English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese,
Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 09/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.april09.21.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since
2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood
among them and said to them, Peace be with you. They were startled and
terrified. He said to them: Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I
myself.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
24/36-45: “While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them
and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’They were startled and terrified, and
thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened,
and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that
it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as
you see that I have.’And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his
feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to
them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, ‘These are my
words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written
about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be
fulfilled.’Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on April 08-09/2021
Elias Bejjani/Visit My LCCC Web site/All That you need to know on Lebanese unfolding news and events in Arabic and English/http://eliasbejjaninews.com/
Ministry of Health: 3510 new infections, 37 deaths
Aoun Tells Zaki Taef Accord Not 'Threatened'
President Aoun chairs meeting devoted to discuss work of IMPACT electronic
platform
Hariri meets Arab League’s Zaki over latest developments
Zaki Tells Lebanon Arab League Ready to Help, Lauds Berri's Initiative
Berri's Initiative Reportedly Still on the Table
Jumblatt, Arab League’s Zaki tackle political developments
ABL Hits Back at Aoun, Says Banks Not behind Wrong Policies
Army Vaccination Campaign Begins across Lebanon
Attorney General Approves Release of 11 Held in Port Case
Rahi meets Norwegian Ambassador
Diab chairs meeting devoted to discussing maritime borders’ issue
Ministers of Information, Health discuss journalists' vaccination mechanism
Diab meets delegation of Families of Lebanese Students Abroad Association
Wazni informed by British Embassy Head of Mission of Kingdom's support for
forensic audit
'Loyalty to Resistance' calls for government formation
Diab meets German delegation from “Hamburg Port” consulting company
Lebanese Civic Coalition issues new statement: “A Choice and a Path”
Former Lebanese Minister Of Justice Ashraf Rifi: Hizbullah Is A Collaborator Of
'Mini-Nazi' Iran, Enemy Of Lebanon; It Is Leading Lebanon To Suicide/MEMRI/April
08/2021
Choosing the wrong person at the wrong time/Farouk Yousef/The Arab News/April
08/2021
Titles For The
Latest
English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on
April 08-09/2021
Syrian Missile Hits Lebanon during Israeli Raid on Damascus
Documents show massive network of Iranian spies infiltrated Europe/Dan Rouhani
Says Vienna Talks Open 'New Chapter'
Iranians hope for ‘new chapter’ as nuclear talks to continue
Iran may attack Israel - from its own territory
Iran talks on unexplained uranium traces delayed -diplomats
Iran’s Esmail Qaani in Baghdad to unify loyal militias before elections, target
US presence
4 Syrian soldiers injured in alleged Israeli airstrikes on Damascus
Inside Secret Syria Talks Aimed at Freeing American Hostages
Israel Says Will Not Cooperate with ICC War Crimes Probe
Netanyahu: Israel won't be bound by deal which allows Iran a nuclear bomb
Israel slams Biden's resumption of UNRWA funding for Palestinians
Biden announces limited gun restrictions
Biden Resumes Palestinian Aid, Urges Two-State Solution
At least 1 person killed and 4 wounded after a shooting at a Texas office park,
police say
UAE pledges support for Libya’s new unity government
Merkel Urges Russia to Reduce Troops on Ukraine Border
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 08-09/2021
Muslim Man Butchers Coptic Christian Mother and
Child/Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/April 08/2021
Does Iran Even Need Spies in Academia?/A.J. Caschetta/The Hill/April 8, 2021
Capitol Building Attack: The Jihadi Connection/Raymond Ibrahim/April 08/2021
Iran nuclear talks: How do goals of Rouhani, Biden and Netanyahu compare?/Yonah
Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/April 08/2021
Regional, international developments further isolate Iran/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab
News/April 08/2021
Who has the lead role in the latest talks between the US and Iran?/Khaled Abou
Zahr/Arab News/April 08/2021
Biden’s new Iran Deal must rein in Tehran’s proxies/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Arab
News/April 08/2021
China Boycotts Western Companies Over Uyghurs/Soeren Kern/Gatestone
Institute/April 8, 2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 08-09/2021
Ministry of Health: 3510 new infections, 37 deaths
NNA/April 08/2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced 3510 new coronavirus infection cases,
which raises the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 489428.37 deaths have
been recorded over the past 24 hours.
Aoun Tells Zaki Taef Accord Not 'Threatened'
Naharnet/April 08/2021
President Michel Aoun on Thursday stressed that Lebanon is committed to the Taef
Accord, during a meeting with Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam
Zaki in Baabda. At the beginning of the meeting, Aoun said he welcomes any Arab
League initiative aimed at resolving the current Lebanese crisis, telling Zaki
that Lebanon appreciates the care that the League is showing towards Lebanon.
The president also explained to Zaki “the reasons that have so far prevented the
government’s formation and the obstacles that have been put in its way,”
emphasizing that “Lebanon is committed to the implementation of the Taef Accord
from which the constitution emerged.”Aoun, however, stressed that “the
constitution must be respected by everyone and its articles must be implemented,
especially as to everything related to the formation, work and
dissolution.”“Everything that is being said contrary to that and anything
hinting that the Taef Accord is threatened is unrealistic and being circulated
by known sides concerned with the formation process,” the president said. He
added that “the head of the state is the only official who takes an oath to
preserve the constitution.”
President Aoun chairs meeting devoted to discuss work of
IMPACT electronic platform
NNA / Presidency Press Office
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, today chaired a meeting devoted
to discuss the work of IMPACT electronic platform, which was launched by the
Central Inspection on March 5, 2020.
IMPACT is the first electronic platform owned by the state and shared between
ministries and municipalities for evaluation, coordination and follow-up.
The President listened to a briefing presentation, made by Head of the Central
Inspection, Judge George Attiyeh, and Technical Support Team member Dr. Carole
Sharabati, on the overall applications and programs of the IMPACT platform,
which recently supported the government during the lockdown period, in terms of
allowing citizens to obtain transport permits. IMPACT also supported the Health
Ministry in adopting the platform as a basic base through which to register to
receive Corona vaccines, following-up on citizen health status and obtaining a
form which indicates the reception of the COVID vaccine, with the related
data.The meeting also addressed the website which is used to view all numbers
and charts related to travel permits and registration processes for receiving
the vaccine from the platform, along with the related number of individuals who
received the vaccine and their distribution among regions. The discussion also
dealt with the rural and local development form through which data on regions
are collected in cooperation with Municipalities so that this data can be used
in any future developmental plan, in addition to the form of the poorest
families whose data was collected through cooperation with municipalities, mayor
and Social Affairs Ministry, in the early stages of Corona spread. Moreover, the
forms of damage to government buildings, institutions and public administrations
whose data were collected after the Beirut Port explosion were also deliberated
in cooperation and coordination with the Public Works and Displaced Ministries.
It is noteworthy that all this data, graphs and figures are published on the
website which is accessible by citizens, where the Central Inspection aims to
reinforce the principle and the right to access information to benefit from in
any future plan. The meeting was attended by former Minister, Salim Jreisatti,
and Presidency Director General, Dr. Antoine Choucair. --
Hariri meets Arab League’s Zaki over latest developments
NNA/April 08/2021
PM-designate Saad Hariri, on Thursday received at the “Center House” the
Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ambassador Hussam Zaki,
accompanied by Ambassador Abdel-Rahman Al-Solh.
Discussions reportedly touched on the latest developments on the Lebanese and
Arab arenas. Following the meeting, Ambassador Zaki said he informed Hariri of
the Arab League’s desire to help Lebanon overcome the current crisis it is
facing due to the government formation deadlock. Ambassador Zaki said, "The Arab
League is ready to play any role requested of it, whether through shuttle
diplomacy among the main parties concerned, or by ensuring an Arab framework
where all the Lebanese political sides could meet under its auspices," he said.
Zaki hoped that this crisis would be over soon for the sake of the Lebanese
people and the Lebanese state. He also highlighted the necessity to put national
interest above any other narrow considerations.
Zaki Tells Lebanon Arab League Ready to Help, Lauds Berri's
Initiative
Naharnet/April 08/2021
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General on Thursday held separate meetings in
Lebanon with President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker PM Hassan
Diab and PM-designate Saad Hariri. Speaking after talks in Baabda, Zaki said he
expressed to Aoun the readiness of Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit to
mediate “between the main parties of the crisis if there is a need for the Arab
League to intervene.” Zaki said he also inquired about “the talk that recently
increased about the Taef Accord, its fate and whether it is threatened in any
form.” Following talks with Hariri, Zaki said he informed the PM-designate of
the Arab League’s “desire to help resolve this crisis and pull Lebanon out of
this dilemma it is facing due to the failure to form a government.”He added that
he believes that Hariri “has an idea that the proposal that came from Speaker
Nabih Berri is a largely acceptable suggestion.”Asked about the obstacles
delaying the government’s formation and the indications he sensed in Baabda,
Zaki said: “We are not carrying an initiative and we are not pressing the
parties, but we are annoyed and concerned over the political and economic
situation in Lebanon.” He added: “The currently raised ideas, especially those
proposed by Speaker Nabih Berri, are ideas that can be capitalized on and can
represent a good exit from the current crisis.”“Communication between Speaker
Berri and the Arab League will continue and the ideas suggested by Speaker Nabih
Berri are good ideas that deserve all support from us,” Zaki went on to say.
Berri's Initiative Reportedly Still on the Table
Naharnet/April 08/2021
Speaker Nabih Berri’s initiative for resolving the cabinet formation crisis is
still on the table and has not been shelved, political sources said. The
initiative has however been suspended to “give a chance to those who objected to
it to review their calculations and become convinced of it,” the
sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Thursday. The
sources added that the initiative was discussed between PM-designate Saad Hariri
and Berri’s aide Ali Hassan Khalil during the latter’s latest visit to the
Center House. “Berri’s move towards Hariri coincided with Kalil’s communication
with Hizbullah’s leadership, which has restarted its engines in a bid to
convince (President Michel) Aoun and (Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran)
Bassil of the need to endorse the initiative and withdraw their reservations,”
the sources added.
Berri welcomes Arab League's Zaki, MP Bustani
NNA/April 08/2021
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, welcomed Thursday at his Ain-el-Tineh residence,
Arab League's Assistant Secretary General, Hossam Zaki, with whom he discussed
the current general situation, mainly the governmental dossier. Speaking to
reporters following the one-hour meeting, Zaki indicated that he had relayed to
his host the Arab League's wish to see a government formed in Lebanon. He also
highlighted the necessity to put national responsibility above narrow
considerations. He added that the Arab League would carry on contacts with the
Lebanese political sides to help the country exit its crisis in the nearest time
possible. Separately, Berri met with MP Farid Bustani, in presence of MP Ali
Bazzi.
Jumblatt, Arab League’s Zaki tackle political developments
NNA/April 08/2021
Progressive Socialist Party leader, Walid Jumblatt, on Thursday welcomed at his
Clemenceau residence the Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League,
Ambassador Hussam Zaki, in the presence of PSP Commissioner for External Affairs
Zaher Raad. Talks reportedly touched on most recent political developments.
ABL Hits Back at Aoun, Says Banks Not behind Wrong Policies
Naharnet /April 08/2021
The Association of Banks in Lebanon on Thursday denounced what it called a
“campaign against the banking sector” by “most politicians,” a day after
President Michel Aoun criticized the country’s banks. “Most politicians resort
to this campaign when the crisis toughens” in a bid to conceal “the reasons
behind what happened and is still happening to the country,” ABL said in a
statement. Reminding that “it was not banks which used to stress the pegging of
the national currency rate in every ministerial policy statement over the past
30 years,” ABL said banks also did not encourage the state to increasingly
borrow from the funds deposited at the central bank. ABL also reminded that it
was the state and not banks which issued treasury loans, approved subsidization
policies and impeded the issuance of capital control laws. The Association also
slammed the “policies of the waste of funds and the irresponsible taxing and
customs laws.”“Banks were not behind the decisions of arbitrary employment in
state institutions and they did not accumulate the deficit in the balance of
payments,” the statement added. “The political crisis, and the obstruction and
vacuum it created, remains the main reason behind the financial and banking
crisis in Lebanon,” the statement added. Aoun had on Wednesday said that banks’
responsibility is “evident” and that they “cannot evade the truth.”“The people
put their money with you and you used it irresponsibly to achieve fast gains,
without a ‘distribution of risks’ as required by the profession’s rules,” the
president added.
Army Vaccination Campaign Begins across Lebanon
Naharnet /April 08/2021
A Covid-19 vaccination campaign for army personnel kicked off Thursday morning
at 21 centers belonging to the Military Healthcare across Lebanon. The
vaccination process will take place according to “the schedule of priorities
that has been devised by the committee overseeing the anti-virus vaccination
campaign,” an army statement said. After receiving the vaccine along with the
members of the Military Council and a number of officers and soldiers, Army
Commander General Joseph Aoun urged the personnel of the military institution to
follow suit, describing the vaccine as a “necessary means for protecting them
and their families and curbing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.”He also
called for continued respect for the precautionary measures.The development
comes after Lebanon received Tuesday a Chinese donation of 50,000 Sinopharm
vaccines of which 10,000 will go to the military institution. Twenty thousand
vaccines will meanwhile go to journalists and the media sector and the rest will
go to high-contact sectors such as the association of public employees, National
Social Security Fund workers and veterinarian physicians.
Attorney General Approves Release of 11 Held in Port Case
NNA/April 08/2021
Attorney General Judge Ghassan al-Khoury on Thursday approved requests for the
release of 11 low-rank employees and servicemen held in the case of the Beirut
port blast. Khoury meanwhile dismissed requests for the release of the directors
general, officers and senior employees who are in custody.
The lead investigative judge into the case, Judge Tarek al-Bitar, will meanwhile
look into the release requests on Monday, the National News Agency said, noting
that Khoury’s decisions are not binding for Bitar.
Rahi meets Norwegian Ambassador
NNA/April 08/2021
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi, on Thursday received in
Bkerki, the Norwegian Ambassador to Lebanon, Martin Yttervik, who came on a
protocol visit upon his assumption of his new diplomatic duties in the country.
Diab chairs meeting devoted to discussing maritime borders’
issue
NNA/April 08/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, on Thursday chaired a meeting devoted
to discussing the issue of maritime borders. The meeting was attended by
Ministers Zeina Akar, Michel Najjar and Charbel Wehbe, in addition to former
Minister Lawyer Naji Al-Boustani, PCM Secretary-General, Judge Mahmoud Makie, PM
Advisor, Khodor Taleb, Brigadier General Bassam Yassine and Colonel Mazen
Basbous. The meeting deliberated on the proposal to amend Decree No. 6433
related to the exclusive economic zone on the southern borders with occupied
Palestine. During the meeting, Premier Diab stressed the need to expedite the
resolution of this file. After the army delegation provided a detailed account
of the file, the Minister of National Defense confirmed the endorsement of the
draft decree she submitted to the PCM. The Minister of Public Works and
Transport asked to be given some time to examine the project at maximum speed,
in coordination with the Army Command, in preparation for the completion and
signing of the file by the Ministers of Defense and Works, before it is
submitted to Premier Diab for signature and referral to the Presidency of the
Republic to issue the required exceptional approval.-- PM Press Office
Ministers of Information, Health discuss journalists'
vaccination mechanism
NNA/April 08/2021
Caretaker Ministers Manal Abdel Samad of Information and Hamad Hassan of Public
Health held a meeting on Thursday during which they agreed to allocate 8,000
coronavirus vaccine shots to the press and media body. The pair also discussed
the mechanism of vaccinations of journalists and agreed to hold a press
conference on Monday to announce the process date.
