LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 30/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
The Parable of the Slaves and the Master who Entrusted them with Different Amounts Of Money to Invest
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19/11-28/:”As they were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. So he said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return. He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds, and said to them, “Do business with these until I come back.”But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to rule over us.”When he returned, having received royal power, he ordered these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, “Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.” He said to him, “Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.”Then the second came, saying, “Lord, your pound has made five pounds.” He said to him, “And you, rule over five cities.” Then the other came, saying, “Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.” He said to him, “I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I was a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.” He said to the bystanders, “Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.”(And they said to him, “Lord, he has ten pounds!”) “I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.” ’After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on October 29-30/2019
Mr Tabet Tabet a Canadian Lebanese citizen Was Arbitrarily Arrsted In Occupied Lebanon
US’s Pompeo calls for new, efficient government in Lebanon
Lebanese PM Hariri resigns after weeks of protests
Men attack protest camp in central Beirut: Al Arabiya's correspondents
Lebanon’s Aoun will not request caretaker cabinet: Source
Hariri 'Relieved' after Resignation as Mufti Calls It a 'Positive Shock'
What's Next after Hariri's Resignation
U.N. Urges Fast Govt. Formation and Restraint in Lebanon
Paris Says Hariri's Resignation Makes Crisis 'Even More Serious'
German FM hopes resignation of Lebanese PM will not undermine stability
Former Lebanese minister Rifi says Hezbollah lost ‘government of guardianship’
Geagea Lauds Hariri’s Move, Urges Independent 'Govt. of Experts'
Lebanon: Politicians Seek to Face Economic Risks, Adopt Anti-Corruption Laws
Al-Hassan Says PM Resignation Prevented Strife, Supporters Urged Not to Protest
Hezbollah, Amal Supporters Wreck Protest Camp in Beirut
The Grievances Underlying Lebanon's Protests
The Two Weeks of Protests that Pushed Hariri to Quit
Hariri, Lebanon's In-and-Out Prime Minister
Lebanon since Rafik Hariri's 2005 Assassination

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 29-30/2019
US House of Representative recognizes ‘Armenian genocide’
IU.S. Launches New Mission in Syria, Vows to Give Oil Revenue to the Kurds
Pentagon chief says that he has seen no sign of Syrian or Russian forces challenging U.S. control of Syrian oil fields
Israel’s UN envoy: Erdogan has turned Turkey into a ‘regional hub for terror’
US House backs measure that would impose sanctions on Turkey over Syria
Iraq’s al-Sadr and his political rival al-Amiri join forces to oust PM
Syrian and Turkish Armies in Deadly Border Clash
Russia says withdrawal of Kurdish forces in northern Syria complete
Six Syria soldiers killed in first border clash with turkey
Jordan recalls envoy to Israel to protest detention of two citizensIsrael’s Netanyahu plans to move funds from civilian to military spending
Egypt Says 13 Militants Killed in Arish
Mladenov: Israel’s Actions ‘Push Us Further’ From Two-State Solution

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 29-30/2019
So We Don’t Get Shocked With Another Baghdadi/Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/October 29/2019
Death of Daesh Leader: An Important Milestone but Not the End of Daesh/Andrew Murrison/Asharq Al Awsat/October 29/2019
To Tackle Climate Change, the (Industrial) Heat is on/Julio/Friedmann/Bloomberg/Asharq Al Awsat/October 29/2019
Iran’s sway strongly opposed in Lebanon and Iraq/Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/October 29/2019
Israel’s dilemma as Gantz bids to form a government/Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/October 29/2019
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on October 29-30/2019
Mr Tabet Tabet a Canadian Lebanese citizen Was Arbitrarily Arrsted In Occupied Lebanon
October 29-30/2019
Petition to Canadian Government/
Mr Tabet Tabet a Canadian citizen with a lebanese background, expressed for years his opinion on the lebanese government's corrupted regime on social media as well as shared his dream for a future democratic Lebanon in which corruption has no place and encourages the leadership of the educated youth to rule the country.
He criticized the FPM (Free Patriotic Movement) and its politicians as well as pointed out their corrupted activities.
Mr Tabet got lots of threats from powerful Lebanese personals over the years including Hezbollah organization supporters and especially their first allies in the lebanese government's FPM politicians who are dominating the government by a majority.
Mr Tabet was finally arrested at Beirut Airport by getting manipulated by his own lawyer, who convinced him that it was safe to visit Lebanon so he could see his family.
Mr Tabet isn’t able to contact the Canadian embassy and is not allowed to make phone calls.
We ask the Canadian authority to contact the Lebanese Government in order to free this exemplary Canadian citizen.
Mr Tabet has never taken part in any political organisation and served for years in the Lebanese Official Army.

US’s Pompeo calls for new, efficient government in Lebanon
Reuters/Wednesday, 30 October 2019
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday urged Lebanon’s political leaders to help form a new government responsive to the needs of its people after Saad Hariri resigned as prime minister after huge protests against the ruling elite. “The United States calls on Lebanon’s political leaders to urgently facilitate the formation of a new government that can build a stable, prosperous, and secure Lebanon that is responsive to the needs of its citizens,” Pompeo said in a statement. Hariri announced his resignation on Tuesday, bowing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests against corruption and sectarianism. “The peaceful demonstrations and expressions of national unity over the last 13 days have sent a clear message. The Lebanese people want an efficient and effective government, economic reform, and an end to endemic corruption,” Pompeo said. “Any violence or provocative actions must stop, and we call upon Lebanon’s army and security services to continue to ensure the rights and safety of the protesters,” he added. Lebanon’s political leaders have appeared shell-shocked, trying simultaneously to express sympathy for the protest movement while warning of turmoil in the case of a power vacuum. It has often taken months for Lebanon’s fractious political leaders to agree on a government line-up, a scenario Lebanon’s backers say the country can ill afford.

Lebanese PM Resigns after Two Weeks of Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 October, 2019
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri submitted his resignation on Tuesday, succumbing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests against corruption and sectarianism. Hariri's express and somber televised address was met by cheers from crowds of protesters who have remained mobilized since October 17, crippling the country to press their demands."It has become necessary for us to make a great shock to fix the crisis. I am going to the Baabda Palace to submit the government's resignation," said Hariri, who had already stepped down twice from the same post.He said his decision comes "in response to the will of many Lebanese who took to the streets to demand change" in protests he called "historic".The move -- which marks the most significant win by demonstrators yet -- will restart the complicated task of parliament forming a new government if it is accepted by the president. President Michel Aoun, a political ally of Hezbollah, could now either accept Hariri’s resignation and begin consultations toward forming a new government, or ask him to rethink. It took nine months to form the Hariri coalition cabinet that took office in January.The resignation came after days of apparently unfruitful efforts to reshuffle posts among Hariri’s uneasy coalition partners and also as tension mounted on the ground between protesters and security forces bent on re-opening the country for business. In his speech on Tuesday, he said he had reached a deadlock, urging the political class to protect the country.
Sami Nader, director of Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, said "Hariri is opening the door to a solution because the resignation is the only way for a decent exit from the current crisis." France, one of Hariri's top allies and Lebanon's key partner in a crucial $11-billion aid plan, voiced its fears that the resignation would "make the crisis even more serious". Germany hoped the resignation will not undermine Lebanon’s stability, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday. “The further development in Lebanon is for us and for the whole region of decisive importance. We hope possible future protests will be peaceful,” Maas told reporters after meeting his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo. “We don’t need a political vacuum (in Lebanon),” he added. A nationwide cross-sectarian protest movement has gripped Lebanon for almost two weeks, calling for an overhaul of a political class viewed as incompetent and corrupt. Banks and schools have remained closed and the normally congested main arteries in Beirut blocked by protesters, despite the government's adoption of an emergency economic rescue plan last week.
Banks and schools will remain closed on Wednesday.
'Not enough'
After Hariri's announcement, protestors across the country erupted in applause. Hundreds gathered in the northern city of Tripoli, as well as the southern city of Sidon, from where his family hails. In Tripoli -- home to festive protest raves -- large crowds gathered in the main al-Nour square waving the Lebanese flag. "This resignation is welcome but it is not enough. It is only one part of a larger list of demands," said Tima Samir, a 35-year-old mother of two. "We want the entire system to change and well stay on the streets until all our demands are met,” he said according to AFP. In Sidon's central square, people sang and danced, as stores gave away free sweets.
Ahed Madi, a demonstrator, said the festive scenes in the city were especially "symbolic.""Saad Hariri is from this city and this city has always embraced him. But today, the people want change," he told AFP. Protesters have insisted on a complete overhaul of the country's sectarian-based governance and celebrated the emergence of a national civic identity. Tens of thousands of people joined hands across the country on Sunday, from Tripoli in the north, to Tyre in the south, to symbolize a newfound national unity. The protests had been relatively incident-free, despite tensions with the armed forces and attempts by party loyalists to stage counter-demonstrations. But prior to Hariri's speech on Tuesday, dozens of rioters descended on a rally site near the government headquarters, where they attacked protesters, torched tents, and tore down banners calling for "revolution", said an AFP correspondent in the area. The counter-protesters chanted slogans hailing the leaders of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Amal head and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri as they pushed roadblocks aside and provoked protesters.

Men attack protest camp in central Beirut: Al Arabiya's correspondents
Nadia al-Faour, Special to Al Arabiya EnglishTuesday, 29 October 2019
Men in black shirts reported to be supporters of Hezbollah and Amal have attacked and burned tents in downtown Beirut, as Prime Minister Saad Hariri is set to deliver a speech in which he is rumoured to resign at 4:00 p.m. Beirut time (5:00 p.m. Dubai time) on Tuesday.
Al Arabiya's correspondents reported seeing groups of men reported to be Hezbollah and Amal supporters attacking and trashing tents which had been put up by protesters in downtown Beirut. Lebanese security forces fired tear gas in central Beirut as the purported Hezbollah and Amal supporters attacked protesters, according to an Al Arabiya correspondent. Photographs taken by Al Arabiya staff showed tents trampled under foot and broken. Some protesters had been occupying areas of central Beirut, including Martyr's Square, with tents. Other tents were set up by civil society organizations and charities. Protests in Lebanon began on October 17 and have since gripped the entire country. The attacks on tents in central Beirut come as Prime Minister Saad Hariri is expected to announce his resignation in response to the protests. Hariri is a rival of the Shia political organizations Amal and Iranian-backed Hezbollah. However, Amal and Hezbollah have a stake in the current government, and their leaders have called on their followers to restrain from joining the protests.

