English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For January 21/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

#elias_bejjani_news
 

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Bible Quotations For today

For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ,
Letter to the Romans 12/01-08/:”I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 20-21/2021

Ministry of Health: 4,332 new corona cases, 64 deaths
Aoun Chairs Meeting to Accelerate Forensic Audit
Hassan Leaves Hospital after Covid-19 Treatment
Fahmi Says to Advise Lockdown Extension
Report: Diab’s Initiative 'Doesn't' Solve Govt Impasse
Lebanon: Diab’s Political Tour Will Not Achieve Breakthrough in Govt Formation
MP Warns of Lebanon-Bound Ship Carrying 'Explosive Material'
UAE Ambassador Visits Hariri, Berri in Farewell Visit
Turkish Pilots, Official Face 12 Years Jail for Ghosn Flight
Circle of suspicion widens in Lebanon after Swiss probe allegations
French interests hang in balance as Paris faces impasse in Libya/Mona El-Mahrouki/The Arab Weekly/January 20/2021
US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at LBP 3900

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 20-21/2021

New day in America: Joe Biden sworn in as 46th US president
Inauguration live updates: Biden calls for end to 'uncivil war'
World Leaders Welcome U.S. Transfer of Power
Trump Decorates Bahrain King on Last Full Day in Office
Iran Says 'Ball in America's Court' on Nuclear Deal
Britain Says Working to Release Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Other Dual Nationals in Iran
At Least Two Dead as a Huge Blast Rocks Madrid Building
Netanyahu Courts Arab Voters in Election-year Turnabout
UN Chief Urges Foreign Fighters Leave Libya by Saturday
Iran's Rouhani Hails Departure of 'Tyrant' Trump
EU Sighs with Relief as Biden Readies to Enter White House
China Dismisses Pompeo Uighur Genocide Claim as 'Outrageous Lies'
Iran parades missiles and drones while Qatar talks reconciliation
 

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 20-21/2021

Treasury Sanctions Egyptian Terrorists Harbored by Turkey/Aykan Erdemir/Policy Brief/January 20/2021
Author, Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, from Iran who claimed to be independent expert in foreign affairs was secretly an agent for his native country, U.S. officials allege/Shayna Jacobs/The Washington Post/January 20/2021
Text of Department of Justice press release: Political scientist author charged with acting as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government/Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Biden’s Nominee, William Burns for CIA Director Is All About Iran/By Eli Lake/Bloomberg/January 20/2021
Educational Ethnic Cleansing/Richard Kemp/Gatestone Institute./January 20/2021
Why Doesn’t the World Sympathize with Tehran and Damascus?/Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/January 20/2021 -
Covid is Traumatizing our Doctors and Nurses/Therese Raphael/Bloomberg/January 20/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on January 20-21/2021
Ministry of Health: 4,332 new corona cases, 64 deaths
NNA/January 20/2021 
The Ministry of Public Health announced 4,332 new cases of coronavirus infection, which raises the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 252,812.
64 deaths have been registered over the past 24 hours.

Aoun Chairs Meeting to Accelerate Forensic Audit
Naharnet/January 20/2021
President Michel Aoun discussed with caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni the steps to accelerate the agreement with Alvarez & Marsal forensic audit firm, after the Lebanese Parliament approved the law of suspending bank secrecy for one year, the National News Agency reported.
The meeting was held at Baabda Palace and attended by former Minister Salim Jreisatti, and Director General of the Lebanese Presidency, Antoine Choucair, the agency said. The parliament has approved a request to run forensic audit not only into the central bank accounts, but also to extend it to cover all state institutions. The International Monetary Fund and France are among creditors demanding the audit as part of urgent reforms to unlock financial support, as the country faces a grinding economic crisis. The government hired a New York-based company, Alvarez and Marsal, to conduct the audit of the central bank, which later pulled out, saying it was unable to acquire needed information and documents.

Hassan Leaves Hospital after Covid-19 Treatment
Naharnet/January 20/2021
Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan was discharged Wednesday from hospital following several days of treatment from Covid-19. He had been admitted into the St. Georges Hadath Hospital last Wednesday. The minister took to Twitter to thank the hospital’s staff for their “professionalism”, “suaveness” and “sacrifices.”He also tweeted a picture of himself surrounded by ten of the hospital’s staff -- all wearing medical masks.

Fahmi Says to Advise Lockdown Extension
Naharnet/January 20/2021
Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi said he will recommend an extension of a total lockdown imposed in the country taking into consideration the uncontrollable increase in deaths due to the spread of coronavirus, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported Wednesday. He revealed that he would recommend the Higher Defense Council to extend the lockdown because the proposed period (11 days) is not sufficient due to the high numbers of infections and deaths. "The recommendations of the Scientific Committee will be taken into account," added Fahmi. “There is great commitment on part of the Lebanese regarding the general closing procedures,” he added, pointing to “a state of fear sweeping them which helped the lockdown to succeed.” “Security forces have strict orders not to be complacent, and fines will be issued against those who violate the regulation rules,” said the Minister.President Michel Aoun called the Higher Defense Council for an “urgent” meeting on January 21 at Baabda Presidential Palace to address the health situation in the country.
 

Report: Diab’s Initiative 'Doesn't' Solve Govt Impasse
Naharnet/January 20/2021
An initiative made by Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab in a bid to ease the government formation hurdle, is "unable" to make any progress because the problem rests with President Michel Aoun, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported on Wednesday. Sources following up on Diab’s Tuesday move towards Aoun, the PM-designate Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri, told the daily it “did not open a gap in the wall of obstacles hampering the formation process,” noting that reviving it only rests in the hands of the President. Hariri’s adviser and al-Mustaqbal Movement official Moustafa Allouch described Diab’s move to the newspaper as “utopianistic.”Allouch said it came to “clarify Aoun’s positions after his insults against Hariri in the presence of Diab. It is a kind endeavor but does not rise to be called an initiative, there is a kind of utopianism in it.”A war of words had recently erupted between Hariri and Aoun’s camp after the president was caught on camera accusing the PM-designate of “lying.”On the other hand, al-Akhbar daily reported that Diab’s move came with a push from the General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who "arranged" Diab’s meeting with Hariri. On Tuesday, Diab held separate meetings with Aoun, Berri and Hariri in an initiative aimed at facilitating the formation of the new government.

Lebanon: Diab’s Political Tour Will Not Achieve Breakthrough in Govt Formation
Asharq Al-Awsat./Wednesday, 20 January, 2021
Reviving the consultations to form a strong government of specialists and independents is in Aoun’s hands, according to the sources, and in his willingness to cooperate with Hariri to save the country from the collapse. The sources emphasized that Aoun has deliberately stopped government consultations following 14 rounds of talks, instead of giving his stance on the cabinet lineup that Hariri had handed over to him. Moreover, the political sources questioned the reasons behind the continuous targeted campaign by Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement and former Minister Gebran Bassil against Hariri, as if the latter was responsible for obstructing the birth of the new government. They noted that Hariri decided to elect Aoun as President in 2016 to prevent the continuation of the presidential vacuum and revive the work in the constitutional institutions. Emphasizing that the French initiative was still in place, the sources revealed that Hariri was in constant contact with the French leadership, out of his conviction that there was no other alternative to save the country. Regarding Diab’s move towards the three top leaders, the sources said that he wanted to convey a message of solidarity with Hariri, whom Aoun accused of lying in a recently leaked video. In the video, Aoun was heard telling Diab that Hariri lied when he said that he presented a government lineup to the president.

MP Warns of Lebanon-Bound Ship Carrying 'Explosive Material'
Naharnet/January 20/2021
MP Georges Okais of the Lebanese Forces-led Strong Republic bloc warned Wednesday that “the scenario of the port explosion might be repeated.” “It seems that this ruling authority does not want to learn from the August 4 massacre,” Okais cautioned in a statement. “Coming from China, the ship MSC MASHA 3 is preparing to dock at a Lebanese port (Beirut or Tripoli) to unload chemical material, sodium sulfide, with the aim of transferring it as a transit shipment to Syria via Lebanese territory,” the MP said. “Ten containers of this material will be off a Lebanese port in the coming hours and it seems that the Defense Ministry had agreed on 19/1/2021 to the unloading of the ship, asking the Public Works and Transport Ministry to prevent the emptying of the chemical material containers,” Okais added. “We have the right and the Lebanese people have the right to ask: who guarantees to us that the chemical material will not be emptied and stored inside Lebanese territory in a dreadful repetition of the ammonium nitrate tragedy?” the lawmaker wondered. He also asked why the shipment cannot be directly unloaded in Syria and whether the passage of this material through Lebanon would be considered a violation of international laws that might subject Lebanon to further sanctions. “Will the containers be searched under the supervision of the Lebanese Army, which is the only side we trust in this issue?” Okais added, describing the affair as a “scandal.” “If this issue is not clarified, we will escalate in the media and through institutions, because we have grown tired of this ruling class and its lack of responsibility towards its people,” the MP went on to say.He also noted that “the sodium sulfide substance is an explosive substance according to studies publicly available through electronic search engines.”
 

UAE Ambassador Visits Hariri, Berri in Farewell Visit
Naharnet/January 20/2021
The UAE Ambassador to Lebanon Hamad el-Shamsi paid farewell visits to PM-designate Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday, the National News Agency reported. Winding his mission in Lebanon, Shamsi visited Hariri at the Center House, Hariri’s press office said in a statement. Talks between the two men reportedly touched on the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, as well as on the means to boost bilateral relations between the two countries.
Shamsi also met with Speaker Nabih Berri at the residence of the Speakership in Ain el-Tineh.