Diab meets delegation of Families of Lebanese Students
Abroad Association
NNA/April 08/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, today met with a delegation from the
Lebanese Association for Parents of Students in Foreign Universities, which
included Sheikh Jihad Al-Abdullah, Mahmoud Obeid, RiadKhoury, Nayef Ghaith,
Assaad Al-Taher and Dr. RabihKanj, in the presence of PM Advisor, Hussein
Kaafarani. After the meeting, Dr. Kanj said, “We visited H.E. and briefed him
about the steps we are undertaking, especially in light of the failure of banks
to implement the Student Dollar Law as the only solution to savethousands of
students abroad. Six months have passed since the publication of the Law in the
Official Gazette, and having reached a dead end, we resorted, in our capacity as
Lebanese Association for Parents of Students in Foreign Universities, to the
Public Prosecutor's Office and we provided information about Law 193 and its
non-implementation by the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) represented by
its Chairman, Salim Sfeir, knowing that on January 13, 2021 we sent a warning to
the ABL, but the bailiff replied that the ABL’s address was unknown; thus,
notification could not be made. " Then Mr. Assaad Daher said: “We have informed
H.E. of the legal path that we are taking, and we tell the Lebanese people that
misinformation being circulatedby the banks and the governor of the Central Bank
of Lebanon is untrue, and we will continue our escalatorysteps in the streets.
We also hold the banks responsiblefor the repercussions of our moves, for the
pain isgetting too great and the academic year is nearing its end.”For his part,
Sheikh Jihad Al-Abdullah affirmed that Premier Diab has expressed his full
readiness to support students abroad within his powers and prerogatives”.-- PM
Press office
Wazni informed by British Embassy Head of Mission of
Kingdom's support for forensic audit
NNA/April 08/2021
Caretaker Finance Minister, Ghazi Wazni, welcomed this Thursday the Head of
Mission and Chargé d'Affaires at the British Embassy, Martin Longden, and
discussed the financial situation in Lebanon, namely the issue of forensic
audit, as well as Lebanese-British relations. After the meeting, Longden said:
“I discussed with Minister Wazni an array of critical economic issues and
challenges that Lebanon is currently facing and the urgent need for a political
solution to these problems, including the formation of a new government. We also
touched upon the issue of support and options available to the government, and
the developments related to forensic scrutiny, which is considered necessary. "
"I reiterate the United Kingdom's position in support of forensic audit, which
constitutes one of the basic components for reaching a solution with the
International Monetary Fund and thus making a difference in Lebanon," he said.
'Loyalty to Resistance' calls for government formation
NNA/April 08/2021
The Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc on Thursday highlighted the
necessity to reach an agreement to form a new government, warning of chaos if it
remains unformed. "The Lebanese no longer have the luxury of time," the bloc
said in a statement issued following its weekly meeting in Haret hreik.
"Reaching an agreement is a necessary and safe path to form the government," the
bloc added. Also, conferees welcomed efforts exerted by "friends" of Lebanon who
support national agreements.
Diab meets German delegation from “Hamburg Port” consulting
company
NNA/April 08/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, today received a German delegation from
the "Hamburg Port" consulting company, headed by its Managing Director, Suheil
Mahini, Associate Partner responsible for Middle East and Africa Division, Lars
Grainer, Chief Architect, Herman Schnell, German Ambassador to Lebanon, Andreas
Kindl, and the Economic Affairs Adviser at the Embassy and Executive Director of
Operations at the Lebanese-German Business Council, Marie Jakh, in the presence
of Minister of Public Works and Transport, Michel Najjar, Secretary-General of
the Council of Ministers, Judge Mahmoud Makie, and PM Diab's Office Head, Judge
Khaled Akkari. The delegation presented a preliminary study on how to reactivate
the port of Beirut for trade and tourism.-- PM Press Office
Lebanese Civic Coalition issues new statement: “A Choice
and a Path”
NNA/April 08/2021
The Civic National Front Bureau and the Steering Committee of Pyramid held a
joint meeting to approve the political document, the national rescue policy
program, the action plan, and the organizational papers of the Lebanese Civic
Coalition. The participants approved the documents that will launch the Lebanese
Civic Coalition, a platform for an organized and structured political
opposition, born from the womb and spirit of the October 17 Revolution, sharing
a unified program, vision and leadership towards the New Lebanon. The
participants issued a statement titled "A Choice and a Path", in which they
stated: "Since the outset of the October 17 revolution, the search for a civic
and national opposition coalition has begun. Led by a clear vision, a
comprehensive program, and an organized leadership, the Lebanese Civic Coalition
would provide a rescue- policy oriented alternative to the ruling Regime. The
Lebanese Civic Coalition, thanks to the scientific and systematic efforts put by
the Civic National Front and the Pyramid group, including revolutionary figures,
experts, and opinion leaders will be launched in the coming two weeks. Built
around an organized structure, it wishes to expand its scope of representation
and trigger coordination between the dynamic change-oriented societal figures.
On The Lebanese Civic Coalition agenda, the implementation of the Constitution,
the establishment of a Civic State, the exercise of full sovereignty, a
diversity-oriented citizenship, impartiality towards regional and international
conflicts, and a financial-economic-social reform based on good governance,
accountability, and transparency. This agenda stems from a purely political
position that is keen on building a nation and establishing the rule of law on
the grounds of sustainable public policies. The Lebanese Civic Coalition
believes in producing a public opinion that embraces change and relies on an
Establishment that thrives to restore the State and reconfigure authority via a
peaceful democratic path; public good being interrelated with common good. The
Lebanese Civic Coalition will bring together the dynamics of ideas and the
dynamics of the grassroots. It will appeal to the Diaspora to make sure that it
gains considerable weight and a status comparable to that of any decision-making
entity that is substitute to the ruling regime. It will be guided by a vision, a
program, and a leadership for building a New Lebanon."—LCC
Former Lebanese Minister Of Justice Ashraf Rifi: Hizbullah
Is A Collaborator Of 'Mini-Nazi' Iran, Enemy Of Lebanon; It Is Leading Lebanon
To Suicide
MEMRI/April 08/2021
Source: Al-Arabiya Network (Dubai/Saudi Arabia)
General (Ret.) Ashraf Rifi, Lebanon's former Minister of Justice and the former
Director-General of the Internal Security Forces said that Hizbullah poses a
threat to Lebanon and that it is an enemy of Lebanon. He made these remarks in
an interview with Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that aired on April 5, 2021.
Rifi elaborated that Hizbullah is a collaborator of Iran, which he referred to
as "mini-Nazi." He said that the only difference between Nazism and Iran is the
scope, and predicted that its end will be similar, destruction and suicide. Rifi
added that Hizbullah wants to drag Lebanon to suicide along with it, but the
"Lebanese people do not want to commit suicide." He recalled that Lebanon used
to be referred to as the "Switzerland of the Middle East," and said that it will
return to be so, once it removes the Iranian weapons and hegemony from the
country. For more about Ashraf Rifi, see MEMRI TV clips nos. 8204, 5363, and
4893. Ashraf Rifi: "[Hizbullah] wants to be a part of the Iranian enterprise, to
be an Iranian tool - an Iranian collaborator in the full sense of the word.
Anyone who kills our dignitaries is a criminal terrorist. [Hizbullah] distorts
the image of Lebanon and ruins its ties with the Arab and western countries, and
therefore, it poses a threat to Lebanon. It is an enemy of Lebanon. "History
books tell us about the totalitarian mentality, of security centered people who
cared only about their weapons. The have ended up in the garbage bin of history.
It is as if Hitler... As if mini-Nazi Iran... Yes, Iran constitutes modern
Nazism, only on a smaller scale. They only differ in scope. Therefore, I believe
it will end in destruction and suicide. The Lebanese people do not want to
commit suicide. We are people who were created to be alive. We are thus
instructed by our religion and our patriotism. But [Hizbullah] wants to take us,
against our conviction, to suicide. Go commit suicide yourself. If you want to
go to Iran, we want to stay here. We used to be the Switzerland of the Middle
East, and we will return to be like that, when we remove the Iranian weapons and
hegemony from Lebanon.
"Hizbullah presented itself as the defender of Lebanon from the Israeli enemy,
as well as from the takfiri terrorism. It presented itself as the defender of
the minorities. But ultimately, it turned that Hizbullah is the flip side of
takfiri terrorism."
Choosing the wrong person at the wrong time
Farouk Yousef/The Arab News/April 08/2021
Other than being the eldest son of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri, what does Saad Hariri possess of the qualities that qualify him to be a
permanent fixture in Lebanon as prime minister-designate or nominee?
The man is not new to this position. Twice, he held the role of prime minister.
There was never added value nor special distinction while he was at the helm.
The Lebanese do not remember that he took any positive positions. He was there
only as the heir of his father from whom he did not inherit knowledge,
competence, skill nor ability to distinguish between what could harm him and
what would be good for him. Hariri, the father did not pass on any of the
characteristics of political leadership to his son. It is obviously easy to pass
judgment on Saad Hariri, a man who suddenly emerged in politics without the
benefit of political culture or exceptional qualities deserving of attention. He
rose to the leadership of the Future Movement for reasons that had nothing to
with his personality. But the man could have been just unlucky because he
emerged in difficult circumstances that would have overwhelmed any politician,
whatever his calibre. But that may not be entirely true.
Saad Hariri has proven throughout all his years of leadership that he does not
belong to the category of traditional politicians who conduct public affairs in
a predominantly cautious, slow and minute manner, at times even in annoying
proportions. Also he was not a rebellious, independent nor angry politician who
uttered sweeping words in the face of forces that were intent on seizing
Lebanon, its state, wealth, location and position. Also, Hariri cannot be
described as a middle-of-the-way kind of person. Therefore, it is difficult to
list him among heads of government who have left their mark in public life.
He is a man who would be forgotten had it not been for the great damage he has
left behind him because of his failed economics and politics. He was not
redeemed by any type of connecton with the public. People felt they had to
accept him since he was the sole representative of the Sunni community in a
sectarian system under which the Sunnis obtained the post of prime minister.
He has been a failed businessman who led all his economic ventures into
bankruptcy. A failed politician who had every opportunity for success after his
father was treacherously assassinated, except that he did not stand in the way
of his father’s killers. On the contrary, his dull and fluid presence allowed
these killers to achieve what they could not during the time of Hariri, the
father. They expanded their role from their sectarian confines to those of the
government, whose role has actually receded, and through it to the state, which
has become an additional playground of the Iranian ayatollahs. In practical
terms, the presence of Saad Hariri at the head of the Sunni community, being its
political representative in the sectarian system, has caused the community many
disasters. This has led to the decline of the community’s role in Lebanese
political life. The hard-line, impulsive and reckless reactions of some Sunni
groups have been nothing but futile attempts to recover that role. Hariri was
virtually disconnected from the constituency he represented. He dealt with that
constituency through advisers and transactional aides who had no goal but to
increase their wealth behind the cover of politics. But the man was not a victim
of his advisers. After the kingdom of Saudi Arabia lavished a lot of money him
in the days of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in order to strengthen his political
position, shore up his political role at the head of the Sunni community and
preserve Lebanon’s sectarian makeup, it became clear that this money went to his
personal accounts and was spent for his own benefit, with the Lebanese
themselves reaping no economic or political gain.
The Saudis have squandered their money on a man who did not deserve it.
In the final analysis, it can be said that the man who was placed by his lineage
in an inappropriate role, has not learned much in fifteen years. In particular,
he did not learn anything that would have made him worthy of that role. It may
be laughable for this man to call for a technocratic government that he will
lead. How is that right when he himself is no technocrat? Hariri does not have
any talent or aptitude and is not proficient in any occupation. Not to mention
that he is a man without political imagination. Unfortunately for Lebanon, it
chose a personally-failed man who can only lead it to its demise. Whoever
presents Hariri as a saviour is mocking the Lebanese people in their most
difficult days.
The Latest
English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on
April 08-09/2021
Syrian Missile Hits Lebanon during Israeli Raid on Damascus
Associated Press/Agence France Presse
Israel carried out a missile attack near the Syrian capital of Damascus and its
southern suburbs early Thursday that wounded four soldiers, Syria's state media
said. State news agency, SANA, quoted an unidentified military official as
saying that Syrian air defenses were able to shoot down most of the missiles
before they hit their targets. SANA said some of the missiles were fired by
Israeli warplanes flying over neighboring Lebanon. The strikes also caused "some
material damage." The source did not provide details on the targets. The strikes
near the capital "destroyed a weapons depot likely used by the Lebanese
Hizbullah militia," among other Iran-backed groups, said the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights. "It also killed three ... Iran-backed militia fighters," said
the monitor. The Observatory said it could not determine their nationalities but
that they were all non-Syrians. Al-Manar TV of Lebanon's Hizbullah said one of
the Syrian air defense missiles exploded near the Lebanon-Syria border and was
heard in parts of southern Lebanon. It later said the missile crashed near the
Lebanese border village of Houla. Israel has launched hundreds of strikes
against Iran-linked military targets in Syria over the years but rarely
acknowledges or discusses such operations. Israel views Iranian entrenchment on
its northern frontier as a red line, and it has repeatedly struck Iran-linked
facilities and weapons convoys destined for Hizbullah.
Documents show massive network of Iranian spies infiltrated
Europe
Dan Verbin /Arutz Sheva/April 08/2021
Spy network in 22 European cities planned terrorist attacks using explosives,
acid and toxic chemicals, newly obtained documents reveal. A massive network of
Iranian spies is operating inside Europe, stretching through 22 cities across
the continent. The network’s plans for terrorist attacks using explosives, acid
and toxic chemicals were detailed in documents discovered by German police and
obtained by the Jewish Chronicle. The documents were found in a rental car being
used for intelligence purposes by Iranian spy chief Assadollah Assadi, who was
sentenced by an Antwerp, Belgium court in February to 20 years in prison for his
role in a failed 2018 bomb attack in Paris, the Jewish Chronicle reported. The
papers found inside Assadi’s red Ford S-Max detailed a “sophisticated network of
regime agents” who have infiltrated across European cities. There were also
hand-written bomb-making instructions and a 200-page green notebook with entries
on trips made over four years to 289 European locations to meet spies. Six
cellphones, a laptop, external hard drives and USB sticks with intelligence
training manuals on them were also recovered. There was also 30,000 Euros in
cash. The instructions for explosive making dealt with arming a bomb codenamed
PlayStation, which had a specially positioned antenna that would avoid
extraneous Wi-Fi signals. The explosive device eventually made its way to a 2018
anti-regime rally full of thousands of Iranian dissidents and politicians such
as former New York City mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The terror plot
was foiled the day of the attack when Belgian police arrested the would be
bombers, two agents being run by Assadi. When the PlayStation bomb was later
detonated by Belgium’s bomb disposal unit, the explosion was so strong that it
destroyed the robot and injured a nearby officer. Assadi was arrested a day
later in the Ford rental car in Germany. The disclosure comes at a sensitive
time as Western powers begin meeting with Tehran in Vienna to look for ways to
restore the 2015 nuclear deal that former President Donald Trump withdrew from.