Lebanon’s Aoun will not request caretaker cabinet: Source
Reuters, Beirut/Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Lebanese President Michel Aoun is studying Prime Minister Saad Hariri's resignation letter and will not issue a request for the cabinet to take on a caretaker role on Tuesday, a source in the presidency said. Hariri submitted his resignation on Tuesday, declaring he had hit a “dead end” in trying to resolve the country's crisis amid an unprecedented wave of protests against Lebanon's ruling elite.

Hariri 'Relieved' after Resignation as Mufti Calls It a 'Positive Shock'
Naharnet/October 29/2019
As soon as Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation, popular delegations, dignitaries, clerics, former prime ministers, incumbent ministers and al-Mustaqbal Movement MPs from different areas flocked to the Center House to express their support for his decision to resign. The visitors included former PMs Tamam Salam and Fouad Saniora, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan and the ministers Raya al-Hassan, Mohammed Choucair, Adel Afiouni and Jamal Jarrah. Hariri told his visitors: “I just want to say: May God protect Lebanon and we hope to get out of this impasse and we hope that the country will be fine.”He said he was relieved because the resignation was in response to what the people wants, and said: “We will all stay together.”
Mufti Daryan expressed his solidarity with Hariri’s stance. He said: “Premier Hariri’s resignation puts all officials before their historical and national responsibilities to preserve Lebanon’s stability and security, the dignity of the Lebanese people and their decent living.”He added: “The resignation of Prime Minister Hariri represents a positive shock to all the officials and the Lebanese to agree on solutions that take the country out of the deadlocks and crises from which the Lebanese suffer.”

What's Next after Hariri's Resignation
Associated Press/Naharnet/October 29/2019
The resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday meets a key demand of Lebanon's anti-government protesters but will also plunge the country into even greater uncertainty, with no clear path to resolving its growing economic and political crisis.
THE BACKGROUND
The political settlement that ended Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war distributes power and top offices among the country's Shiites, Sunnis and Christians. The complex sectarian system has mostly kept the peace, but it has made major decisions extremely difficult and contributed to long periods of political gridlock. The Western-backed Hariri had served in a national unity government dominated by rival factions allied with the militant Hizbullah group, whose supporters attacked the main protest camp in central Beirut on Tuesday. He had proposed the creation of an emergency Cabinet made up of a small group of technocrats to steer the country toward necessary reforms, but his governing partners refused. A point of dispute emerged over Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun. The protesters have trained much of their vitriol on the two men, who are allied with Hizbullah, but Aoun has reportedly insisted on remaining in office and keeping Bassil in his post. Hizbullah, which has three ministers in the government, has stuck by its allies and was opposed to Hariri's decision to resign.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
If he accepts his resignation, Aoun will task the now-resigned government to continue in a caretaker capacity. Under the constitution, he then has to hold binding consultations with the heads of parliamentary blocs to ask them for their choice of a new prime minister. He could then appoint Hariri or another individual from the Sunni community to form a government. In Lebanon's system, the presidency is reserved for a Christian, the prime minister is Sunni and the parliament speaker is Shiite. Aoun has the right in principle to reject Hariri's resignation, but he could then refuse to call for Cabinet meetings.
The process of forming a new Lebanese government typically takes several months. It took Lebanon's factions 2 ½ years to agree on the current president, and it took nine months to form Hariri's now-embattled government.
This time, however, the country is in the grip of a severe economic crisis that has only worsened since the protests began, with banks, schools and businesses having been closed for two weeks.
ROCKY PATH AHEAD
Political tensions also are rising after Tuesday's clashes.
"In this context, it is incredibly difficult to see them agreeing on any one new name," said Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
That would leave Hariri in place as head of a caretaker government.
"His capacity to address the economic crisis and possible economic and financial collapse will be curtailed even more," Yahya said. "A devaluation of the Lebanese pound will likely lead to even more social unrest and turbulence on the street." The protesters have adamantly rejected the entire political class, calling for overthrow of the postwar regime. Acquiescing to those demands would essentially require those who have led the country for three decades to legislate themselves out of existence. The leaders reject that.

U.N. Urges Fast Govt. Formation and Restraint in Lebanon
Naharnet/October 29/2019
U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Tuesday urged Lebanese authorities to “act decisively and quickly to form, within the constitutional norms, a new government responding to the aspiration of the people” in the wake of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation.
In a statement, he said the new government should be able to gain the Lebanese people’s confidence, to provide security, law and order, and to pursue and implement “deep reforms and changes, to stop the economic decline and put the country on the track of recovery, sustainable development, inclusive growth, and stability, preserving the unity of Lebanon and its people.”“In the meantime, he urges the authorities to preserve the stability of the state and its institutions and to ensure their smooth functioning,” a statement issued by Kubis’ office said.
“He calls upon all leaders, and political forces to refrain from rhetoric and action that could inflame tensions and incite confrontation and violence, to all Lebanese people to maintain calm and show restraint,” the statement added.
The Special Coordinator also urged the legitimate security forces to “maintain law, order, and security, to take action against those that instigate violence, regardless of their party affiliation and to protect demonstrating civilians that need to maintain the peaceful character of their protests.”
“He reminds the political parties that they bear the full responsibility for the behavior and action of their supporters and for controlling them, especially if they provoke clashes with peaceful protesters or security forces,” the statement added. “The U.N. remains committed to supporting Lebanon, its political independence, stability, security, unity, and territorial integrity,” it said.
By resigning, Hariri bowed to one of the central demands of anti-government demonstrators. The resignation came shortly after baton-wielding Hizbullah and AMAL Movement supporters rampaged through the main protest camp in downtown Beirut, torching tents, smashing plastic chairs and chasing away protesters. The demonstrators later returned to the camp in time to hear the news that Hariri said he was stepping down after hitting a "dead end" in trying to resolve the crisis, which has paralyzed the country for nearly two weeks. The protesters erupted in cheers at the news.
The Beirut rampage marked a violent turning point in Lebanon's protests, which have called for the resignation of the government and the overthrow of the political class that has dominated the country since the 1975-1990 civil war. The government is dominated by factions allied with Hizbullah, the most powerful armed group in the country. Hariri had reluctantly worked with those factions as part of a national unity government that had failed to address an increasingly severe economic and fiscal crisis. "I tried all this time to find an exit and listen to the voice of the people and protect the country from the security and economic dangers," Hariri said. "Today, to be honest with you, I have hit a dead end, and it is time for a big shock to confront the crisis."Hariri's resignation fulfills a key demand of the protesters but plunges the country into even greater uncertainty, with no clear path toward the fundamental political change they are demanding. The economy, which was in the grip of a major fiscal crisis even before the protests began, is now at risk of collapsing, with banks, schools and many businesses having been closed for two weeks.A proposed tax on the WhatsApp messenger service ignited protests Oct. 17, sending hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in the largest demonstrations in more than a decade. The protests soon widened into calls for the overthrow of the political elites who have ruled the country since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Paris Says Hariri's Resignation Makes Crisis 'Even More Serious'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 29/2019
The resignation of Lebanon's government in response to nearly two weeks of countrywide protests has made the crisis there "even more serious," France's foreign minister said Tuesday."Prime Minister (Saad) Hariri has just resigned, which makes the crisis even more serious," Jean-Yves Le Drian told parliament in Paris, and urged the authorities in Lebanon "to do everything they can to guarantee the stability of the institutions and the unity of Lebanon." Hariri earlier announced he was submitting the resignation of his government, bowing to rising public pressure. His televised statement was met with cheers from crowds of protesters demanding change. Le Drian said a condition for stability in any country "is a willingness to listen to the voice and demands of the population." "Lebanon needs a commitment from all political leaders to look within themselves and make sure there is a strong response to the population," said the minister, offering France's help. A nationwide protest movement has gripped Lebanon for almost two weeks, calling for an overhaul of a political class viewed as incompetent and corrupt.

German FM hopes resignation of Lebanese PM will not undermine stability
Reuters, Cairo/Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Germany hopes the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri will not undermine the country’s stability, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday. “The further development in Lebanon is for us and for the whole region of decisive importance. We hope possible future protests will be peaceful,” Maas told reporters after meeting his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo. “We don’t need a political vacuum (in Lebanon),” he added.

Former Lebanese minister Rifi says Hezbollah lost ‘government of guardianship’
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Former Lebanese Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi commended Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri after resigning from his position as head of government, while adding that Hezbollah has lost a government that “was dedicated to guardianship and corruption.” “Hariri has won himself and his people and Hezbollah has lost a government dedicated to guardianship and corruption which it tried to maintain through violence and black shirts,” Rifi said in a tweet on Tuesday after Hariri resigned on live television. Rifi was referencing an incident earlier in the day when men in black shirts reported to be supporters of Hezbollah and Amal attacked and burned tents of protesters gathered in downtown Beirut.He added in a series of tweets that he stands behind the uprising of the Lebanese people in their “difficult struggle.” “This settlement has fallen and this term has plunged Lebanon into disaster,” Rifi said in a tweet pointing to the current government of President Michel Aoun.

Geagea Lauds Hariri’s Move, Urges Independent 'Govt. of Experts'
Naharnet/October 29/2019
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea lauded Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation on Tuesday, saying it came “in response to the massive popular demand.”“What’s important now is to go to the second step, which is essential and truly needed in order to overcome our current crisis,” Geagea said.
The second step should be “the formation of a new government of experts, who should be known for their integrity and success, and most importantly totally independent from the political forces,” Geagea added. He also called on security agencies to “preserve the safety of demonstrators across Lebanon after the ugly attacks they came under today in central Beirut,” referring to an attack by supporters of Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement on the main protest site in downtown Beirut and on protesters on the Ring highway.

