full of religious hatred against my mother," her son
explained. "He often expressed his anger against Christians in the street, but
everyone ignored him to avoid disputes." On that day, "Abbas started abusing my
mother saying, 'Oh choori! Shut your mouth!' When she argued with him, he
slapped her and dragged her into the street." The report adds:
"Abbas was angry that Bibi, a person he considered socially lower than him due
to her religious identity, had argued with him in public. As Abbas beat Bibi, he
also used an extremely derogatory slur for Christians which labels them as
untouchables. After the attack, Bibi and her family registered a police
complaint against Abbas (FIR # 372/20). However, there police have yet to arrest
Abbas or his son who reportedly joined his father in beating Bibi."
Egypt: On October 3, Magda Mansur Ibrahim, a 20-year-old Christian, disappeared
while traveling to her college. Three days after her parents contacted and
pressured police and local officials to act, a video of the missing girl
appeared on October 6. In it she claimed that she had secretly converted to
Islam six years ago and had now married a Muslim man and therefore wished to be
left alone. In an interview, however, her father said he was convinced that the
video was made under duress. He also asked if it was reasonable to believe that
a 14-year-old girl could be theologically attuned enough to secretly convert to
and clandestinely practice Islam for six years within a Christian household.
Moreover, "How am I to believe," the girl's father inquired, "this video when
Rania 'Abd al-Masih and the Alexandrian girl [Christine Zarif] both previously
published similar videos and in the end they returned and we learned that they
had acted under pressure?" (The statement is a reference to two other Christian
women in Egypt who, after disappearing, also reappeared on videos as eager
converts to Islam, while the truth — that the videos were made under duress —
came out only later.) Magda's father then made an impassioned plea:
"As an Egyptian, I have rights—including the right to see my daughter and sit
with her and make sure she is okay. If she wishes to follow another path
[Islam], that is her right, but my right is to see her .... I therefore ask
State Security, the Minister of Interior and President Sisi to look into [the
plight of] my daughter because I know that she is not safe and is under
pressure. I will never forfeit my daughter .... She is not some "chicken" I can
forget about; she is my flesh and blood.... I am poor and at death's door
[literally, "God's door"], but ... even if they were to publish a million such
videos, it is my right to see her. As for the video, I am a father and know well
how my daughter talks, and she [appeared] terrified and her face changed. As the
very least reflection of my rights as a citizen, State Security should move and
investigate [the whereabouts] of my daughter. Is it that hard for the Egyptian
police to return the girl?"
A few days later, Magda was reported as having been returned to her family.
However, and as with the case of Ranya 'Abd al-Masih, the 20-year-old's return
seems to be conditioned on the family not asking questions, speaking to the
press, filing criminal charges, or even knowing who the responsible parties are.
In a separate incident in Egypt, on October 5, Muslim mobs attacked Christian
homes and beat their inhabitants in the village of Dabous in Samalout. "The
cause of the story," explained Mina, a Christian resident, occurred two days
earlier, when "two Muslim men who don't belong to our village beat a young
Coptic kid [aged 10]. The Coptic men didn't accept that," and a fight erupted:
Muslims — and their dignity — were injured. Two days later, "retaliatory"
attacks began with one Muslim man striking a Christian father and his son with a
hose while they were traveling on motorbike; they fell and were injured. By the
end of that day, on October 5, "all of the Muslims gathered to beat the Copts,"
said Mina. "They damaged the windows and doors, and injured around five or six
persons." Another local Christian man described the incident:
"The attack started with a Muslim woman screaming. The extremists attacked the
Copts' houses, [even though] there were security bodies whose job it is to
protect the church. They did not call the police, but the Copts did. Then the
police came, and the extremists escaped to the farms and grass."
While discussing how a car belonging to a Christian man was destroyed, Mina said
that Muslims in the village had promised to make amends, and that "my father has
gone to the police station to follow the situation, but I will stay home. They
are treacherous and traitorous."
