English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese,
Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 08/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.february08.21.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their
hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret
that will not become known
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Luke 12/01-05/:”Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered in thousands, so that they
trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, ‘Beware of
the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that
will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore
whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have
whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops. ‘I tell
you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do
nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has
killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!.”’
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on February 07- 08/2021
The Trojan Michael Aoun and His Evil
Paper of Understanding with the Axis Of Evil/Elias Bejjani/February 07/2021
Health Ministry: 2,081 new Corona cases, 54 deaths
Rahi calls for raising Lebanon’s issue in a special international conference:
People’s uprising will return to the street
Al-Rahi Calls for U.N.-Sponsored Conference on Lebanon
Aoun’s FPM Acknowledges its Failure to Build State, Fight Corruption in Lebanon
Lokman Slim’s Sister to Asharq Al-Awsat: I Know Who Killed my Brother
Slim's Sister Doesn't Want Int'l Probe, Says Murder Came in Transitional Period
Lawyer Says Unconfirmed Slim was Tortured, Phone with Security Agencies
Lebanese protest coronavirus lockdown extension amid worsening economic
situation
Israeli Troops Fire in Air to Terrorize Lebanese Farmers
Protesters Block Two Roads in Beirut
German Firm to Clear Beirut Port of Dangerous Containers
German Ambassador visits Roger Edde: For a government that undertakes reforms
Restaurants Allowed to Offer 24/24 Delivery, Drive-Thru Services
Hariri’s return next week set to revive talks on Cabinet formation impasse
Time for a Lokman act : American-Lebanese journalist Mouafac Harb/The Daily
Star/February 07/2021
Preventing queue jumping in Lebanon’s vaccine rollout needs government
transparency/Rabih Torbay/Al Arabiya/February 07/2021
Petition to hold the Republic of Lebanon accountable for "Crimes against
Humanity
Titles For The
Latest
English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on
February 07- 08/2021
Iran-based dissidents urge Biden to keep sanctions on
Islamic Republic..."Maintaining maximum political, diplomatic, and financial
pressure on the regime"/Benjamin WeinthalJerusalem Post/February 07/2021
US has ‘no choice’ but to rejoin Iran nuclear deal: Zarif
Iran calls on UN to respond to alleged Israeli threats - report
Biden: US will not lift Iran sanctions until it stops enriching uranium
Sudan’s PM Hamdok dissolves cabinet: State TV
Egypt’s Sisi Expresses Support to Interim Libya Govt
Arab League Welcomes ICC Jurisdiction in Palestinian Territories
Shiite Opposition of UN Supervision of Iraqi Elections Grows
Erdogan Says Keen on Boosting Cooperation with Libya
Palestinian Factions Kick off Talks on Elections in Cairo
Sudan Forum Brings Together Representatives of Islam, Christianity, Judaism,
Hinduism
Erdogan Orders Establishment of Campus for Turkish University in Northern Syria
Canada/Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs on International Criminal
Court’s decision regarding its jurisdiction over West Bank and Gaza
Canada announces support to help advance democracy in Belarus
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 07- 08/2021
Are we heading to a war in the Middle East?/Toufic
Hindi/February 07/2021
ICC, ICJ push Joe Biden into Donald Trump’s shoes - analysis/Yonah Jeremy
Bob/Jerusalem Post/February 07/2021
Maybe Joe Biden is treating Benjamin Netanyahu normally - analysis/Lahav Harkov/Jerusalem
Post/February 07/2021
Israel and the Temple Mount's Five Muslim Rivals/Daniel Pipes/Israel Hayom/February
07/2021
Raped and Murdered: Christian Girls in Pakistan/Raymond Ibrahim/ Gatestone
Institute/February 07/2021
Will the Trump Successes in the Middle East Survive?/Guy Millière/Gatestone
Institute/February 07/2021
Biden and Saudi Arabia/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 07/201
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 07- 08/2021
The Trojan Michael Aoun and His Evil Paper of Understanding
with the Axis Of Evil
Elias Bejjani/February 07/2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBm9vzIcmM4&feature=emb_title
Fifteen years passed since the selfish and derailed Michael Aoun imprisoned
himself and his supporters in Hezbollah's locked jails and bunkers.
Fifteen years ago Aoun decided to betray himself, his national record, his
patriotic tags and rhetoric, His Maronite Church historic convictions, His Holy
Lebanon, His dignity, his country and the martyr's blood.
Fifteen years ago Aoun succumbed to the evil Iranian terrorist Hezbollah and
signed with its leadership the Anti-Lebanon and notorious "Paper Of
Understanding".
Exactly like Judas Iscariot Aoun sold Lebanon and its people for thirty pieces
of silver.
In conclusion, Aoun gained nothing and lost every thing because his gains were
transient false power and earthly benefits.
History will have no mercy for this politician or for his likes and shall
boldly curse their acts.
Health Ministry: 2,081 new Corona
cases, 54 deaths
NNA/February 07/2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced, on Sunday, that 2,081 new Corona
infections have been registered, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed
cases to-date to 319,917.
It also indicated that 54 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.
Rahi calls for raising Lebanon’s issue
in a special international conference: People’s uprising will return to the
street
NNA/February 07/2021
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, demanded Sunday that
Lebanon’s issue be raised in a special international conference.
Presiding over this morning’s Mass service in Bkirki, al-Rahi reminded that
“being a founding and committed member of the Arab League, and a founding and
committed member of the United Nations Organization, its collapsing situation
necessitates that its case be brought up in an international conference
sponsored by the United Nations, in a manner that would consecrate its modern
constitutional frameworks based on the unity of the entity, system of neutrality
and the provision of permanent guarantees for the Lebanese presence that prevent
any encroachment on it or any attempt to undermine its legitimacy.”
He added that this step would help put an end to the plurality of arms, address
the absence of a clear constitutional authority to settle disputes, and bridge
constitutional and procedural gaps, so as to ensure the stability of the system
and avoid disrupting the country for several months at each milestone of
electing a new president for the republic and forming a government. “Our people
are dying while the state is a ‘dead conscience’. All countries of the world
have sympathized with the people of Lebanon except for their country…Is there a
greater crime than this?” the Patriarch questioned remorsefully.
“It is no longer permissible for any official to evade responsibility and the
national duties entrusted upon him under any pretext. The situation has gone
beyond the government to the fate of the nation. Accordingly, every authority
that manipulates this fate and gives up the historic national option loses its
popular legitimacy,” Rahi underscored. The Patriarch regretted that all
Lebanese, Arab and international initiatives and mediation have been exhausted
to no avail, as if there is a kind of insistence on bringing down the state with
all that it represents in terms of values, constitution, system and national
partnership! However, he asserted that the state does not belong to officials,
nor are the people sheep for being slaughtered in the slaughterhouse of their
narrow interests and indifference.
Moreover, al-Rahi underlined that the people will not leave, but will remain
here and their uprising shall return to the street in demand for their rights.
“Our people will revolt, impugn and hold accountable…Your disdain for their pain
and suffering is forcibly pushing them towards extreme options,” he emphasized.
“We present these matters out of concern for every Lebanese and for all of
Lebanon…to preserve the national partnership and the Christian-Islamic
coexistence in a civil democratic system,” Rahi said.
He added that the Lebanese have had enough of wars, discord and assassinations,
the last of which being the heartbreaking martyrdom of activist Luqman Mohsen
Slim, who hailed from a Lebanese national home and historic family roots. “His
assassination is the assassination of the other free opinion, and provides a new
impetus to put an end to every uncontrolled weapon that is gradually eliminating
the finest figures of the nation,” said the Patriarch, while offering his
sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the late Slim and calling on
the state to reveal the circumstances of his assassination and the side that
instigated this heinous political crime. Rahi concluded by stressing on the
strong Lebanese will and determination not to accept such “fait accompli”
because they are the people of legitimacy and the constitution, and are adamant
on following their national position until Lebanon is saved.
Al-Rahi Calls for U.N.-Sponsored Conference on Lebanon
Naharnet/February 07/2021
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday called for organizing a
U.N.-sponsored international conference on Lebanon. “The collapsed situation of
Lebanon -- which according to the constitution is a founding member of the Arab
League and a founding member of the U.N. -- requires that its cause be raised in
an international conference sponsored by the U.N.,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday
Mass sermon. He added that such a conference should seek to “prevent attacks on
it and harm to its legitimacy and would put an end to the multiplicity of arms.”
It would also “address the absence of a clear constitutional authority for
resolving disputes” and would spare the country “the paralysis of ruling
authorities for several months at every juncture related to the election of a
president or the formation of a government,” al-Rahi said.
“We are fed up with wars, strife and the use of arms. We are fed up with
assassinations, and over the past two days, our heart and the hearts of everyone
were bloodied by the martyrdom of the activist Lokman Mohsen Slim, the son of
the patriotic house and deep-rooted family,” the patriarch added.
“His assassination is an assassination of the other, free opinion and a new
motive to put an end to every illegal weapon gradually eradicating the fine
figures of the country,” al-Rahi went on to say.
Aoun’s FPM Acknowledges its Failure to
Build State, Fight Corruption in Lebanon
Beirut – Caroline Akoum/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 07/201
The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) in Lebanon acknowledged the failure of its
project to build a state and fight corruption.
It made the declaration on the 15th anniversary of its signing of an
understanding with Hezbollah that led to the election of FPM founder Michel Aoun
as president in 2016 Differences between the FPM, which is now headed by Aoun’s
son-in-law Gebran Bassil, and the Iran-backed Hezbollah are nothing new.
Supporters of either camp have often expressed their criticism on social media,
with even FPM MPs and officials joining in. Such criticism mounted after the
United State slapped sanctions last year on Bassil over his ties to Hezbollah
and involvement in corruption. In a statement on Saturday, the FPM political
council said the understanding with Hezbollah “helped ward off strife and
division in Lebanon and protect it against foreign aggression” from Israel and
terrorist groups. The understanding, however, “did not succeed in building a
state and establishing the rule of law,” it continued.
“Developing the understanding in a way that brings new hope to the Lebanese
people is a condition for its survival. The understanding will be void if the
signatories do not succeed in the battle to build a state,” it remarked.
FPM MP George Atallah said the statement echoes remarks
Bassil had made about a month ago. Similar remarks were also made by Hezbollah
chief Hassan Nasrallah. Atallah told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The understanding yielded
many results, but Hezbollah could not join us in state-building affairs and
approving laws on combating corruption.”He attributed this to the party’s
alliance to its fellow Shiite Amal movement.
Fighting corruption and the building of a state are as important to the FPM as
the resistance against Israel, said the MP. He revealed that Bassil and
Nasrallah had twice met in the past three months to discuss pending issues and
concerns. On whether unfulfilled objectives can be met in the future, he said:
“The conviction is there, but the problem lies in the application.” The MP
refused to link any revision of the understanding to the American sanctions on
Bassil, while also dismissing claims that the agreement was on the verge of
failure. “We are seeking to improve, develop and even expand it to include other
parties,” he revealed. Hezbollah MP Walid Sukkarieh said the problem between the
party and FPM lies elsewhere, specifically in sectarian representation and fears
over Christian rights. He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The situation in Lebanon may
have prevented the implementation of some issues, but the two camps are fully
aligned over the vision of building a state based on national unity.”Differences
between them will not lead to the failure of the understanding, he said,
suggesting instead that it could be developed. The FPM, he explained, is
concerned about the fair representation of sects in public positions. The Taif
Accord limits this representation to the positions of president, prime minister
and parliament speaker, while the movement is seeking to apply it to all public
posts given that Muslims outnumber Christians. The FPM fears that the imbalance
may later infringe on equality.
Lokman Slim’s Sister to Asharq Al-Awsat:
I Know Who Killed my Brother
Beirut - Inas Sherri/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 07/201
A silent pain reigns over the house of the family of Lokman Slim, an
anti-Hezbollah activist, who was assassinated on Feb. 4. At the entrance to the
house, which is located in Beirut’s southern suburbs - Hezbollah’s stronghold -
a lone policeman watches those visiting the grieving family. Slim’s sister,
Rasha al-Ameer, receives the mourners with the expression, “Lokman is alive,”
with a smile on her face that disappears only when she sees someone dear to her
slain brother crying; then, her eyes fill with tears, even for a moment. “He is
the brother, the friend, the teacher, and the example,” al-Ameer told Asharq Al-Awsat,
adding: “No one can kill ideas, opinions and values. They killed my brother, so
let them tell me how they will kill or erase his thoughts, actions and
values.”She says that Slim chose the more difficult road, the path of true
freedom, away from slogans and bargains.
“My brother was killed because his words were painful to them, because he was
frank, tough and did not compromise. They found him disturbing. They want to
monopolize values and consider themselves the strongest, so how can my brother’s
voice come out of their monopoly? They didn’t bear this.”
Al-Ameer doesn’t want to know the truth, and she is not expecting anything from
the Lebanese judiciary, which she says is “in a coma”. She also does not want an
international investigation, especially since it is also not always free from
political interference, as she says.
She affirms that she will not resort to an international investigation - not
only because it requires certain conditions and a mechanism that passes through
the parliament - but because she knows well who killed her brother.
“I don’t care about the police details. What will the judiciary tell me? What
kind of bullets were used to kill my brother? How did they deceive him and he
resisted? These are disgusting details that I don’t want to know… They will not
ease the burden of my loss. I know the truth and this is enough,” she says.
As she speaks to Asharq Al-Awsat, al-Ameer repeats a verse from the Bible, when
Jesus says: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you…”
But she adds: “It is too early to talk about forgiveness now, I cannot, but I
always think about how a person can live with his enemies, I think deeply about
this matter, how I can accept them after what they have done.”
“My brother worked a lot on how to reconcile the Lebanese after the civil war
and the massacres they committed against each other. He worked on the so-called
transitional justice that transcends those who killed whoever…” she recounts.
Al-Ameer did not like to comment on the reports that have spread recently about
the reasons for Slim’s killing, including that he was working on a specific file
related to Hezbollah and money laundering.
“Let them come up with their arguments, I don't know,” she says.
Slim's Sister Doesn't Want Int'l Probe, Says Murder Came in
Transitional Period
Naharnet/February 07/201
Lebanese poet and intellectual Rasha al-Ameer, the sister of slain anti-Hizbullah
activist and researcher Lokman Slim, has said that she is not waiting for the
judiciary to tell her “the truth.” “Rasha al-Ameer does not want to know the
truth and is not awaiting anything from the Lebanese judiciary, which she
describes as being in a state of coma, and she also does not want the
international judiciary, especially that some of it is not free of political
interference,” Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted al-Ameer as saying in an
interview published Sunday. “She stresses that she will not resort to an
international probe, not only because it requires certain conditions, a
mechanism passing through parliament and a budget, but rather because she knows
well who killed him, and that is enough for her,” the daily added. “I do not
care about forensic details. What will the judiciary tell me -- what type of
bullets killed my brother? How they back-stabbed him and he resisted them? These
are gruesome and disgusting details that I do not want to know. They resemble
the killers and are of no use to me. They will not alleviate my loss. I know the
truth and this is enough,” the sister told the newspaper.