Lebanon: Politicians Seek to Face Economic Risks, Adopt Anti-Corruption Laws
Beirut /Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 October, 2019
The political movement resumed part of its activity after 12 days of protests that paralyzed Lebanon. Parliamentary blocs and ministers moved in more than one direction to activate anti-corruption legislation and other ministerial issues related to financial and economic files, amid information that the crisis could be long. In Ain Al-Tineh, Speaker Nabih Berri received a delegation from the Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc, whose secretary, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, said that the aim of the visit was to discuss urgent matters within the framework of parliamentary work. He reiterated the need to adopt legislative proposals the bloc had previously presented, related to anti-corruption, accountability and recovery of looted wealth. Kanaan said that Berri would “activate the work and ask the parliamentary committees to start studying all proposals and the 2020 draft budget, without any delay.”
Parliamentary sources quoted by LBCI channel said the government was “responsible for referring the draft laws that they want to pass to the House of Representatives.” The same sources said that the adoption of some bills could not be done overnight, as they needed to be discussed in the relevant parliamentary committees. The sources did not rule out the convening of parliament in a regular session scheduled for November 5. In Baabda, MP Edgard Traboulsi announced in a statement that he had visited President Michel Aoun and conveyed to him “citizens’ complaints about the closure of public roads and the insults they face at checkpoints, which remind them of militia days.” He called on “the political authority and security forces to assume their responsibilities by opening roads and ensuring freedom of movement and protection of citizens.”'

Al-Hassan Says PM Resignation Prevented Strife, Supporters Urged Not to Protest
Naharnet/October 29/2019
Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation was necessary to prevent “civil strife” in the country. “PM Saad Hariri’s resignation was necessary to prevent a descent into civil strife,” al-Hassan tweeted, noting that the risk of violence had been manifested in the attacks on protesters in central Beirut which occurred shortly before Hariri’s announcement. Al-Mustaqbal Movement meanwhile issued a statement urging its supporters to refrain from staging street protests over Hariri’s resignation, after they blocked several roads in the capital and northern Lebanon and in the Naameh area south of Beirut.

Hezbollah, Amal Supporters Wreck Protest Camp in Beirut
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 October, 2019
Supporters of the Hezbollah and Amal movements fought with protesters at a roadblock on a main road in Beirut on Tuesday, pulling down their tents and leading police to step in. The men were chanting in support of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, head of Amal.
The incident started when the men pushed their way into the protest camp set up by demonstrators on the Ring Bridge in central Beirut, trying to make them open the road. They then made their way to the nearby Martyrs’ Square – the main camp of protesters who had taken to the streets since October 17.
The men, many of them wielding batons, rampaged through the camp, torching tents, smashing plastic chairs and chasing away protesters. The rampage marked a violent turning point in Lebanon's protests, which have called for the resignation of the government and the overthrow of the political class that has dominated the country since its 1975-1990 civil war. The men who attacked the protesters initially presented themselves as disgruntled residents, frustrated that the protests have paralyzed the country. But later they could be heard making pro-Hezbollah and Amal chants.
The counter-protesters lashed out at reporters covering the melee, kicking some of them and reaching for their cameras. It was unclear how many people were wounded. Fights broke out among some counter-protesters and security forces could be seen beating some people with batons.
Security forces later fired tear gas to disperse them, but only after they had destroyed and set fire to several tents. The protests have thus far been largely peaceful, with only occasional minor scuffles with security forces trying to open the roads. Hezbollah supporters had clashed with protesters and security forces in the nearby Riad al-Solh Square last week. People from all sects and walks of life have flooded the streets for 13 days, furious at a sectarian ruling elite they accuse of plundering state resources for personal gain.
They are demanding the resignation of the government and the ruling elite. Later Wednesday, Prime Minister Saad Hariri submitted his resignation to President Michel Aoun. Protesters have resorted to blocking roads throughout the capital and other major arteries in the country to press their demands.

The Grievances Underlying Lebanon's Protests
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 29/2019
An unprecedented protest movement has gripped Lebanon for almost two weeks, demanding an overhaul of a political class viewed as incompetent and corrupt. An announced tax on calls made through free phone applications sparked the demonstrations, but that was just the latest in a long list of economic grievances that have spurred exasperated Lebanese to protest.
Here are some of them:
- Poor services -
Residents in Lebanon complain of unmaintained roads and inadequate public transport, as well as endless power cuts. Most Lebanese pay two bills for their power -- the first to an ailing state electricity company, and the second to expensive private generators for the three to 12 hours each day when mains supply cuts out. Consultancy firm McKinsey ranked the country's electricity supply fourth from bottom in the world, following Haiti, Nigeria and Yemen, in a report covering 2017 and 2018. Reforms to the electricity sector have not been implemented since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. A new electricity plan was approved in March but has not been implemented. Many say they are fed up with paying the state for intermittent tap water they describe as undrinkable. Most also pay for drinking water and private tankers to deliver water when pipes run dry.
- Poverty and unemployment -
More than 25 percent of Lebanon lives in poverty, the World Bank says.
Unemployment stood at 10 percent in 2012, according to official figures, though many claim the real number is higher.
It estimated that 200,000 Lebanese have been pushed into poverty as a result of the eight-year civil war in neighboring Syria.
An additional 250,000 to 300,000 Lebanese citizens are estimated to have become unemployed, most of them unskilled young people.
In the northern city of Tripoli, which has emerged as a nerve center of the protests, 57 percent of the population live at or below the poverty line, according to a 2015 study by the United Nations.
More than a quarter of the city's residents suffer extreme poverty, it said.
- Inequality -
Inequality has been a major rallying call of the protesters.
The top one percent of the population make nearly 25 percent of national income while the bottom 50 percent make little more than 10 percent, according to the World Inequality Database.
- Corruption -
Lebanon ranked 138th out of 175 countries in Transparency International's 2018 corruption index, with different sectarian leaders accused of running demi-fiefdoms.
- Dollar shortage -
In recent weeks it has become difficult to withdraw dollars from ATMs, despite the Lebanese pound being pegged to the greenback. Unofficial money exchangers have been selling dollars for far above the fixed rate of 1,500 pounds.
- Stalling growth -
Growth in Lebanon has plummeted in the wake of endless political deadlock in recent years, compounded by the 2011 breakout of civil war in neighboring Syria. It stood at around 0.2 percent in 2018, far below growth of more than 10 percent in 2009. It is expected to remain stagnant this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
- Colossal debt -
Economists are deeply concerned by the country's crippling debt of $86 billion.
This equates to roughly 150 percent of gross domestic product, one of the highest rates worldwide. Eighty percent of that debt is owed to Lebanon's central bank and local banks.
- Deficit -
Lebanon adopted its first budget in 12 years last year.
But by the end of 2018, it had failed to make good on a promise to donors to reduce its budget deficit, which reached a record $6.2 billion -- over 11 percent of GDP. This year's budget, adopted seven months late, aims to reduce the deficit to 7.6 percent of GDP.Saad Hariri, who resigned as prime minister Tuesday, promised last week after days of protests to reduce it to 0.6 of GDP under the 2020 budget. Economists said this was unrealistic.
- Blocked aid -
In July, parliament passed an austerity budget as part of conditions to unlock $11 billion in aid pledged at a conference in Paris last year.
But with no real progress made on reforms since, the financial aid has been held up.Lebanon has received only part of the aid promised at several previous conferences, after it failed to honor its promises to bring about substantial economic change.

The Two Weeks of Protests that Pushed Hariri to Quit
Associated Press/Naharnet/October 29/2019
Lebanon has been gripped by unprecedented anti-government and anti-austerity protests for nearly two weeks, pushing Prime Minister Saad Hariri to announce sweeping economic reforms then offer to resign on Tuesday.
Here is a recap:
- Apps tax anger -
Demonstrations erupt on October 17, just hours after the government announces a tax on calls made via messaging services like WhatsApp. Thousands take to the streets in the capital Beirut and the cities of Sidon and Tripoli, some chanting "the people demand the fall of the regime".
There are clashes near government headquarters in Beirut, as demonstrators try to storm the building. Security forces say around 40 of their members are wounded. They fire tear gas to try to disperse crowds. Hundreds of protestors also block major highways and set refuse bins and tires alight. The government scraps the messaging app tax later the same day.
- Demos grow -
On October 18, thousands of demonstrators from a broad spectrum of sects and political affiliations bring the capital to standstill. They demand an overhaul of the political system, citing grievances from austerity measures to poor infrastructure. Hariri gives his coalition government partners three days to support a reform drive. Security forces reopen some highways and fire tear gas and water cannons to disperse a huge crowd in Beirut's central Riad al-Solh Square, a main rallying point. Security forces say 70 protesters are arrested.
The demonstrations swell over the following days, with major gatherings also in second city Tripoli and other locations across the country.
- Reforms announced -
On October 19, the Lebanese Forces party pulls its four ministers from the cabinet. On October 21, Hariri announces his government has approved a raft of economic reforms, including halving salaries of lawmakers and ministers.
But the protests continue, with demonstrators dismissing the new measures as insufficient and a desperate move by the political class to save their jobs.
- Hizbullah calls in supporters -
On October 25, the head of the powerful Shiite movement Hizbullah, which with its allies holds the majority in parliament, tells his supporters to not take part in the protests. "We do not support the resignation of the government," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says. On October 26, loyalists of Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement mobilize counter-demonstrations across the country, sparking scuffles with demonstrators.
Their ally the Free Patriotic Movement also stages separate smaller rallies supporting its founder, President Michel Aoun. But Hizbullah faces pressure, with protests breaking out in some of its strongholds, an unprecedented development in the politically fractured country. Also on October 26, at least six civilians are reportedly wounded when soldiers confront protestors trying to block a road near Tripoli.
The following day, tens of thousands of protesters form a 170-kilometer (105-mile) chain across the country to symbolize national unity.
- Resignation -
On October 29, dozens of counter-demonstrators descend on Riad al-Solh Square and attack anti-government protesters, torching tents and tearing down banners that call for "revolution". Less than an hour later, Hariri announces in a televised address that he will submit his and his cabinet's resignation to Aoun later in the evening.

