LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 15/17

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For Today
When you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 21/15-19/:"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’
A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’"

By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God not the result of works, so that no one may boast
Letter to the Ephesians 02/01-10/:"You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 14-15/17
President Trump at the American-Arab-Islamic Summit/Raghida Dergham/May 14/17
Comey’s sacking and Trump’s arbitrariness/Raghida Dergham/ArabNews/May 14/17
Germany Confiscating Homes to Use for Migrants/"A massive attack on the property rights"/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/May 14/2017
The Great Price of "Blaspheming" against Muhammad/Raymond Ibrahim//Gatestone Institute/May 14/2017
New French Leader Macron Vows to Overcome Division in Society/Asharq Al-Awsat English/May 14/17
How Trump Can Have an Impact in the Holy Land/Daniel Shapiro/Bloomberg/May 14/17
France at a Crossroads/Asharq Al-Awsat English/May 14/17
‘The Aden Declaration,’ Dangers of a Southern Secession in Yemen/Salman Al-dossaryAsharq Al-Awsat/14/17

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on May 14-15/17
Lebanese Terrorist Inmates Go on Hunger Strike Demanding General Amnesty
Hariri, Aoun agree on Cabinet session for Wednesday
Hariri Meets Qatar Leaders in Doha, Urges Support on Refugees
Berri Says 'Very Important' Sunday Evening Meeting May Produce Electoral Law
Berri Expected to Withdraw His Electoral Proposal as Monday Session Postponed
Adwan Promoting 'Amended Version' of Berri's Electoral Proposal
Franjieh Warns Christians that 'Extremism Draws Counter-Extremism'
Raad Says Proportional Law Imminent, Fneish Urges Calm Rhetoric
Qatar's Foreign Minister hosts lunch banquet in honor of Hariri
Franjieh deems "moderation" uniting
Hasbani arrives in Cairo, visits WHO Regional Office
Army carries out raids in Sabra Camp's Arsal neighborhood, seizes weapons
Salameh on Lebanese Banks Day at DIFC: Lebanon at present has all required laws to combat money laundering and terrorism financing
Kenaan underlines need for new election law that secures correct representation
Berri to Amal partisans in Europe: A decisive electoral law meeting will be held this evening
Man found dead with gunshot wound in Shehim
For Palestinians in Lebanon, 69 Years of Despair

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 14-15/17
Arab Countries Reiterate Firm Stance towards Yemen’s Unity, Warn against Separation
King Salman Invites Egyptian President, Sultan of Brunei to Arab-Islamic-US Summit in Riyadh
Syrian Regime and Supporters Break into Qaboun Neighborhood
Israel Plans to Build Artificial Island Off Gaza
Sudanese President Orders RSF to Handle Mercenaries, Insurgents
Macron Inaugurated as President, Vows to 'Relaunch' EU
1,500 Evacuate Rebel-Held Damascus District
Tillerson Says Trump Weighing Embassy Move Impact on Mideast Peace
Palestinian Local Elections Held amid Extended Hamas Boycott

Latest Lebanese Related News published on May 14-15/17
Lebanese Terrorist Inmates Go on Hunger Strike Demanding General Amnesty
Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/17/Beirut – Lebanese detainees arrested on terrorism charges in Lebanese prisons launched their “empty stomachs” campaign and began their open hunger strike until their demands are met and a general amnesty is issued leading to their release. Sheikh Khaled Hoblos, detained in Roumieh Prison, declared a mass hunger strike at Lebanese prisons on Saturday with the participation of 850 prisoners of several prisons. The announcement for the strike came through an audio clip of Hoblos released from prison where he announced “a hunger strike to demand a general amnesty” urging the prison administrations not to force inmates to end their hunger strike, deeming it “a right guaranteed by the law.” He asked politicians to grant prisoners an amnesty aside from any political motives, he also called on Prime Minister Saad Hariri to prioritize Lebanon’s national interest. Meanwhile, a Lebanese security source confirmed that hundreds of detainees had indeed begun their strike and refused to receive their daily meals. The source told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the number of prisoners participating in the strike reached 575 out of 600, 200 from Tripoli prison in the north, and about 60 others from Jezzine prison, south Lebanon. He added that prison administration began monitoring the prisoners and is following up on their medical situation. Prior to the strike, families of inmates blocked the roads and began protests to press for general amnesty at the beginning of the presidency of President Michel Aoun. The source pointed out that only detainees arrested for terrorist cases participated in the strike, whereas other inmates involved in theft, murder, and financial crimes didn’t join the strike. However, prison officials advised the strike participants to end it because of the damage it could cause them. The source said that prison pharmacies have provided the medicines required for the sick inmates, adding that some inmates had few snacks like cookies, chocolate, and juices which they had previously bought from the shop in the prison. He stated that the snacks could help them for a while but surely won’t substitute for the meals. Hundreds of inmates are imprisoned for security crimes and they are accused of belonging to terrorist organizations such as ISIS, Nusra Front, and Abdullah Azzam brigades. They are trialed for the cases: the 2007 battle between Lebanese Army and Fateh Islam organization led by Jordanian Shaker al-Absi in Bared River Camp in 2007, incidents in Ersal between the Army and ISIS and Nusra which erupted in August 2014, and Abra incidents in Saida between Army and supporters of Ahmed al-Asir in June 2013.

Hariri, Aoun agree on Cabinet session for Wednesday
The Daily Star/May 13, 2017/BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri and President Michel Aoun agreed on holding a Cabinet session set for Wednesday at the Grand Serail, a source told The Daily Star Saturday.Hariri left without making any statement after a 30-minute meeting with Aoun at the Baabda Palace. Wednesday's session is set to be held at 11:00 a.m. Political rivals have launched an intensified flurry of activity aimed at ironing out differences over a new vote law to replace the controversial 1960 majoritarian system before Parliament’s term expires on June 20. Parliamentary elections were originally scheduled to take place between May 21 and June 21, yet political deadlock is expected to delay elections beyond June. Hariri has previously called for a reduction in tensions so that discussions can be conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, which in turn, may lead to consensus over the nature of the law in question emerging. Political sources have told The Daily Star that if the debate over the electoral law persists until June, with no solution in sight, then the situation would be bound to escalate and cause even further tensions. During a relatively short session at the Baabda Palace last week, the Cabinet did not discuss the electoral law, with Hariri stressing the need to deflate tensions so that discussions could be conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, which in turn, might lead to consensus over the nature of the law in question emerging. The Cabinet ratified 116 items during that session, including two items that were not on its agenda.

Hariri Meets Qatar Leaders in Doha, Urges Support on Refugees
Naharnet/May 14/17/Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks Sunday in Doha with Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. The meeting was held ahead of the opening of the “Doha Forum” and talks tackled the developments in Lebanon and the region and the bilateral relations, Hariri's office said. Addressing the Doha Forum later in the day, Hariri said: “The most important thing that our Arab region needs today is stability. There will be no security, development or prosperity without stability.” “The extremist groups are fully aware of this and are trying to destabilize the whole world. They have become a danger that should be confronted through the cooperation of all countries, societies, religions and cultures,” Hariri added. The premier cautioned that the economic development of Lebanon is “facing a special difficulty represented by the presence of one and a half million displaced Syrians and half a million Palestinian refugee on its soil.”“Lebanon will not be able to continue to face the repercussions of this crisis alone,” he warned. “The number of displaced and refugees in our country is almost half the number of the Lebanese citizens and this raised the poverty rate to 30% and doubled the unemployment rate to 20%, and to more than 30% among the youth. It also depleted the public services and the infrastructure and increased fiscal deficit while the economic growth fell from 8% before the crisis to almost 1% at present,” Hariri explained. He added that the government has decided to confront this crisis, developing a unified vision based on upgrading the infrastructure and the public services to rehabilitate the refugees. “We launched this ambitious plan because our duty is to advance our economy, protect our country and provide job opportunities for the youth,” Hariri said.“But we count on the international and Arab support to finance the investment program in the infrastructure and the public services. We know that our Arab brothers who always stood with Lebanon in good and bad times will be at the forefront in encouraging us and leading the international community to contribute with them to ensure the stability of our country and its capacity to be resilient in the face of the hurricanes in the region,” the PM added. Later in the day, Hariri met with the Qatari Prime Minister and Interior Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, in the presence of ministers Moein Merehbi, Pierre Abi Assi and Melhem Riachi, Lebanese Ambassador to Qatar Hassan Najem and Hariri’s Chief of Staff Nader Hariri. During the meeting, discussions focused on the latest developments in Lebanon and the region and the bilateral relations. Hariri also met with the President of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Later on, the Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani held a lunch banquet in honor of Hariri and the accompanying delegation. Earlier on Sunday, Hariri met with Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and discussed with him the developments. Hariri had arrived in the Qatari capital on Saturday evening.

Berri Says 'Very Important' Sunday Evening Meeting May Produce Electoral Law
Naharnet/May 14/17/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has revealed that “a very important meeting” will be held Sunday evening regarding the electoral law.“A very important meeting will be held this evening and perhaps it could be a crossroads that leads us to a solution and an electoral law based on proportional representation, women's rights and the right of expats to vote, a law that shuns sectarianism and puts this country on the track of the future,” Berri said via telephone conference, addressing a Berlin rally for AMAL Movement's cadres in Europe. “Our movement is the only one that is confronting the sectarian electoral law proposals for the sake of Lebanon and for the sake of real Islam and real Christianity,” Berri added. Quoting sources close to Berri, LBCI television reported later on Sunday that "today is the chance to endorse Speaker Berri's electoral format," adding that "the important meeting is with Prime Minister (Saad) Hariri."Al-Manar television meanwhile said that the meeting will gather Berri, Hariri and a representative of the Free Patriotic Movement. Berri had recently proposed the election of a parliament under a proportional representation system in six electoral districts and the creation of a Senate that addresses the concerns of the country's sectarian components.But media reports said the parliament speaker intends to withdraw this proposal on Sunday and that Lebanese Forces deputy leader MP George Adwan is trying to convince the political parties of an amended version of Berri's proposal.

Berri Expected to Withdraw His Electoral Proposal as Monday Session Postponed
Naharnet/May 14/17/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to announced Sunday the “end of validity” of his latest electoral law proposal, sources close to Berri said. In remarks to al-Hayat newspaper published Sunday, the sources also ruled out that Berri would issue an official postponement of the legislative session he had recently called for seeing as “he did not address official invitations to the MPs 48 hours prior to the session as required by law, after an agreement was reached on extending the discussions on the electoral law.” “An official declaration would also require him to set a new date and this hinges on the outcome of the ongoing deliberations that are led by Lebanese Forces deputy head MP George Adwan,” the sources added. Berri's electoral law calls for the election of a parliament under a proportional representation system in six electoral districts and the creation of a Senate that addresses the concerns of the country's sectarian components.

Adwan Promoting 'Amended Version' of Berri's Electoral Proposal
Naharnet/May 14/17/Lebanese Forces deputy leader MP George Adwan is trying to convince the political parties of an electoral law proposal that is “similar” to Speaker Nabih Berri's latest suggestion, media reports said on Sunday. But Adwan's proposal involves a different number and distribution of electoral districts, al-Hayat newspaper reported. “Adwan is carrying on with his contacts away from the spotlight in coordination with the director of the premier's office, Nader Hariri, and other parties,” informed sources told al-Hayat. “He has called for giving his efforts a chance in a bid to forge an agreement over giving Druze the chairmanship of the proposed Senate, after the Free Patriotic Movement and other parties had demanded that the chairmanship be granted to the Greek Orthodox community,” the sources added. Berri's electoral law calls for the election of a parliament under a proportional representation system in six electoral districts and the creation of a Senate that addresses the concerns of the country's sectarian components.