Turkish Pilots, Official Face 12 Years Jail for Ghosn Flight
Associated Press/January 20/2021
Turkish prosecutors on Wednesday sought the maximum possible 12 years in prison each for a Turkish private airline official and two pilots accused of smuggling the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman out of Japan, Turkey's state news agency reported.In the third hearing in the trial of seven people over Carlos Ghosn's dramatic escape in 2019, prosecutors also requested that the court acquits two other pilots of the charge of "illegally smuggling a migrant," Anadolu Agency said. They recommended instead that the two - who flew him from Istanbul to Beirut -- be tried on charges of failing to report a crime.
Delivering their final opinion on the case, the prosecutors also demanded that charges against two flight attendants be dropped. The trial was adjourned until Feb. 24, when the court in Istanbul could deliver verdicts. Ghosn, 66, who was arrested over financial misconduct allegations in Tokyo in 2018, skipped bail while awaiting trial there. He was flown by pilots Noyan Pasin and Bahri Kutlu Somek from Osaka to Istanbul on a private plane and then transferred onto another plane for Beirut, where he arrived Dec. 30, 2019. He is believed to have been smuggled inside a large, foam-covered music box.
All four pilots and two flight attendants have denied involvement in the plans to help Ghosn flee, insisting that they did not know that he was aboard the flights. During the opening hearing, airline official Okan Kosemen claimed he was made aware that Ghosn was on the plane to Istanbul only after it landed. He admitted helping smuggle Ghosn onto the second, Beirut-bound plane, but claimed he was threatened and feared for his family's safety. Turkish airline company MNG Jet has admitted that two of its planes were used illegally in Ghosn's escape, flying him to Istanbul, and then to Beirut. The company said its employee had admitted to falsifying flight records so that Ghosn's name didn't appear on them. Ghosn, who has French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship, led Japanese automaker Nissan for two decades. He is wanted on charges of breach of trust in misusing company assets for personal gain, and violating securities laws in not fully disclosing his compensation. He has said that he fled because he could not expect a fair trial in Japan. Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan. In addition to his trial in Japan, the businessman is facing a number of legal challenges in France, including tax evasion and alleged money laundering, fraud and misuse of company assets while at the helm of the Renault-Nissan alliance.

Circle of suspicion widens in Lebanon after Swiss probe allegations
The Arab Weekly/January 20/2021
BEIRUT – News published by a pro-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper about a Swiss investigation into money transfers allegedly made by Central Bank chief Riad Salameh degenerated into yet another political squabble. A judicial source said on Tuesday that the Lebanese judiciary has received a request for assistance from Switzerland over the investigation. In response to questions about local media reports of a European inquiry, Lebanese Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm said she had received a request for cooperation from Swiss judicial authorities and submitted it to the public prosecutor. She did not elaborate. A statement by Salameh dismissed any allegations about transfers by him, his brother or assistant as “fabrications.” He threatened to sue anyone who spreads them with harmful intent. The investigation is looking into $400 million allegedly transferred out of Lebanon, despite tight restrictions, by Salameh, his brother, his assistant and financial institutions linked to the central bank, the source said. The allegations were first carried by Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper.
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) confirmed it had “sent through official channels a request for mutual legal assistance to the competent authorities in Lebanon.” In the statement, the OAG did not mention any suspects, but said its request was linked to its “investigation for aggravated money laundering… in connection with possible embezzlement to the detriment of the Banque du Liban (central bank).”It said it would provide no further comments on the case for the time being. According to the Lebanese judicial source, Judge Ghassan Oueidat received the request “directly from the Swiss embassy in Beirut.”The request did not include documents or evidence proving allegations but listed questions the judiciary should ask Salameh and others linked to the case, according to the source. “The letter was sent to the judiciary in an unusual way, outside regular diplomatic channels,” the judicial source added.
“Shady dealings”
The investigation was first reported on Tuesday by Al-Akhbar, a staunch critic of the long-time Central Bank governor. According to the daily, the probe is part of a wider effort spearheaded by France, Britain and the United States to investigate “shady dealings” by Lebanese officials, including Salameh. Lebanese political sources said the investigation will not be limited to the Central Bank chief, who at one point believed that he was above suspicion, and who already has significant wealth he accumulated from his work in the financial sector with American firm Merrill Lynch and other companies.
Salameh’s role has come under scrutiny as foreign donors demanded a Central Bank audit and he turned into a focus of anger for protesters last year.
The same sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that European countries have been encouraging Switzerland to prompt questions in Lebanon and elsewhere in order to reveal the sources of the wealth of some Lebanese politicians and officials deposited in European banks.
The most recent investigation comes as Lebanon grapples with its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 80% of its value against the dollar on the black market and banks have halted dollar transactions to shore up dwindling foreign currency reserves.
Salameh and the country’s elite have been widely accused of stashing their dollars in foreign accounts to evade capital controls. This has sparked calls abroad and at home for efforts to return deposits to Lebanon, which is in desperate need of foreign currency. Salameh has pledged to investigate money transfers that took place since the country introduced banking restrictions.
Last year, he said in an interview with the France 24 news channel that $1 billion had been stashed abroad. Lebanon in 2020 said it filed a request to Geneva to help track funds transferred to Swiss accounts. But Swiss authorities have not complied with the request, the judicial source said. Political sources in Lebanon did not rule out that parties linked to Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the son-in-law of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, could be behind the leaking of the news about Salameh. Justice minister Najm, the sources noted, is herself affiliated with the FPM. The sources explained that Bassil has been trying to “discredit” any Maronite political figure that might have the chance to secure the presidency in 2022. The same sources indicated that Bassil still considers himself the only person qualified to be the next president, as head of the largest Christian bloc in the Lebanese parliament. However, the sources noted that the president’s son-in-law’s actions make him appear to be totally oblivious of the existence of US sanctions imposed against him under the Magnitsky Act.
 

French interests hang in balance as Paris faces impasse in Libya
Mona El-Mahrouki/The Arab Weekly/January 20/2021
Paris now hopes for the arrival of a new friendly authority that may help it achieve part of its economic ambitions in Libya.
TUNIS – The ceasefire in Libya has managed to dispel some of France’s concerns. In all cases, the continuation of the war would have been unfavourable to Paris, especially after Russia and Turkey entered the conflict. It remains unknown, however, whether efforts to reach a settlement will succeed in stabilising the North African country in light of the ongoing military build-up.
Paris now hopes for the arrival of a new friendly authority that may help it achieve part of its economic ambitions in Libya — the same ambitions it failed to achieve during the decade that followed the overthrow of the Libyan regime of late ruler Muammar Gadhafi.
French officials welcomed the ceasefire, and placed their bet on Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh after distancing Paris from its former support for Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
There are two reasons behind France’s move to abandon Haftar. The first is Haftar’s failure to succeed with the military option Paris initially supported. France’s move to back the LNA at the time was evidenced by the Government of National Accord (GNA) militias’ finding French Javelin missiles at a base south of Tripoli. This support was also reflected by France’s objection to the issuance of a European statement condemning the LNA’s attack on Tripoli.
The second reason behind France’s move to abandon Haftar is Russia’s involvement in the conflict. Over the past few months, France, in coordination with Egypt and the US Embassy in Libya, in addition to the UN’s mission, has pushed Saleh to the forefront and marginalised Haftar, who grew increasingly isolated, with foreign visits to the city of Al-Rajma near Benghazi decreasing.
Saleh is one of the candidates to head the new Presidential Council, in return for Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha taking over the position of prime minister. This formula, however, is strongly opposed by Ankara, especially after the visits Bashagha made to France and Egypt.
A month ago, France was among the international players to support the Saleh-Bashagha’s proposal, but the task now appears to have become more complicated following successive Turkish statements confirming the dispatch of Saleh’s envoy, Abdul Salam Al-Badri, to Ankara, where he was received by a Turkish official in the city of Qubbah.
If the Turkish statements prove accurate, this means Saleh has provided guarantees to Turkey that its interests in Libya will not be compromised, and more importantly, reassured Ankara that it will not review the controversial maritime border demarcation agreement.
Such developments may be behind Paris’s move to summon Saleh last week. A day before his visit to France, Saleh was forced to deny the Turkish statements. Now, however, there is talk of another scenario, according to which the current head of the Presidency Council Fayez al-Sarraj will retain his post and a prime minister from the east will be appointed. Such a scenario casts new doubt on the validity of the Turkish statements.
Last month, some media sources reported Italian mediation between Sarraj and Haftar. Italian newspaper La Repubblica said that Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and his Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio informed Haftar during their visit to Benghazi of a proposal by Sarraj that stipulates that Sarraj would retain his post in exchange for appointing a prime minister from the eastern region.
The GNA denied the report by the Italian newspaper, and the escalating rivalry between Sarraj and Bashagha increased doubts about the veracity of the news.
Meanwhile, UN Acting Envoy to Libya Stephanie Williams in Geneva is making a second attempt to form a new executive authority after the failure of the Tunis talks, a failure that bears the hallmarks of Turkey, especially after Ankara-aligned figures suspended their participation in the talks, preventing the meeting from reaching a quorum required to vote on proposals for the voting mechanism to select members of the new authority.
Despite the news that emerged on Saturday about Williams’ success in persuading the advisory committee of the Dialogue Forum to reach an agreement to choose a new executive authority, the implementation of the understandings will likely be obstructed in favour of Sarraj retaining his post.
If such a scenario materialises, France will surely lose in its risky gamble to restore some of its influence amid the continued presence of Turkey and Russia.
The withdrawal of mercenaries also seems to be a far-fetched goal, especially in light of Turkey’s continued mobilisation by sending arms shipments, which threaten to cause a new war to break out, this time between Russia and Turkey.
France, which was one of the main countries to support the overthrow of the former regime, driven by economic ambitions that Gadhafi was impeding, is now facing Russia’s presence in Libya, which threatens France’s remaining influence in the east and south of the country.
The reality on the ground has recently prompted Paris to improve its relationship with the GNA, with the hope of achieving some interests in the Western region, perhaps most importantly the revival of the gas exploration deal in the Nalut Basin, which was signed and then cancelled during the era of Gadhafi and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In recent weeks, some reports revealed the deployment of a number of Wagner mercenaries in Brak al-Shati base in southern Libya. The reports also spoke of the mercenaries’ control of Al-Jufra base amid conflicting news about Russian presence in Sirte.
Sirte is of strategic importance to the French, who aspire to control its port, with the aim of creating a trade line linking Africa and Europe. Talk about such a project became frequent after the overthrow of the Gadhafi regime, amid news of a French plan to make Sirte an independent region under the appellation of greater Sirte. But that plan was apparently rejected by the authority in Tripoli, which was dominated by Islamists at the time and aligned with French rivals such as the United States, Britain and Italy.
 