Hariri, Lebanon's In-and-Out Prime Minister
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 29/2019
Saad Hariri, who stepped down Tuesday as Lebanon's premier for a third time, was propelled into politics by his billionaire father's assassination but has struggled to stamp the same authority on his fractious country. The announcement followed almost two weeks of unprecedented cross-sectarian protests demanding an overhaul of Lebanon's entire political system.The 49-year-old, who sports trademark slicked-back hair and a closely cropped beard, was thrust onto the political stage after his father Rafik, himself an ex-premier, was assassinated in a February 2005 car bomb attack.
But he has struggled to fill his father's shoes, grappling in the latest crisis to address nationwide protests demanding the removal of a political elite viewed as incompetent and corrupt. Hariri has cast himself as a champion of economic reform held hostage by unwilling coalition partners, but protesters have categorized him as a product of Lebanon's hereditary politics. His image was further tarnished last month when reports surfaced that he had sent $16 million dollars to a South African model, even as his family business' employees were being laid off or unpaid. After several days of protests, the embattled premier last week announced a string of economic reforms, but the plans have failed to quell anger in the streets. Hariri's face has appeared on flyers calling for him to "Leave!".
Second resignation
Hariri sent shockwaves across the region in 2017 by resigning from office while in Saudi Arabia and accusing the Iran-backed movement Hizbullah of destabilizing the region. The announcement triggered a flurry of international interventions that eventually saw Hariri return to his post, adopting a more conciliatory tone towards the group which he blames for his father's killing. He has had little success in reining in Hizbullah, the only faction to have retained its arsenal after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement lost a third of its seats in parliamentary elections last year, when Lebanon held its first legislative election in nine years and voters reinforced Hizbullah’s parliamentary weight.
It then took him more than eight months to form a government, which has now been in office less than a year. Hariri launched his political career at the urging of his family, after his father's death. He left his post in Saudi Arabia running the Oger firm that was the basis of his family's business empire.
Back in Beirut, Saad played a key role in mass demonstrations that culminated in the end of a 30-year Syrian military presence in Lebanon. His political career has been something of a rollercoaster, beginning with his August 2007 formation of the al-Mustaqbal Movement. Hariri is regarded as de facto leader of Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community, although critics deride him as a political novice with at times hesitant classical Arabic.
Beirut bike rides
Hariri is generally soft-spoken in his public pronouncements, eschewing the table-thumping style preferred by some of his political rivals.
His close friends say he enjoys cooking and exercising, and would make appearances at Beirut bike rides and the city's annual marathon. Hariri began his first term as prime minister in November 2009, forming a unity government with Hizbullah and its allies after marathon negotiations. But confrontations with the group had begun six months earlier, when Hizbullah seized parts of Beirut after street battles with al-Mustaqbal Movement supporters. Hariri stayed on as prime minister until January 2011 when Hizbullah and its allies abruptly withdrew their ministers from the cabinet. His first government collapsed while he was meeting with then-U.S. president Barack Obama in Washington. The deposed premier stayed in self-imposed exile in France and Saudi Arabia for several years, citing "security" concerns.
But in 2016, he decided to back a presidential bid by Hizbullah ally Michel Aoun.
The move ended more than two years of political stalemate and saw Hariri return to head a unity government that again included Hizbullah. Saudi Arabia has long accused Iran and Hizbullah of effectively holding Lebanon hostage. Hariri has Saudi citizenship and has tirelessly praised the kingdom, but the changing of the guard in the Gulf state appears to have left him with fewer allies.His wife Lama Bashir-Azm, who is of Syrian origin, and their three children live in Saudi Arabia, where they have remained during his terms as prime minister.

Lebanon since Rafik Hariri's 2005 Assassination
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 29/2019
Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005, his son Saad coming to power in 2009 in a turbulent period for the politically fractured country. After Saad Hariri offered to resign Tuesday following nearly two weeks of demonstrations, here is an overview of developments since 2005.
Assassination -
A massive suicide bomb tears through Rafik Hariri's armored convoy on the Beirut seafront in February 2005, killing him and 22 other people. Opposition leaders blame Syria but Damascus denies any role. Lebanon's powerful Iran-backed movement Hizbullah is also heavily suspected. Amid a groundswell of protests, Syrian troops quit Lebanon on April 26 after a 29-year deployment which had peaked at 40,000 troops.
Hizbullah vs Israel
In July 2006, Hizbullah captures two Israeli soldiers, leading to a 34-day war with Israel that costs nearly 1,400 lives, including 1,200 Lebanese. Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon in October and the Lebanese Army -- aided by a U.N. force -- deploys into the border region after a 40-year absence.
Hizbullah in government
In May 2008, clashes between Hizbullah-led militants and government supporters in Beirut and other regions leave nearly 100 dead in one week.
After talks to avoid renewed civil war, Lebanon in July 2008 forms a 30-member national unity government in which Hizbullah and its allies have 11 seats, giving them veto power. In June 2009, an anti-Syrian alliance led by Saad Hariri wins legislative elections and he is appointed prime minister.
After months of stalemate with the Hizbullah-led camp, he is only able to form a government in November. In January 2011, Hizbullah and its allies force the collapse of the unity government. In June, a new Hizbullah-dominated government is formed.
Enters the Syria war
In April 2013, Hizbullah says its fighters have intervened in the war in Syria on the side of President Bashar al-Assad. It goes on to send thousands of fighters into the conflict, with military and financial aid from Shiite power Iran.
Hariri resigns, backtracks -
In October 2016, Hizbullah-backed former general Michel Aoun becomes president, ending a 29-month political vacuum caused by disagreement in the deeply divided parliament.
Saad Hariri is reappointed prime minister.
In November 2017, Hariri announces from Saudi Arabia that he is resigning, citing the grip of Iran and its ally Hizbullah on Lebanon, and threats to his life. Tensions soar between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, which is suspected of having forced the resignation. France intervenes and Hariri withdraws his resignation.
- Hizbullah and allies win elections -
In May 2018, Hizbullah and its allies dominate the first legislative elections since 2009. Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement loses a third of its seats but he is designated premier for a third term.Negotiations to form a new government drag on to late January 2019, Hariri blaming Hizbullah.
- Austerity, protests -
In May 2019, hundreds of retired security personnel protesting over feared pension cuts try to storm the government's headquarters.
In July, parliament passes an austerity budget aimed at rescuing the economy, which is crumbling under massive debt. In September, hundreds of people protest in Beirut over the deteriorating economy and increasingly difficult living conditions. October 17 sees the start of two weeks of unprecedented street protests against issues from austerity measures to poor infrastructure. On October 29, Hariri announces he is submitting the resignation of his government.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 29-30/2019
US House of Representatives recognizes ‘Armenian genocide’
AFP/October 30/2019
WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives passed a resolution Tuesday officially recognizing the “Armenian genocide,” a symbolic but unprecedented move that angered Turkey amid already-heightened tensions with Washington. Cheers and applause erupted when the chamber voted 405 to 11 in support of the measure “affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide,” a first for the US Congress, where similar measures with such direct language have been introduced for decades but never passed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was honored to join her colleagues “in solemn remembrance of one of the great atrocities of the 20th century: the systematic murder of more than 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children by the Ottoman Empire.”The Armenians say the mass killings of their people from 1915 to 1917 amounted to genocide, a claim recognized by some 30 countries.
Turkey strongly denies the accusation of genocide and says that both Armenians and Turks died as a result of the First World War. It puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands.
Ankara reacted swiftly, rejecting the House’s recognition as a “meaningless political step” and warning it risks harming ties “at an extremely fragile time” for international and regional security. “We believe that American friends of Turkey who support the continuation of the alliance and friendly relations will question this grave mistake and those who are responsible will be judged by the conscience of the American people,” Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement. In 2017, newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump criticized the early 20th century killings as “one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century,” but in keeping with longstanding US practice, he stopped short of using the word genocide. Before being elected in 2008, Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama had pledged to recognize the genocide, but ultimately did not do so during his two terms in office. But Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, delivered bold remarks to the House on Tuesday, saying the truth of the “staggering crime” has been denied too often. “Today, let us clearly state the facts on the floor of this House to be etched forever into the Congressional Record: the barbarism committed against the Armenian people was a genocide.”
The House measure, which passed on Turkey’s national day, came three weeks after Turkey invaded northeastern Syria and launched a broad assault on Kurdish-controlled areas that was made possible by the withdrawal of US troops. Angry US lawmakers launched a two-punch rebuke, with the genocide measure passing alongside a bill that slaps sanctions on Turkey for its incursion.
That bipartisan measure imposes sanctions on senior Turkish officials involved in the decision to launch the invasion and a Turkish bank with ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and requires the Trump administration to penalize Turkey’s procurement of a Russian-made missile-defense system.
A similar sanctions bill was introduced in the Senate, but no vote has been taken. In the face of pressure, the Trump administration itself announced more modest punitive measures on Turkey for the invasion, before lifting them when it negotiated a cease-fire with Ankara. Former vice president Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic White House hopeful, praised the Armenia vote, tweeting that “by acknowledging this genocide we honor the memory of its victims and vow: never again.”It was also welcomed outside the political realm. US television reality star Kim Kardashian, who has Armenian ancestry, tweeted about the vote to her 62 million followers. “This is personal for me, and millions of Armenians who descended from genocide survivors,” she said. According to estimates, there are between 500,000 and 1.5 million Americans of Armenian origin.