At the time, Trump called the Obama-era pact a “horrible, one-sided deal
Rouhani Says Vienna Talks Open 'New Chapter'
Agence France Presse/April 08/2021
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that talks in Vienna on rescuing a
troubled 2015 nuclear deal had opened a "new chapter." An Iranian delegation met
Tuesday with representatives of the remaining parties to the agreement to
discuss how to bring Washington back into it and end crippling US sanctions and
Iranian countermeasures. U.S. President Joe Biden has said he is ready to
reverse the decision of his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw from the
agreement and reimpose unilateral sanctions. But differences remain over the
mechanics of the move as Tehran has since responded by suspending compliance
with some of its own obligations under the deal. The United States was not
present at Tuesday's discussions because Iran has refused to meet the US
delegation so long as its sanctions remain in place. Instead, the European Union
acted as an intermediary, but all sides gave a positive assessment of the
opening talks. "A new chapter has just been opened yesterday," Rouhani told a
cabinet meeting Wednesday. "If (Washington) shows it is honest and sincere,
that's all we ask... I think we'll be able to negotiate in a short time, if
necessary, with the (other parties to the deal)."In Washington, State Department
spokesman Ned Price said that the United States still believed "this is a
constructive forum.""The talks so far have been business-like and they are doing
what we envisioned they would," Price told reporters. "They are affording us a
better understanding of Iran's thinking and we hope that in turn Tehran will
leave this round of talks with a better understanding of what we might be
prepared to do." The U.S. delegation has set up at a different hotel in Vienna,
with EU negotiators acting as go-betweens. At the same time, two groups of
experts -- on lifting sanctions and nuclear issues -- are working "to identify
concrete measures to be taken by Washington and Tehran" to restore the deal,
Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said.
Iranians hope for ‘new chapter’ as nuclear talks to
continue
The Arab News/April 08/2021
TEHRAN - VIENNA - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that the first
talks in Vienna on rescuing a troubled 2015 nuclear deal had opened a “new
chapter”.He told a cabinet meeting in Tehran, “If (Washington) shows it is
honest and sincere, that’s all we ask… I think we’ll be able to negotiate in a
short time, if necessary, with the (other parties to the deal).”An Iranian
delegation had sat down in Vienna on Tuesday with representatives from Britain,
China, France, Germany and Russia, behind closed doors in the ballroom of a
Vienna luxury hotel, as part of the so-called joint commission mandated by the
pact. US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to reverse the decision of his
predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose unilateral
sanctions. But differences remain over the mechanics of the move as Tehran has
since responded by suspending compliance with some of its own obligations under
the deal. The United States was not present at Tuesday’s discussions because
Iran has refused to meet the US delegation so long as its sanctions remain in
place. A group of US delegates, led by special envoy Rob Malley, was in an
adjacent hotel to take indirect part in the talks, with European coordinator
Enrique Mora shuttling between the venues. Russian envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said
that two expert groups have been set up to look into the lifting of sanctions
and nuclear issues. These experts are to report back to the delegates, at the
next joint commission meeting when it resumes talks on Friday. An Iranian
opposition group protests outside the venue of the meeting of the Bilateral
discussions are also taking place, with some of those participating posting
photos and comments on Twitter.
“You have all the consultation formats you can imagine,” a European diplomat
familiar with the talks said, while another described them as “marathon”
negotiations. All sides gave a positive assessment of the opening talks with
both Washington and Tehran hailing them as “constructive”.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the United States
still believed “this is a constructive forum”. “The talks so far have been
business-like and they are doing what we envisioned they would,” Price told
reporters, adding “They are affording us a better understanding of Iran’s
thinking and we hope that in turn Tehran will leave this round of talks with a
better understanding of what we might be prepared to do.” Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday “we’ll be able to negotiate in a short time”, but
several diplomats have said the talks could take weeks. “It’s off to a good
start but it can seize up at any time,” one of the European diplomats told AFP,
adding it was hard to say whether the talks could conclude before June 18, when
Iran will vote for a successor to Rouhani, who is considered a moderate. “If we
have not managed by the first half of May to really give a decisive impetus,
with clear progress, I will be worried about the will or the Iranian capacity to
conclude this negotiation before the election,” another diplomat said, though he
added it was not impossible to conclude talks even after the presidential vote
Iran may attack Israel - from its own territory
Arutz Sheva/April 08/2021
Iran may attack Israel - from its own territory
Tehran may seek revenge for naval attacks - and they may use drones to do it.
Following recent clashes between Israel and Iran, including a recent attack on
an Iranian vessel in the Red Sea, Israel fears that Iran will try to attack
Israel - from its own territory, Israel Hayom reported. Though Israel did not
take official responsibility for the attack, foreign news outlets claimed that
Israel's elite Shayetet 13 naval unit carried out the attack, as part of a
series of operations against Iranian targets over the past two years. Unlike in
previous instances, in which Israel foiled weapons and crude oil smuggling, in
this instance Israel seemingly told Iran that its recent attack on an Israeli
ship in the Arabian Sea was unacceptable. The Iranian ship which was attacked
was one which is normally anchored near Eritrea and gathered intelligence on
vessels in the Red Sea, and it is expected that Iran will not overlook the
attack. According to Israel Hayom, one of the options for attacking Israel is
sending weapons from Iranian territory to Israeli territory. The Iranians can
attack Israel with missiles, and more likely is that Iran will use armed drones
capable of flying over 2,000 kilometers. These drones, which fly slowly and near
the ground, are especially difficult to shoot down.Shayetet 13 has carried out
dozens of operations against vessels illegally carrying crude oil from Iran to
Syria, the site added. Part of the money paid for this oil goes towards funding
the Hezbollah terror group and other terror groups, and it is estimated that the
Iranians lost two billion dollars in oil sales.
Iran talks on unexplained uranium traces delayed -diplomats
Reuters/April 08/2021
"It's been pushed back several weeks regarding the April start. Could be as
little as two," a European diplomatic source said, adding that the reason was
technical. Talks between the UN atomic watchdog and Iran aimed at prising
answers from Tehran on unexplained uranium traces have been delayed, narrowing a
window to make progress or risk undoing a wider push for detente with the West,
three diplomats said. Iran's 2015 deal with world powers effectively drew a line
under what the International Atomic Energy Agency and US intelligence agencies
believe was a secret, coordinated nuclear weapons program that the Islamic
Republic halted in 2003. In the past two years, however, IAEA inspectors have
found traces of processed uranium at three sites Iran never declared to it,
suggesting that Tehran had nuclear material connected to old activities that
remains unaccounted for. The IAEA needs to track that material down to be sure
Iran is not diverting any to make nuclear weapons. In a bid to break the
impasse, and avert an escalation between Tehran and the West, the IAEA has said
it would hold talks with Iran as of the start of April with the aim of making
progress by early June. Those talks are taking place in parallel with
negotiations in Vienna aimed at rescuing the nuclear deal and without
substantial progress could stoke distrust and harm the prospects of bringing the
United States and Iran back into compliance."It's been pushed back several weeks
regarding the April start. Could be as little as two," a European diplomatic
source said, adding that the reason was technical.
Iran’s Esmail Qaani in Baghdad to unify loyal militias
before elections, target US presence
The Arab News/April 08/2021
BAGHDAD – Iran is redoubling its efforts to ensure its continued control over
Iraq. This explains the unannounced visit to Baghdad by the commander of the
Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Esmail Qaani, at the same time that
the strategic dialogue started between Baghdad and Washington.
Qaani held meetings with militia leaders in Iraq about unifying their ranks
before the elections and coordinating their plans to target the US presence as
they try to push Washington to withdraw its forces from Iraq.
Another objective is to pressure Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi to end his
rapprochement with Washington and reverse his policy of openness toward Iraq’s
Arab neighbours. Informed Iraqi sources said that the visit of Qassem
Soleimani’s heir, which was announced only when it had ended on Tuesday, shows
that Tehran no longer trusts its allied militias in Iraq because of the mounting
popular resentment at their activities. Iran’s influence in Iraq has declined
since the killing of Soleimani. Qaani cannot not make up for the demise of
Soleimani as he does not wield the level of influence that Soleimani had over
the militias.
An Iraqi parliamentary source told The Arab Weekly that “Qaani is no Soleimani,
and he does not have the power or influence that his predecessor had.”He also
does not have “the personal background” that qualifies him to impose his
decisions, even if the militias only obey his orders, at least formally. The
source added that the leader of the Quds Force had tasked loyal militias, even
those that do not have a political presence in state institutions, with exerting
continued pressure on the US and Iraqi governments by provoking incidents aimed
at softening American stances during the Vienna negotiations with world powers
on the nuclear agreement. Analysts say that Iran may not be about to change its
policies in Iraq, but it has become convinced that it does not hold that many
cards in its showdown with Americans in the Iraqi arena. They point out that the
upcoming elections will not be like the previous votes, because internal
tensions among Shia factions have intensified as a result of the protests that
engulfed predominantly Shia cities.
Iraqi blogger Saleh Hamdani told The Arab Weekly that Iranians want the dialogue
with Washington to be limited to expediting the withdrawal of American forces
from Iraq, while everyone, including Iran’s friends in Iraq, knows that the US
presence is still helpful to Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS and in
their general security duties in the country. Observers rule out the ability of
the pro-Iranian political parties and militias to influence the outcome of the
strategic dialogue between Baghdad and Washington, which began Wednesday. The
Kurds for instance tend to advocate maintaining American troops as an insurance
policy against the encroachment of the Popular Mobilisation Forces. The Iraqi
government delegation taking part in the strategic dialogue with the US includes
a team representing the Kurdistan government headed by Fawzi Hariri, the chief
of staff of the Kurdistan province. The po-Iran militias are pressing Kadhimi
through organised political and media campaigns to stop any progress in talks
with the Americans and seek to offer the militias’ protection instead. They also
oppose his recent rapprochement with the Arab Gulf countries after his visits to
Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
Kadhimi stressed, prior to the strategic dialogue, that the government seeks to
protect the state and shield it from threats, by strengthening and rebuilding
constitutional institutions, especially the Iraqi army and the rest of the
security apparatus. He added, “Iraq’s outstanding regional and international
relations buttress state protection efforts.” Iraq witnesses, on a daily basis,
attacks against US soldiers, diplomats and contractors, smear campaigns against
Kadhimi as well as military parades by pro-Iran factions that accuse the prime
minister of loyalty to Washington. The pro-Iranian militias and their affiliated
politicians clamour for the expulsion of the 2,500 American soldiers stationed
in Iraq. They base their demands on a parliamentary resolution that was voted on
in 2020 and has not yet been implemented. That resolution calls for the
withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq.
The state militias have undertaken a campaign against the prime minister,
calling on him to open the Shalamjah border crossing between Iraq and Iran which
was closed due to its use in the smuggling of drugs and weapons.
Hamdani stressed the importance of Iran’s border crossings with Iraq, as they
offer a breathing space for the Iranian economy, which is severely constrained
by US sanctions. He expressed his belief that this issue was on the agenda of
Qaani during talks with Iraqi officials. The US-Iraq strategic dialogue
constitutes a new test for Kadhimi’s balancing act. Before this new session with
the US, Kadhimi received the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers and
visited the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the main traditional allies
of Washington in the Middle East. Political analyst Ihssan Shammari said those
moves contained “a message to Iran according to which Iraq has the right to
pursue another course in its foreign relations, where it can rely on its Arab
environment, and not maintain a one-sided relationship as Iran and its allies
would like it to do.”
Western and Iraqi officials believe that Kadhimi wants the talks with the US to
lead to agreement on a timetable for American military withdrawal. That way he
can ensure, for now, Western support against ISIS and Iran’s influence.
Meanwhile and even before the start of the talks, Jaafar Husseini, a spokesman
for Kata’ib Hezbollah, one of the most hardline pro-Iranian militias, expressed
his rejection of the US-Iraqi dialogue.
“The negotiations have no value, because the Iraqi people have decided to end
the US occupation,” Husseini said, adding, “The Iraqi resistance continues to
pressure America.”American and Iraqi military personnel believe that with the
decline of the jihadist threat in Iraq to mere secret cells in the mountains and
the desert, the pro-Iranian factions have become the main threat facing Iraq.
They point to repeated attacks with missiles and explosive devices against
logistical support convoys belonging to the international coalition. These
factions at times even claim responsibility for attacks outside Iraqi territory
. Last week, during his visit to Riyadh, Kadhimi tried to reassure the Saudis
their territory will not be attacked from Iraqi soil, pledging, “We will not
allow any attack on the kingdom”. In January, bomb-laden drones struck the main
royal palace in Riyadh. US media quoting American officials said the drones were
launched from neighbouring Iraq. In Baghdad, an unknown group, which is believed
to be a front for well-known factions loyal to Iran, claimed responsibility for
the attack, but Kadhimi said in Riyadh “there were no attacks” on Saudi
territory from Iraq.”
4 Syrian soldiers injured in alleged Israeli airstrikes on
Damascus
Jerusalem Post/April 08/2021
A large explosion was heard near the border between Israel and Lebanon during
the strikes after a Syrian air defense missile was fired at an Israeli aircraft.
Four Syrian soldiers were injured and material damage was reported after an
alleged Israeli airstrike targeted Damascus on Wednesday night, according to
Syrian state news agency SANA. The strikes reportedly came from the direction of
the Golan Heights and Lebanon, with Lebanese media reporting Israeli aircraft
flying over large portions of Lebanon. The airstrikes targeted sites belonging
to the Syrian military and Iranian-backed militias near the Damascus
International Airport and in the south and west of the Syrian capital, according
to the opposition-affiliated Halab Today TV, which claimed that at least 12
people were killed in the strikes, including at least two dead from the Syrian
military. On Thursday morning after the airstrikes, the airspace above the Golan
Heights east of the Jordan River was closed to all flights above 5,000 ft. A
large explosion was heard near the border between Israel and Lebanon during the
strikes after a Syrian air defense missile was fired towards an Israeli aircraft
in the area, according to Hezbollah-affiliated reporter Ali Shoeib. The missile
reportedly fell near the Lebanese town of Houla, located west of Kiryat Shmona.