Moreover, al-Ameer said she prefers not to comment on the theories that have
surfaced as to why her brother was killed, including one claiming that he was
working on a Hizbullah-related money laundering file.
Describing such reports as “part of the fabrications, perhaps unintentionally,
or out of someone’s desire to make a scoop at the expense of someone who no
longer exists to respond,” al-Ameer added: “Let them come forward with their
evidence; I do not know.” Asked why her brother was killed in this timing,
although he never left his house despite the threats he received, al-Ameer said
that there is a “regional state of waiting.”“The new U.S. administration is
nascent and everyone is awaiting what it will do, and the influential capitals
in the world are all brainstorming regarding the fate of the region. During
these times, when there are no settlements, his killers sought to play in the
extra time,” al-Ameer added.
Lawyer Says Unconfirmed Slim was Tortured, Phone with Security Agencies
Naharnet/February 07/201
The lawyer of the Slim family, Moussa Khoury, has said that security agencies
are exerting very serious efforts in the ongoing probe into the assassination of
prominent activist and researched Lokman Slim. “But only 72 hours have passed
since the incident and no rapid results can be expected, especially amid the
circumstances that the country is going through,” Khoury said in an interview
with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. “We will exert utmost efforts to know who killed
Slim, by names and not only as to what side they belong to,” the lawyer added.
Commenting on reports that Slim was tortured before he was murdered, Khoury
said: “This matter was only reported by one media outlet and other media outlets
copied it with good intention.” “We do not have any information about the
possible torture of Slim until the moment. That might prove to be true later,
but until today, there is no such information,” he added.
As for the conflicting reports about Slim’s cellphone, the lawyer said: “We read
that it was found 300 meters away from the house where Slim was present on
Wednesday evening, and therefore a certain (security) agency found it, but this
agency will not give it to us before the end of the investigation.”
“We have not been informed of the matter and this is normal in homicides,
especially political killing, and the phone is certainly not with us,” he added.
Lebanese protest coronavirus lockdown
extension amid worsening economic situation
Rawad Taha, Al Arabiya English/Sunday 07 February 2021
Protesters took to the streets of Beirut to condemn the extension of the
coronavirus lockdown amid a worsening economic situation, local media reported.
The government announced a four-step plan to gradually ease closing
restrictions, but shops and restaurants' reopening was delayed until the last
phase of the plan in the end of March, according to a statement by the Ministry
of Interior Affairs. "We ask the Prime Minister and the President to ease the
restrictions and allow us [shop owners] to go back to business, with some sort
of restrictions, we cannot keep our shops closed, it has been a month already,
if we don't work, we cannot bring food to the table for our families at the end
of the day, the government did not support us in any way, they just asked us to
remain home with no alternatives," a shop owner told a local TV station. The
protestors blocked the road in Beirut’s area of “Cola” for a short time. After
the protest ended the security forces worked on facilitating traffic again.
Israeli Troops Fire in Air to Terrorize Lebanese Farmers
Naharnet/February 07/201
Israeli soldiers on Sunday fired a number of gunshots in the air to terrorize a
number of farmers from the southern border town of Mays al-Jabal, Lebanon’s
state-run National News Agency said.The farmers were planting some saplings in
their fields in the town’s Kroum al-Sharraqi area, the agency added.
Protesters Block Two Roads in Beirut
Naharnet/Sunday 07 February 2021
Protesters on Sunday used burning tires and trash bins to block the road under
the Cola bridge in Beirut and on the road linking Cola to the UNESCO area.
Al-Jadeed TV said the protesters were denouncing the decision to extend the
anti-coronavirus lockdown. The National News Agency meanwhile said that the
demonstrators were rallying in rejection of “the economic and social situations
in the country, the silencing of activists through arrests, and the latest
assassination that targeted the activist Lokman Slim.”
German Firm to Clear Beirut Port of
Dangerous Containers
Agence France Presse/February 07/201
A German firm has treated 52 containers of hazardous material at Beirut port and
will ship them out of Lebanon, the German ambassador said Saturday, months after
a monster port blast. Andreas Kindl said on Twitter that the heavy lift
transport company Combi Lift "has treated 52 containers of hazardous and
dangerous chemical material that had been accumulated over decades and were a
threat to the people in Beirut". "They stand ready to be shipped to" Germany, he
added. The August 4 explosion of a stockpile of ammonium nitrate
fertiliser that had been left to languish haphazardly at the Beirut port for
years killed more than 200 people, wounded at least 6,500 others and ravaged
swaths of the capital. Lebanon's worst peace-time disaster sparked concerns over
remaining shipments of hazardous chemicals still stored at the blast site. In
November, Lebanon signed a contract with Combi Lift, which was already working
at the port, to clear containers carrying hazardous chemicals. The containers,
which include corrosive acids, had been stored in an open-air cargo zone for
over a decade under the supervision of Lebanon’s customs authority, officials
said at the time. If they catch fire "Beirut will be wiped out", interim port
chief Bassem al-Kaisi said in November. Kindl on Saturday published pictures on
Twitter showing fraying containers at the port and what appears to be chemicals
leaking from some of them. Lebanese authorities have said Combi Lift will ship
the chemicals in special containers as part of a $3.6 million deal, with the
port authority reportedly to pay $2 million of that. Lebanon's army and port
authority have said they do not have the expertise to handle such a process.
Lebanon has launched an investigation into the August blast amid public anger
against a political class widely blamed for the tragedy. At least 25 people have
been arrested, including the port chief and the head of the customs authority,
but no politician has been held to account.
German Ambassador visits Roger Edde:
For a government that undertakes reforms
NNA/February 07/201
Head of the "Lebanese Peace" Party, Attorney Roger Edde, received on Sunday
German Ambassador to Lebanon, Andreas Kindl, and his wife at his home in Edde -
Jbeil, with talks touching on the general prevailing situation in Lebanon, and
the implications of the assassination of activist Luqman Slim on liberties.
After the meeting, Kindl described the country’s situation during the past six
months as "difficult", calling on the Lebanese parties to "agree to form a
government.""Germany does not interfere in the government formation and this is
not our business. Rather, as a member country of the European Union, we call and
insist on forming the government to carry out reforms, but we do not interfere
with names," he said. Referring to the delay in the Beirut Port blast
investigation, the German Ambassador expressed his understanding towards the
secrecy of said investigation, and also towards the people’s rage for not being
well-informed of its course, hoping that the case will reach satisfactory
results. “I am not in a position to criticize any party or side, but I hope that
the investigation will be transparent and independent in order to reach a clear
conclusion that satisfies everyone," said Kindl. Over his country’s support to
Lebanon, he said: "Germany is the second largest supporter of Lebanon since 2012
and will continue with this support, and we hope that the aid will reach the
needy Lebanese directly, and this year it has reached three million Euros."
Regarding the assassination of Lebanese activist Luqman Slim, Kindl said: “He is
a friend, his wife is German and a friend, and therefore I am personally
shocked. I visited the family home repeatedly this week, and I ask how a
cowardly criminal can kill an educated and active person like Luqman.” He added:
“I hope that the investigation will be transparent, and we are ready for any
support that the Lebanese authorities may request so that the investigation can
reach a quick conclusion and identify the perpetrators…Despite the history of
investigations into political assassinations in Lebanon, I hope a conclusion
will be reached this time." For his part, Edde highlighted Germany's balanced
role at the European level, being the most influential country within the
European community. He also pointed to "the existing coordination with the
American administration and President Biden's work team on one hand, and the
European and Arab group on the other hand, for the sake of presenting an option
to form a transitional government in Lebanon from outside what is currently
being discussed in this regard, in wake of the prevailing economic and political
situation in the country; and to develop the Lebanese constitutional system
based on what the Taif Agreement offered in terms of abolishing sectarianism in
exchange for federal decentralization between the provinces, far-reaching
Lebanon - the Switzerland of the East.”Over Slim’s assassination, Edde stressed
"the need for a speedy investigation to find out who assassinated activist
Luqman Slim, who shed his blood for the sake of the battle for freedoms in
Lebanon." As for the investigations into the port explosion, he said: "As long
as Hezbollah is present with its weapons and its state within the state, there
is nothing called an independent judiciary in Lebanon. I expect that the change
will be for the better towards Lebanon with the new American president and his
team that knows well the Lebanese dossier, in addition to the Iranian file and
all Arab files. I hope that the dossier on Lebanon and Syria will be entrusted
to Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman.”
Restaurants Allowed to Offer 24/24 Delivery, Drive-Thru
Services
Naharnet/February 07/201
Lebanon’s Tourism Ministry on Sunday allowed that restaurants will be allowed to
offer around-the-clock delivery and drive-thru services as of Monday.
No customers will be allowed inside the restaurants, the Ministry added in a
statement. Lebanon will on Monday ease strict lockdown measures that have been
in place since January 14. The country enforced the full lockdown after a
dramatic surge in coronavirus cases in the wake of the Christmas and New Year
holidays.
Hariri’s return next week set to
revive talks on Cabinet formation impasse
Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/February 07, 2021
BEIRUT: Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s return to Beirut next week from a
foreign trip is expected to intensify contacts, including a possible meeting
with President Michel Aoun, in an attempt to break the Cabinet formation
deadlock, political sources said Sunday.
This comes as Lebanon’s political adversaries are coming under mounting Arab and
international pressures to resolve their differences and agree on the rapid
formation of a rescue government to enact essential reforms badly needed to
release billions of dollars in promised foreign aid to the cash-strapped
country.
The planned resumption of internal political activity over the Cabinet formation
crisis, now in its sixth month, coincided with fresh French attempts, backed by
the United States and Egypt, to revive the stalled French initiative to save
Lebanon from multiple crises, including an unprecedented financial downturn that
is threatening for the first time the country’s stability and security.
“It is clear that the political activity that is taking place abroad has shifted
the limelight to outside Lebanon. No doubt, French President Emmanuel Macron’s
moves [to resolve the Lebanese crisis] have begun with his phone contact with US
President Joe Biden [last month] and his contacts with the Iranians,” a
political source familiar with the Cabinet formation process told The Daily
Star.
The source said the Macron-Biden conversation, which covered the situation in
Lebanon among major topics discussed by the two presidents, was followed up by
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and U.S. Secretary of State Anthony
Blinken, who called in a joint statement issued Thursday on Lebanese officials
to “finally implement their commitment to form a credible and effective
government and to work toward carrying out the necessary reforms” and provide
the findings of the investigations into the Beirut Port explosion.
“Now this matter [French-US consensus on Lebanon] should be translated into
action. But nothing can be done before Prime Minister Hariri returns from a
foreign trip to Lebanon,” the source said.
“When Hariri returns, it will be easy to understand the political inclination in
the country because the premier-designate was sounding out the international
attitudes in the visits he has made. By the time he returns, Hariri will have
charted out a political course on whose basis he will act with regard to the
government formation,” the source added.
Lebanon has been left without a fully functioning government since then-Prime
Minister Hassan Diab’s Cabinet resigned on Aug. 10 in the aftermath of the port
blast, although it has been serving in a caretaker capacity. The massive Aug. 4
explosion devastated Beirut’s port, damaged half of the capital, killed more
than 200 people, injured thousands, left 300,000 people homeless and caused
billions of dollars in material damage.
Hariri's attempts since his designation on Oct. 22 to form a proposed 18-member
Cabinet of nonpartisan specialists to implement reforms have foundered over a
deepening rift with Aoun over the distribution of key ministries and naming of
Christian ministers. Aoun and Hariri have not met for more than a month since
differences emerged between the two over a draft Cabinet lineup the
premier-designate presented to the president on Dec. 9.
There was no word Sunday as to when Hariri, who has visited Turkey, the United
Arab Emirates and Egypt and planned to go to France as part of a tour aimed at
restoring Lebanon’s ties with Arab and friendly countries, would return to
Beirut. In addition to rallying US and Egyptian support for the French
initiative, the source disclosed that French officials were also in contact with
the Vatican on the Lebanese crisis.
“The French-American-Vatican moves will have a great impact on this issue
[Cabinet formation], but this will have to wait until Hariri returns to Beirut,”
the source said.
Macron last month announced he planned to make a third visit to Lebanon, saying
that France's road map for resolving the deepening Lebanese crisis was still on
the table
The same source said that Macron’s visit to Lebanon would not take place before
Lebanese leaders agreed on the formation of a new government to implement
reforms outlined in the French initiative. The source confirmed that a French
presidential envoy would visit Beirut to prepare for Macron’s trip.
However, the source stressed that any solution to the government crisis reached
outside Lebanon, would have to be “endorsed by Lebanese leaders so that things
would not appear as if external powers were interfering in internal Lebanese
affairs.”
“Here comes the role of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who has launched an
initiative [to break the Cabinet deadlock]. This initiative will be activated in
the event of encouraging external moves. It is unacceptable to say that external
powers have formed a government for Lebanon. That’s why Berri is ready to play
the role of giving a Lebanese façade [to the external solution] through his
initiative,” the source said.
In a statement on Feb. 1 breaking his silence on the Cabinet crisis, Berri
disclosed that he had made a proposal for the formation of a Cabinet of
nonpartisan specialists but it got bogged down over a demand for “a blocking
third”, or veto power, in what appeared to be an indirect spike at Aoun and his
son-in-law, MP Gebran Bassil, who were reported to have made such a demand.
Berri said no party should be granted veto power otherwise, a government of
nonpartisan specialists proposed by Hariri would be worthless.
In remarks published Saturday, Berri said his initiative was still on the table.
“The French-American stance is good. The Americans are now standing by the side
of the French in their endeavor. But the ball is in our court as Lebanese.
Responsibility falls on us in the first place because it is our people who are
suffering pain and our economy that is crumbling,” Berri said.
Meanwhile, Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai Sunday called for Lebanon’s case to
be discussed at a UN-sponsored international conference, expressing his
frustration over the failure of local mediation efforts to resolve the Cabinet
crisis.
Rai’s call is bound to stir a controversy in the politically-divided country as
many parties, namely Hezbollah and its allies, oppose internationalization of
the Lebanese crisis.
“The collapsing situation of Lebanon, which according to the preamble of the
Constitution, is a founding and committed member in the League of Arab States
and a founding and committed member in the United Nations Organization, requires
that its case be brought up at a special international conference under the
United Nations auspices that will confirm Lebanon in its modern constitutional
frameworks based on the unity of the entity, a system of neutrality and ensuring
permanent guarantees for Lebanon’s existence,” Rai said in his sermon Sunday in
Bkirki.
Taking an indirect jab at Hezbollah’s arms arsenal, Rai said such guarantees
should “prevent attacks on Lebanon and infringing on its legitimacy, put an end
to the plurality of arms and deal with the absence of a clear constitutional
authority to settle disputes.” The patriarch warned that the Lebanese would
again revolt against the deteriorating living conditions and he lamented that
his repeated calls on Aoun and Hariri to agree on the swift formation of a
government to rescue Lebanon had been ignored. “Lebanon’s situation has reached
a dangerous phase ... The situation has surpassed the government [formation] to
the fate of the nation ... Our people are dying and the state doesn’t exist. All
the world states have sympathized with the people of Lebanon except the state,”
Rai said.