Franjieh Warns Christians that 'Extremism Draws Counter-Extremism'
Naharnet/May 14/17/Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh warned Lebanon's Christians on Sunday that “extremism would draw counter-extremism.”“Negativity eliminates its proponents and the role of Christians must be unifying,” Franjieh said during a meeting with physicians and university professors from Marada and other parties. “The interest of Christians lies in openness and committing to their identity, seeing as openness is strength and submission is weakness, and any extremism would draw counter-extremism,” Franjieh warned. “Moderation brings everyone together,” he added. The northern Christian leader also lamented that “we had a chance to build a state and we wasted it by building spheres of influence inside institutions.” “Our salvation lies in our unity and consensus on principles and constants through which we achieve a unified vision for a unified country,” Franjieh went on to say.

Raad Says Proportional Law Imminent, Fneish Urges Calm Rhetoric
Naharnet/May 14/17/Head of Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad reiterated Sunday that Lebanon will have an electoral law based on full proportional representation. “We will have an electoral law based on full proportional representation in the near future,” Raad said. Meanwhile, another Hizbullah official, Sport and Youth Minister Mohammed Fneish, stressed the need for “a calm and constructive political rhetoric.”“We still have a chance to exert all efforts possible to prevent what we all don't want: plunging into (parliamentary) vacuum,” Fneish said. “We can reach an electoral law before June 21 and avoid falling into the impermissible,” he added.

Qatar's Foreign Minister hosts lunch banquet in honor of Hariri
Sun 14 May 2017/NNA - Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdel Rahman Al-Thani held a lunch banquet in honor of Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his accompanying delegation at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha. The lunch banquet was a chance to exchange viewpoints on latest developments in Lebanon and the broader region, in addition to bilateral relations.

Franjieh deems "moderation" uniting
Sun 14 May 2017/NNA - Marada Movement chief, MP Sleiman Franjieh, said on Sunday that extremism is always met with extremism, while moderation brings people together."Christians' role should be unifying and their interest lies in openness and commitment to their identity," the deputy stressed. He finally noted that a united vision for the homeland could be realized through unity, and agreement on principles and constants.

Hasbani arrives in Cairo, visits WHO Regional Office
Sun 14 May 2017/NNA - Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani arrived on Sunday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, whereby he held talks with the Regional Director of the World Health Organization, Dr. Mahmoud Fikri, on the current health situation in Lebanon and the broad region. Talks between the pair touched on means of supporting the Lebanese health sector to continue to deliver best services to the Lebanese citizens and the displaced Syrians.Later, Minister Hasbani held a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Dr Ahmed Emad Eddine Radi, in the presence of Lebanese and Egyptian health officials, to discuss a declaration of intentions in preparation for a cooperation agreement on medications between Egypt and Lebanon within the framework of set regulations in both countries.

Army carries out raids in Sabra Camp's Arsal neighborhood, seizes weapons
Sun 14 May 2017/NNA - The army is currently conducting raids in Sabra Camp in the neighborhoods of Arsal and Al-Rihab, NNA reporter said. The army seized weapons in the operation.

Salameh on Lebanese Banks Day at DIFC: Lebanon at present has all required laws to combat money laundering and terrorism financing
Sun 14 May 2017/NNA - Lebanon Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Sunday said that Lebanon possesses at present all the required laws to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, in addition to setting all regulations related to anti-tax evasion.
Salameh's fresh words came at an event marking "Lebanese Banks' Day" organized by Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in conjunction with the Lebanon Central Bank, at DIFC's headquarters. DIFC hosted a number of senior officials and representatives of the Lebanese banking community in a specialized event aimed at building and strengthening cooperation relations between stakeholders of this vital sector. Salameh highlighted in his word the crucial role played by the banking sector in the Lebanese economy, saying Lebanon managed over the years to devise systems which helped build a banking sector which maintained Lebanon's integrity and enabled it to deal with the various political, security, financial and even global crises.

Kenaan underlines need for new election law that secures correct representation
Sun 14 May 2017/NNA - "Change and Reform" MP Ibrahim Kanaan on Sunday said that the deadline for producing a new election law persists till the last moment, disclosing that the recent days witnessed an exchange of ideas over the proportionality electoral law proposal on the basis of medium-size districts. MP Kenaan reiterated in an interview to MTV Station President Michel Aoun's determination to reach a new poll law, as the mandatory path for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The Lawmaker stressed the need for a new vote law that secures correct representation of all segments of the Lebanese society, saying such a demand by the bloc is utterly "constitutional and in line with the national accord."On the current relation between the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the Lebanese Forces (LF), Kenaan pointed out the existence of full coordination between the two sides, on daily and continuous basis on the long-simmering election law.

Berri to Amal partisans in Europe: A decisive electoral law meeting will be held this evening
Sun 14 May 2017/NNA - House Speaker Nabih Berri disclosed that a highly important meeting will be taking place this evening, and considered the meeting a "decisive one" to reach a solution to the electoral law based on proportionality away from confessionalism and sectarianism. "Amal Movement is the sole one confronting secterian and confessionalism electoral draft laws," Speaker Berri said in a phone entry at a gathering for Amal partisans held at the German capital Berlin. He urged Amal cadre to remain united as sons of Amal Movement.

Man found dead with gunshot wound in Shehim
Sun 14 May 2017/NNA - A young man, identified as Ghaleb B.Y., was found dead with a gunshot wound inside a butcher shop in the town of Shehim, NNA reporter said on Sunday. Security forces arrived at said shop, with the body still in place awaiting the arrival of forensic evidence to examine the corpse and unveil incident circumstances.

For Palestinians in Lebanon, 69 Years of Despair
Associated Press/Naharnet/May 14/17/Ahmad Dawoud recalls the day 10 years ago when a Lebanese soldier asked to search his taxi. Then 17, the Palestinian didn't wait for the soldier to find the weapons hidden in the trunk. He jumped from the car and fled into the nearby Palestinian refugee camp, where the Lebanese army has no authority. But it was not long afterward that Dawoud, who once admired the radical groups that have sprouted in the camps in Lebanon, decided he was tired of running. That same year, in 2007, he surrendered to authorities and spent 14 hard months in jail. Although he was released without a conviction, he couldn't erase the biggest strike against him: As a Palestinian in Lebanon, he is a stateless, second-class resident in the only country where he's ever lived. On Monday, Palestinians mark 69 years since hundreds of thousands of them were forced from their homes during the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel. Many settled in the neighboring West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. As refugees, various U.N. charters entitle them and their descendants to the right to work and a dignified living until they can return to their homes or such settlement is reached. But Palestinians in Lebanon suffer restrictions in nearly every aspect of daily life, feeding a desperation that is tearing their community apart. Many live in settlements officially recognized as refugee camps but better described as concrete ghettos ringed by checkpoints and, in some cases, blast walls and barbed wire. The U.N. runs schools and subsidizes health care inside. In Lebanon, there are 450,000 refugees registered in 12 camps, where Lebanese authorities have no jurisdiction inside.
"Our lot is less than zero," Dawoud said in a recent interview outside Ain el-Hilweh, the crowded camp in Sidon that is one of the most volatile. On peaceful days, children play in the damp alleys and merchants park their carts of produce along the camp's main streets.
But the place feels hopelessly divided along factional and militant lines, and it frequently breaks down into fighting between Palestinian security forces and militants or gangs that capitalize on the general despair. Last month, 10 people were killed in a flare-up that drove out thousands of the camp's estimated population of 75,000. Palestinians are prohibited from working in most professions, from medicine to transportation. Because of restrictions on ownership, what little property they have is bought under Lebanese names, leaving them vulnerable to embezzlement and expropriation. They pay into Lebanon's social security fund but receive no benefits. Medical costs are crippling. And they have little hope for remediation from the Lebanese courts.
Doctors are prohibited from working in the Lebanese market, so they find work only in the camps or agree to work for Lebanese clinics off the books, and sign prescriptions under Lebanese doctors' names. That leaves them open to employer abuse, a condition normally associated with low-skill work. "If a young boy gets in trouble because he is Palestinian, the prosecutor writes in his note to the judge, 'He is Palestinian,' meaning: 'Do what you wish to him. Be cruel to him. Forget about his rights,'" said Sheikh Mohammad Muwad, a Palestinian imam in Sidon. The crush of war refugees from Syria has made it even harder for Palestinians in Lebanon to find work. Nearly six in 10 under age 25 are unemployed, according to the U.N.'s Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, and two-thirds of all Palestinians here live below the poverty line. UNRWA country director Claudio Cordone said they feel trapped in political limbo and see an "almost total lack of meaningful political prospects of a solution" to their original displacement from Palestine.
Lebanese politicians say that assimilating Palestinians into society would undermine their right to return. But Palestinians say they are not asking for assimilation or nationality, just civil rights. "They starve us, so we go back to Palestine. They deprive us, so that we go back to Palestine. Well, go ahead, send us back to Palestine! Let us go to the border, and we will march back into Palestine, no matter how many martyrs we must give," Muwad said. For those in the camps, the line between hustling and criminality is often blurred. Unemployed and feeling abandoned by the authorities, many turn to gangs for work.
Adding to this is a widely shared disaffection with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which many Palestinians now see as having sold out their rights with the failed Oslo Accords of 1994. This has helped fuel the rise of radical Islam — a shift in the occupied Palestinian territories that is reflected by Hamas' rising popularity, and one outside the territories in the meteoric trajectory of militant groups such as Fatah al-Islam in the volatile and deprived Nahr al-Bared camp. Growing up in Nahr al-Bared, a camp much like Ain el-Hilweh, Dawoud felt a strong affiliation for Fatah al-Islam, his gateway to radical extremism. "They were the only ones who seemed honest," he said. "Of course, later I figured out they were just like everyone else, too."In 2007, the Lebanese army razed most of Nahr al-Bared to crush Fatah al-Islam. By that time, Dawoud already was in Ain el-Hilweh, and his arrest was the beginning of a slow falling out with the gangs that once sheltered him and treated him like a brother. After his stint in prison, they began to feel they couldn't trust him, and he was chased out of Ain el-Hilweh in 2013. Now, he can only enter the parts of the settlement firmly under PLO control. With no job, no prospects and little wealth, Dawoud now runs errands for others in his white 1980s-era BMW — all done under the table, of course. Palestinians cannot apply for the red license plates that identify taxis and other commercial vehicles.
"I don't even think about marrying and getting into those situations," he said, waving off starting a family at age 27. His ambition now is to apply for a visa to leave Lebanon. But first he needs a travel document, and for that he needs to be on good terms with the Lebanese authorities. Not all Palestinians live in camps, but even the most privileged among them endure discrimination. At a panel on Palestinian labor rights at the American University of Beirut, Muhammad Hussein asked a Lebanese Labor Ministry official why he was denied work even in sectors that are formally open to Palestinian employment.
The 22-year-old graduate showed the official an email he received from a marketing firm in Dubai refusing his job application on the grounds that the Lebanese office had to give priority to Lebanese workers. "The problem isn't finding vacancies," Hussein said. "It's getting the job."