IU.S. Launches New Mission in Syria, Vows to Give Oil Revenue to the Kurds
Pentagon chief says that he has seen no sign of Syrian or Russian forces challenging U.S. control of Syrian oil fields
The Associated Press and Haaretz/October 30/2019
A convoy of U.S. vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, in Erbil, Iraq October 21, 2019. A convoy of U.S. vehicles is seen after withdrawing from northern Syria, in Erbil, Iraq October 21, 2019.
Pivoting from the dramatic killing of the Islamic State’s leader, the Pentagon is increasing U.S. efforts to protect Syria’s oil fields from the extremist group as well as from Syria itself and the country’s Russian allies. It’s a new high-stakes mission even as American troops are withdrawn from other parts of the country.Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the military’s oil field mission also will ensure income for Syrian Kurds who are counted on by Washington to continue guarding Islamic State prisoners and helping American forces combat remnants of the group — even as President Donald Trump continues to insist all U.S. troops will come home. “We want to make sure that SDF does have access to those resources in order to guard the prisons, in order to arm their own troops in order to assist us with the defeat Isis mission,” Esper said.
“We don’t want to be a policeman in this case,” Trump said Monday, referring to America’s role after Turkey’s incursion in Syria. In the face of Turkey’s early October warning that it would invade and create a “safe zone” on the Syrian side of its border, Trump ordered U.S. forces to step aside, effectively abandoning a Kurdish militia that had partnered with U.S. troops.
Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke at a Pentagon news conference to cheer the successful mission by U.S. special operations forces Saturday that ended with IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi blowing himself up. Esper called al-Baghdadi’s death a “devastating blow” to an organization that already had lost its hold on a wide swath of territory in Syria and Iraq. Esper hinted at uncertainty ahead in Syria , even though the Islamic State has lost its inspirational leader, with the Syrian government exploiting support from Russia and Iran. “The security situation in Syria remains complex,” Esper said. A big part of that complexity is the rejiggering of the battlefield since Trump earlier this month ordered a full U.S. troop withdrawal from positions along the Turkish border in northeastern Syria. Even as those troops leave, other U.S. forces are heading to the oil-producing region of eastern Syria, east of the Euphrates River.
Trump recently has proposed hiring an American oil company to begin repairing Syria’s oil infrastructure, which has been devastated by years of war. Repeated U.S. airstrikes against facilities for oil storage, transport, processing and refining starting in 2015 inflicted heavy damage.
Esper said last week that a “mechanized” force would reinforce U.S. positions in the oil region, meaning a force equipped with tanks or Bradley infancy carriers. On Monday he provided no details about the makeup of the force.
He referred to “multiple state and nonstate” forces vying for control of Syrian territory and resources, including the oil. He said that while the main U.S. military mission is to ensure the “enduring defeat” of the Islamic State, that now will include denying oil income for the group.
“The United States will retain control of oil fields in northeast Syria,” Esper said, adding that at the height of al-Baghdadi’s rule, those oil fields provided the bulk of his group’s income.
Esper’s remarks echoed Trump’s focus on the oil. But whose oil is it?
“We’re keeping the oil,” Trump said during a speech to police officers in Chicago. “Remember that, I’ve always said that. Keep the oil. We want to keep the oil — $45 million a month — keep the oil. We’ve secured the oil.”
Esper emphasized that the purpose of securing Syria’s oil region is to deny income to the Islamic State. But a reporter asked whether the mission includes preventing Russian and Syrian government forces from entering that area.
“The short answer is yes, it presently does,” Esper said, “because in that case we want to make sure” the Syrian Kurdish-led militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, “does have access to the resources in order to guard the prisons and arm their own troops, in order to assist us with the defeat-ISIS mission.” This area has been the scene of unusual confrontations with U.S. forces, such as a one-sided battle in February 2018 in which a pro-Syrian government force reported to be mainly private Russian mercenaries unleashed an artillery barrage near a small U.S. military outpost. As then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis recounted the episode in congressional testimony two months later, he ordered the attacking force to be “annihilated – and it was” after Russian authorities insisted the attackers were not their troops.
Esper said Monday that he has seen no sign of Syrian or Russian forces challenging U.S. control of the oil fields.
In recent days, however, U.S. officials detected what they considered to be a significant massing of Syrian and Russian forces on the western side of the Euphrates River near Deir el-Zour, a U.S. official said Monday. Russian officials were contacted by phone, and the U.S. was given assurances that the staged forces would not move east, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. Jim Jeffrey, the Trump administration’s special envoy for Syria, seemed to refer to this episode when he said last Friday, “We are currently very concerned about certain developments in the south, in the Deir el-Zour area. I’ve talked to my Russian colleague about that and we’re having other contacts with the Russians concerning that situation. We think it is under control now.” After expelling Islamic State militants from southeastern Syria in 2018, the Kurds seized control of the more profitable oil fields to the south in Deir el-Zour province. A quiet arrangement has existed between the Kurds and the Syrian government, whereby Damascus buys the surplus through middlemen in a profitable smuggling operation that has continued despite political differences. The Kurdish-led administration sells crude oil to private refiners, who use home-made primitive refineries to process fuel and diesel and sell it back to the Kurdish-led administration. The oil was always likely to be a bargaining chip by the Kurds to negotiate a deal with the Syrian government, which unsuccessfully tried to reach the oil fields to retake them from IS. With Trump saying he plans to keep forces to secure the oil, it seems the oil will continue to be used for leverage— with Moscow and Damascus.

Israel’s UN envoy: Erdogan has turned Turkey into a ‘regional hub for terror’
AGENCIES and TOI STAFFOctober 29-30/2019
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations on Monday blasted Turkey’s invasion of Syria, and accused Ankara of promoting anti-Semitism and the ethnic cleansing of Kurds.
Danny Danon told the Security Council’s monthly Middle East meeting that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “has been destabilizing the region through violence and supporting terror organizations,” adding that Turkey’s “shocking” incursion into Syria had come as no surprise.
Once-warm relations between Israel and Turkey have greatly deteriorated since Erdogan came to power. The Islamist leader is a vocal critic of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, and he has good relations with the territory’s terrorist Hamas rulers.
“Erdogan has turned Turkey into a safe haven for Hamas terrorists and a financial center for funneling money to subsidize terror attacks,” Danon said. “Erdogan’s Turkey shows no moral or human restraint toward the Kurdish people. Erdogan has turned Turkey into a regional hub for terror.”
Danon said Erdogan was dragging his country down an “imperialist path. He threatens journalists, persecutes religious minorities and promotes anti-Semitism.”The Israeli envoy added that Erdogan was not only persecuting Kurds in Turkey, but sending troops “to massacre Kurdish people in Syria as well.”
“Israel warns against the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds,” he said, “and calls upon the international community to take action and provide aid to the Kurdish people.”
Last week, an official in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who spoke on condition of anonymity, called on Israel to take action against Turkey’s military incursion into northern Syria and also expressed confidence that the Jewish people would not neglect the plight of Kurds in northern Syria, invoking its history of persecution.
On October 10, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Turkey’s invasion of Kurdish-controlled areas of northeastern Syria and said Israel was prepared to offer humanitarian aid to the Kurds there.
The Security Council’s Middle East meeting almost always focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an issue most of the speakers chose to address on Monday.
Danon said it was “a disgrace” that the council focused on Israel “as Erdogan expands his terror campaign into Syria.”
Turkey’s UN Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu dismissed Danon’s speech as a “daily dosage of lies” from “the representative of a government of terror.”
“Those who want to advance their political careers over the dead bodies of children cannot lecture us about international law and human rights,” he said.
Sinirlioglu suggested the agenda item for the council meeting should be changed from “the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestine” to “the situation in the Middle East, including Israel’s crimes against humanity.”
He accused Israel of violating “the basic rights of Palestinians on a daily basis,” cited a UN Commission of Inquiry report earlier this year that said Israeli soldiers had intentionally fired on civilians and may have committed crimes against humanity during a string of crackdowns against Palestinian demonstrators last year in Gaza. The envoy stressed that a two-state solution that would establish an independent Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital was the only way to peace.
Turkey’s foreign minister said Monday that his country’s military will attack any Syrian Kurdish fighter that remains along the border area in northeast Syria after a deadline for them to leave expires.
Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters that Russian and Syrian officials had provided information that some Kurdish fighters had pulled out of the border area, but others still had not. The Kurdish withdrawal is in line with a Russian-Turkish agreement reached last week.
The Syrian Kurdish fighters have until 3 p.m. GMT Tuesday to pull back to positions about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Turkish border. Turkey and Russia will conduct joint patrols along a border strip once the Kurdish forces leave. Cavusoglu said a Russian military delegation was scheduled to arrive in Turkey to discuss the planned joint patrols. Turkey is to keep sole control of a large section in the center of the border, most of which it captured in its invasion launched October 9. Turkey wanted to drive the US-allied Kurdish forces out of a “safe zone” along the border, after US President Donald Trump pulled American troops from the area. Syrian Kurdish forces have turned to Russia and the Syrian government in Damascus for protection.US troops were allied with the Kurdish-led fighters for five years in the long and bloody campaign that brought down the Islamic State terror group in Syria.

US House backs measure that would impose sanctions on Turkey over Syria
Reuters/Wednesday, 30 October 2019
The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday for a resolution calling on President Donald Trump to impose sanctions and other restrictions on Turkey and Turkish officials over its offensive in northern Syria. House members voted 403-16 in favor of the legislation, part of an effort by both Democrats and many of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress to push Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government to end, and not resume, its offensive against Kurdish forces who helped US troops battle ISIS militants. The House also voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday in favor of a resolution recognizing the mass killings of Armenians a century ago as a genocide, a symbolic but historic vote likely to inflame tensions with Turkey.

Iraq’s al-Sadr and his political rival al-Amiri join forces to oust PM
Reuters/Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Iraq’s shia political leader Hadi al-Amiri said on Tuesday that he would work with Populist Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on achieving the interests of the people and saving the country, state media reported. Earlier Tuesday, al-Sadr had invited his biggest political rival, al-Amiri to work with him on ousting the country’s prime minister as thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets for a fifth day. In a statement on Tuesday al-Sadr, who leads parliament’s largest bloc, asked al-Amiri, leader of the second-largest, to help him introduce a vote of no confidence on Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi.
Al-Sadr had on Monday asked Abdul Mahdi to announce early elections but the premier said on Tuesday he would not do so as it was up to parliament, not him, to do so. In a statement addressed to Sadr earlier on Tuesday, Abdul Mahdi said that if the solution for Iraq’s ongoing crisis was his ouster, it would be easier and quicker for al-Sadr and al-Amiri to withdraw confidence and have a new government take over. Abdul Mahdi came to power just a year ago after weeks of political deadlock as a compromise candidate between al-Sadr, who leads a populist alliance made up of his followers, communists, and other parties, and al-Amiri, the head of an alliance of Iran-backed Shia militia leaders. Mass protests driven by discontent over economic hardship and corruption have broken nearly two years of relative stability in Iraq. At least 250 people have been killed since the unrest started on October 1.