Referring to his failed mediation bid in the dispute between Aoun and Hariri
over the Cabinet formation, Rai said: “We have made an appeal, but they did not
hear. We have asked, but they did not answer and we have made an initiative, but
they did not respond.”
Time for a Lokman act : American-Lebanese journalist Mouafac Harb
The Daily Star/February 07/2021
موفق حرب: حان الوقت لقانون أميركي يحمل اسم لوقمان على غرار قانون ماغنتسكي
الصحافي اللبناني الإميركي موفق حرب في مقالة نشرتها له اليوم الديلي ستار باللغة
الإنكليزية طالب بقانون أميركي على غرار قانون ماغنتسكي تدعوا أميركا من خلاله
الحكومة اللبنانية لكشف كل تفاصيل جريمة اغتيال الشهيد لقمان سليم في غضون فترة
محددة أو تحمل ومواجهة العواقب واعلان لبنان دولة فاشلة ومارقة ومنع التعامل معها
أو مع أي مؤسسة تابعة لها.
حان الوقت لقانون أميركي يحمل اسم لوقمان على غرار قانون ماغنتسكي
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/95729/mouafac-harb-time-for-a-lokman-act-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%ad%d8%a7%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%83%d9%8a-%d9%85%d9%88%d9%81/
He was not anti-Hezbollah or Iran he was a pro free and
democratic Lebanon. Never served anyone’s agenda other than Lebanon’s interest
according to his own vision shared by many.
The famous WikiLeaks papers didn’t reveal anything we didn’t know about Lokman
Slim since he personally articulated in many occasions the source of the funding
for his projects. He was transparent and open about his views that many thought
at one time they were too extreme and out of touch with new political realities.
This foggy situation prevailing in Lebanon between the state and non-state
actors, mainly Hezbollah, should come to an end because it is letting assassins
get away with murders. It is also providing the international community with an
excuse to not do anything and limiting their actions to calling upon the
Lebanese state to investigate and serve justice.
Lokman represents the shared values between Lebanon and the US we brag about in
conferences and statements. His highly praised projects occasionally received
American funding which Lokman never tried to hide. He was running the most
transparent projects in Lebanon to prevent conspiracy theorists from acting
against him and to protect his staff.
Unfortunately, transparency and integrity did not shield him. Calling upon the
Lebanese government to investigate and bring criminals to justice is a reminder
of other statements that went unanswered following the several assassinations
that targeted democracy activists.
Teethless diplomatic talking points will embolden assassins and depress freedom
activists. The US has a moral obligation to people accepting to receive support
from Washington, in order to convince the world that support for democracy and
freedom activists are not seasonal and are not only to serve short term US
objectives.
American values and reputation are challenged. It is very evident that the
Lebanese state is crippled at best and an accomplice most of the time. The law
is only enforced against small shops and traffic violators, unless you bribe the
officers.
This joke called the Lebanese state has to be called out and exposed. The sooner
we acknowledge this fact the sooner we can save the Lebanese people.
The Biden administration vowed to place human rights at the forefront of its
foreign policy while trying “to repair” America’s moral authority and global
leadership. This is an early challenge for the administration to put their money
where their mouth is.
I am certain a bill introduced in Congress will enjoy a bipartisan support and
the administration should not try to water down or exert effort to make it
non-binding.
The international tribunal that was created by the US after the assassination of
former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri may have revealed how and who did commit the
crime, however it failed to deter terrorist organizations from resorting to
violence in order to achieve political gains and intimidate opponents.
The Lebanese public opinion jury has reached the conclusion of who killed Lokman,
but only an act similar to the Magnitsky act, aimed at punishing those in charge
of Lebanese security apparatus and judicial system if they fail to do their
jobs, could be meaningful. This time the punishment should include enablers and
reluctant leaders in position of authority.
If the US fails to act in an effective way, it would result that no one in the
future will dare believing the American moral claims. A cold and timid reaction
to this crime is not in the interest of the US as it is trying to face emerging
competitors around the world.
Lokman and what he stood for deserve a law that can preserve his achievements
and empower the people who choose to continue following his brave path. He
deserves a law to save what’s left of American moral credibility and to save the
remaining believers that the US is the leader of the free world.
A law, similar to Magnitsky act, that would call upon the Lebanese government to
uncover the crime within a specified deadline or fear being called a pariah
state and stop any dealing with its institutions, is a must.
The Biden administration said it is conducting a policy review of the US foreign
policy. It is time to assess the policy toward Lebanon and see if the American
policy since 2005 has been effective in serving American stated objectives and
making Lebanon a stable, sovereign and free nation.
Pro-democracy and freedom activists in Lebanon need protection or fear being
exterminated by forces of darkness.
I had the privilege to attend several evenings at Lokman’s place in the southern
suburb with close friends like Shbib and Mahmoud, similar to his last gathering
before he was assassinated.
He always had clarity and I was occasionally skeptical and cynical.
I asked him once if he was afraid to stay in the heart of the area controlled by
the people he is undermining and discrediting. He was betting on that those he
is criticizing are rational and his transparency would shield him. It was a
detrimental mistake.
When you bet on your adversary’s logic and rationale, you become hostage to
their political mood and assessment of the threat engulfing them.
We all loved Lokman after his death and most Lebanese discovered him after the
assassination. We, who knew him closely, envied him for his courage when he was
alive.
*Mouafac Harb is a veteran American-Lebanese journalist. He contributes a weekly
column for The Daily Star.
Preventing queue jumping in Lebanon’s
vaccine rollout needs government transparency
Rabih Torbay/Al Arabiya/February 07/2021
As the government starts rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination program, it is
imperative that vaccination is accessible to everyone in the country based on
risk factors and vulnerability, and without any distinction of nationality and
residency status. Government transparency will make sure no one jumps the
vaccine line because of their political connections, or socio-economic status.
The government should immediately appoint a COVID-19 Response Coordinator, and
one selected from the medical community based on their qualifications and
leadership. The Coordinator, with authority over all aspects of the response,
including health, social and financial, should report to the Prime Minister or
the President. Lebanon needs a unified and effective response to the pandemic.
The multiple crises have taken a major toll on the country’s ability to cope
with 1.7 million people now living under the poverty line, and about 22 percent
of the population expected to fall into extreme poverty. No one should have to
choose between their health and feeding their families. Without a social safety
net to make sure people get their basic needs covered, they will have to make
these outrageous choices.
Equipped hospitals can receive COVID-19 patients, but they are few. It is
incomprehensible that while most COVID-19 designated hospitals are at full
capacity, others don’t have any patients. At this time of great emergency, all
hospitals across the country should have designated wings to receive, and treat
infected patients. Treating everyone is a national priority.
In fact, by neglecting its public health sector, Lebanon has failed to protect
its population. The country is heavily dependent on the private healthcare
sector with 80 percent of the government’s healthcare budget going to private
institutions. Lebanese authorities should focus on re-building the public health
sector, by investing in its infrastructure, its primary care centers, its public
hospitals, and supporting its health workforce. They also need to invest in
having a national strategic medical supplies stock for emergencies.
People die every day because of inadequate and insufficient care, leaving it to
nurses and doctors to decide who should be put on ventilators or receive oxygen
because there are in short supply. If the healthcare sector hasn’t totally
collapsed yet, it is on a rapid steep, and dangerous decline. There is a
shortage of medication, protective equipment, and beds in hospitals and clinics.
With each passing day, the lives of healthcare workers in Lebanon are becoming
more unbearable. Not only are they taking greater risks to save infected
patients, but they are also witnessing death without receiving the mental,
physical, and social support they need.
Frontline healthcare workers in Lebanon don’t have time to grieve. Exhausted
they don’t know who to turn to in a country in tatters, drained by a financial
crisis, political instability, and the pandemic.
With more than 2,400 frontline healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 since
the beginning of the pandemic, many still don’t have access to adequate personal
protective equipment (PPE). Supplying directly, frontline healthcare workers
with PPEs, and ensuring they are not overworked, is essential.
While treating patients and saving lives, healthcare professionals have also
seen their income decline by 80 percent as the Lebanese pound depreciated. Like
millions of Lebanese, they are struggling to make ends meet, however, paying
them their full salaries on time is non-negotiable.
Many have already left the country. Lebanon can’t afford to lose its health
workforce. The government should work with both public and private institutions
to make sure that doctors and nurses are adequately compensated, and don’t worry
about where their next meal is coming from.
Being in a state of economic ruin, the Lebanese government cannot do it by
itself. Donor nations and international institutions must continue to support
the country financially, and help with donations of ventilators, oxygen
equipment, medicines, and medical supplies. Whenever possible, aid needs
directed, directly to agencies and hospitals assisting people in need.
عريضة لتحميل الجمهورية اللبنانية، مسؤولية إرتكاب جرائم ضدّ الإنسانية.
Petition to hold the Republic of Lebanon accountable for "Crimes against
Humanity
Pétition afin d’engager la responsabilité de la République Libanaise pour crimes
contre l’humanité
https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-lebanon-petition-to-hold-the-republic-of-lebanon-accountable-for-crimes-against-humanity?recruiter=64822068&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=c5ff0f6f-f417-4b9b-ac1e-5c090942f869&utm_content=fht-27240922-en-us%3A6
Petition to hold the Republic of Lebanon accountable for "Crimes against
Humanity"
Lebanese International Lobby started this petition to United Nations Lebanon and
3 others
Petition to hold the Republic of Lebanon accountable for “Crimes against
Humanity”
Grand Corruption is an inhumane act, and one perpetrated intentionally by the
Lebanese government,its state institutions and in collaboration with others over
decades. Grand Corruption is causing, andhas caused, great suffering, and
serious injury to body and to mental and physical health (1) of an entire
nation. The Beirut blast is but one shocking consequence.
Grand Corruption is being committed as part of a systematic attack directed
against millions of Lebanon’s civilian population and, indeed, the world. This
heinous act is denying humanity the peace, security and prosperity afforded to
them under UN Human Rights Conventions.
Human Rights are being violated on a grand scale: Right to Life; Right to
Health; Right to Work; Right to Participate in one’s own government; Right to
Property; Right to an Adequate Standard of Living; Right to Peaceful Assembly
and Association; Right to Equality Before the Law; Right to Education. Lebanon
has failed to abide by its constitutional obligations, which enshrine the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the result is a failed state and an epic
human tragedy.
Grand Corruption has devastating impacts on people worldwide and blocks
achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The list of great
suffering, serious injury to body and to mental and physical health is
extensive, is affecting millions, and includes: Loss of life; theft of property
(assets and money); threats to life, famine; bankruptcy; poverty & unemployment;
post traumatic stress disorder; loss of faith and despair; suicide; mass exodus;
lack of medication/medical care etc.
Billions of dollars from private citizens, corporations, NGO’s, charities and
states, depositors, creditors, donors etc, from Lebanon, and the world, that
should have lead to peace and prosperity, have been pillaged and squandered as a
result of corruption. UN Secretary Guterres could not have expressed it better:
“Corruption is criminal, immoral, and the ultimate betrayal of public trust“.
In response to the gravity of crimes we, the undersigned, therefore:
Hold the Government of Lebanon and its State Institutions guilty of Crimes
against Humanity under Art 7.1 (k) of the Rome Statute, in blatant disregard of
its “Responsibility to Protect”.
Call upon all states, the United Nations, the UN Security Council, and all NGO’s
to recognize that Article 7.1 (k) of the Rome Statute applies to Lebanon, and
that the world community hold Lebanon accountable of Crimes against Humanity, an
international crime.
Call upon states to develop and apply mechanisms to apprehend, prosecute, judge,
& sentence those who have committed crimes of grand corruption under universal
jurisdiction.
Call upon the restitution and protection of victims of Grand Corruption and
acknowledge that victims have rights (both Local and universal), and cannot be
written off as losses.
Challenge those states that do not subscribe to our petition to publicly give
explanation as to their rejection, and explicate why the world community has no
obligation to act, condemn and punish the perpetrators of an international
crime.
This petition will be delivered to foreign Embassies, NGO’s, and the United
Nations, in Lebanon and to Foreign Departments/Offices of international states.
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch
them without doing anything.” (2)
1 In Context with Art 7.1 (k) Rome Statute: “Other inhumane acts of a similar
character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to
mental or physical health.”
2 Quote: Albert Einstein
Pétition afin d’engager la responsabilité de la République Libanaise pour crimes
contre l’humanité
La Grande Corruption est un acte inhumain et perpétré de manière intentionnelle
par le gouvernement libanais, ses institutions publiques et en complicité avec
d’autres, cela durant des décennies. La Grande Corruption inflige, et a infligé,
des souffrances mentales et physiques incommensurables à une nation toute
entière. L’explosion du port de Beyrouth n’est que l’une des conséquences
choquantes de cela.
La Grande Corruption est commise dans le cadre d’une attaque systématique
dirigée contre des millions de citoyens au Liban, et de ce fait, dans le monde.
Cet acte odieux prive l’humanité de la paix, de la sécurité ainsi que de la
prospérité qui lui sont accordées de droit en vertu des conventions des Nations
Unies relatives aux Droits de l’Homme.
Les Droits de l’Homme sont violés à grande échelle : droit à la vie, droit de
l’accès aux soins, droit au travail, droit de participer à son propre
gouvernement, droit à la propriété, droit à un niveau de vie suffisant, droit de
réunion et d'association, l'égalité devant la loi, droit à l'éducation. Le Liban
n'a ainsi pas respecté ses obligations constitutionnelles, qui consacrent la
Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l'Homme. Le résultat est un État en
faillite et une tragédie humaine sans précédent.
La Grande Corruption a des effets dévastateurs sur les populations à travers le
monde et entrave la concrétisation des objectifs de développement durable des
Nations Unies. La liste des souffrances, des atteintes graves à l’intégrité
physique ou mentale est longue, en affectant des millions de personnes et
comprend : la perte de vies humaines, le vol de biens (actifs et argent),
menaces à la vie, famine, faillite, pauvreté et chômage, stress post-traumatique,
perte de confiance et désespoir, suicide, exode massif, manque d’accès aux
médicaments et aux soins, etc.
Des milliards de dollars provenant de particuliers privés, d’entreprises, d’ONG,
d’associations caritatives et d’États, de déposants, de créanciers, de donateurs,
etc., du Liban et du monde, et qui auraient dû conduire à la paix et prospérité,
ont été pillés et dilapidés en raison de la corruption. Le Secrétaire Général
des Nations Unies, Antonio Guterres n’aurait pas pu mieux le dire : “La
corruption est criminelle, immorale et constitue la trahison ultime de la
confiance publique”.