US dollar exchange rate: Buying price at LBP 3850, selling price at LBP 3900
NNA/Wednesday 20 January 2021
The Money Changers Syndicate announced in a statement addressed to money changing companies and institutions, Wednesday’s USD exchange rate against the Lebanese pound as follows:
Buying price at a minimum of LBP 3850
Selling price at a maximum of LBP 3900

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 20-21/2021

New day in America: Joe Biden sworn in as 46th US president
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday 20 January 2021
Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States Wednesday, a day which he said was one of “history and hope.”“This is democracy’s day,” Biden said during his inaugural speech. “We have much to repair ... and much to gain,” he said from the steps of the US Capitol. “We have never, ever, ever, ever failed in America when we’ve acted together. Let’s begin to listen to one another, hear one another, see one another, show respect to one another...”“Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war. We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured,” he said in an apparent dig at his predecessor. Biden extended a hand to those who did not vote for him and said, “If you still disagree, so be it. That’s democracy.” But, he added, “Hear me clearly … I will be a president for all Americans.”“I promise you I will fight as hard for those who did not support as those who did,” he said. Earlier, Biden tweeted that it was a “new day in America” shortly after attending a mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington.
Alliances around the world
Biden said that the US had been tested, but “we've come out stronger for it.”“We will repair our alliances and engage with the world, once again,” the US president said. Trump has been accused of disrupting Washington’s ties with traditional allies, including European states.
Absent Trump
Outgoing President Donald Trump left the White House earlier and headed to his resort in Florida. Trump left behind a farewell letter to his successor, despite being the first president in modern history to skip his successor’s inauguration. The US capital was exceptionally empty Wednesday after a “Green Zone” was set up to prevent security incidents. This came after the Jan. 6 riot and raiding of the Capitol by Trump supporters. Trump, who was impeached for a second time by Congress last week, has claimed that the presidential election was rigged and “stolen” by Biden and the Democrats. Biden and Harris were sworn in in front of the US Capitol building. Later Wednesday, Biden is expected to sign at least 15 executive orders to reverse several Trump-era policies. This includes the notorious Muslim travel ban, reentering the Paris Climate Deal, and coronavirus response policies.
Biden is also expected to send a bill to Congress that would allow millions of illegal immigrants living in the US to have a road to citizenship.
Making history
Meanwhile, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris made history after becoming the first female vice president and the first Black vice president in the US. Harris, 56, was most recently a senator from California. She took the oath of office from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. And Biden will make history by becoming the oldest US president. He is 78 years old.

Inauguration live updates: Biden calls for end to 'uncivil war'
Yahoo News/Wed., January 20, 2021
Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Kamala Harris made history as the first woman, Black woman and Asian woman to be sworn in as vice president. President Trump did not attend the inauguration, becoming the first president since 1869 to skip the swearing-in of his successor. In his inaugural address, Biden called for unity. "Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path," the new president said. "We must end this uncivil war."
 

World Leaders Welcome U.S. Transfer of Power
Agence France Presse/January 20/2021
World leaders said they were looking forward to Wednesday's transfer of power in the United States, where Democrat Joe Biden will be sworn in as president after four turbulent years under Donald Trump.
European Union
Top EU officials voiced relief that they would soon have a friend in the White House again. "Let's build a new founding pact for a stronger Europe, for a stronger America and for a better world," said Charles Michel, president of the European Council. "This time-honored ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol will be a demonstration of the resilience of American democracy," added European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"And the resounding proof that, once again, after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House."
Iran
President Hassan Rouhani did not miss the opportunity to hail the departure of "tyrant" Trump, with Tehran repeatedly calling on Washington to lift sanctions imposed over its nuclear drive. Biden's administration wants the United States back in the landmark Iran nuclear accord which Trump withdrew from, conditional on Tehran's return to strict compliance. A "tyrant's era came to an end and today is the final day of his ominous reign," Rouhani said. "We expect (the Biden administration) to return to law and to commitments, and try in the next four years, if they can, to remove the stains of the past four years."
NATO
NATO said it hoped to boost transatlantic ties under Biden. "We look forward to working with President-elect @JoeBiden to further strengthen ties between the #UnitedStates & #Europe, as we face global challenges none of us can tackle alone," the military alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
Russia
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia will seek "good relations with the United States," but whether or not Washington works toward the same goal will "depend on Mr. Biden and his team." Despite disagreements surrounding conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, as well as U.S. election meddling and hacking allegations against Russia, the countries will be in a race to extend a landmark nuclear weapons accord shortly after Biden is sworn in. The 2010 New START treaty -- the last remaining nuclear pact between the countries -- limits both sides to 1,500 nuclear warheads each and is set to expire February 5. Peskov said President Vladimir Putin has "consistently" advocated for the preservation of the treaty and it was now up to Washington to preserve the pact.
Germany
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, Europe's biggest economy, said he is "greatly relieved" that Biden was replacing Trump as U.S. president.
America's institutions had proven their strength in the face of "great tests" and "hostility" during Trump's term, he added, calling it a "good day for democracy."
Germany looked forward "to knowing we again have the U.S. at our side as an indispensable partner" in addressing "the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, security issues, arms control and disarmament, and many urgent conflicts around the world."
France
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said Biden's commitments to rejoin the World Health Organization, which leads the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Paris climate treaty are "extremely important" following Trump's exit from them. "We are impatient to build with President Biden a strong, useful and renewed relationship," Attal said after a cabinet meeting. "We have aims and colossal challenges to take together." - Spain -The spokesman for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said "Biden's victory represents the victory of democracy over the extreme right". "Five years ago we believed without doubt that Trump was a bad joke. Five years later, we realize that he endangered the world's most powerful democracy."
Britain
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was looking forward to "working closely" with Biden. Johnson, who has faced criticism over his close relationship with Trump, cited a host of policy areas in which he hoped to collaborate with Biden.
"In our fight against Covid and across climate change, defense, security and in promoting and defending democracy, our goals are the same and our nations will work hand in hand to achieve them," he said.

Trump Decorates Bahrain King on Last Full Day in Office
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/January 20/2021
US President Donald Trump bestowed a rare award on King Hamad of Bahrain on Tuesday, acknowledging the Gulf state's normalisation of ties with Israel on his last full day in office. Trump, who sees Arab recognition of Israel as a key overseas achievement of his presidency, already conferred the same award on King Mohammed VI of Morocco last week for his move to restore ties. Announcing his bestowal of the Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander, on King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Trump also paid tribute to Bahrain's hosting of a June 2019 conference on the economic dimensions of his controversial Middle East peace plan, which broke with decades of international consensus and was boycotted by the Palestinians. "King Hamad has shown extraordinary courage and leadership through his support of the Vision for Peace and his decision to establish full diplomatic relations with the State of Israel," the official Bahrain News Agency quoted Trump as saying. "King Hamad has challenged old assumptions about the possibility for peace in the region, and in doing so, positively reshaped the landscape of the Middle East for generations," Trump added. Just across the Gulf from Iran, Bahrain is a longstanding Western ally which is home to the US Fifth Fleet. In 2011, with support from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the Sunni ruling family crushed month-long Shiite-led protests for an elected prime minister. It has since banned the two main opposition parties and thrown dozens of dissidents in jail. The Legion of Merit is a military award that was created to honour allied leaders in World War II and had gone into obscurity until it was revived by Trump, who last month also presented it to the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan. On Wednesday at noon, President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in and the Trump presidency will be over.

Iran Says 'Ball in America's Court' on Nuclear Deal
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 January, 2021
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday hailed the White House departure of "tyrant" Donald Trump, saying that "the ball is in America's court" to return to a landmark nuclear deal and lift sanctions on Tehran. Trump is due to leave office later in the day making way for President-elect Joe Biden, whose team has signaled a willingness to return to dialogue with Tehran. A "tyrant's era came to an end and today is the final day of his ominous reign," Rouhani said in televised remarks to his cabinet. He labelled Trump "someone for whom all of his four years bore no fruit other than injustice and corruption and causing problems for his own people and the world".During his presidency, Trump led a campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran, pulling Washington out of a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018 and reimposing punishing sanctions. The sanctions targeted Iran's vital oil sales and international banking ties, plunging its economy into a deep recession. The nuclear deal, agreed between major powers and Iran in 2015 when Biden was vice president under Barack Obama, imposed clear limits on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
Since 2019, Tehran has suspended its compliance with most of the limits set by the agreement in response to Washington's abandonment of sanctions relief and the failure of the other parties to make up for it. Rouhani said Trump's political career had "died ... but the JCPOA is alive," referring to the agreement's official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. "He did all he could to destroy the JCPOA but could not. "We expect (the Biden administration) to return to law and to commitments, and try in the next four years, if they can, to remove the stains of the past four years," AFP quoted him as saying.
Biden's pick for secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, said at a Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday that Trump's policies had made Iran "more dangerous". Blinken confirmed Biden's desire for Washington to return to the nuclear agreement, but said that was conditional on Tehran's return to strict compliance with its commitments. Tehran has repeatedly called on Washington to lift sanctions first and respect its own obligations under the agreement. It has said it will then return to full compliance. "Mr. Biden should know that his responsibility is to lift these sanctions," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters after the cabinet meeting. Rouhani too said "the ball is in America's court" and emphasized that when Washington starts to carry out its commitments "we too will act on our commitments". "If they return to the law, our response will be positive as well."

