English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  September 29/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.september29.21.htm

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006

Bible Quotations For today
I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth
Book of Revelation 03/14-22/:”‘To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation: ‘I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 28-29/2021
Mikati puzzles over how to transform rescue plan into action
EU Envoy, Miqati Hold 'Constructive, Action-Oriented Meeting'
Miqati Urges Bitar to 'Abide by Constitution', Says Won't Visit Syria
Lebanon's PM Mikati supports embattled judge leading port blast investigation
Man Injured in Beirut Port Explosion Dies, 14 Months Later
Families of Port Victims Threaten to 'Change Face of Lebanon' if Probe Obstructed
Solh and Sakr Referred to Judiciary for 'Selling, Purchasing Nitrates'
New Govt. Seeking IMF Deal within 'Few Weeks'
Lebanon Seeks to Change Tack in Talks with IMF
Lebanese PM to Meet Financial Adviser Lazard Soon over Rescue Plan
Lebanese PM: We Are Working to Stop the Collapse, End Crises
Lebanese-Syrian Technical Team Inspects Arab Gas Pipeline
Electoral district 16/Dana Hourany/Now Lebanon/September 28/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 28-29/2021
Israeli PM Denounces Iran, Ignores Palestinians in U.N. Speech
Unidentified Planes Hit Iranian Militias in Eastern Syria
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Greece Conduct Joint Military Drill to Confront Terrorist Elements
Regime Strikes Turkish Positions in Northern Syria
Israel Allows its Flag to be Raised in Al-Aqsa
Growing presence of Hamas in West Bank challenges Abbas, worries Israel
In pre-election move, France slashes visas numbers for Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
Qatari elections, rather a show than a genuine practice of democracy
Yemenis Protest against Crumbling Currency, Price Hikes
Yemen faces severe threat as Houthis escalate attacks on Marib
Sadr Calls for ‘Saving Iraq’ without Specifying How
UN Seeks to End Tension between Ruling Partners in Sudan
North Korea Launches Missile as Diplomat Decries U.S. Policy

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 28-29/2021
Will the Regional Initiatives Work with Damascus?/Charles Lister/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 28/2021
Australia Is Making a Risky Bet on the US/The New York Times/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 28/2021
Palestinian Leaders: No to Solving Economic Crisis/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/September 28/2021
Mohamed Benaissa sets eyes on presidency of Morocco’s upper house/Mohamed Alaoui/The Arab Weekly/September 28/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on September 28-29/2021
Mikati puzzles over how to transform rescue plan into action
The Arab Weekly/September 28/2021
BEIRUT--Prime Minister Najib Mikati will meet the advisory firm Lazard soon to see how a financial recovery plan it drafted for Lebanon could be developed into a “more realistic” vision for getting the country out of its crisis, he said on Monday. Mikati also said Lebanon would be very lucky if it was able to reach a framework for an agreement with the International Monetary Fund by the end of the year. Mikati took office earlier this month determined to revive IMF talks. Mikati faces a difficult path to remedying one of the sharpest financial meltdowns of modern times. The challenges include his government’s limited shelf-life, with elections due next Spring. In the most detailed comments yet on his approach to try and reverse Lebanon’s devastating financial meltdown, Mikati said in an interview with broadcaster LBCI that there would be a fair distribution of the losses in the financial system and steps to protect small depositors.
Uncertainty persists
Lazard helped the previous government draw up a financial rescue plan that identified losses of some $90 billion in the financial system. But the plan was shot down by objections from the banks, which said it made them foot too much of the bill for the collapse, in addition to opposition from the central bank and the ruling political elite that got Lebanon into its crisis in the first place. Reaching agreement on the losses is seen as the first step towards a deal with the IMF, which endorsed the figures in the previous government’s plan. “I will not announce anything except if the whole financial recovery plan is complete,” Mikati told LBCI. “We have the financial recovery plan, I have asked the company that set it to come to Lebanon and they will come and I will have a meeting with them in the coming days … to see how we can update this plan”, Mikati said. “I want to ask for a more realistic plan to get out of this crisis we are in,” he added. Mikati said he was not planning to privatise state assets.
Protecting small depositors. An IMF agreement is seen as Lebanon’s only path to accessing aid from foreign donors who are demanding reforms to address the root causes of the collapse, including state corruption and waste. “We will be very lucky if we finish before New Year,” Mikati said when asked about how long it might take to reach an IMF deal. “We will be lucky if we put the main framework (by then).”Mikati formed a government after a year of political deadlock that compounded an economic meltdown that has propelled three quarters of Lebanon’s population into poverty and seen its currency plummet by more than 90%. Savers have been frozen out of the paralysed banking system, being forced to take a hair-cut of as much as 80% of the value of their deposits on withdrawals. “I want to protect the depositor as much as possible, the small depositors, I need to see how we can do that, this is what I’m trying to do,” Mikati said. “The inclination is definitely to protect the small depositors who have between $50,000 to $70,000 accounts, and these will take their money in dollars for sure.” Since taking office, Mikati, a Sunni Muslim, has said he will not allow Lebanon to be used as a platform for actions against other Arabs, implicit criticism of the Iran-supported Shi’ite Muslim group Hezbollah, which backs his government. But on Monday, Mikati said there was currently no plan for him to visit Saudi Arabia, which once spent heavily in Lebanon but has shunned it for years because of Hezbollah’s influence and the matter of Lebanon’s Gulf ties was not discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Paris last week.

EU Envoy, Miqati Hold 'Constructive, Action-Oriented Meeting'
Naharnet/September 28/2021
European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf on Tuesday held a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Miqati. In a tweet after the talks, Tarraf said the meeting was "constructive and action-oriented." "We agreed on the urgency of initiating economic & governance reforms, engaging with the IMF, and preparing for the 2022 elections," he added."I reiterated to the PM the EU’s commitment to continue to support Lebanon," Tarraf went on to say.

Miqati Urges Bitar to 'Abide by Constitution', Says Won't Visit Syria
Naharnet/September 28/2021
Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Tuesday called on the lead investigative judge into the Beirut port blast Tarek Bitar to “abide by the constitution,” as he noted that he will not visit Syria if that will subject Lebanon to sanctions.
“What’s happening with Judge Bitar is regrettable and it is unacceptable for the judge to be changed once again,” Miqati said after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri, a day after Bitar’s probe was suspended following legal challenges from former ministers. “I call on him to abide by the constitution,” the premier added. Asked whether he might visit neighboring Syria, Miqati said he is not willing to “subject Lebanon to any sanctions.”“If the relations with Syria subject Lebanon to threats, I will not accept that,” the PM added.

Lebanon's PM Mikati supports embattled judge leading port blast investigation
Gareth Browne/The National/September 28/2021
Najib Mikati said Lebanon could not handle judge Tarek Bitar's removal from the investigation
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has begun to take security precautions to protect the judge leading the investigation into the Beirut port explosion, he said on Monday. Mr Mikati told local TV network LBCI that while the investigation into the port blast in August 2020 was a “judicial matter”, he hoped judge Tarek Bitar, who is leading the investigation, would not be replaced because the country could handle it. Earlier, the investigation was frozen after an official complaint by a former interior minister Nouhad Machnouq, who questioned Mr Bitar’s impartiality. Mr Mikati, whose government was confirmed last week, said he did not think the country “could withstand the second judge being removed". Mr Bitar’s predecessor, Fadi Sawan, was removed from leading the investigation this year, after he indicted high-ranking politicians including former prime minister Hassan Diab. Last week it was reported that Mr Bitar had been threatened by a senior Hezbollah figure. It was the second time the investigation into the blast that killed more than 214 people has been frozen after Mr Machnouq claimed Mr Bitar had overstepped his legal authority by trying to prosecute senior officials. The complaint meant that the investigation had to be halted until a higher court could rule on the claims of bias, frustrating families of the victims in the blast. The suspension on Monday was just the latest in a list of setbacks. The investigation yet to hold anyone to account for the explosion. High-profile politicians and security officials have repeatedly refused to appear for questioning when summonsed by the investigation. This month, Mr Bitar issued an arrest warrant for former minister Yousef Fenianos, after he failed to appear for questioning. Mr Diab also failed to appear, instead travelling to the US to visit family. Mr Mikati also addressed Lebanon’s chronic electricity crisis, claiming that his government was hoping to quadruple domestic energy production in the next 12 months. He said it was also looking at options including Iraqi fuel and Egyptian gas.

Man Injured in Beirut Port Explosion Dies, 14 Months Later
Associated Press/September 28/2021
A Lebanese man who was critically injured in the massive explosion at Beirut's port last year has died, nearly 14 months after the blast, his family said Tuesday. Ibrahim Harb, a 35-year-old accountant, was at his downtown office near the port when the explosion occurred, wiping out the port and devastating nearby neighborhoods. He died at his parents' home on Monday night, his brother, Mazen Harb, told The Associated Press. The death brings to at least 215 the number of people who have been killed by the blast, according to official records. On Aug. 4, 2020, hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers, ignited after a massive fire at the port. It later emerged that the nitrate had been improperly stored in a port warehouse for years, and that senior political and security officials knew of its existence and did nothing about it. Along with the scores killed, more than 6,000 people were injured, many of them from broken glass, flying furniture and debris. Ibrahim, who was engaged to be married the following month, suffered serious head injuries and spent more than three months in hospital in a coma after the blast, his brother said. Later, semi-conscious and bed-ridden, he stayed at a rehabilitation center until three days ago when the family decided to bring him home, said the brother. He died on Monday evening. "He did not last after three days at home," Mazen said over the telephone before heading to his brother's funeral. More than a year later, no one has been held to account for the explosion. On Monday, the lead judge investigating the explosion had to suspend his work in the case, amid legal challenges from politicians and a growing campaign by Lebanon's political class against him. Judge Tarek Bitar is the second judge to lead the complicated probe. His predecessor was removed following similar legal challenges by senior officials he had accused of negligence that led to the blast. "May God punish whoever was behind it. What else can we say?" Mazen said.