En réponse à la gravité de ces crimes, nous, les soussignés :
Tenons pour responsables le gouvernement libanais et ses institutions publiques
de crimes contre l’humanité, conformément aux dispositions de l’Article 7.1 (k)
du Statut de Rome, et de son mépris flagrant de sa “Responsabilité de Protéger”
;
Appelons tous les États, les Nations Unies, le Conseil de Sécurité des Nations
Unies et toutes les ONG à reconnaître que l'Article 7.1 (k) du Statut de Rome
s'applique au Liban et que la communauté mondiale doit tenir le Liban
responsable de crimes contre l'humanité, considéré comme un crime international
;
Appelons les États à mettre en place et appliquer des mécanismes pour
appréhender, poursuivre, juger et condamner ceux ou celles qui ont commis des
crimes de Grande Corruption dans le cadre de leur compétence universelle ;
Appelons à la compensation et protection des victimes de Grande Corruption et à
reconnaître que celles-ci disposent de droits (tant locaux qu’universels), et ne
peuvent être considérés comme une simple perte
Invitons les États, qui ne souscrivent pas à notre pétition, à s’expliquer
publiquement quant à leur rejet de celle-ci et d’expliquer pourquoi la
communauté internationale n’a aucune obligation d’agir, condamner et sanctionner
les auteurs d’un crime international.
Cette pétition sera remise aux ambassades étrangères, aux ONG et aux Nations
unies, au Liban et aux ministères et/ou bureaux des affaires étrangères de
divers États dans le monde.
“Le monde ne sera pas détruit par ceux qui font le mal, mais par ceux qui les
regardent sans rien faire”
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 07- 08/2021
Iran-based dissidents urge Biden to keep sanctions on Islamic Republic..."Maintaining maximum political, diplomatic, and financial pressure on the regime"
Benjamin WeinthalJerusalem Post/February 07/2021
Iran-based dissidents sent a letter to US President Joe Biden last week, urging
his administration to continue the robust sanctions campaign against the Islamic
Republic.
The letter, dated February 1, requested: “Recognition of the majority of the
Iranian people’s aspiration and interest for a Secular Democratic Constitution
over the survival of the Islamic Republic Theocracy; Maintaining maximum
political, diplomatic, and financial pressure on the regime; Advocacy for human
rights in Iran and release of all political prisoners and those imprisoned for
their personal views; Supporting the Iranians’ determination in seeking a
secular democratic government through a nonviolent, free, and fair
referendum.”The regime used the benefits of sanctions relief from the Iran
nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, to spend
“billions of dollars gained from the Iran nuclear deal on exporting its
totalitarian ideology by providing funds to terrorist networks, developing
missile technology as offensive leverage to dominate the Persian Gulf and
beyond, and causing chaos in the Middle East,” wrote the dissidents, many of
whom have been persecuted by the clerical regime. The JCPOA was designed to curb
Iran’s drive to build a nuclear-weapons program in exchange for sanctions
relief. “Iranian people for a long time have been expressing their
discontentment with [the] Islamic Republic Government and their determination
for a fundamental change,” the letter said. “The nationwide protests in the
winter of 2017-2018 and in November 2019 are the latest affirmation of the
Iranians’ resolve in establishing a democratic rule of law.”
The Iranian regime “arrested more than 10,000 innocent people” during the
peaceful demonstrations, it said.
According to a Reuters investigation, Iranian security forces suppressed the
2019 protests against the regime, leading to the deaths of more than 1,500
Iranians.The US government-run Voice of America reported: “The Iranian
dissidents who wrote to Biden include 11 of the 28 activists who signed 2019
letters urging the resignation of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
and the replacement of Iran’s Islamist constitution with a democratic one. Most
of the signatories of the 2019 letters were arrested for doing so.”
“At least 21 of the 38 signatories of the new letter to Biden have been arrested
or imprisoned in Iran for peaceful political and social activism,” VOA reported.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center told The Jerusalem Post it “admires [the] courage of
Iranian citizens signing this letter to President Biden and Secretary of State
[Antony] Blinken. They have put their lives on the line. We pray our leaders
will heed their pleas.”
The dissidents said that the signatories represent a sample of the cross-section
of Iranians and that the declaration has the support of millions of Iranians
demanding the resignation of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Islamic Republic is close to collapse, and “the theocracy in Iran has lost
its legitimacy with its people,” they wrote. “In March 2020, the absolute
majority of people in Iran demonstrated the lack of legitimacy of the Islamic
Republic by boycotting the parliamentary elections. The events in Iran, in
conjunction with the signing of the Abraham Accords, signal a significant
geopolitical shift in the Middle East.”
US has ‘no choice’ but to rejoin Iran
nuclear deal: Zarif
Yaghoub Fazeli, Al Arabiya English/Sunday 07
February 2021
The US has “no choice” but to rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran as it will not
get a better deal, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday. “Sooner or
later, the US will have to return to the nuclear deal as they have no better
choice and will not get a better deal,” Zarif said in an interview with state
TV. Zarif said he thinks the Joe Biden administration “has not yet been able to
decide how it wants to proceed” regarding the deal. “They say general, baseless
and contradictory things.”“They still have an opportunity to correct their
contradictoriness,” he added. Tehran is not in a hurry for the US to rejoin the
nuclear deal, Zarif said. Iranians endured the policies of Donald Trump, Biden’s
predecessor, for four years, “what’s two more months,” said Zarif. “It is up to
the Americans to decide whether they want to continue Trump’s policy or adopt a
new one. We will wait until they make their decision,” said Zarif. Trump pulled
Washington out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran as
part of a “maximum pressure” campaign. In response, Tehran has breached the
deal’s key limits one after the other, building up its stockpile of low-enriched
uranium, refining uranium to a higher level of purity and using advanced
centrifuges for enrichment. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Sunday
Tehran will return to compliance with the deal only if Washington lifts “all”
sanctions on the Islamic republic. Biden has pledged to rejoin the deal if Iran
returns to complying with it, but Tehran has said the US must make the first
move by rejoining the deal and lifting sanctions. In a CBS interview aired
Sunday, Biden said the US will not lift sanctions on Iran to get them back to
the negotiating table and that they need to stop enriching uranium beyond the
limits of the deal first.
Iran calls on UN to respond to alleged
Israeli threats - report
Jerusalem Post/February 07/2021
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Iran's
representative to the UN noted a recent speech given by IDF Chief of Staff Aviv
Kochavi. Iran has reportedly submitted a complaint to the United Nations over
alleged Israeli threats made against the Muslim state and called on the
intergovernmental organization to respond accordingly, Al Jazeera reported
Sunday. The letter, addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, noted a
recent speech given by IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi during the
annual Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in January,
during which Kochavi indicated that the IDF is preparing several military
operations in response to Iran developing its nuclear program. “I have directed
the IDF to prepare a few operative plans, in addition to what they have already,
and we are working on those plans and developing them,” Kochavi said at the
time. Iran's UN representative Majid Takht-Ravanchi noted that such statement
violates the second article of the UN charter and called on the international
community to respond immediately. The specific clause referred to by the Iranian
official is clause 4, which reads: "All Members shall refrain in their
international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial
integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner
inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations." Takht-Ravanchi added that
Israel holds “destabilizing and warmongering policies” and stated that it should
be dealt with by the international community. He added that the alleged threats
should be taken seriously especially considering Israel's history of attacking
other nations in the region, and submitted a request for the letter to be
registered as a formal document in the UN's Security Council. Kochavi's speech
that is mentioned in Takht-Ravanchi's letter addressed the Iran Nuclear Deal as
a whole and was meant to signal President Joe Biden that the Israeli top
military echelon is completely in line with Netanyahu on the subject, unlike his
predecessor, Gadi Eizenkot, who often questioned Netanyahu's position in regard
to the Iran and to the deal. “Going back to the Iran deal from 2015, or even to
a similar deal with a few improvements, is a bad, wrong thing. It is bad
operationally and strategically,” Kochavi said at the time. “Anything that is
similar to the current deal is a bad thing, and we cannot allow it,” he added.
Herb Keinon contributed to this report.
Biden: US will not lift Iran sanctions until it stops
enriching uranium
Jerusalem Post/February 07/2021
US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that the US would not lift sanctions on
Iran to get the Islamic Republic back to the negotiations table. During an
interview with CBS’ Face the Nation ahead of the 55th Super Bowl, he was also
asked if Iran must stop enriching uranium first, and nodded his head in
affirmation. Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, said on Friday that the
US approach would be “to ensure that we are consulting and coordinating very
closely with first and foremost our allies, but also our partners, and of
course, with members of Congress” about Iran.
“We want to make sure that we are working in lockstep with our European partners
and to ensure that they know exactly where we are and we know exactly where they
are, and we will move forward together,” he added. Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran’s “final and irreversible”
decision was to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal only if
Washington lifts sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Iranian state TV reported.
The deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed during the
administration of former president Barack Obama. “Iran has fulfilled all its
obligations under the deal, not the US and the three European countries... If
they want Iran to return to its commitments, the US must in practice... lift all
sanctions,” state TV quoted Khamenei as saying in a meeting with Air Force
commanders. “Then, after verifying whether all sanctions have been lifted
correctly, we will return to full compliance... It is the irreversible and final
decision and all Iranian officials have consensus over it.” Iranian Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said on Sunday that Iran receiving
compensation from the US for the US withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian JCPOA was
not a “precondition” for reviving the agreement. Last week, Price said at a
State Department press briefing that if Iran comes back into full compliance
with its obligations under the JCPOA, “the United States would do the same, and
then we would then use that as a platform to build a longer and a stronger
agreement that also addresses other areas of concern.”“Of course, though, we are
a long way from that,” he added. “Iran has distanced itself from compliance on a
number of fronts, and there are many steps in that process.”He said that the US
is consulting with allies and members of Congress “before we’re reaching the
point where we’re going to engage directly with the Iranians and willing to
entertain any sort of proposal, especially since we’ve been very clear about the
proposition we have put on the table.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said
in his Senate confirmation hearing last month that when it comes to Iran policy,
it is vitally important that the incoming administration would “engage on the
take-off, not the landing, with our allies and with our partners in the region
to include Israel and to include the Gulf countries.” “President-elect Biden is
committed to the proposition that Iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon,” he
said. “Iran, with a nuclear weapon or on a threshold of having one would be Iran
that is even more dangerous than it already is when it comes to all of the other
malicious activities that it has engaged in, whether it is support for
terrorism; whether it is fueling and feeding its proxies; whether it is
destabilizing the region.”
He said that any agreement should “capture these other issues, particularly with
regard to missiles and Iran destabilizing activities, that would be the
objective.”“Having said that, I think we’re a long way from there,” Blinken
added. “We would have to see once the president-elect is in office, what steps
Iran actually takes and is prepared to take, and we would then have to evaluate
whether they were actually making good. If they say they’re coming back into
compliance with their obligations and then we’ve taken it from there.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
Sudan’s PM Hamdok dissolves cabinet:
State TV
Agencies/Monday 08 February 2021
Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok dissolved his cabinet on Sunday, the prime
minister's office said in a statement. The new cabinet will be announced on
Monday, Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council's media office said in a
separate statement. Sudan on Friday appointed three representatives of armed
rebel groups to top posts in the country's interim government as part of a peace
deal signed last year, the state news agency reported on Thursday. Sudan is
transitioning to democratic rule after a mass uprising forced the military to
remove longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and trying to quell years of
conflict in its rebellious regions.
Egypt’s Sisi Expresses Support to
Interim Libya Govt
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 February, 2021
Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has given his support to a transitional
government that would lead neighboring Libya through elections late this year.
In televised comments late Saturday, Sisi said the appointment of the interim
government Friday, which includes a three-member Presidential Council and a
prime minister, was “a step in the right direction.” The Libyan Political
Dialogue Forum, which includes 75 UN-picked delegates from across the country,
appointed Mohammad Younes Menfi, a Libyan diplomat from the country’s east, as
chairman of the Presidential Council. The forum also chose Abdul Hamid Mohammed
Dbeibah, a powerful businessman from the western city of Misrata, as prime
minister. The three council members each represent a region of old Libya:
Tripolitania in the west, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest.
The country’s divided parliament is tasked with confirming the new government
within three weeks. If it fails to do so, the forum will confirm. The
appointment of an interim government caps months of UN-brokered talks that
resulted in an agreement to hold elections Dec. 24. “We are supportive of them.
… We are ready to cooperate with them for Libya’s recovery and to prepare for
the elections in Libya,” Sisi said. The Egyptian leader said his threat last
year to send troops to Libya helped “start a genuine period for peace” in the
oil-rich country. Egypt views the instability in neighboring Libya as a national
security threat. In June, Sisi called Libya’s strategic coastal city of Sirte a
“red line” and warned that any attack by Turkey-backed Tripoli-based Government
of National Accord (GNA) forces on the city would prompt Egypt to intervene to
protect its western border. Sirte, which sits near Libya’s main oil-export
terminals and fields, has been held by forces of Libyan National Army (LNA)
commander Khalifa Haftar, who runs most of Libya’s eastern and southern regions.
The appointment of an interim government has been seen as a major — if uncertain
— step toward unifying the North African nation. US Ambassador Richard Norland
on Saturday urged Dbeibah, the prime minister-elect, to “identify a small,
competent, technocratic Cabinet team that can quickly be granted confidence” by
the east Libya-based parliament. An interim government would face towering
challenges, including deteriorating living conditions and a surge in coronavirus
cases. The oil-rich country, with around 7 million people, has reported more
than 124,000 cases, including 1,953 fatalities. However, the actual numbers of
COVID-19 cases, like elsewhere in the world, are thought to be far higher, in
part due to limited testing. Other challenges include the dismantling of
numerous heavily armed local militias and the presence of at least 20,000
mercenaries and foreign fighters who had fought in the fight for Tripoli.
Arab League Welcomes ICC Jurisdiction
in Palestinian Territories
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 07/201
The Arab League has welcomed a decision by the International Criminal Court’s
First Pre-Trial Chamber that the ICC had jurisdiction over the situation in the
Palestinian territories. ICC’s rule, which covers the occupied West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, paves the way for the tribunal to
open a war crimes investigation. Saeed Abou Ali, assistant secretary-general for
Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories Affairs at the Arab League,
confirmed in a press statement on Saturday that the ICC’s decision is the
culmination of diplomatic efforts made by Palestine. These efforts have come at
the hands of its various official and human rights institutions, which have
received full Arab support and the solidarity of friendly international
institutions, he said. Their serious and relentless efforts have taken place for
the sake of achieving prompt justice, Abou Ali was quoted as saying in the
statement.
He expressed hope that ICC’s rule would “contribute to protecting the
Palestinian people from the ongoing aggression and violations of the
occupation.” At the same time, the decision will ensure that those responsible
for crimes such as settlement and aggression against Gaza are held responsible,
he said. “Also covered by the decision are crimes against prisoners and others,
leading to the restoration of all legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to
end the occupation. It will work towards achieving freedom and independence in
the Palestinian territories, with East Jerusalem as capital.” Arab Parliament
Speaker Adel Bin Abdulrahman Al-Asoomi also underscored the significance of
mobilizing the necessary international efforts to reach a conclusive and lasting
solution to the Palestinian cause. He hoped for a two-state solution with
Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital.