Inside Secret Syria Talks Aimed at Freeing American
Hostages
Associated Press/April 08/2021
Last summer, two U.S. officials ventured into hostile territory for a secret
high-stakes meeting with American adversaries. The Syrian government officials
they were scheduled to meet in Damascus seemed ready to discuss the fate of U.S.
hostages believed held in their country, including Austin Tice, a journalist
captured eight years earlier. The release of the Americans would be a boon to
President Donald Trump months ahead of the election. And a breakthrough seemed
possible. Yet the trip was ultimately fruitless, with the Syrians raising a
series of demands that would have fundamentally reshaped Washington's policy
toward Damascus, including the removal of sanctions, the withdrawal of troops
from the country and the restoration of normal diplomatic ties. Equally as
problematic for the American negotiators: Syrian officials offered no meaningful
information on the fate and whereabouts of Tice and others.
"Success would have been bringing the Americans home and we never got there,"
Kash Patel, who attended the meeting as a senior White House aide, said in his
first public comments about the effort.
The White House acknowledged the meeting in October, but said little about it.
New details have emerged in interviews The Associated Press conducted in recent
weeks with people familiar with the talks, some of whom spoke on condition of
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The AP has also learned about U.S. attempts to build goodwill with Syria well
before the talks took place, with Patel describing how an unidentified U.S. ally
in the region offered assistance with cancer treatment for the wife of President
Bashar Assad. The details shed light on the sensitive and often secretive
efforts to free hostages held by U.S. adversaries, a process that yielded
high-profile successes for Trump but also dead ends. It's unclear how
aggressively the new Biden administration will advance the efforts to free Tice
and other Americans held around the world, particularly when demands at a
negotiating table clash with the White House's broader foreign policy goals.
The August meeting in Damascus represented the highest-level talks in years
between the U.S. and the Assad government. It was extraordinary given the two
countries' adversarial relationship and because the Syrian government has never
acknowledged holding Tice or knowing anything about his whereabouts. Yet the
moment offered some promise. Trump had already shown a willingness to withdraw
U.S. troops from Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. And he had made hostage
recovery a top foreign policy priority, celebrating releases by inviting freed
detainees to the White House.
Months after the Damascus talks, as Tice's name resurfaced in the news, Trump
sent a note to Tice's parents, who live in Houston, saying he "would never stop"
working for their son's release, his mother, Debra, told the AP. But Tice's fate
was unknown when Trump left office on Jan. 20 and remains so to this day. The
former Marine had reported for The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers, CBS
and other outlets. The Biden administration, too, has pledged to make hostage
recovery a priority. But it has also called out the Syrian government for human
rights abuses and seems unlikely to be more receptive to the conditions Damascus
raised last summer in order to even continue the dialogue.
Tice has occupied a prominent spot in the public and political consciousness
since disappearing in August 2012 at a checkpoint in a contested area west of
Damascus. He had ventured deep into the country at a time when other reporters
had decided it was too dangerous, disappearing soon before he was to leave. A
video released weeks later showed him blindfolded and held by armed men and
saying, "Oh, Jesus." He has not been heard from since. U.S. authorities operate
under the assumption he's alive. Syria has never acknowledged holding him.
Efforts to secure his release have been complicated by a lack of diplomatic
relations and the conflict in Syria, where the U.S. maintains about 900 troops
in the eastern part of the country in an effort to prevent the Islamic State
group's resurgence.
"My assumption is he's alive and he's waiting for me to come and get him," said
Roger Carstens, a former Army Special Forces officer who attended the meeting
with Patel in his capacity as U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage
affairs under Trump. He was kept in the position by Biden.
At the time of the meeting, Patel was senior counterterrorism adviser at the
White House after serving as House Intelligence Committee aide, where he gained
some notoriety for advancing Republican efforts to challenge the investigation
into Russian interference into the 2016 election. He was previously a Justice
Department prosecutor under President Barack Obama.
The meeting was more than a year in the making, Patel said, requiring him to
seek help in Lebanon, which still has ties with Assad. At one point, a U.S.
"ally in the region" also helped build goodwill with the Syrian government by
providing assistance with cancer treatment for Assad's wife, he said, declining
to provide further details. The Syrian government announced a year before the
meeting that she had recovered from breast cancer. The men arrived as part of an
intentionally small delegation, driving through Damascus and seeing no obvious
signs of the conflict that has killed around a half million people and displaced
half of Syria's pre-war population of 23 million over 10 years. Inside an office
of Ali Mamlouk, the head of the Syrian intelligence agency, they asked for
information about Tice as well as Majd Kamalmaz, a psychologist from Virginia
who vanished in 2017, and several others. Hostage talks are innately
challenging, with negotiators facing demands that may seem unreasonable or at
odds with U.S. foreign policy or that may produce nothing even if satisfied. In
this instance, the conditions floated by the Syrians, described by multiple
people, would have required the U.S. to overhaul virtually its entire Syria
policy. The U.S. shuttered its embassy in Damascus in 2012 and withdrew its
ambassador as Syria's civil war worsened. Though Trump in 2019 announced the
withdrawal of troops from northern Syria, a military presence remains to help
protect an opposition enclave in the northeast, an area that includes oil and
natural gas.
With their demands unmet, the Syrians offered no meaningful information on Tice,
including a proof of life, that could have generated significant momentum, Patel
said. Though he said he was optimistic after a "legitimate diplomatic
engagement," he looks back with regret.
"I would say it's probably one of my biggest failures under the Trump
administration, not getting Austin back," Patel said. The outcome of the
diplomacy was deflating for Tice's parents, though they said it showed
engagement with Damascus was possible.
"And it's possible to have that dialogue without the United States national
security being threatened, without our Middle East policy being impacted,
without all the horrible things we were told over the years might happen if the
United States actually recognized that there was a government in Damascus,"
Tice's father, Marc, said in an interview.
In a statement, the State Department said bringing home hostages is one of the
Biden administration's highest priorities and called on Syria to free them. But
prospects for talks are uncertain, especially without a more substantial
commitment from Damascus. It's unlikely that the administration sees the
Syrians, called out in December by the global chemical watchdog for failing to
declare a chemical weapons facility, as credible negotiating partners. Biden has
said little about Syria, though he included it among international problems that
the U.N. Security Council should address. In February, he authorized airstrikes
against Iran-backed militias in Syria. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said
last week the situation in Syria is as grave as ever. Last November, after a
journalist erroneously tweeted that Tice had been released, his mother wrote a
note to be delivered to Trump saying she hoped he could one day make that news a
reality.
Trump responded, photocopying her note and adding his own Sharpie-written
message. "Debra," he wrote, she recalled. "Working so hard on this. Looking for
the answer. We want Austin back. I will never stop." But she said the family
does not need letters from the president. "The thing that is wanted here, the
thing we are asking here, is to see Austin on the tarmac, and to have the
president of the United States shake his hand," she said.
Israel Says Will Not Cooperate with ICC War Crimes Probe
Agence France Presse/April 08/2021
Israel on Thursday said it had formally decided not to cooperate with an
International Criminal Court war crimes investigation into the situation in the
occupied Palestinian territories. The ICC's chief prosecutor announced on March
3 that she had opened a full investigation into the situation in the
Israeli-occupied territories, infuriating Israel, which is not a member of The
Hague-based court. The ICC sent a deferral notice on March 9, which gave Israel
and the Palestinian Authority a month to tell judges whether they are
investigating crimes similar to those being probed by the ICC. Had Israel
informed the court that it was in fact carrying out its own probe into alleged
war crimes perpetrators, it could have asked for a deferral. A day before
the deadline, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a
statement saying the government had agreed "to not cooperate with the (ICC)."The
statement said Israel would send a letter to the court "completely rejecting the
claim that Israel commits war crimes." The letter will also "reiterate Israel's
unequivocal position that The Hague tribunal has no authority to open an
investigation against it." The Palestinians, who have been a state party to the
ICC since 2015, have welcomed the investigation and said they will not seek any
deferral. The world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, the ICC was set up in
2002 to try the humanity's worst crimes where local courts are unwilling or
unable to step in. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said her investigation will
cover the situation in the blockaded Gaza Strip along with the Israeli-occupied
West Bank and east Jerusalem since 2014. It will mainly focus on the 2014
Gaza War but also look at the deaths of Palestinian demonstrators from 2018
onwards. Netanyahu, a vocal critic of the ICC, has said the decision to open the
probe was the "essence of anti-Semitism" and declared Israel was "under attack."
However, Thursday's statement marked the first time Netanyahu had made it clear
Israel would not directly engage with the ICC. The United States has also
criticized the ICC investigation and voiced support for its ally Israel.
Netanyahu: Israel won't be bound by deal which allows Iran a nuclear bomb
Jerusalem Post/April 08/2021
“To our best friends I saw - an agreement with Iran which
paves its way to nuclear weapons that threaten us with destruction - an
agreement like this will not bind us,” vowed the prime minister. Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu issued a sharp warning Wednesday night to the international
community and implicitly to the United States that any agreement with Iran that
allows it a path to develop nuclear weapons will not be binding on the Jewish
state. He made his comments during the opening ceremony of Holocaust Remembrance
Day at Yad Vashem’s Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, in which he also noted
the severe difficulties and loneliness experienced by the country’s Holocaust
survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic, 900 of whom have died due to the
disease. He noted that an international agreement between world powers and Iran
was once again under discussion, in reference to the indirect talks that
commenced on Tuesday in Vienna between the US and Iran mediated by officials
from the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China. “A nuclear agreement with Iran
is again on the table, but history has taught us that agreements like this with
extremist regimes are worth as much as garlic peel,” intoned Netanyahu. “To our
best friends I say – an agreement with Iran which paves its way to nuclear
weapons that threaten us with destruction – an agreement like this will not bind
us,” vowed the prime minister. “Only one thing binds us, to prevent those who
seek to destroy us from carrying out their plans. During the Holocaust we did
not have the power to protect ourselves and we did not have the privilege of
sovereignty. We had no rights, no state, and no defense. “Today we have a state,
we have the power to defend ourselves and we have the natural and full right as
the sovereign state of the Jewish people to protect ourselves from our enemies,”
Netanyahu continued.
Israel slams Biden's resumption of UNRWA funding for Palestinians
Jerusalem Post/April 08/2021
US President Joe Biden had promised during his campaign
for the presidency that he would resume such funding, but has yet to make good
on his pledge.
Israel warned the Biden administration that its decision Wednesday to restore
funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)
would only help perpetuate the conflict.
"Israel's position is that the organization in its current form perpetuates the
conflict and does not contribute to its resolution,” the Foreign Ministry
stated.
The move was part of a larger American policy decision to begin restoration of
humanitarian and security funding for Palestinians, which was cut out in its
entirety by former US President Donald Trump. Secretary of State Antony
Blinken’s announcement of a $235 million package, including $150 million for
UNRWA, was seen as the first step in the restoration of bilateral ties with the
Palestinian Authority that had been severed during the Trump era. Another $75
million of that package was earmarked for economic and development assistance
and $10 million was granted for peace-building programs. In addition to
Wednesday’s announcement, some $40 million is expected to be allocated for
Palestinian security forces and $15 million for COVID-19 assistance was set
aside last month. “We plan to restart US economic, development, and humanitarian
assistance for the Palestinian people,” Blinken said.
"The US is committed to advancing prosperity, security, and freedom for both
Israelis and Palestinians in tangible ways in the immediate term, which is
important in its own right, but also as a means to advance towards a negotiated
two-state solution," he added.
The $290 million pledged by the Biden administration to date, is still not a
full restoration of the $600 million allocated to the Palestinians during the
last year of the Obama administration.
The Office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime
Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh welcomed the move and called on US President Joe
Biden to take additional steps to advance Palestinian rights and to promote a
two-state resolution to the conflict with Israel.
“We call upon the American administration to create a new political path that
meets the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people based on
international law and UN resolutions,” Shtayyeh tweeted. US restoration of
funding does not included direct financial assistance to the Palestinian
Authority. The US Taylor Force Act of 2018 prohibits such direct funding until
such time as the PA halts it monthly payments to terrorists and their families.
Funding for Palestinian security forces was excluded from that legislation. The
Anti-Terror Clarification Act passed that same year had also created stumbling
blocks to the provision of humanitarian assistance, but amendments to the
legislation remove such impediments. US State Department spokesman Ned
Price clarified for reporters that all funding was legal under American law. “I
just want to underscore that all of this aid is absolutely consistent with
relevant US law, including those two statutes,” Price said. Israel, however,
took issue with US funding to UNRWA, which Trump had halted because he believes
that the organized was flawed and a stumbling bloc to peace. “The renewal of
UNRWA assistance,” the Foreign Ministry said, “must be accompanied by
substantial and necessary changes in the nature, goals and conduct of the
organization.” It added that the issue of UNRAW funding had come up in
conversation between Israeli and American officials.
Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said he had also warned the State Department of
the danger of such activity, particularly without ensuring that “incitement” and
“anti-Semitic content” are removed from its educational curriculum.
“Israel is strongly opposed to the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity
happening in UNRWA’s facilities,” Erdan said. "We believe that this UN agency
for so-called “refugees” should not exist in its current format. UNRWA schools
regularly use materials that incite against Israel and the twisted definition
used by the agency to determine who is a “refugee” only perpetuates the
conflict. Blinken, however, specifically mentioned support for UNRWA's education
program.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York he hoped the US
restoration of funding would sway other countries to do likewise.
“There were a number of countries that had greatly reduced or halted
contributions to UNRWA. We hope that the American decision will lead others to
rejoin... as UNRWA donors,” Dujarric said. Among Israel’s objections to UNRWA,
is its classification of descendants of some 750,000 Palestinians who fled their
homes as a result of the 1948 War of Independence, and who now live in east
Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, as refugees. UNRWA,
which provides food assistance as well as health and education services, has
sought a $1.5 billion budget to serve 5.7 million refugees. UNRWA opponents are
concerned that an ever-expanding refugee definition creates a stumbling block to
resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The right of return for refugees to sovereign Israel is one of the core topics
that would be part of negotiations for a two-state resolution to the conflict.
UNRWA has also come under fire for using textbooks that allegedly incite against
Israel and for inefficient use of resources.
Supporters of UNRWA have argued that the agency provides essential services that
prevent a humanitarian crisis among Palestinians and its education system
provides an alternative to extremist ideologies. At the UN on Wednesday, UNRWA
Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini took issue with these allegations,
stating that it was important to defend the organization’s mandate as well as
the rights of Palestinian refugees. There are, he said, “growing defamatory
campaigns” against UNRWA. “These nasty and incessant campaigns aim at harming
UNRWA’s reputation, weakening its mandate and erasing the Palestinian refugee
issue” and trying to strip “UNRWA from its funding base,” Lazzarini added.