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 14-15/17
Arab Countries Reiterate Firm Stance towards Yemen’s Unity, Warn against Separation
Sawsan Abu Husain/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/17/ Cairo, Aden – Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Arab League warned against the separation calls in Yemen and reiterated the importance of uniting around the legitimacy. GCC member states collectively adopted firm stance towards the unity and sovereignty of the Republic of Yemen and to called for preserving security and stability in the country. GCC renewed support for the United Nations efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the Yemeni crisis based on the GCC sponsored initiative with its executive mechanism, outputs of the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference, and UN Security Council Resolutions no. 2216. GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, stressed that the GCC countries call upon all Yemenis, at this delicate stage in the history of Yemen, to reject division and secession and to stand firmly behind and around the legitimacy of the internationally recognized government led by President Hadi, according to a press statement issued to Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Yemenis must reunite around the legitimacy in order to extend the state authority and sovereignty and restore security and stability in all Yemeni territories. GCC Sec-Gen hoped this would bring normalcy back to the country so that Yemeni people may complete the implementation of the outputs of the comprehensive national dialogue that addressed all Yemeni issues, including the South issue. He stressed that all intentions to solve such an issue must be done through the Yemeni legitimacy and consensus which is represented in the national dialogue outcomes. In a statement, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul Gheit urged Yemeni people to unite during this difficult moment to avoid division.Abdul Gheit asked all Yemenis “to pursue solidarity and unity in this hard moment to spare the country the risks of division.”Arab League Spokesperson Minister Mahmooud Afifi reported that Abul Gheit was “disturbed” by recent developments in Yemen. Afifi said that the priority now should be to stand against illegitimate forces and aim to reach a comprehensive political settlement in the country based on the UN Resolution 2216, outcomes of national dialogue, and the GCC initiative. “Opening up a new front leads to create more divisions and prolong the conflict in the country,” he warned.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) renewed its strong commitment to stand with Yemen’s unity, sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity and solidarity with the Yemeni people in their aspiration for freedom, democracy, social justice and comprehensive development. OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmed al-Othaimeen stressed that the organization is committed to supporting the legitimate government in Yemen in line with the resolutions of the Islamic Summit and the resolutions of the Council of Foreign Ministers. Othaimeen called on all Yemeni parties to stand with legitimacy and reject the calls of division through effective response to international initiatives aimed at reaching a compromise to the Yemeni crisis. Any unilateral action outside the scope of legitimacy will lead to further fragmentation and disintegration within the one Yemeni entity and will prolong the conflict, according to Othaimeen. Meanwhile, local councils and executive bureau of Aden governorate, south of Yemen, announced their support to the statement of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi following his meeting with his advisors. The local authority announced its commitment to the outcomes of the meeting and lauded the efforts of President Hadi to reach a just solution to the southern issue, according to Saba news agency. In Taiz, the military council asserted its support to the legitimacy, represented by President Hadi, and the outcomes of national dialogue. The council reiterated its support to all goals and efforts to curb all insurgents in the city. The military council stated its belief in a fair solution based on the three references and praised the continuous support of Saudi-led coalition.

King Salman Invites Egyptian President, Sultan of Brunei to Arab-Islamic-US Summit in Riyadh
Sawsan Abu Husain/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/17/Cairo, Brunei- Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz sent a message to the Egyptian President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi, inviting him to attend the Arab-Islamic-US summit, set to take place in Riyadh later in May. During a meeting in Cairo, the Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Dr. Issam bin Saad bin Saeed handed over the message to the president. The meeting was attended by the Saudi Ambassador to Egypt, who is also the Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Qattan. Sisi voiced his appreciation for the invitation of the Saudi monarch, stating that he wished for a positive outcome to the summit “which supports efforts to achieve security and stability in the Middle East.”King Salman also sent an invitation to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei Darussalam. The message was delivered by Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Awad bin Saleh Al-Awad during a meeting held with Sultan Bolkiah. For his part, Sultan Bolkiah voiced his deep appreciation for receiving the invitation and towards the efforts spent by Saudi royalty on preserving and promoting peace and stability in the region, particularly on counterterrorism efforts. Dr. Awad bin Saleh Al-Awad conveyed the greetings and appreciations of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Crown Prince to His Majesty, in addition to their aspiration for the developing of bilateral relations in various fields to achieve the common interests of the two countries. The meeting was attended by Saudi Ambassador to the Sultanate of Brunei, Hisham bin Zara’ah.

Syrian Regime and Supporters Break into Qaboun Neighborhood
Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/17/Beirut – Syrian regime forces and its supporting militias broke into Qaboun neighborhood, suburb of Damascus, concurrently as the regime and Russia were attempting to forcibly evacuate neighborhoods of Barzeh and Teshreen. The regime forces later announced its complete control of Qaboun, yet the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) denied those allegations and confirmed that the opposition factions were in control of 20 percent of the neighborhood’s area. Lebanese Hezbollah media announced that the Syrian army has completely controlled Qaboun neighborhood following a military operation launched on Saturday from three axes, north, east, and south after which the fighters fled the area through tunnels towards Harasta and Aarbeen. The army later destroyed the tunnels. SORH announced that regime forces were able to achieve a new advancement from the northeastern side of Qaboun neighborhood at eastern outskirts of the capital. The Observatory learned that the regime forces extended their control over the neighborhood thus tightening on the factions in the neighborhood Rahman Corps and members of the Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam.
Factions’ control in the area was reduced to 20 percent of the neighborhood’s area, according to the SOHR which added that the work in the tunnel connecting between outskirts of al-Qaboun, Teshreen and Barzeh neighborhoods was suspended about a month from now, because it was being monitored by regime forces. Sheikhs and leaders of the neighborhood were negotiating with regime forces following fierce clashes between the armed fighters supported by the regime and Islamic opposition factions which ended in the regime’s advancement. Qasioun News agency reported the Syrian opposition forces’ confirmation that they foiled the regime’s attempt to advance in Qaboon neighborhood. The agency detailed that clashes broke out on Saturday’s dawn simultaneously while shelling with artillery and missiles, but the Syrian regime was unable to advance against the Syrian opposition. Activists said that Syrian regime forces bombarded Qaboon with artillery and rocket launchers. It is worth mentioned that escalation of Syrian regime forces and their supporting militias occurred at the time the second batch of Barzeh displaced citizens were exiting the town towards Idlib and first batch from Tehsreen.

Israel Plans to Build Artificial Island Off Gaza
Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/17/Ramallah –Israeli sources said that Transportation Minister Israel Katz would present to US President Donald Trump a proposal to establish an artificial island off Gaza coast, in a measure that would contribute to the resumption of Israel-Palestinian peace talks. Israel’s Channel 2 said that the establishment of an artificial island was a proposal that Trump would appreciate and would reflect the Israeli government’s desire to restart the Peace process. Experts said that Trump was currently focusing on the means to push forward the peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. A local Israeli newspaper said that three main topics would be discussed during the US president’s upcoming visit to Israel. Those include, according to the newspaper, promoting bilateral ties, working against common threats, and pushing the peace process forward.
Trump is scheduled to arrive in Jerusalem on May 22 and will later head to Bethlehem in the West Bank. A US delegation landed on Friday in Israel to discuss special arrangements for the visit. Earlier this week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he was ready to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under Trump’s auspices. Abbas noted he had informed Trump of his decision during their meeting at the White House the week before. “We told him that we were ready to collaborate with him and meet the Israeli PM under his auspices to build peace,” Abbas told reporters during a joint news conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Ramallah. “We reaffirm our commitment to peace based on justice, international legitimacy and the two-state solution, the pursuit of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and living side by side with the State of Israel in security, peace and good-neighborly relations,” Abbas stated. Israel is currently looking for international partners to finance the cost of building the artificial island, which would amount to $5 billion. The country says that the island would be linked by a bridge to Gaza and give the Palestinians an outlet to the world without endangering Israeli security. The island would include a port and both desalination and power plants that would serve the Gaza Strip.

Sudanese President Orders RSF to Handle Mercenaries, Insurgents
Ahmed Younis/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/17/Khartoum- Speaking at a Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) graduation ceremony in Khartoum, Sudan, President Omar Al Bashir on Saturday directed RSF troops to confront tribal conflicts in Darfur region and resolve them peacefully or militarily. The RSF was given a presidential order on immediately intervening to curb what Al Bashir labeled a security risk and intertribal conflict. Later on, protesting to national peace, mercenaries and grouped militias vowed not to be defeated. The RSF is a Sudanese paramilitary force operated by the Sudanese Government. For technical and administrative purposes the RSF is administered by the National Intelligence and Security Service, although during military operations it is commanded by the Sudanese Armed Forces(SAF). Al Bashir attended what was virtually the initiation of the largest batch of RSF forces, amounting to 11,428. Al Bashir said the graduation of this batch is a show of force to frighten enemies. He described the RSF as the ’strong muscle’ of national armed forces. In his speech, al Bashir voiced appreciation towards efforts spent by the RSF on realizing peace and stability in the country, and eliminating insurgency in south Kordofan, citing as example the battles of Funga and Goz Dango in Darfur.Al Bashir hailed the role played by the RSF in securing borders and fighting human trafficking, drugs and smuggling of arms, affirming the taskforce preparedness to decisively deal with all those conspiring against Sudan. Noting that Sudan is a country for all, Al Bashir said that Sudan has exerted great efforts for realizing peace, adding that agreements were signed, national dialogue conducted, and societal dialogue between the sons of Sudan and the National Accord Government was formed, ushering a new era welcoming all those who desire peace.Al Bashir warned all those who reject peace that the SAF along with the RSF are ready to deliver Sudanese people a Sudan free from insurgency and mercenaries.

Macron Inaugurated as President, Vows to 'Relaunch' EU
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 14/17/Emmanuel Macron became France's youngest ever president on Sunday, promising at his inauguration to restore the country's lost confidence and pledging to relaunch the flagging European Union. Macron, a 39-year-old centrist, took the reins of power from Socialist Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace a week after his resounding victory over far-right leader Marine Le Pen in an election that was watched worldwide. After a private meeting with his former mentor Hollande and his first speech as president, Macron headed up the rainy Champs Elysees in an army vehicle, waving to small crowds of wellwishers who gathered along the famed avenue.
Macron said his first priority would be "to give back to the French people the confidence that for too long has been flagging", while the second would be making France a beacon for democracy and freedom worldwide. France's place was in the European Union "which protects us and enables us to project our values in the world," but he said the 28-member bloc needed to be "reformed and relaunched."Macron also suggested he would press on with his ambitious but controversial agenda to reform France's rigid labor market and modernize the social security system despite the fierce resistance he is likely to meet.
"I will not reverse course on any of the commitments taken in front of the French people," he said, adding that "France is strong only if she is prosperous."Some analysts and opponents have questioned the strength of Macron's mandate after he won just 24.01 percent in the first round of the presidential election on April 23 before his landslide victory over Le Pen in the second. His opponents on the far-right and far-left, opposed to the EU and major economic reforms, won around 50 percent of the first-round vote.
A man of his time?
The former investment banker was proclaimed president by Laurent Fabius, president of the Constitutional Council, at the 18th-century presidential palace in central Paris where Macron and his wife Brigitte will now live. Brigitte, a 64-year-old who was his high school drama teacher, attended the ceremony wearing a light blue Louis Vuitton outfit.
Her three children were also present along with VIPs from France's political scene and the young team of close advisers behind Macron's sensational rise. One early political backer, the mayor of the central city of Lyon, Gerard Collomb, wept as Macron greeted him.
"In order to be the man of one's country, one must be the man of your time," Fabius told him, quoting the Romantic-era French writer Chateaubriand. "You are now the man of your time... and by the sovereign choice of the people, you are now, above all ... the man of our country." At the end of the formalities, a 21-gun salute rang out from the Invalides military hospital on the other side of the River Seine. The new president faces a host of daunting challenges including tackling stubbornly high unemployment, fighting Islamist-inspired violence and healing divisions exposed by an often vicious election campaign. Hollande's five years in power were plagued by a sluggish economy and bloody terror attacks that killed more than 230 people and he leaves office after a single term. Security was tight around Paris on Sunday, with around 1,500 police officers deployed near the presidential palace and on the Champs Elysees, and surrounding roads blocked off.
- PM named, then Berlin
Macron's first week will be busy. On Monday, he is expected to reveal the closely-guarded name of his prime minister, before flying to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It is virtually a rite of passage for French leaders to make their first European trip to meet the leader of the other half of the so-called "motor" of the EU. Pro-EU Macron wants to push for closer cooperation to help the bloc overcome the imminent departure of Britain, another of its most powerful members. He intends to press for the creation of a parliament and budget for the eurozone. Merkel welcomed Macron's decisive 32-point victory over Le Pen, saying he carried "the hopes of millions of French people and also many in Germany and across Europe". Further ahead in June, Macron will need to win a majority in parliamentary elections to enact his ambitious reform agenda. His 13-month-old political movement "Republique en Marche" (Republic on the Move, REM) intends to field candidates in virtually every constituency in the country. It unveiled 428 of its 577 candidates this week. Half of them have never held elected office, including a retired female bullfighter and a star mathematician, and half of them are women.