Families of Port Victims Threaten to 'Change Face of Lebanon' if Probe Obstructed
Naharnet/September 28/2021
Relatives of the Beirut port blast victims on Tuesday warned that they would take action that would “change the face of Lebanon” if the probe into the catastrophic explosion came to an end, a day after the investigation was suspended following a lawsuit from ex-minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq. “We call on the Lebanese to gather outside the Justice Palace tomorrow at 1:00 pm and we will announced the plan that will change the face of Lebanon,” the families said. Speaking to al-Jadeed TV, a spokesman for the families, Ibrahim Hoteit, warned that they might take justice on their own hands. Describing the suspension of the probe as “very shameful” and “very harmful to the families of the martyrs,” Hoteit decried: “They have killed us twice!”“We are awaiting truth and justice, not anything more than that. We have not called for vengeance and we’ve been patient for a year and two months. So far, our movements have always been largely peaceful, but what can we do later. We have been polite but don’t force us to turn into street thugs!” the spokesman added. On Aug. 4, 2020, hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers, ignited and blew up after a massive fire at the port. It later emerged that the nitrate had been improperly stored in a port warehouse for years, and that senior political and security officials knew of its existence and did nothing about it. Along with the scores killed, more than 6,000 people were injured and parts of the capital were devastated. More than a year later, no one has been held to account for the explosion. On Monday, the lead judge investigating the explosion, Tarek Bitar, had to suspend his work in the case, amid legal challenges from politicians and a growing campaign by Lebanon's political class against him. Bitar is the second judge to lead the complicated probe. His predecessor, Fadi Sawwan, was removed following similar legal challenges by senior officials he had accused of negligence that led to the blast.

Solh and Sakr Referred to Judiciary for 'Selling, Purchasing Nitrates'
Naharnet/September 28/2021
Saadallah al-Solh – owner of the ammonium nitrate truck seized in Bekaa – was referred to the competent judiciary, along with Maroun al-Sakr and two Syrian workers, the army said Tuesday. The army added that al-Solh had bought the dangerous chemical in March from Maroun al-Sakr and the two Syrian workers had transported the nitrates. The four have been referred to the judiciary “for their involvement in the sale, purchase, storage and transportation of prohibited substances.”The statement also denied what some media outlets had reported about the course of the investigation “based on alleged military sources” and stressed the importance of adhering to the official statements issued and published by the Army. Security forces had raided earlier this month a fertilizer warehouse in the eastern Bekaa Valley and seized 20 tons of ammonium nitrate stored inside a truck owned by al-Solh.

New Govt. Seeking IMF Deal within 'Few Weeks'
Naharnet/September 28/2021
There is a “huge difference” between the previous phase and the current phase regarding Lebanon’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, ministerial sources informed on the talks said. “The government is heading to the negotiations with the IMF with a spirit that there can be success in reaching an agreement with the Fund within a few weeks,” the sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Tuesday. The talks “will be based on a clear plan and real, unambiguous numbers that reflect the true extent of the losses,” the sources added, noting that “there will be clear foundations that take into consideration all the dramatic developments of the past year and the current situation in Lebanon.”

Lebanon Seeks to Change Tack in Talks with IMF
Beirut - Ali Zeineddine/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
The Lebanese authorities are sending signals to the International Monetary Fund about serious intentions to change its attitude in before a new round of negotiations. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, a finance official told Asharq Al-Awsat that the first government meeting this week “was closely monitored by foreign parties in anticipation of practical decisions that would consolidate the declared intentions” to move forward with the discussions with the IMF.
During the economic and financial meeting at the Presidential Palace chaired by President Michel Aoun on Monday, in the presence of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the two sides focused on the requirements for the talks with the IMF, including the formation of the negotiation team. Informed sources said that Mikati “will assume direct political supervision of the talks, given its extreme sensitivity and because the 17 official rounds of negotiations did not achieve any significant progress under the previous government.”The new path, according to the finance official, requires the new government to commit to former pledges made at four international conferences, during which foreign countries and institutions pledged to provide Lebanon with grants, aid and loans worth billions of dollars. The official noted that the IMF has reiterated that adherence to the reform agenda would pave the way for the release of billions of dollars of funds to help the Lebanese people. This is the moment when Lebanese policymakers must take decisive action to guarantee assistance from the Fund and the international donors, he said. A working paper submitted by the Director-General of the Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, less than two months ago, to the Paris International Conference to support Beirut and the Lebanese people, set the priorities of the Lebanese government during the negotiations.
“The solvency of public resources and the solidity of the financial system must be restored, accompanied by a warning that if the public debt is not sustainable, the current and future generations of the Lebanese will carry the burden,” the official said. This is what makes the Fund demand the sustainability of debts as one of the conditions for lending, which highlights the importance of expediting parallel negotiations with local and external creditors. According to the working paper, temporary safeguards should be put in place to avoid the continuation of capital outflows that could increase the vulnerability of the financial system during the period of consolidation of the required reforms. This includes adopting the capital control bill in the banking system and abolishing the existing multiple exchange rate system, which helps protect international reserves in Lebanon while curbing profiteering and corruption.
There is also a need for explicit steps to reduce long-term squandering in many public institutions, in parallel with a greater degree of predictability, transparency, accountability and a comprehensive audit of the key institutions, including the Central Bank, as well as the establishment of an expanded social safety net in order to protect Lebanon's most vulnerable groups.

Lebanese PM to Meet Financial Adviser Lazard Soon over Rescue Plan
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
Prime Minister Najib Mikati will meet with the advisory firm Lazard soon to see how a financial recovery plan it drafted for Lebanon could be developed into a "more realistic" vision for getting the country out of its crisis, he said on Monday. Mikati also said Lebanon would be very lucky if it was able to reach a framework for an agreement with the International Monetary Fund by the end of the year. Mikati took office earlier this month determined to revive IMF talks. A billionaire tycoon, Mikati faces a difficult path to remedying one of the sharpest financial meltdowns of modern times. The challenges include his government's limited shelf-life, with elections due next Spring. In the most detailed comments yet on his approach for trying to reverse Lebanon's devastating financial meltdown, Mikati said in an interview with broadcaster LBCI that there would be a fair distribution of the losses in the financial system and to protect small depositors. Lazard helped the previous government draw up a financial rescue plan that identified losses of some $90 billion in the financial system. But the plan was shot down by objections from the banks, which said it made them foot too much of the bill for the collapse, in addition to opposition from the central bank and the ruling political elite that got Lebanon into its crisis. Reaching agreement on the losses is seen as the first step towards a deal with the IMF, which endorsed the figures in the previous government's plan. "I will not announce anything except if the whole financial recovery plan is complete," Mikati told LBCI. "We have the financial recovery plan, I have asked the company that set it to come to Lebanon and they will come and I will have a meeting with them in the coming days ... to see how we can update this plan", Mikati said. "I want to ask for a more realistic plan to get out of this crisis we are in," he added. Mikati said he was not planning to privatize state assets.
Wants to protect small depositors
An IMF agreement is seen as Lebanon's only path to accessing aid from foreign donors who are demanding reforms to address the root causes of the collapse, including state corruption and waste. "We will be very lucky if we finish before new year," Mikati said when asked about how long it might take to reach an IMF deal. "We will be lucky if we put the main framework (by then)." Mikati formed a government after a year of political deadlock that compounded an economic meltdown that has propelled three quarters of Lebanon's population into poverty and seen its currency plummet by more than 90%.
Savers have been frozen out of the paralyzed banking system, being forced to take a hair-cut of as much as 80% of the value of their deposits on withdrawals. "I want to protect the depositor as much as possible, the small depositors, I need to see how we can do that, this is what I'm trying to do," Mikati said.
"The inclination is definitely to protect the small depositors who have between $50,000 to $70,000 accounts, and these will take their money in dollars for sure."

Lebanese PM: We Are Working to Stop the Collapse, End Crises
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that his government was prioritizing stopping the collapse in the country, ending electricity problems and resolving the medicine and fuel crisis, while also moving to address other issues in cooperation with the relevant international bodies. Mikati met on Monday with the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, Najat Rochdi, who emphasized that the government’s success will be measured by the way reforms are approached. She said talks focused on the UN assistance to Lebanon in addressing the priorities and helping the Lebanese overcome the current crises, pointing to the need to focus on the social safety net strategy, “because we want to make sure that basic services reach all citizens.” “We are counting on Mikati and the ministers to initiate clear reforms needed by the country to get out of its crisis,” Rochdi stated. She added: “The government’s success criterion is the way to approach reforms. It is not only enough to work on urgent matters in the short term, but also to come up with a medium and long-term vision.” Mikati also received on Monday a delegation of economic bodies headed by former Minister Mohamed Choucair. The latter announced that the economic authorities have developed a short paper of nine points to deal with the basic requirements for reviving the economy, stimulating the private sector, securing social protection and improving services and infrastructure. Mikati chaired a meeting to complete discussions over the financing card, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh Al-Shami and other ministers. The participants reviewed the details of the implementation mechanism and “resolved some obstacles,” Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar said.

Lebanese-Syrian Technical Team Inspects Arab Gas Pipeline
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
A joint technical team from the Syrian Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry and the Lebanese Energy Ministry began on Monday inspecting the Arab Gas Pipeline. Damascus agreed to Beirut's request for assistance in transmitting Egyptian gas and Jordanian electricity through Syrian territory to Lebanon during recent talks held in Damascus. The Syrian Ministry said in a statement to SANA that the team is expected to submit on Tuesday its report on the technical readiness of the gas pipeline at the Lebanese side. On September 8, the energy ministers of Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon agreed to supply Lebanon with Egyptian gas during a meeting in Amman. The plan is part of efforts to address Lebanon’s power shortages using Egyptian gas to be supplied via the Arab pipeline established some 20 years ago. Lebanon hopes to get enough gas to generate power at a power plant in the north.