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again and Sword and Scimitar, is a
Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the
David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle
East Forum.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by
extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but
rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or
location.
2020 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part
of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or
modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
France must reconnect with its citizens of Arab origin
Faisal J. Abbas/Arab News/November 29/ 2020
More than ever, France is at the heart of the discussion. Regardless of its
colossal internal challenges, ranging from a weakening economy amid the pandemic
to the necessity of achieving the much-contested reforms needed to put the
state’s finances back on track, President Emmanuel Macron has undertaken a
180-degree shift in priorities that very sadly lifted France to the top of the
news headlines during the past two months.
Amid the trials taking place in Paris for the 2015 terrorist attacks came three
major attacks that shook not only France but the whole international public
opinion. The non-orchestrated attacks that happened within less than 35 days of
each other had in common the re-publication of the offensive caricatures of the
Prophet Muhammed by the very controversial satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The
beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine and the Nice
attacks share the same horrifying style.
Beyond the normal scenes of solidarity a nation witnesses in the aftermath of
humanly shocking events, the fall of 2020, which has seriously wounded France,
will also be remembered as a time when the very old and constantly adjourned
debate on minorities and integration re-emerged in a very passionate and
polarized social and political context. Since its launch in July 2020, Arab News
en Français has been part of the broader Arab News journey of pushing the
boundaries of journalism and creating better understanding. At Arab News, we are
nurturing this culture of walking the extra mile to get closer to our audience
by providing our readers with better insights and more credible research.
Our initiative of tackling the issue of integration by conducting a survey on
the perceptions that French citizens of Arab origin have of their life in France
was launched a few weeks before the last wave of attacks.
While we tend to think that young generations of French Arabs born in France are
more integrated than their elders, our survey shows the contrary: Young
generations have a strong desire to connect with their ancestral roots, while
the older ones are more attached to the values of the French republic.
The unfolding of the events and their consequences were simply a confirmation
that we are not only looking in the right direction, but also pointing to the
real problems. Backed up with real data, we hope to contribute to rationalizing
what appears to become a highly emotional debate on minorities, religion and
integration. The results of the survey conducted for Arab News en Français by
YouGov clearly show that the majority of French people of Arab and Muslim
descent broadly consider themselves as integrated. They describe themselves as
French citizens who adhere to the values of the republic. The study, however,
concludes that in terms of perception, there is a certain level of
stigmatization within this community, which constitutes France’s largest
minority.
This is exactly where the most important question comes into play: Is
integration in France a systemic problem or a perception issue? No matter how
many answers and opinions there are on this complicated question, the
consequences of its constant pertinence are here to stay, at least until further
notice. Religion is a main factor, and it is not exclusive to Islam. According
to our survey, Jews of Arab descent also believe their religion might be a
social obstacle, while Christians of Arab descent do not share the same
sentiment. Being decades old, the unresolved integration debate appears to have
a different impact on different generations and results in an apparent
generational gap, according to our study.
While we tend to think that young generations of French Arabs born in France are
more integrated than their elders, our survey shows the contrary: Young
generations have a strong desire to connect with their ancestral roots, while
the older ones are more attached to the values of the French republic.
If this is to be used as an indicator, it surely points towards an endemic
social exclusion problem that no French government has managed to resolve yet.
It also leads us to believe that this generational gap comes with a
communication gap between French institutions and a large part of the young
French generations.As long as the youth are not heard, they will not listen. In
today’s widely open social media landscape, experience — from Daesh recruitment
campaigns to the Nice decapitations — has proven that no establishment can
afford the consequences of losing the attention of younger audiences. France,
now is the time to reconnect.
• Faisal J. Abbas is the editor in chief of Arab News. Twitter: @FaisalJAbbas
France would not be France without Arab, Muslim contribution
Ludovic Pouille/Arab News/November 29/ 2020
At a time when France has once again been struck by terrorism and targeted by a
hateful online campaign instigated by those claiming the country is Islamophobic,
it is necessary to reiterate some facts.