“UNRWA strongly rejects these allegations. The agency has a zero tolerance
policy for incitement to violence and discrimination.
Unemployment and poverty was already high prior to the pandemic, but now he
said, he was “extremely alarmed” by the level of challenges facing Palestinian
refugees. “People are struggling daily to ensure one meal to their families, no
one should feel so desperate,” he said.
“2021 will continue to be a challenging year,” Lazzarini said, but added he was
hopeful that US funding would help alleviate some of that strain.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Biden announces limited gun restrictions
CNN/April 08/2021
Facing pressure to act after a recent spate of high-profile mass shootings,
President Joe Biden unveiled a package of moves Thursday that seek to address
the scourge of gun violence. "Gun violence in this country is an epidemic,"
Biden said in the Rose Garden to an audience of lawmakers and Americans touched
by gun violence. "And it's an international embarrassment." The executive
actions included efforts to restrict so-called "ghost guns" that can be built
using parts and instructions purchased online, but are limited in scope and fall
short of the steps Biden has vowed to pressure Congress to take.
Biden Resumes Palestinian Aid, Urges Two-State Solution
Agence France Presse/April 08/2021
U.S. President Joe Biden has restored aid to the Palestinians to a tune of $235
million, drawing a rebuke by ally Israel, as he promised to press for a
two-state solution. In his sharpest break on the conflict yet from the staunchly
pro-Israel Donald Trump, Biden said the United States would resume funding for
the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees that his predecessor had severed. The
State Department said the United States would contribute $150 million to the
U.N. agency and offer $75 million in economic and development assistance for the
West Bank and Gaza as well as $10 million for peacebuilding efforts. In a call
with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a longstanding US ally who recently faced down
dissent within the royal family, Biden "affirmed that the United States supports
a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," a White House
statement said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US assistance to
the Palestinians "serves important US interests and values" as "a means to
advance towards a negotiated two-state solution." "It provides critical relief
to those in great need, fosters economic development and supports
Israeli-Palestinian understanding, security coordination and stability," Blinken
said in a statement. Israel, which had held off on criticism of Biden in his
first months, denounced the assistance to the UN Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, which provides housing, schools
and other care to more than six million Palestinian refugees and their
descendants.
"We believe that this UN agency for so-called 'refugees' should not exist in its
current format," said Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the United States.
Israel argues that the education provided by the UN-backed schools includes
incitement against the Jewish state. "I have expressed my disappointment and
objection to the decision to renew UNRWA's funding without first ensuring that
certain reforms, including stopping the incitement and removing anti-Semitic
content from its educational curriculum, are carried out," Erdan said. Asked
about the Israeli criticism, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the
United States took oversight of UNRWA "extraordinarily seriously" and that it
would now have "a seat at the table." The Israeli anger comes as the United
States takes part in indirect, European-led talks in Vienna with Iran on
returning to a denuclearization deal which was bitterly opposed by Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
No political push yet -
The Palestinian leadership hoped that the aid would mark the start of a
concerted effort by Biden to pressure Israel, including on stopping settlements
in the occupied West Bank. "We are eagerly awaiting the resumption not only of
financial assistance but of political relations with the United States to allow
the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate rights for an independent
state with Jerusalem as its capital," said Mohammed Shtayyeh, the Palestinian
prime minister. Shortly after Biden's inauguration in January, the United States
said it would restore the Palestine Liberation Organization's liaison office
that was shut down by Trump. But Biden has held off on any major peace
initiative, with even supporters of a two-state solution expecting near-term
chances for a breakthrough to be slim, especially amid turbulence in Israel
following its latest election. Blinken has indicated no change to one of Trump's
signature decisions -- recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving the
US embassy to the hotly disputed holy city. Trump had ended UNRWA assistance by
arguing that the refugees, some of whom have lived in camps for generations,
needed to be permanently resettled.
'Right signal'
The latest announcement is still well below the $355 million contributed to
UNRWA in 2016 by the United States, then its largest contributor. Price, the
State Department spokesman, did not rule out further U.S. contributions but said
the United States was encouraging other donors to do more.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric welcomed the restored U.S. assistance, which
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said "sends the right signal" amid growing
needs due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The new funding is in addition to $15
million earlier announced by the United States in Covid assistance to the
Palestinians amid criticism that Israel, a leader in vaccinating its own people,
has not taken similar initiatives in territories under its occupation. Israel
argues that vaccination is the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority.
UNRWA said its needs have been rising due to Covid and the hardships faced by
Palestinians living in war-battered Syria, troubled Lebanon and Jordan.
At least 1 person killed and 4 wounded after a shooting at
a Texas office park, police say
CNN/April 08/2021
At least one person was killed and four others injured in a shooting at an
industrial park in Bryan, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, police said. One person
was later taken into custody in nearby Grimes County after a trooper was shot,
Sheriff Donald Sowell told CNN, adding the incident may be connected to the
industrial park shooting.
UAE pledges support for Libya’s new unity government
The Arab News/April 08/2021
ABU DHABI – The United Arab Emirates pledged on Wednesday support for the new
unity government in Tripoli formed after UN-sponsored peace talks. Abu Dhabi
Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan received Libya’s interim Prime
Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah in the UAE capital late Wednesday. He “renewed his
support for the new executive authority in Libya and their endeavours to
establish peace and stability,” the official WAM news agency reported on
Thursday. Sheikh Mohammed tweeted early Thursday that it had been “an honour” to
meet Dbeibah. “Libya will overcome its challenges and we stand at the side of
the Libyan people at this critical moment,” he said. “The new road map will
hopefully lead to stability and unity.” Sheikh Mohamed also stressed “the
long-standing relations between the two nations” and said the UAE “is looking
forward to further growing these relations over the coming period.”The crown
prince was briefed by the Libyan premier on the latest developments in Libya and
the efforts being made during the current transitional period to restore
security and stability and help state departments forge ahead to drive the
development and reconstruction process and prepare for the elections, WAM
reported. The two sides explored the prospects of cooperation in the political,
security, development and investment fields in addition to exchanging views over
an array of issues of common interest, the news agency added. The UAE said in
January it was ready to work closely with US President Joe Biden’s
administration for a peaceful solution to the Libyan conflict. The statement
followed a virtual Security Council meeting on Libya, during which the United
States called on “all external parties, to include Russia, Turkey and the UAE,
to respect Libyan sovereignty and immediately cease all military intervention in
Libya.”Previously, the UAE supported, along with Egypt and Russia, the Libyan
National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. In March, the UN
Security Council unanimously adopted a declaration demanding the withdrawal of
all foreign troops and mercenaries from Libya. The world body estimated that
there were 20,000 in the country as of December. Libya has been ravaged by
bloodshed since the overthrow and killing of longtime ruler Muammar Gadhafi in a
NATO-backed revolt in 2011. An array of armed groups arose to fill the vacuum
and many coalesced around Haftar or the GNA. The two camps, each supported by
foreign powers, fought for more than a year before the eastern-based LNA
retreated from an attempt to seize the capital Tripoli in the west. In October
they signed a truce, setting in motion a UN-led process that saw Dbeibah’s
transitional unity government installed in February.
Merkel Urges Russia to Reduce Troops on Ukraine Border
Agence France Presse/April 08/2021
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged President Vladimir Putin in a phone call
on Thursday to reduce Russia's troop buildup near Ukraine, her office said in a
statement. "One subject of their conversation was, among others, the increased
Russian military presence near eastern Ukraine," the statement said. "The
chancellor called for a reduction of these troop reinforcements to de-escalate
tensions."
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published
on April 08-09/2021
Muslim Man Butchers Coptic Christian Mother and Child
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/April 08/2021
Christian girl, aged 4, after witnessing the slaughter of her mother and brother
A Muslim man butchered a Coptic Christian woman and her toddler son with a
machete—“as if he were slaughtering chickens,” said eyewitnesses. He also
unsuccessfully tried to slaughter the Christian woman’s young daughter.
The facts are currently sparse. The incident occurred on April 3, 2021, in the
streets of Minya Governate, Egypt. The name of the murderer, a tuk-tuk driver,
is Abu Muhammad al-Harami; his victims are Mary Sa‘d and her six-year-old son
Karas.
When their paths crossed in the streets, he made threatening and derogatory
comments to the mother; she responded by saying that she would report him to
police—at which point Abu Muhammad leapt on Mary with his machete, butchering
her and her son. Her four-year old daughter fled and hid, as did the murderer,
who was reportedly arrested four days later. Egyptian media and authorities are
currently warning people not to jump to conclusions concerning the motive of the
murderer. The latest explanation is that the crime had nothing to do with the
woman’s Christian identity, but rather was the unfortunate outcome of the man’s
attempt to steal her golden necklace. The reality, however, is that there have
been many seemingly random attacks on Copts in the streets of Egypt.
In late December 2020, for example, two Muslim brothers went on a stabbing spree
against Copts, killing one Christian and critically injuring two others.
Authorities said the brothers were in mourning and upset, because their mother
had died earlier that day. But as a local Coptic priest said, “what does the
death [of the murderous Muslims’ mother] and the Copts have to do with each
other??” He added that the two brothers had for years been in the habit of
verbally harassing and insulting Christians. That same year, on January 12,
2020, a Muslim man crept up behind a Coptic woman walking home with groceries,
pulled her head back with a hand full of hair, and slit her throat with a knife
in his other hand. Catherine Ramzi was rushed to a nearby medical center, where
her throat was sewn with 63 stitches; doctors told her she came within an inch
of dying. It is believed that he may have identified her as a Christian for not
wearing a hijab around her hair or for having a cross tattoo on her wrist. Two
days before that attack, on January 14, 2020, another Muslim man tried to
slaughter a Christian man with a sharp box-cutter in a public space; he managed
only to slice off a portion of his victim’s ear. Although this attack was like
the others also dismissed as a generic “crime,” the culprit, Muhammad ‘Awad, was
actually arrested and, when questioned as to why he tried to murder the Copt,
confessed that he did not know him, but that he simply “hates Christians, for
they are from among the People of Lot, and the [death] penalty must be applied
to them, for they commit indecencies.” Whatever the true motive behind Abu
Muhammad’s slaughter of Mary Sa‘d and her small child, here, at any rate, is the
latest account of a Muslim butchering Christians in Egypt.
Does Iran Even Need Spies in Academia?
A.J. Caschetta/The Hill/April 8, 2021
Kaveh Afrasiabi had a perfect cover profession for an agent of a hostile power
eager to avoid raising eyebrows - academic.
The Justice Department recently indicted professor Kaveh Afrasiabi, charging
that for decades his persona as a neutral, mild-mannered scholar was a cover and
that, in reality, he was an agent of the Islamic Republic of Iran. If the
allegations are true and this seasoned academic (Boston University, Harvard and
UC Berkeley) was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote Iranian
interests in the New York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe and to appear
on television, it was wasted money.
Perhaps Iran got lucky and a man with a good cover offered his services, or
perhaps he is one covert operative in a much larger operation to infiltrate
American academia. But the sad truth is that Iran really doesn't need agents to
pose as neutral experts because American academics long have done Iran's public
messaging free of charge. After his arrest, Afrasiabi's alleged handlers at
Iran's United Nations Mission defended him by invoking his credentials,
insisting that "Dr. Afrasiabi has not been working as an agent of the Mission,
and only as a university professor and an expert on international relations."
The two aren't mutually exclusive.
Even before the Shah of Iran was overthrown, Michel Foucault, France's most
famous academic, helped to usher in the Revolution by downplaying the
ruthlessness of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's followers and exaggerating their
popularity. In September 1978, traveling to Iran as a journalist for the Italian
daily Corriere della Sera, Foucault wrote enthusiastically that "the
reactivation of Islam" would be peaceful and women would be free under the new
system. Claiming that he "met, in Tehran and throughout Iran, the collective
will of a people," he insisted that Khomeini "is not a politician" but rather
"the focal point of a collective will." Hamid Algar, professor emeritus of
Persian and Islamic studies at the University of California, Berkeley, spent
much of his nearly half-century-long academic career celebrating the "genius" of
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
After Khomeini became the Supreme Leader, his purges, restrictions on women's
rights and seizure of the U.S. embassy proved Foucault wrong. It would be
difficult to convince Americans that Khomeini's new regime was anything but
hostile after it held Americans hostage for 444 days. Nevertheless, academics
tried. Principal among them was Hamid Algar, professor of Persian studies in the
Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Algar did more to boost Iran in his 45 years at Berkeley than Khomeini could
have possibly hoped for. He wrote biographies of Khomeini, translated his
writings, and publicized the Iranian Revolution as "the greatest event of
contemporary Islamic history."
Barack Obama's presidency brought Iran unprecedented opportunities to expand its
influence on the American public. From the moment that Obama began his
rapprochement, working on a grand deal that would remake the Middle East,
academia had his back, promoting the idea that there were moderates in Iran's
government who could change the system. Seventy-three professors drafted a
letter to Congress urging support for Obama's nuclear deal, the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which only delayed and then legitimized
Iran's nuclear program.
Seventy-three professors drafted a letter to Congress urging support for the
Iran nuclear deal.
Columbia University appears to have many professors devoted to promoting Iran.
Seven of the 73 academic signatures on the letter urging Congress to pass the
JCPOA belong to Columbia professors. One of them, Robert Jervis, is the Adlai E.
Stevenson Professor of International Politics in the Department of Political
Science. Last year, when Iran used the coronavirus pandemic to get sanctions
removed, Jervis endorsed the idea in an interview with the Iranian Labor News
Agency that later became a headline in the Tehran Times: "Columbia university
professor urges removal of Iran sanctions."
At Rutgers University, Hooshang Amirahmadi makes claims that would make Iran's
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei proud. A founder of the American Iranian Council,
former director of the Rutgers's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and
currently a professor at Rutgers's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and
Public Policy, Amirahmadi has said in public: "Iran has not been involved with
any terrorist organization. Neither Hezbollah nor Hamas are terrorist
organizations."
At George Washington University, Hossein Askari, emeritus professor of
international business and international affairs at the Elliot School of
International Affairs, does regime public relations. In a recent interview with
the Tehran Times, he said Iran should never negotiate its right to ballistic
missiles, should answer U.S. criticisms of Iran's human rights abuses with
charges of American racism, and should only stop enriching uranium if the U.S.
ends sanctions and meets Iran's demands for compensation stemming from economic
pains inflicted by former President Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign.
Princeton University is home to Seyed Hossein Mousavian, an Iran expert at its
Program on Science and Global Security. Mousavian consistently has urged
American conciliation with Iran, arguing against sanctions. Writing in
Al-Jazeera, he advised Tehran to wait out the Trump administration and work with
the Europeans on "a way to circumvent U.S. sanctions." In late November 2020, he
advised President-elect Biden to rejoin the JCPOA and, most outrageously, to
remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the State Department's
terrorist list. What else could the mullahs possibly ask for in a
well-positioned propagandist?