Electoral district 16
Dana Hourany/Now Lebanon/September 28/2021
As Lebanon braces up for general elections in spring 2022, Lebanese expats say they are angered by an electoral law that restricts their votes to six Parliament seats that may be assigned according to sect and continent.
If the current electoral law is applied to the 2022 elections, the large Lebanese diaspora will vote just for 6 additional seats, equally split between 6 sects in Lebanon. Photo: Arnaud Jaegers, Unsplash.
Mustapha Hamui walked into the Lebanese Embassy in Accra, Ghana, in May 2018 to cast his vote in the Parliamentary elections, and he says he felt just like in a small Lebanon.
Representatives of the Lebanese sectarian political parties that have been ruling the country since the civil war each had their own colorful stands, with supporters loitering around, waving the familiar flags.
“They all looked like they were scared of one another because they didn’t want anyone to exert pressure on the voters,” Hamui, a young businessman, and also an active blogger who comments on Lebanese politics, told NOW.
The country hadn’t organized any elections since 2009. The Parliament in Beirut had postponed them three times, in 2013, then in 2014 and 2017. Reasons varied from the security situation, the failure of the Parliament to elect a new president, and the technical requirements of holding a proper poll.
Voting in the diaspora was also a matter of harsh debate among Lebanese politicians, and the 2018 poll organized in the embassies across the world marked a historical first for Lebanese living abroad. In total, some 82,970 expat Lebanese registered to vote in 2018.
With the next round of elections set to take place in spring 2022, and a growing number of people leaving Lebanon to live abroad due to numerous shortages for basic utilities during a financial crisis that has brought the economy to the ground, voting in the diaspora is again one of the spiky topics for Lebanese politicians. Unlike 2018, when Lebanon residents and non-residents were treated equally, being allowed to vote and elect the 128 parliament members, in 2022, Lebanese voting abroad, although in greater numbers, are only allowed to vote for candidates running for 6 seats assigned to the diaspora. According to the 2008 electoral law, the 6 additional seats would represent six different sects – Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholics, Sunnis, Shiites and Druze – and they would also be divided onto six continents.
With the registration deadline approaching on November 20, Lebanese residing abroad were left confused and outraged. Even political parties seemed to be confused- is it worth it to campaign for 6 seats?
“We haven’t received anything from the embassy yet, which is weird because even political parties used to invite us to dinner parties and make themselves visible through campaigns and events, but at the moment they seem to do that much less, under the radar,” Hamui explained.
Lebanon has one of the largest diasporas in the world, estimated at up to 15 million worldwide, more than double the country’s population. Although experts and activists say only a small fraction of them actually register to vote, many of them found the notion of their votes being limited to six seats unfair.
“We are against being separated from our fellow Lebanese. They can’t treat us like we are anything but normal citizens that should partake in the voting process for the 128 MPs. We represent Lebanon, we want ministers that represent all of Lebanon, not just us abroad,” said Ghassan Hasan, activist in The Lebanese Diaspora Network, an online initiative to connect the Lebanese diaspora to the country’s issues.
Unlawful law
Ali Mourad, senior Legal advisor at Kulluna Irada, a civic organization advocating for political reform, explained that this massive growth of the diaspora’s interest in the elections has been building in the past 15 years, especially after the Cedar Revolution and Syria’s withdrawal.
“After the revolution in 2019 the diaspora started to show intense interest in the elections but the first electoral law was set in 2008, which allowed the diaspora to vote and laid a 12 year plan, which was the root of the current issue, ” Mourad explained.
The government aimed to create a 16th district, on top of the 15 regions in the country. But this new district would represent the Lebanese across the rest of the world.
This law stated that the six seats the expats would vote for in 2022 would be added to the existing 128, resulting in a parliament made of 134 MPs. In 2026, the Lebanese would vote for a total of 128 seats again, but 6 in the diaspora and 122 in the country.
“We’re in front of a situation and a legal text that was not discussed properly,” Mourad told NOW. “They didn’t even specify how they’re going to distribute the sects over the six continents. The whole issue has been left in the hands of a committee formed by the ministry of interior affairs and the ministry of foreign affairs,” Mourad stated.
Neither the committee nor the two ministries have had public sessions to look at how they were going to apply the law so far, although the registration deadline is in less than two months, on November 20th.
Mourad explained that there were many reasons to oppose the application of this electoral law.
“I want to tell them to register but with the issue of the six seats I might tell them to save up money and go vote in their district in Lebanon for the 128 MPs instead.”
Daizy Gedeon, movie maker
One main issue was that the number of Lebanese residing abroad exceeded the number of the country’s residents. Moreover, for the first time in the history of Lebanon, expats have grown interested in the political life in Lebanon. Whether it was through protests, daily follow-ups, charity works or donations, they were affected by everything going on in Lebanon in the past few years.
“There’s also the feeling of guilt when you live abroad so we want to transform this guilt into positive energy through making an impact in the country,” Mourad said. He also explained that the notion of equality mattered for many of the diaspora members. People needed to feel equal in rights to their fellow Lebanese in the country. He stressed the importance of data protection for the diaspora so that parties would not contact them. “This data is obtained by embassies that should not be leaking personal information when expats go to get some paperwork done. Either all parties have our information or none at all.”
Mourad says that, most likely, the parties are going to wait to see how many Lebanese expats were going to register to vote abroad, and then estimate their likelihood to win or to lose in lieu of these voters. According to these estimates, the government would make a decision regarding the electoral law and the six seats. He also added that since the diaspora was free from political pressures and the direct impacts of the crisis, they could provide an objective perspective and vote for people that might impact Lebanon differently.
But the Lebanese diaspora, at least those expats who are more involved politically, are seen as largely progressive, seeking to reform Lebanon’s sectarian political system. Many reject the law that simply applies the same sectarian system to the 6 seats they are supposed to elect.
Ready to fundraise and raise more awareness
“They made us leave our country and while we wanted to give back everything good we learned from living abroad, they want us to inherit a failing system that has ruined the country,” Lebanese Diaspora Network’s Hasan explained.
“As diaspora, we are fighting this system and we don’t want the sectarian language to follow us here, we want to rid Lebanon of it,” he added.
Fearmongering and conspiracies related to the elections abound, he said. Information circulating in the media quoted sources saying that the rules of the next elections were already agreed upon by the dedicated committee and that the election date was going to be changed to March 27. Moreover, it claimed that the diaspora won’t vote due to “logistical and financial reasons”. The six seats would be, therefore, canceled.
“They’re trying to scare us from our votes being totally obliterated so that we’ll, later on, settle for whatever they give us, including the six seats,” Hasan said.
Hasan also added that the diaspora was ready to finance the elections if need be, because for them, finances were being used as an excuse that could easily be fixed. “We’re in front of a situation and a legal text that was not discussed properly.”
Ali Mourad, Kulluna Irada
“Gebran Bassil when he was the minister of foreign affairs stated during the last elections that the diaspora’s elections cost around one million and a half dollars, that [sum] could be easily arranged [by donations] so it’s not an issue,” he explained. Hasan lived in Saudi Arabia so it would be easy for him to simply return to Lebanon to vote. Many Lebanese residing in Australia, Canada and America, however, can not benefit from the same privilege.
Several political pages and diaspora-related pages on social media, including Kulluna Irada, started awareness campaigns to inform the Lebanese abroad on the elections. But for the Lebanese-Australian director Daizy Gedeon, this was not enough as many of the expats did not speak the language nor were they following up daily news. This is when Gedeon decided to release her film “Enough! Lebanon’s Darkest Hour”, which exposed the negligence and corruption that led the country astray. “My aim is to tour as many countries as I possibly can before the elections to inform the diaspora about what is happening in the country in hopes of them joining the initiative to change,” Gedeon said. Gedeon explained that even through the trailer expats have started to understand the importance of their votes and their connection to the issues currently plaguing the country. “I want to tell them to register but with the issue of the six seats I might tell them to save up money and go vote in their district in Lebanon for the 128 MPs instead,” the director explained.
A force of change
In 2018, out of the registered Lebanese voters in the diaspora, approximately 40,000 actually voted. Gedeon found this phenomenon “embarrassing and shocking”. “We come to Lebanon and enjoy everything that is good and then leave all that is bad for the Lebanese residing in the country to deal with it. No, we have a responsibility, we can’t abandon our families and friends when things get tough,” Gedeon stated. The director insisted that the diaspora has a big responsibility that has the potential to impact the country as a whole. Change resides in their hands and the government was aware of this, which was why they were not going to make it easy, she said. Gedeon plans on voting in Lebanon next year and for that, she needed her Lebanese passport. It was hard to obtain. “People were lining up to get their passports since 4 am and people would just cut the queue because they had connections. The wait was infuriating and it took one month when it should have been a couple of days,” she added.
“We are against being separated from our fellow Lebanese. They can’t treat us like we are anything but normal citizens that should partake in the voting process for the 128 MPs.”
Ghassan Hasan, The Lebanese Diaspora Network
She said that her film about Lebanon was meant to remind Lebanese abroad of their connection to the country, as many tend to disconnect.
“The second and third generation of Lebanese immigrants want to reconnect with their country but they feel overwhelmed with all that is occurring at the moment. We have to simplify it for them, which is what I try to do through my film and my social media posts,” the director explained.
Hasan agreed that Lebanese expats had a sense of responsibility and wanted to contribute. They started by messaging their embassies to communicate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs their demands, they were also collecting signatures for many petitions to reach the government. If the politicians were not going to take action and amend the law, the diaspora had plans to escalate, he explained.
“We’re planning to organize protests and more awareness conferences in Lebanon to make sure our efforts yield results,” he said.
For Hasan, many expats wish to return, but find it impossible due to the current crisis. Their only hope for change is through elections.
“They want to dismantle our power and silence our voices, so we’ll use pressure wherever we can to make sure that does not happen,” Hasan said.
*Dana Hourany is a multimedia journalist with @NOW_leb. She is on Instagram @danahourany.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on September 28-29/2021
Israeli PM Denounces Iran, Ignores Palestinians in U.N. Speech
Associated Press/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
Israel's new prime minister appealed to the international community Monday to stand together against Iran, accusing Tehran of marching toward the development of a nuclear weapon and threatening to act alone if the world does not take action. In his maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Naftali Bennett made no mention of Israel's decadeslong conflict with the Palestinians and instead sought to portray Iran as a menace to global security. "Iran's nuclear program has hit a watershed moment, and so has our tolerance," he said. "Words do not stop centrifuges from spinning."
After four inconclusive elections in two years, Bennett succeeded the longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June by forming a diverse coalition of small and midsize parties spanning the Israeli political spectrum.
Where Netanyahu was famous for his showmanship, combativeness and use of memorable visual props in his addresses to the U.N., Bennett — a former high-tech executive — took a more traditional approach. His voice was measured as he sought to portray his country as a "lighthouse in a stormy sea" of the volatile Mideast. But the content of his message was largely similar to that of Netanyahu as he focused heavily on archenemy Iran.
"Iran's great goal is crystal clear to anybody who cares to open their eyes: Iran seeks to dominate the region — and seeks to do so under a nuclear umbrella," Bennett said. He called Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raisi, the "butcher of Tehran" for his past role in suppressing political dissent and accused Iran of arming, funding and training Israel's enemies across the region. He said Iranian meddling had brought disaster to countries like Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. "Every place Iran touches fails," he said, claiming that Iranian activities threatened the entire world. He pointed to Iran's development of attack drones, which have been blamed for a string of attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf.
In a reply later Monday on the assembly floor, Iranian diplomat Payman Ghadirkhomi accused Bennett of making baseless allegations and using "threatening language" toward Iran. "His regime must avoid any miscalculation and adventuristic move in the region," added Ghadirkhomi, who is assigned to Iran's U.N. mission. Israel believes that Iran aims to develop nuclear weapons — a charge Iran denies — and says the international nuclear accord reached with Iran in 2015 did not include enough safeguards to keep Iran from reaching a weapons capability. Israel welcomed then-President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the accord in 2018 and has made clear that it opposes the Biden administration's willingness to return to the agreement. Israel says the agreement needs major modifications before it can be reinstated.
Bennett said that some in the international community have concluded that a nuclear-capable Iran is an "inevitable reality."
"Israel doesn't have that privilege," he said, signaling that Israel is ready to act alone if necessary. "We will not tire. We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon."The United Nations has made the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a high priority over the decades, drawing accusations from Israel that the world body is unfairly biased. Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is frequently criticized in U.N. bodies, including the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council. In 2012, over Israeli objections, the Palestinians were granted nonmember observer status at the U.N., allowing them to join a number of international bodies. These include the International Criminal Court, which is now investigating possible Israeli war crimes. In an unusually harsh speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday gave Israel one year to end its occupation of territories the Palestinians want for a future state. He threatened to withdraw recognition of Israel — a cornerstone of three decades of failed peace efforts — if it failed to do so. Bennett, a religious hard-liner who opposes Palestinian statehood, stopped short of criticizing the United Nations and did not mention Abbas or the Palestinians even once in his 25-minute address. As prime minister, he has rejected calls for peace talks with the Palestinians, though he hopes to promote better economic relations to reduce friction. In a subtle message to his detractors, he said Israel was prepared to work with the international community and share its technological expertise to address other issues, including the coronavirus pandemic. "For way too long, Israel was defined by wars with our neighbors," he said. "But this is not what Israel is about. This is not what the people of Israel are about."