1,500 Evacuate Rebel-Held Damascus District
Associated Press/Naharnet/May 14/17/At least 1,500 civilians and rebels evacuated an opposition district in Damascus on Sunday, state media said, bringing the government closer to cementing its control over the Syrian capital. The evacuations from the Qabun district in northeast Damascus follow similar departures from the Barzeh and Tishrin neighborhoods earlier this week. An AFP correspondent inside Qabun saw around a dozen white buses carrying out residents and fighters in the morning, after a deal for the neighborhood was announced late Saturday following heavy fighting. At the edge of the district, two women embraced and wept as they faced the prospect of parting ways. Suad, 22, was leaving behind her friend Mona, also 22, to follow her family to Idlib province, a rebel-held area in the northwest of the country."I didn't want to leave, but I have to stay with my family, and they prefer to go Idlib after my uncle left with the group from Barzeh," said Suad, wearing a white headscarf and a blue top. "I never thought one day I'd be in this position," she added, sobbing heavily.
"I can't describe how I feel."Those evacuating carried small bags with them as they boarded the buses, while others who had decided to stay registered their names at a military post. The evacuation deal came on Saturday night after government forces advanced inside the neighborhood. "The Syrian army yesterday managed to encircle dozens of armed elements inside Qabun neighborhood, forcing them to surrender and hand over their weapons," a source from the pro-regime National Defense Forces militia told AFP. The signs of the recent fighting, as well as years of prior bombardment and clashes, were visible all around with rubble from partially and completely destroyed buildings strewn across the roads. Tanks sent up clouds of dusts as they maneuvered over the mounds of rubble and dirt and black smoke rose from fires still burning in the neighborhood. "A few days ago we couldn't be here. The road was too dangerous," said one soldier.Others showed off a tunnel they had discovered, one of many that rebels use to connect besieged neighborhoods. "This tunnel is ten meters deep, and connects Qabun with the town of Arbin" in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, one soldier said. "It was used by militants to smuggle weapons and food." He said another tunnel had been discovered between the Barzeh and Qabun neighborhoods and destroyed on Saturday.
"It was the width of two cars." A lieutenant, who declined to give him name, said the capture of Qabun had been months in the making. "This battle lasted for 15 days but we have been planning it for six months," he said. "We would not have been able to succeed without controlling the network of tunnels. We found more than 10 tunnels so far, and there are still more." The deals for Qabun, Barzeh and Tishrin neighborhoods follow a pattern of agreements under which the rebels agree to surrender in exchange for safe passage to opposition-held territory elsewhere. The government says the deals are the best way to end the six-year war, but the opposition says it is forced into the agreements by regime bombardment and siege. Two groups of evacuees left Barzeh neighborhood this week, with one leaving from Tishrin. All three headed to Idlib province, in northwest Syria. Damascus has been insulated from some of the worst violence of Syria's war, which has killed over 320,000 people since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011. But the government has made securing control of the last remaining rebel districts in the capital a key priority.

Tillerson Says Trump Weighing Embassy Move Impact on Mideast Peace
Associated Press/Naharnet/May 14/17/President Donald Trump is assessing whether moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would help or hurt prospects for clinching an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, revealing Trump's criteria for a decision that could reverberate throughout the volatile Middle East.Since taking office, Trump has backed away from his campaign pledge to move the embassy in a gesture to Israel, instead saying he's still studying the issue. But Tillerson linked Trump's deliberations directly to his aspirations for brokering Mideast peace.
"The president is being very careful to understand how such a decision would impact the peace process," Tillerson said in an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." He said Trump's decision would be informed by feedback from all sides, including "whether Israel views it as helpful to a peace initiative or perhaps a distraction."Trump's decision is being closely watched as the president prepares to depart Friday on his first foreign trip. After stopping in Saudi Arabia, Trump will visit both Israel and the Palestinian territories, in a nod to his nascent bid to strike the Israeli-Palestinian deal that has eluded his predecessors. Jerusalem's status is one of the most emotionally charged issues in the conflict, with both sides laying claims. Israel captured east Jerusalem — claimed by Palestinians for the capital of a future independent state — from Jordan in 1967 and annexed it, a move not internationally recognized.
U.S. presidents of both parties have repeatedly waived a U.S. law requiring the embassy be moved to Jerusalem. The most recent waiver — signed by former President Barack Obama — expires on June 1. Trump is expected to sign a six-month renewal of the waiver before it expires, as he continues deliberating. In another sign the White House is proceeding cautiously, Trump's ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, plans to work out of the current embassy in Tel Aviv rather than out of the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, as some had urged him to do. Friedman, who owns an apartment in Jerusalem, is expected to live in the U.S. ambassador's official residence in the Tel Aviv suburb of Herziliya.
Palestinians argue moving the embassy would prejudge one of the most sensitive issues in the conflict, undermining America's status as an effective mediator. There have been some signs that the Israeli government, while publicly supportive of moving the embassy, has quietly raised concerns that doing so could inflame the political and security situation. In the interview, Tillerson downplayed suggestions that the U.S. needed to deal decisively with Russia's interference in the U.S. election before it could pursue better relations with Moscow. Though Tillerson said he'd seen the intelligence implicating Russia and believed there was no question Russia meddled, he said it was just one of a "broad range of important issues that have to be addressed in the U.S.-Russia relationship."He said the notion of a "reset" with Russia — which both Obama and President George W. Bush pursued — was misguided. "You cannot erase the past. You cannot start with a clean state," Tillerson said "We're starting with the slate we have, and all the problems we have are in that slate."

Palestinian Local Elections Held amid Extended Hamas Boycott
Kifah Ziboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 14/17/Ramallah- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah expressed on Saturday the government’s hope for Hamas to accept the initiative brought forth by President Mahmoud Abbas on forming a national unity government. Palestinians in the West Bank held on Saturday local elections with Fatah again running without Hamas providing opposition, or letting the poll go ahead in the Gaza Strip. PM Hamdallah said that Gaza was left behind due to Hamas’ continued refusal. Palestinians voted for their municipality and council representatives in the West Bank—the last round of elections was in 2012, which Hamas also boycotted. These are the second consecutive municipal elections to be held without the participation of Hamas or the Gaza Strip. The last time all Palestinians took part in a municipal poll at the same time was in 2006. Abbas’ invitation for the return of Hamas to Palestinian elections was motivated by the group having recently reshaped its charter and elected Ismail Haniyeh as the head of its Political Bureau. Hamdallah called on Palestinian citizens to go to the polling stations and cast their vote, thanking the security bodies for their efforts to keep the elections process secure. “Today, we send a message to the international community that our people deserve an independent state like the rest of the world,” he said. “Palestinian leadership, headed by Abbas, was determined on holding local elections on time –which was on Oct 8- in both Gaza and the West Bank. However, Hamas refused, preventing the government from holding elections, and eventually postponing them to May 13,” added Hamdallah. “Yet Hamas has once again refused holding local elections in Gaza,” he said. Voting for several hundred municipal councils opened at schools across the West Bank at 7:00 a.m. local time [0500 UTC]. Polls for the 800,000 eligible voters closed at 7:00 p.m. with final results expected on Sunday.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 14-15/17
President Trump at the American-Arab-Islamic Summit
*Raghida Dergham/May 14/17
Washington was preoccupied this week with the fallout from the sacking of FBI director James Comey, in a move that has brought back President Donald Trump’s arbitrary tendencies to mind, after a time in which he appeared as though he had adapted to the solemnness of the presidential office and the need for a well-choreographed functioning of his administration. The decision to sack Comey also brought back talk of impeachment, Comparisons were made between Trump’s sacking of James Comey and late president Richard Nixon’s sacking of Attorney General Archibad Cox in 1973, and the ensuing impeaching of Richard Nixon. The main concern over Comey’s sacking comes from the suspicions surrounding links between some of President Trump’s aides and Russia during the election campaign, and their continuation despite warnings issued by the FBI. Aides like former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, with concerns he is vulnerable to Russian blackmail as a result of his actions before the presidential elections and after the Trump administration assumed office. Suspicions have followed Trump himself, and the possibility that he has ties with Russia that could make him vulnerable to blackmail. The matter not only touches on feelings of anger over Russia’s alleged interference in US presidential elections, but mainly US national security itself, if it is true that Russia has managed to infiltrate the US presidency. The US is divided over evaluating the authenticity of these assumptions. A segment is ready to hold accountable and even put on trial Donald Trump, and is convinced that Trump is involved to his ears. Another segment is mocking the claims, and cite tense Russian nerves against the backdrop of the current state of Russian-American relations. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in Washington on the day James Comey was sacked. Talking to reporters, he took a jocular tone when he was asked about the affair and the links to Russia. It was as if he was saying he had more important issues to discuss with his counterpart Rex Tillerson and with President Trump, more important than US political naivety in the eyes of Russia, because the relationship between the two countries are fateful and have strategic dimensions that go through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and not via the FBI.
Before going off course with the sacking, the Trump administration was in the process of developing crucial policies, including reviving direct US intervention against terror with European and Gulf allies, who would provide both funds and some boots on the ground needed for the US-led ‘surge’ in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
The visit by President Trump to Saudi Arabia this month will not just tackle the important bilateral relations, but will become an Arab-American-Islamic summit that will be a precedent on many levels. From the Riyadh summit, US-Gulf relations will be rejuvenated along with traditional security guarantees. Resetting America’s regional relations to before Obama’s engagement with Iran will form substantial fuel for the talks as well as for subsequent interpretations. However, it is important not to over-interpret the positions of the Trump administration to suit those with certain wishful thoughts, because this could have dangerous implications.
For example, let’s take Iran, the big ‘elephant in the room’. Iran is expected to be absent from the summit in Riyadh hosted by King Salman with the guest of honor being Donald Trump. Iran will be present, however, in the conversations, beginning with the issue of security balances in the Gulf region, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon and not ending with the Palestinian issue and relations between America and the Middle East.
Anyone who reads Trump’s firm language with Iran as green light for regime change or military confrontation with Tehran would be wrong. The pillars of the Trump administration are clear about one thing: they are not preparing plans for war with Iran. Instead, they are saying Iran is required to withdraw into its borders and stop its incursions in other countries like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, and end its destabilizing tactics and terrorist instruments. If not, then the US and its allies have means other than war to pressure Iran. Regarding the regime itself, Washington is certain that the rule of the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guards will eventually implode without the need for a nudge from the US, and a war that is unpopular among both Americans and their leaders.
One of the Iranian strategists said it more clearly. “Iran will not win as long as its borders have expanded to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon.” Controlling mobile borders is not possible no matter how well the regime presents its project and no matter how many formidable militias and Revolutionary Guards it deploys. For this reason, there is no need to go into the equation of who loses or who wins and there is no need to talk about the Iranian interior, as long as the actual focus now is on the long Iranian arm extending well beyond Iran. This is the new US policy, and it has no interest in military intervention and regime change in Iran.
The US president following his meeting with the Russian foreign minister, called on Moscow to rein in the Assad regime, Iran, and Iran’s proxies. Several senior figures in his administration have firmly said they intend to prevent the rulers of Iran and their military leaders in the field from claiming the victory against ISIS and seizing the territories recovered from the group. This would deny Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Qods Force, the chance to complete his image as a hero who supposedly protected Iran from and defeated ISIS in Iraq and Syria. That task is now being handled by the US-led coalition in Iraq, and a new coalition led by the new administration, comprising Arab and Western countries and Syrian factions, much to Iran’s chagrin.
On the other hand, there is increasing talk of an Israeli military strike against Hezbollah to destroy its rockets because there is a window of opportunity for this. Those behind this forecast, mainly sources in Kuwait and Lebanon, say Israel intends to devastate Lebanon, because the bunkers housing the Iranian rockets in Lebanon are deep underground.
However, forecasting Israeli strategy is not an exact science, and appears closer to speculation, based on querying several security and political sources. They say that the Trump administration is not in favor of an Israeli war in Lebanon. Rather, the US wants security guarantees for Israel by preventing Hezbollah or Iranian presence in the Syrian Golan, in agreement with Russia. As for the containment of Hezbollah and its rockets, this issue will be subject to regional and international ‘sorting’ of relations, including with Iran. Furthermore, Tehran in turn is not in the process of giving Israel excuses to eliminate its strongest card, namely, Hezbollah. In summation, there seems to be a Russian-American, regional, and international accord to prevent Lebanon from becoming an arena for a new Israeli war.
The Trump administration has a strong desire to achieve secure and recognized borders for Israel at the level of Arab and Islamic countries. This may well be one of the issues Trump will carry to the Riyadh summit before heading to Israel, his next stop in his first foreign tour as president. Saudi Arabia had proposed the Arab Peace plan with Israel endorsed by the Arab summit in Beirut, but it is yet to be accepted by Israel although it calls for normal relations with more than fifty Arab and Muslim nations. So perhaps the Riyadh summit will come up with new incentives to assist Trump’s quest for a breakthrough in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Trump last week met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington, and may meet him again with Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits Israel and Palestine after Saudi Arabia and before he flies to meet the pope in the Vatican.
The reception being prepared by Saudi Arabia for President Trump will no doubt stir some envy in Moscow. On Victory Day, Vladimir Putin appeared isolated, with no heads of state from the West, China, or even former Soviet republics showing up. Putin is desperate for Russia to be taken as seriously as the US, but Europe is hindering him and Syria has not brought him this privilege yet. The putative deal with Trump tempts him, but not without limit.
The man in the Kremlin is tense, despite important visits he received from the German chancellor and the Turkish president, and despite the US rejoining the Astana process for a ceasefire and de-escalation in Syria. Putin wants a bilateral summit with Trump, not just a quick meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit. He must be furious that he has yet to be invited to Washington, which has been already visited by several other world leaders, and must see it as an affront. Even if the reason behind this is Trump’s hesitation and concerns over the investigations into suspicious ties with Russia and now with the Comey sacking that have refocused the light on them, it is difficult for Putin to swallow Trump’s dithering on a summit the master of the Kremlin sorely needs in an election year.
The tensions do not stop here. They are also fueled by US and European proposals in the current bargaining on several issues, and maybe a belated grand bargain later. The German chancellor Merkel, and before her Rex Tillerson, have made it clear that Russia must withdraw from the Donbass in Ukraine and handover the borders to the government in Kiev as a precondition for the Minsk 2 agreement. The Kremlin believes the opposite: Moscow can give and take on the Donbass (but not on Crimea) after the political component of Misk 2 is implemented. This is in relation to Ukraine and the lifting of Western sanctions on Russia.
The even more complicated issue in the context of the Grand Bargain, is that the senior members of the Trump administration have made it clear to their counterparts in the Kremlin that Russia needs to change its policies in Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan. What is meant is not just a cosmetic change but a change in approach adopted by Putin, in support of Taliban in Afghanistan and Assad in Syria.
The senior members of the Trump administration are also keen on Russia ending its interference in Western elections. If the investigations prove that senior members of Trump’s campaign had solicited Russian intervention in the elections, or that there were suspicious ties between men in the White House and men in the Kremlin, then the cards will be reshuffled radically. Then, the talk about accords or a grand bargain will no longer be realistic, because the I word, impeachment, will chase Trump and put him in history with his predecessor Richard Nixon.
*Founder and Executive Chairman at Beirut Institute