Shiite Opposition of UN Supervision of Iraqi Elections Grows
Baghdad /Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 February, 2021
Despite the recent dispute that erupted between the Sadrist movement, led by
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and head of the State of Law coalition, headed by former
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, both Shiite sides are united in their opposition
of United Nations supervision of the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections.The
Sadrists and Maliki have recently traded accusations over the vehicle that was
used during the 2006-2008 sectarian war to carry out assassinations. Debate over
the “Batta”, Arabic for duck, erupted after former Sunni MP Mashaan al-Jabbouri
accused the Sadrist movement of seeking to take over the premiership after the
upcoming elections.He stated that the “Sunnis do not aspire to become the PM’s
‘Batta’ driver.”Maliki, for his part, announced that he was keen on becoming
prime minister if he was asked, vowing to crack down on the “Batta”, provoking
the Sadrists.
Pro-Sadr minister Mohammed Saleh al-Iraqi slammed the former PM’s statement,
saying: “The ‘Batta’ is the only option for corrupt figures who sold out a third
of Iraq to ISIS.”He made his comments in reference to accusations that Maliki
was to blame for the fall of Mosul and other Iraqi cities in ISIS’ clutches when
it swept across Iraq in 2014.
The proposed issue of UN supervision of the October elections has started to
create new divisions in Iraq. The move has not been opposed by Sunnis and Kurds,
but Shiite blocs have objected, alleging that the supervisors would violate the
country’s sovereignty.
Recent visits to Iran by UN envoy to Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Foreign
Minister Fuad Hussein have been interpreted as attempts to promote the idea of
international supervision. The results of the visits were not revealed, but
observers interpreted them as efforts to convince Iran that the UN officials
would not undermine Iraqi sovereignty or deprive the Shiite political blocs of
their control over political decisions. State of Law coalition MP Gatah al-Rekabi
said: “Any sovereign state that respects itself cannot accept international
supervision.”“Iraq does not need to ask the UN or any other international side
to oversee the elections. We support the idea of monitors, who can ensure the
transparency of the elections,” he added.
Monitors have been brought in to oversee elections since 2003. Rekabi said there
are fears that the supervisors may work for political powers against others
through the manipulation of the votes. Maliki himself has objected to the
supervision, declaring in televised remarks that such a move “would be very
dangerous.”“No country in the world accepts supervisors of the elections because
that is a violation of sovereignty,” he said, while expressing his support for
“monitors alone”. Member of Sadr’s Sairoon bloc Riad al-Masoudi said all
elections in the world are held under international monitors.
“The supervision can take place over the electoral process and not the actual
organization of the elections,” he explained, adding: “This means that neither
the UN nor any other international side can stage the polls.”
Erdogan Says Keen on Boosting Cooperation with Libya
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 February, 2021
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reiterated Ankara’s keenness on boosting
cooperation with Libya, after the selection of the interim executive authority
by the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), held in Geneva.
Erdogan wished success to Mohammad Younes Menfi and Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, who have
been selected as head of the Presidential Council and prime minister,
respectively, according to a statement from the Turkish Presidency. “Turkey will
continue its efforts for political unity, territorial integrity, stability,
peace, security, and prosperity in Libya and further, enhance its cooperation
with Libya in the new phase,” Erdogan said. He rebuked on Friday statements by
his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on withdrawing Turkish forces from Libya.
"While Macron saying that Turkey should pull out its troops, he still hasn't
learned this job," said Erdogan. "He has to spend too much time learning it.
Because Turkey is not there for pleasure. Before saying this to Turkey, there
are other foreign soldiers from foreign countries, soldiers from Chad, soldiers
from Mali, countries that were occupied by themselves." Continuing to press on
Macron and France, Erdogan added: “What were they doing in Mali? In Chad? First
(Macron) should account for these.” Turkey “goes to countries for peace,” he
said. “We are in Libya upon Libya’s invitation. We are there to ensure unity and
establish peace of mind for the Libyan people at once.” The Turkish Foreign
Ministry also welcomed in a statement on Friday the selection of the
transitional executive authority in Libya by the LPDF. The ministry expressed
hope on the formation of a new national unity government within the framework of
the roadmap set by the LPDF, stressing that this democratic step taken by the
Libyans is an important opportunity to protect Libya's sovereignty,
independence, territorial integrity, and political unity.
Palestinian Factions Kick off Talks on Elections in Cairo
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 February, 2021
Palestinian factions began arriving in the Egyptian capital on Saturday, ahead
of launching national dialogue on the Palestinian general elections scheduled
for May. The Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) announced that Fahd Suleiman, the Front’s deputy
secretary-general, will head its delegation. It also includes members of the
political bureau Khaled Atta from Damascus, Majda al-Masri from the West Bank
and Ziad Jarghoun from the Gaza Strip. The delegation is scheduled to hold
consultations with other delegations arriving in Cairo in line with efforts to
“reach political, procedural and legal consensus that would ensure overcoming
obstacles that hinder people’s right to participate in the polls,” the DFLP
said. “This would pave the way to ending the division and rebuilding national
institutions in the Palestinian Authority and PLO, based on the outcomes of the
previous rounds of dialogue.”All the factions are supposed to arrive by Sunday
ahead of the dialogue scheduled to begin on Monday. This dialogue is significant
because it proves the possibility of actually agreeing to hold the elections on
time. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed on Jan.15 a decree setting
legislative elections for May 22 and a presidential vote on July 31, in what
would be the first Palestinian polls in 15 years. Each faction is set to present
its concerns and demands for holding the elections. Consensus between the Fatah
and Hamas movements will top the talks because any disagreement may force Hamas
to hinder Gaza, which it controls. Several issues are on the table, including
which political authority would serve as a reference in the elections. They will
also address the electoral court, while a major dispute revolves around the
Constitutional Court. Fatah is insisting on the formation of the court, while
Hamas is opposed to it. The movement wants to exclude the Constitutional Court
from the process and form an electoral court through consensus. Security will
also be discussed. Fatah wants to ensure the integrity of the electoral process
in Gaza and determine which of the security services will monitor it.
Sudan Forum Brings Together Representatives of Islam, Christianity,
Judaism, Hinduism
Khartoum - Ahmed Younis/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 February, 2021
In a first-of-its-kind conference in Sudan’s history, representatives of Islam,
Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism gathered in Khartoum “to promote national and
human values, and advocate peaceful coexistence.”Organized by former independent
MP Abu al-Qasim Bortom, the conference comes after Sudan’s announcement to
normalize relations with Israel at the end of 2020. Bortom said the forum was
“the first fraternal meeting to promote tolerance and social peace in Sudan.”
Bortom stressed that the idea was not new, but has become “urgent and necessary
because Sudan needs serious new initiatives and the establishment of platforms
that bring people of different religions together to promote a new discourse…
based on the slogans and goals of the December 2018 revolution of freedom,
peace, justice and rejection of hatred.” “We are working on developing programs
and establishing centers for religious and tribal coexistence, and transforming
the culture of coexistence into reality, to create generations that live
religious freedom and respect the values of citizenship,” he added. Jewish
cleric, Rabbi David Rosen, said in a video message from Jerusalem that holding
the forum was a special occasion, because both the Quran and the Torah affirm
the importance of tolerance. Bishop Ingeborg Midttomme from Norway said: “We,
the people of religions, work together for tolerance, respect, peace, love and
justice.”Member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Raja Nicola, said that
the Council extends its gratitude to the organizers of the forum, which aims to
support the people of Sudan and to promote the achievement of the rule of law
that preserves the rights of citizens of all religions and cultures.
Erdogan Orders Establishment of Campus for Turkish University in Northern
Syria
Ankara - Saeed Abdulrazek/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 February, 2021
Turkey decided to establish a medical school and a higher institute for health
sciences in al-Rai town, located within the eastern Euphrates area in the Aleppo
countryside, northern Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the decree,
which was published in the Official Gazette on Saturday.
The decision stated that a the Cobanbey Faculty of Medicine and Cobanbey
Vocational High School of Health Services would be part of campuses of the
Turkish University of Health Sciences in Istanbul. Saturday’s decree is a
precedent in the region and interpreted as an official declaration of Turkey’s
hegemony over some parts of Syria. In August 2016, the Turkish military
seized 2,055 square kilometers of Syrian territories through Operation Euphrates
Shield. It forces are still deployed there alongside pro-Ankara Syrian factions.
In 2018, the military launched Operation Olive Branch in Afrin that targeted
areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). It carried out a third
operation in the area east of Euphrates in October 2019. Since then, it has
worked on consolidating these areas’ subordination to Turkish border states of
Hatay, Sanliurfa and Gaziantep. Turkish authorities opened branches of the
National Postal Authority with transactions using the Turkish lira. They also
opened schools and added the Turkish language to the curriculum under the
pretext of helping Syrians in areas they run. In January, the Turkish National
Postal Authority opened a branch in Tal Abyad city. The inauguration ceremony
was held in the presence of Governor of Sanliurfa Abdullah Erin, the director of
the Postal Authority and Head of Tal Abyad’s local council Wael Hamdo. The
governor also laid the foundation stone for the new obstetrics and gynecology
hospital, which will be established in Tal Abyad. Turkey continues to provide
support in various fields, including transportation, infrastructure, education,
security and health to Tal Abyad, which was seized from the SDF.
Canada/Statement by Minister of
Foreign Affairs on International Criminal Court’s decision regarding its
jurisdiction over West Bank and Gaza
February 7, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs
The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the
following statement:
“Canada strongly supports the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the
important work that it does as a key pillar of the rules-based international
order. Canada continues to respect the independence of its judges and of the ICC
Prosecutor.
“Canada is firmly committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. We continue to support the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting
peace in the Middle East, including the creation of a Palestinian state living
side by side in peace and security with Israel. The creation of a Palestinian
state can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties.
“Until such negotiations succeed, Canada’s longstanding position remains that it
does not recognize a Palestinian state and therefore does not recognize its
accession to international treaties, including the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court. Canada has communicated this position to the Court
on various occasions.”
Canada announces support to help
advance democracy in Belarus
February 7, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that
Canada will provide $2.25 million to support civil society organizations who are
working to help advance democracy in Belarus.
This support is in addition to a previous announcement of $600,000 to respond to
the needs of civil society in Belarus, with a focus on women and independent
media. The new funding will help strengthen the diversity, sustainability, and
effectiveness of Belarussian civil society as they advocate for their rights and
civil liberties to be respected. This support will also help these organizations
inform the international community’s response to the demands and interests of
the Belarusian people, and will bolster the important role of women in the
pro-democracy movement.
This announcement coincides with the Day of Solidarity with Belarus, initiated
by opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to mark 6 months of peaceful
protests in the country and to reinforce common support for the people of
Belarus.
Canada will continue to work with its international partners to ensure that the
voices of the people in Belarus are heard and to pursue accountability for those
responsible for undermining democracy and for committing human rights
violations.
Quotes
“Canada has been actively engaged since the start of the crisis in supporting
the democratic aspirations of the people of Belarus and a peaceful resolution to
the current political situation. We will continue to advocate for a genuine and
inclusive national dialogue to ensure that the future of Belarus reflects the
will of its citizens. ”
Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Quick facts
Since August 2020, Canada has joined the international community in condemning
the crackdown on peaceful protestors, political opposition, and media following
the fraudulent presidential election in Belarus.
Canada has imposed 3 rounds of targeted sanctions under the Special Economic
Measures Act against 55 Belarusian officials implicated in the ongoing
large-scale and systematic human rights violations occurring in Belarus. These
measures, taken in collaboration with the European Union and the United Kingdom,
effectively freeze any Canadian assets of the listed individuals and make them
inadmissible to Canada.
Canada, along with 16 other states that are members of the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe, invoked the Moscow Mechanism to investigate
allegations of human rights violations in Belarus. The report casts no doubt on
the massive and systematic human rights violations committed by Alexander
Lukashenko’s regime.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on February 07- 08/2021
Are we heading to a war in the Middle East?
Toufic Hindi/February 07/2021
Democracies always avoid wars until destructive wars pursue them
Democracies at the eve of World War II
In Wikipedia, we read about the appeasement policy of Neville Chamberlain (prime
minister of Great Britain) towards the agressive Hitler which led to The
disastrous Munich treaty:
“At the beginning of the 1930s, appeasing concessions were widely seen as
desirable - due to the anti-war reaction to the trauma of World War I
(1914–1918), second thoughts about the vindictive treatment of Germany in the
1919 Treaty of Versailles, and a perception that fascism was a useful form of
anti-communism. However, by the time of the Munich Pact—concluded on 30
September 1938 between Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy—the policy
was opposed by the Labour Party, by a few Conservative dissenters such as future
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for War Duff Cooper, and
future Prime Minister Anthony Eden. Appeasement was strongly supported by the
British upper class, including royalty, big business (based in the City of
London), the House of Lords, and media such as the BBC and The Times.[4]”
What about the Democracies at the eve of the potential war of Iran?
1) anti-war trauma reaction to the Bush’s war in the Middle East
2) the vindicative treatment of Iran through Trump’s policy of sanctions
3) perception that the Shi’it jihadism is useful to combat the Sunni jihadism
4) the 2015 nuclear treaty
5) appeasement policy supported by upper class, parliaments, big business, press
ICC, ICJ push Joe Biden into Donald
Trump’s shoes - analysis
Yonah Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/February
07/2021
US reactions from the State Department to rulings against Iran sanctions and
against Israel were highly critical.
In less than a week, the International Criminal Court and International Court of
Justice have shockingly put US President Joe Biden into former president Donald
Trump’s shoes on the international law scene. Last week, the ICJ issued a
jurisdiction ruling against the US sanctions program on Iran. Then, over the
weekend, the ICC issued a jurisdiction ruling against Israel in the six-year
running war crimes controversy. US reactions from the State Department to both
rulings were highly critical. To the layperson, the criticism might have sounded
the same for the ICJ and the ICC as what would have come from the Trump
administration. Israel would be happy if the US does not get too chummy with the
ICC and the ICJ, since Jerusalem also supports US sanctions on Iran.
That is not all.
True, the Biden administration has reaped global praise for signing a range of
executive orders re-joining the Paris climate treaty, erasing Trump-era
prohibitions on immigration and travel from certain Muslim countries and a more
positive tone toward the UN and the EU.
But 17 days into his administration, Biden has neither rescinded Trump-era
financial and visa sanctions against the ICC nor has he rescinded the executive
order that could allow him to use such sanctions further in the future.
In a little-noticed news item at the end of January, a US State Department
spokesman did say that the sanctions on the ICC were being thoroughly reviewed.
Expectations are that at some point the US will remove or reduce the sanctions
on the ICC.
But might the latest ICC ruling against Israel delay that process?
In fact, Israel is not even the most important area where Washington and The
Hague disagree.
The ICC has an ongoing criminal investigation against Americans for the alleged
war crime of torture in Afghanistan of terror detainees in the early post-9/11
years.
Unlike the George W. Bush and Trump administrations, which were in open war with
the ICC and ICJ, Biden has been expected to return to some form of “positive
engagement” with these international law bodies.
Whereas Bush and Trump were skeptical about international law and any limits it
put on US actions, Biden, like Obama, was a firm supporter of international law
and of these institutions, at least in theory.
The problem comes down to practice.
Bush and Trump might have been happier if the ICC and ICJ did not exist.
Obama, and now Biden, view these institutions as critical to humanity moving
forward in a more moral and less-warlike direction.
As a US senator, Biden fought hard against Bush’s isolation of the ICC.