Unidentified Planes Hit Iranian Militias in Eastern Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
Unidentified aircraft hit a base run by Iranian-backed militias in Syria's eastern province of Deir Ezzor near the Iraqi border where Tehran has in the last year expanded its military presence, residents and military sources said on Monday. They said the strikes were south of the town of Mayadeen along the Euphrates River which has become a major base for several pro-Iran militias, mostly from Iraq, since ISIS militants were driven out nearly four years ago. Iranian-backed militia fighters patrolling the streets were put on heightened alert and ambulances were seen rushing to the desert outskirts of the city after several explosions were heard, two residents said. "Panicky militias were calling on pedestrians and cars to clear the city center and main streets around it," Ahmad al Shawi, a resident told Reuters in a text message. The militias now control the town, part of a growing presence across Deir Ezzor province, residents and military sources say. The air attacks were not immediately reported on Syrian state media, which has previously denied that thousands of Iranian-backed militia fighters are deployed across large parts of the country. Israel, alarmed by Iran's growing regional influence and military presence in Syria, says it has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria to slow down Iranian entrenchment. Over the past year, strikes by unmanned Israeli aircraft have concentrated on the border town of Albu Kamal, south east of Mayadeen, that lies on a strategic supply route for Iranian-backed militias who regularly send reinforcements from Iraq into Syria. The Iranian-backed militias are also in control of large stretches of the frontier on the Iraqi side. Western intelligence sources say Israel has expanded air strikes on suspected arms transfers and deployments by Iranian backed militia and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies which support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Greece Conduct Joint Military Drill to Confront Terrorist Elements
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
Special forces from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Greece have conducted a four-way joint military exercise. Dubbed ‘Hercules-21,’ the four-day drill was held for the first time at the Special Forces Training Center in Peramos, Greece, and it aimed at confronting terrorist elements and exchanging expertise. The military exercise includes lectures on countering terrorism, training on managing joint combat operations among the participating elements, training on fighting in closed and open spaces, hostage rescue and medical evacuation. Forces were also trained to carry out airdrops and sea landings from the thunderbolt and parachutes as well as raids. The drill comes in line with the joint training plan implemented by the Egyptian armed forces with brotherly and friendly countries to exchange expertise and refine the skills of the participating elements, a statement by the Egyptian military spokesperson read. These exercises contribute to achieving higher rates of efficiency and combat readiness, the statement added. Commanders of the armed forces of the countries participating in the training attended the drill.

Regime Strikes Turkish Positions in Northern Syria
Qamishli – Kamal Sheikho/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
Regime forces struck on Monday positions of the Turkish army and allied Syrian factions in the northern Hasakah countryside that falls within the areas of Ankara’s Operation Peace Spring. The strike took place after the Turkish forces and Syrian factions attacked a Russian fighter helicopter that had flown over the village of al-Dardara in Hasakah. The aircraft, which was flying at low altitude, managed to avoid being hit. The attack coincided with intense missile strikes carried out by the opposition factions deployed in areas where Turkey had carried out the Operation Peace Spring against Kurdish forces. The regime forces consequently launched missile attacks against the positions of the Turkish army and loyalist factions in al-Qasimiyah and al-Dardara and other villages in the Tal Tamr countryside. According to a senior military source, the command of the Russian forces ordered the regime forces to carry out the attack.
This incident is the first since Turkey launched its Operation Peace Spring in October 2019. Commander of the Tal Tamr Military Council said the countryside has witnessed frequent attacks since mid-August.Meanwhile, Russian forces have expanded their base in the vicinity of Qamishli Airport and began constructing an airstrip for warplanes and a coordination center in the old French barracks square.

Israel Allows its Flag to be Raised in Al-Aqsa
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
The occupation police in Jerusalem attacked and arrested people holding the Palestinian flag in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the rest of the city on Monday, but at the same time, allowed Jewish settlers to raise the flag of Israel in Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, said that the Israeli occupation forces were seeking to rapidly extend their control over Al-Aqsa. In remarks to the press on Monday, Sabri noted that the occupation has “succeeded in achieving its goals in Al-Aqsa Mosque by oppressing and arresting Jerusalemites, while opening the way for settlers to provoke the feelings of Muslims in their holiest sites.” The Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem issued a statement, saying that the Jews’ violation of Al-Aqsa Mosque, in particular waving the Israeli flag, was an “unprecedented, aggressive act.” The Israeli peace movements had accused the police of assaulting anyone who raised the Palestinian flag in Jerusalem. It noted that although the new Minister of Internal Security, Omer Bar-Lev, issued instructions prohibiting movements against the waving of the Palestinian flag “except in extraordinary cases,” police attacked the Israeli and Palestinian demonstrators over the same matter. In a sworn statement submitted to the court, Oren Ziv, a photojournalist, who has been documenting a range of social and political issues in Israel and the Occupied Territories since 2003, recounted how Israeli forces attacked demonstrations held in solidarity with the residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, who are facing eviction threats. Ziv said: “Calm prevailed over the demonstration, which proceeded from the main street towards the police checkpoint... But the police officer, Shahar Mahsumi, called them over a loudspeaker, saying: I ask not to wave the flags. If you wave the flags, we will disperse the demonstration.” He continued: “Later, when a number of young men raised the flags, the police arrested four Israeli Jewish demonstrators, one of them a minor, and several Palestinians.” Knesset member Mossi Raz, who participated in the march, said: “The demonstration was quiet … until the police officer decided to use violence to confiscate some of the small Palestinian flags.”