Comey’s sacking and Trump’s arbitrariness
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1099186
Raghida Dergham/ArabNews/May 14/17
Washington was preoccupied this week with the fallout from the sacking of FBI Director James Comey. The move has brought back President Donald Trump’s arbitrary tendencies to mind, after a time in which he appeared to have adapted to the solemnness of the presidential office and the need for a well-choreographed functioning of his administration.
The decision to sack Comey also brought back talk of impeachment. Comparisons were made between this incident and Richard Nixon’s firing of Attorney General Archibald Cox in 1973, and the late president’s subsequent impeachment.
The main concern over Comey’s sacking comes from links between some Trump aides — such as former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn — and Russia during the election campaign, and their continuation despite FBI warnings. Suspicions have followed Trump himself that he may have ties with Moscow that could make him vulnerable to blackmail.
The matter not only touches on feelings of anger over Russia’s alleged interference in US presidential elections, but mainly American national security if the allegation is true. A segment of the US public is ready to hold Trump accountable and even put him on trial, and is convinced he is involved up to his ears. Another segment mocks the claims, citing tense the current state of Russian-US relations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in Washington on the day Comey was fired. Talking to reporters, he took a jocular tone when he was asked about the affair and links to Russia, as if he was saying he had more important issues to discuss with his counterpart Rex Tillerson and with Trump.
Before going off course with the sacking, the Trump administration was in the process of developing crucial policies. These included reviving direct US intervention against terror with European and Gulf allies, who would provide funds and some boots on the ground for the US-led surge in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
The visit by Trump to Saudi Arabia this month will not just discuss important bilateral ties, but will include an Arab-American-Islamic Summit that will set a precedent on many levels. From the summit in Riyadh, US-Gulf relations and traditional security guarantees will be rejuvenated.
Resetting America’s regional relations to before former President Barack Obama’s engagement with Iran will provide substantial fuel for the talks. But it is important not to over-interpret the Trump administration’s positions to suit wishful thinking, because this could have dangerous implications.
Iran — the elephant in the room — is expected to be absent from the summit hosted by King Salman, with Trump the guest of honor. But it will be present in the conversations, including on security balances in the Gulf, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon, as well as on the Palestinian issue and relations between the US and the Middle East.
Anyone who reads Trump’s firm language with Iran as a green light for regime change or military confrontation is wrong. The Trump administration is clear that it is not preparing for war with Iran. It is saying Iran needs to withdraw to its borders, stop its incursions in other countries such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, and end its destabilizing tactics and terrorist instruments.
If not, the US and its allies have means other than war to pressure Tehran. Washington is certain that the rule of the mullahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will eventually implode without the need for a US nudge or a war that would be unpopular in America.
An Iranian strategist said it more clearly: “Iran will not win as long as its borders have expanded to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon.” Controlling mobile borders is not possible, no matter how well Tehran presents its project and how many formidable militias and IRGC troops it deploys.
Following his meeting with Lavrov, Trump called on Moscow to rein in the Syrian regime, Iran and Tehran’s proxies. Several senior figures in his administration have firmly said they intend to prevent Tehran from claiming the victory against Daesh and seizing territories recovered from the group.
This would deny Qassem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, the chance to cement his image as a hero who supposedly protected Iran from, and defeated, Daesh in Iraq and Syria. That task is now being handled by the US-led coalition in Iraq, and a new coalition led by the Trump administration, comprising Arab and Western countries and Syrian factions, much to Iran’s chagrin.
If investigations prove that senior members of Trump’s campaign solicited Russian intervention in the elections, the cards will be reshuffled radically. Then talk of accords or a grand bargain will no longer be realistic because of the specter of impeachment.
On the other hand, there is increasing talk of an Israeli military strike against Hezbollah to destroy its rockets because there is a window of opportunity for this. Those behind this forecast, mainly sources in Kuwait and Lebanon, say Israel intends to devastate Lebanon because the bunkers housing Iranian rockets are deep underground.
But forecasting Israeli strategy is not an exact science, and appears closer to speculation, based on querying several security and political sources. They say the Trump administration is not in favor of an Israeli war in Lebanon. Rather, it wants security guarantees for Israel by preventing a Hezbollah or Iranian presence in the Syrian Golan Heights, in agreement with Russia.
The issue of the containment of Hezbollah and its rockets will be subject to a regional and international sorting of relations, including with Iran. Furthermore, Tehran is not in the process of giving Israel excuses to eliminate its strongest card: Hezbollah. There seems to be a Russian-American, regional and international accord to prevent Lebanon from becoming an arena for a new Israeli war.
The Trump administration has a strong desire to achieve secure and recognized borders for Israel vis-a-vis Arab and Islamic countries. This may well be one of the issues Trump carries to the Riyadh summit before heading to Israel, his next stop in his first foreign tour as president.
Saudi Arabia proposed the Arab Peace Initiative, endorsed by the Arab League, but Israel has yet to accept it even though it calls for normal relations with more than 50 Arab and Muslim nations. So perhaps the Riyadh summit will come up with new incentives to assist Trump’s quest for a breakthrough in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Trump last week met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington, and may meet him again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits Israel and Palestine after Saudi Arabia, and before he flies to meet the pope in the Vatican.
The Saudi reception being prepared for Trump will no doubt stir some envy in Moscow. On Victory Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared isolated, with no heads of state from the West, China or even former Soviet republics showing up. Putin is desperate for Russia to be taken as seriously as the US, but Europe is hindering him and Syria has not brought him this privilege yet. The putative deal with Trump tempts him, but not without limit.
Putin is tense, despite important visits from Germany’s chancellor and Turkey’s president, and despite the US re-joining the Astana process for a cease-fire and de-escalation in Syria. Putin wants a bilateral summit with Trump, not just a quick meeting on the sidelines of a G20 Summit. He must be furious that he has yet to be invited to Washington, which has already been visited by several other world leaders.
Even if the reason behind this is Trump’s hesitation and concerns over the investigations into suspicious ties with Russia, it is difficult for Putin to swallow Trump’s dithering on a summit that the master of the Kremlin sorely needs in an election year.
Tensions are also fueled by US and European proposals in current bargaining on several issues. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and before her Tillerson, have made clear that Russia must withdraw from the Donbass region in Ukraine and hand over the borders to Kiev as a precondition for the Minsk II agreement.
Moscow believes it can give and take on Donbass (but not on Crimea) after the political component of Minsk II is implemented. This is in relation to Ukraine and the lifting of Western sanctions on Russia.
The even more complicated issue in the context of a grand bargain is that senior members of the Trump administration have made clear to their Russian counterparts that Moscow needs to change its policies in Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan. Senior members of the Trump administration are also keen on Russia ending its interference in Western elections.
If investigations prove that senior members of Trump’s campaign solicited Russian intervention in the elections, or that there were suspicious ties between men in the White House and in the Kremlin, the cards will be reshuffled radically. Then talk of accords or a grand bargain will no longer be realistic because of the specter of impeachment.
• Raghida Dergham is a columnist, senior diplomatic correspondent, and New York bureau chief for the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper since 1989. She is dean of the international media at the UN. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an honorary fellow at the Foreign Policy Association. She served on the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum, and is a member of the Development Advisory Committee of the IAP — the Global Network of Science Academies. She can be reached on Twitter @RaghidaDergham.
— Originally published in Al-Hayat.