Britain Says Working to Release Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Other Dual Nationals in Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 January, 2021
Britain is working "virtually around the clock" to secure the release of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals held in Tehran, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday. "We're working virtually around the clock to secure the release of all the dual nationals that concern us in Tehran ... We're doing everything we can to secure the (end to) what we regard as the completely unjustified detention in Tehran of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe," he told parliament.

At Least Two Dead as a Huge Blast Rocks Madrid Building
Agence France Presse/January 20/2021
At least two people were killed on Wednesday when a huge explosion ripped through a building in Madrid, in what appeared to be caused by a gas leak, officials said. The emergency services tweeted that two people had died, while another person was seriously injured and six had suffered light injuries in the blast. "It seems there was a gas explosion in the building," mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida told reporters at the scene, where hundreds of police and rescuers filled the streets. The incident occurred in a building next door to an elderly care home, but no-one there was hurt, La Paloma residence said in a statement on its website. Images from the scene showed the walls on the top four or five stories had been blown out, with debris littered far and wide. Nine fire crews and 11 ambulances were dispatched to the scene with hundreds of police and rescuers filling the street, which was completely closed off to traffic and pedestrians, AFP correspondents said. "At least four floors have been affected by the explosion in the building in Calle Toledo," the emergency services tweeted.Images broadcast on Spanish television showed cars destroyed by the blast and smoke billowing from the top floor of a building. "The noise was very loud, very loud, really," Lorenzo Fomento, a 43-year-old Italian salesman who was working from home at a nearby apartment, told AFP by telephone.
"I never heard something as loud before," he added.

Netanyahu Courts Arab Voters in Election-year Turnabout
Associated Press/January 20/2021
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spent much of his long career casting Israel's Arab minority as a potential fifth column led by terrorist sympathizers, is now openly courting their support as he seeks reelection in the country's fourth vote in less than two years.Few Arabs are likely to heed his call, underscoring the desperation of Netanyahu's political somersault. But the relative absence of incitement against the community in this campaign and the potential breakup of an Arab party alliance could dampen turnout — to Netanyahu's advantage. He might even pick up just enough votes to swing a tight election.
Either way, Netanyahu's overtures have shaken up the Arab community. The Joint List, an alliance of Arab parties that secured a record 15 seats in the 120-member Knesset last March, is riven by a dispute over whether it should work with Netanyahu's right-wing Likud at a time when less objectionable center-left parties are in disarray. Its demise would leave the community with even less representation as it confronts a terrifying crime wave, coronavirus-fueled unemployment and persistent inequality. But given the complexities of Israel's coalition system, a breakaway Arab party could gain outsized influence if it is willing to work with Netanyahu or other traditionally hostile leaders.
The struggle was on vivid display last week when Netanyahu traveled to Nazareth, the largest Arab-majority city in Israel, his third visit to an Arab district in less than two weeks. Outside the venue, dozens of people, including a number of Arab members of parliament, protested his visit and scuffled with police, even as the city's mayor welcomed and praised him. "Netanyahu came like a thief to try to scrape together votes from the Arab street," said Aida Touma-Suleiman, a prominent lawmaker from the Joint List. "Your attempt to dismantle our community from within won't succeed." Arabs make up around 20% of Israel's population. They have full citizenship, including the right to vote, and have a large and growing presence in universities, the health care sector and other professions. But they face widespread discrimination and blame lax Israeli law enforcement for a rising wave of violent crime in their communities. They have close familial ties to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and largely identify with their cause. That has led many Jews to view them as sympathetic to Israel's enemies, sentiments fanned by Netanyahu and other right-wing politicians.
On the eve of elections in 2015, Netanyahu warned his supporters that Arabs were voting in "droves." During back-to-back elections in 2019, his campaign sent poll observers to Arab districts and pushed for cameras in voting booths, in what critics said was a ploy to intimidate Arab voters and whip up false allegations of election fraud. Those moves backfired spectacularly.
The Joint List, an unwieldy alliance of Islamists, communists and other leftists, boosted turnout and emerged as one of the largest blocs in parliament. At times, it looked like it might help deny Netanyahu a majority coalition or even emerge as the official opposition. But last May, after three deadlocked elections in less than a year, Netanyahu formed a coalition with his main rival and the Joint List was left out in the cold. In the coming election, polls indicate a coalition of right-wing and centrist parties committed to ending Netanyahu's nearly 12-year rule would be able to oust him without the Arab bloc.
No Arab party has ever asked or been invited to join a ruling coalition. In Nazareth, Netanyahu claimed his remarks in 2015 were misinterpreted — that he was merely warning Arab voters not to support the Joint List. "All Israel's citizens, Jews and Arabs alike, must vote," he said. In other Arab towns, he has visited coronavirus vaccination centers, boasting about his success in securing millions of doses and encouraging residents to get inoculated. Netanyahu's Arab outreach seems to have given a green light to centrist and left-leaning politicians to do the same, with less concern that their right-wing rivals will use it against them. Opposition leader Yair Lapid, Netanyahu's main center-left opponent, said over the weekend that he was open to forming a government with external support from the Joint List. The Joint List is meanwhile showing signs of breaking up. Mansour Abbas, the head of an Islamist party, has expressed openness in recent months to working with Netanyahu to address issues like housing and law enforcement. An aide to Abbas declined requests for an interview.
A full-scale breakup of the Joint List could further reduce turnout and potentially leave one or more of its four parties with too little support to cross the electoral threshold.
Thabet Abu Rass, the co-director of the Abraham Initiatives, which works to promote equality among Jews and Arabs, says Netanyahu may attract a small number of Arab voters, but that far more of them would simply boycott the election. "They are waiting to see if there is going to be a Joint List or not, and if you ask me, it's not going to happen," he said. "There are a lot of deep differences this time."A poll carried out in December forecast Arab turnout at around 55%, far lower than the 65% seen last March. Although Arab parties have historically performed worse on their own, some feel the parties might be more effective individually. In Israel's political system — which requires would-be prime ministers to assemble majority coalitions — small parties often wield outsized influence. "When we speak about the Palestinian community in Israel, we don't speak about one bloc, we have different ideologies," said Nijmeh Ali, a policy analyst at Al-Shabaka, an international Palestinian think tank. "Sometimes you need to break up in order to gain power."Netanyahu appears to be focused on the margins ahead of a tight race that could determine not only whether he remains in office, but whether he secures immunity from prosecution on multiple corruption charges. With only a few seats, a pragmatic politician like Abbas could determine Netanyahu's fate. "This is the new thing in Arab politics," said Arik Rudnitzky, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. "They are ready to hold direct negotiations with Likud." He said it doesn't mean they will be part of a governing coalition, but they could offer outside support to secure benefits for the Arab public. "It might be a win-win situation," he said.

UN Chief Urges Foreign Fighters Leave Libya by Saturday
Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 20 January, 2021
The UN chief is urging the departure of all foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libya by Saturday as called for in the Oct. 23 ceasefire agreement signed by the warring sides after years of fighting split the oil-rich North African nation in two. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also urges the Government of National Accord (GNA) that holds sway in the capital, Tripoli, in western Libya and the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces of commander Khalifa Haftar who run most of the east and the south, “to maintain their resolve in reaching a lasting political solution to the conflict, resolving economic issues and alleviating the humanitarian situation.”In a report to the UN Security Council obtained Tuesday, Guterres welcomed the roadmap adopted by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum -- 75 representatives from the country’s political and social spectrum -- leading to presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24, 2021. Guterres encouraged countries backing both sides and the broader international community to support implementation of the ceasefire “without delay,” including “ensuring the departure of all foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libya, and the full and unconditional respect of the Security Council arms embargo” against Libya. He also urged the Security Council to give the UN political mission, known as UNSMIL, “a clear but flexible mandate” to support a Libyan-led mechanism to monitor implementation of the ceasefire. Diplomats said a council resolution outlining the UN role will likely be circulated in late January or early February. In early January, Guterres recommended that international monitors be deployed to Libya under a UN umbrella to observe the October ceasefire agreement from a base in the strategic city of Sirte, the gateway to the country’s major oil fields and export terminals.He said an advance team should be sent to Tripoli as a first step to “provide the foundations for a scalable United Nations ceasefire monitoring mechanism based in Sirte.”The secretary-general expressed concern at the continuing threat of terrorism and violent extremism in the Libyan region, saying that reunifying the country’s security institutions would contribute “to mitigating the risk” of ISIS and other terrorist and extremist groups reconstituting. “Though operationally weakened as a result of a series of counter-terrorism operations, ISIS ... and a support network of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) remain a threat in Libya,” he said.
Guterres said the role of UN member nations and regional organizations, including the African Union, European Union and Arab League, “is critical.” Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit told the Security Council on Monday that recent events “could bring us closer to ending the division in this important Arab country.” He urged that foreign fighters and mercenaries be removed by Saturday’s deadline, and urged a solution to the threat posed by armed groups and militias. He warned that unless this happens “the country will not enjoy any stability nor will any agreement on the transitional phase and the preparation for the upcoming elections survive.” Aboul Gheit pledged Arab League support to the UN in monitoring the ceasefire agreement and in preparing for and observing December’s elections.