Growing presence of Hamas in West Bank challenges Abbas, worries Israel
The Arab Weekly/September 28/2021
JERUSALEM--The raids launched by the Israeli security forces in the West Bank, on Saturday night, as they tracked down a Hamas cell, reflected Israel’s concern about the growing influence of the Palestinian militant movement in the West Bank. According to analysts, the growing presence of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, also poses a challenge to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who seems unable to keep security under control in the whole of the West Bank. Israeli Channel 13 reported that the raids carried out by Israeli security forces in the West Bank prevented a “major terrorist attack.” The channel alleged that the Hamas cell planned to carry out a series of kidnappings and killings. IDF and police forces arrested 20 suspected members of the cell in recent days, according to the IDF, which believes there are more Hamas cell members still at large. The Israeli channel said the arrest raids began after Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, concluded that the group was about to carry out a series of armed attacks. The channel said that officials suspect that there is a direct line of communication between the cell and the Hamas movement in Gaza. On Sunday, the Israeli army reported the killing of five Palestinians after an exchange of fire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen in four West Bank towns, against the backdrop of the arrest raids. “Hamas is trying to escalate the situation in the West Bank,” said Ram Ben-Barak, chairman of the Knesset’s foreign affairs and defence committee, in a press statement. He pointed out that “Hamas cannot be allowed to escalate the situation in the West Bank, while it tries to maintain calm in Gaza.” Recent months have witnessed a ratcheting up in violence in the West Bank with increased clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants. Last month, four Palestinians were killed in Jenin refugee camp by Israeli troops during violent clashes.
Direct confrontations often occur between Palestinians and Israeli forces when the latter carry out raids in PA-controlled areas of the West Bank. Although the radical Islamist movement has been ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007, it has a strong presence in the West Bank, which is run by the PA and its most prominent faction, the Fatah. Israeli officials have long worried that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is seeking to consolidate its clout in the West Bank so as to challenge the Western-backed PA. This, they fear, would increase security risks to Israel.
Analysts attribute the escalation by Hamas of tensions in the areas under the control of the PA to its conclusions that Mahmoud Abbas’s hold on power has weakened and that his security services are unable to control Hamas elements in areas under his authority. This, they say, muddles the calculations of the PA as it seeks to resume peace negotiations with Israel, especially now that security agreements between Tel Aviv and Ramallah include provisions for cooperation over the extradition of wanted persons, coordination in combating terrorism and the exchange of intelligence information. The PA seems however unable to implement the security agreements. Israeli officials assert that it is not possible to resume Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations while areas remain outside the control of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza.
The upsurge by Hamas comes amid signs of the authority’s inability to enforce security in the West Bank and in the absence of any prospects for a political settlement. Hamas leading figure and former minister of health Basem Naim, said Monday that the main front for the upcoming battle with Israel will be the West Bank, as “it is the Achilles heel of the occupation and the most important pretext it uses to legitimise its presence on our land.”
Naim added that, “all national and popular efforts must be harnessed to revolutionise the cities, villages and hamlets of the occupied West Bank,” noting that “to achieve this great and strategic goal, there must be a consensus, starting with a national vision to confront the doctrine of security coordination.”
He called on those he described as the adepts of this doctrine to “either side with their people and their national project, or step aside, having lost any legitimacy, so that our people can exercise their natural duty in resisting the occupation.” Naim’s statements aim to exacerbate existing pressures on Abbas, who faces growing divisions within the Fatah movement and a sharp decline in popularity. Analysts say that Abbas was never weaker politically and in public opinion than he is today. They point out that ten years ago Hamas would not have dared anger the president, let alone spark an escalation in the West Bank under his watch. They believe, also, that any moves by Abbas at this stage to bring the security situation under control by reining in Hamas cells, especially in the Jenin camp, will further weaken him at the grass root level and make him appear uncommitted to the liberation agenda, which Hamas is cultivating in various ways, including in its preparations for the upcoming elections.

In pre-election move, France slashes visas numbers for Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
The Arab Weekly/September 28/2021
PARIS--Paris will sharply reduce the number of visas granted to people from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, accusing the three Maghreb countries of not doing enough to allow illegal immigrants to return, a government spokesman said Tuesday. Analysts see the move as a means for President Emmanuel Macron to show his resolve in fighting illegal immigration, less than nine months before French presidential elections, where he is expected to face off with far-right contender Marine Le Pen. A recent opinion poll gave Le Pen 20% of the votes in the second round of the presidential vote against 26% for Macron. “It’s a drastic decision and unprecedented, but one made necessary by the fact that these countries are refusing to take back nationals who we do not want or cannot keep in France,” Gabriel Attal told Europe 1 radio. The station first reported the visa clampdown earlier Tuesday, saying President Emmanuel Macron took the decision a month ago after failed diplomatic efforts with the three North African countries. The illegal migration topic is closely intertwined with the issue of terrorism as the forced repatriation is sought by French authorities for Maghreb nationals suspected of extremist activities, including many serving prison terms in French jails. A number of terrorist incidents on French soil during the last few years involving Maghreb nationals has whipped up fervour against illegal immigration. Some members of France’s five-million strong Muslim community have complained of growing religious intolerance.
When visa requests are denied, French authorities must still secure a consular pass in order to forcibly expel individuals to their home countries, a document that Paris says Algiers, Rabat and Tunis are refusing to provide. “There was dialogue, then there were threats and today we’re carrying out those threats,” Attal said. “We’re hoping that the response will be more cooperation with France so that we can apply our immigration rules,” he said. Maghreb diplomatic sources say their respective countries have been willing to cooperate but reserved the right to verify the identity of the individuals listed for sending back and to control the pace of intended repatriations. According to Europe 1, citing administration figures, Macron has ordered the number of visa deliveries to Algeria and Morocco to be halved from 2020 levels and by a third for Tunisia.
It said that in the case of Algeria, French courts had rejected 7,731 visa requests in the first six months of this year, yet because consular passes had not been granted, only 22 individuals had been expelled from French territory.
For the next six months, Macron has capped visas for Algerians at 31,500, the report said. France granted a record number of visas, 275,000, to Algerians in 2019.The drastic reduction of visas is expected to constitute a very contentious issue in French relations with the Maghreb in view of the importance of economic interests between Paris and its former colonies south of the Mediterranean.

Qatari elections, rather a show than a genuine practice of democracy
AP/September 28/2021
AL WAKRAH, Qatar--Qataris will be heading to the polls in a few days as the country gears itself for Shura Council elections, in a rare show of democratic practice that the observers say raises many questions when it comes to its genuineness. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have previously condemned new laws approved in late July 2021 to regulate Qatar’s first legislative elections, saying that such laws will effectively disenfranchise thousands of Qataris from voting or running. “The new laws highlight the country’s discriminatory citizenship system,” Amnesty said in early September.
Debate has swirled in particular around the disenfranchisement of some members of the Al-Murrah tribe, who make up as much as 60 percent of Qatari citizens. The constitution states only descendants of Qataris present in the country in 1930 are eligible to run or vote, meaning some Al-Murrah are barred, their ancestors having been outside Qatar at that time. “It remains to seen whether the elections become more inclusive by giving a vote to all Qatari citizens and whether the Shura Council will get more powers,” said Georgetown University Qatar politics lecturer Danyel Reiche.
The October 2 election is for 30 members of the 45-strong Shura Council, a body with limited powers that was previously entirely appointed by the emir as an advisory chamber. While it is a rare nod to democracy in the autocratic country, observers say this is no turning point for Qatar, and stress that it comes with heightened scrutiny on the country ahead of next year’s World Cup. Reiche suggested the polls “are a step towards democracy that might not have happened without the upcoming World Cup” and its international spotlight.
Praising the emir
Instead of calling for a new government or an overhaul of official policy, most candidates have cautiously praising the country’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and his 2030 development plan. “The system, we want to make it more open, and also to discuss modern issues,” says Saeed al-Burshaid, a candidate for the 14th district. While Burshaid was giving his first stump speech ahead of Qatar’s inaugural legislative polls, a modest crowd listened respectfully. Burshaid, also a TV actor, gesticulated passionately as he built to a crescendo in a nondescript and largely undecorated sports hall south of Doha, watched by a few dozen people sipping tea served by waiters. “It’s our job to let them (voters) know and to educate the people,” enthuses Burshaid, a minor celebrity in the Gulf who also previously ran Qatar TV’s drama department. Burshaid’s laminated manifesto pledges action on both workers’ and women’s rights, issues for which the 2022 World Cup hosts have been criticised. The Shura will be allowed to propose legislation, approve the budget and recall ministers. But the all-powerful emir will wield a veto. After a pre-event break for prayers, the speech by Burshaid went ahead uninterrupted, with neither of his two rivals present.
A men’s election
Campaigning in the Arabian desert nation has been subdued for much of the 14-day period allotted for drumming up support. The candidates are mostly men, with just 28 women among the 284 hopefuls running for the 30 available council seats. The remaining 15 seats will be appointed by the emir. Male voters at Burshaid’s segregated campaign event, who greet each other with customary kisses on the head, outnumber women five to one. Analysts say the influence of the Shura is likely to be limited, and expect many voters to cast ballots for family members. “I don’t think it portends great things for Qatar in terms of domestic legislation or reform,” said Michael Stephens, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Diplomatic sources suggest families and tribes have already conducted internal ballots to determine who will be elected for their constituencies. Candidates will have to stand in electoral divisions linked to where their family or tribe was based in the 1930s, using data compiled by the then-British authorities.
Limited introduction to democracy
The streets of Qatar’s towns have been speckled with billboards adorned with beaming candidates sporting Qataris’ ubiquitous national dress. But beyond town hall meetings and posters, the country’s introduction to democracy has been limited, with no change of government possible and political parties outlawed. “Now the government sees it’s time to have a democratic system … we are the second country in the Gulf after Kuwait. Now is the time for people to have their say,” said one voter in his 60s who declined to be named. “We will go through a learning curve.”

Yemenis Protest against Crumbling Currency, Price Hikes
Aden - Ali Rabih and Mohammed Nasser/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
Hundreds of Yemenis held protests in Taiz and other Yemeni governorates on Monday to demonstrate against deteriorating living conditions and the devaluation of the currency. The Central Bank vowed to take measures to stop the decline and denied having ordered the closure of currency exchange shops.
In the last few days, the Yemeni rial hit 1,200 to the dollar in government-run areas, leading to a spike in the prices of commodities. The Exchangers Association in the interim capital, Aden, called on Sunday to close exchange and transfer shops, hoping that this would stop the rial’s collapse. In Taiz, hundreds of people declared civil disobedience and blocked streets with burning tires. This prompted government forces to intervene, resulting in clashes with the protesters amid security warnings of the consequences of the chaos. In a statement, the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) said it would soon take decisive and strict measures at the level of banks and exchange shops to fix the situation as much as possible and stop the rial’s sharp depreciation. “CBY enjoys complete independence and operates in accordance with rules, professional mechanisms, and controls determined by the laws in force in this regard,” confirmed the statement. The statement called on “everyone to cooperate with CBY, be responsible, and realize the danger of the continued deterioration in the value of the local currency.”CBY stated that it “did not take a decision to close the activity of money exchange companies and facilities, and that the decision was taken by the Exchangers Association and presented to the competent department at CBY.”The bank added that it was “aware of the sensitivity and complexity of the situation that arose after others intervened in the activity of the money exchange market, and even concluded agreements with a number of money changers without realizing the consequences.”