Germany Confiscating Homes to Use for Migrants/"A massive attack on the property rights"
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/May 14/2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10352/germany-migrants-property-rights
In an unprecedented move, Hamburg authorities confiscated six residential units in the Hamm district near the city center. A trustee appointed by the city is now renovating the properties and will rent them — against the will of the owner — to tenants chosen by the city. District spokeswoman Sorina Weiland said that all renovation costs will be billed to the owner of the properties.
Similar expropriation measures have been proposed in Berlin, the German capital, but abandoned because they were deemed unconstitutional.
Some Germans are asking what is next: Will authorities now limit the maximum amount of living space per person, and force those with large apartments to share them with strangers?
Authorities in Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany, have begun confiscating private dwellings to ease a housing shortage — one that has been acutely exacerbated by Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow more than two million migrants into the country in recent years.
City officials have been seizing commercial properties and converting them into migrant shelters since late 2015, when Merkel opened German borders to hundreds of thousands of migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Now, however, the city is expropriating residential property units owned by private citizens.
In an unprecedented move, Hamburg authorities recently confiscated six residential units in the Hamm district near the city center. The units, which are owned by a private landlord, are in need of repair and have been vacant since 2012. A trustee appointed by the city is now renovating the properties and will rent them — against the will of the owner — to tenants chosen by the city. District spokeswoman Sorina Weiland said that all renovation costs will be billed to the owner of the properties.
The expropriation is authorized by the Hamburg Housing Protection Act (Hamburger Wohnraumschutzgesetz), a 1982 law that was updated by the city's Socialist government in May 2013 to enable the city to seize any residential property unit that has been vacant for more than four months.
The forced lease, the first of its kind in Germany, is said to be aimed at pressuring the owners of other vacant residences in the city to make them available for rent. Of the 700,000 rental units in Hamburg, somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000 (less than one percent) are believed to be vacant, according an estimate by the Hamburg Senate.
Hamburg, Germany. (Image source: Morris MacMatzen/Getty Images)
Socialists and Greens in Hamburg recently established a "hotline" where local residents can report vacant properties. Activists have also created a website — Leerstandsmelder (Vacancy Detector) — to identify unoccupied real estate in Hamburg and other German cities.
It remains unclear why the landlord in Hamm left his apartments vacant for more than five years. Some have posited that, given the location of the properties, the renovation costs may have been too high and probably would not have been offset by the rental income.
Others are blaming city officials for not approving more building permits to allow for the construction of new residential units. A study conducted in 2012 — well before the migrant crisis reached epic proportions — forecast that by 2017, Hamburg would have a deficit of at least 50,000 rental properties.
In 2016, however, only 2,433 new residential units came onto the market, while only 2,290 new building permits were approved, according to statistics provided by the City of Hamburg. These numbers were up slightly from 2,192 new units and 2,041 new permit approvals in 2015.
In 2012, Hamburg's Socialist government presented a plan to build 6,000 new residential units per year. The plan never materialized, however, because prospective builders were constricted by government-imposed rental caps which would have made it impossible for them to even recover their construction costs.
Since then, the city has turned to seizing private property to resolve its self-inflicted housing crisis.
On October 1, 2015, the Hamburg Parliament (Hamburgische Bürgerschaft) approved a new law that allows the city to seize vacant commercial real estate (office buildings and land) and use it to house migrants.
City officials said the measure was necessary because, at the time, more than 400 new migrants were arriving in Hamburg each day and all the existing refugee shelters were full. They said that because the owners of vacant real estate refused to make their property available to the city on a voluntary basis, the city should be given the right to take it by force.
The measure was applauded by those on the left of the political spectrum. "We are doing everything we can to ensure that the refugees are not homeless during the coming winter," said Senator Till Steffen of the Green Party. "For this reason, we need to use vacant commercial properties."
Others have argued that efforts by the state to seize private property are autocratic and reek of Communism. "The proposed confiscation of private land and buildings is a massive attack on the property rights of the citizens of Hamburg," said André Trepoll of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). "It amounts to an expropriation by the state." He said the proposed measure is a "law of intimidation" that amounts to a "political dam-break with far-reaching implications." He added: "The ends do not justify any and all means."
Katja Suding, the leader of the Free Democrats (FDP) in Hamburg, said that the proposed law is an "unacceptable crossing of red lines... Such coercive measures will only fuel resentment against refugees."
Similar expropriation measures have been proposed in Berlin, the German capital, but abandoned because they were deemed unconstitutional.
In November 2015, lawmakers in Berlin considered emergency legislation that would have allowed local authorities to seize private residences to accommodate asylum seekers. The proposal would have authorized police forcibly to enter private homes and apartments without a warrant to determine their suitability as housing for refugees and migrants.
The legislation, proposed by Berlin Mayor Michael Müller of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), would have amended Section 36 of Berlin's Public Order and Safety Law (Allgemeine Gesetz zum Schutz der öffentlichen Sicherheit und Ordnung, ASOG), which currently allows police to enter private residences only in extreme instances, to "avert acute threats," that is, to fight serious crime. Müller wanted to expand the scope for warrantless inspections to include "preventing homelessness."
The proposal was kept secret from the public until the leader of the Free Democrats (FDP) in Berlin, Sebastian Czaja, warned the measure would violate the German constitution. He said:
"The plans of the Berlin Senate to requisition residential and commercial property without the consent of the owner to accommodate refugees is an open breach of the constitution. The attempt by the Senate to undermine the constitutional right to property and the inviolability of the home must be resolutely opposed."
Since then, both the mayor's office and the Senate appear to have abandoned their plans.
Following an investigation, Gunnar Schupelius, a columnist with the Berlin newspaper BZ, wrote:
"A strange report made the rounds at the weekend: The Senate would authorize the police to enter private homes to house refugees, even against the will of the owner. I thought it was only satire, then a misunderstanding, because the Basic Law, Article 13, states: 'The home is inviolable.'
"So I went on a search for the source of this strange report and found it. There is a 'proposal' which the Senate Chancellery (Senatskanzlei) has apparently circulated among the senators. The Senate Chancellery is another name for the mayor's office. The permanent secretary is Björn Böhning (SPD)...
"The proposal is clear: The police can enter private property without a court order in order to search for housing for refugees when these are threatened with homelessness. You can do that 'without the consent of the owner.' And not only should the police be allowed to do this, but also the regulatory agencies.
"This delicate 'proposal' attracted little public attention. Only Berlin FDP General Secretary Sebastian Czaja spoke up and warned of an 'open preparation for breach of the constitution.' Internally, there should have been protests. The 'proposal' suddenly disappeared from the table. Is it completely gone or will it return?"
It remains unclear why no one has challenged the constitutionality of Hamburg's expropriation law.
Meanwhile, some Germans are asking what is next: Will authorities now limit the maximum amount of living space per person, and force those with large apartments to share them with strangers?
**Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.
© 2017 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.

The Great Price of "Blaspheming" against Muhammad
Raymond Ibrahim//Gatestone Institute/May 14/2017
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=55291
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10346/islam-blasphemy-christians
Because the word of a Christian "infidel" is not valid against the word of a Muslim, accusations of blasphemy, often with little or no evidence, routinely lead to the beating, imprisonment, and possible killing of Christians and other minorities every month in Pakistan.
"The available evidence in all these cases suggests that charges were brought as a measure to intimidate and punish members of minority religious communities... hostility towards religious minority groups appeared in many cases to be compounded by personal enmity, professional or economic rivalry or a desire to gain political advantage." — Amnesty International.
"Iran sentences a 21-year-old man to death for 'insulting Islam' ... after confessing when police promised he would be pardoned if he came clean." — Daily Mail.
A few days ago in Pakistan, a Christian pastor who has been "tortured every day in prison" since 2012 when he was first incarcerated, was sentenced to life in prison. Zafar Bhatti, 51, is accused of sending "blasphemous" text messages from his mobile phone; but human rights activists contend that the charge "was fabricated to remove him from his role as a Pastor." His wife, Nawab Bibi, says: "Many Muslim people hated how quickly his church was growing; they have taken this action to undermine his work. Yet despite their actions the church grows. I wish our persecutors would see that Christians are not evil creatures. We are human beings created by God the same God that created them although they do not know this yet."
She adds, "There have been numerous attempts to kill my husband — he is bullied everyday and he is not safe from inmates and prison staff alike." In 2014, he "narrowly escaped assassination after a rogue prison officer," Muhammad Yousaf, went on a shooting spree "to kill all inmates accused of blasphemy against Islam."
Bhatti is one of countless Christian minorities to suffer under Pakistan's blasphemy law, which has helped make that country the fourth-worst nation in the world in which to be Christian.
Asia Bibi, a Christian wife and mother, has been on death row since 2010 on the accusation that she insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to Section 295-C of Pakistan's penal code: "Whoever by words, either spoken or written or by visible representation, or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine."
Because the word of a Christian "infidel" is not valid against the word of a Muslim, accusations of blasphemy, often with little or no evidence, routinely lead to the beating, imprisonment or killing of Christians and other minorities every month in Pakistan.[1] An Amnesty International report from 1994 summarizes the situation:
Several dozen people have been charged with blasphemy in Pakistan over the last few years; in all the cases known to Amnesty International, the charges of blasphemy appear to have been arbitrarily brought, founded solely on the individuals' minority religious beliefs... The available evidence in all these cases suggests that charges were brought as a measure to intimidate and punish members of minority religious communities... hostility towards religious minority groups appeared in many cases to be compounded by personal enmity, professional or economic rivalry or a desire to gain political advantage. As a consequence, Amnesty International has concluded that most of the individuals now facing charges of blasphemy, or convicted on such charges, are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for their real or imputed religious beliefs in violation of their right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
Other Christians accused of blasphemy never get the chance for even a mock trial and are dealt "justice" at the hands of angry mobs -- such as the young Christian couple burned alive on a spurious accusation of blasphemy in November 2014. A report from 2012 found that "Since 1990 alone, fifty-two people have been extra-judicially murdered on charges of blasphemy" in Pakistan.
Last month, three burqa-wearing sisters shot and killed a man accused of committing blasphemy in 2004. "[W]e couldn't kill him at the time because we were too young then," they explained.
Also last month, a 23-year-old college student "was killed and another seriously injured by a vigilante mob for allegedly 'publishing blasphemous content online.'" The incident occurred on campus; the mob was yelling "Allahu Akbar" throughout.
Although Islam's blasphemy law is most associated with Pakistan, several other Muslim nations use it to persecute Christians and other minorities. Days ago, around the same time Bhatti was being sentenced to life in Pakistan, in Indonesia, Ahok, the Christian governor of Jakarta, was sentenced to two years in prison on the charge of insulting Islam and desecrating the Koran.[2] Similarly, on March 30, a report appeared saying, "Iran sentences a 21-year-old man to death for 'insulting Islam' ... after confessing when police promised he would be pardoned if he came clean."
Members of various Islamist groups celebrate in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 9 after Ahok, the Christian governor of Jakarta, was convicted of committing blasphemy. (Image source: Ed Wray/Getty Images)
Earlier this year in Algeria, Samir Chamek, a 34-year-old Christian man, was sentenced to a year in prison after a court found him "guilty of insulting Islam and its prophet over items he posted on his Facebook page." They were described as "accusing the prophet Muhammad of terrorism and murder and comparing the prophet to Hitler, mentioning the persecution and massacre of the Jews." Also in Algeria, last August, a Muslim convert to Christianity was sentenced to the maximum five years in prison for saying that the light of Jesus will outshine Islam and its prophet Muhammad on social media, which the court ruled as "blasphemous."
In October, in Ethiopia, four Christian girls -- aged 18, 15, 14, and 14 -- handed out a booklet entitled, "Let's speak the truth in love." Because it challenged Islamic accusations against Christianity, local Muslims deemed the book blasphemous and rioted. They attacked a church and assaulted Christians. The girls were arrested and, after a brief court hearing on November 15, sentenced to a month in prison.
As in Pakistan, Muslims mobs and "vigilantes" often take "the law" into their own hands. In March, in India, a Muslim-turned-atheist "was hacked to death by a four-member gang" of Muslims. Last September, a Christian writer and activist was murdered outside of a courthouse in Jordan. The 56-year-old man was earlier arrested for sharing a "blasphemous" cartoon about the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As he was walking into court to stand trial for "contempt of religion" and "inciting sectarian strife," a man dressed in traditional Muslim garb shot him to death.
Last August, in Nigeria, after two university students got into an argument, the Muslim student accused the Christian student of insulting Muhammad. Soon a mob of Muslims assembled and said the Christian must die. Then they savagely beat and nearly killed him. The following day, mobs of Muslims rioted and vandalized Christian campuses and churches.
Such nonstop accusations, incarcerations, murders, torture and death penalties meted out to non-Muslims on the mere accusation of "blasphemy" -- at the hands of mobs, vigilantes, and court judges -- call into question any claims of tolerance, modernity or pluralism in many Muslim-majority nations.
Raymond Ibrahim is the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians (published by Regnery with Gatestone Institute, April 2013).
[1] At least one but often more blasphemy-related cases appear practically every month in Pakistan and are documented in the monthly "Muslim Persecution of Christians" reports. The following are incidents that occurred in the last report, January 2017:
An evangelical Christian was arrested on charges of blasphemy and faces the death penalty. According to a complaint by a Muslim, Haji Nadeem, Shahbaz Babu desecrated the Koran by writing his name on some pages, tearing them up and then scattering them on the street in front of a mosque. Although the Muslim admits he did not see the accused in the act, Babu—whom rights activists say is "completely illiterate"—was nonetheless arrested. In a nation where the mere accusation that an infidel insulted Islam could get the non-Muslim killed by the mob, executed by the state or simply imprisoned, Babu's defenders wonder at the notion that he "is supposed to have desecrated the Qurʾān in secret, but then left the evidence for everyone to see." Others say that he was disliked by the mosque because several members had stopped attending it and listening to the evangelist who is popular in his region.
An imam in Lambanwali accused an elderly Christian of writing and sending to him a series of "derogatory letters" in which he defamed Islamic prophet Muhammad. Once the blasphemy accusation was made, police promptly stormed the Christian's home in the night and arrested his entire family. Although the man denies the accusation—correctly pointing out that only a suicide would do what he is accused of doing in Pakistan—he "is likely to face an imprisonment of 10 years while there are assumptions that Section 295-C might be invoked in order to aggravate the punishment to death penalty," said the report.
A blasphemy case was registered against Shaan Taseer—son of Salman Taseer, a human rights activist and defender of persecuted Christians who was assassinated by Muslims—for saying "Merry Christmas."
Five Christian rights activists were known for their public opposition to the country's blasphemy laws all went missing within the same week. [2] The blasphemy controversy erupted when a video appeared online of Ahok saying that many Muslims misunderstand Koran 5:51 -- which commands Muslims not to befriend Jews and Christians. That a Christian would dare try to distort the Koran's call for hostility against Christians and Jews in order to boost his chances at reelection was deemed blasphemous enough to prompt mass riots and calls for his death in Indonesia.
© 2017 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.