Iran's Rouhani Hails Departure of 'Tyrant' Trump
Agence France Presse/January 20/2021
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday hailed the departure of "tyrant" US counterpart Donald Trump, who is due to leave office later in the day making way for President-elect Joe Biden. A "tyrant's era came to an end and today is the final day of his ominous reign," Rouhani said in televised remarks to his cabinet. "Someone for whom all of his four years bore no fruit other than injustice and corruption and causing problems for his own people and the world." During his presidency, Trump led a campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran, pulling Washington out of a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018 and reimposing punishing sanctions. The sanctions targeted Iran's vital oil sales and international banking ties, plunging its economy into a deep recession. Agreed between major powers and Iran in 2015 when Biden was vice president under Barack Obama, the nuclear deal imposed clear limits on Iran's activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions. Since 2019, Tehran has suspended its compliance with most of the limits set by the agreement in response to Washington's abandonment of sanctions relief and the failure of other parties to the deal to make up for it. Biden's pick for secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, said at a Senate confirmation hearing that Trump's policies had made Iran "more dangerous." Blinken confirmed Biden's desire for Washington to return to the nuclear agreement, but said that was conditional on Tehran's return to strict compliance with its commitments. Tehran has repeatedly called on Washington to lift sanctions first and respect its own obligations under the agreement.It has said it will then immediately return to full compliance.
 

EU Sighs with Relief as Biden Readies to Enter White House
Associated Press/January 20/2021
The European Union's top officials breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday that Joe Biden will be taking over as president of the United States, but they warned that the world has changed after four years of Donald Trump and that trans-Atlantic ties will be different in the future. "This new dawn in America is the moment we've been awaiting for so long," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, hailing Biden's arrival as "resounding proof that, once again after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House." "The United States are back, and Europe stands ready to reconnect with an old and trusted partner to breathe new life into our cherished alliance," she told EU lawmakers, hours before Biden was to be sworn in at his inauguration ceremony in Washington. European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs summits between the EU's 27 heads of state and government, said that trans-Atlantic relations have "greatly suffered in the last four years. In these years, the world has grown more complex, less stable and less predictable." "We have our differences and they will not magically disappear. America seems to have changed, and how it's perceived in Europe and the rest of the world has also changed," said Michel, whose open criticism of the Trump era contrasted starkly with the silence that mostly reigned in Europe while the Republican leader was in the White House.This change, Michel said, means "that we Europeans (must) take our fate firmly into our own hands, to defend our interests and promote our values," and he underlined that "the EU chooses its course and does not wait for permission to take its own decisions." The Europeans have invited Biden to a summit, quite probably in Brussels, in parallel with a top-level NATO meeting as soon as he's ready. Michel said the EU's priority is to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, rebuild the global economy and boost security ties with America.
 

China Dismisses Pompeo Uighur Genocide Claim as 'Outrageous Lies'
Agence France Presse/January 20/2021
China on Wednesday dismissed the United States' declaration that Beijing was committing genocide against Uighurs and other minorities as "outrageous lies" and "poison".Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying blamed Washington's declaration of genocide on outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accusing him of fabricating "sensational false propositions" throughout his term in office.

Iran parades missiles and drones while Qatar talks reconciliation
The Arab Weekly/January 20/2021
Doha – The new call by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani for talks between Arab Gulf states and Iran has raised questions among experts about the rationale for such a call while Tehran continues to proceed with exercises and parades of long-range missiles and drones that threaten Gulf security, and about the logic of Doha attempting to expand the circle of reconciliation to include Iran. The Qatari foreign minister told Bloomberg TV Tuesday he was “hopeful" that this dialogue "would happen and we still believe this should happen." He went on to say, “This is also a desire that’s shared by other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries."“Qatar will facilitate negotiations, if asked by stakeholders, and will support whoever is chosen to do so,” added Sheikh Mohammed. The Qatari statements were made two weeks after a Gulf reconciliation summit that ended the long-running dispute between Qatar and the Arab quartet (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain) that erupted three and a half years ago. Gulf affairs analysts believe that the new Qatari call for talks with Iran is not backed by facts on the ground, especially as there have been no public statements by Gulf states expressing a desire to engage in dialogue with Iran, particularly Saudi Arabia, which is directly concerned by Iran. Analysts instead see a stark contradiction between this call and recent developments, which come as Iran threatens the security of the Gulf and of international shipping, as well as threatening oil exports through an endless show of force. Over the past few days, Iran has conducted a series of exercises to project its determination to pursue its endless arms race and has shown hardly any interest in de-escalation with its neighbours.
On Tuesday, the Iranian army's ground force launched ground exercises on the coast of Makran, south-east of Iran. On Saturday, Tehran announced the testing of long-range ballistic missiles, aimed at attacking aircraft carriers and warships. Before that, it held exercises that displayed its drones, ratcheting up tensions and sparking renewed concern in the Gulf. The show of force illustrated by the exercises could not be interpreted as a message solely to Saudi Arabia, a regional power whose interests contradict Iran's. Rather, the message seemed directed at the entire region, including those who defend Iran and its nuclear programme, push for dialogue with it and have opposed outgoing US President Trump's decision to pressure Iran through sanctions.
What analysts have noted since the launch of the Gulf reconciliation initiative is Qatar's insistence on making Iran part of this reconciliation, despite the clear warnings issued by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed at the Al-Ula summit about Iran's imminent threat to the region.
The Saudi crown prince stressed at the Gulf summit the need to "unify our efforts in order to advance our region and confront the challenges that surround us, especially the threats posed by the Iranian regime's nuclear programme, its ballistic missile programme and its destructive projects."
Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, have rejected many previous calls from the Iranian regime for dialogue, describing them as mere token gestures that do not indicate any change in Iranian policies, which have long threatened the stability of the region and the security of its countries.
Observers wonder why Doha is motivated to push a reconciliation initiative with Iran at this particular juncture, knowing that it is unlikely to yield any results except maybe reflect Qatar's eagerness to promote an image of a country with international initiatives and diplomatic influence.
Qatar does not hide its desire to reward countries, such as Iran and Turkey, that have stood by it during the boycott by including them in the reconciliation process and trying to bring them advantages. The announcement of Qatar’s position towards Iran was made just days before US President-elect Joe Biden was to arrive at the White House. Biden has promised to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and to back away from the "maximum pressure" campaign Washington has conducted against Tehran with the backing of Saudi Arabia.
With regard to possible talks between the United States and Iran, the Qatari foreign minister said, "We want the achievement. We want to see this agreement, and we will support whoever leads these negotiations." It is clear that, through this initiative, Doha is offering its services to the Biden administration as a party capable of exerting regional influence. This echoes its role during the administration of former US President Barack Obama, during which Qatar showed the influence it wielded over militant Islamist groups, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, working to position them to lead the "Arab spring" in tune with Washington's policies of the time.But the experiment later failed, and the alliance with Islamists caused many problems for Qatar, perhaps most prominently leading to its neighbours' decision to boycott it for more than three years.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 20-21/2021