Yemen faces severe threat as Houthis escalate attacks on Marib
The Arab Weekly/September 28/2021
ADEN--Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias could be on the verge of changing the course of the war as they close in on a key northern city, experts say, warning millions of refugees are at risk. Hundreds of fighters have died in fierce clashes this month after the Iran-backed insurgents renewed their campaign for Marib, the government’s last bastion in the oil-rich northern region. Two days of fierce clashes over the crucial central city have killed more than 130 fighters, mostly militiamen, officials said Tuesday.
A severe threat
Seizing Marib would be a game-changer, completing the militias’ takeover of Yemen’s north while giving them control of oil resources and the upper hand in any peace negotiations. It also raises fears for the more than two million refugees living in camps in the region after fleeing other frontline cities during the long-running conflict. “The battle of Marib will determine the future of Yemen,” Abdulghani Al-Iryani, a senior researcher at the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, said. “Houthis control most of the governorate and are closing in on the city.”The severe threat to Marib comes just over seven years after the militias overran the national capital Sana’a, just 120 kilometres (75 miles) to the east, in 2014. The takeover prompted the Saudi-led intervention to prop up the government the following year. The grinding war has created what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with millions of displaced people on the brink of famine. “The refugees will probably pay the highest price for this destructive war,” said Iryani.
Crucial battle
Marib sits at a crossroads between the southern and northern regions and is key to controlling Yemen’s north. If it falls, the Houthis could be emboldened to push into the government-held south, analysts say. Ahmed Nagi, of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Centre, said they have made significant advances after opening new fronts around Marib in recent weeks. If they seize the city, “the Houthis will use Marib to advance towards the southern governorates bordering it”, he said. The Houthis began a big push to seize Marib in February and, after a lull, they renewed their campaign this month, prompting intense air bombardments from coalition forces. “Losing Marib to the Houthis could change the course of the war,” said Elisabeth Kendall, researcher at the University of Oxford’s Pembroke College. “It would be another nail in the coffin of the government’s claim to authority and would strengthen Houthi leverage in any projected peace talks.”According to Iryani, there still lies the possibility that Marib’s tribes and parties, which fight on the government side, accept a Houthi deal to spare the city destruction. “It’s unlikely that they will fight their way into the city. More likely, they will strike a deal. Neither side wishes to engage in a bloody urban battle,” he said. “The offer stipulates the local government disavow the coalition, declare neutrality and share the governorate’s resources with (the militias in) Sana’a. “In return, Houthis will leave the city alone and recognise its local government.”
‘Dire’ fallout
The city had between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants before the war, but its population has ballooned as Yemenis fled there from other parts of the country.
With about 139 refugee camps in the province, according to the government, hosting approximately 2.2 million people, the displaced civilians are caught in the line of fire once again. “As they disperse, it will be harder for them to access humanitarian assistance and, with the spectre of famine looming over Yemen, the Marib battle will make it more imminent,” said Iryani. Kendall said “if the Houthis seize Marib, the impact on the humanitarian situation will be dire”, while Nagi predicted a “huge” disaster. About 80 percent of the 30 million people in Yemen, long the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, are dependent on aid.
While the UN and the US are pushing for an end to the war, the Houthis have demanded the reopening of Sana’a airport, closed under a Saudi blockade since 2016, before any ceasefire or negotiations. “Taking over Marib will not push the Houthis to accept the brokered peace or even to be committed to it if it is accepted,” said Nagi. “On the contrary, it encourages Houthis to move to the other southern parts to ensure its full control over all Yemen.”

Sadr Calls for ‘Saving Iraq’ without Specifying How
Baghdad – Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
Tweets by Sadrist movement leader, cleric Moqtada al-Sadr aimed at disciplining unruly members of his movement differ than statements of reprimand issues by various Iraqi officials. Sadr, whose Sairoon alliance holds the parliamentary majority, is the only figure who can mobilize the people on the street and change political equations with a single stance, whether in the form of a tweet or a brief statement. Sadr, who refuses to have his name be dragged into political disputes, is the most adept player among figures who believe themselves to be skilled politicians, whether in the Shiite blocs or Sunni or Kurdish ones that seek to maintain balanced ties with the cleric and his movement. On Monday, Sadr posted one of his shortest ever tweets: “Saving Iraq is a national duty.” Sadr did not specify the way in which he wants to save Iraq, but those few words will preoccupy his avid supporters and his rivals alike. The tweet will be understood as a message that the duty of saving Iraq will be Sadr’s and everyone who follows him on his path. In the past three months, ever since the launch of campaigns for next month’s elections, Sadr had flipped the political scene in Iraq on more than one occasion. At first, he shocked everyone by announcing his withdrawal from the race. He was followed soon after by members of the Sadrist movement, with the exception of some allies from outside the group. At the time, Sadr said he was pulling out of the elections “so that Iraq would not burn.” His stance created confusion in Iraq with many forces weighing the possibility of postponing the elections – in spite of their outward support for holding them on time – because it was hard for them to imagine going through with them without the Sadrists. Many parties sought to take the middle ground between Sadr, who enjoys a wide popular base, and his rivals, fearing the emergence of an imbalance in the political scene. Moreover, Sadr’s boycott of the elections may have major implications on the street that could in turn lead to the obstruction of the polls and even a Shiite-Shiite clash.
No sooner had Sadr announced his withdrawal from the polls that Shiite blocs started to envisage filling the void he would leave behind in central and southern provinces and Baghdad. Other blocs – Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish – went about persuading the cleric to renege on his decision.
Some two weeks of negotiations led to Sadr’s conditional return to the electoral race. The negotiating parties agreed to his conditions that were related to reform and amending the constitution. No sooner had he returned to the scene, that his supporters started boasting that he will win a parliamentary majority and form a purely Sadrist government. With such announcements, his rivals had to again reassess their plans and prepare to wage a bitter electoral battle with the cleric and his popular base.
Sadr again upturned the scene by declaring two days ago that he does not want a Sadrist to assume the position of prime minister. This again forced political parties to reassess their positions and electoral calculations. They began wondering whether Sadr will seriously relinquish the post or throw his support behind a certain figure, who will likely be current Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who already has the cleric’s backing. If he does back Kadhimi, Sadr’s opponents will again have to reassess their positions because they perceive the premier as a common rival of all parties. The cleric’s tweet on Monday will again force rivals to review their stances as they wait with baited breath for the elections.

UN Seeks to End Tension between Ruling Partners in Sudan
Khartoum - Ahmed Younes, Mohammed Amin Yassin/Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 September, 2021
Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) Volker Perthes held extensive meetings with senior Sudanese officials of the Transitional Sovereignty Council to overcome the current political crisis after last week's coup attempt. Perthes urged partners to reduce escalation and focus on dialogue and cooperation. The meeting discussed the repercussions of the crisis that led to tension between the various government components. Perthes said he met with the Council Members Lieutenant-General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, Mohammed al-Faki Suleiman, and Mohammed Hasan al-Taishi. Perthes urged all sides to de-escalate rhetoric and to return to dialogue between all components of the transitional government. "Partnership needs to be maintained, so gains aren't lost," he tweeted. He stressed the need for cooperation to move forward towards political transition, peace, and democracy.
The UN supports a comprehensive dialogue between the partners of the transitional period to address their issues, reiterated the official. Faki, a member of the ruling military-civilian council, asserted that: "We do not want any confrontation, and we seek a political solution that preserves the rights contained in the constitutional document and protects the country from military coups." "We will not allow anyone to obstruct the civil democratic transition," asserted Faki. In turn, Taishi said the meeting with Perthes addressed the political crises facing the transitional period, stressing "the need to adhere to the constitutional document and the political agreement that was agreed upon between the partners."He added that establishing a partnership based on the foundations of a democratic transition with guarantees is among the basic principles. Taishi asserted that all partners must adhere to these principles and seize the opportunity to get out of the political crisis because there is no choice but to ensure the success of the transitional period and the shift to a fully democratic system in the country. Meanwhile, committee member, Salah Manna, accused unnamed foreign figures of supporting the coup attempt last week.
Manna said the "Islamic movement concealed its money and companies within the military establishment," and that "the committee will work to dismantle the security and intelligence apparatus affiliated with the remnants of the ousted regime," he noted.