Syrian and Turkish Armies in Deadly Border Clash
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 October, 2019
The armies of Syria and Turkey traded deadly fire Tuesday for the first time since Ankara launched an anti-Kurdish offensive in early October, as Russia announced Kurdish forces had withdrawn from the border area. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Kurdish forces had pulled back from the entire border as per a deal struck between Ankara and regime backer Moscow in Sochi earlier this month.The Turkish military and its Syrian proxies launched an offensive against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria on October 9 with the aim of creating a buffer zone roughly 30 kilometers (20 miles) deep. "The withdrawal of armed units from territory where a security corridor should be created has been completed ahead of time," Shoigu said, as quoted by Russian news agencies. He added that Syrian border guards and Russian military police had been deployed in the area.
Earlier this month, Kurdish forces agreed to withdraw from a 120-kilometer long segment of the 440-kilometer border zone, but clashes have been reported since. The Turkish presidency said joint Turkish-Russian patrols -- also planned under the Sochi deal -- would verify the Kurdish forces' withdrawal. But the situation was complicated by clashes between Syrian and Turkish forces on Tuesday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that "heavy fighting erupted for the first time between the Syrian and Turkish armies", adding that six Syrian soldiers were killed near the key border town of Ras al-Ain. "Turkish artillery fire killed five regime forces in battles on the edge of the village of Assadiya," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Observatory, told AFP. He added that Syrian fighters used by Turkey as the main ground force for the invasion had executed a regime soldier they had captured.
Patrols
Left in the lurch after US troops withdrew from the border area, Kurdish forces turned to the Syrian regime for protection. The regime's forces moved quickly north and are now expected to deploy along much of the border zone. Turkish-Russian patrols in a 10-kilometer-deep strip were to start on Tuesday at 1600 GMT, but strikes near the border town of Derbasiyeh threatened that deadline, both the Observatory and Syrian state media reported. The Observatory said Turkish and Russian military units had been due to meet at a border crossing to discuss the upcoming patrols. But on Tuesday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported "Turkish mortar fire on the Derbasiyeh border crossing", some 60 kilometers east of Ras al-Ain, and said six Syrian civilians had been wounded. It added that rounds were fired as Russian military police were driving by. The Syrian Democratic Forces, de facto army of the moribund autonomous Kurdish administrated territory, has voiced reservations over the Sochi deal. The agreement, to which the Kurds are not signatories, essentially hands much of their heartland to the regime.

Russia says withdrawal of Kurdish forces in northern Syria complete
AFP, MoscowTuesday, 29 October 2019
Russia said on Tuesday that Kurdish forces in northern Syria had withdrawn from areas along Turkey’s border as planned under a deal between Moscow and Ankara. “The withdrawal of armed units from territory where a security corridor should be created has been completed ahead of time,” Russian news agencies quoted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying in Armenia. A deadline for the withdrawal had been due to end at 6:00 pm local time (1500 GMT) on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, Turkey’s defense minister was quoted as saying, hours before the deadline expires that the Kurdish YPG forces have still not fully withdrawn from a strip of land in northeast Syria from which Ankara says they must leave. At least six Syrian regime fighters were killed as heavy clashes broke out Tuesday between the army and Turkish forces for the first time since Ankara attacked northeastern Syria three weeks ago, a war monitor said.

Six Syria soldiers killed in first border clash with turkey
AFP, Beirut/Tuesday, 29 October 2019
At least six Syrian regime fighters were killed as heavy clashes broke out Tuesday between the army and Turkish forces for the first time since Ankara attacked northeastern Syria three weeks ago, a war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said artillery and machine-gun fire was exchanged near Assadiya, south of the border town of Ras al-Ain. “Heavy fighting erupted for the first time between the Syrian and Turkish armies,” the Britain-based monitoring group said. The Turkish military and its Syrian proxies attacked Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria on October 9 with the aim of creating a roughly 30-kilometre (20-mile) deep buffer zone. “Turkish artillery fire killed five regime forces in battles on the edge of the village of Assadiya,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Observatory, told AFP. He added that the pro-Ankara fighters being used by Turkey as the main ground force for the invasion executed a government soldier they had captured.Kurdish forces earlier this month agreed to withdraw from a 120-kilometer (75 mile) long, Arab-majority segment of the 440-kilometer (275-mile) border zone, although clashes have been reported since. Turkey subsequently reached a deal with the Syrian government’s main backer Russia for Kurdish forces to pull back from the entire border area. Left in the lurch by a US troop withdrawal from the border area, Kurdish forces turned to the government for protection.Damascus forces rushed north and are now expected to deploy along much of the border zone but a 10-kilometer-deep strip was to be jointly patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops, starting from Tuesday.

Jordan recalls envoy to Israel to protest detention of two citizens
Reuters, Amman/Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations in protest at Israel’s refusal to heed its demands to release two citizens it said were illegally detained for months without charges, the kingdom’s foreign minister said on Tuesday. Ayman Safadi said in a tweet he held the Israeli government responsible for the lives of Hiba Labadi and Abdul Rahman Miri whose “health conditions have severely deteriorated,” adding this was a first step.

Israel’s Netanyahu plans to move funds from civilian to military spending
Reuters, Jerusalm/Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to shift funds designated for civilian purposes to military spending to meet any threats from Iran, a government official said on Tuesday.Netanyahu, in a speech on Monday, did not specify the amount of the funds but said they needed to be moved “now.”
Asked about the prime minister’s remarks, the official made clear that no such shift was imminent. “Until a (2020) budget is passed, no changes can be made to expenditure. Future budgets will have to take the moving of funds into account,” the official said. It is also still unclear whether Netanyahu or his political rival Benny Gantz will form a new government or if a new ballot will be needed after inconclusive elections in April and last month. Limited in power, Netanyahu’s caretaker government has been unable to rein in a budget hole, delaying a parliamentary vote of approval on next year’s budget into 2020. Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, has cited growing security considerations in urging Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White party, to join in a broad governing coalition. Israel’s president asked Gantz last week to try to put together a government after Netanyahu failed.
In his speech, Netanyahu accused Iran of seeking the means to turn Yemen into a staging ground for launching precision-guided missiles at Israel and said budgetary priorities needed to change. “To be strong militarily, we have to shift now money from the civilian areas to the military areas,” Netanyahu said. Israel’s economy has been in a holding pattern amid the political uncertainty for months, and analysts believe the next government will need to trim spending to stick to fiscal targets but more likely, taxes will rise. “When it comes to civilian spending to a very large extent his (Netanyahu’s) hands are tied,” said Leader Capital Markets Chief Economist Jonathan Katz. “It sounds like a great slogan but what’s more realistic in interpreting his statement is that defense spending will grow more rapidly than civilian.”He said that about 80 percent of civilian spending is public sector salaries and those will not be touched. Instead, infrastructure projects might be delayed while subsidies to after-school care for toddlers may be suspended, along with raising taxes. Cutting civilian spending could also harm growth, since at 30 percent of economic output, Israel is second to last in such expenditures out of OECD countries. As such, the Bank of Israel said in a report that with civilian spending so low, “it is difficult for the government to allocate resources to policy measures that will entrench long-term economic growth.”