New French Leader Macron Vows to Overcome Division in Society
Asharq Al-Awsat English/May 14/17
New French President Emmanuel Macron pledged in his inaugural address on Sunday to work on overcoming divisions in society which had been shown by the presidential election campaign and seek to build a strong France that was confident of itself in the world. “The division and fractures in our society must be overcome,” said the 39-year-old centrist who was elected on May 7 after beating the far right leader Marine Le Pen following a bitter campaign that was dominated by France’s role in Europe and which blew apart the traditional party structure in France. “For decades France has doubted itself,” Macron said in his inaugural speech at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, making one of his main tasks “to bring self-confidence back to the French.”“The world and Europe needs France more than ever. They need a strong France that is sure of its destiny. A France that upholds freedom and solidarity,” Macron declared. “I am convinced that the power of France is not in decline, as we are at the dawn of an extraordinary rebirth.”Macron, who has shaken up French politics with his meteoric rise to the presidency, said he will do everything that is necessary to fight terrorism and authoritarianism and to resolve the world’s migration crisis. The centrist said “we will take all our responsibilities to provide, every time it’s needed, a relevant response to big contemporary crises.”
He also listed “the excesses of capitalism in the world” and climate change among his future challenges. Macron said all countries in the world are “interdependent … we are all neighbors.” He announced his determination to push ahead with reforms to free up France’s economy and pledged to press for a “more efficient, more democratic” European Union. Macron is the youngest president in the country’s history and the 8th president of France’s Fifth Republic, created in 1958. His Republic on the Move movement hopes to reinvigorate French politics and win a majority of lawmakers in the June parliamentary election.
Appointees
Before Sunday’s inaugural ceremony, Macron appointed Alexis Kohler as secretary general of the Elysee palace, the most powerful role among presidential staff, while career diplomat Philippe Etienne was named as his top foreign policy advisor. Kohler, a 44-year old graduate of France’s elite ENA administrative school, was Macron’s chief of staff when the incoming president was economy minister and has worked for the Treasury. He will be Macron’s right-hand man, the top official in the Elysee administration and a key political advisor who is typically the main contact point for ministries, parties, unions and business leaders and plays an important role in crafting policies. Etienne, a 61-year old former ambassador well known both in Brussels and Berlin, was appointed to be the incoming president’s diplomatic advisor, Macron’s staff said. Also an ENA graduate, his nomination was immediately saluted in the EU capital. “This is very good news. Philippe is an authority on EU affairs and a promoter of Franco-German friendship,” Martin Selmayr, the head of cabinet for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said on Twitter. The news was also welcomed among French diplomats. “He is extremely well aware of EU affairs,” one senior diplomatic source said, calling him a skilled negotiator. The appointments were announced as Macron readied for his inauguration as president on Sunday at a ceremony in the Elysee palace. Macron will name a prime minister on Monday and the new government will be announced on Tuesday, a source said.
Farewell Hollande!
Macron’s inauguration ceremony was steeped in French ritual and tradition. Macron, who arrived in a Renault armored car just as it stopped raining, walked up a red carpet to the Elysee steps where he was greeted by outgoing President Francois Hollande. The two men shook hands and went up to the president’s office where they met for a private talk before the ceremony when, among other things, France’s nuclear codes were passed on. In accordance with tradition, the Elysee’s new tenant escorted Hollande to his car. Hollande was driven away in a modest hatchback, leaving behind leadership of a country battered by several deadly terror attacks and an economy that failed to pick up under his watch. Hollande decided not to run for a second term. His popularity, and that of his Socialist Party, plunged after the Paris attacks in November 2015, in which 130 people were killed. About 300 guests attended Macron’s inauguration inside the Elysee’s reception hall in the building’s west wing. The hall overlooks gardens where the ceremony continued with the playing of the national anthem and a traditional 21-gun salute from cannon placed at the nearby Invalides. Macron was joined by his wife, Brigitte Trogneux, on Sunday, a woman who the new President has portrayed as a mentor. He has said he will likely give his wife an official role in his government. He wore a dark suit that cost 450 euros ($491), made by his usual Paris tailor, his aides said by text message. His spouse wore a lavender-blue dress designed for her by Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquiere and carried a purse loaned to her by the brand.

How Trump Can Have an Impact in the Holy Land
Daniel Shapiro/Bloomberg/May 14/17
In planning for President Donald Trump’s first trip abroad White House, staffers will be looking for images and achievements that will reinforce the president’s agenda, appeal to him personally, and present him to the world as a global statesman. While in Israel and the Palestinian Authority on May 22-23, there is an easy stop he should make to accomplish all three goals: President Trump should visit Rawabi. Rawabi is the first new, entirely planned Palestinian city in the West Bank, long heralded as the advent of the Palestinian economic future. Located on a picturesque hillside 10 kilometers north of Ramallah, it is now at a sufficiently advanced stage of development for Palestinian families to begin to move in. Hundreds already have, with more purchasing apartments each day. It could eventually support up to 40,000 residents. Heavily subsidized by Palestinian developer Bashar Masri and his main financial backer, the government of Qatar, these housing units represents something unavailable to Palestinians anywhere else: brand new high-end apartments at affordable prices. The new city boasts amenities like parks and playgrounds, and top-notch municipal services and unheard of recreation facilities for Palestinians, including a 15,000-seat amphitheater, horseback riding, all-terrain vehicles, and a zip line. Quality schools, shopping, restaurants, a large central mosque and a church are on the way. Rawabi is important not only for what it is, but what it represents: an alternative Palestinian future. Palestinians who have been stuck for generations in refugee camps or dilapidated cities with old-economy industries and poor prospects for expansion are stunned at the quality of life available to them. Quite a few first-time visitors sign mortgages at the bank branches located on site. Some foresee commuting to jobs in Ramallah and East Jerusalem, others anticipate working in the high-tech companies — Israeli, Palestinian and multinational (many with Israeli branches) — that Masri is working hard to attract, and which will be critical to the project’s success.
Others come to Rawabi as an entertainment destination. Rawabi has even become attractive to wealthy overseas Palestinians and Arab Israelis, who want to maintain a residence in the West Bank for visits and vacations, a phenomenon Masri welcomes, but in moderation to avoid the city becoming a ghost-town with no tax base. What would Trump get out of a visit? Since taking office, he has surprised observers throughout the region by his devotion to pursuing Israeli-Palestinian peace. As part of that effort, he has emphasized the need to improve Palestinian economic conditions, as his envoy, Jason Greenblatt, did at a donors’ conference last week in Brussels. No site provides greater testament to the improved quality of life available to Palestinians than Rawabi. As Masri emphasizes, if Rawabi succeeds it could be replicated four or five times elsewhere in the West Bank.
But its success has not been assured, and here Trump could also make a difference. The project has been slowed by Israeli security, bureaucratic and political obstacles. While formally supporting its progress, Israel spent years delaying development of the city by failing to approve a critical access road which passes through Israeli-controlled space. At a key moment, the project nearly failed because Israel refused to provide a steady water supply unless it could also provide water to Israeli settlements. Both challenges have been resolved, but similar problems could arise, stoked by Israeli politicians opposed to a Palestinian state.
Palestinian political leaders, meanwhile, have been apathetic at best toward the project. Rawabi suffers from a uniquely Palestinian insult — that it “beautifies the occupation.” The idea that economic development could be used to actually retard rather than advance progress toward statehood runs deep in Palestinian society. The PA’s attitude is changing, however, as a recent visit from Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and discussions about the PA taking over the provision of key services attest. Finally, further Qatari financing is needed to see the project through to completion, and to attract additional investment for similar projects. By associating himself with Rawabi’s future, Trump can instantly incentivize Israeli, Palestinian and Gulf leaders to ensure its success; none will want to be blamed for the failure of a project with Trump’s stamp of approval. He should tie his support for Rawabi to a vision of a future that serves the peace and prosperity of both peoples in a two-state solution.
It’s hard to find better optics too. Only a short helicopter ride from Jerusalem or Bethlehem, Rawabi’s grand scale will appeal to Trump the real estate developer. He and Masri, a smooth and successful Palestinian developer who eschews boycotts of Israel, will no doubt hit it off.
President Trump, if you want to leave a positive legacy for Israelis and Palestinians on your first visit to the region, come to Rawabi.