North Korea Launches Missile as Diplomat Decries U.S. Policy
Associated Press/September 28/2021
North Korea fired a short-range missile into the sea Tuesday at nearly the same moment its U.N. diplomat was decrying the U.S.'s "hostile policy" against it, in an apparent return to its pattern of mixing weapons displays with peace overtures to wrest outside concessions.
The launch, its third round of weapons firings this month, came only three days after North Korea repeated its offer for conditional talks with South Korea. Some experts say the latest missile launch was likely meant to test how South Korea would respond as North Korea needs Seoul to persuade Washington to ease economic sanctions and make other concessions. In an emergency National Security Council meeting, the South Korean government expressed regret over what it called "a short-range missile launch" by the North. South Korea's military earlier said the object fired from North Korea's mountainous northern Jagang province flew toward the waters off the North's eastern coast. Further details of the launch were being analyzed.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the launch didn't pose an immediate threat but highlighted "the destabilizing impact of (North Korea's) illicit weapons program." Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said North Korea fired "what could be a ballistic missile" and that his government stepped up its vigilance and surveillance. A ballistic missile launch would violate a U.N. Security Council ban on North Korean ballistic activities, but the council typically doesn't impose new sanctions on North Korea for launches of short-range weapons.
The launch came after Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, reached out to Seoul twice on Friday and Saturday, saying her country was open to resuming talks and reconciliatory steps if conditions are met. She criticized Seoul for calling Pyongyang's previous missile tests a provocation and demanded it abandon "unfair double-dealing standards" and "hostile policies."Her overture followed the North's two previous rounds of missile launches this month — the first one with a newly developed cruise missile and the other with a ballistic missile fired from a train, a new launch platform. Those launches demonstrated North Korea's ability to attack targets in South Korea and Japan, both key U.S. allies where a total of 80,000 American troops are stationed. Tuesday's launch "was like testing the South Korean government to see if it would impose a double standard and call it a provocation," said analyst Shin Beomchul with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. He said North Korea's status as a nuclear state would be solidified if South Korea and others fail to respond strongly.
Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said North Korea may have tested a new missile such as a hypersonic glide vehicle that was among an array of high-tech weapons Kim Jong Un has vowed to procure. South Korea has called Kim Yo Jong's openness to talks "meaningful" but urged North Korea to restore communication channels before any talks between the rivals can be arranged.
The inter-Korean communication lines have remained largely dormant for about 15 months, so restoring them could be a yardstick to assess how serious the North is about its offer. Seoul's Unification Ministry said Tuesday North Korea remains unresponsive to South Korea's attempts to exchange messages over the channels. At nearly the same time as Tuesday's launch, North Korean Ambassador Kim Song used his speech on the last day of the U.N. General Assembly's annual high-level meeting to justify his country's development of a "war deterrent" to defend itself against U.S. threats. "The possible outbreak of a new war on the Korean Peninsula is contained not because of the U.S.'s mercy on the DPRK, it is because our state is growing a reliable deterrent that can control the hostile forces in an attempted military invasion," Kim said. DPRK refers to Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
Kim Yo Jong's offer of conditional talks was a response to South Korean President Moon Jae-in's renewed calls for a political declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in a technical state of war. The three-year conflict pitted South Korea and U.S.-led U.N. forces against North Korea and China and killed 1 million to 2 million people. In his own speech at the U.N. last week, Moon proposed the end-of-the-war declaration be signed among the two Koreas, the U.S. and China.
After the North's launch Tuesday, Moon ordered officials to examine its latest weapons firing and previous outreach in a comprehensive manner before formulating countermeasures, according to Moon's office.
A U.S.-led diplomatic effort aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons in return for economic and political benefits has been stalled 2½ years. U.S. officials have repeatedly expressed hopes for further talks but have also made it clear the long-term sanctions imposed on North Korea will stay in place until the North takes concrete steps toward denuclearization. While North Korea has tested short-range weapons and vowed to continue building its nuclear arsenal, Kim Jong Un has maintained a moratorium on testing longer-range weapons capable of reaching the American homeland, an indication he wants to keep the chances for future diplomacy with the U.S. alive.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 28-29/2021
Will the Regional Initiatives Work with Damascus?
Charles Lister/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 28/2021
Nine months after the arrival of President Joe Biden into the White House, a new American foreign policy “philosophy” for the Middle East is beginning to emerge. Several previous administrations have sought to “pivot away” from the Middle East, but in doing so, they have disengaged too quickly and too much. The Biden administration is subtly different – it too wants to “pivot away” and focus its attention and resources elsewhere, principally towards a great power competition with China, but it understands that it cannot detach altogether from the Middle East.
From the Israeli-Palestinian question, to conflicts and instability in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, the Biden administration is pursuing a policy of delegated stabilization, whereby US allies in the region are being encouraged to negotiate, mediate and resolve regional issues with limited and distant US oversight. In other words, unlike President Trump, the Biden administration no longer wants to be the “policeman,” “judge” and “mediator” and this is being realized through a series of burden-sharing arrangements.
In some cases, devolving local mediation and diplomacy to local actors is a strategically smart and well-timed move. For the first time in many years, there is an Israeli government in Jerusalem that might potentially be interested in exploring small but meaningful moves towards de-escalation with the Palestinians and an enhanced relationship with the Palestinian Authority. While the US could coax both actors in the right direction, there is little need for direct US involvement. A similar dynamic is in place in Iraq, where the US remains an important diplomatic and military partner to Baghdad and Erbil, but not the determinant of internal or regional decision-making.
In Syria however, the Biden administration’s current approach promises neither stability nor sustainability. From early-on in Biden’s time in office, Syria policy was narrowed down to two primary priorities: humanitarian aid and countering ISIS. To give the administration its well-earned credit, a determined diplomatic effort in the United Nations successfully achieved a 12-month cross-border aid extension and both the State Department and Department of Defense have signaled clearly and consistently that there is no intention to withdraw troops from Syria’s northeast. But on the diplomatic front, the administration has done little if anything to advance the political process and until now, has shown little interest in appointing an influential figure to the Special Envoy’s still empty seat.
With the US markedly absent from any serious diplomatic push, Syria’s regional neighbors have understandably stepped forward to arrange their own localized resolutions. Jordan and its monarch King Abdullah have emerged as the most visible leader in this new dynamic – recently mediating a regional plan to supply Egyptian natural gas to Lebanon, via Jordanian and Syrian soil. Multiple ministerial-level visits have been exchanged between Amman and Damascus. Most recently, Syrian Defense Minister Ali Ayyoub visited Jordan – the first such visit in 10 years – to discuss countering terrorism and drugs smuggling. That the Syrian regime is both a narco state of global proportion and remains the most potent driver of violent extremism in Syria makes such a visit painfully ironic.
Nevertheless, encouraged by the Biden administration’s hands-off approach and clearly signaled disinterest in driving forward Syria diplomacy, the trend towards regional re-engagement with Assad’s regime is clear and unlikely to reverse. Although Jordan’s various engagements and initiatives are entirely understandable in the current circumstances, they are not premised on a strategy that is aimed towards long-term stability.
The persistent instability and crisis seen in Daraa should be a wake-up call for those who believe that simply engaging Damascus will bring the fruits of relationships that existed before 2011. Two-and-a-half years later, the regime has violated virtually every condition of Daraa’s “reconciliation” agreement and exacerbated all the root causes of Daraa’s 2011 uprising. Having previously lent its tacit acceptance to the regime’s takeover in mid-2018, Israeli officials now express deep concern and some regret about their previous assessment that Assad could or would stabilize southern Syria. Absent a major change, Daraa now looks destined for years of chronic instability, humanitarian suffering and in all likelihood, future terrorist activity. Daraa is also a key epicenter of a Hezbollah-linked weapons and drugs smuggling operation with regional reach.
During his visit to Washington in July, King Abdullah was right to ask for clarity from the Biden administration on what its demand for “behavioral change” from Assad’s regime amounted to, and to demand US action in achieving it. It is unfortunately true that Assad appears to be here to stay, but that should not result in his neighbors nor the international community at large merely gifting him a free hand. If the nations of the Middle East want Syria to cease being a source of deadly instability, organized crime and terrorism, then they must mobilize in unison to demand meaningful changes that will ameliorate the many root causes of the crisis still in place today. Should such an initiative gain steam, it might just be enough to stimulate the US and its European allies to push it towards the finishing line.

Australia Is Making a Risky Bet on the US
The New York Times/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 28/2021
The United States did not directly mention China in announcing its historic new security partnership with Australia and Britain last week, but it didn’t have to. The defense deal is a clear escalation and indication that Washington views Beijing as an adversary.
It also has thrust Australia into a central role in America’s rivalry with China. After hinting at a more self-reliant defense posture for the past several years, Australia’s government is now instead betting big on the future of its alliance with the United States with the new pact. Australia seems to be assuming that America will remain engaged in Asia for the long haul and will be prepared to face down China if necessary — but it shouldn’t.
The crux of the partnership, called AUKUS, is an agreement for the United States and Britain to share their technology to help Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines. But this is no ordinary arms agreement, nothing like exporting fighter jets or howitzers. Only a handful of nations have nuclear-powered submarines, and Australia will be just the second country, after Britain, to benefit from the top-secret US technology.
Why is Australia worthy of such favorable treatment? It’s not just that it is one of America’s oldest and closest allies. It’s that for many American observers of China’s increasingly aggressive behavior, Australia is also the canary in the coal mine for great power competition with China.
Australia has been subject to economic coercion from China against its exports, such as barley and coal. Chinese hackers were implicated in a breach of the Australian parliament’s website in 2019. Its security agencies report widespread espionage and interference activities. And its ministers have been frozen out by their Chinese counterparts. Last year, a Chinese diplomat even released a list of 14 grievances Beijing holds against Australia — a document that featured in deliberations at the Group of 7 summit in June.
Those grievances reflect the tough line Australia has taken against Beijing, from barring Chinese telecom giant Huawei from competing for a 5G infrastructure project to introducing far-reaching legislation to curb foreign interference in politics and tearing up a state’s Belt and Road agreements with China. Australia also has increased its defense spending over the past five years, particularly its naval procurement. AUKUS takes this to a new level.
Like the United States, Australia’s government has watched with increasing alarm the rapid and extensive buildup of China’s military capabilities, particularly its naval forces.
For most of its history, Australia has relied on a friend or ally to help secure the Pacific Ocean. The only serious threat to Australia’s territorial integrity since European settlement more than 200 years ago was during World War II. If Chinese — not American — maritime power were to dominate Asia’s waterways, Australia would undoubtedly face a more uncertain future.
So although the AUKUS initiative was a surprise to many around the world, the Australian government’s motivation is clear. Saddled with a late and over-budget French submarine project, the Australian government saw an opportunity not only to bolster its naval strength by getting the world’s leading submarine technology but also to bring the United States into a closer embrace.
The Biden team agreed because it, too, is worried about China. But there is a difference. The United States is in Asia by choice; Australia has no such luxury. Washington’s gesture, this commitment of American military and technological prowess, is hugely significant. But it is no guarantee the United States is prepared to enter into a new Cold War-style contest with China.
The United States is blessed by geography, friendly neighbors, a huge economy, an unrivaled military and a nuclear-weapons arsenal to help maintain its security. But China is strong too. The size of its economy alone makes it one of the mightiest adversaries the United States has faced in more than a century. So the United States would need a very good reason to take on a power as great as China. The fact that China is authoritarian and bullies its neighbors should not be reason enough. Nor should the threats against US allies like Australia, as alliances exist to further the aims of both partners — not just the junior one. Nor the fact that America would be somehow diminished if and when China attains global supremacy. There would need to be clear indications that China poses a threat to America’s core national security interests, to its territory and to its way of life. Since China does not clear that bar, there’s no urgent reason for the United States to undertake grievous risks to prevent its rise to regional leadership.
That doubt should be nagging at the minds of Australian decision makers who just staked their future on the alliance, and it should be on the minds of Americans, too. Why should the United States commit itself to a contest with China when the stakes are less than existential? Without a clear answer to that question, Australia must assume that it will ultimately need to ensure its security alone.