Biden has also loaded his top State Department, director of National
Intelligence and CIA director with officials who are on record as being very
supportive of international law as binding and a positive force for change and
encouraging peace.
But how does Biden weave these views in with the ICC and ICJ attacks on critical
components of US policy and on Israel?
In the past weeks, some scholars have suggested the Biden administration at
least drop the existing sanctions and cancel the anti-ICC executive order to
send a message that it will not penalize the ICC in areas where there is
disagreement.
Either dropping current sanctions or maybe even eliminating the executive order
could be in the works or could be part of a negotiations behind-the-scenes with
the ICC.
Suggestions by some international law scholars to give in to the ICC probe of
American actions in Afghanistan or to let Israel go under the bus are likely to
fall on deaf ears in the Biden administration. That’s because agreeing to the
ICC Afghanistan probe would mean exposing US military, CIA and maybe even
Justice Department lawyers to war crimes.
The Obama administration policy on the Afghanistan torture issue was to
criticize and sum up everything bad that it thought the Bush administration had
allowed, but to also move on.
Biden is a big supporter of the US military and giving in on this issue would
give the Republican Party a major and lasting point of attack on the Democrats
“turning on the US military” and others.
This makes it highly unlikely.
The same is true about Israel.
No matter how much the Obama and Biden administrations may have disapproved or
may disapprove of aspects of the IDF’s use of force in conflict with the
Palestinians, especially Hamas, or with the settlement enterprise, Biden is
fundamentally pro-Israel.
Pro-Israel means supporting Israel’s right to self-defense against terrorists’
rocket attacks on its civilians and being at least neutral on diplomatic
disputes with the Palestinians, such as the settlements (they will be careful to
at most criticize settlement activity as “illegitimate,” and not illegal.)
The Biden administration may escape a continued fight with the ICJ over Iran if
it reaches a new deal on sanctions and the nuclear standoff, but even here top
Biden officials have said a deal is “a long way off.”
So, we may see the US eventually remove formal anti-ICC measures, say positive
things about ICC actions in other parts of the world, and its criticism of the
ICC and ICJ may sound more legalese and less looking to strike a body blow.
However, when it comes to actual policy, the international law-minded Biden
administration may find itself defending many of the same positions against the
ICC and ICJ as the Trump administration.
Maybe Joe Biden is treating Benjamin Netanyahu normally - analysis
Lahav Harkov/Jerusalem Post/February
07/2021
The previous two presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, gave
Israel an inordinate amount of attention, in different ways.
In the two-and-a-half weeks since Biden’s inauguration, he hasn’t found the time
to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and some have made a fuss about it.
The problem, in this case, may be more with the people making the fuss than the
actual lack of a phone call.
The previous two presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, gave Israel an
inordinate amount of attention, in different ways. Obama, intent on putting
“daylight” between the US and Israel, pressured Israel to make concessions to
the Palestinians, and then pursued a nuclear deal with Iran, partly out of
concerns that Israel would attack, which would have provided Iran with a legal
path to the bomb.
Trump was much friendlier to Israel, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
and facilitating the normalization of Israel and four Arab states via the
Abraham Accords. But that embrace from a highly polarizing president now under
impeachment for allegedly inciting an insurrection was, in some ways, a bear
hug, the consequences of which Israel will have to deal with moving forward.
Some have said Biden is now giving Netanyahu the cold shoulder as a response to
the prime minister returning Trump’s warm embrace, and that could be so.
But it’s worth considering the explanation that Biden is trying to be the
“normal” president.
"Biden signals return to normality on first day as president," the Financial
Times headline read last month. "Biden promises a return to normalcy," The San
Francisco Chronicle wrote. CNN said "President Biden sets bold timeline for a
return to normal life."
Right now, the US, like the rest of the world, is in the throes of a pandemic.
The US is in 10th place for average COVID-19 deaths per million people,
according to Our World in Data (though it must be considered that some countries
do not report data reliably). It is also the leader in hospitalizations with
coronavirus, though that is a category in which most of the world does not
provide data.
For the foreseeable future, COVID-19 will be Biden’s top priority – and he said
as much before entering office. After that come myriad domestic issues.
Still, as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said recently, foreign policy is
Biden’s “first love.” Biden did take the time to give a foreign policy speech
last week – but he didn’t mention Israel once. He also didn’t mention the Iran
nuclear threat. The only Middle Eastern issue he discussed was the civil war in
Yemen and related humanitarian crisis, making an oblique reference to Iran’s
sponsorship of the Houthi rebels.
And that’s fine for Israel. We don’t have a war going on. The Biden
administration doesn’t have any “gifts” for us a-la Trump, but the president
also clearly doesn’t think becoming the umpteenth US leader to negotiate peace
between Israel and the Palestinians – and the pressure on Jerusalem that would
inevitably come with it – is a top priority at the moment. Do we really need to
be mentioned in his speech right now?
The mainstays of the US-Israel relationship are still there, with CENTCOM
Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie visiting, indicating continued security
cooperation between the countries. No one in power is threatening to scale any
of that back.
Plus, there is some action going on outside the Oval Office that is of interest
to Israel, like calls from the US Secretary of State and National Security
Adviser to Jerusalem, various public statements calling for Iran to return to
compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement and promising to speak with regional
allies before Iran, and the State Department official with the
Israeli-Palestinian portfolio calling Palestinian officials. And the State
Department came out against the International Criminal Court ruling that it may
investigate Israel for war crimes.
But Biden hasn’t dipped his toes into the Middle East pool since his
inauguration. He hasn’t called any leaders from the region yet, so Netanyahu is
not being uniquely snubbed.
Those who think the lack of phone call is indicative of some kind of crisis may
want to consider whether it is in Israel’s interest to always be at the center
of attention. Israelis often inveigh against double-standards when every move
the government or military makes is turned over and picked at constantly by the
international community. A little peace and quiet from Washington could do us
good.
America – or at least its leadership – is touting a return to normalcy. Israel
might benefit from being treated like a normal American ally, as well.
Israel and the Temple Mount's Five
Muslim Rivals
Daniel Pipes/Israel Hayom/February 07/2021
Everyone knows about the Jewish-Muslim tussle over claims to rule Jerusalem,
with its Palestinian lie that Jerusalem has no role in Judaism, and also the
pro-Israel rebuttal that the Koran does not mention Jerusalem.
But there's another heated, if less public, battle over Jerusalem (Arabic: Al-Quds):
not about the right to rule the city, but authority over the Temple Mount
(Arabic: Al-Haram ash-Sharif), the holy esplanade containing two antique and
holy edifices, the Dome of the Rock (built in 691) and Al-Aqsa Mosque (705).
Five Muslim parties are mainly engaged in this intricate, consequential
struggle: the Palestinian Authority, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Turkey, and the Kingdom of Morocco.
Each has distinctive strengths and goals.
Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
Palestinian Authority: Controlling the Temple Mount is absolutely central to the
PA's mission. It may lack the economic and military resources of a state, but it
wields two unique powers: day-to-day management (thanks to Israeli deference)
and wide international support for its claim to rule eastern Jerusalem. The PA
zealously sustains these powers by intimidating Israel with its calls for Muslim
outrage and leftist anti-Zionism. As the effective ruler atop the Temple Mount,
it is the status quo power resisting any change.
Jordan: Amman enjoys many formal privileges but has minuscule sway on the
ground. The 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty states that "Israel respects the
present special role" of Jordan in "Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem" and it
grants "high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines." One
scholar mistakenly translates this into a supposed custodianship, "with its
attendant duties of maintaining, protecting, and regulating access to the
shrines." Indeed, Israel colludes with relatively friendly Jordanian kings to
hide their impotence because that pretend "special role" is, in the words of
Nadav Shragai, "the central anchor that bolsters their monarchical rule,
granting it legitimacy in the face of Islamic extremist elements in Jordan. A
weakened presence on the mount, Jordan fears, will necessarily also undermine
stability in the kingdom to the point of presenting an existential threat."
Saudi Arabia: Saudis lack influence but acutely aspire to some power to enhance
their international standing. John Jenkins, a former UK ambassador to Riyadh,
explains why: "Iran has always challenged them on the legitimacy of their
custodianship of Mecca and Medina. If they were to add a third shrine to their
list, it could enhance their claims to be the absolute [religious] leaders of
the Islamic world." The Israelis could hand Riyadh such power, simultaneously
sweetening a peace treaty and lessening Palestinian control.
Turkey's Pres. Erdoğan (C) and his wife Emine visited the Temple Mount in 2005.
Turkey: The Ottoman Empire ruled Jerusalem for four centuries, 1516-1917, after
which Turkish authorities abruptly lost interest in it. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
recently renewed claims to its holy places, culminating in an October 2020
statement that "this city that we had to leave in tears during the First World
War ... is our city, a city from us." Ankara has backed those words with tens of
millions of dollars to promote Jerusalem's Turkish heritage, win support for
Turkey's claims over the Temple Mount, and challenge Israeli rule. Allied with
Hamas, the Turks do not cooperate with the Jewish state, which in turn wants to
limit its role.
Morocco: Chairing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's Al-Quds Committee
and hosting its headquarters since the committee's founding in 1975 gives
Moroccan kings a certain influence over the Temple Mount – despite a distance of
4,000 kilometers. The committee also has a subsidiary, Bayt Mal Al Quds Agency,
which funds Islamic interests in Jerusalem by donating prayer rugs, building
houses, helping with renovations, etc. Symbolically, Foreign Minister Nasser
Bourita prayed at Al-Aqsa in March 2018 to send "a strong message of support for
the Palestinian cause." Generally, Moroccan kings ally on Temple Mount issues
with Saudi kings to diminish Jordanian kings. Winning Israeli goodwill
presumably had a role in Rabat's December 2020 decision to normalize relations
with the Jewish state.
Israel: Israel faces two hostile actors on the Temple Mount (the PA,
Turkey/Hamas) and three actors quasi-willing to work with it (Jordan, Saudi
Arabia, Morocco). Until now, Israeli leaders have lacked the imagination to
exploit this rivalry, with its great potential psychological impact to help
achieve Israel Victory. One idea: encourage Emirati rulers to join the other
three kings to undermine PA legitimacy. Another: revive Ehud Olmert's initiative
to sponsor a committee overseeing Jerusalem's Islamic sanctities.
Perhaps Israel's government should work with the three kings of (L to R) Jordan,
Saudi Arabia, and Morocco.
The ball is in Israel's court.
*Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org, @DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East
Forum. © 2021 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.
Raped and Murdered: Christian Girls in
Pakistan
Raymond Ibrahim/ Gatestone Institute/February 07/2021
"[T]he killing, rape and forced conversion of Christian girls have become an
everyday matter and the government has denied this and therefore is doing
nothing to stop the ongoing persecution of Christians. Unfortunately...nobody
pays any attention – even the national media – as Christians are considered
inferior and their lives worthless." — Nasir Saeed, Director of the Centre for
Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement in the UK, January 11, 2021.
"[T]he girls are also forced to give false statements in court that they have
changed their religion of free will and had married of their own choice....
Girls belonging to minority communities often succumb to pressure and
consideration for their family's security, which has further emboldened the men
belonging to the majority faith." — Napoleon Qayyum, Executive Director of the
Pakistan Center of Law of Justice, Morning Star News, February 12, 2020.
"A Christian 6 year old girl was beaten and raped after being forcibly taken to
the home of a Muslim rapist in broad daylight.... [T]he local Muslim community
are threatening the Christian parents with violence, the rape of their other
daughters and financial ruin if they proceed with a legal case...." — British
Pakistani Christian Association, September 16, 2020.
"In any other nation the perpetrators would be arrested, convicted for murder
and sentenced for a long term. In Pakistan however the poor go to prison and the
wealthy commit whatever crime they wish with impunity. Violence against
Christians is rarely investigated and highly unlikely to be met with justice.
The usual pattern in these cases is for Christians to pay a bribe to encourage
police to complete their duty of registering an investigation, and for the
criminals to pay further bribes for the police to spoil the investigation." —
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association,
January 20, 2016.
Keeping up with the abuse of Christian girls by Muslims in Pakistan has become
exceedingly difficult. Hardly does one story of abduction, enslavement, rape,
forced conversion, torture or murder appear, before another follows it.
Keeping up with the abuse of Christian girls by Muslims in Pakistan has become
exceedingly difficult. Hardly does one story of abduction, enslavement, rape,
forced conversion, torture or murder appear, before another follows it — and
another, and another. Although of course, needless to say, not all Muslim men
regard non-Muslim girls and women this way, unfortunately many there still seem
to. Some recent examples include:
The bloated bodies of two Christian sisters who had long rebuffed the advances
of their Muslim employers, were found in a sewer in January 2021. Earlier, on
November 26, the sisters, Sajida (28) and Abida (26), who were both married and
had children, were reported as missing. The two Muslim men for whom they worked
had regularly pressured them to convert to Islam and marry them. Even though the
young women "made it clear that they were Christian and married, the men
threatened them and kept harassing the sisters."
Forty days after they were reported missing, on January 4, 2021, their
decomposed bodies were discovered. Their Muslim supervisors, during their
interrogation, "confessed that they had abducted the sisters," said Sadija's
husband; "and after keeping them hostage for a few days for satisfying their
lust, had slit their throats and thrown their bodies into the drain." The
widower described the families' ordeal:
"When police informed us that they had identified the two bodies as those of our
loved ones, it seemed that our entire world had come crumbling down.... I still
cannot fathom the site [sic] of seeing my wife's decomposed body."
Discussing this case, Nasir Saeed, Director of the Centre for Legal Aid
Assistance and Settlement in the UK, said,
"The killing of Abida and Sajida in such a merciless way is not an isolated
case, but the killing, rape and forced conversion of Christian girls have become
an everyday matter and the government has denied this and therefore is doing
nothing to stop the ongoing persecution of Christians. Unfortunately, such cases
happen very often in the country, and nobody pays any attention – even the
national media – as Christians are considered inferior and their lives
worthless."
Indeed, just days after the two sisters went missing, two Muslim men murdered
Sonia Bibi, a 24-year-old Christian women: she too had refused to renounce her
faith, embrace Islam, and marry one of the men. According to a December 4
report, she was walking to work when the men drove by and killed her with a
pistol. During the previous five months, one of the Muslim murderers, Muhammad
Shehzad, had been harassing and even threatening Sonia to marry him, but she
repeatedly refused, citing the differences in their faith.
"A few days before the incident," her grieving father said, "Sonia was again
harassed by Shehzad. Since she was a committed Christian she did not betray
Jesus and sacrificed her life for her faith." Her father, who must have been
hoping to have justice, added:"We are being harassed and pressurized to withdraw
the case against culprits."
In a yet another incident, in early December 2020, a 12-year-old Christian girl
— who was kidnapped, "raped multiple times," converted to Islam, and "married"
to one of her abductors — was found chained in one of her kidnapper's homes.
Five months earlier, on June 25, 2020, three Muslim men in a van had come to
young Farah Shaheen's home and abducted her. When her father and brother heard
her cries, they rushed to the scene but the van had sped away.