Egypt Says 13 Militants Killed in Arish
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 29 October, 2019
Thirteen suspected militants were killed in a raid on Tuesday in the Egyptian Mediterranean coastal city of el-Arish' el-Obour neighborhood, officials announced. They said police found weapons and explosives in the hideout, and forensic teams are now identifying the bodies. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to talk to reporters. Egypt has battled an insurgency led by an ISIS affiliate for years in Sinai, which occasionally spills over to the mainland. Separately, officials said a police conscript has been killed in a militant attack in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
They said the attack, which took place late on Monday in the town Sheikh Zuweid, also wounded three other policemen who were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Mladenov: Israel’s Actions ‘Push Us Further’ From Two-State Solution
New York- Ali Barada/Tuesday, 29 October, 2019
Pervasive deteriorating facts on the ground in Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “are pushing us every further” from achieving a viable two-State solution, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council on Monday. With the spotlight on Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Special Envoy Nickolay Mlandenov detailed “new dangerous flashpoints” emerging in the region, under rapidly shifting developments in the Middle East as a whole, which have snowballed into a growing threat to international peace and security. Occupations in Palestinian areas continue, “and no progress has been made in realizing a negotiated two-State solution,” he reported during his quarterly update to the Council on the Middle East. “It is a multi-generational tragedy for the peoples of this land.” A growing number of Israeli settlements, illegal under international law, remains a “substantial obstacle” in the peace process, he stressed. In the last month, plans have advanced for housing units to expand in the occupied West Bank, and though exact numbers have yet to be confirmed, even without this latest advancement, the approval of settlement expansion so far this year is already greater than that for all of 2018, he explained.Meanwhile, Palestinian structures have been demolished or seized as Israeli-issued building permits are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain.
The teardown or seizure of 51 structures has displaced 80 Palestinians, including 40 children, he said. Recalling the announcement by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during the General Assembly that he intends to set a date for elections soon, he said “the international community should support this process if it strengthens national unity and not division.” For this to happen, agreement is needed across the occupied Palestinian territory, in accordance with relevant legislation, international best practices, and an agreed national political platform based on existing agreements, he affirmed. Highlighting humanitarian gains, Mladenov said the UN has reported progress on urgent interventions, which “have had an important impact across many sectors.” Emergency healthcare has benefited nearly 450,000 people in Gaza, and almost 400,000 have benefited from drugs and medical supplies.
In addition, the organization’s temporary job creation programs have produced more than 16,000 positions, with another 1,000 expected in the coming weeks.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 29-30/2019
So We Don’t Get Shocked With Another Baghdadi
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/October 29/2019
It was Trump’s unparalleled day. A president has rarely been able to lure the entire world to wait for his novel. It was exciting and interesting. It was an extraordinary moment of power. He could announce the achievement that many had longed for. He punished the greatest and most wanted criminal in the world… the man, who executed Americans, persecuted and expelled the Yazidis, killed many Kurds, Syrians and Iraqis, terrorized the Europeans and set a record in the array of his victims’ nationalities.
He spoke on behalf of a strong America... A country that has enormous capabilities, the most sophisticated army and intelligence-based technology.
He spoke about the seriousness of the operation and the men who took the risk. He mocked the man who terrified the world. He recounted how he was moving in tears and panic, and how the man’s crimes caused the killing of three of his children. He did not forget to remind the world that the long US arm has recently reached Hamza bin Laden, the son of the man who destroyed the American soil, and targeted the symbols of its strength and success.
No wonder the world is preoccupied with the news of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death. We are talking about a man who exhausted the region and the world. He committed murders with an evil imagination. He was an exceptional transnational executioner. He squandered years of two states, two populations, and millions of people. He excelled in the arts of murder, intimidation, and hate waves.
Donald Trump has the right to celebrate. This type of strikes is recorded in history. Perhaps he secretly said that the man who had fallen under his direct order was more dangerous than the one who was killed upon the order of his predecessor Barack Obama - Osama bin Laden.
Al-Qaeda’s leader was not fortunate enough to declare a state and establish himself as an alleged successor. He was unable to attract delegates from remote places who were deceived by slogans and banners.
Since entering the White House, Trump has been staying in the storm. He clearly loves storms.
His decisions are sudden and his method is shocking. A solo dancer who does not like to tango with institutions or with states.
As storms intensified along the road to elections, this great gift came. It is not the same as the hour of announcing the exit from the nuclear deal with Iran or imposing maximum sanctions on Tehran. It is different from imposing fees that triggered a trade war with China, hinting at crushing the Turkish economy, or the sudden announcement of withdrawal from Syria and moving away from “silly endless wars”.
It was an unparalleled gift that was welcomed by near and far countries…A precious prey that has led many parties to quickly announce their role in the feast. The sudden blow changed the headlines everywhere. Websites that were preoccupied with isolating the president or criticizing the withdrawal from Syria found themselves with the sole title of Baghdadi’s killing.
Because he loved excitement, Trump threw a brief tweet and called on the world to wait for the news after the DNA test was completed.
Trump will be able to say that his withdrawal from Syria does not mean his resignation from the fight against terrorism.
He will say that he is fighting this war without keeping his soldiers deployed in conflict areas, vulnerable to revenge and danger.
Field commanders who have faced ISIS in Iraq and Syria admit that the war with the organization would have been extended for years without the US Air Force’s deadly airstrikes on its strongholds and bunkers.
We should not forget that the airstrikes would not have been enough without the contributions of the forces that fought ground battles against the ISIS group.
Let us put aside the US part in the matter. The killing of Baghdadi does not mean the killing of ISIS, despite the importance of the organization’s decapitation.
Time has shown that this type of organizations has gained experience in adapting to difficult conditions. In recent years, ISIS has been decentralized. Under pressure, the organization has bet on the role of “lone wolves” in terrorizing the world.
Let us put aside the US part and remember the importance of preventing the birth of another Baghdadi, who will shock the world and drown our region in blood and enormous devastation. We should remember that ISIS emerged when countries were divided and societies were torn apart. The organization was born amid hatred, frustration, marginalization, and attempts to monopolize decision-making and annihilate the other.
We must remember that ISIS was born in a fractured Iraq… in a divided Syria. It emerged amid sectarian hatred. It grabbed the opportunity of the prevalence of the logic of incursion, and when the Turkish border opened wide for roving fighters to enter Syria and nurture the blood of its uprising and its people.
What is important is that one day we will not be shocked with another Baghdadi. America is far. We are the theater. Confrontation is not limited to security. The great devastation began when extremism took over the curricula and mosques, and when the students graduated from school, hating each other and considering every difference a crime worth killing.
In order not to fall into the trap of another Baghdadi, there is no solution but to build a modern state that can accommodate all its components.
There can be no solution except through methods and programs that open the windows to the world and encourage coexistence and acceptance of the right to be different.
There is no solution but to restore hope, stability and prosperity and to protect the youth from ISIS and all intolerance aimed at eliminating those who do not believe in the bleak interpretation of the world.
Trump swam yesterday in the lights. He was strong enough to acknowledge receiving facilitation from others. The Twitter General celebrated the hunting of the cave man. We must learn.

Death of Daesh Leader: An Important Milestone but Not the End of Daesh
Andrew Murrison/Asharq Al Awsat/October 29/2019
The death of Daesh’s leader represents an important milestone in the Global Coalition’s mission but it does not represent the end of our work. The UK will continue to play a leading role in the Coalition and will work with its partners to secure Daesh’s lasting ideological defeat.
We cannot allow Daesh to use Al-Baghdadi’s death for propaganda and to portray him as a martyr. He actioned hideous and abhorrent crimes – particularly towards the people of Iraq and Syria – and we must instead focus on the strength and resilience of the local communities who resisted Daesh and who are committed to rebuilding their lives.
The fall of Daesh’s leader also provides us with a moment to look back on what the Global Coalition against Daesh has achieved since it was established in September 2014. Five years later, the Global Coalition now stands at 81 international partners; working together, and with regional partners firmly in the lead, we have successfully liberated more than 7.7 million people and 110,000 square kilometers across Iraq and Syria from Daesh.
The Coalition continues to adapt and strengthen its efforts to curb Daesh’s global ambitions, including its ability to carry out terrorist attacks, spread its toxic propaganda, finance its operations, recruit supporters, and develop new safe havens. For example – thanks to Coalition aircraft – an estimated $800m of Daesh’s stockpiles were destroyed while the RAF struck Daesh’s major sources of revenue.
Coalition partners have also undertaken humanitarian and stabilization work in liberated areas of Iraq and Syria, to help communities recover from the brutality of life under Daesh. Since 2014, Coalition partners have provided stabilization assistance, demining capabilities, economic support and humanitarian assistance in Iraq and Syria.
We must honor those who have known such suffering at the hands of Daesh and focus on the future, and meet the humanitarian needs of Syrian civilians still caught up in this bloody conflict. The UK is one of the biggest donors to Syria, committing over £2.81bn in UK aid since 2012 to help address the crisis by providing medical assistance, food, and education. In Iraq, which also suffered immensely under Daesh rule, UK aid has provided life-saving health care to over 4.1 million people, and food assistance for 460,000 Iraqis.
I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to the courage and resolve of the UK’s armed forces, and those of our partners, who have worked tirelessly to fight Daesh. Without their bravery and commitment, we would not be succeeding. The UK has trained over 104,000 members of Iraq’s Security Forces and remains committed to playing a leading role in the Global Coalition against Daesh to ensure a peaceful and stable future for the people of Iraq and Syria.

To Tackle Climate Change, the (Industrial) Heat is on
Julio Friedmann/Bloomberg/Asharq Al Awsat/October 29/2019
Climate change has become big news recently — and rightly so. Scientists have delivered important reports about its urgent dangers, political leaders have made pledges to fight it, and youth climate activists have marched in the streets and marked our consciences. This is all for the good. New ideas about electric vehicles, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and adaptation will enrich the conversation about climate action. But one critical topic has received short shrift: industrial heat. It’s not surprising. Most people have no experience with heavy industry — such as manufacturing cement, steel, fuels, chemicals and glass — so they don’t know about its effects on the climate. But these processes generate 22% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with industrial heat alone releasing 10%. Despite the essential role it plays in the modern world, heavy industry has been conspicuously absent from the climate conversation.
If you care about climate, care about this.
Industrial products are essential to construction, infrastructure and manufacturing, but making them requires a lot of heat — heat that emits more carbon dioxide than all the world’s cars and planes. And heavy industry is even further behind the transportation sector in developing alternative technologies. The ones that do exist are extremely expensive. Many industrial processes start with melting rocks by burning fossil fuels. To make glass, for example, you melt sand and pour it on melted tin. This means hot, hot heat — high-quality and lots of it, ranging from 700 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. And that heat is needed all day, every day, to run blast furnaces, boilers and cement kilns. Ending or even reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial heat is a conundrum. Few alternative processes make enough heat while being available on demand. Entrepreneurs and innovators have good ideas about how to eventually replace existing industrial heat emissions sources, but “eventually” is a bad business model in general, especially when the threats of climate change are so urgent.
But the situation isn’t hopeless. Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy took a detailed look at what could be done. My co-authors and I compared most of the available alternatives (nuclear, hydrogen, biofuels and electrification) on the basis of viability, cost and environmental effect. The research is in its early days, but a few findings are robust across sectors.
First, carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) is essential to reducing carbon emissions from heavy industry, especially cement and steel production. Our analysis shows it’s more affordable than almost any other option — far cheaper and more readily available than electrical heating or burning biomass.
Carbon capture also supports production of one of the most viable and versatile low-carbon fuels: hydrogen. Most hydrogen, 95% worldwide, is made by reforming natural gas and steam molecules at high temperature (which itself consumes lots of heat). It’s possible to capture 50% to 90% of the carbon dioxide from hydrogen production and keep it from the air and oceans forever. This is already being done commercially at four sites worldwide (soon to be six). This low-carbon hydrogen, known as “blue” hydrogen, is available at scale and could make 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit heat at many sites today. Doing so would drop emissions overnight. It would also create future opportunities for “green” hydrogen, made from zero-carbon electricity and water. As renewables get cheaper and more reliable, we can begin to swap green hydrogen in for blue hydrogen based on cost, performance and carbon footprint.
One finding dominates our study: More and better options are required. This necessitates a massive innovation agenda around industrial de-carbonization, starting with heat.
Thankfully, the subject is getting some attention. At a recent House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on industrial emissions, many members and all six witnesses (including me) called for an innovation agenda that specifically addresses industrial heat. Several bills in the House and Senate would create new authorities for large government R&D programs focused on heavy industry and its needs for high-quality, low-carbon heat. Certainly, the United States can lead the world on this topic. The country has a strong record on innovation and enormous solar, wind, biomass and natural gas resources that provide low-cost feedstocks and abundant energy. Our tax credits and infrastructure can help put it in pole position internationally, as they did with the SunShot Initiative for solar energy and the Wind Production Tax Credit. The work done to cut emissions from cars and power plants is inspiring, necessary and not enough. Industrial heat is the next frontier, and the nations that lead this charge will have options and thrive in a carbon-constrained world. Those that don’t, won’t. It’s our call whether the US will lead here as we have before.