Treasury Sanctions Egyptian Terrorists Harbored by Turkey
Aykan Erdemir/Policy Brief/January 20/2021
The U.S. Department of the Treasury last Thursday designated two Egyptian terrorists based in Turkey for “being leaders of HASM,” the acronym for Harakat Sawa’d Misr (Arms of Egypt Movement), which Treasury first sanctioned in 2018. The new designations – the fourth set since April 2019 targeting a Turkey-based terrorist network – expose the extent to which radical Islamists thrive in the permissive environment Ankara has cultivated.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Department of State designated HASM itself as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, stepping up sanctions against the militant organization, which State had placed on its Specially Designated Global Terrorist list in January 2018. HASM, established in 2015, first surfaced in July 2016 by claiming responsibility for the assassination of a senior police investigator in Fayoum, a town southwest of Cairo. The Egyptian government accuses HASM of being the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, whereas the State Department described it as a “violent splinter group,” some of whose leaders “were previously associated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.”
Following a January 2017 shootout with the Egyptian police on the outskirts of Cairo, which left a police officer and a senior HASM militant dead, the organization reportedly declared a new phase, “jihad and resistance,” against the Egyptian government. Over the years, HASM claimed responsibility for the assassination of an Egyptian National Security Agency officer, a failed assassination attempt against Egypt’s former grand mufti, a car bomb that killed at least 20 people outside of a Cairo hospital, and the bombing of Myanmar’s Embassy in Egypt. One of the group’s foiled plots involved attacks during Christmas celebrations.
Alaa Ali Ali Mohammed al-Samahi and Yahya al-Sayyid Ibrahim Musa, the two HASM leaders designated last Thursday, first appeared on a list of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated terrorists the Arab quartet – Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab of Emirates – announced in November 2017. The next month, the United Kingdom designated HASM as a terrorist organization alongside Liwa al-Thawra (The Revolution Brigade), which was similarly formed, according to The New York Times, by “disaffected Brotherhood members.” HASM has never openly identified with the Muslim Brotherhood, and in December 2016, Turkey’s semi-official Anadolu News Agency reported that a Brotherhood spokesperson denied having any links to HASM.
According to the State Department, while Musa and Samahi are both based in Turkey, the latter also has an operational role and “participated in attacking planning, to include target selection, and manages aspects of the group’s finances and allocation of funds.” The Treasury designation shows that Musa has a Turkish passport, which would have facilitated his activities by providing him visa-free travel to 110 countries.
Last August, days after Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted senior Hamas leaders in Istanbul, Roey Gilad, Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Turkey, criticized Ankara for providing passports to a dozen Hamas members, which an exposé by The Telegraph first revealed. Following Erdogan’s meeting with the Hamas leaders, the State Department registered its first serious objection to such outreach, highlighting that two of the individuals in the Hamas delegation – senior military leader Saleh al-Arouri and senior political leader Ismail Haniyeh – are Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The United States has also issued a “Rewards for Justice” bounty for information leading to the arrest or capture of Arouri, who was responsible for the June 2014 kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank, sparking a war between Israel and Hamas.
Besides providing passports, Turkey also aids extremists by continuing to host Muslim Brotherhood satellite television channels that incite violence, including the killing of Egyptian officials and immolation of LGBTI individuals.
Under the Biden administration, the United States should continue to pressure the Erdogan government to stop harboring, aiding, and abetting Islamist militants. Since 2019, Washington has designated numerous Turkey-based entities and individuals affiliated with a wide range of jihadist organizations, including al-Qaeda, Hamas, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, and the Islamic State, as well as HASM.
In a December 2019 conversation with The New York Times editorial board, President-elect Joe Biden called Erdogan an “autocrat” and added, “He has to pay a price.” Continuing the steady stream of designations issued over the last two years would be a good start to hold the Erdogan government accountable. The Biden administration’s likely move to pressure the Egyptian government for its human rights record should not preclude Washington from pursuing these sorts of designations, based on facts and designed to benefit the region by diminishing the influence of violent actors.
**Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish parliament and senior director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he also contributes to FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). For more analysis from Aykan, the Turkey Program, and CEFP, please subscribe HERE. Follow Aykan on Twitter @aykan_erdemir. Follow FDD on Twitter @FDD and @FDD_CEFP. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Author, Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, from Iran who claimed to be independent expert in foreign affairs was secretly an agent for his native country, U.S. officials allege
Shayna Jacobs/The Washington Post/January 20/2021
NEW YORK — An author who has presented himself as a foreign relations expert and political scientist was really a paid mouthpiece for the Iranian government and has been charged with violating the law requiring foreign agents to register with the U.S. government, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, an Iranian-born veteran academic who has been a lawful resident of the United States for more than 35 years and who received his education in this country, was taken into custody by FBI agents in Massachusetts on charges that he violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires individuals working as agents in the United States on behalf of foreign countries to register.
Since 2007, 63-year-old Afrasiabi has “derived a significant portion of his income from compensation for services performed at the direction and under the control” of the Iranian government, answering to officials at the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, in Manhattan, according to an arrest warrant affidavit and criminal complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn.
The complaint against Afrasiabi notes that FARA is in place “to prevent covert influence . . . by foreign principals” in the United States. Agents of other governments are required to disclose their activities and payments that are issued to them for their work on behalf of other nations.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York is handling the case. Afrasiabi is expected to be transferred to New York to face charges. Many payments from the mission to Afrasiabi were processed by a financial institution in Queens. From July 2007 to November 2020, he allegedly received at least $265,000 and was provided with other benefits as an employee of the mission.
Officials allege that, taking directions from press secretaries at the mission, Afrasiabi frequently did interviews with news outlets including Al Jazeera. In 2009, he was the subject of an online Q&A hosted by The Washington Post. The Post has also published letters to the editor submitted by Afrasiabi.
While working as a secret spokesperson for the Iranian government, he was paid and received health-care benefits from Iran, according to investigators. His assignments included opining on Iran’s nuclear policy in discussions with U.S. officials, while presenting himself as an independent expert, officials said.
Afrasiabi’s role as an employee of Iran was not disclosed in 2009 when he assisted a U.S. congressman, who was not identified in court papers, in drafting a letter to President Barack Obama promoting a fuel swap agreement that Iran had proposed. He was identified in that letter only as “a former professor at Tehran University and a former adviser to the Iranian nuclear negotiation team,” the complaint continues.
Some of Afrasiabi’s efforts involved trying to pry sensitive information from Americans, officials said in court documents.
He allegedly emailed a State Department official asking for “the administration’s latest thinking” on the “Iran nuclear issue,” also without revealing the nature of his relationship to Iran, according to the documents.
Afrasiabi also allegedly continued communications with the elected official's office for years, in an attempt to advance the agenda of Iran’s government. In one letter with a contact at the mission, he complained that his progress was stalled because the U.S. government “is in the palms of zionists.”
From affiliates at the Iranian mission, he allegedly sought approval and guidance on articles, books and interviews that he did under the guise of being an academic in the field, not an employee of Iran. When a deputy ambassador told him to make edits to an article he submitted to a publication to steer away from subjects that were seen as harmful to Iran, Afrasiabi complied.
According to a 1996 article in the Harvard Crimson, Afrasiabi sued Harvard University, claiming that he was defamed by comments made by professors around the time he was accused of extortion, a case that was dismissed. A 2010 piece on WickedLocal.com says he was arrested for an old vehicle registration issue after a dispute with a restaurant in Cambridge.
Afrasiabi appeared Tuesday in a federal court in Boston because he was arrested in Massachusetts, where he lives. On the Zoom court proceeding, he wore a tan, jail-issued shirt and a white face mask. He was ordered detained until his detention hearing, which is set for Friday.
A lawyer representing Afrabiasi at the virtual court appearance could not be reached for comment.

Text of Department of Justice press release: Political scientist author charged with acting as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Political Scientist Author Charged With Acting As An Unregistered Agent Of The Iranian Government
Defendant Lobbied U.S. Officials, Published Books and Articles Advancing Iranian Viewpoints While Secretly Employed by the Iranian Mission to the United Nations.A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, also known as Lotfolah Kaveh Afrasiabi, with acting and conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Afrasiabi was arrested yesterday at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts, and will make his initial appearance this morning in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer C. Boal.
John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Seth D. DuCharme, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); and Joseph Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Boston Field Office, announced the arrest and charges.
“For over a decade, Kaveh Afrasiabi pitched himself to Congress, journalists, and the American public as a neutral and objective expert on Iran,” said John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “However, all the while, Afrasiabi was actually a secret employee of the Government of Iran and the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations (IMUN) who was being paid to spread their propaganda. In doing so, he intentionally avoided registering with the Department of Justice as the Foreign Agents Registration Act required. He likewise evaded his obligation to disclose who was sponsoring his views. We now begin to hold him responsible for those deeds.”
“Afrasiabi allegedly sought to influence the American public and American policymakers for the benefit of his employer, the Iranian government, by disguising propaganda as objective policy analysis and expertise,” said Acting U.S. Attorney DuCharme. “This Office is committed to the robust enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which provides the American people the tools they need to evaluate opinions and arguments in the marketplace of ideas by requiring foreign agents to declare their paymasters. Those, like the defendant, who conceal the full extent of their work for a foreign government when the law requires disclosure will face consequences for their actions.”
“Anyone working to advance the agenda of a foreign government within the United States is required by law to register as an agent of that country,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Sweeney. “Mr. Afrasiabi never disclosed to a congressman, journalists or others who hold roles of influence in our country that he was being paid by the Iranian government to paint an untruthfully positive picture of the nation. Our laws are designed to create transparency in foreign relations, and they are not arbitrary or malleable. As today's action demonstrates, we will fully enforce them to protect our national security.”
“Our arrest of Kaveh Afrasiabi makes it clear that the United States is not going to allow undeclared agents of Iran to operate in our country unchecked. For more than a decade, Mr. Afrasiabi was allegedly paid, directed, and controlled by the Government of Iran to lobby U.S. government officials, including a congressman; and to create and disseminate information favorable to the Iranian government,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Bonavolonta. “The FBI will continue to do everything it can to uncover these hidden efforts and hold accountable those who work for our adversaries to the detriment of our national security.”
According to the complaint, Afrasiabi is a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Afrasiabi holds a PhD, and frequently publishes books and articles, and appears on English-language television programs discussing foreign relations matters, particularly Iran’s relations with the United States. Afrasiabi has identified or portrayed himself as a political scientist, a former political science professor or as an expert on foreign affairs.
Since at least 2007 to the present, Afrasiabi has also been secretly employed by the Iranian government and paid by Iranian diplomats assigned to the Permanent Mission of the IMUN. Afrasiabi has been paid approximately $265,000 in checks drawn on the IMUN’s official bank accounts since 2007, and has received health insurance through the IMUN’s employee health benefit plans since at least 2011.
In the course of his employment by the Iranian government, Afrasiabi has lobbied a U.S. congressman and the U.S. Department of State to advocate for policies favorable to Iran, counseled Iranian diplomats concerning U.S. foreign policy, made television appearances to advocate for the Iranian government’s views on world events, and authored articles and opinion pieces espousing the Iranian government’s position on various matters of foreign policy. Afrasiabi has long known that FARA requires agents of foreign principals to register with the U.S. Department of Justice and has discussed information obtained from FARA disclosures with others. Nevertheless, Afrasiabi did not register as an agent of the Government of Iran.
For example, in January 2020, Afrasiabi emailed Iran’s Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative to the United Nations with advice for “retaliation” for the U.S. military airstrike that killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the external operations arm of the Iranian government’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, proposing that the Iranian government “end all inspections and end all information on Iran’s nuclear activities pending a [United Nations Security Council] condemnation of [the United States’] illegal crime.” Afrasiabi claimed that such a move would, among other things, “strike fear in the heart of [the] enemy.”
Afrasiabi has admitted in his own communications that his extensive body of published works and television appearances, in which he has consistently advocated perspectives and policy positions favored by the Iranian government, has been attributable to the funding he receives from the Iranian government. For example, in a July 28, 2020, email to Iran’s Foreign Minister, Afrasiabi included “links for many of [his] works, including books, hundreds of articles in international newspapers and academic journals,” telling Iran’s Foreign Minister, “Without support none of this would have been possible! This has been a very productive relationship spanning decades that ought not to be interrupted.”
The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of both charged offenses, Afrasiabi faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ian C. Richardson and Michael T. Keilty are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney David C. Recker of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