Iran's goal is to build nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles
(ICBMs) capable of launching them. This January, William O. Beeman, emeritus
professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota, told a Tehran Times
interviewer that Iran's ballistic missile program is "completely legal." Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani agrees. In 2012, Columbia's Jervis wrote that the U.S.
should "resign itself to Iran's development of nuclear weapons." He was
one-upped by Kenneth Waltz, a professor of political science at the University
of California, Berkeley, who wrote in that same year that Iran's development of
nuclear weapons shouldn't be merely tolerated but actually encouraged because it
would stabilize the Middle East and force Iran to become a more responsible
power. Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum, called it "the single
most preposterous analysis by an allegedly serious strategist of the Iranian
quest for a nuclear weapon."
Ultimately, Iran doesn't need to pay professors to do its messaging. Ultimately,
Iran doesn't need to pay professors such as Kaveh Afrasiabi to do its messaging
under the guise of neutral credentialed historians and researchers. When it
comes to propagating myths about Iran's moderation and preaching about the evils
of America's Iran policy, there are many credentialed historians and researchers
apparently willing to do the work for modest academic wages.
**A.J. Caschetta is a principal lecturer at the Rochester Institute of
Technology and a fellow at Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum,
where he is also a Ginsburg-Milstein fellow.
Capitol Building Attack: The Jihadi Connection
Raymond Ibrahim/April 08/2021
Was the Capitol building attack—where one police officer was killed and another
injured—last Good Friday, by Noah Green, a Nation of Islam member, a jihad
attack?
Most would say no: the Nation of Islam, they would argue, is a heterodox group
that has little to do with mainstream Islam but rather focuses on placing a
wedge between “superior” blacks (Allah’s people) and “inferior” whites (Satan’s
people).
While this is largely true, it also overlooks two important facts: the Nation of
Islam, as well as countless other groups regularly dismissed as out of the
Muslim mainstream, traces its origins to Islam; more importantly, the
fundamental aspect of almost all of these “fringe” groups—namely, the “us vs.
them” element—is entirely Islamic.
This is significant and requires some explanation.
For starters, countless have been the groups throughout Islamic history that not
only see themselves as Islamic, but often as the only “true” Muslims—even as
others, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, accuse them of being pseudo-Muslims. In
fact, the first of these groups—the Khawarij, they who “exit [the
mainstream]”—came into being nearly 1,400 years ago, just two decades after the
death of Muhammad.
This group, which is today dismissed as un-Islamic—and which modern day
terrorists of the ISIS variety are regularly likened to—believed that any Muslim
not upholding the totality of Islamic law, shari‘a, should be eliminated as an
apostate; and they acted on this impulse, including by slaughtering Muslim women
and children (particularly the Azariqa Khawarij).
This is just one example; the Hashashin—who gave us the word “Assassin”—are
another. Although they too are regularly dismissed as being un-Islamic, the
reality is that they emphasized some aspects of Islam—assassinating opponents
and looking forward to a houri-filled paradise—over others.
The point here is that, just because an unsavory group does not follow
mainstream Islam, does not mean that the most unsavory aspects of that group are
not Islamic. Both the Khawarij and their modern day counterparts—ISIS, et
al.—find backing in Islamic teachings which call for the slaughter of infidels.
The difference between the “radicals” and the average Muslim is that the former
are so wedded to this principle that even fellow Muslims who are insufficiently
Islamic become fair game. While that might be a “radical” interpretation, it
would not exist—nor would the radicals themselves, past (Khawarij) or present
(ISIS)—if the Koran, Allah, and Muhammad did not call for violence against and
the slaughter of infidels in the first place.
The same can be said of the Hashashin: the three things they are most notorious
for—assassinating their opponents, getting killed for it, and then being
welcomed by supernatural sex slaves in paradise—are entirely Islamic: Muhammad
himself called for the assassination of his opponents, including women, and
he/Allah regularly entice their followers to do violence in order to gain entry
to a hedonistic paradise.
In short, whatever liberties all these heterodox Muslim groups take, their worst
aspects tend to be orthodox—especially their dichotomized worldview of “us vs.
them.” This is entirely Islamic, tracing back to the doctrine of al-wala’ w’al
bara’ (“loyalty and enmity”), which teaches Muslims to hate and fight all
non-Muslims, while showing loyalty and cooperation to fellow Muslims.
It is this teaching that inspired the first Muslim sectarian group, the
fanatical Khawarij, to break away from and slaughter mainstream Muslims on the
accusation that they were not “true” Muslims. And it is this impetus that
inspires one of the most recent sectarian groups, the Nation of Islam, to be
loyal to and help fellow blacks while hating and seeking to undermine whites.
In both cases, the dichotomy of hate for and violence against the “other” is
based on mainstream Islamic teachings. These heterodox Muslim groups diverge
only in that they rearticulate the Islamic meaning of “other” from its original
definition—non-Muslim, kafir, infidel—to something else (being not Islamic
enough, being white, etc.). But the hate for the other—which is the root
problem—is reliably Islamic.
In this context, Noah Green’s murderous assault on the Capitol building takes on
the guise of a jihad, if only because the hate for the other behind it—including
the belief that “The U.S. Government is the #1 enemy of Black people!”—is wholly
informed by Islam’s dichotomized worldview, even if modified to suit Green’s
purposes.
Iran nuclear talks: How do goals of Rouhani, Biden and Netanyahu compare?
Yonah Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/April 08/2021
The current indirect negotiations between the US and Iran – with England,
France, Germany, China and Russia shuttling between the two sides – is a tale of
three leaders on different paths.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday called the nuclear talks in Vienna
a “new chapter,” signaling the most positive response from his government since
US President Joe Biden was elected.
He needs at least some kind of interim deal with America to try to save his
legacy within Iran. This is given that he led the push there for the 2015
nuclear deal – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
– only to have sanctions reimposed in 2018.
Rouhani’s eight years in power are over in June when elections will be held.
The Biden administration has sent multiple positive signals about the talks,
including US State Department spokesman Ned Price explicitly saying Wednesday
that Washington was ready to repeal any sanctions which were inconsistent with
the 2015 deal.
Biden wants to rejoin the nuclear deal to remove a source of instability and
instead focus his energies on fighting the coronavirus and bigger foreign policy
challenges like China and Russia.
At the same time, he does not want to rush in and risk being attacked for being
too weak.
Also, he hopes to get the ayatollahs to sign on to an add-on to the 2015 deal,
extending and strengthening some of its provisions.
Unlike Rouhani and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden also knows he will
be around for at least another three-plus years – and maybe much longer if he
seeks a second term.
Netanyahu on Wednesday said that Israel would not be bound by any nuclear deal.
Strikingly, he said this even before any deal has been signed and before the US
and the Islamic Republic are even sitting in the same negotiating room.
In some ways, the table seems to be set for a rerun of Washington and Tehran
cutting a deal that Israel loudly opposes, instead of working quietly behind the
scenes to influence the agreement.
IF MANY former Mossad and IDF intelligence officials favor Jerusalem keeping its
head down in public and focusing more on private talks with the US to make any
potential future deal better reflect Israeli interests, their objections have
not registered with Netanyahu.
Israeli officials objecting to his strong public attacks on Biden administration
policy, even before a deal is done, view his 2015 opposition as a failure and
harmful to Israel remaining a bipartisan issue in the US.
Netanyahu and his supporters, who also include top officials like Mossad
Director Yossi Cohen and possibly IDF Chief-of-Staff Aviv Kohavi, either view
the 2015 Israeli opposition to the deal as a success in that it helped set a
tough Trump administration policy on Iran, or think that this round is
different.
The prime minister and his supporters say that this time, Iran has gotten too
far ahead with advanced centrifuge development as compared to 2015.
They worry that with advanced centrifuges, it could be easier for Tehran to
later “sneak out” or “walk out” to a nuclear bomb in weeks without anyone
noticing or having time to prepare.
This would be worse than the 2015 worst-case scenario where Iran would have
needed at least a few months to “break out” to a nuclear weapon – months which
would be enough time to mobilize the global community and carefully plan a
preemptive strike if necessary.
The prime minister also seems to be betting that regarding any additional
concessions the Biden administration might get from the Islamic Republic, it
will try to get them anyway, and that reduced public criticism would not get
anything beyond that.
Kohavi himself is a key issue for Netanyahu.
A MAJOR SPEECH Kohavi gave in January signaled that he was 100% behind
Netanyahu’s tougher tone with Iran, even at the price of clashing publicly with
the US.
In contrast, the last three IDF chiefs have criticized Netanyahu about his
aggressiveness regarding Tehran, especially about banging heads with Washington
in public.
But other recent interviews by outgoing IDF intelligence analysis chief
Brig.-Gen. Dror Shalom, with Yediot Aharonot, as well as a March 28 interview by
Maj. Gen. Tal Kelman, who runs a relatively new Iran-focused command, indicated
an approach much more in line with the previous IDF chiefs.
If there is still dissent within the military about Netanyahu’s approach to
Iran, would he be able to order a preemptive strike as early as he might prefer?
Or might he be blocked by security establishment opposition, as reportedly
occurred in the past?
What if the US cuts an interim deal and then a full deal later in 2021 or in
2022, and the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies then say that the
Islamic Republic has returned to compliance?
If there is internal Israeli opposition to attacking any time before Tehran is
extremely close to the nuclear threshold, what options will Netanyahu have left?
And Netanyahu may not even be prime minister in the coming months.
Would a rotating-prime-minister unity government headed by Yamina’s Naftali
Bennett and Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid be ready to shake things up with the US or
risk a major preemptive strike where Netanyahu himself might have run out of
pressure points?
Lapid is surely on record slamming fighting with the US in public – and New Hope
Party leader Gideon Sa’ar, who would have a major role in such a unity
coalition, has made similar statements.
At such a point, Israel’s main pressure points would likely be cyber and covert
action.
But until at least June, the tone will be determined by Rouhani, Biden and
Netanyahu. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – his country’s final
decision maker – is always in the background, but he has given Rouhani a chance
to negotiate despite the US ignoring his many preconditions and deadlines.
Rouhani and Biden will do what they can to move toward a deal, even an interim
one: Rouhani to save his legacy and Biden to clear off his table to deal with
other issues. In the meantime, Netanyahu will do all he can to undermine such a
deal.
Two diplomats also said there was a delay, one of whom said the IAEA delegation
would be headed by inspections chief Massimo Aparo.
When asked about the delay, an IAEA spokesman said only: "A date in April has
been confirmed." Iranian officials did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
The IAEA has said it is "deeply concerned" at the prospect of undeclared nuclear
material in Iran. It says Iran has not credibly explained the first particles it
found, at a site in Tehran that Iran said was a carpet-cleaning facility, and is
seeking answers on those found last year at two other sites.
CRISIS
The United States and its allies have been pressuring Iran to come clean, and
the issue could complicate efforts by Washington and Tehran to revive the
nuclear deal.
Iran has bristled at "attempts to open an endless process of verifying and
cleaning-up of ever-continuing fabricated allegations." It also denied the IAEA
access to the two sites for seven months last year. It denies ever pursuing
nuclear weapons and says its nuclear aims are entirely peaceful.
At a meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors last month, France,
Britain and Germany prepared a draft resolution with US support expressing
concern at the "lack of progress" in obtaining explanations from Iran.
They backed away from submitting that resolution for a vote when IAEA chief
Rafael Grossi announced talks with Iran to "see if we can resolve this once and
for all," and he hoped to report progress by the next board meeting in June.
Shortly before then, on May 21, a recent deal between the IAEA and Iran
cushioning the blow of Tehran slashing its cooperation with the IAEA is due to
expire. After that, the agency's oversight of Iran's activities will be reduced
further.
"It is very clear that if we haven't concluded or made sufficient progress
before May 21 to justify an extension of this accord we will enter a crisis
period," the European diplomatic source said.
Regional, international developments further isolate Iran
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/April 08/2021
Iran is becoming increasingly isolated and the pressure on the regime is
mounting. This is due, first of all, to the shifting geopolitical situation in
the Middle East, starring Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to the Gulf last month sent a strong
message to Iran. Russian officials have indicated they are looking for new
partners in the region, as evidenced by developments in Syria. These events will
put more pressure on Iran and block international political avenues for the
regime.
Secondly, Iran is losing some of the areas that previously provided it with
security or political influence and advantage. Last month’s conference on Syria
attended by Turkey, Qatar and Russia in Tehran’s absence likely demonstrates
that the regime is no longer an active recruiter in this field. In Syria, where
Iran has invested heavily both financially and in terms of human resources, it
has gained almost nothing. The same is happening in Iraq.
Baghdad is increasing its political distance from Iran and gravitating toward
the West. Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq was a clear message in this regard. Iraqi
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi cannot be considered a faithful ally of Iran.
Tehran’s investment in Iraq has reached a record low. The whole relationship is
entirely different from six years ago. Iran is banking on the return of the 2015
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal so that it can continue
to benefit from it, but this belief is misplaced. Every international agreement
is the result of the balance of power at that time. Today’s balance of power is
not a continuation of that of 2015. It is becoming more and more apparent that
the Biden administration does not support the original terms of the JCPOA,
acknowledging the changing international and regional situation for both Iran
and the US. Even those who negotiated and defended the JCPOA at the time
recognize that the agreement needs to change to better reflect the new regional
and international standings. Wendy Sherman, America’s chief negotiator for the
JCPOA and President Joe Biden’s nominee for deputy secretary of state, did not
defend it at her Senate approval hearing last month.
Tehran is banking on the return of the 2015 nuclear deal so that it can continue
to benefit from it, but this belief is misplaced.
Thirdly, Iran has gone through two uprisings since the JCPOA was signed.
President Hassan Rouhani has said it was only after the 2017 uprising that
Donald Trump dared to abandon the nuclear deal. With the recent uprising in
Sistan and Balochistan province, the Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected
nonaligned talks with the US because it was not a good opportunity. For this
reason, the role of Iran in the new balance of power is so minimal that the
regime is currently attacking American bases in Iraq in an attempt to force the
US to negotiate on its terms.
At the regional level, Israel and the Arab states have become closer. During her
hearing, Sherman referred to the Abraham Accords, which have altered
relationships and power within the region. These new partnership makes it harder
to deal with Iran, as the regime feels backed into a corner. We also face a new
wave in Congress, which only compounds Iran’s challenges as it seeks to achieve
its vision of successful negotiations.
Fourthly, Republican lawmakers in the US Congress have introduced eight pieces
of legislation in an effort to prevent the White House from returning to the
JCPOA. These cover issues such as the tightening of sanctions against Iran,
opposing the easing of sanctions, and declaring non-support for the JCPOA. One
of the bills, introduced by Sen. Bill Hagerty and which seeks congressional
oversight on any government plan to lift sanctions, has garnered the support of
27 senators. Another plan is a resolution introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton, which
opposes any form of sanctions relief unless all disputes with Iran, including
its nuclear, ballistic missile and regional programs, are addressed. This bill
has attracted 31 cosponsors. Two parallel schemes have also been introduced in
the House of Representatives and have attracted 24 and 30 supporters,
respectively.