France has the utmost respect for Islam, a religion with which it has deep
historical and cultural ties. France does not, and will never, confuse Islam
with terrorism. On the one hand, we must all fight together to defeat terrorism
in all its forms. On the other, we must fight extremist tendencies and radical
ideologies. This is a battle we must fight alongside Muslims, who are the
primary victims of terrorism.
Islam is France’s second-largest religion. As reaffirmed by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, the millions of Muslims in France
rightfully belong to our national community. This should never be questioned.
Muslims in France benefit, within the free exercise of their religion, from a
protective framework that we enforce in a spirit of equality among all religious
denominations.
Here are the facts. In France today, there are 3,000 places of worship for
Muslims, state television broadcasts an Islam-related show every week as part of
an evening devoted to religions and there are Muslim chaplains in the army and
in hospitals.
Public authorities maintain a close dialogue with representatives of all
religions, including Muslim organizations that regularly reiterate the
importance of all citizens respecting the laws of the Republic, regardless of
their religion. This is what constitutes the foundation of the French nation.
We would not be what we are today without the immense contribution made by
artists, intellectuals and creators from the Arab and Muslim world to our
cultural heritage, who also contribute to the universal French melting pot.
Ludovic Pouille
With this in mind, we want imams who preach in France to be trained in France.
In addition to religious studies, fluency in French and knowledge of the
Republic’s fundamental principles should be part of this training.
As for foreign funding, we want it to be transparent in order for us to make
sure that it is not the driver of a radical ideology or divisions within French
society. Freedom, equality and fraternity are universal values. They are not the
property of a state; it is up to each and every one of us to protect and promote
them. We must foster dialogue to strengthen mutual respect.
Those are the principles upon which the democratic and secular model of our
republic is built. By not pitting communities against one another, the French
model seeks to be neutral and impartial and that is how it protects all of them.
France has included equality in its motto and strives to ensure everyone’s
differences are respected.
We are and will remain vigilant in the face of any hate speech or racism. While
there may sometimes be tensions, our duty is to ease them. Discrimination and
hate speech go against our values. Our duty is to sanction them and this is what
we are doing.
Beyond the protective legal framework, I would like to recall some facts that I
consider equally as fundamental.
France would not be France without Muslims. France’s cultural history would not
have been the same without this centuries-old interaction with the Orient, which
has always fascinated and inspired our authors, painters, scientists and
architects.
We would not be what we are today without the immense contribution made by
artists, intellectuals and creators from the Arab and Muslim world to our
cultural heritage, who also contribute to the universal French melting pot.
As the French ambassador to Saudi Arabia, I will continue to strongly promote
intercultural dialogue between our two societies, between the youth of both
countries in particular, in an environment characterized by mutual respect and a
constant desire to understand one another because it is the responsibility of
each and every one of us to follow the path of dialogue and tolerance.
• Ludovic Pouille is the French ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Twitter: @ludovic_pouille
Republican Senate should thwart US return to JCPOA
Dalia Al-Aqidi/Arab News/November 29/ 2020
As former Vice President Joe Biden begins his transition into the White House
ahead of January’s inauguration day, he seems determined to begin his four-year
legacy by revising substantial decisions made by his predecessor, President
Donald Trump.
On May 8, 2018, Trump announced one of the most significant decisions of his
presidency: Terminating the US participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA) with Iran and reimposing sanctions that had been lifted under the
2015 deal, which was reached during former President Barack Obama’s time in
office.
When you search Google for “Obama and the JCPOA,” the first result that appears
is a link to Obama’s White House archive with the title, “The Historic Deal That
Will Prevent Iran from Acquiring a Nuclear Weapon.” Indeed, the agreement was
historic and important to its primary beneficiary, the clerical regime in
Tehran.