Palestinian Leaders: No to Solving Economic Crisis
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/September 28/2021
The Hamas charter does not talk about improving the living conditions of the Palestinians. It does not talk about boosting the economy or creating job opportunities for unemployed Palestinians.
Instead, the charter talks about jihad (holy war) and urges all Arabs and Muslims not to abandon the fight against Israel....
"The people of the Gaza Strip want their freedom," he said. "They want the return of their land. Israel does not know the reality of the Palestinian people and believes that economic solutions would prompt the Palestinians to abandon their goals of liberation and achieving the right of return. This is not an economic or material issue." Hazem Qassem, Hamas official, i24news.tv, September 13, 2021.
The PA and Hamas leaders are apparently worried that the Palestinians would forget about the jihad against Israel once they have jobs and a strong economy.
That is why the PA and Hamas rejected former US President Donald Trump's plan for peace in the Middle East, "Peace to Prosperity."
By rejecting all the offers, the leaders of the Palestinians are actually telling... the world: For the Palestinians, the conflict with Israel is not about financial aid or boosting the Palestinian economy. Do not expect the Palestinians to make any concessions to Israel because of the billions of dollars that you are offering or have already given us.
This is an important message that needs to be grasped by the Biden administration in the aftermath of its decision to resume financial aid to the Palestinians. The Biden administration and other Western donors are wrong to assume that their funds could change the hearts and minds of the Palestinians. The only way to bring about such a change is by ending the anti-Israel rhetoric of Palestinian leaders and media outlets -- something that is not likely to happen, at least not in the foreseeable future.
The Hamas charter does not talk about improving the living conditions of the Palestinians. It does not talk about boosting the economy or creating job opportunities for unemployed Palestinians. Instead, the charter talks about jihad (holy war) and urges all Arabs and Muslims not to abandon the fight against Israel. Pictured: Hamas gunmen parade on trucks with rockets in a street in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2021.
Palestinian leaders have again proved that they are continually and cynically putting their own interests before the best interests of their people.
On September 13, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid presented a plan for improving the conditions of the two million Palestinians living in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Addressing a conference of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University in Herzliya, Lapid called his plan -- dubbed "Economy for Security" -- a "more realistic approach towards reconstruction [of the Gaza Strip] in exchange for disarmament [of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups]."
The plan consists of two phases. The first stage would include an overhaul of the Gaza Strip's electricity, health and transportation systems in exchange for Hamas halting its military build-up. The second phase would include major infrastructure projects in the Gaza Strip, including the construction of a seaport, connecting the coastal enclave to the West Bank and encouraging international investment in the Palestinian economy.
This was not the first time that an Israeli official had offered to help the residents of the Gaza Strip at a time when most of the Arabs are doing nothing to assist their Palestinian brothers.
In 2018, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman offered to turn the Gaza Strip into a prosperous territory by creating jobs and building infrastructure.
Lieberman proposed turning the Gaza Strip "into the Singapore of the Middle East" by building a seaport and an airport and by creating an industrial zone that would provide jobs to 40,000 Palestinians. Lieberman set one condition -- that Hamas agree to demilitarization and to dismantling its tunnel and rocket systems.
Hamas rejected the Israeli defense minister's offer and said that it would never agree to lay down its weapons or stop its terrorist attacks against Israel. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar said that if Hamas wanted the Gaza Strip to be like Singapore, it would already have made it happen.
Zahar responded in a similar manner to the recent offer by the Israeli foreign minister. Hamas rejects Lapid's "failed" plan, he said, adding that the terrorist movement, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, will not surrender its weapons. Zahar stressed that Hamas continues to adhere to its charter, which calls for the "liberation of all of Palestine," a euphemism for the elimination of Israel. The Hamas charter does not talk about improving the living conditions of the Palestinians. It does not talk about boosting the economy or creating job opportunities for unemployed Palestinians.
Instead, the charter talks about jihad (holy war) and urges all Arabs and Muslims not to abandon the fight against Israel:
"Leaving the circle of conflict with Israel is a major act of treason and it will bring curse on its perpetrators. World Zionism and Imperialist forces have been attempting, with smart moves and considered planning, to push the Arab countries, one after another, out of the circle of conflict with Zionism, in order, ultimately, to isolate the Palestinian people."
Another Hamas official, Hazem Qassem, also rejected the offer by the Israeli foreign minister to improve the living conditions of the residents of the Gaza Strip. Qassem too dismissed any talk about disarming Hamas and other terrorist groups. "The people of the Gaza Strip want their freedom," he said.
"They want the return of their land. Israel does not know the reality of the Palestinian people and believes that economic solutions would prompt the Palestinians to abandon their goals of liberation and achieving the right of return. This is not an economic or material issue."
When Hamas leaders say that the Palestinians want "the return of their land," they mean that they want to replace Israel with an Islamist state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, when they talk about the "right of return," they are referring to the demand to flood Israel with millions of Palestinians and turning Jews into a minority in their state.
Hamas's rejection of Israeli offers to boost the economy of the Gaza Strip does not surprise anyone. The leaders of Hamas have repeatedly shown that they do not care about the well-being of their people. They have shown that Hamas prefers to invest millions of dollars in building tunnels and manufacturing rockets to attack Israel instead of creating jobs and easing the suffering of their people.
What is surprising, however, is that Hamas's rivals in the Palestinian Authority (PA) are also opposed to any plan to solve the economic crisis in the Gaza Strip. The PA leaders want to see the people in the Gaza Strip suffer, with the hope that they would one day revolt against Hamas. The PA leaders will never forgive Hamas for humiliating them and expelling them from the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Commenting on the Lapid plan, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said: "The problem of the Gaza Strip is a political one." In this regard, the PA and Hamas agree on the need to deprive their people of a better life until a political solution is reached to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The PA and Hamas leaders are apparently worried that the Palestinians would forget about the jihad against Israel once they have jobs and a strong economy.
That is why the PA and Hamas rejected former US President Donald Trump's plan for peace in the Middle East, "Peace to Prosperity."
With the potential to facilitate more than $50 billion in new investments over 10 years, "Peace to Prosperity" represents the most ambitious and comprehensive effort for the Palestinians. The plan includes creating a business environment that provides investors with confidence that their assets will be secure by improving property rights, the rule of law, fiscal sustainability, capital markets, and anti-corruption policies.
Additionally, the plan includes investing billions of dollars in the electricity, water, and telecommunications sectors, as well as private-sector investment in entrepreneurship, small businesses, tourism, agriculture, housing, manufacturing, and natural resources.
Instead of welcoming the Trump plan, the PA and Hamas immediately rejected it and vowed to continue the "struggle" against Israel. "We will not kneel and we will not surrender," said PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas, for its part, rejected the plan as a "conspiracy" against the Palestinians.
Had the Palestinian leaders accepted the Trump plan, the Palestinians would have been in a better situation today. Had they accepted Israel's offer to turn the Gaza Strip into Singapore, the Palestinians living there would not be complaining now about poverty and unemployment.
By rejecting all the offers, the leaders of the Palestinians are actually telling Israel, the US and the rest of the world: For the Palestinians, the conflict with Israel is not about financial aid or boosting the Palestinian economy. Do not expect the Palestinians to make any concessions to Israel because of the billions of dollars that you are offering or have already given to us.
This is an important message that needs to be grasped by the Biden administration in the aftermath of its decision to resume financial aid to the Palestinians. The Biden administration and other Western donors are wrong to assume that their funds could change the hearts and minds of the Palestinians. The only way to bring about such a change is by ending the anti-Israel rhetoric of Palestinian leaders and media outlets -- something that is not likely to happen, at least not in the foreseeable future.
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
© 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.

Mohamed Benaissa sets eyes on presidency of Morocco’s upper house
Mohamed Alaoui/The Arab Weekly/September 28/2021
RABAT--Mohamed Benaissa, former Moroccan foreign minister and mayor of Asilah, submitted his candidacy on Monday for the elections to the House of Councillors in the Kingdom of Morocco (the upper house of Parliament).
Benaissa, 84, is running on the electoral list of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) for the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, which includes five candidates: Fatima Saadi, Abdulaziz bin Azzouz, Rachida Achboun, Ahmed Ouahbi and Mohamed bin Issa. Sources from within PAM confirmed to The Arab Weekly that the party leadership is likely to present Benaissa as being the best qualified for heading the upper house of parliament, with the support of the National Rally of Independents (RNI) and al-Istiqlal parties, the main partners in the new coalition government. This support, the sources added, prompted Benaissa to submit his candidacy for the upper house.
The same sources noted in a statement to The Arab Weekly that it would be too early to discuss the PAM’s decision, noting that Benaissa would have not run for the upper house if there were no guarantees that he would win and secure the position of president.
They added that PAM’s Secretary-General Abdellatif Ouahbi had persuaded Benaissa to run under his party’s banner, as a first step to allow for his return to the political scene via the job of upper house president. Ouahbi’s decision, the sources explained, came in view of the political and diplomatic experience that Benaissa accumulated over the last few decades and the man’s mature relations with different parties at home and abroad. For the first time since 1992, Benaissa ran in the municipal elections on September 8 under PAM’s banner, after he was previously running under the banner of the RNI, whether for Parliament in 1978 or locally, then later as an independent, not affiliated with any party. Candidates will compete for five seats in the region designated for representatives of territorial groups (municipalities) and it is expected that Benaissa will join the upper house before submitting his candidacy for the Presidency as a PAM representative, with the support of the other two parties forming the government coalition.
Experts believe that Benaissa’s role, if he secures the position, will be crucial and effective, in view of his political and diplomatic experience.
Becoming president of the upper house, experts said, Benaissa’s will add momentum to Morocco’s parallel diplomacy by addressing some thorny topics, including the Western Sahara, the Libyan conflict among other key African issues. Benaissa will be aided in this by his relations with heads of state and veteran personalities in Africa, according to the experts.
Benaissa was first elected as mayor of Asilah in 1984, a position to which he has been reelected three times up to 2010. He was previously minister of foreign affairs from April 1999 until October 2007. Before that he served as Morocco’s ambassador to the United States (1993-1999).
Benaissa was also minister of culture from 1985 until 1992. After leaving the government, he distanced himself from the national politics and turned to managing local public affairs, in 2009 becoming head of the Asilah City Collective Council. Benaissa is the Secretary-General of the Asilah Forum Foundation, which organises the Assilah International Cultural Festival, launched in 1978 on his initiative. Political observers believe that Benaissa has invested in the festival as a parallel cultural, political and diplomatic platform to garner African and international support for both Morocco and the region.