The main criticism of conservative Republicans and prominent Democrats in
Congress in 2015 was that the JCPOA only temporarily blocked Iran’s efforts to
acquire nuclear weapons and that a series of deadlines were written into the
terms. These would allow all restrictions on Iran’s nuclear and missile programs
to be lifted. For example, in 2030, Iran was to be allowed to enrich uranium
indefinitely and increase its number of centrifuges and their quality
indefinitely. This level of capability to enrich uranium would put Europe at
risk.
At Sherman’s Senate hearing, Sen. Mitt Romney criticized the JCPOA because of
these deadlines. He then asked her about the long term and Sherman, who was
expected to push back against this criticism because she was one of the
architects of the JCPOA, did not respond to Romney and merely said: “Yes, the
situation has changed.”As a result of these developments, the increasingly
isolated regime of Iran appears to be at its weakest point since its
establishment in 1979.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political
scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Who has the lead role in the latest talks between the US
and Iran?
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/April 08/2021
The Latin phrase “bis repetitas placent,” which means “that which pleases is
twice repeated,” certainly seems to apply for many of the stakeholders in the
new round of discussions between the US and Iran — and especially the Europeans.
Prior to considering the possible outcomes of the talks, which are taking place
in Vienna, one can observe and enjoy the fine detail and the theatrics of these
negotiations. The fact that the US and Iran are “not in the same room,” for
example, with the Europeans, Chinese and Russians acting as go-betweens, is
quite revealing in terms of expected outcomes. For the Iranians, the exercise is
first and foremost about being able to project to their audience the message
that they will not yield to any new US conditions. As proof of this, they can
say that they did not even sit in the same room as the Americans and so this was
not a negotiation but a process toward a full reinstatement of the 2015 Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). No concessions are being made and this is
simply a mechanism to restore the nuclear deal.
This level of attention to detail by the Iranians is, once again, brilliant. The
fact that the international community accepts it so readily, is not.
I would much prefer that all regional parties meet and openly discuss all the
issues that the region is facing — and, more specifically, confront the Iranians
about their behavior. Indeed, such a meeting should include nations from the
Greater Middle East, including Arab countries, Turkey and Israel.
The fact that Tehran has the capacity to frame the dialogue and compartmentalize
it puts the regime at a clear advantage. One might say, therefore, that on this
point the Iranians are correct: The current process is not a negotiation and
both parties are already in agreement. Only the process needs to be mapped out
and all the rest is simply theatrics.
It is highly doubtful that anything involving Tehran’s missile program or its
activities in the region will be a focused negotiation point, beyond being
raised by the Americans and denied by the Iranians.
Whether a US return to JCPOA happens in this round of talks or the next, the
most important fact is that it is happening. The Iranian regime, the US and the
international community, including nations in the Middle East, are all aware of
this.
Can we therefore expect changes in the behavior of Iran, including a more
constructive approach? Can we expect Tehran to withdraw its illegal and military
support to the Houthis? Can we expect it to stop smuggling weapons and cash to
Lebanon and Syria? Can we expect it to stop supporting Iraqi militias?
The answer to all these questions is no. Each of these issues comes with its own
price and the Iranian regime will want to bargain for them, as part of its
successful attempt to compartmentalize the negotiation process.
The view generally put forward in favor of “bis repetitas placent” as it applies
to the JCPOA is that a policy of applying maximum pressure on Tehran did not
work under the Trump administration and so the international community should
return to the existing deal to halt Iran’s nuclear activities.
Yet this is not the correct way to frame the discussion because it ignores
Iranian interference in the region. In my view, the day will come when Tehran
will want more concessions and so will rebuff and challenge the US and the
Europeans once again until they yield to its demands. This day will come sooner
rather than later. Because, in essence, the 2015 JCPOA did not work. The view of
the Obama administration at the time was that the nuclear deal would encourage
the Iranian regime to transform its behavior in the Middle East. Yet, the
opposite happened. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) expanded its
activities in Yemen, Lebanon and Syria. Therefore, the decision by the Trump
administration to withdraw from the deal and reinstate sanctions was the correct
one because while the Iranians did not break any specific clause, they did
something worse: They violated the very spirit of an agreement that was designed
to encourage positive steps toward stability in the Middle East.
The Obama administration was right to try something new; unfortunately, the
Iranian regime did not respond to it and broke the essence of the agreement
before the US did.
One thing we can be sure of is that, despite Western declarations and
expectations, this issue will not affect the upcoming Iranian presidential
election or domestic politics in the country in general, simply because they are
irrelevant and not where real decision-making power in the country lies.
The real power is in the hands of the supreme leader and the IRGC. Everything
else, including declarations made during the current meetings in Vienna, is once
again simply theatrics for the benefit of domestic and international audiences.
Yet the US administration does have an opportunity to take advantage of the
current situation. The regime in Tehran is indeed weaker than it was in 2015 and
so Washington could put pressure on the Iranians to halt their disruptive
regional activities.
This could be done by reinforcing a regional alliance, and by setting up a
positive and solid framework for Iran to integrate with the region. Regardless
of the regime that is in power, Iran should be assured of an important role in
the future of the region — alongside Arab countries, Turkey and Israel — in
return for giving up its terrorist activities. In the absence of a strong stance
from Washington and initiatives designed to benefit its allies, a big change
that might be expected in the region is that Iran will start to get a taste of
its own medicine through asymmetrical tactics. The recent maritime incidents
involving Israel and the strikes on IRGC positions in Syria are a clear
indication of this.
In the past two months there have been four attacks on Iranian and Israeli-owned
ships. The date of the latest, an attack on an Iranian cargo ship in the Red
Sea, was certainly not a coincidence as it took place as the Vienna talks
between Iran and the US began. It sent a clear message about how Israel intends
to confront Iranian activities from now on, which will lead to greater
destabilization. It is highly doubtful that anything involving Tehran’s missile
program or its activities in the region will be a focused negotiation point,
beyond being raised by the Americans and denied by the Iranians.
As a result, and as such incidents increase, countries that have been left out
of the JCPOA discussions for a second time might be tempted to take matters into
their own hands by confronting, or negotiating with, Iran.
Indeed, with the declared intention of the US to disengage from the Middle East,
countries in the region might be able to find common ground to reach an
understanding with Tehran. China and Russia, with the support of the Europeans,
might even suggest solutions to current regional hot spots.
This may not be the preferred option but it might be good enough for all to live
with, Israel and Iran included.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the
editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
Biden’s new Iran Deal must rein in Tehran’s proxies
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Arab News/April 08/2021
President Joe Biden has announced that he is preparing to lift sanctions on Iran
inconsistent with the Iran deal.
There is no doubt the Obama administration’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA), colloquially called the “Iran Deal,” was a great achievement of
diplomacy; decades after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, Washington,
London, Tehran and others managed to come together and agree to an international
treaty. Nevertheless, the JCPOA was critically flawed, in a way that made it
unsustainable from the outset: It may have successfully contained Iran’s nuclear
capacity, but left Tehran free rein to attack other US interests and allies in
the Middle East through its long-established, extensive network of proxies
dedicated to that goal.Iran funds, arms, trains, and helps direct many factions,
such as the Assad government in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the
Palestinian occupied territories, the Houthis in Yemen, and in recent years even
the Afghan Taliban. On top of that, Iran has sustained a number of smaller
terrorist groups and cells that have carried out attacks against US diplomatic
and military assets for decades. A Democrat-led Washington could wear those
excesses and fight that fight in isolation of the JCPOA. But any Iran hawk could
later come in and use the activities of those proxies against American interests
in the region as a pretext to sink the JCPOA and set the US on the path of
direct military confrontation with Tehran. And Washington certainly has no
shortage of figures keen to do just that. So yes, it is imperative that Biden
resurrects the “Iran Deal” to make sure Tehran does not acquire nuclear weapons.
The only other way to potentially stop it from achieving that goal is war,
which, in the aftermath of Iraq, should obviously be avoided. Iran is a much
bigger and more powerful country than Iraq was, and among the people of Iran,
even those who loathe the government would hate Western intervention even more,
and would rally against invading forces. That is to say nothing of the fact that
Iran has close economic and strategic ties to both Russia and China, who would
aid Tehran’s efforts to defend itself. Conflict is not only a morally wrong
course of action: It would be ruinous for America’s interests. Washington may
not lose the war, but they would likely lose the peace.
But if war is to be avoided during this and subsequent administrations, treaties
between the US and Iran to guarantee peace need to be politically sustainable.
Future US presidents must not have easy pretexts to rescind the agreements and
re-initiate hostilities.
That primarily means Tehran must be constrained from continuing its proxy war
against the US in the Middle East. Iran funds, arms, trains, and helps direct
many factions, such as the Assad government in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon,
Hamas in the Palestinian occupied territories, the Houthis in Yemen, and in
recent years even the Afghan Taliban. Of course, this works both ways. Tehran is
also replete with anti-American hawks, and their own nationalist conservatives
have strong political incentives to undermine any détente with the US and
instigate direct confrontation. For this reason, Washington must also make
concessions. Above all, it must publicly acknowledge that it was former
President Donald Trump who reneged on the JCPOA first, that Tehran complied with
the agreement itself despite its malign activities in the region, and that the
people of Iran perhaps deserve some compensation for the economic hardship
following the reimposition of sanctions by Trump. All those things are true, and
recognising them as such must be the foundation of any good faith effort to
rebuild the nuclear agreement. But in exchange for that good faith, it should be
demanded of Iran that it respond with equal good faith and stop funding every
proxy and terrorist group opposed to the US in the region. An agreement must be
reached, because failure is almost certain to lead to a war with no winners:
Both sides will lose status, money, power and the lives of their soldiers, and
millions of innocent people caught in the middle will suffer and die needlessly.
That is a scenario no one can afford.
*Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is a director at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and
Policy in Washington DC. Twitter: @AzeemIbrahim
China Boycotts Western Companies Over Uyghurs
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/April 8, 2021
Companies are being pressured to scrub from their websites language about
corporate policies on human rights, reverse decisions to stop buying cotton
produced in Xinjian, and remove maps that depict Taiwan as an independent
country. In October 2020, the Geneva-based Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), an
influential non-profit group that promotes sustainable cotton production,
suspended licensing of Xinjiang cotton, citing allegations and "increasing
risks" of forced labor. The statement has since been scrubbed from the BCI
website, and, disturbingly, also is not accessible on the Internet Archive.
In March 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, in a report, "Uyghurs
for Sale," revealed that Uyghurs were working in factories — under conditions of
forced labor — that are in the supply chains of more than 80 well-known global
brands in the clothing, automotive and technology sectors.
"China's government, increasingly keen to punish critics of their Xinjiang
policies, is forcing foreign companies to make a choice they have been
studiously trying to avoid: support China or get out of the Chinese market....
The Communist Party views itself as increasingly able to exert economic pressure
on others, using the 'powerful gravitational field' of the world's
second-largest economy.... The choice between the lucrative Chinese market and
the values firms profess in the rest of the world is becoming unavoidable...." —
The Economist, March 27, 2021.
"German companies account for a good one-half of the EU's exports to China. The
German export industry has little interest in tarnishing this balance sheet with
moral zeal.... The economic dependence on China, however, further weakens the
already low impact of moral arguments. As long as Europe, and in this case
Germany in particular, is not prepared to reduce this dependency, complaints
about human rights violations in China will, at best, continue to trigger sloppy
defensive reactions from Beijing." — Die Welt, March 24, 2021.
The Chinese government is boycotting Western clothing retailers for expressing
concerns about forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. The dispute revolves
around allegations that China's government is forcing more than 500,000 Uyghurs
and other Muslim ethnic and religious minorities to pick cotton in Xinjiang,
which produces 85% of China's cotton and one-fifth of the world's supply.
Roughly 70% of the region's cotton fields are picked by hand. Pictured: Women
harvest cotton by hand in Hami, Xinjiang on September 20, 2015.
The Chinese government is boycotting Western clothing retailers for expressing
concerns about forced labor in Xinjiang, China's biggest region. The companies
are being pressured to scrub from their websites language about corporate
policies on human rights, reverse decisions to stop buying cotton produced in
Xinjian, and remove maps that depict Taiwan as an independent country.
The escalating fight comes after the European Union and the United Kingdom on
March 22 joined the United States and Canada to impose sanctions on Chinese
officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, a remote autonomous region in
northwestern China.
Human rights experts say at least one million Muslims are being detained in up
to 380 internment camps, where they are subject to torture, mass rapes, forced
labor and sterilizations.
Western companies doing business in China increasingly face an unpalatable
dilemma: how to uphold Western values and distance themselves from human rights
abuses without provoking retaliation from the Chinese government and losing
access to one of the world's biggest and fastest-growing markets.
The current dispute revolves around allegations that the Chinese government is
forcing more than 500,000 Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic and religious
minorities to pick cotton in Xinjiang, which produces 85% of China's cotton and
one-fifth of the world's supply. Roughly 70% of the region's cotton fields are
picked by hand. The allegations of forced labor affect all Western supply chains
that involve Xinjiang cotton as a raw material. Both the European Union and the
United States import more than 30% of their apparel and textile supplies from
China.
In October 2020, the Geneva-based Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), an influential
non-profit group that promotes sustainable cotton production, suspended
licensing of Xinjiang cotton, citing allegations and "increasing risks" of
forced labor. The statement has since been scrubbed from the BCI website, and,
disturbingly, also is not accessible on the Internet Archive.
After the BCI, which has more than 1,800 members, spanning the entire global
cotton supply chain, stopped licensing Xinjiang cotton production, its members —
including Germany-based Adidas, U.K.-based Burberry, Swedish retailers H&M and
IKEA, and U.S.-based Nike — all said that they would stop using cotton from
Xinjiang, in line with the group's guidelines.
At the time, H&M, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, posted a
statement on its website:
"H&M Group is deeply concerned by reports from civil society organizations and
media that include accusations of forced labor and discrimination of
ethno-religious minorities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). We
strictly prohibit any type of forced labor in our supply chain, regardless of
the country or region....
"We do not work with any garment manufacturing factories located in XUAR, and we
do not source products from this region. We transparently disclose names and
locations of manufacturing factories, mills and yarn producers in our public
supplier list and will continue to do so and further accelerate this
transparency for our global supply chain.
"In addition, we have conducted an inquiry at all the garment manufacturing
factories we work with in China aiming to ensure that workers are employed in
accordance with our Sustainability Commitment, and that they comply with our
migrant worker guideline."
The statement, largely unnoticed at the time, was unearthed after the EU's
announcement of sanctions. The Communist Youth League, the youth movement of the
Chinese Communist Party, in a post on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter,
stated: "Spreading rumors to boycott Xinjiang cotton, while also wanting to make
money in China? Wishful thinking!"