France at a Crossroads
Asharq Al-Awsat English/May 14/17
What Europe are we expected to wake up to? What political culture are we going to live under? Would there still be a place for descendants of immigrants in the continent where the Crusades were launched and two world wars were started, when its bigots begin rejecting even fellow white Christian Europeans?
I reckon we need realistic–not falsely reassuring– answers. Today French voters are voting in more than just another presidential election. They are making a choice between two distinct cultural identities; either they chose sliding towards a ‘Clash of Civilizations’ imbued with hatred, animosities and selfishness the consequences of which would go further than Europe, or opt for an ‘institutional government’ and the logic of dialogue and mutual understanding inside and outside France. Thus, no choice has ever been starker or more clear-cut, and no bet has ever been higher.
Personally, I do understand why many French, indeed, many Europeans and Westerners – including Americans, Canadians and Australians – are unhappy about the current state of affairs. I realize there is a demographic time-bomb. The ‘West’, as symbolized by white Christian Europeans and their descendants, no longer dominates global affairs, nor does its population size work in its favor. Even economically, the ‘west’ does not have a monopoly on decision-making. It does not fully dominate the international markets anymore.
All this means that ‘globalization’ poses a threat to a ‘West’ whose populations are worried about being diluted in their own countries, and fear what might the future hold.
With this fear, as proven by statistics, even polite diplomatic pronouncements and sincere calls for co-existence may prove futile; more so, when anti-democratic tendencies begin to take root in what were ‘cradles of Western democracy’. Then, add to the above the collapse of the ‘classic’ national and ideological identities against a background of rising ‘religious’ revival brought back to life by the criminal actions of zealots raising religious banners and using religion as a justification for murder and terrorism.
Blue-collar French men and women workers, with limited educational and hi tech qualifications, moved a few decades ago from voting for the Left, led by the French Communist Party – that used to be the second largest in western Europe after its Italian counterpart – to the extreme Right groups, such as the National Front.
The reason for this radical shift is simple. The unskilled worker was competing in the job market with a poorer immigrant worker willing to earn an even lower wage. Hence, all what this French worker had heard from the venerable ‘comrades’ about ‘class struggle’, ‘capitalist greed’ and ‘fat cats and bosses exploitation of their workers’ disintegrated when his/her bosses confronted him/her with the argument that they were not their enemy. There real enemy was the ‘foreign immigrant’ worker who was willing to work more for less.
This ‘logic’ became acceptable in France, specifically, in the industrial and mining ‘departments’ of the north near the Belgian borders and in the areas of high concentration of North African immigrants in the cities of the Mediterranean south.
It even went beyond the traditional French Left voter. In Britain too, traditional bastions for the Labour Party in the industrial cities of northern England and former mining valleys of Wales voted in favor of “Brexit”, i.e. leaving the EU. The position of the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a radical Leftist, was particularly dubious. The day after the night that was, the British woke up to a strange reality: The extreme Right and extreme Left voting for the same cause!
As far as the Labour Left is concerned, this largely happened as a rejection of European integration that would allow cheaper East European labor force from competing in the local job market. However, for the extreme Right, which hid itself well under the cloak of the Conservative Party, the “Brexit” referendum was its ideal platform to show its true colors under the banner of UKIP (The United Kingdom Independent Party).
It is worth mentioning here that the sudden surge of support for this isolationist Anti-Europe party caused the then moderate Conservative Prime minister David Cameron to panic and call for the unnecessary referendum in the first place. Subsequently though, after the referendum, the true size of UKIP was laid bare for all to see, as it suffered a wipe out in the recent local elections; proving it was always a protest single-issue platform, which has now lost its raison d’etre, and hence, all isolationist Rightists and xenophobes returned home to the Conservative Party.
Also in the US, the major destination for immigration in the West, the “Mother of Free Enterprise”, and the enemy of protectionism and ideological beacon for competitiveness, we saw a Rightist billionaire defending workers’ rights by calling to stop “exporting American jobs”, build a wall on the border with Mexico, and tighten immigration procedures in order to ‘protect’ America against cheap foreign labor and terrorists!
As was the case with “Brexit”, minus the immigration issue, Donald Trump’s calls were in a sense similar to those of Democratic Leftist presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. Both were actually pushing their supporters to vote against ‘The Establishment’, its ethos and symbols such as pragmatic moderation, intersection of interests, broadly based cross-party deals.
In all three major western countries, America, Britain and France, which rebuilt the post WW2 ‘world order’, we notice that “The Establishment’ has suffered painful defeats, and that ‘globalization’ has lost a strategic battle, against a background of retreating moderation and rising isolationism and extremism.
The capitalist system, however, cannot comfortably sustain such a status quo, i.e. powers dominated by nationalist isolationists. War is usually the natural outcome, but in this day and age wars are pretty costly and devastating.
Anti-Western powers, led by Russia under its current leadership, know this fact; and this is why the Kremlin has been virtually fuelling civil wars within the three countries and perhaps others. Circles close to Russian leadership did not hide Moscow’s preference of a Marine Le Pen presidency in France. It also openly supported “Brexit”, and Trump’s electoral position against NATO.
Thus, the choice before the French in the decisive election day is either choose war, or a world based on mutual understanding, tolerance, and willingness to deal together with the challenges confronting humanity as a whole.
It is truly a crossroads.

‘The Aden Declaration,’ Dangers of a Southern Secession in Yemen
Salman Al-dossaryAsharq Al-Awsat English/May 14/17
Southern separatist ambitions in Yemen are not recent news but have been in the backdrop of the Gulf country’s 1994 civil war.
At the time, one of the vital factors in stoking conflict between the north and south was the role played by the then president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Southern political figures largely blamed the now-ousted president Saleh for marginalizing the south after Yemen declared its unification in 1990.
Albeit separatists putting forward objective and understandable arguments, realizing those ambitions remains near impossible. The international system in power will not allow for Yemen to be divided.
Mr. Abdulrahman al-Rashed, former General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, had given insightful details as to why a separation in Yemen is unlikely in his May 9 opinion piece “The Separation of the South in Yemen”.
Additionally, there are the two clear-cut United Nations Security Council resolutions 2014 and 2051 that recognize and value Yemen’s unity. Not to mention that sponsor states undertaking the South dilemma have, over and over again, affirmed that a settlement must manifest within the context of a unified Yemen.
British and Russian diplomats have openly announced their countries’ support for a united Yemen, which at a point in time shocked separatists who relied on the two powers backing their cause. They had hoped for deep-rooted ties linking Britain and Moscow to southern Yemen to garner enough support for the South to gain autonomy.
Advancing separatist ambitions, the southern movement has arrived at a forked path. A faction of independence-seekers — in light of the upheaval caused by Iran-backed Houthis leading a coup in Yemen– have understood that priorities have been reshuffled.
Taking into account rapid developments on the Houthi-led civil war, restoring Yemen’s legitimate government led by Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to power takes precedence over eventual independence, as conceded to by the South overwhelming majority.
After the government would return to full control, a safe and gradual separation and ultimately independence could be negotiated under unanimous Yemeni agreement. Nevertheless, a faction of the southern movement has opted for a more dramatic approach that is an uncalculated and rushed separation.
Personally speaking, a recent declaration released by Aden leaders provides a precise and elaborate answer to southern momentary autonomy. It simply is impossible under the current circumstances and conditions experienced by the nation.
In the meantime, these ambitions are announced for reasons of political leverage and interests. The south perhaps is looking out to secure a score of political gains—particularly that Hadi recently sacked Aden’s now-former governor Aidarous Al-Zubaidi. He also dismissed the Hani Ali Breik, the former Secretary of State and ordered that he be investigated for several charges including political disobedience and involvement in corruption.
It is worth nothing that any internal political gains to the southern leaders’ account will be temporary and fleeting mindful of a wider strategy fixed on driving Houthi militants and armed loyalists backing Saleh out of Sana’a.
Gulf states–leading a coalition which freed Aden from the control of Houthi and pro-Saleh militias– have been clear in demanding Yemenis in general, and southerners in particular, to stand in solidarity with pro-legitimacy forces “to instate full state authority and sovereignty, restore security and stability across all Yemen.”
That comes as a clear message that any moves to resolve the southern issue “must be carried out through Yemeni legitimacy and consensus represented by the outcomes of national dialogue. ”
Perhaps after terminating the Houthi – Saleh staged coup, Yemen could reopen the southern and also provide an alternative– a previously reviewed and conceded draft solution based on establishing a federal state consisting of six regions.
A federal state is the only way out for southerners, whose demand for secession was not an end or an objection to unity. It was a protest fueled by a rejection of marginalization, tyranny, and expropriation exercised by the deposed Saleh since the 1994 war.
The suffering today in northern Uganda and South Sudan should move even the most hardhearted among us.
As members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, we often are confronted with the question of how the United States should respond to such crises. We also have the opportunity to visit countries near and far on behalf of the American people to assess the effectiveness of programs. Yet in our travels around the world, neither of us had experienced anything like we did when we entered the Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda last month.
Bidi Bidi became the largest refugee camp in the world in early April. It shelters more than 270,000 people who have fled famine in war-torn South Sudan. Each day, roughly 2,800 more refugees arrive in the country.
When many Americans think of famine, they might picture parched fields or dried-up riverbeds caused by drought. But most famines are not natural disasters; they are man-made, the result of war and violence. The fighting in South Sudan, and the ripple of misery it has generated into surrounding countries, are no exception.
Since late 2013, the civil war in South Sudan has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced nearly a third of the country’s population. One report estimates that more than 40 percent of the population faces “severe, life-threatening” hunger, including millions of children. In some cases, warring parties — including the government itself — are deliberately blocking access to aid as a tactic in the conflict.
It is hard to describe the severity of what we witnessed at Bidi Bidi. We spoke with women and children forced from their homes, in dire need of food, water and shelter. Some had been raped on the journey to Bidi Bidi.
Many mothers and grandmothers had walked for more than two weeks hoping only to find a better life for their children and grandchildren. They clung to cups of cornmeal porridge, not sure if the next ration might be smaller, or if it would exist at all.
This humanitarian crisis is not limited to South Sudan. More than 20 million people in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen are at risk of starvation, the United Nations says.
The United States contributes at least a third of food aid dollars spent globally, but we cannot tackle this challenge alone. In addition to using current resources more efficiently, we must also exert American leadership and call on other countries to step up their efforts by donating desperately needed resources to avert further suffering, violence and instability.
Suffering of the scale and intensity that we saw is not just a stain on our collective conscience — it can also be a driver of violence and instability that can affect the rest of the world.
Of course, there are limits to what even the world’s richest country can spend on foreign aid. But we can find ways to spend more efficiently, to get more out of each dollar.
In Congress, we are leading efforts to reform how the United States delivers food assistance, which totals more than $2 billion every year. A bill we sponsored, the Global Food Security Act, was signed into law last summer; it permanently authorized the United States Agency for International Development’s emergency food aid program, which provides nearly half of all American food aid.
The agency’s program delivers aid more efficiently and effectively than when it is processed by the Department of Agriculture, which processes some food aid but is encumbered by decades of redundant requirements that result in delays, unnecessary costs and often an inability to reach those who need help most.
Taxpayers deserve to know that the way we deliver food aid is as efficient as the American people are generous. That is why we’ve written another bill, the Food for Peace Reform Act, which would eliminate decades-old regulations that require food aid to be grown in the United States — often thousands of miles away from the people who need it — and shipped on American-flagged vessels. We estimate these reforms could free up as much as $500 million annually and allow us to reach five million to eight million more people with food in less time.
As a result of a civil war for which they bear no responsibility, far too many South Sudanese, including those we met in Bidi Bidi, have known far too much violence, far too much suffering and far too little opportunity. Following our visit to Uganda, we are rededicating ourselves to common-sense reforms that will feed more people and save more lives without asking more of the American people.