Although her father reported the case to the police and had repeatedly pleaded
with the authorities, they did nothing — at least until the father hired a
lawyer. He appealed the case to a higher court, which pressured the local police
to act. On December 5, police found the girl chained up in a room. According to
a police source, "the kidnappers subjected Farah to physical and mental
torture.... The dark marks on her ankles show that she was fettered [in a metal
chain] for most of her time in captivity [five months]."
All charges have since been dropped against the men who chained her like an
animal and raped her. The 12-year-old testified that she "willingly married" one
of her abductors, aged 45. Even if true, the man had broken Pakistani law by
"marrying" a minor (girls must be at least 16). The court had not even bothered
to consider, as her family and other activists point out, that the girl was
traumatized and feared retribution. "[She] has told me she was treated like a
slave," complained her father. "She was forced to work all day, cleaning filth
in a cattle yard. 24-7, she was attached to a chain" — and yet her tormentors
were exonerated.
"She was in trauma," according to an activist involved with Farah Shaheen's
case, "and couldn't tell about the torture... Her marriage, forceful conversion,
and injured feet speak of the horror. Police, judiciary, and weak laws make fun
of poor parents."
Similarly, while speaking about the endemic of rape and forced conversion in
February 2020, Napoleon Qayyum, executive director of the Pakistan Center of Law
of Justice, said:
"[T]he girls are also forced to give false statements in court that they have
changed their religion of free will and had married of their own choice....
Girls belonging to minority communities often succumb to pressure and
consideration for their family's security, which has further emboldened the men
belonging to the majority faith."
A few days after Farah was freed, according to a December 26 report, "Muslims
who employed two young Christian women as live-in house cleaners in Lahore,
Pakistan have forcibly converted them to Islam and are not permitting Christian
relatives to see them...." Nasreen Bibi, their aunt and guardian, said:
"Both Anum [20] and Maham [18] have been forcibly converted [by their separate
employers] to turn them into slaves, and the police and court have unfortunately
acted as facilitators of this crime.... Muhammad Azmat [the employer of Anum]
told me to forget about my nieces, as both of them were Muslims now. He also
warned me not to come to his house, threatening that I would rot in jail if I
did. I could not believe my ears. Both of my nieces were being held hostage in
the name of religion, and there was nothing I could do to rescue them."
After the aunt repeatedly pleaded with police, who were slow to act, on December
15, the two girls and their employers were finally brought to court. "We hoped,"
the aunt continued, "that the court would consider the circumstances under which
these conversion claims were being made, but to our horror the court rejected
our pleas and handed the girls back in their Muslim employers' custody."
Even on Christmas Day 2020, Christian girls were being eyed by Muslim men: about
60 Muslim men assaulted a church during Christmas service. According to the
report, "They aimed to kidnap and assault the women in attendance," and made
derogatory comments about the them, adding that they were "looking dashing
today. Let us have all of them in our beds." When one of the Christian defenders
angrily rose up, "The Muslims," he said, "warned me never to stop them from
doing whatever they wanted to do with Christian girls." The church's security
guards and male congregants "fought back with bare hands against the
staff-wielding intruders, giving the women time to escape. Many Christian men
suffered blunt trauma injuries and fractures in the fight."
The above incidents are all recent, occurring just in the last two months. Some
others that took place in 2020 include:
"A Christian 6 year old girl was beaten and raped after being forcibly taken to
the home of a Muslim rapist in broad daylight," according to a Sept. 16 report:
"In a sickening twist the local Muslim community are threatening the Christian
parents with violence, the rape of their other daughters and financial ruin if
they proceed with a legal case against paedophile Muhammad Waqas (18 yrs)....
Tabitha [the raped child] had been verbally abused, shouted at, slapped and
beaten and forced to do a number of sex acts with Waqas. She had been stripped
of her clothes and had described her terror that she would be killed by Waqas..."
On April 26, Maira Shahbaz, a 14-year-old Christian girl, was abducted by a
group of armed Muslim men, under the leadership of one Muhammad Naqash
(subsequently, her "husband") Although her parents managed to bring the case to
the Lahore High Court, it ruled in favor of Naqash. In late August, Maira
managed to escape and gave testimony on how she was being "forced into
prostitution" and "filmed while by being raped," with threats that the video
would be published unless she complied with the demands of her rapist "husband"
and his friends. "They threatened to murder my whole family," the 14-year-old
girl said. "My life was at stake in the hands of the accused and Naqash
repeatedly raped me forcefully."
In August, a married Muslim father of four kidnapped Saneha Kinza, the
15-year-old daughter of a pastor, while she was walking to church for early
morning prayers.
According to a July 26 report, a group of 12 Muslim men, led by one Muhammad
Irfan, broke into a Christian man's home, "and tried to kidnap his [13-year-old]
daughter, Noor, who they planned to rape and forcefully convert to Islam."
On April 11, a Muslim man kidnapped and molested a 7-year-old Christian girl.
When her father discovered she was missing on arriving home from work, he and
others began a frantic search, and eventually found her in a field, "beaten and
sexually assaulted."
On April 9, a group of Muslims attempted to kidnap Ishrat, aged 9. According to
the report,
"[The] assault took place while Ishrat was walking in the street in Qutiba.
There, a group of Muslim men approached her and asked her to convert to Islam
and marry Asim, one of the men in the group. When Ishrat refused, the men beat
Ishrat, made derogatory remarks against Ishrat and Christianity, and attempted
to kidnap Ishrat [but failed]..."
As if the sexual abuse Christian women experience inside Pakistan were not
enough, on December 8, 2020, the United States Ambassador-at-Large for
International Religious Freedom, diplomat for religious freedom, Samuel
Brownback, said that "religious minorities, Christian and Hindu women" from
Pakistan are "being marketed as concubines and... forced as brides into China."
This, he added, is because "there's discrimination against religious minorities
that make [sic] them more vulnerable" in Muslim Pakistan.
As for why very few authorities do anything -- and some even side with the
abductors and rapists -- according to a 2011 report from the Asian Human Rights
Commission:
"[P]olice ... always side with the Islamic groups and treat minority groups as
lowly life forms. The dark side of the forced conversion to Islam ... involves
the criminal elements who are engaged in rape and abduction and then justify
their heinous crimes by forcing the victims to convert to Islam. The Muslim
fundamentalists are happy to offer these criminals shelter and use the excuse
that they are providing a great service to their sacred cause of increasing the
population of Muslims."
Back in 2010, as another instance of the endemic abuse of Christian girls in
Pakistan, a pedophile told his 9-year-old victim, before mauling and leaving
her, "not to worry because he had done the same service to other young Christian
girls".
Another human rights activist summarized the situation in Pakistan:
"It is shameful. Such incidents occur frequently. Christian girls are considered
goods to be damaged at leisure. Abusing them is a right. According to the
community's mentality it is not even a crime. Muslims regard them as spoils of
war."
One could also point to the words of the men who rammed their car into three
young Christian girls, killing one, after they had rebuffed the men's sexual
advances: "Why are you running away from us? Christian girls are only meant for
the pleasure of Muslim men."
As Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association,
said:
"In any other nation the perpetrators would be arrested, convicted for murder
and sentenced for a long term. In Pakistan however the poor go to prison and the
wealthy commit whatever crime they wish with impunity. Violence against
Christians is rarely investigated and highly unlikely to be met with justice.
The usual pattern in these cases is for Christians to pay a bribe to encourage
police to complete their duty of registering an investigation, and for the
criminals to pay further bribes for the police to spoil the investigation."
He added:
"Women have a low status in Pakistan, but none more so than Christian women who
fidn [sic] themselves under the grip or terror, especially after this attack.
Muslim NGO 'Movement of Solidarity and Peace' state that around 700 Christian
women in Pakistan are abducted, raped and forced into Islamic marriage every
year - that figure is almost two a day and the world does nothing. Evidence
exists that some rogue imams declare that such acts of conversion through
violence are rewarded in heaven, what a terrifying thought."
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again and Sword and Scimitar, is a
Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the
David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle
East Forum.
© 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.
Will the Trump Successes in the Middle East Survive?
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/February 07/2021
The Abraham Accords -- between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain -- will lead to
billions of dollars of investment and trade between Israel and its partners in
peace. The Accords will also allow the Emirates and Bahrain to benefit from
Israeli technology, and see their defense strengthened against Iran.
Sudan, freshly removed from the list of terrorist states, now has help from
Israel, one of the world-leaders in agricultural technologies, and will be able
to improve its food production.
President Trump added to the agreement the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty
over Western Sahara, a territory claimed by a guerrilla group supported by
Algeria and more recently by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah.
President Trump's decision strengthens Morocco, an ally of the United States,
and refuses to reward enemies of the United States.
Saudi Arabia's educational curricula are being modified in a direction of
tolerance and all traces of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli statements have been
removed. The religious discourse in the country is also changing.... Saudi
Arabia's Grand Mufti, now says that religion should be spread through words, not
through the sword....Saudi Arabia is... moving in an extremely promising
direction. Let us hope that outside forces do not thwart it.
The outline of a more stable Middle East, less marked by war, appears to be
taking shape – if other countries will just let it. The mullahs' regime, no
longer a major nuisance, seems on the road to asphyxiation. Let us hope that
process is not thwarted, either.
The new Biden administration, in under two weeks, is already threatening to
undermine these and other victories. It had indicated...that it would like to
return to the catastrophic nuclear "Iran deal".... [New] conditions seem to boil
down to a demand that Iran respect the terms of the JCPOA, which Iran has, in
fact, never respected. Evidently perceiving an American wishing to appease it,
the mullahs announced on January 4 that they had decided to resume enriching
uranium to the 20% level, close to the purity used for nuclear weapons. The same
day, the mullahs seized a South Korean-flagged chemical tanker in the Strait of
Hormuz.
The Biden administration also seems eager to restore U.S. aid to the Palestinian
Authority and reconnect with its leaders -- without talking to them about their
support for terrorism, treating them again, as "partners for peace", no matter
how much evidence there is to the contrary, and attempting to move toward
renewed support yet again for a potentially lethal "two-state solution".
Presumably Iran can only want to weaken the agreements between Israel, Bahrain,
the Emirates, Morocco and Sudan.
The Abraham Accords, solemnly signed on September 15, 2020 at the White House by
Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the United States, set in motion a
new peace process that many observers would have considered unimaginable just a
few years ago.
December 22, 2020. 9:30 am. A plane takes off from Ben Gurion Airport in Israel
for Morocco's capitol, Rabat. Economic, political, cultural and strategic
agreements between Morocco and Israel are signed for a full normalization of
relations between the two countries. Morocco is the fourth Arab Muslim country
in 2020 to sign such an agreement with Israel.
The Abraham Accords, solemnly signed on September 15, 2020 at the White House by
Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the United States, set in motion a
new peace process that many observers would have considered unimaginable just a
few years ago. This new peace process has continued well beyond the 2020 U.S.
elections and are at the heart of a broader revolution that has changed the
Middle East and the Arab world. It is a revolution that is one of the major
achievements of the Trump presidency.
With the new administration in Washington, DC showing an eagerness to drag
everything that bears Trump's name through the mud, it may be important to
analyze this revolution and the strategy that made it possible – starting from
the situation in the region when President Donald J. Trump arrived at the White
House.
Syria was ravaged by a catastrophic civil war that left more than 400,000 people
dead and millions of refugees. A jihadist terrorist organization had occupied a
vast territory in eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq, called it the" Islamic
State", and was using it as a base for preparing bloodthirsty worldwide jihadist
attacks.
In Iran, the mullahs' regime was destabilizing the entire region and advancing
toward regional hegemony. Iran ruled Lebanon through Hezbollah; areas of Syria
that are still in the hands of Bashar Al-Assad through thousands of
Revolutionary Guards and militiamen dispatched by Tehran, and half of Yemen's
territory through the Houthi militias it was financing and arming. It was also
financing and arming Hamas in the Gaza Strip and continuing to move towards
possessing nuclear weapons, despite the July 2015 nuclear agreement (Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA), which had served no purpose other than
allowing the regime to dispose of billions of dollars, become the main financier
of global Islamic terrorism, and continue its uranium enrichment toward a
legitimized nuclear breakout.
The countries of the Sunni Arab world were weak and shaken. Egypt was just
beginning to find calm after years marked by the fall of Hosni Mubarak; the rise
to power in 2012 of the Muslim Brotherhood; its overthrow a year later by large
demonstrations; the rise to power of Abdel Fattah al Sisi, and ongoing Islamist
uprisings that the army has severely repressed.
Libya, since the destruction of the Gaddafi regime, has been in ruins, and
abandoned to Islamic terrorist groups. Yemen has been largely destroyed. Saudi
Arabia was threatened both by Iran and Islamic State, which had launched attacks
in the east of the country. Sudan was in the hands of Omar al-Bashir, a
bloodthirsty ruler who accepted the use of his country for Iran to transfer arms
to the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Authority, after abandoning all negotiations, proceeded to
organize bloody anti-Israeli attacks without receiving the slightest reprimand
from the Western world, and carry out with impunity a campaign committed to
delegitimizing Israel in international organizations.
Israel had been under constant pressure from the Obama administration, as well
as from President Barack Obama himself, who constantly stressed the "imperative"
of creating a Palestinian state within the "1967 borders". Obama, apparently
hoping to create a Palestinian state on his way out the door, had decided not to
veto a UN Security Council resolution on December 23, 2016, which described
Israeli settlements as "territories occupied by force", including the Old City
of Jerusalem, and Israel as "acting in violation of international humanitarian
law".
In addition, the Obama administration and Obama had explicitly supported the
overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and the ascent of the fundamentalist Muslim
Brotherhood in Egypt. The Obama administration had also distanced itself from
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies; contributed to the destruction of Libya's
Gaddafi regime; signed the JCPOA enabling Iran to enrich uranium and possess
nuclear weapons -- a deal Iran never signed -- and had poured more than $150
billion into Iran's coffers.
President Trump, from the moment he took office, acted quickly and decisively.
He destroyed the Islamic State. By December 2017, the group controlled only 5%
of the territory it had controlled ten months earlier. By March 2019, it had
lost its last stronghold.
On May 21, 2018, Trump moved to incapacitate the regime of Iran's mullahs by
announcing that the United States was abandoning the "nuclear deal". He then
implemented sanctions aimed at curtailing Iran's adventurism.
Trump also distanced himself from the "two-state solution," stillborn in
diplomatic circles by a Palestinian veto of any suggestion, as well as other
untenable Palestinian demands.
Trump improved U.S. ties with much of the Muslim Arab world, and in May 2017,
made a crucial trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There, he told the 54 leaders from
Sunni Muslim countries gathered for the occasion that the United States would be
on their side in facing Iranian threats, and that the US was ready to help them
overcome instability on the strict conditions that they lead a fight against
terrorism and radical Islam, and that they modernize.
Trump, clearly aware that discreet meetings had been held between Israeli
leaders and leaders of several Sunni Muslim countries, suggested that regional
economic and strategic rapprochement would help move towards peace. He referred
to "citizens of the Middle East" in general and added that if "the three
Abrahamic Faiths can join together in cooperation, then peace in this world is
possible".