Biden’s Nominee, William Burns for CIA Director Is All About Iran
By Eli Lake/Bloomberg/January 20/2021
William Burns had a central role in negotiating the landmark nuclear deal.
U.S. presidents have called upon CIA directors to destabilize regimes, hunt down terrorists and steal the secrets of adversaries. One often overlooked job for American spy leaders, though, has been as a secret channel, or a quiet diplomat.
This is the most interesting aspect of President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to lead the CIA, William Burns. As one of the most respected diplomats of his generation (every living secretary of state recorded a message of congratulations for him at his retirement ceremony in 2014), Burns is well positioned to be the first member of the Foreign Service to lead the CIA. This will be particularly important when it comes to Iran. Biden has said he would rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran if the Iranians came back into compliance with its limitations on uranium enrichment. Burns is quite well suited for the kind of quiet diplomacy that would be necessary to restart the Iran talks. In 2012, Burns pursued the first secret talks with Iranian officials through the offices of the late Sultan Qaboos of Oman that led to the 2013 interim nuclear agreement that preceded the one negotiated in 2015. One of the more remarkable elements of that effort was that the diplomacy with Iran never leaked to the press, or even to allies.
In his memoir, Burns describes how he and Jake Sullivan (now Biden’s pick for national security advisor) boarded flights without passenger manifests to Oman, and how they took service elevators in grand hotels to avoid being spotted by reporters and other diplomats.
The secrecy of those talks was necessary not only to avoid political friction in Washington, but also as a signal to the Iranians. Early on, Burns’ Iranian interlocutors warned that if the fact of these talks ever got out, the Iranian side would walk away. When U.S. officials finally did brief America’s allies, most were annoyed but understanding. One exception was Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Burns writes in his memoir that the Israelis likely knew about the talks from their own intelligence service. Nonetheless, he writes that Netanyahu “saw our back channel as a betrayal.”
This gets at another way Burns will be crucial to Biden’s efforts to restart diplomacy with Iran: managing Israeli sabotage inside the country. During the Trump years, the CIA and its Israeli equivalent, the Mossad, formed a close partnership. Recent Israeli operations inside Iran include taking out the scientist overseeing its nuclear weapons program and a top al Qaeda official. In 2018, the Israelis announced their successful mission in Iran to raid a secret warehouse that contained the files on Iran’s never declared nuclear weapons program. Should Biden seek to reel in those efforts, he will need Burns to conduct that diplomacy with Israel.However, a better approach for Biden would be to treat Israel’s extraordinary intelligence capabilities inside Iran as a hedge if nuclear diplomacy fails. Cyber attacks, industrial sabotage and assassinations will not get Iran’s current regime to unlearn the nuclear physics it has mastered to build a crude weapon, but such tactics could delay Iran’s program. As CIA director, Burns will be in the best position inside the U.S. government to advise Biden on this delicate question. In the meantime, the Senate Intelligence Committee should ask Burns his views on both renewing diplomacy with Iran as well as sustaining a partnership with the Mossad. Burns should ponder this question as well. Three years ago Israeli saboteurs and spies exposed the limits of the nuclear agreement Burns helped negotiate. Will he restrain them now that he has a chance to negotiate with Iran for a second time?

Educational Ethnic Cleansing
Richard Kemp/Gatestone Institute./January 20/2021
"Jewish people today on campus can be tolerated, protected or abused. At no point are they treated as equals." — David Collier, Academia, January 18, 2021.
This Jew-hate is cloaked in anti-Zionism, a doctrine that claims the Jewish state, alone among the nations, has no right to exist. It seeks to whip up anti-Israel hatred by focusing on three core lies: accusations of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and settler-colonialism.
The government has been working to persuade universities to adopt the IHRA definition, including the threat of removal of funding streams. Often bitterly contested by academic staff desperate to remain unchallenged in their bully pulpits, as of last autumn only 29 of 133 higher education institutions had complied....
Some British universities are now virtually Judenfrei: free of Jews. This is a chilling indictment not just of British academia but of a liberal democratic society that has tolerated, often through ignorance or complacency, a wave of discrimination against Jews that has swept through the universities over recent decades. Pictured: The Norfolk Building at King's College London, site of a violent protest against a visiting Israeli speaker in 2016. (Image source: geograph.org.uk/© David Hawgood/cc-sa-2.0)
"The goal is achieved! No more Jews at German universities," the leading Nazi student newspaper, Die Bewegung, triumphantly proclaimed in 1938.
Of course, nothing like it could ever happen again. Except something like it is happening again — now, and in Britain. According to a report published this week by David Collier, a British researcher, some UK universities are now virtually Judenfrei: free of Jews.
This is a chilling indictment not just of British academia but of a liberal democratic society that has tolerated, often through ignorance or complacency, a wave of discrimination against Jews that has swept through the universities over recent decades. From these halls of learning antisemitism has spread out, driving and empowering what is now a solid movement that threatens Jews in various parts of society and has led to many of them leaving. This is not just in Britain. Collier characterises academia as "the epicentre of global antisemitism".
This Jew-hate is cloaked in anti-Zionism, a doctrine that claims the Jewish state, alone among the nations, has no right to exist. It seeks to whip up anti-Israel hatred by focusing on three core lies: accusations of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and settler-colonialism.
As Jewish students and professors were hounded out and eventually banned from universities and high schools by German state edict, today in Britain anti-Zionist academics and the students they influence have created an environment that alienates many Jews, by using the pretext of their support for the Jewish state. Of course, not every Jewish student supports Israel and very few are uncritical, as with their own country. Nevertheless, Collier says:
"Jewish people today on campus can be tolerated, protected or abused. At no point are they treated as equals. The best they can hope for is protection and tolerance in a hostile environment. On the campus the prevailing wisdom is that their beliefs in Jewish identity are fundamentally wrong."
Specifically, Jews are grotesquely branded as members of a race that has no place in the land of Israel, but is a "white" colonialist occupier and oppressor of the indigenous peoples.
Collier asks: "Why would an openly Jewish student want to go to a university where they will be vilified by other students and victimised by lecturers?" The reality in Britain today is that many Jewish students choose their university not by the course content or the quality of teaching, but by the extent of antisemitism they will find there. Baroness Ruth Deech, formerly Britain's Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, and an accomplished academic and former principal of an Oxford college, previously commented that "amongst Jewish students there is gradually a feeling that there are certain universities that you should avoid."
You can meet many Jewish students in Britain and in several other Western countries who attest to this, who will tell you of some universities that are relatively safe for them and others that need to be sidestepped.
I speak frequently at universities on a range of subjects. Only when speaking at the invitation of Jewish or pro-Israel groups have I experienced any hostility as opposed to open debate. In virtually every case, some form of physical protest as well as social media abuse is guaranteed — not to disagree but to silence. This has taken place in the UK, US, South Africa and Australia, where one talk was so severely disrupted that it led to an in-depth investigation by the university authorities with rare disciplinary action taken against the perpetrators that included academic staff.
Collier's research shows that:
"If they [Jewish students] are abused, it is far less serious than an offence against someone from the Muslim, BAME or LGBTQ communities. If an academic is responsible for the abuse (see Bristol, Leeds, Warwick) it is the academic who will be protected and the complaining Jewish student who will be victimised – even if the student can prove abuse."
In a classic pattern of radicalization, there exist in some universities networks of academics who widely contaminate their students with their bias and hatred. Most effectively in terms of perpetuating the spread of antisemitism, some will indoctrinate their students through supervision of PhD studies that can lead to hard-core activism and further lateral and vertical transmission, often from university to university and from country to country.
Their influence is not confined to the universities. Some write libel-filled books, publish twisted columns in national newspapers and are called on to spread their bias in the broadcast media. NGOs, government organizations and international corporations consult and partner with these individuals. They often play leading roles in movements such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign and activist groups like the so-called Palestine Solidarity Campaign, inciting anti-Jewish hatred far and wide, sometimes damaging property and intimidating Jews on the streets.
The staunchest defenders of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party came from the academic world. University professors were involved in dozens of events accusing those who opposed Corbyn of smearing him and his henchmen with politically-motivated lies. Unfortunately for them, Labour became the first ever mainstream political party to be investigated by the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission. The EHRC found Labour guilty of the very thing these armies of academics were denying — illegal discrimination and harassment against Jews.
Britain cannot be compared to Germany in the 1930s, but similarities exist in some of the objectives and methods of the Nazi bully-boys at German universities in that era. Before Jews were finally excluded, members of the National Socialist Students' League often disrupted lectures, provoked altercations and intimidated Jewish students. All of this can be seen in British university campuses today.
Responding to a violent protest by students at King's College London protesting a visiting Israeli speaker, Lord Eric Pickles, UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues, said in Parliament: "If we need to know who the new fascists are, we need only look at those who perpetrated that attack." As Robert Festenstein of the UK's Jewish Human Rights Watch, who have been working for years to combat antisemitism in British universities, told this author: "Jews are being educationally ethnically cleansed from certain universities in the UK".
The objective of today's academic bullies is not so much to drive the Jews out but to shut them up and shut them down — to suppress any dissent from their own radical anti-Zionist agenda aimed at delegitimising the Jewish state. They often succeed, forcing Jews to go elsewhere, to keep quiet about facts regarding Israel and even to cause them to hide their Jewish identity. Quite understandably, many young Jews just want to get on with their studies and their lives, not to engage in potentially damaging political confrontations and to risk vilification or worse, which could also have adverse effect on their examination results and employment prospects.
Why should any Jew, as any member of any race or religion, be victimised because of who they are? Why should any proud Jew that wants to express his or her support for the Jewish state be afraid to do so? Israel is one of Britain's most important allies, supplying us with life-saving intelligence and technology, and is an increasingly strong trade partner. Above all, contrary to the twisted precepts of the Jew haters, Israel is not guilty of the false claims they make to undermine it. At any rate, in a civilised society it must be possible to openly put across the opposing argument without fear.
In 2016, the British government adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which provides a tool to enable public bodies to act against such discrimination as is rife in our universities. The government has been working to persuade universities to adopt the IHRA definition, including by warning that funding streams may be removed. Often bitterly contested by academic staff desperate to remain unchallenged in their bully pulpits, as of last autumn only 29 of 133 higher education institutions had complied, although a few others have apparently done so since. More pressure needs to be piled onto the rejectionists, as well as rigorous monitoring, to ensure adherence on the campuses, if need be enshrining the definition in law.It is also necessary to shine a light on the plight of Jewish students — hardly any British people will have the slightest inkling of what has been going on in our so-called seats of learning. This is where David Collier's work is vital. His report is the starting point of a project to map the antisemitic networks in every one of Britain's universities, to understand where and how the hostility exists and to put a stop to it.
*Colonel Richard Kemp is a former British Army Commander. He was also head of the international terrorism team in the U.K. Cabinet Office and is now a writer and speaker on international and military affairs.
© 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.