The furor over H&M's ban on Xinjiang cotton quickly rose to a fever pitch on
Chinese social media, with many calling for a nationwide boycott of the company.
Chinese map and ride-hailing applications blocked H&M. Major Chinese e-commerce
platforms dropped the brand from their platforms. Angry landlords terminated
lease agreements and forced H&M to shutter some of its 500 stores in China, the
company's fourth-largest market behind Germany, the United States and Britain.
The Chinese nationalist backlash soon spread to other Western apparel and
footwear companies — including Adidas, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Lacoste, New
Balance, Nike, Puma, Tommy Hilfiger, Uniqlo and Zara — after state media
criticized the brands for expressing concern about Xinjiang. More than 30
Chinese celebrities announced that they were ending endorsement deals with
Western brands. Some said they opposed attempts to "discredit China."
The Associated Press reported that China was "erasing" Western brands from the
internet:
"In a high-tech version of the airbrushing used by China and other authoritarian
regimes to delete political enemies from historic photos, H&M's approximately
500 stores in China didn't show up on ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing or map
services operated by Alibaba and Baidu. Its smartphone app disappeared from app
stores.
"It wasn't clear whether companies received orders to erase H&M's online
presence, but Chinese enterprises are expected to fall in line without being
told. Regulators have broad powers to punish companies that fail to support
official policy....
"The Communist Party often pressures foreign clothing, travel and other brands
over actions by their governments or in an effort to compel them to adopt its
positions on Taiwan, Tibet and other sensitive issues.
"Most comply because China is one of the biggest, fastest-growing markets for
global fashion, electronics and other consumer brands."
Xu Guixiang, a Xinjiang government spokesman, said:
"I don't think a company should politicize its economic behavior. Can H&M
continue to make money in the Chinese market? Not anymore. To rush into this
decision and get involved in the sanctions is not reasonable. It's like lifting
a stone to drop it on one's own feet."
H&M, in a statement dated March 31, said that it was "dedicated to regaining the
trust and confidence of our customers, colleagues, and business partners in
China." The statement, which did not mention Xinjiang, appeared to be a failed
attempt to strike a balance between placating the Chinese government while
assuaging Western human rights groups.
"Why doesn't H&M apologize openly to consumers?" asked the state-owned China
Central Television. It called H&M's statement a "second-rate public relations
article full of empty words lacking sincerity."
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said that forced labor in Xinjiang was
"non-existent and entirely imaginary" and that such allegations amounted to
slander:
"We oppose any external forces interfering in Xinjiang-related matters and
China's internal affairs. We also oppose sanctions imposed on Chinese
individuals and entities based on lies and false information, and on the pretext
of so-called human rights issues in Xinjiang."
Chinese authorities subsequently pressured H&M and other brands to change
"problematic maps of China" on their websites. The Shanghai branch of the
Cyberspace Administration of China objected to how Taiwan, the independent
island country that Beijing claims as part of its territory, is depicted on the
Taiwanese versions of their websites.
After H&M caved to Chinese pressure and changed the map, the government ordered
H&M to "immediately remedy" its depiction of disputed waters in the South China
Sea, 90% of which is claimed by Beijing. H&M complied, only to anger Vietnam,
which holds rival claims to some of the waters.
Meanwhile, in a bid to counter accusations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang,
the Chinese government has produced a new musical — apparently mimicking the
American classic "Sound of Music" — which portrays Xinjiang as a rural idyll of
ethnic cohesion devoid of repression, mass surveillance and even the Islam of
its majority Uyghur population.
The musical, "Wings of Songs," is attempting to reframe the cultural reality of
the region, according to the Agence France-Presse, which added:
"The musical omits the surveillance cameras and security checks that blanket
Xinjiang. Also noticeably absent are references to Islam — despite more than
half of the population of Xinjiang being Muslim — and there are no mosques or
women in veils."
Western Brands and Xinjiang Supply Chains
In March 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, in a report, "Uyghurs
for Sale," revealed that Uyghurs were working in factories — under conditions of
forced labor — that are in the supply chains of more than 80 well-known global
brands in the clothing, automotive and technology sectors. The companies
include:
Abercrombie & Fitch, Acer, Adidas, Alstom, Amazon, Apple, ASUS, BMW, Bombardier,
Bosch, Calvin Klein, Candy, Carter's, Cerruti 1881, Cisco, Dell, Electrolux,
Fila, Founder Gap, General Motors, Google, H&M, Hitachi, HP, Jaguar, L.L. Bean,
Lacoste, Land Rover, Lenovo, LG, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Nike,
Nintendo, Nokia, Panasonic, Polo Ralph Lauren, Puma, Samsung, Sharp, Siemens,
Skechers, Sony, Tommy Hilfiger, Toshiba, Uniqlo, Victoria's Secret, Volkswagen
and Zara.
In July 2020, the Financial Times reported that Western brands including Brooks
Brothers, Hugo Boss, Lacoste and Ralph Lauren had received apparel shipments
from a Chinese company whose subsidiary is facing U.S. sanctions over alleged
forced labor in Xinjiang.
In May 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that many multinational brands —
including Adidas, C&A, Calvin Klein, Campbell's Soup Company, Coca-Cola, Disney,
Esprit, Gap, H&M and Kraft Heinz and Patagonia — were directly or indirectly
benefiting from factories allegedly using forced labor in Xinjiang.
Some companies have denied the allegations, others have promised to investigate
and still others have pledged to stop sourcing supplies from Xinjiang. Following
are select responses and statements from fashion-related brands, the current
focus of Chinese ire:
Adidas. A statement said: "In 2019, on learning of allegations against several
companies sourcing from Xinjiang, China, where ethnic minorities were reportedly
subject to forced labor in spinning mills, we explicitly required our fabric
suppliers not to source any yarn from the Xinjiang region. Adidas has never
manufactured goods in Xinjiang and has no contractual relationship with any
Xinjiang supplier."
Burberry. The U.K.-based retailer, a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, was
the first luxury brand to suffer Chinese backlash over Xinjiang. Burberry lost a
Chinese brand ambassador, and its logo was scrubbed from a popular video game.
Gap. A statement said: "We can confirm that we do not source any garments from
Xinjiang.... We have implemented a new policy that explicitly prohibits Gap Inc.
vendors from directly or indirectly sourcing any products, components, or
materials from Xinjiang in the process of manufacturing any orders for Gap Inc.
Marks & Spencer. The British retailer was one of the first major brands to back
a campaign to stop forced labor in Xinjiang. In January 2020, the company signed
a call to action by 'The Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region' —
which consists of more than 300 civil society groups — to cut ties with
suppliers in China that profit from forced labor in Xinjiang.
Nike. A statement said: "We are concerned about reports of forced labor in, and
connected to, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Nike does not source
products from the XUAR and we have confirmed with our contract suppliers that
they are not using textiles or spun yarn from the region."
New Balance. A statement said: "We recognize that the risk of forced labor
increases as we go further upstream in the supply chain where we also have less
visibility and leverage. We are expanding the mapping of the cotton yarn supply
chain as well as exploring technologies and other methods to better assure raw
material origins."
Zara. Zara's parent company, Spain-based Inditex, removed from its website a
statement on the company's zero-tolerance policy for forced labor. The
statement, which can be found on the Internet Archive, said:
"We take reports of improper social and labor practices in any part of the
garment and textile supply chain extremely seriously. We are aware of a number
of such reports alleging social and labor malpractice in various supply chains
among Uyghurs in Xinjiang (China) as well as in other regions, which are highly
concerning. Following an internal investigation, we can confirm that Inditex
does not have commercial relations with any factory in Xinjiang."
Hong Kong human rights campaigner Johnson Yeung tweeted:
"Faced pressures from Chinese state media and Chinese consumers. @InditexSpain
@ZARA secretly remove their statement on #Xinjiang Cotton from their website. I
genuinely worry that companies will participate in atrocity against Uyghurs
again to pledge their loyalty. Hold the line."
Select Commentary
China scholar Richard Ebeling, writing for the American Institute for Economic
Research, explained why the Chinese government is persecuting the Uyghurs:
"The Uyghurs, like the Tibetans, and other minority groups in China, have been
the victims of Chinese political and ethnic imperialism. The Chinese government
has attempted to assure the political unification and integration of,
especially, Tibet and Xinjiang by a policy of ethnic and cultural
'sterilization.' For decades, the Chinese authorities in Beijing have instigated
Han Chinese population migrations to these two areas to 'dilute' and reduce to a
demographic minority the Uyghur and Tibetan peoples within their own lands.
"The Chinese government has attempted to persecute and eradicate the practice of
Islam and Buddhism, respectively, among these peoples. The Chinese military has
desecrated religious temples and places of worship, murdered and imprisoned
religious leaders, forced women of both groups to marry Han Chinese to
genetically 'cleanse' Xinjiang and Tibet of their indigenous populations, and
have restricted or prohibited the learning and speaking of the distinct local
languages and practicing of cultural customs.
"Though, of course, never said officially or publicly, the Chinese government's
policy, to guarantee political solidarity and unity throughout each and every
corner of the territory of China is to make the country one racially single
group, the Han Chinese."
The Economist magazine, in an editorial, wrote that Western retailers
increasingly are caught between nationalistic Chinese consumers and
conscientious ones at home:
"For more than a year some big foreign apparel and technology companies have
been walking a fine line on the human-rights abuses committed by China against
Uyghurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority in the north-western region of
Xinjiang. These firms have been working to clear their supply chains of the
forced labor of Uyghurs, hundreds of thousands of whom pick cotton under
apparently coercive conditions. What they have not done is boast about these
efforts, fearful of angering the Communist Party and 1.4bn Chinese consumers....
"An online furor stoked by Chinese authorities this week suggests that Beijing
may be tiring of this double game. China's government, increasingly keen to
punish critics of their Xinjiang policies, is forcing foreign companies to make
a choice they have been studiously trying to avoid: support China or get out of
the Chinese market.
"Chinese authorities have stirred nationalist protests against foreign companies
in the past, then tamped them down having made their point. This time the
campaign looks like part of a broader, more enduring counterattack against
critics of the government's policies in Xinjiang, where it incarcerated more
than 1m Uyghurs in a gulag for their religious and cultural beliefs....
"The Communist Party views itself as increasingly able to exert economic
pressure on others, using the 'powerful gravitational field' of the world's
second-largest economy....
"Western brands that have held their ground on Xinjiang may worry that being
seen as kowtowing to the Communist Party could provoke a backlash among shoppers
in the West, who increasingly expect companies to behave responsibly on
everything from the treatment of workers to climate change.... The firms may
also be calculating that the nationalist fervor in China will cool. And they are
hedging their bets....
"That could all change as both China's official anger at criticisms of its
Xinjiang policies and pressure from Western human-rights campaigners and
consumers continue to intensify. Human-rights campaigners are already calling
for a corporate boycott of next year's winter Olympics in Beijing.... They know
that responding to Chinese pressure by renouncing their own human-rights
commitments looks indefensible in their home markets. At the same time, they are
understandably worried about the consequences in China. The choice between the
lucrative Chinese market and the values firms profess in the rest of the world
is becoming unavoidable...."
The Swiss public broadcaster SWF wrote that the conflict worked in favor of the
Chinese government:
"The public outrage and the boycott benefit the Chinese government in several
ways: Domestically, the boycott distracts from the allegations of human rights
violations and presents the issue as an attack by the West on China.
"The H&M case also serves as a chilling example in relation to other countries.
The message to international companies: Do not mess with China."
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung highlighted the moral conflict faced by
Western countries:
"Western companies are in a conflict: In the West, many of their customers
refuse to wear a T-shirt that was produced by forced laborers. In China, which
is a production location and an important market for them, companies come under
pressure when they openly criticize forced labor. They can hardly please both
sides.
"Consider Hugo Boss. The brand from the Swabian town of Metzingen, known for its
men's suits, is currently demonstrating how a company is looking for a way out
of a moral and economic dilemma — and in the end loses twice.
"The Chinese internet platform Weibo — a kind of national Twitter — recently
called for a boycott of Hugo Boss. Two prominent actors terminated their
collaboration with the German company, and users on China's social media scoffed
at the suit manufacturer's puffing around.
"What happened?
"A few days ago, Hugo Boss said on Weibo that they respect the national
sovereignty of China, that the cotton from Xinjiang is among the best in the
world — and that it will continue to be bought. This statement would probably
have hardly been noticed in the West had the English-language media portal Hong
Kong Free Press not reported on it.
"The company told an American broadcaster last September that all their
suppliers had to prove that their products did not come from Xinjiang. Suddenly
the impression arose that Hugo Boss was saying something different in China than
in the West.
"After the Hong Kong publication reported the conflicting statements, Boss
deleted the one on Weibo. Instead, the company is now referring to an
English-language statement on its Weibo account, in which it says with reference
to Xinjiang: 'Hugo Boss does not tolerate forced labor.' ....
"When asked by Die Zeit, a spokeswoman for Hugo Boss said the first Weibo
message was 'unauthorized.' He added: 'Our position with regard to the situation
is of course unchanged from that of some time ago.'
"But with little effort, an older version of the group's statement can be found
on the internet, which was deleted from its website a few days ago — and which
is much harsher than the message that is now being spread.... It promised: 'We
guarantee that from October 2021 our new collections will not contain any cotton
or other materials from the Xinjiang region.'"
The German newspaper Die Welt wrote that as long as Germany is dependent upon
China, moral criticism is of little use:
"An example of the [transatlantic] disagreement over the right approach to China
is the China Investment Agreement, which the EU, under the leadership of Angela
Merkel, waved through ... ignoring all requests from the Biden administration.
"The agreement may superficially improve the situation for European investors in
China a little. Above all, however, it represents a prestigious achievement for
Xi Jinping and makes it easier for him to point out, if necessary, that the West
is unable to find a common position on China.
"Not even its defenders would claim that the agreement would help to positively
influence the human rights situation in China. In these days in particular,
Europeans are experiencing anew that China is not prepared to even enter into a
dialogue with the West on human rights issues. On the contrary, Beijing reacts
increasingly aggressively to any kind of criticism....
"The 5,200 German companies that are active in China will have given the German
Chancellery a very clear picture of the sensitivities of their Chinese business
partners in recent years. That's why Daimler quickly cleans up a social media
post about Tibet if Beijing unpleasantly notices it. And that's why you hear
nothing from Volkswagen about the situation of the Uyghurs, although, or rather
because, the company has a plant in the province of Xinjiang. German companies
account for a good one-half of the EU's exports to China. The German export
industry has little interest in tarnishing this balance sheet with moral zeal.
"The economic dependence on China, however, further weakens the already low
impact of moral arguments. As long as Europe, and in this case Germany in
particular, is not prepared to reduce this dependency, complaints about human
rights violations in China will, at best, continue to trigger sloppy defensive
reactions from Beijing."
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.