Trump saw that the intransigence of the Palestinian leadership, which the
leaders of the Arab world had long supported, was now seen by them as an
obstacle. While in Riyadh, Trump did not say a single word about the Palestinian
Authority.
He traveled on the first flight from Riyadh to Israel; visited the Western Wall
-- the first President of the United States in office to do so -- and affirmed
his unwavering support for the US ally. He then went to Ramallah, where he
accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of being a supporter of terrorism
and a liar.
In November 2017, Trump asked a team led by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to
draw up a peace plan that respected Israel's security imperatives and that took
into account not the demands of the Palestinian Authority, but benefits for the
Palestinian people.
During the following months, he asked the Palestinian Authority to stop its
terrorist activities. When the Palestinian Authority refused, Trump reduced the
financing granted to it by the United States, and ceased to treat its leaders as
constructive and legitimate interlocutors.
On December 6, 2017, Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel and decided to locate the U.S. Embassy in Israel there. It was a way of
saying that Israel's presence in Jerusalem was fully legitimate and that no one
would be permitted to push Israel around. The US embassy was inaugurated less
than a year later, on May 14, 2018.
On September 7, 2018, Trump asked the US Department of State to issue a
statement saying that from now on, the US would recognize as refugees only the
Arabs who had personally left Israel in 1948-49 and added that the US would no
longer fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA),
an organization that claims there are more than five million Palestinian
refugees, almost all of whom have never set foot in Israel and who therefore
cannot claim to "return" to lands where they have never been. (UNRWA includes
all the descendants of actual refugees through the generations, in a method of
accounting not done by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.)
Trump said that the idea of a "return" to Israel of millions of people who are
not actually refugees was no longer on the negotiating table.
Trump's peace plan, at least its economic component, was presented in Manama,
Bahrain, on June 25 and 26, 2019. Representatives from 39 countries, including
Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Gulf countries were present, as well as businessmen
from all over the Arab world.
The plan, presented at the White House on January 28, 2020, talks about a
Palestinian state, but stipulates that Israel's security would be guaranteed. If
a Palestinian state were to come into being, it would be demilitarized, have
borders controlled by Israel and no border with an Arab state. The plan offered
the prospect of sovereignty, within this security framework, to the Palestinian
Arabs. The proposal allows Israel to retain a necessary control of the Jordan
Valley, and pledges that Israel would be sovereign over 30% of Judea and Samaria
-- a percentage that many Israelis considered woefully insufficient, considering
that historically, Judea and Samaria have been part of Israel.
Above all, the plan says that a Palestinian state can only come into being if
the leaders and the Palestinians fully renounce and end terrorism.
Palestinian leaders immediately rejected the offer. A few days later, at the
insistence of the Palestinian Authority, the Arab League condemned the plan,
however Arab representatives present in Manama continued to prepare the next
step.
The Abraham Accords soon followed. They were in line with the prospects for
peace mentioned by President Trump in May 2017. They had not been condemned by
the Arab League.
As anticipated by Trump in May 2017, the Abraham Accords have both an economic
and a strategic dimension. They not only offer economic opportunities to all the
signatories but also reinforce their military strength. As the plan includes the
Palestinian Arabs, the Arab signatories can say that by signing the agreement,
they did not forget the Palestinian population.
The Abraham Accords -- between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain -- will lead to
billions of dollars of investment and trade between Israel and its partners in
peace. The Accords will also allow the Emirates and Bahrain to benefit from
Israeli technology, and see their defense strengthened against Iran.
The Abraham Accords have also led, more broadly, to a cultural and religious
opening of the Emirates and Bahrain to Judaism: the Crossroads of Civilization
Museum in Dubai is now the first museum accessible in the Hebrew language in the
Arab world. The museum displays old maps of Jerusalem, a sword from the Yemenite
Jewish community, a pre-Holocaust Jewish marriage contract and original letters
by Theodor Herzl. Restaurants in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Manama are increasingly
serving kosher food. A giant Hanukkah candelabra, a menorah, was lit up in front
of Dubai's Burj al-Khalifa, the word tallest skyscraper, to celebrate the Jewish
holiday. Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has been working for
years to spread a non-political vision of Islam and has entrusted the management
of the country's religious issues to a Sufi scholar, Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah,
now in charge of disseminating this vision.
The Trump administration's agreement with Sudan has an even more striking
dimension. Sudan was on the list of terrorist states and, until its dictator,
Omar al Bashir, fell in April 2019, it had contributed to the war against
Israel. The current Prime Minister, Abdalla Hamdok, shares a similar vision of
Islam to that of Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah, and has appointed a Christian
Coptic woman to the Sovereign Council, a body that will rule the country until
late 2022 when free elections are planned. Israel now has peaceful relations
with a country that had long been an enemy. Sudan, freshly removed from the list
of terrorist states, now has help from Israel, one of the world-leaders in
agricultural technologies, and will be able to improve its food production.
As for the Trump administration's agreement with Morocco, the kingdom already
had low-key ties with Israel. Around a million Jews of Moroccan origin are part
of Israel's population, and Jews in Morocco are considered by the kingdom -- and
its visionary monarch, HRH King Mohammed VI -- as citizens equal to Muslim
Moroccans. Diplomatic links are in the process of being fully reestablished.
Israel has normal relations with one more Sunni Arab country, and Morocco has
ties with Israel that will lead to investment and economic development.
President Trump added to the agreement the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty
over Western Sahara, a territory claimed by a guerrilla group supported by
Algeria and more recently by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah.
President Trump's decision strengthened Morocco, an ally of the United States,
rather than rewarding enemies of the United States.
Saudi Arabia has not yet reached a normalization agreement with Israel. King
Salman seems committed to the idea that a Palestinian state must be created
before Saudi Arabia normalizes ties with Israel. However, Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, known familiarly as MBS, apparently sees that cooperation
with Israel in the field of security can only strengthen the defense of the
kingdom and that Israeli technologies would be most useful for the economic
transformation he envisions for his development project, Vision 2030.
MBS is evidently aware that need to be profound changes in a country subject to
the strict application of the Wahhabi version of Islamic Sharia law, and changes
are underway. Saudi Arabia's educational curricula are being modified in a
direction of tolerance, apparently with a goal of removing anti-Semitic content.
The religious discourse in the country is also changing. Sheikh Abdulaziz
al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, now says that religion should be spread
through words, not through the sword.
On September 6, the Imam of Mecca's Grand Mosque, Abdulrahman al-Sudais,
delivered a sermon preaching dialogue and kindness to non-Muslims, and made
specific reference to Jews. He was criticized, but could not have delivered the
sermon without the agreement of the royal family. Um Haroun (Mother of Aaron), a
Saudi television drama series was broadcast last year on a Saudi Arabia's
state-sponsored channel, MBC, and in other Arab countries. It shows Jews,
Christians and Muslims living together in peace. True, the Saudi kingdom may
still have a way to go to become an open and tolerant country, and the path is
fraught with opposition. People eager to keep their perch and hostile to the
evolution of the country may step forward; the response could well be brutal.
The murder in Istanbul of the Muslim Brotherhood associate Jamal Kashoggi is
still fresh in everyone's memory. Saudi Arabia is nevertheless moving in an
extremely promising direction. Let us hope that outside forces do not thwart it.
The outline of a more stable Middle East, less marked by war, appears to be
taking shape -- if other countries will just let it. Islamic terrorism has
reached its lowest level in decades, although countries remain in ruins and
hotbeds of war persist. Iran's regime seems on the road to asphyxiation. Let us
hope that process is not thwarted, either.
Other countries apparently would like to follow the path that was beginning to
take shape. In October 2020, Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen spoke of Oman, Indonesia,
and five or six other countries that he did not name; Mauritania has also been
mentioned. The more countries that are encouraged to sign the Abraham Accords,
the warmer all the peace agreements in the region could become. The idea of a
regional peace is not out of reach. In a mere four years, the Trump Revolution
in the Middle East provided an invaluable foundation for a profound and fruitful
transformation of the region.
The new Biden administration is already threatening to undermine these and other
victories. It had indicated, despite worried messages from Israel and the Sunni
Arab world, that it would like to return to the catastrophic nuclear "Iran
deal". The new administration claims to want to impose strict conditions on
Iran's regime, but these conditions seem to boil down to a demand that Iran
respect the terms of the JCPOA, which Iran has, in fact, never respected.
Evidently perceiving an America wishing to appease Iran, the mullahs announced
on January 4 that they had decided to resume enriching uranium to the 20% level,
close to the purity used for nuclear weapons. The same day, the mullahs seized a
South Korean-flagged chemical tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Biden administration also seems eager to restore U.S. aid to the Palestinian
Authority and reconnect with its leaders -- without doing anything about their
support for terrorism, treating them again, as "partners for peace", no matter
how much evidence there is to the contrary, and attempting to move toward
renewed support yet again for a potentially lethal "two-state solution".
American pressure on Israel may intensify and go hand-in-hand with other
pressures. On January 11, the French and German foreign ministers, meeting in
Cairo with their Jordanian and Egyptian counterparts, issued a statement
affirming their "commitment to a two-state solution that ensures the emergence
of an independent and viable Palestinian state on the basis of June 4, 1967
lines" – a mere armistice line that has been called "Auschwitz borders" for its
clear unsustainability.
If the sanctions against Iran are lifted, it is positioned to acquire nuclear
weapons within weeks, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Other
countries in the region would probably do everything possible to acquire nuclear
weapons too, and regional nuclear proliferation, probably impossible to stop,
would likely be set in motion.
After three years of a diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar, the recent
rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, negotiated by Jared Kushner and
Avi Berkowitz, may seem like good news, and a step in the right direction.
Qatar's close ties with Iran, however, make it likely that Qatar accepted the
agreement with the consent of Iran -- undoubtedly seeking to strengthen its
credibility with Biden's new team, as well as its own geostrategic position.
Presumably Iran can only want to weaken the agreements between Israel, Bahrain,
the UAE, Morocco and Sudan. On January 18, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the time had come for the leaders of
the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council to "broker negotiations with Iran to
patch up their differences".
China reached agreements with Iran in July 2020 and, on its self-declared quest
for world domination (for instance, here, here, and here), presumably intends to
expand its role as a major regional player in the service of the enemies of the
United States and peace.
A Biden administration might not directly touch the Abraham Accords, but could
be tempted, by a passion to re-engage Iran, seriously to weaken them. Some
members of the US Congress are questioning the planned sales of F-35 aircraft to
the United Arab Emirates, even though the Israeli government does not oppose it.
Some members of Congress have also expressed their interest in suing the
struggling new democratic government of Sudan -- in a cynical attempt to
undermine it -- for its past links to terrorism, which occurred under the
previous regime. The incoming Biden administration said they are also
considering challenging Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, which, again,
would empower Iran, cited by the US as the "world's worst state sponsor of
terrorism," and Hezbollah, but raise tensions with stable, peace-seeking
American allies such as Israel and Morocco.
The transformations that have taken place in the Middle East since 2017 are
remarkable, but, as was seen in the Second Word War, even the strongest
countries can conceivably be destroyed.
"The Middle East," wrote the Middle East expert Mordechai Kedar, "is built on
sand dunes that change their shape according to the prevailing winds". It is to
be hoped that the prevailing winds will not change to the point of sweeping away
what is the greatest transformation that has taken place in more than seven
decades in a region so often ravaged by war, and that a return to past mistakes
will not lead once again to sand dunes covered in blood.
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27
books on France and Europe.
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or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Biden and Saudi Arabia
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 07/201
As part of a military expansion plan in the region, which Riyadh will be asked
to agree to, a senior US military delegation has toured a number of Saudi Red
Sea and inland sites.
Had this happened during the Trump era, it would have been perceived as one of
his investment projects.
However, the timing of this tour in tandem with the joint military exercises
underway are sufficient to answer those who believe that Riyadh has been backed
into a corner, and Saudi-US relations are bound to suffer with Joe Biden in
office.
In fact, Saudi-US relations are likely to become increasingly important as long
as the US’s top priorities include its competition with China, and matters like
energy, nuclear armament, and terrorism. The US will need regional cooperation
with a country like Saudi Arabia to accomplish its objectives. This is the real
force driving the relationship, not media disputes or statements released by US
officials.
It is important to stress that it would be unwise and premature to pass judgment
on the new president’s foreign policy despite the frequency and speed of the
decisions and executive orders he has been issuing and the number of statements
released by his administration regarding the region in general, and Riyadh in
particular, during the past few weeks.
The most notable of these would be his views on the Yemeni crisis, as they can
be read from different angles. In my opinion, it was the best way to start
tackling the most challenging file between the two countries. Biden surprised us
when he vowed to protect Saudi Arabia from the attacks of the Iran-backed Houthi
militias. This can be considered a promising step that went even beyond the
previous actions taken by the Trump administration in support of Saudi Arabia.
In return, Riyadh renewed its willingness to accept a peaceful solution, and
Biden appointed a special envoy to Yemen, as Trump had done before.
In the short period ahead, we expect one of two things, either the Houthis will
stop targeting Saudi cities, a positive development that will pave the way to a
political solution, or they will send their missiles and drones back across the
border, thus triggering Saudi F-15 fighters to retaliate.
In the second case, that is, if the Houthis break the US truce, Washington will
have to take part in the battle, by virtue of its commitment, and Riyadh would
be justified in resuming its response to the aggression. In both cases, Saudi
Arabia would be able to overcome the Yemeni dispute. Naturally, there is no
doubt in our minds that the Houthis are no more than Iranian puppets, just like
Hezbollah in Lebanon, which means that Tehran, will be the one calling the shots
and choosing whether to opt for the truce or war scenarios.
Additionally, in response to those who have been questioning the growing
military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States, it is important
to clarify that before criticizing the idea of defensive protection and military
cooperation with the West, we must not forget that this is the nature of
international alliances. Western Europe has been under US military protection
against Russia since World War II, and still is to this day, not to mention the
full-fledged US military protection of Japan.
However, let us discuss the victory of the Democratic Party, and what that
entails. The Democrats' campaigns against Saudi Arabia were undoubtedly the
worst in the history of US-Saudi relations. During the past five years, members
of the party have continuously criticized Riyadh, ever since the disagreement
over Washington's nuclear deal with Iran, and over issues like the war in Yemen,
and the Kingdom’s stance from Egypt after the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood, in
addition to Trump’s choice of Riyadh as his first stop after winning the
elections, a choice that Democrats used to attack him by politicizing
Khashoggi's case. But the Democrats in power today, are fully aware of the
importance of Saudi Arabia as an ally. They recognize the significant changes
that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has introduced to the Kingdom.
The political system has become stronger, and the State more vibrant, active,
and important. Americans recognize that since the end of the Cold War, the
countries of the region have been managing their international relations based
on interests.
However, how can we analyze Washington's statements regarding removing the
Houthis from the terrorist list, discontinuation of Saudi military support, and
meddling in internal affairs? These will be our topics for tomorrow.
*Abdulrahman Al-Rashed is the former general manager of Al-Arabiya television.
He is also the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, and the leading Arabic
weekly magazine Al-Majalla. He is also a senior columnist in the daily
newspapers Al-Madina and Al-Bilad.