Iran’s sway strongly opposed in Lebanon and Iraq
Osama Al-Sharif/Arab News/October 29/2019
Anti-government protests have returned to Iraq less than a month after demonstrations broke out across the country — and again unarmed civilians have been targeted. At least 60 Iraqis were killed last weekend following the publication of a report that exonerated the government from the murder of no less than 160 people during the mass protests that broke out earlier this month. Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi promised a series of reforms back then, but little has changed and the public mood remains tense amid accusations that Iranian-backed militias continue to target the protesters.
In Lebanon, anti-regime protests have spread to Hezbollah-controlled cities and towns in the south in spite of stern warnings by Hassan Nasrallah, who rejected demands that the government be sacked and early elections held. However, Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday bowed to the protesters’ demands and announced his resignation.
The contrasts between what is happening in Iraq and Lebanon are many, but so are the similarities. Protesters in both countries are fed up with sectarian divisions, institutional corruption and poor public services. While Lebanon’s revolt has been largely peaceful and festive-like, Iraq’s has been bloody and violent. In both cases, the public has demanded the departure of a discredited political class.
Another common denominator is Iranian influence, if not hegemony, over domestic politics. In Lebanon, Hezbollah is not shy of its Iranian connections and overall dependence on Tehran’s financial and military backing. Over the past decade, Hezbollah has become the main powerbroker in Lebanon and today it holds influence over the president, the Cabinet and Parliament. It has become a state within the state and a proxy of Iran not only in Lebanon but in Syria, Iraq and Yemen too. By entering into alliances with President Michel Aoun and other parties and movements, Hezbollah has kept the sectarian-based political system alive. But, in the process, it has allowed the state’s institutions to implode, resulting in mass corruption, cronyism, high unemployment, poverty and failing public services across Lebanon. Most of the ruling political class was busy looting the country while citizens across sectarian and ethnic lines were left to suffer. Lebanon’s disenfranchised youth has today become the powerhouse for popular discontent. They are the ones who have challenged the dysfunctional system and taken to the streets.
Lebanon’s Shiite citizens have suffered under Hezbollah’s ironclad rule too. Hundreds of the militia’s fighters have lost their lives in Syria defending a ruthless regime on behalf of Iran. While Hezbollah was beefing up its arsenal and spending millions in Syria, it neglected its Shiite followers, especially in Lebanon’s deprived south. Nasrallah’s miscalculation in July of 2006 resulted in a month-long war with Israel that killed more than 1,300 Lebanese, displaced more than a million in southern Lebanon and severely damaged the country’s infrastructure.
It is no wonder that Hezbollah has been rattled by the ongoing mass protests that have spread to southern Lebanese towns. Hariri's resignation could disrupt the current political alliances and thus weaken the militia’s grip on the country. But Nasrallah’s options are limited. His goons have tried to intimidate protesters in Beirut, Tyre, Sidon and Nabatieh without success.
Protesters in both countries are fed up with sectarian divisions, institutional corruption and poor public services.
The collapse of sectarianism would limit Hezbollah’s influence and, by extension, that of Iran. The fact that Iran is suffering under US sanctions has also affected Hezbollah’s finances. Its ability to buy people’s loyalty has been curtailed. In Iraq, Iran’s proxies present a major challenge to the sectarian-based ethno-confessional system. Mass corruption, poverty, unemployment and the lack of public services have driven people on to the streets across the country, but especially in the Shiite-majority southern governorates. Anti-Iranian slogans echoed in Karbala, Najaf and Basra, among others, while the offices of pro-Iranian political parties were torched by protesters.
The Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), comprised of tens of armed Shiite militias, has targeted protesters in Baghdad and southern towns. More than a dozen were reported killed in Karbala on Monday night after crowds were fired on. As in Lebanon, Iran now faces a popular backlash against its deep and messy intervention in Iraq’s political system. Any attempt to reform that system would undercut Tehran’s sway in Iraq. Both in Lebanon and Iraq, it is Iran and its proxies that oppose any change to the status quo.
The challenges facing Lebanon and Iraq are existential in nature. Abandoning a sectarian system that has benefited the few and allowed a foreign power to manipulate it from within will not be easy. But people’s soft power will not be subdued by force. No one really knows how things will turn out in Lebanon and Iraq, but one thing is clear: The deep state in both countries is on the defensive.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010

Israel’s dilemma as Gantz bids to form a government
Yossi Mekelberg/Arab News/October 29/2019
Something that felt as if it was contradicting the laws of nature — Israel’s political nature, that is — took place last week, when President Reuven Rivlin tasked Kahol Lavan Chairman Benny Gantz with forming a coalition. It has been 11 years and five election campaigns since someone other than Benjamin Netanyahu was asked to form a government, which has made many rub their eyes at the sight of this novelty. Even more significantly, a rare insight is slowly creeping in, with the words “Netanyahu” and “outgoing prime minister” being spoken in the same breath. However, this scenario is far from being a done deal and, even if it happens, the country is only at the starting point of a long and excruciating path to it being a reality, including a probable third national election in the space of a year.
Is it possible to avoid this ludicrous scenario of three elections in just 10 months? Time will tell. In the meantime, it is evident that what is preventing a coalition from being formed is Prime Minister Netanyahu’s obstinacy, to the detriment of the country. It is crystal clear that, if he steps down, there will be several options for forming a new government.
The September election result left the political system with what is known in game theory as a prisoner’s dilemma, and this even before Netanyahu is indicted for corruption. In the classic version of the prisoner’s dilemma, two delinquents who are arrested on suspicion of bank robbery will get off lightly if they trust each other and do not cooperate with the police. While Netanyahu and his alleged accomplices might apply this tactic while they are being investigated, his dilemma is whether or not to trust the entire 55-MK bloc of the right and the ultra-Orthodox, who committed to him as their prime ministerial candidate, to not switch their allegiance and join forces with Gantz. Trust doesn’t exist in Netanyahu’s vocabulary and very few, even those on his side of the map, have faith in his loyalty to them. They know that Netanyahu serves only the Netanyahus, and hence they may be ready to jump ship to suit their interests.
Gantz may have been given the task of forming a coalition, but the person holding the wild card is Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit. He and his team are mulling over what they learned from the hearing they conducted with Netanyahu’s lawyers last month, and are deciding whether what was presented to them is convincing enough to dissuade them from pursuing Netanyahu on any or all of the three corruption charges he faces.
There is an expectation that Mandelblit will indeed indict Netanyahu, but not before December. Here the timeline is crucial. Gantz has only 28 days to form a government, which most likely will run out before the attorney general makes his decision. Unless and until the charges against Netanyahu are abandoned, it is unlikely that any challenge to his leadership will be mounted from within his Likud party or that his partners from other parties will renege on their solemn pledge not to negotiate with Gantz separately from the Likud. But how much is a politician’s solemn pledge worth? For several of the smaller parties, who are mainly pressure or lobby groups, staying out of government and thus being unable to tap into public finances to quench their supporters’ thirst for resources might be a position too costly to sustain.
If, for instance — and it doesn’t look very likely at this point — Gantz is able to form a minority government, supported by the Arab Joint List, it would unsettle some of Netanyahu’s partners to the point of deciding that it is time to say farewell to one who has overstayed his welcome.
Trust doesn’t exist in Netanyahu’s vocabulary and very few, even those on his side of the map, have faith in his loyalty to them.
They might not care so much about the corruption issues surrounding Netanyahu. They might turn a blind eye to his unscrupulous spreading of discord and division between what Rivlin calls the tribes that comprise Israeli society, including infesting the public discourse with racist demagoguery directed against Palestinians. They might not even be worried that this is a prime minister who miscalculates the country into wars with its neighbors, or that Israel has one of the biggest wealth gaps between rich and poor in the Western world. But they do care, and are deeply worried by the fact, that he doesn’t win elections anymore — he has lost two in the space of five months — and is therefore jeopardizing what they see as their divine right to govern the country.
Netanyahu’s power to position himself best to form a coalition is rapidly fading and, after two elections and twin attempts to form a government, Emperor Bibi seems to have no clothes left at all — not even a fig leaf.
So Gantz may have edged closer to becoming the country’s next prime minister but, unless he manages to form a minority government within the allocated time, the more likely scenario is that the Knesset will have to recommend to Rivlin that he asks Gantz, Netanyahu or a third party to form a government within 21 days. If this also proves impossible, it means another general election by the end of March 2020.
Forming a minority government has its advantages, especially as it would begin to wean the Israeli electorate off its perception that Netanyahu is the only viable option for prime minister. It would also give Gantz a short period to leave his mark before he goes into fresh elections, and it might be the first and most important step toward recognition that the Palestinians and their representatives in the Knesset are legitimate partners in governing the country.
However, in the racist anti-Arab environment created by Netanyahu and his lieutenants, incitements against a government and leader supported by the Joint List of Arab parties would increase, and might cost Kahol Lavan at the ballot box. But if one of Gantz’s acts as prime minister, should he achieve that position, were to be the advancement of inclusiveness within Israeli society, he would have more than earned his premiership.
*Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations at Regent’s University London, where he is head of the International Relations and Social Sciences Program. He is also an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. Twitter: @YMekelberg