The JCPOA — also known as the Iran nuclear deal — empowered Iran’s ambitions for
regional dominance and led to the removal of the name of Qassem Soleimani,
then-commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,
from the UN sanctions list.
Under the agreement, Tehran gained the resources to rebuild its arsenal, sponsor
terrorism, and carry out attacks against the US and its allies through proxy
militias in the region. Moreover, the Obama administration shipped $1.7 billion
in cash to Iran in exchange for four American citizens who were being held
hostage by the regime.
The deal did not stop the Iranian ballistic missile program and did not prevent
rockets from targeting US troops in Iraq or falling into Israel.
You may or may not agree with Trump’s foreign policy, but the president's
decision to withdraw from the infamous deal was brave and necessary for US
national security, as well as for the protection of its allies in the Middle
East.
When the Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren,
and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison expressed their outrage and
disapproval of this move, it meant that Trump’s decision was a victory for the
US and the Middle East over the repressive and malign Iranian regime.
Trump’s decision to withdraw from the infamous deal was brave and necessary for
US national security.
Biden’s introduction of his first slate of picks for key Cabinet posts sends a
clear signal that America is getting ready for a third term of Obama’s foreign
policy. Several of them have been associated with Obama, former Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton or Biden himself. Names
like Antony Blinken for secretary of state, Alejandro Mayorkas for secretary of
homeland security, and Jake Sullivan for national security adviser remind us of
the failed policies regarding Iran, Iraq, Daesh, Libya and China.
During his presidential election campaign, Biden continued to criticize his
predecessor’s policy on Iran, implying that his administration would favor a
return to the JCPOA, which is what the Democrats would like him to do.
Technically, it is not up to the Biden administration whether to go back to the
negotiating table without the inclination of the Iranian side. However, the
former vice president wrote in September that he would offer Tehran a credible
path back to diplomacy. “If Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear
deal, the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for
follow-on negotiations,” he emphasized.
The good news is that Iran will be holding its own presidential elections in
June 2021, ending President Hassan Rouhani’s second term, which would limit the
time available for the two leaders to make any significant progress. With that
in mind, the new government in Iran will most likely be more difficult to
negotiate with.
The Republicans should never forget that, while the Democrats celebrated the
death of Osama bin Laden, they strongly condemned the assassination of Soleimani.
However, the latter was also a ruthless terrorist responsible for the deaths of
hundreds of Americans and Israelis, in addition to his victims in Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon and Yemen.
The Republicans need to understand that Iran would not accept new negotiations
without compensation for its financial losses due to the sanctions that were
implemented by the Trump administration. The Republicans should also closely
monitor Iran’s illicit missile program and its terrorist tendencies.
A powerful Iran would be a clear and present danger to Israel and the Gulf
states, and a major obstacle in the way of any future peace agreements between
Israel and any other Arab countries.
Maintaining economic sanctions would weaken the iron fist of the ruling clerics
and empower the Iranian people to revolt against this vicious totalitarian
regime. A majority Republican Senate would play a vital role in limiting
Tehran’s influence, protecting the interests of the US’ major allies in the
region and, most importantly, maintaining the country’s national security.
*Dalia Al-Aqidi is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy. She is a
former Republican congressional candidate. Twitter: @DaliaAlAqidi
Iran’s economy will continue to struggle during Biden presidency
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 29/ 2020
Some politicians, scholars and policy analysts believe Iran’s economy might
rebound after Joe Biden moves into the White House in January. The argument goes
that President-elect Biden will rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),
also known as the Iran nuclear deal, meaning funds will flow back into the
treasury of the Iranian regime, just as they did in 2015.
However, Iran’s situation is more complicated now and, due to several critical
factors, its economy is less likely to rebound to the high levels seen after the
nuclear deal was first struck. After the JCPOA was reached between the P5+1
world powers and Tehran, the Iranian leaders enjoyed a free ride in the global
financial system, not just because of the nuclear deal but also because they
promised the major global financial institutions that they would strengthen the
country’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing rules. Iran pledged
to implement the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) 10 reforms in order to
bring its national laws against money laundering and the financing of terrorism
in line with global standards. As a result of that promise, financial
restrictions were removed and the nuclear deal facilitated the flow of
additional international revenues, foreign trade, business dealings, and
financial capital.