Why Doesn’t the World Sympathize with Tehran and Damascus?
Hazem Saghieh/Asharq Al Awsat/January 20/2021 -
Imagine a country is hit with damaging airstrikes week after week, or one whose prominent figures and leaders are assassinated by another state, and half a ton of its classified files are stolen. These are two cases that invoke solidarity from global public opinion, and those who strive for peace and hate violence and aggression around the world. Such a projection doesn’t apply to Iran and Syria, which have been subjected to what was described above, simultaneously inflicting pain, high costs and humiliating them. Of course, there are some on this fringe that is always opposed to the United States of America, whether it is right or wrong, whether its president is Donald Trump or anyone else. They do not reflect public opinion and its influential voices, parties, the press, religious institutions, environmental and pacifist movements and other civil society organizations.
On top of that, we can notice when it comes to Netanyahu, for example, the difference in sympathy for his Palestinian victims and the low level sympathy for his Iranian rivals. There are those who can’t stand Donald Trump and his policies, but with regard to Iran and Syria, they reduce the acrimony of their criticism and their condemnation of the president whose term has expired. Even among those who opposed his withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran and support reentering it, one finds those who present this course of action as one that contains evil and prevents Khamenei’s regime from posing a graver danger. This is many Europeans’ stance.
Of course, there will always be those who put this indifference down to a deep-rooted Western apathy for what happens to Muslims and their countries. This is not true in any sense, especially after NATO Forces’ 1994-1995 intervention in the Bosnian War, when they stood by the Muslims against the Serbs. That is besides their intermittent interventions to protect Muslim Kurds in Syria and Iraq, the most important of which came in 1991, with de facto, though not nominal, autonomy for Iraqi Kurdistan being imposed. That argument becomes even more absurd once we notice the widespread sympathy that Western public opinion, European and American, has for the Muslim Rohingyas being persecuted in Myanmar or the Muslim Uighurs being persecuted in China. The problem with the Iranian and Syrian regimes is that they cannot present themselves to the world as victims of aggression. The victim’s garment does not suit their bodies. The regimes of Khamenei and Bashar al-Assad are the definition of belligerent powers. Their violations range from using chemical weapons to developing nuclear weapons, and from mass murder, assassination, mass displacement and dropping barrel bombs over civilians’ heads to expanding their territory and influence at the expense of other territories and others’ sovereignties.
We are, then, not faced with Czechoslovakia confronting Hitler, nor Kuwait facing up to Saddam Hussein. We are, on the contrary, faced with aggressors whose ability to exercise their belligerence is waning today, frustrated aggressors.
We can’t forget that many Syrians and Iranian intellectuals have asked the world to intervene to stop these regimes’ aggression against their people. But even if we were to put actions aside, we would still have the bellicose rhetoric, which is totally alien to that of victims. This is what the whole world hears, and it is not difficult to interpret. The two regimes’ entire lexicon is composed of threats, showing strength and waving “earth shaking” rockets around. Worse still, they couldn’t speak the language of the vanquished if they wanted to. Their pugnacious nature trumps every pretension to play the opposite.
To make sure, let’s go over some of the statements they issue as they are dealt painful and humiliating blows:
Below is a sample of their TV stations and newspapers’ explanations of why the Iranian and Syrian regimes failed to retaliate to these strikes:
- The Israeli and American operations are nothing more than a response to the two sides’ defeat in Syria...
- The Israelis and the Americans acknowledge the strength and accuracy of the resistance’s missiles...
- Panic strikes Israelis and Americans because of their fear of the blow that will be directed at them when the time comes...
The astonishing discrepancy between the state of affairs and its description speaks to how deeply entrenched the consciousness of belligerence is in both regimes and demonstrates that their tongues don’t utter a single term that suggests a desire to end this state of animosity or affirm their weakness, which has become apparent even to those without eyes to see.
But there is a more important reason for this denial. Everything would collapse if they were to merely speak the language of weakness, and the reason for this is simple: these are two regimes built on might, and if they were to put it aside, they wouldn’t have much left to brag about.
The world that seeks peace and sympathizes with victims doesn’t like heroes much, to say nothing about mere alleged heroism.
Such behavior does not garner the alleging party much sympathy. It only garners mockery, the chuckles of which can be heard far and wide.

Covid is Traumatizing our Doctors and Nurses
Therese Raphael/Bloomberg/January 20/2021
Hand it to human beings. We have repeatedly defied predictions that we will buckle under the extreme pressure of adverse events. Time and again, whether it was during the eight-month blitz in World War II, or after 9/11, people have proved remarkably resilient in the face of adversity.
Will it be the same with this pandemic? On aggregate, probably yes. Most people have experienced, or know someone who has experienced, mental stress as a result of pandemic-related circumstances. (Irritation, anxiety, helplessness, tiredness, sadness, burnout, trouble sleeping or difficulty concentrating — any of these sound familiar?) But once vaccinated and our lives are unlocked, most people will probably return to their individual baseline levels of happiness, even if there are new post-pandemic adjustments to be made.
And yet while different people experience the threat of the virus and repeated lockdowns differently, the mental health impact of the crisis for many cannot be ignored. The pandemic affects so many drivers of well-being — from social isolation to financial loss, housing insecurity, remote working and rising unemployment — while removing normal coping mechanisms. Most recently, the spotlight has been on the huge pressure facing hospital staff. A study of 709 doctors, nurses and other clinical staff across six hospitals in England found that nearly half reported symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder in June and July. What they are experiencing is analogous to combatants in a war zone, researchers found. They face not only the relentless demands of their jobs — heightened because of a shortage of beds and nurses — but also the constant loss of life of those in their care. One in five ICU nurses reported thoughts of self-harm. Those are much higher rates than found among even UK military personnel who have been deployed.
Ami Jones, a doctor and an intensive care consultant with the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, says she’s particularly worried about the nurses in their mid-20s who have a full career ahead of them. “If we damage them to the point that they don’t want to do ICU care anymore, who have we got in future to look after us?” she asked on Bloomberg Radio last week. “This could have a very long sting in the tail.”What these medical workers face is extreme, and the mental health impact of the pandemic is widespread. The Prince’s Trust annual survey of young people’s happiness found that more than half said they always or often felt anxious; it is 64% for those not in work, education or training. In some ways, the pandemic may be worse than warfare for many from a mental health perspective. When UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson referred to Covid as an “invisible killer,” he inadvertently put his finger on an element of this crisis that makes it so hard on mental health. If this is war, we are deprived of one of its great salves — the comfort of the human touch and comaraderie. If it’s a blitz, we can’t see the enemy and can’t huddle together. On the contrary, the pandemic has made us weaponize self-isolation.
It’s hard to overstate the potential costs to companies and the broader economy. Even before the outbreak, governments were just getting to grips with the costs of neglecting (or stigmatizing) mental health. Related services are chronically underfunded (often 2% or less of national health budgets) in most countries. For companies and public health systems, the failure to provide support has translated into lost productivity, the phenomenon of “presenteeism,” and increased health-care costs. In Britain, some 74% of people with a mental health problem were out of work for more than a year and workplace mental ill-health cost employers around 26 billion pounds ($35 billion) per year.
The World Health Organization found that mental health services have been disrupted in 93% of countries worldwide since the virus arrived. Household income to pay for healthcare will likely drop as the economic impact of the pandemic bites and insurance protection may decline. As with other aspects of this crisis, the most vulnerable parts of the population will be hardest hit. How to deal with the long tail of the pandemic? We know from studies of past recessions that poor mental health can be both a contributor and an effect. Economist and happiness guru Richard Layard argues in a recent podcast hosted by Bloomberg Economics head Stephanie Flanders that societies cannot just focus on a return to growth and assume the mental health impacts of the pandemic will melt away.
It will largely fall to families, schools, community services and charities to provide the first line of support. But the scale of the coronavirus’s impact will also require an increased role for the state and employers too. For companies, it may mean more strategies to manage burnout, foster connections and support workers divided into Zoom or Microsoft Teams squares, something Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella has spoken about a lot. For governments, the key is finding interventions that are evidence-based and improve the focus on preventive care. The pandemic recession will demand more active labor market programs to help people retain jobs, or retrain them, and better legal protections. That certainly fits with Boris Johnson’s emphasis on “levelling up” and his manifesto commitment to improving support for mental health. Some in his party will want to focus on growth policies, but Layard's research suggesting people worry about health and well-being, relationships and community ahead of income points to a more nuanced approach to post-pandemic policy. I began by saying we humans are good at adapting to change, finding meaning in the new normal and developing solutions — or else we wouldn’t be here. But our survival also comes through anticipating threats and preparing to meet them. Well, here’s one in plain sight.