The Iranian leaders’ promises to FATF and other major global financial
institutions were a collection of words rather than action, with Iran having not
acted on all of the 10 reforms. As the Iranian regime continued its funding for
terror groups and money laundering, the Paris-based FATF, which monitors money
laundering across the world, in 2018 gave Tehran a deadline to carry out the
reforms it promised. Marshall Billingslea, the US assistant secretary for
terrorist financing, who presided over the FATF at the time, warned Tehran: “We
expect Iran to move swiftly to implement the commitments that it undertook at a
high level so long ago. In line with that, we expect that it will have adopted
all of these measures by February. If, by February 2019, Iran has not yet done
so, then we will take further steps.” The director of communications at the
International Monetary Fund, Gerry Rice, also urged Iran to strengthen its
anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing rules by the February 2019
deadline.
It was not surprising that Iran did not halt its money laundering and terrorism
financing. In February this year, the FATF’s patience with the Iranian leaders
was over and the global watchdog placed Tehran on the terrorism financing
blacklist, stating that, “given Iran’s failure to enact the Palermo and
Terrorist Financing Conventions in line with the FATF Standards, the FATF fully
lifts the suspension of counter-measures and calls on its members and urges all
jurisdictions to apply effective counter-measures.”
Even if the Biden administration rejoins the nuclear deal, many companies and
financial institutions will be reluctant to deal with Iran.
It follows that, even if the Biden administration rejoins the nuclear deal, many
companies and financial institutions will be reluctant to deal with Iran. That
is why, when 15 countries, including Iranian ally China, this month signed one
of the world’s largest free trade agreements, Tehran was not included. Even
Iranian state-controlled newspaper Asr-e-Eghtesad acknowledged: “Due to Iran’s
non-membership in reputable and powerful organizations such as Shanghai, Iran’s
economy has benefited less from the benefits of globalization and international
relations. This issue has made many foreign investors reluctant to enter the
Iranian market.”
Another Iranian newspaper, Otagh-e-Iran, also pointed to the importance of the
FATF in March. It wrote: “Failure to cooperate with the FATF will result in the
isolation of the country in question. In the case of Iran, these consequences
will be twofold. Because Iran’s economy is not in a normal situation.
Unprecedented economic instability and the return of sanctions against Iran,
along with financial isolation due to non-cooperation with the Financial Action
Task Force, will bring a new shock to the country that the economic strength
will not be tolerated.”
The second reason Iran’s economy will struggle to bounce back is its ongoing
currency crisis. It is unrealistic to think that Iran’s currency, the rial,
which is now trading now at about 250,000 to the dollar, will return to its 2015
value of 25,000 to the dollar. Historically, currencies do not see a 10-fold
increase in valuation in just a few years.
More fundamentally, Iran’s currency crisis is not squarely related to the
nuclear deal. The rial has been declining ever since the establishment of the
regime in 1979 and it continued to fall even at the time of the nuclear
agreement. In 1979, one US dollar was worth 70 rials; about 10 years later it
was roughly equal to 800 rial; in the year 2000, it was worth about 7,000 rials;
in 2010, the currency’s value declined to 20,000 rials to the dollar; and now it
is hovering at about 250,000. This shows that Iran’s currency has lost almost 10
times its value every decade regardless of who is in the White House. The
reasons for this staggering fall include the systemic mismanagement of the
economy, financial corruption among officials and their connections, and the
squandering of the nation’s wealth on supporting terror groups and proxies
across the region rather than improving the economy and creating jobs.
This shows that the Iranian regime’s economy will continue to struggle even if
Biden does rejoin the nuclear deal.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh