LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 15/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias
Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias18/english.march15.18.htm
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Bible
Quotations
In The Kingdom of Peace,
the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat
Isaiah
11/01-16: "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a
Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit
of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the
Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear
of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by
what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the
needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He
will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips
he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the
sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will
lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and
a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young
will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant
will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into
the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy
mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the
waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner
for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will
be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time
to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower
Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath
and from the islands of the Mediterranean. He will raise a banner for the
nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered
people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. Ephraim’s jealousy will
vanish, and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed; Ephraim will not be jealous
of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim. They will swoop down on the
slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to
the east. They will subdue Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject
to them. The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching
wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up
into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals. There will be a
highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there
was for Israel when they came up from Egypt."
Titles
For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on March 14-15/18
Those who allowed Hezbollah, so much power/Dr.Walid Phares/Face
Book/March 14/18
Hizbullah Deputy Sec.-Gen. Sheikh Naim Qassem Receives A 'Symbolic Gift From
The Jewish People,' Declares: We Will Be Victorious But Are In No Hurry/MEMRI/March
14/18
Fundamentalist Terrorists Benefit from "Fundamental Fairness"/Sandra Parker/Gatestone
Institute/March 14/18
EU: More Censorship to "Protect" You/Judith Bergman/Gatestone
Institute/March 14/18
Exclusive: Why Iran’s Intervention in Syria Proved so Costly/Amir Taheri/Asharq
Al Awsat/March 14/18
The Rules of the Spy Game Are No Longer Clear/Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg
View//March 14/18/
Enjoy Your Job in Software? You Have a Woman to Thank/Elaine Ou/Bloomberg/March
14/18
Trump’s clear message in firing Rex Tillerson/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/March
14/18
Messages of reform and change from Cairo/Hassan Al Mustafa/Al Arabiya/March
14/18
The Kurds have been sacrificed/Christian Chesnot/Al Arabiya/March 14/18
Saudi women make the most of International Women’s Day/Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi/Al
Arabiya/March 14/18
Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News
published on March 14-15/18
Those who allowed Hezbollah, so much power...
Report: Hizbullah Denies Remarks Attributed to Nasrallah
Berri says parliamentary session to ratify budget before end of March
Hariri arrives in Rome, chairs Lebanon delegation to Rome II Conference
Hariri Marks March 14 Alliance Anniversary
Hariri receives OHCHR representative
New Charges Pressed Against Hacker Involved in Itani-Hajj Case
Sayegh: Kataeb-LF Alliance Compelled by Field Rules and Historical Identity
Sami Gemayel Marks 13th Anniversary of Cedars Revolution
Bou Khaled: Our Struggle for Change Emanates From People's Suffering
Derian meets Islamist detainees families
Judge Germanos presses charges against hacker Elie Gh. in new case
UK support to Lebanese businesses and infrastructure continues
Legislation and Consultations' Committee: Information Minister must take
necessary decision as to TL chairmanship vacancy
Report: Saudi Arabia Keen on Showing Support for Lebanon
Lebanese Army Sets Rules for Flying Drones
Islamist Prisoners' Families Rally at Interior Ministry after Meeting Mufti
Mustaqbal Lauds Aoun's Call for Post-Polls Defense Strategy Talks
Lebanon: Defense Strategy Depends on Elections Results, Hezbollah’s
Readiness to
Aoun given taxpayer charter by Lebanese association
Hizbullah Deputy Sec.-Gen. Sheikh Naim Qassem Receives A 'Symbolic Gift From
The Jewish People,' Declares: We Will Be Victorious But Are In No Hurry
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And
News published on March 14-15/18
Second Day of Medical Evacuations Begins in Syria's Ghouta
Turkey Ramps Up Assault on Kurdish Enclave in Syria
Turkey Jails Man for Life for Syrian Mother, Daughter Murders
Moscow Says to Retaliate Soon to UK's Expulsion of Diplomats
UK Expels Russia Diplomats, Suspends Diplomatic Contact in Spy Row
Al-Qaida in Syria Losing Ground in Battles with Insurgents
UN Palestinian Agency in Urgent Search for Cash at Global Gathering
Erdogan Hopes Turkish Forces Will Completely Encircle Afrin by Wednesday
Knesset Backs Bill to Impose Jewish Nationalism
France Raises Alarm on Wave of Fighters Returning from Syria, Iraq
Germany: 3 Syrians Sentenced to Prison for Belonging to ISIS
Merkel Sworn in as German Chancellor for Fourth Term
Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs on chemical weapon attack in United
Kingdom
Statement by Canada on U.S. anti-dumping duties on imports of Canadian
uncoated groundwood paper
Latest Lebanese Related News published
on March 14-15/18
Those who allowed Hezbollah, so much power...
Dr.Walid Phares/Face Book/March 14/18
"Why are some Lebanese politicians surprised at SG Hassan Nasrallah's
statements about the supremacy of the Vilayet Faqih to the Lebanese state?
Haven't they read the doctrine of Hezbollah since its inception in 1981?
These politicians had supported Taef in 1989-1990 which had recognized
Hezbollah's legitimate "resistance." They included Hezbollah in electoral
alliances, then in Governments as of 2005. They gave him a pass after the
2008 blitz. And sit happily with the Hezb in cabinets until now. Why are
they acting surprised now? They were his partners for decades while this
militia was devouring Lebanon. The reason for their comedy? Because
Nasrallah unveiled the real goals of his group, in a raw manner, in front of
the constituencies of these politicians. It is not Nasrallah who was exposed
by these statements. It was those who allowed Hezbollah so much power over
the years..."
Dr Walid Phares, former advisor on foreign affairs to President D Trump
Report: Hizbullah
Denies Remarks Attributed to Nasrallah
Naharnet/March 14/18/Hizbullah's media office slammed as “untrue” Farda News
reports quoting the party's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as saying that
“the guardianship of Wilayat al-Fakih is above the Constitution and the
implementation of its orders are compulsory,” Assharq al-Awsat reported on
Wednesday. Hizbullah's media office denied the report published by Iranian
Farda News Agency, which supports Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei,
stressing that they were “completely untrue.” The agency apologized for the
report and withdrew it blaming its correspondent for the “error.”The report
had said that Nasrallah's remarks came during his meeting with Iranian
nationals residing in Lebanon. Nasrallah has repeatedly said that Hizbullah
is an extension of the Iranian project and that his party is willing to make
sacrifices for the sake of the Wilayat al-Fakih. He had also acknowledged
that Hizbullah receives money from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Berri says parliamentary session to ratify budget
before end of March
Wed 14 Mar 2018/NNA - House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Wednesday said that the
parliamentary session to ratify the 2018 draft state budget will be taking
place before the end of March. Speaker Berri's words came during his weekly
Wednesday Gathering with deputies. The budget ratification would come ahead
of the Easter holiday and the Paris Conference set to take place upcoming
April 6. Visiting Lawmakers quoted the Speaker as saying that "Lebanon has
scored a new victory against the Israeli enemy in terms of land and sea
borders, through the entry of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces into the
so-called 'B' point and the substantiation of Lebanese maps and documents
with tangible evidence and proofs on the ground." Speaker Berri underlined
that Lebanon and the Lebanese adhere to their sovereignty and borders,
whether in land or sea, as well as to all their rights and resources, saying
"they [Lebanese] shall never relinquish any of them."On the 2018 draft state
budget, Berri said that the parliamentary session to ratify 2018 budget will
take place before the end of March, indicating that the Finance Committee
shall hold intensive sessions to discuss the budget.On the other hand, Berri
also met with a delegation of the Union and Municipalities of Jabal Al-Rihan.
Hariri arrives in Rome, chairs Lebanon delegation to
Rome II Conference
Wed 14 Mar 2018/NNA - Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in
Rome on Monday evening, chairing the Lebanese delegation to the Rome II
conference called forth by the International Support Group for Lebanon,
aimed at supporting the official security and military institutions in
Lebanon. Premier Hariri chairs an official delegation to the Conference,
including Ministers of Defense, Interior and Municipalities and Foreign
Affairs, as well as Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, Internal Security
Forces chief Imad Othman, and General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim. The
Lebanese delegation shall present at the Conference a five-year
comprehensive plan in support of the army and security forces. The
Conference will be inaugurated tomorrow at 4:00 pm (Beirut time) at the
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation's
headquarters.
Premier Hariri is to deliver Lebanon's word at the Conference.
Hariri Marks March 14 Alliance Anniversary
Naharnet/March 14/18/Prime Minister Saad Hariri issued a statement Wednesday
marking the 13th anniversary of March 14 alliance, Hariri's media office
said. "It is no coincidence today, on the 13th anniversary of March 14, that
I travel to Rome on head of a Lebanese delegation to participate in an
international conference aimed at boosting the army and security forces, the
protectors of sovereignty and stability in Lebanon,” said Hariri. “The
consolidation of the State and the sovereignty and freedom of Lebanon, were
the demands that brought more than one million Lebanese citizens who
descended on the squares on that historic day 13 years ago. Today, we
continue to struggle to achieve these demands,” he added. The March 14
alliance was named after the date of the Cedar Revolution and was a
coalition of political parties formed in 2005, united by their anti-Syrian
regime stance after the assassination of Hariri's father ex-PM Rafik Hariri
in a massive car bomb. Hariri said March 14 “will remain a milestone in the
history of Lebanon and the banner of freedom, sovereignty and rejection of
hegemony and guardianship, and a bridge to the real crossing towards the
State.”Hariri is in Rome to take part in the Rome II donor conferences aimed
at boosting the capabilities of Lebanon's military and security agencies.
Hariri receives OHCHR representative
Wed 14 Mar 2018/NNA - The President of the Council of Ministers Saad Hariri
received today at the Grand Serail the Regional Representative of the United
Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR, Abdel Salam
Sidahmed, in the presence of the Minister of State for Human Rights Ayman
Choukair. After the meeting, Sidahmed said: "We discussed the establishment
of the Lebanese national commission for human rights and we asked Prime
Minister Hariri that the Council of Ministers names the members of the
commission that has international standards after a decision issued by the
Lebanese Parliament in October 2016." He added: "We also discussed the
preparations for Rome Conference and the necessity to commit to the
principles of human rights, and our readiness to help in this field."
New Charges Pressed
Against Hacker Involved in Itani-Hajj Case
Kataeb.org/March 14/18/State Commissioner to the Military Court, Judge Peter
Germanos, on Wednesday pressed new charges against the hacker involved in
the case of ISF Major Suzan Hajj, the National News Agency reported. Elie
Ghabash was found to be involved in another case in which he had also
fabricated evidence that led to the arrest of an Army officer on charges of
collaborating with Israel. Germanos referred Ghabash to the First Military
Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghaida for further questioning, and issued an
arrest warrant against him. According to New TV, the hacker is suspected of
fabricating evidence against retired Army officer, Ishak Daghim, who was
arrested for 54 days, also for collaborating with Israel. Ghabash reportedly
did so in retaliation against Daghim because of disagreements between the
latter and the hacker’s brother. Ghabash is already detained for being
involved in fabricating evidence to frame up director and comedian Ziad
Itani, upon the request of the former head of the ISF's Cybercrime Bureau
chief Maj. Suzan Hajj.
Sayegh: Kataeb-LF Alliance Compelled by Field Rules and
Historical Identity
Kataeb.org/March 14/18/Kataeb's Deputy-President Salim Sayegh on Wednesday
said that the field rules and the historical identity of both Zahle and
Ashrafieh have compelled an alliance between the Kataeb Party and the
Lebanese Forces, saying that the political agreement reached in both
districts does not affect the alliances sealed elsewhere. "Any agreement
with any political force must have the Kataeb's candidate, MP Nadim Gemayel,
at its core; something that probably did not please everyone in civil
society groups," Sayegh told MTV channel. "The new voting system requires
securing the electoral quotient before getting into ways to ensure the
preferential votes."
Sami Gemayel Marks 13th Anniversary of Cedars
Revolution
Kataeb.org/March 14/18/Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel on Wednesday reaffirmed
commitment to the values and principles of the revolution of March 14, 2005,
also known as the Cedars Revolution during which one million Lebanese
flocked to the Martyrs Square in Beirut to demand the departure of Syrian
forces from their territory. “March 14… The pulse of sovereignty and
independence will keep our hearts beating forever ,” Gemayel wrote on
Twitter.
Bou Khaled: Our Struggle for Change Emanates From
People's Suffering
Kataeb.org/March 14/18/Kataeb's candidate for the Maronite seat in Baabda,
Ramzi Bou Khaled, said that the area still lacks a balanced development due
to the state's negligence and failure to meet the people's basic needs,
adding that there are still no plans to improve the district. Speaking to
the Kataeb website, Bou Khaled deplored the fact that none of lawmakers who
were elected in 2009 has done anything for Baabda, stressing that the
district's people are waiting for someone who can bring the much-needed
change. "Electoral alliances in the Baabda district are yet to be finalized.
A clear vision will emerge in the next few days. What is sure is that we
will ally with those who resemble us," he said. "We are fighting this
electoral battle so as to re-inject values into the political life, and help
find solutions to all pending issues in a way to meet the people's
aspirations. Our struggle for change emanates from the people's suffering."
Bou Khaled said that he will be meeting with Baabda's people, dignitaries
and mayors on Sunday in Hammana to discuss the Kataeb's platform. "I have
been close to people in Baabda, so I know their concerns and needs. I will
work on solving all their problems in cooperation with the area's municipal
councils.""Do not fear taking the new choice being proposed to you," Bou
Khaled said in an address to the voters. "Change requires courage and you
must contribute to achieving it by making the right choice in the ballot
boxes on May 6."
Derian meets Islamist detainees families
Wed 14 Mar 2018/NNA - Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdullatif Derian,
met, at Dar-al-Fatwa on Wednesday, with the families and relatives of the
Islamist detainees, who broached their sons' tribulations inside the prison.
The delegation, who also included the wife of Ahmad Assir, called the Mufti
to urge officials to grant amnesty for their sons and for "all the prisoners
without exception." During the meeting, Derian contacted Head of Future
bloc, MP Fouad Siniora, who voiced solidarity with the families, vowing to
follow up on their issue with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. "Their cause is my
cause," Derian said.
Judge Germanos presses charges against hacker Elie Gh.
in new case
Wed 14 Mar 2018/NNA - Government commissioner before the military court,
judge Peter Germanos, pressed charges against hacker Elie Gh. in a new case
that is separate from that of Itani-Hajj, National News Agency correspondent
reported on Wednesday.
Investigations showed that the hacker had fabricated a case of spying for
the Israeli enemy, this time framing a Lebanese army adjutant. Germanos
referred Elie Gh. to the First Military Investigative Judge Riyad Abu Gheida
and ordered his arrest.
UK support to Lebanese businesses and infrastructure
continues
Wed 14 Mar 2018/NNA - In a press release by the British Embassy in Beirut,
it said: "As part of his regular visits to Tripoli, British Ambassador Hugo
Shorter accompanied by LHSP programme manager Raghed Assi, met with the Head
of the Municipality Ahmad Kamareddine and discussed UK investments in the
city. Ambassador Shorter also toured the historical Souks of Tripoli to see
firsthand the launching of phase two of the Lebanon Host Communities Project
with an additional $1 million to rehabilitate around 60 shops. The project
will create direct jobs for Lebanese and Syrians during the rehabilitation
of the Souk. Since 2011, the UK has committed over $900 million supporting
Lebanon’s stability and prosperity. By 2019, we will have reached over
1,440,000 people and more than 220 municipalities under the Lebanon Host
Communities programme (LHSP) in cooperation with the Ministry of Social
Affairs and UNDP. At the end of his visit Ambassador Shorter said: 'It’s
always fascinating to return to Tripoli. Today was an opportunity to discuss
with the Head of the Municipality projects aimed at providing better
economic opportunities for shop owners in the city. Last year UK Aid
invested in a $500,000 project spent on renovating the Souks and Talaat Al
Refaaei under LHSP. I am pleased to see today the start of the next phase
where we will be continuing the rehabilitation of the Souks with an
additional $1 million benefiting around 60 shops. I’m proud to say that we,
along with donors, are playing an active role in the city’s development.
Investment in infrastructure will benefit Lebanese citizens and support
future economic growth, something that the Government of Lebanon is trying
to achieve through the upcoming CEDRE conference in Paris matched with
economic reforms. Since 2015 the UK has given $14 million in support to
projects which enhance economic opportunities for vulnerable Lebanese,
Syrian and Palestinian youth in areas such as Tripoli and the Bekaa.' Shop
owners in the Souks said that such projects will have a positive impact on
their livelihoods, income and that they are not forgotten, generations to
come will be grateful for this support. Ambassador Shorter also visited MP
Sleiman Franjieh and discussed the latest local and regional developments."
Legislation and Consultations' Committee: Information
Minister must take necessary decision as to TL chairmanship vacancy
Wed 14 Mar 2018/NNA - The Ministry of Information on Wednesday received the
opinion of Justice Ministry's Committee of Legislation and Consultations,
pertaining to the continuous void at the Télé Liban chairman's post.
According to the Committee, it is the duty of the Information Minister to
take the necessary decision to run the ordinary administrative work, such as
employees' remuneration, paying rental and taxes etc.
"These decisions do not need the approval of the Cabinet," the Committee
indicated.
Report: Saudi Arabia Keen on Showing Support for
Lebanon
Naharnet/March 14/18/Saudi Arabia's keenness on showing support for Lebanon
“at all levels” was reflected in the meetings of Saudi Charge d’Affaires
Walid al-Bukhari with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri a
day earlier, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia has confirmed participation in international conferences in
support of Lebanon, mainly the upcoming Rome II Conference on March 15 set
to boost Lebanon's military and security institutions. Bukhari, who has been
recently re-appointed in Lebanon replacing Ambassador Walid al-Yaaqoub, said
after meeting Berri: “Discussions have focused on the developments in the
region and bilateral relations between the two countries. I assured the
Speaker of the Kingdom's keenness on preserving Lebanon's stability.” On the
other hand, informed sources told the daily that Hariri-Bukhari meeting “was
held in the context of the Kingdom's support for Lebanon and its
participation in the Rome II Conference this week. Bukhari will attend the
conference alongside a Saudi delegation. This reflects the interest of the
Kingdom in this conference.”“Bukhari's meeting with Hariri was friendly and
falls within the context of the Kingdom's constant emphasis on Lebanon at
all levels,” they added on condition of anonymity.Lebanon is gearing for a
variety of donor international meetings this year to garner support for its
economy and army, and to help it deal with the Syrian refugee crisis as it
hosts around one million refugees.
Lebanese Army Sets Rules for Flying Drones
Naharnet/March 14/18/The Lebanese Army issued a warning for remote control
drone owners urging them to get licenses for flying their vehicles and for
drone photography, the Army Command-Orientation Directorate said in a
statement on Wednesday.
The statement warned against the “threats of flying unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs) over Lebanon's territories, mainly military centers and sensitive
locations without a license issued by the Orientation Directorate.”The
statement said any drone flown illegally without meeting the requirements
“will be brought down and owners will be legally prosecuted,” siting
“serious risk to the official institutions, the security and public safety.”
The documents needed to register UAVs for aerial photography are available
on the Lebanese army's website, it added.
Islamist Prisoners' Families Rally at Interior Ministry
after Meeting Mufti
Naharnet/March 14/18/Families of Islamist prisoners staged a sit-in
Wednesday outside the Interior Ministry in Beirut's Sanayeh area, demanding
a general amnesty for their sons. The families had met earlier in the day
with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan. During the meeting, phone talks
were held with the head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc ex-PM Fouad
Saniora, who “expressed solidarity with the families” and “promised to
follow up on their issue with Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who has embraced
the families' plight and is, in turn, seeking a solution,” the National News
Agency said. “The first person who demanded a general amnesty that does not
exclude anyone was the mufti of the republic,” Daryan told the families. He
noted that he has formed a committee led by Sheikh Mohammed Anis al-Arwadi,
the director general of Islamic endowments, to “follow up on the situations
of the prisoners and reach a solution for their issue.”Speaking in the name
of the families after the meeting, Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi said the
delegation and the mufti had an identical viewpoint. “We are demanding a
comprehensive general amnesty that does not exclude anyone, neither from our
sect nor from other sects, and this stance is irreversible,” al-Rafehi
added. “We call on the president to endorse this general amnesty to turn the
page on a previous period that witnessed an undeclared civil war, and
usually there comes an amnesty after every war, the same as happened in the
past,” the cleric went on to say. “The mufti will endorse this file and
exert efforts with the politicians so that it can be finalized before the
elections,” al-Rafehi added. The families have staged several protests in
recent days. The protests coincide with a hunger strike that the Islamist
prisoners had started on Thursday. The hunger strike followed a call from
detained Islamist cleric Khaled Hoblos. Addressing President Michel Aoun,
Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Hoblos called in an
audio recording for “finding a solution for thousands of detainees from all
sects.”“We, the detainees in Lebanese prisons, are resuming our hunger
strike under the slogan Freedom or Death,” Hoblos says in the audio
recording. Lebanese authorities have rounded up hundreds of Sunni Islamists
over the last years, including some involved in bombings against civilians
and deadly clashes with the Lebanese Army. They also include extremists
believed to belong to al-Qaida-linked groups and the Islamic State group. A
lot of Islamist prisoners and their families have decried delay in judicial
procedures and trials. Some prisoners are held for several years without
trial or conviction.
Mustaqbal Lauds Aoun's Call for Post-Polls Defense
Strategy Talks
Naharnet/March 14/18/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday lauded
President Michel Aoun for saying that national defense strategy talks will
be held after the parliamentary elections. “This declaration is a step
towards bolstering the state and its institutions and resolving the issue of
(Hizbullah's) arms within the framework of national consensus that can
preserve both sovereignty and stability,” the bloc said in a statement
issued after its weekly meeting. Aoun said Monday that “Lebanese leaders
will discuss the national defense strategy after the parliamentary elections
that will be held in May.”The defense strategy has long been a thorny issue
in Lebanon.
Lebanon: Defense Strategy Depends on Elections Results,
Hezbollah’s Readiness to
Beirut- Paula Astih/Asharq Al Awsat/March 14/18/Lebanese
President Michel Aoun’s announcement that he will launch dialogue on the
country’s defense strategy following the upcoming parliamentary elections
has opened the door for speculations about the priorities of the new
government and the main challenges awaiting the Lebanese in the
post-election phase. Dialogue on the defense strategy was halted at the end
of the term of former President Michel Sleiman in 2014. The latter has
convened national dialogue sessions that gathered the country’s leaders, who
have failed, over a period of eight years, to agree on the fate of
Hezbollah’s arms. In 2012, Lebanon’s decision-makers agreed on a number of
items under the so-called “Baabda Declaration”. Article 12 of the
Declaration calls for “dissociating Lebanon from the policy of regional and
international axes and conflicts, and avoiding the negative repercussions of
regional tensions and crises.”However, with Hezbollah’s decision to send its
fighters to Syria to participate in the war, the party has bluntly violated
the Baabda Declaration, as head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP
Mohammed Raad said that the Declaration was “born dead and is mere ink on
paper.”
In September 2012, Suleiman presented his vision of a national strategy for
the defense of Lebanon, stating that the appropriate frameworks and
mechanisms should be agreed upon to use the weapons of the resistance and to
place them under the Army’s mandate. Lebanese leaders discussed this
strategy without reaching a conclusion. Hezbollah does not seem to be
enthusiastic about re-discussing the defense strategy, and no official
position on Aoun’s announcement was issued by the party. However, in an
indirect response, Raad said on Tuesday: “The resistance, which represents a
cornerstone in the equation of power and defense of this homeland, and which
offered a lot of gear, planning and will… this resistance embraced by our
generous national people… do not need texts, and remains a need as long as
there is an Israeli enemy and terrorist threats to our existence and
identity.”According to sources close to Aoun, the president has not yet
developed any vision to tackle the defense strategy and nothing was clear on
whether the issue would be discussed through national dialogue or by the new
government that will emerge from the new Parliament.
Aoun given taxpayer charter by Lebanese association
The Daily Star/March 14, 2018/BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun
Wednesday met with a delegation from ALDIC, a Lebanese association aimed at
promoting tax ethics and compliance, and received a copy of the group’s
"taxpayer charter," a statement from his media office reported. "The basic
principles of the tax law are enshrined in this text, even those that seem
self-evident," the delegation told Aoun at Baabda Palace. The charter is
comprised of three sections – comprising the goals and objectives of the
taxes, and the rights and responsibilities of both the state and the
taxpayer. "Taxes are an import source of income for the state and should be
distributed equally among Lebanese citizens to ensure safety and welfare for
all," the delegation said, to explain why the charter had been created. Aoun
then received a delegation from the Lebanese Army’s Strategic Research and
Studies Center, members of which updated Aoun on the center’s work. "The
first batch of Master’s students is graduating, including ten researchers
who submitted their research and already applied for a doctorate," SRSC
Director Brig. Gen. Fadi Abi Farraj said. The Master’s program is a
collaboration between the center and the Lebanese University. The meeting
also touched on the SRSC’s eighth regional conference, entitled "Reinforcing
Stability and Development in Arab Countries and the Middle East," which was
held last February and attended by 12 European and Arab countries. Abi
Farraj noted that the recommendations that emerged from the conference would
soon be published in a book prepared by the center. "The participation of
Lebanese, Arab and foreign experts and specialists in these conferences is
adding to [the center’s] success and helping it achieve its purpose," Aoun
told the delegation.
Hizbullah Deputy
Sec.-Gen. Sheikh Naim Qassem Receives A 'Symbolic Gift From The Jewish
People,' Declares: We Will Be Victorious But Are In No Hurry
نعيم قاسم يتسلم هدية رمزية من الشعب اليهودي ويعلن ان النصر سيتحقق ولن حزبه
غير مستعجل
MEMRI/March 14/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/63171
https://www.memri.org/tv/hizbullah-deputy-leader-naim-qassem-receives-gift-from-jewish-people-we-will-be-victorious'
Deputy Secretary-General of Hizbullah Sheikh Naim Qassem spoke at the Fourth
Global Convention of Solidarity with Palestine on March 13, saying that the
only way to regain Palestine was through resistance and "first and foremost,
armed resistance." He further declared: "We want victory – today, tomorrow,
or the day after tomorrow – but nobody can exert pressure on us... and take
through our surrender what they could not wrest from us through war. We are
in no hurry." Sheikh Qassem criticized U.S. intervention in Iraq and Syria
and its support of the Saudi and Bahraini rulers, saying that the story of
America "is the story of Satan." Following his speech, American activist
Rabbi Dovid Weiss of Neturei Karta presented him with a gift "from the
Jewish people, from my brethren in Palestine and around the world." Sheikh
Al-Qassem received the gift on behalf of Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan
Nasrallah. The proceedings were broadcast on Al-Manar TV.
Following is a transcript:
Naim Qassem: "Palestine must be restored to its rightful owners. We must
cooperate with the people of Palestine in order to restore it to them.
"As for America – its story is the story of Satan, who has not left a single
corner in this world that he did not destroy. The American intervention in
our region has destroyed it, harmed its people, increased the arrogance of
the Zionist occupation, and abetted its expansion and aggression. America
occupied Iraq and brought takfirists to Syria, thus destroying it. It
supported Saudi Arabia in its aggression against Yemen, and protected the
rulers of Bahrain in their oppression of their people. It left the
fingerprints of destruction when it interfered in the Arab Spring, which was
meant to bring liberation, but was used by them as a pretext for sowing
destruction. All of this was done in order to defend Israel.
"We say to the Arabs, to the Muslims, and to the world in its entirety: Any
of you who are incapable of supporting the Palestinian people should remain
silent rather than supporting the enemy.
"There is no way to regain Palestine other than through the resistance –
first and foremost, armed resistance, followed by all other forms of
resistance.
"We shall not replace resistance by weapons with any other form of
resistance, until this enemy surrenders, and surrender it will.
"The backbone of the resistance is the Palestinians. The head of the
resistance is the Palestinians. Nobody will take their place. We are not
acting on their behalf. We are with you, we are behind you, and we support
you, but it is you who are at the helm. You have proven throughout history
that you are a nation worthy of fighting for its cause. Keep on this path,
and we are certain that you and we will be victorious on the path to
liberation.
"If anyone is interested in knowing when we expect to be victorious, we say:
We are in no hurry. We want victory – today, tomorrow, or the day after
tomorrow – but nobody can exert pressure on us with regard to the place or
the time, or [threaten us with] international considerations, and take
through our surrender what they could not wrest from us through war. We are
in no hurry."
MC: "I invite Rabbi Dovid Weiss to come to the stage, in order to present a
symbolic gift to Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who is
represented here by Sheikh Naim Qassem.
[Weiss embraces Qassem and hands him the gift.]
"Rabbi Dovid Weiss is presenting a gift to Hizbullah Secretary-General
Hassan Nasrallah…to Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem."
Naim Qassem: "In Palestine, the Jews are with us, the Christians are with
us, and the Muslims are with us. We are all with Palestine."
Dovid Weiss: "With the help of the Almighty. We simply gave a symbolic,
little gift from the Jewish people, from my brethren in Palestine and from
around the world, to show that this is not a conflict between religions.
This is not a conflict between Jews and Muslims. This is the despicable
narrative of the Zionist state.
"We pray every day for a free Palestine. We want it returned to the
Palestinian people. The Muslim people were so good to us. They gave us…
embraced us, in our suffering throughout the exile. We want to show our
gratitude. This is to show that we are both working together in peace and
solidarity, in harmony, as we have lived for so many hundreds of years. God
should help. He should bring this about – soon in our days – a free
Palestine. As a Jew, we would be able to show our appreciation, our
gratitude, to our brothers and sisters, the Muslims and the Arabs."
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on March 14-15/18
Second Day of Medical
Evacuations Begins in Syria's Ghouta
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March
14/18/A second day of medical evacuations from Syria's Eastern Ghouta got
underway on Wednesday, with dozens more civilians expected to be taken out
of the besieged rebel enclave. The United Nations has called for urgent
medical evacuations for more than 1,000 people who are in desperate need of
treatment unavailable in the enclave. Medical evacuations from Ghouta's
largest town of Douma began on Tuesday under a deal with the rebel faction
which controls it, and more sick and wounded were taken out on Wednesday. A
Syrian Arab Red Crescent official in Damascus, which has facilitated the
evacuations, confirmed a new operation had begun on Wednesday. Inside Douma,
dozens of people awaiting evacuation gathered at a Red Crescent center early
on Wednesday, an AFP correspondent reported. Among them was 18-year-old
Omran, who was severely wounded two years ago in bombardment of Ghouta. He
lost his left leg, right arm and left eye. A high-ranking member of Jaish
al-Islam, the rebel group that controls Douma, confirmed that new
evacuations were taking place. "Today, people with medical conditions will
be evacuated for treatment," Yasser Dalwan told AFP. "They are all
civilians. There are around 35 people, along with their companions." State
television aired footage of Red Crescent ambulances leaving Ghouta and
entering government-held territory. The U.N. Security Council passed a
resolution last month calling for a 30-day truce to allow for aid deliveries
and medical evacuations from Ghouta. Such evacuations in Syria have
typically seen people taken out of a besieged area for care, and then
returned after treatment. On Tuesday, around 150 people were transported out
of Douma in the first civilian evacuation from the enclave since government
forces launched a devastating offensive on February 18.
Turkey Ramps Up Assault on Kurdish Enclave in Syria
Turkey turned up the heat on Syria's Afrin Wednesday, launching deadly
strikes on Damascus loyalists deployed around the Kurdish enclave and
closing in on its main city. The development, which could redraw the map of
northern Syria, came as Russian-backed regime forces pounded shrinking rebel
pockets in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus. The violence in both enclaves came
as the foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia, the two major foreign players
in a conflict entering its eighth year Thursday, met in Moscow. A Turkish
presidency source said Afrin's encirclement "will have been completed by the
evening", retracting an earlier statement by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
predicting its fall on Wednesday. Afrin city lies in the heart of a
Kurdish-majority enclave in northern Syria which neighbouring Turkey sees as
a threat and against which it launched a deadly ground and air offensive on
January 20. Before the retraction, Erdogan had told supporters in Ankara
Wednesday he hoped "Afrin will, God willing, have completely fallen by the
evening."A top official in the People's Protection Units (YPG) Kurdish
militia, whose fighters are defending Afrin, laughed off the claim.
"It sounds like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is daydreaming when
he says Afrin will fall tonight," Redur Khalil told AFP. Turkish and allied
forces have already almost completely encircled the city of Afrin, from
which thousands of civilians started fleeing in recent days, when it became
apparent Ankara's goal was nothing short of fully capturing the enclave. -
Strike on regime loyalists -On Wednesday, Turkish bombing raids killed 10
fighters loyal to the regime, which had last month sent pro-government
forces after the Kurds asked for help. "The air strikes targeted a
checkpoint on the only road leading from Afrin to regime-controlled
territory to the southeast," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights monitor said. The escalation of violence in Afrin, one of the cantons
in the self-proclaimed Kurdish administration in northern Syria, has
displaced thousands of civilians and left those trapped in the enclave with
limited supplies. On the outskirts of Damascus, hundreds of kilometres south
of Afrin, another humanitarian emergency was unfolding in Eastern Ghouta.
For nearly a month, Moscow-backed Syrian government forces and allied
militia have been waging a devastating air and ground assault that has left
around 1,200 civilians dead. Even before the onslaught, Ghouta's
400,000 residents were suffering a five-year regime siege that left
hospitals crippled by shortages of medicine and other equipment. The United
Nations has called for urgent medical evacuations for more than 1,000 people
who are in desperate need of being taken out of the area for treatment. A
slow trickle of evacuations from Ghouta's largest town of Douma began
Tuesday under a deal with rebel factions there, and more patients were
expected to be allowed out Wednesday. "Today, people with medical conditions
will be evacuated for treatment," said Yasser Dalwan, a high-ranking member
of the Jaish al-Islam rebel group. "They are all civilians. There are around
35 people, along with their companions," he said. Dozens of people awaiting
evacuation could be seen gathering at the Red Crescent's centre in Douma, an
AFP reporter said.
- More raids on Ghouta -Among them was 18-year-old Omran, who was badly
wounded two years ago in bombardment on Ghouta. He was missing his left leg,
his right arm, and his left eye. The United Nations Security Council passed
a resolution last month calling for a 30-day truce to allow for aid
deliveries and medical evacuations from Ghouta. Such evacuations in Syria
have typically seen people taken out of a besieged area for care, and then
transported back in after treatment is complete. The Syrian government's
assault on Ghouta has split the opposition enclave into three shrinking
sections, each controlled by a different armed faction. The regime has
reportedly been pursuing separate negotiations tracks to secure local truces
or evacuations from each zone. But it has also pressed its blistering
offensive, with help from allied militiamen and Russia's air force. Air
strikes by Moscow early Wednesday killed at least seven civilians in an
isolated southern zone of Ghouta, according to the Observatory. An AFP
correspondent in Hammuriyeh, a town in the bombarded southern pocket, said
air strikes battered the area all night. More than 350,000 people have been
killed since Syria's conflict broke out in 2011 with protests against
President Bashar al-Assad. He has maintained his grip on power despite
global calls to step down and outrage at the fierce offensives he has waged
to retake towns and cities from rebel fighters.
Turkey Jails Man for Life for Syrian Mother, Daughter
Murders
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 14/18/A Turkish court has sentenced a
man to life in prison for murdering a Syrian opposition activist and her
journalist daughter in a crime that shocked the exile community, state media
said Wednesday. Aroubeh Barakat and her 22-year-old daughter Halla Barakat
were found dead in their Istanbul apartment in September last year. Syrian
national Ahmet Barakat, believed to be a relative of the victims, was
arrested after a police raid and charged with murder. The court in Istanbul
convicted him late Tuesday with premeditated murder, the state-run Anadolu
news agency reported. The judge said in the hearing that DNA evidence
collected by forensic reports had incriminated the suspect who denied the
charges. "We had no hostility between us. I did not kill them. I did not
even see them," Ahmet Barakat told the court. Turkey is home to over 3.5
million Syrian refugees -- many of them opponents of the regime of President
Bashar al-Assad. Istanbul alone has half a million Syrian refugees, the
largest community in the country. Halla Barakat had been working for a
website called Orient News and had previously worked for Turkish state
broadcaster TRT.
Both mother and daughter were well known figures in the Syrian community.
Syrian opposition activists and journalists have repeatedly complained of
threats to their security. The US State Department said after the murders of
the pair that it would closely follow the investigation. Both women were
believed to be opponents of Assad and reports said Aroubeh Barakat had
carried out investigations into alleged torture in prisons run by Assad. Two
Syrian journalists from the city of Raqa who were opposed to the Islamic
State (IS) extremist group were found beheaded in southern Turkey in 2015.
The indictment against Barakat said the killing happened because of a family
row and made no mention of any political motive.
Moscow Says to Retaliate Soon to UK's Expulsion of
Diplomats
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 14/18/Moscow on Wednesday called
Britain's decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats over the poisoning of an
ex-spy a sign that London was choosing confrontation with Russia, adding
that retaliation would follow shortly. "The British government made a choice
for confrontation with Russia," the Russian foreign ministry said in a
statement. British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday expelled the
diplomats and suspended high-level contacts with Russia after Moscow did not
respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed nerve
agent came to be used to attack former spy Sergei Skripal on British soil.
May said there was "no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian
state was culpable" for the attack on Skripal and his daughter, who fell ill
from exposure to a substance called Novichok in the city of Salisbury on
March 4 and are currently in hospital. The Russian ministry said May's
statement was an "unprecedentedly rude provocation which undermines the
foundations of normal bilateral dialogue between our countries." It accused
London of pursuing a political agenda and choosing to "aggravate relations,"
calling the announced measures "hostile."May also confirmed that neither
members of the royal family nor ministers would attend the football World
Cup in Russia this year. "Our response measures will not be tardy," the
Russian foreign ministry said.
UK Expels Russia Diplomats, Suspends Diplomatic Contact
in Spy Row
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 14/18/British Prime Minister Theresa May
on Wednesday expelled 23 diplomats and suspended high-level contacts with
Russia including for the World Cup, saying her government found Moscow
"culpable" of a nerve agent attack on a former spy. May said she would be
pushing for a "robust international response" when the U.N. Security Council
meets later Wednesday in New York to discuss the attack on Sergei Skripal
and his daughter on March 4. Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement
and its London embassy warned that May's response was "totally unacceptable
and shortsighted."May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to
her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok,
was used in the English city of Salisbury. "There is no alternative
conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable for the attempted
murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter," she said. "This represents an
unlawful use of force by the Russian State against the United Kingdom."
'Hostile activities' In measures drawn up at a meeting of her national
security council earlier Wednesday, May announced that 23 Russian diplomats
believed to be undeclared intelligence officers must leave Britain in a
week. She suspended all planned high-level contacts, which includes revoking
an invitation for Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to visit but said she did
not want to break off relations entirely. May also confirmed that neither
members of the royal family or ministers would attend the football World Cup
in Russia later this year. And she outlined fresh measures against people
traveling to or living in Britain who were responsible for violations of
human rights or planned "hostile activities."NATO allies, including the
United States, have expressed their support for Britain following the first
offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since World War II. Along with the
U.N. Security Council meeting in New York, EU Council President Donald Tusk
indicated that the issue would be on the agenda of next week's summit of the
bloc's leaders in Brussels.
Russian 'defiance
May said on Monday that it was "highly likely" that Russia was behind the
attack, which left Skripal and his daughter in a critical condition in
hospital, while a policeman was also hospitalized. She had given Moscow
until midnight Tuesday to explain whether it was directly responsible or
"lost control" of the nerve agent, but said it has responded with "sarcasm,
contempt and defiance." President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said again
Wednesday that it had "nothing to do with the accident in Britain", but
warned it would not accept the "language of ultimatums."Lavrov has said the
Kremlin is ready to cooperate with Britain but complained that its request
for samples of the nerve agent had been rejected. Moscow has also warned
that it will take retaliatory measures, and on Tuesday threatened to expel
British media from Russia if the license of its state broadcaster RT was
threatened in Britain.
May on Wednesday blamed Putin for a deterioration of relations between
Moscow and London, saying it was "tragic that President Putin has chosen to
act in this way".
But the Russian embassy said the British government was responsible.
Allied support
Britain is wary of acting alone and May has spoken to US President Donald
Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel
in recent days. In a phone call late Tuesday, Trump and May "agreed on the
need for consequences for those who use these heinous weapons in flagrant
violation of international norms," the White House said. In a joint
statement by its 29 member states, the U.S.-led NATO alliance said the
attack was a "clear breach of international norms and agreements" and called
on Russia to fully disclose details of the Novichok program.
British experts say Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter, who was
visiting from Russia, were poisoned with a nerve agent from a broad category
known as Novichok, which developed by the Soviet Union during the late
stages of the Cold War.
The Russian chemist who first revealed the existence of Novichok, Vil
Mirzayanov, said "only the Russians" developed the Novichok agents. "They
kept it and are still keeping it in secrecy," he said from his home in the
U.S., where he moved in 1995 after 30 years of working for the State
Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology. The
Salisbury case has drawn parallels with the 2006 death by radiation
poisoning of former Russian agent and Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko,
which Britain blamed on Moscow. In a further twist, former senior Russian
executive Nikolai Glushkov, linked to late Kremlin opponent Boris Berezovsky,
was found dead in London on Tuesday in unexplained circumstances, British
and Russian media reported.
Al-Qaida in Syria Losing Ground in Battles with
Insurgents
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 14/18/For the first time since its
meteoric rise in 2012 amid the chaos of war, al-Qaida's branch in Syria is
in retreat, battling rival militant groups in the north and fighting for
survival in a key foothold near the capital, Damascus.
Over the past three weeks, the extremist group has been driven from nearly
all of the northern province of Aleppo, losing dozens of fighters in battles
there and in nearby Idlib province. The fighting poses a major challenge to
the militant group, already beset by infighting and a string of
assassinations that have taken out some of its top leaders. Unlike previous
battles in which al-Qaida-linked fighters were able to quickly crush their
opponents, the fighting has been particularly fierce, with the militants
losing dozens of villages. The al-Qaida-linked coalition known as the Levant
Liberation Committee is still one of Syria's most powerful armed groups,
with fighters numbering in the thousands. While the U.S.-led coalition and
Russian-backed Syrian troops have focused on driving the Islamic State group
from the country's east, the al-Qaida-linked group has consolidated its
control over Idlib, where it remains the strongest force despite its recent
losses there. After the defeat of IS, al-Qaida is seen as the main jihadi
group that rejects any peace talks to try to end Syria's seven-year
conflict. Its presence in northern Syria and in the Damascus suburbs of
eastern Ghouta has provided a pretext for President Bashar Assad and his
Russian backers to wage war against opposition-held territory, since various
de-escalation and cease-fire agreements have excluded al-Qaida. Several
hundred al-Qaida fighters holed up in eastern Ghouta have become a burden to
the armed opposition battling government forces there, which has pressed the
extremists to leave the area for their stronghold in Idlib in order to avoid
the current crushing offensive. The group's presence has also raised concern
in nations from Turkey to the United States that fear the global network
founded by Osama bin Laden could use its presence in northern Syria to
launch terrorist attacks around the world.
The recent fighting appears to have been triggered by last month's
assassination of a senior al-Qaida official, Abu Ayman al-Masri, who was
riding in a car with his wife when members of a rival militant group, Nour
el-Din el-Zinki, fired on their vehicle, killing al-Masri and wounding his
wife. The killing led to battles in Aleppo and Idlib that have raged for the
past three weeks. The shooting was preceded by the merger of Nour el-Din el-Zinki
and the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham, both former al-Qaida allies now
turned enemies. Amid the recent battles, the new coalition, the Syria
Liberation Front, has forced the al-Qaida fighters to retreat west to Idlib.
The insurgents say that the war against al-Qaida will not stop until the
jihadi group is crushed in Syria — an ambitious goal. It is also a striking
statement, considering the rival groups once turned to al-Qaida's
experienced and battle-hardened fighters for support in the battle against
Assad's forces.
Yazan Mohammed, a media activist based in Idlib province, said that although
al-Qaida has lost some territory in the recent fighting, the group is far
from being defeated. The al-Qaida fighters are "not scouts. They are an
organized and powerful group," Mohammed said. In recent years, tens of
thousands of rebels and civilians from around the country have fled to Idlib
or been forced there by government troops, raising concerns that the
presence of al-Qaida will give the government a pretext to storm the
province under the cover of Russian airstrikes as it has elsewhere,
including in Aleppo in late 2016 and in the current offensive in the eastern
suburbs of Damascus. Brett McGurk, the top U.S. envoy for the coalition
battling IS, said last year that Idlib is the largest al-Qaida haven since
bin Laden's days in Afghanistan. "This war will not stop," said Bassam Haji
Mustafa, a senior official with the Nour el-Din el-Zinki group. "This is a
real war against al-Qaida, its extremist ideas and terrorism." After the
recent battlefield losses, a senior al-Qaida commander, Abu Yaqzan al-Masri,
released an audio asserting the militant group will soon crush the offensive
and the focus will again be "to fight infidels," an apparent reference to
the West.
The commander's comments coincided with a counteroffensive in which the
al-Qaida affiliate regained some villages it had lost earlier, although its
presence in Aleppo province has almost ceased to exist. Local activists said
the al-Qaida counteroffensive was backed by members of the Turkistan Islamic
Party, a powerful group consisting mostly of jihadis from China's
Turkic-speaking Uighur minority. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights, which tracks Syria's seven-year conflict, says the fighting
that broke out on Feb. 20 has killed 223 fighters on both sides, including
132 from al-Qaida's affiliate.
Despite losing dozens of villages in the recent battles, it is unlikely that
al-Qaida will be defeated easily in Idlib, where the militants have crushed
many of their opponents in recent years. "They will not be able to defeat
the Committee," said Abu Dardaa al-Shami, who sometimes fights with the
al-Qaida affiliate but refused to take part in the current battles, saying
he only fights against government forces.
"This is mission impossible," he said.
UN Palestinian Agency in Urgent Search for Cash at
Global Gathering
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 14/18/Global powers will gather in Rome
on Thursday to discuss the future of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees,
which faces an unprecedented crisis after the US froze tens of millions of
dollars in funding. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) only
has enough funds to keep schools and medical services open until May, its
commissioner general Pierre Krahenbuhl told AFP. US President Donald Trump's
administration has so far committed only $60 million to the agency this
year, down from $360 million in 2017. He has frozen two planned payments
worth more than $100 million -- one for UNRWA's central budget and one for
food aid. Trump continues to pressure the Palestinians to end their boycott
of his administration sparked by his December recognition of the disputed
city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. A major funding drive launched by
UNRWA after the US freeze has raised little new money and diplomats are not
optimistic about getting major pledges in the Italian capital. UN officials
want European countries to step in to fill part of the gap but are
especially looking at Gulf Arab countries. Fear is rife about the future of
the organisation that employs more than 20,000 people across the Middle
East, the vast majority Palestinians. UNRWA was established after the war
surrounding Israel's creation in 1948 when around 700,000 Palestinians were
expelled or fled. It offers vital support for these refugees and their
descendants in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the West Bank and Gaza, providing
services for more than three million people. This includes education for
around half a million students, with nearly 30 percent of its funding coming
from the United States. - 'Extremely disappointing' -In January, Trump
tweeted "we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and
get no appreciation or respect," accusing them of walking away from peace
negotiations.
Two weeks later his administration confirmed it would hold back tens of
millions in aid to UNRWA, saying it wanted the rest of the world to pay
more. Krahenbuhl labelled it the agency's worst ever financial crisis and
launched a major funding drive, turning the front page of its website into a
call for donations. Senior officials travelled around the world to push for
funds, with UNRWA aiming to find nearly half a billion dollars in new money.
But since the launch of the "Dignity is Priceless" campaign, the only new
funding was a $900,000 grant from Kuwait, though European countries have
brought forward donations planned for the summer. Private donations ran only
into the "hundreds of thousands," Krahenbuhl said, calling it "not
groundbreaking." UNRWA did not respond to multiple requests for a more
specific figure. The UN Central Emergency Response Fund released $30 million
for UNRWA on Tuesday to keep the agency's food aid programme afloat.
Krahenbuhl played down concerns the world was not stepping up to fill the
gap."It takes a lot of political dialogue for these things to move forward,
especially in light of the size of the shortfall," he told AFP. "States were
planning to contribute $20-25 million to UNRWA and suddenly see a shortfall
that has increased by $300 million. It is quite natural you will not have
one single state that will come forward and close that shortfall."But UNRWA
employees face deep concerns about the sheer size of the gap. Nicola Jones,
of the Overseas Development Institute think tank, said she expected UNRWA
leaders to be "really concerned" by the slow pace of new funds. "They really
did try to have a high profile public awareness campaign about the cost of
withdrawing funding and I think it is clearly extremely disappointing that
it hasn’t been fruitful." - 'Corner the Americans' -The Rome conference,
co-hosted by Sweden, Egypt and Jordan, will seek fresh momentum. UN
Secretary General Antonio Guterres will attend, his office confirmed on
Tuesday, while Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David
Satterfield is expected to represent the United States. "When any agency
depends on a single donor it is a vulnerability," said Sweden's ambassador
to the United Nations, Olof Skoog."Sharing the responsibility more equally
is therefore reasonable, but we expect the United States to stay
committed."Hugh Lovatt, Israel/Palestine analyst at the European Council of
Foreign Relations think tank, said European countries were wary of being
seen to bridge the funding gap for fear of vindicating Trump's attempts to
cut international aid funding. Trump is due to announce his proposal for new
Israel-Palestinian peace talks and Lovatt said all countries were waiting to
see what vision it proposes for UNRWA. He expected Europeans in Rome to make
a "concerted effort to corner the Americans and convince them to
reconsider."
Erdogan Hopes Turkish
Forces Will Completely Encircle Afrin by Wednesday
Asharq Al-Awsat/March 14/18/Turkish forces will completely
encircle the Syrian town of Afrin by Wednesday night, hoped President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan in a speech at the presidential palace in Ankara. His
statement was clarified by a source after Erdogan was initially quoted as
saying that he hoped that “Afrin will have completely fallen by the
evening.”"In the president's speech the sentence 'I hope that Afrin will
have completely fallen by the evening' should be understood as 'the
encirclement will have been completed by the evening'," said a presidential
source in a message to media, asking not to be named. Erdogan had earlier
stated in a speech at the presidential palace in Ankara that Afrin would
fall by the evening to the Turkish army and Syrian allies, a claim rejected
by the Syrian Kurds. "We have got a little bit closer to Afrin. I hope that
Afrin will, God willing, have completely fallen by the evening," Erdogan
said in the speech. Afrin city is the key target in Turkey's seven-week
operation Olive Branch launched on January 20 and aimed at ousting the
Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from the Afrin region of northern
Syria.
A YPG spokesman accused Erdogan of "daydreaming" in the speech.
"This evening he will take all of Afrin?" said YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud.
"Erdogan is lying to the people, I don't know how this would happen."
Mahmoud also said Ankara's statements that civilians were being evacuated
out of Afrin were false. The Turkish army and its Syrian allies, who had
been looking to complete the encirclement in a two-pronged movement from the
east and the west, had Afrin city surrounded on Monday, the army said on
Tuesday. "The routes used to the east by the terrorists to enter and go out
of the region will be closed today or tomorrow, God willing," Erdogan added
in the speech.
Turkey regards the YPG as a terror group and a branch of a Kurdish militant
movement in Turkey that has waged an insurgency for decades. But the YPG has
been a key ally of the United States in the fight against extremists in
Syria and Turkey's operation against it has raised tensions with Ankara's
NATO allies in Washington and Europe. Erdogan has repeatedly said that after
taking Afrin, Turkey's offensive would expand to key border towns controlled
by the YPG right up to the Iraqi frontier. These would include Kurdish-held
towns such as Manbij where US forces have a presence, raising the risk of a
confrontation with Turkey's NATO ally. "We will cleanse Manbij and then in
the same way will cleanse east of the Euphrates right up to the Iraqi
border," he said. Erdogan also raised the prospect of a cross-border
operation in northern Iraq where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
which has waged a decades long struggle against the Turkish army, has its
rear bases. "We are surveying the terror nests in northern Iraq at every
opportunity," said Erdogan. "Soon we will bring these down on the heads of
the terrorists in the strongest way."Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said
last week that Turkey and Iraq's central government could start a joint
military operation against Kurdish groups after Iraqi parliamentary
elections scheduled for May 2018. Turkish warplanes regularly launch strikes
against the PKK, which has camps in the mountains of northern Iraq, near the
border with Turkey.
Knesset Backs Bill to Impose Jewish Nationalism
Tel Aviv /Asharq Al Awsat/March 14/18/Right-wing coalition parties held an
urgent session for the parliamentary constitution committee Tuesday and
backed in its first reading a bill establishing Israel as “the national home
of the Jewish people.”This step comes years after a debate among the
right-wing MKs about its first draft presented by the Israeli minister of
interior security, Avi Dechter, former head of the Shin Bet interior
intelligence. However the MKs overcame their dispute by introducing
amendments to the bill. In the new version, some terminologies were deleted
such as “democracy” and the “Declaration of Independence”, which tackles
equality and human rights. Next week, the bill will be tackled by the
Knesset for approval before the elections. Knesset members were notified
Monday evening that they should attend a meeting the next day to debate the
new version of the bill. They were informed that voting will occur in the
same session, which is considered an exceptional procedure. A sponsor of the
bill, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin of Likud, called the committee vote “a
historic step to correct the constitutional revolution that has harmed the
Jewish status of the state.”MK Bezalel Smotrich criticized the bill’s new
version. “A nation-state bill from which enshrining the Jewish state, Jewish
law and the holy sites were deleted, while the Arabic language has been
given constitutional status,” he said. “The coalition represents a portion
of the Israeli public, not all of it. Such a nation-state bill needs to be
adopted through dialogue with a majority of the public,” MK Tzipi Livni told
the committee.
France Raises Alarm on Wave of Fighters Returning from
Syria, Iraq
Paris - Michel Abou Najm/Asharq Al Awsat/March 14/18/The last time France
was struck by a terrorist attack was on October 1, 2017, when a man fatally
stabbed two women outside Saint-Charles station in Marseille. Despite the
relative calm, the threat of terror has not been reduced on French
territory. Official statistics released by the Interior Ministry showed that
national security agencies have succeeded in thwarting 20 terrorist attacks
last year alone and at least two in the first two months of 2018.
Authorities are not only concerned by sleeper terror cells or “lone wolf”
terrorists, but they are primarily concerned by ISIS French recruits, who
fought in Syria and Iraq and who are now returning home. Even though many
recruits were killed by airstrikes or in battles in Iraq and Syria since
2014, a significant number of them, enough to raise concerns for future
French national security, remains. The threat of returning fighters becomes
stronger as ISIS incurs more defeats in Syria and Iraq. Official figures
estimated that no less than 1,700 Frenchmen or “residents” headed to Syria
and Iraq starting in 2014. At least 300 were killed, including 12 women.
Some 256 have returned to French territory in various ways, along with 78
minors. Authorities estimate that some 730 people are still in conflict
zones, with about 500 minors and children. The threat posed by these
returnees has French officials concerned. They see them as a serious
security threat due to their experience in fighting in Syria and Iraq,
radical ideology and knowledge on making bombs and explosives. French
President Emmanuel Macron and ministers of interior, foreign affairs and
defense therefore reiterated the need to put to trial those who have been
arrested in Syria and Iraq wherever they are. This however has created a
legal problem. Most of the detainees have been arrested by Kurds (about 100
with Syrian Kurds and six families with Iraqi Kurds). Neither Iraqi Kurds
nor northeastern Syrian Kurds reside in countries with a recognized judicial
system. Paris has however “turned a blind eye” to this legal dilemma because
its security is at stake. As for those held by the Iraqi judiciary, they
raise a different security issue should some of them be sentenced to death.
Paris stressed that where a French citizen is sentenced to death, despite
being a terrorist, French diplomacy will move to amend the sentence. As for
those who succeed in returning home, security services will hold them for
questioning if they are an adult, whether a man or a woman, and refer them
to the judiciary. So far, a majority of returnees have either been sentenced
to prison or subject to house arrest. They are forced to visit police
stations periodically, while very few were released.
Germany: 3 Syrians Sentenced to Prison for Belonging to
ISIS
Cologne - Majed al-Khatib/Asharq Al Awsat/March 14/18/A German court on
Monday sentenced three Syrians to years-long jail terms for belonging to
ISIS and forming sleeper cell in Germany to carry out terrorist operations.
The oldest of the accused, identified as 27-year-old Mohamed A., was given
the longest sentence of six-and-a-half years by Hamburg’s higher regional
court, and his 19- and 20-year-old co-accused, minors at the time of the
acts, received prison terms of three and a half years each. The verdicts
were issued after the court found that the three Syrians had infiltrated
into Germany in November 2015 with the waves of refugees, following ISIS
orders to form a terrorist cell. ISIS instructed them to form a sleeper cell
and await further orders. To reach Germany, the men traveled via Turkey and
Greece -- using the same route as hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing
war-torn Syria at the time. The accused were given fake passports, cash and
mobile phones from ISIS, according to the court, and used the same smuggling
network as the assailants who had carried out the ISIS-claimed attacks in
Paris in 2015 that left 130 people dead. There were "many parallels" between
the German sleeper cell and the Paris cell, the presiding judge said. While
reading the verdicts, the judge stressed the importance of international
cooperation against terrorism. The court also received protocols of
telephone conversations between the three defendants from the US Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI). "Only through this cooperation was the cell
activity highlighted," the judge said. It is assumed that the Americans
handed over to the German side pictures of the three defendants, and that
the German authorities identified them as asylum seekers in Germany through
the electronic search system for terrorists. The trial of the three Syrians
began on June 13, 2017. The three remained silent until a hearing on
February 16 when the oldest surprised the court when he confessed in order
to receive a mild sentence.
Merkel Sworn in as German Chancellor for Fourth Term
Asharq Al-Awsat/March 14/18/Angela Merkel was sworn in on Wednesday for a
fourth term as German chancellor. Lawmakers voted by 364 to 315, with nine
abstentions, in favor of re-electing Merkel, a humbling start as the
coalition of her conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD)
has 399 votes in the Bundestag lower house of parliament. Her likely final
term may prove her most challenging yet as she takes charge of a fragile
coalition with her personal standing diminished. “I accept the vote,” a
beaming Merkel, 63, told lawmakers before being sworn in by Bundestag
President Wolfgang Schaeuble. In office since 2005, she has dominated
Germany’s political landscape and steered the European Union through
economic crisis. But her authority was dented by her decision in 2015 to
commit Germany to an open-door policy on migration, resulting in an influx
of more than one million people. She must now juggle competing domestic
demands from her conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the SPD, just as Germany
is locked in a trade stand-off with the United States. “It is a good start
for Germany to have a stable government... after so many months, there is
now a big incentive to get down to work with energy,” Defense Minister
Ursula von der Leyen said. Merkel starts work with a full inbox. Abroad she
faces the trade tensions with Washington, pressure from France to reform
Europe, and from Britain to stand up to Russia. President Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said it was "high time for a new government" to go to work. "It
is good that the time of uncertainty is over," he said at a ceremony with
Merkel's cabinet ministers. On Tuesday, Merkel's spokesman said she spoke by
phone with British Prime Minister Theresa May and condemned a nerve agent
attack on an ex-Russian spy in England for which May held Moscow
responsible. Despite that, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated
Merkel on her re-election in a telegram. Fault lines have emerged in the new
government even before its first cabinet meeting, with tensions evident over
the sequencing and extent of reforms. The pressure is on for both camps to
deliver: the inclusion in the coalition deal of a clause that envisages a
review of the government’s progress after two years gives each the
opportunity to leave the alliance then if it is not working for them. The
priority the government gives to different reforms set out in the coalition
deal, the extent to which it implements them, and the personnel involved
promise a welter of competing pressures that Merkel will need all her
political skill to balance. The SPD only agreed to ally with Merkel after
promising a list of distinctive policies to secure the approval of party
members, many of whom wanted the SPD to regroup in opposition after the last
four years in coalition damaged its standing among voters. On Friday, Merkel
will travel to Paris to meet Emmanuel Macron, the French president's office
said, with the two leaders expected to discuss their plans for reforming the
European Union.
She is expected in the afternoon for a "working session" with Macron, a
statement said. Macron, elected last May, has urged a major reform drive to
reinvigorate the EU at a time of rising populist challenges, with proposals
including a common eurozone finance minister and budget. He sees it as
crucial to secure the backing of Merkel as a heavyweight European leader and
head of Europe's biggest economy. Merkel's new left-right coalition says in
its joint policy paper that it welcomes and generally supports the reform
proposals of Macron and the European Commission, but stays vague on some of
the details. The coalition blueprint starts with the topic of Europe, with
pledges to strengthen common EU foreign and defense policy as well as to
reform the eurozone. The plan supports the creation of a European Monetary
Fund that could lend to countries in economic crisis, but pledges only to
study some of Macron's other ideas, notably the common eurozone budget and
finance minister. Merkel has also said Berlin remains opposed to any
mutualisation of debt in Europe, in which the debt loads of individual
countries would be spread across the bloc.
Statement by Minister
of Foreign Affairs on chemical weapon attack in United Kingdom
March 14, 2018 – Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued
the following statement in response to the chemical weapon attack in
Salisbury, United Kingdom:
“Canada stands in solidarity with its close ally, the United Kingdom, and
the British people. We offer our heartfelt support to the victims of the
March 4th chemical attack in Salisbury.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the despicable use of a chemical agent on
the sovereign territory of the United Kingdom—a point I recently conveyed to
my British counterpart, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Russia’s likely
involvement in this attack is a serious breach of the rules-based order.
“Canada offers its complete support to the United Kingdom and call on all
states to cooperate fully with British investigators.”
Statement by Canada on U.S. anti-dumping duties on
imports of Canadian uncoated groundwood paper
March 13, 2018 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the
Honourable Jim Carr, Minister of Natural Resources, today issued the
following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Commerce’s preliminary
determination in its anti-dumping investigation on imports of Canadian
uncoated groundwood paper.
“We are disappointed with today’s preliminary anti-dumping determination,
which follows preliminary countervailing-duty rates previously announced by
the U.S. Department of Commerce on January 9.
“Any duties will have a direct and negative impact on U.S. newspapers,
especially those in small cities and towns, and result in job losses in the
American printing sector.
“Our government is committed to helping our forest industry enhance existing
trade relationships and diversify trade with new international markets.
“Canada’s forest industry sustains good, middle-class jobs and provides
economic opportunities for rural and Indigenous communities across our
country. We will continue to work with our forest industry, provinces and
territories, and communities across Canada to defend this vital sector
against unfair and unwarranted U.S. trade measures and practices.”
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on March 14-15/18
Fundamentalist
Terrorists Benefit from "Fundamental Fairness"
Sandra Parker/Gatestone Institute/March 14/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12034/terrorism-fairness
An American jury unanimously found the PLO and the Palestinian Authority
(PA) liable for the terror that had been inflicted against these American
citizens.
Late last year, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the
verdict. The Circuit's strange reasoning was that "fundamental fairness"
does not allow U.S. courts to exercise civil jurisdiction over terrorists
who act outside of U.S. territory.
American courts have long held that the Due Process Clause does not bar the
federal government from freezing the assets of terrorists, bringing them to
face criminal trial, or even imposing the death penalty upon them.
Given the Second Circuit Court's controversial decision, the case warrants
an opinion from the Supreme Court.
In January of 2002, a 28-year-old Palestinian woman named Wafa Idris
detonated a 22-pound bomb outside a Jerusalem shoe store. The explosion
killed 81-year-old Pinhas Tokatli, and injured more than 100 other people –
including an American citizen named Mark Sokolow. His wife and two of his
daughters were also wounded in the attack.
Two years later, Sokolow joined with ten other American families who had
been wounded or lost loved ones at the hands of Palestinian terrorists, and
sued the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under the 1992
Antiterrorism Act.
The plaintiffs in the case alleged that Idris and other Palestinian
terrorists had killed and wounded Americans with the PLO's support. In
addition, in what has come to be known as the Palestinian Authority's (PA)
"pay-to-slay" policy, the plaintiffs also alleged that terrorists and their
families were receiving salaries and stipends as compensation for their
crimes.
In truth, there is no justice for those who lose their loved ones to
terrorists. There is only an acknowledgement of the pain and suffering the
victims have endured. Ten years after the case was brought forth, Sokolow
and the other plaintiffs received that acknowledgment, when a jury
unanimously found the PLO and the PA liable for the terror that had been
inflicted against these American citizens.
Unfortunately, late last year, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated
the verdict on the grounds that the Due Process Clause of the Constitution
protects terrorists as long as they commit their crimes off of U.S. soil.
The Circuit's strange reasoning was that "fundamental fairness" does not
allow U.S. courts to exercise civil jurisdiction over terrorists who act
outside of U.S. territory.
American courts have long held that the Due Process Clause does not bar the
federal government from freezing the assets of terrorists, excluding them
from our financial system, capturing them and bringing them to face criminal
trial, or even imposing the death penalty upon them. Therefore it is rather
astounding that the Second Circuit Court would find that the Due Process
Clause allows all of that, but somehow bars suing terrorists because
allowing a civil lawsuit crosses a line of "fundamental fairness."
Congress is doing its part to end the PA's "pay-to-slay" policy by advancing
the Taylor Force Act. That bill, named for an American veteran murdered by a
Palestinian terrorist on the streets of Tel Aviv, would end US support for
the PA until the PA ends its incitement and support of terror. But the past
victims of Palestinian terror – and those who may be targeted in the future
– deserve the opportunity to fight back.
If we are concerned with "fundamental fairness," it is safe to say that
allowing the PLO to use a legal loophole to get away with murder is
fundamentally unfair. If we are concerned with the law, the Constitution
gives Congress broad powers to protect Americans and project American law
overseas.
Regardless of how one approaches this issue, given the Second Circuit
Court's controversial decision, and given the case's implications for any
American traveling abroad, Sokolow et al v. Palestine Liberation
Organization et al, warrants an opinion from the Supreme Court. Should this
case not appear before the Court, just as we have with the Taylor Force Act,
the nearly four million members of Christians United for Israel will urge
Congress to act to advance legislation that closes the terrorists' legal
loophole.
*Sandra Parker is an attorney and the Chairwoman of the Christians United
for Israel Action Fund.
© 2018 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.
EU: More Censorship to "Protect" You
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/March 14/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12010/eu-censorship
There appears to be a huge disconnect here between the EU's professed
concern for keeping Europeans safe -- as expressed in the one-hour rule --
and the EU's actual refusal to keep Europeans safe in the offline world. The
result is that Europeans, manipulated by an untransparent, unaccountable
body, will not be kept safe either online or off. And what if the content in
question, as has already occurred, may be trying to warn the public about
terrorism?
Regardless of these facts, including that women can no longer exercise their
freedom to walk in safety in many neighborhoods of European cities, the EU
has staunchly refused to stop the influx of migrants. It is, therefore,
difficult to take seriously in any way the European Commission's claim that
the security, offline and online, of EU citizens is a "top priority". If
that were true, why does not Europe simply close the borders? Instead, the
EU actually sues EU countries -- Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic --
who refuse to endanger their citizens by admitting the quota of migrants
that the EU assigns for them.
These EU ultimatums also fail to take into account what a recent study
showed: that the second most important factor in the radicalization of
Muslims, after Islam itself, is the environment, namely the mosques and
imams to which Muslims go and on which they rely. Although the internet
evidently does play a role in the radicalization process, the study showed
that face-to-face encounters were more important, and that dawa,
proselytizing Islam, plays a central role in this process.
On March 1, The European Commission -- the unelected executive branch of the
European Union -- told social media companies to remove illegal online
terrorist content within an hour, or risk facing EU-wide legislation on the
topic. The ultimatum was part of a new set of recommendations that will
apply to all forms of "illegal content" online, "from terrorist content,
incitement to hatred and violence, child sexual abuse material, counterfeit
products and copyright infringement."
The European Commission said, "Considering that terrorist content is most
harmful in the first hours of its appearance online, all companies should
remove such content within one hour from its referral as a general rule".
While the one-hour ultimatum is ostensibly only about terrorist content,
this is how the European Commission motivated the new recommendations:
"The Juncker Commission made security a top priority from day one. It is the
most basic and universal of rights to feel safe in your own home or when
walking down the street. Europeans rightly expect their Union to provide
that security for them – online and offline. The Commission has taken a
number of actions to protect Europeans online – be it from terrorist
content, illegal hate speech or fake news... we are continuously looking
into ways we can improve our fight against illegal content online. Illegal
content means any information which is not in compliance with Union law or
the law of a Member State, such as content inciting people to terrorism,
racist or xenophobic, illegal hate speech, child sexual exploitation... What
is illegal offline is also illegal online".
"Illegal hate speech", is broadly defined by the European Commission as
"incitement to violence or hatred directed against a group of persons or a
member of such a group defined by reference to race, colour, religion,
descent or national or ethnic origin".
The internet companies have three months to deliver results and the European
Commission will then decide whether it will introduce legislation.
Incidentally, the three-month deadline, in May 2018, coincides with the
deadline that the European Commission gave itself in 2017 on deciding
whether the "Code of Conduct on countering illegal online hate speech"
should be made into legislation.
In May 2016, the European Commission and Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and
Microsoft, agreed on a "Code of Conduct on countering illegal online hate
speech" (Google+ and Instagram joined the Code of Conduct in January 2018).
The Code of Conduct commits the social media companies to review and remove
within 24 hours content that is deemed to be, "illegal hate speech".
According to the Code of Conduct, when companies receive a request to remove
content, they must "assess the request against their rules and community
guidelines and, where applicable, national laws on combating racism and
xenophobia..." In other words, the social media giants act as voluntary
censors on behalf of the European Union.
The European Commission has been regularly monitoring the implementation of
the Code of Conduct. It recently found that "Under the Code of Conduct on
Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online, internet companies now remove on
average 70% of illegal hate speech notified to them and in more than 80% of
these cases, the removals took place within 24 hours".
The European Commission's announcement on the new recommendations,
specifically the one-hour rule, was heavily criticized. EDiMA, an industry
association that includes Facebook, YouTube, Google and Twitter, said it was
"dismayed" by the Commission's announcement:
Our sector accepts the urgency but needs to balance the responsibility to
protect users while upholding fundamental rights -- a one-hour turn-around
time in such cases could harm the effectiveness of service providers'
take-down systems rather than help... EDiMA fails to see how the arbitrary
Recommendation published by the European Commission, without due
consideration of the types of content; the context and impact of the
obligation on other regulatory issues; and, the feasibility of applying such
broad recommendations by different kinds of service providers can be seen as
a positive step forward.
Joe McNamee, executive director of European Digital Rights, described the
Commission's proposal as "voluntary censorship":
"Today's recommendation institutionalizes a role for Facebook and Google in
regulating the free speech of Europeans," he said in a statement. "The
Commission needs to be smart and to finally start developing policy based on
reliable data and not public relations spin."
Facebook, on the other hand, said that it shares the European Commission's
goal:
"We have already made good progress removing various forms of illegal
content," the company said in a statement. "We continue to work hard to
remove hate speech and terrorist content while making sure that Facebook
remains a platform for all ideas."
There appears to be a huge disconnect here between the EU's professed
concern for keeping Europeans safe -- as expressed in the one hour rule --
and the EU's actual refusal to keep Europeans safe in the offline world. The
result is that Europeans, manipulated by an untransparent, unaccountable
body, will not be kept safe either online or off.
Only a few months ago, EU's Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and
Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos wrote, "We cannot and will never be able
to stop migration... At the end of the day, we all need to be ready to
accept migration, mobility and diversity as the new norm and tailor our
policies accordingly".
The enormous influx of migrants into the EU, especially since 2015, is
closely linked to the spike in terrorism, as well as the current and future
Islamization of the continent. ISIS terrorists have returned to Europe or
entered the continent disguised as migrants, and several have perpetrated
terror attacks. According to Gilles de Kerchove, EU Counterterrorism
Coordinator, there are now more than 50,000 jihadists living in Europe. In
2017, one terrorist attack was attempted every seven days in Europe, on
average. When Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission,
gave his State of the Union Address to the European Parliament in September
2017, he admitted a hugely embarrassing fact:
"We still lack the means to act quickly in case of cross-border terrorist
threats. This is why I call for a European intelligence unit that ensures
data concerning terrorists and foreign fighters are automatically shared
among intelligence services and with the police".
After the ISIS attacks in Paris in November 2015, the Brussels attacks in
March 2016, the Nice attack in July 2016, the Berlin Christmas Market attack
in December 2016, and the Manchester attack in May 2017 -- and those are
just the most spectacular ones -- should the "intelligence unit" for which
Juncker calls not have been the very highest priority for the European
Commission? After all, it claims that security is its "top priority". Yet,
Europeans are supposed to believe that removing "terrorist content" within
one hour is going to protect them against future terrorist attacks?
Moreover, as long as you are claiming that security is a "top priority", if
President Juncker so readily admits to lacking "the means to act quickly in
case of cross-border terrorist threats", would the logical consequence not
be to close those borders, at least until you have acquired those means?
European intelligence authorities have repeatedly stated that with the
ongoing migration, Europe is "... importing Islamic extremism, Arab
anti-Semitism, national and ethnic conflicts of other peoples, as well as a
different understanding of society and law".
These are all factors contributing to the current spikes not only in the
terror threat to Europe, but also in the crime waves sweeping countries such
as Sweden and Germany, including the surge in rapes.
Regardless of these facts, including that women can no longer exercise their
freedom to walk in safety in many neighborhoods of European cities, the EU
has staunchly refused to stop the influx of migrants. It is, therefore,
difficult to take seriously in any way the European Commission's claim that
the security, offline and online, of EU citizens is a "top priority". If
that were true, why does not Europe simply close the borders? Stopping
terrorists at the borders would be infinitely more efficient at reducing the
terrorist threat than requiring tech companies to remove "Illegal online
content". Instead, the EU actually sues EU countries -- Poland, Hungary and
the Czech Republic -- who refuse to endanger their citizens by admitting the
quota of migrants that the EU assigns for them.
These EU ultimatums also fail to take into account what a recent study
showed: that the second most important factor in the radicalization of
Muslims, after Islam itself, is the environment, namely the mosques and
imams to which Muslims go and on which they rely. Although the internet
evidently does play a role in the radicalization process, the study showed
that face-to-face encounters were more important, and that dawa,
proselytizing Islam, plays a central role in this process. Perhaps the EU
should obsess less over inconsequential time frames -- last year the
European Commission talked about a two-hour time frame for removal -- and
worry more about what is being preached inside the thousands of mosques
scattered around its membership countries, so many of them financed by Saudi
Arabia and Qatar?
Recent experience with Germany's censorship law shows that a company is
likely to err on the side of caution -- censorship. And what if the content
in question, as has already occurred may be trying to warn the public about
terrorism?
Above all, the one-hour rule, with the threat of legislation behind it,
looks more like a diversion created for public relations and for sneaking
even more authoritarian censorship -- plus the ignorance that goes with it
-- into the lives of its EU citizens.
*Judith Bergman is a columnist, lawyer and political analyst.
© 2018 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.
Exclusive: Why Iran’s Intervention in Syria Proved so
Costly
London - Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/March 14/18
Seven years after getting involved in the Syrian war, Iran may be beginning
to have second thoughts about the wisdom of an adventure that shows no signs
of ending. Several factors have contributed to what analysts believe could
morph into a re-think of the costly strategy.
The first factor was official confirmation of Iran’s human losses in the
war. Between November 2012 and 2017 Iran lost over 2,100 men, including 418
ranking officers while more than 7,000 Iranian “defenders of the shrines”
were also wounded. Unofficial estimates for the losses of non-Iranian
fighters, mostly Lebanese, Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani, recruited and led by
Iran, show several thousand casualties.
According to estimates by Iranian researchers using a survey of “funeral
notices” published by the Lebanese branch of “Hezbollah,” the
Iran-controlled militia led by Hassan Nasrallah has lost at least 1,400 men
in combat in Syria. That is more than twice the number of men that
“Hezbollah” lost in the 2006 war with Israel. Western intelligence sources
put the number of Iranian and Iran-led fighters in Syria at over 25,000.
Thus, the losses they have sustained are far bigger than the classical
military measure of “decimation” used to indicate the worst possible
military performance. With that measure, Iran and the forces it leads in
Syria should have lost no more than 2,500 men in total.
“The Syrian experience is a textbook case of poor planning and amateurish
leadership,” says Hamid Zomorrodi a former naval officer and military
analyst. “Those who decided to get Iran involved didn’t know what they
wanted and were thus unable to decide what type of forces to commit and what
tactics to adopt.” According to a posthumously published account by General
Hussein Hamadani, killed in combat in Syria, Tehran’s decision to intervene
was aimed at preventing the fall of the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar
al-Assad. However, Hamdani’s account shows that he and his fellow combatants
were never told what they were supposed to do. Worse still, on arrival in
Damascus, they realized that the Syrian military were far from keen on
Iranian intervention.
“The Syrian military raised a wall of iron to keep us within limits.”
Unable to secure a central position within the broader strategy developed by
the Syrian military, the Iranian contingent invented a justification for
this presence by posing as “defender of the holy shrines.”
However, almost no one knew how many shrines there were or why they needed
to be defended. More importantly, there was no sign of anybody wishing to
attack those shrines in the middle of a larger war with much bigger
objectives on all sides. The Iranians spent the first year of their presence
putting together a list of shrines, coming up with the amazing number of
over 10,000, many of them linked with Old Testament figures.
However, even supposing the objective was to protect “the shrines”, the
elements sent to Syria were not trained for what was essentially a policing,
not military, mission.
Iranian meddling in Syria has led Tehran into its biggest military losses
since the eight-year war with Iraq. Iran’s military intervention in the
1970s in Oman against Communist-led insurgents in Dhofar claimed 69 Iranian
lives.
According to General Ali Khorsand, who led that campaign, it succeeded
because it was designed with “clock-work precision.”
“We knew what we were supposed to, how to get there and how to get out,” he
claimed. “More importantly, we knew who was in command.”
In the case of the Syrian adventure, Iran’s involvement was not predicated
on those conditions and, above all, lacked a clear command structure.
The Western, especially American media, have tried to build up Major-General
Qassem Soleimani who heads the Quds (Jerusalem) Corps as the overall
commander in the Syrian adventure. American magazines have put him on their
cover and American TV has portrayed him as a swashbuckling knight on a white
charger. However, Soleimani, having spent almost his entire career at staff
level, has had little field experience and is not capable of developing a
strategic vision needed in a major conflict. By all accounts, Soleimani is a
talented PR man and an efficient controller for the militias and agents paid
by Iran in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere. But he is no military planner and
his Quds Corps, which lacks combat units of its own, has never been anything
more than a composite beast of intelligence, security, business, espionage,
counter-espionage and propaganda.
Not knowing what type of forces was needed in Syria, Tehran left the sending
of fighters there to personal choices of the “volunteers of martyrdom” and
he hazards of the situation. Thus thousands of Iranians who had served in
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Baseej (Mobilization) of
the Dispossessed, the Islamic Police (NAJA), the elite Islamic Green Berets
and disparate other forces such as The Forestry Guard and even the navy went
to Syria, treating that multifaceted war as if it were a tougher version of
a Boy Scouts Jamboree. Among Iranian officers killed in Syria were at least
17 naval officers, including some experts in underwater fighting, although
there was no water in the Syrian war.
The hodgepodge nature of those forces made it impossible to develop a
coherent command-and-control system, especially in the context of asymmetric
warfare against “enemies” using guerrilla tactics in their own home
territory. Iranian fighters in Syria spoke no Arabic, knew nothing about the
terrain and the culture, and were often shunned by the Syrian government’s
armed forces. In the tragic case of Khan Touman, for example, the Syrian 4th
Armored Division, simply refused to come to the aid of a besieged unit of
Iranian Green Berets, left isolated and surrounded. In their hasty retreat
Iran’s best fighters had to leave behind the dead bodies of 13 of their
comrades.
Another problem is that the majority of Iranian “defenders of the shrine”
are retired officers and NCOs, not at the height of their physical powers,
or teenagers and young fighters with little or no combat experience. The
3-week “basic training” offered by Gen. Soleimani is not sufficient to train
those volunteers in anything but driving military vehicles and handling
weapons and ammunition.
The passage of years has not solved any of those problems.
Iranian forces don’t know what they are supposed to do apart from killing as
many Syrians and possible. On occasions they become involved in classical
positional warfare against “enemies” that specialize in hit-and-run. On
other occasions they are confined to guarding and patrolling sites that are
of no military interest.
The emergence of Russia from 2015 onwards as the chief orchestrator of the
war in Syria has further confused the Iranians, limiting their margins of
maneuver and reducing their overall influence.
Lacking an air force, Iran has not provided its forces in Syria with air
support especially by helicopter gunships. Both Syria and Russia, which have
the air power needed, have always refused to put their asset at the disposal
of the Iranians or their Lebanese and other mercenaries.
In a closed system such as Khomeinist Iran it is not always possible to
gauge public opinion. However, anecdotal evidence and musings within the
establishment indicate growing weariness about a war which Iranians have
never been fully informed about let alone approved.
An attempt almost two years ago to put General Mohsen Rezai, the former IRGC
Commander, in charge of the Syrian war and relegate Gen. Soleimani to his
public relations function was vetoed by “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei.
However, once again, the buzz in Tehran is about a new strategy and a new
command structure for the Syrian war which, even if won, will give Iran no
more than crumbs of victory.
The Rules of the Spy Game Are No Longer Clear
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg View//March 14/18/
The theory most popular in the
UK media at the moment is that it was Russian spies who poisoned the former
military intelligence colonel, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia. This
would surprise no one. That Russian intelligence is back in the business of
executing traitors has been known since the case of Alexander Litvinenko,
poisoned with polonium in 2006. If the Skripal situation is part of this
practice, two things are striking about it because they would suggest that
Russia has blown up unwritten spy game rules from which it has repeatedly
benefited: first, that Skripal had been "off the board" after being tried,
convicted and traded to the UK and, second, that his daughter had apparently
been targeted along with him. In 2010, the ex-colonel was one of four people
who came to the West as part of a widely covered spy swap, in which the US
released 10 Russian "sleeper agents." There had been at least a dozen spy
exchanges between Western countries and the Soviet Union and its satellites
during the Cold War, but this was the first publicly announced one in the
Vladimir Putin era.
None of the people traded to the West in these swaps has ever been
assassinated. The possibility of a swap is a perk that makes it marginally
worthwhile to spy for a foreign power. The money paid to spies or the moral
satisfaction of working against a hated regime is never enough to compensate
for the dreadful risk of this work; not even the implicit promise that the
side you work for will take care of you will tip the scale if you have to
look over your shoulder for the rest of your life. A swap, however, has been
a guarantee of peaceful retirement. If that's no longer the case, this
raises the stakes for spies -- and makes swaps pointless.
Having resumed the Cold War-era practice of swaps, why would Putin or his
spy chiefs want to ruin it by approving the assassination of a former spy
who had served part of his sentence in a Russian jail and was then put out
to pasture in the UK? One answer could be that Skripal perhaps continued
working for British intelligence after he was traded. But since the Russian
government now can't admit anything without setting off a major
confrontation with the UK, we'll likely never know if this is what happened
-- and because of this, the unwritten rules of spy swaps have still been put
in doubt as far as Western intelligence services are concerned.
Then there's the matter of Skripal's daughter, Yulia. It was never Soviet or
Russian practice to attack traitors' relatives; even the 1938 case of Leon
Trotsky's son, Lev Sedov, is not a clear-cut assassination. Nor is there a
single known case of "collateral damage" to families. The Soviet and Russian
approach to retribution was always pragmatic rather than vendetta-like. All
of that amounts to good reason to be skeptical of the conventional wisdom
until there are real facts to support it.
That won't stop seasoned analysts from drawing preliminary conclusions: Mark
Galeotti, senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations
Prague, who has studied the Russian intelligence community, wrote of "a
breakdown in the old etiquette of espionage." He also pointed out that the
FSB, the Russian domestic intelligence service, has been increasingly active
overseas -- and that it's unlikely to be bound by the old rules because it
doesn't generally recognize any rules at home.
Whether or not the attack was sanctioned by the Kremlin, or reflects a new
culture in the intelligence services, the assassination attempt sends a
clear signal to Russians who work, or who have worked, for Western
intelligence services: There is no arrangement they can make to stop looking
over their shoulder.
This is a powerful message, and its flip side is that anyone working
clandestinely for Russia can also expect harsher treatment, if not poison in
their drinks and attacks on their kin. Would the Kremlin risk such
reciprocation -- and the almost-inevitable UK response -- just to take out a
retired spy? If not, the Kremlin had better hope an alternative explanatifon
surfaces quickly and that, if rogue elements were involved, they are
punished. And yet the answer may be yes, for the same reasons that Putin
recently devoted a major speech to threatening the US with a set of newly
developed nuclear superweapons. Putin's stated goal is to be heard by the
West and to force negotiations on security issues. Showing that there are no
rules of engagement for this iteration of the Cold War -- which is true in
many areas, not just in the spy game -- would be one way of trying to force
a discussion. And when a bigger goal is involved, Putin's Russia and its
predecessors were never hesitant to risk the lives of those loyal to them.
Like the nuclear threats, though, such demonstrations of lawlessness would
likely backfire. Putin's problem isn't that he's not threatening enough: He
is. It's that the Kremlin's and its freelancers' willingness to throw rules
out the window reinforces the impression of the Putin regime's unreliability
and makes talks appear pointless.
Enjoy Your Job in Software? You Have a Woman to Thank
Elaine Ou/Bloomberg/March 14/18
The most tragic story of the computer industry is how a field once dominated
by women became the domain of men. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t
just a matter of the latter pushing out the former. To a large extent, men
have women to thank for the very existence of their jobs.
Once upon a time, only programmers could interact with computers. It was
considered a form of clerical work, like data entry or switchboard
operation. Female programmers -- known as computer “feeders,” because they
fed data into a machine (hence the term “data feed”) -- translated flow
charts into logic operations, then punched the corresponding machine codes
into cards.
The tools of the trade were an instruction table and a stencil.
A mathematician at Remington Rand, Dr. Grace Hopper recognized that human
feeders were a bottleneck in the programming process. Hopper imagined that
someday, nontechnical users could communicate directly with machines in
English, bypassing the inefficient process of translating commands into
cards. Although her employer dismissed the idea, Dr. Hopper went ahead and
created her own English-like computer language called FLOW-MATIC.
At the same time, Hopper’s colleague Betty Holberton wrote the first
automatic programming system -- that is, a program that people can use to
create or operate other programs. The two women contributed to what became
one of the first widely used programming languages, COBOL
COBOL obviated the need for human-to-machine translation, a process that in
1959 could require more than $600,000 and two years of effort for just one
program. 1 Software became both intelligible and reusable across different
machines. Within 10 years, computer-feeding jobs were automated out of
existence.
So women created the technology that took their jobs. But this gave rise to
demand for all kinds of new tasks, such as developing the software that
quickly became a critical component of every business sector, from banking
to inventory control. Hopper’s vision of humans conversing with computers
also led to tools such as Excel and Quickbooks, which provide accessible
interfaces that translate users’ requests into code. When people say that
women are insufficiently represented in the computer industry, perhaps
they’re defining it too narrowly. In a sense, everyone who uses a computer
today -- a management consultant armed with Microsoft Access, a teenager
using Snapchat -- is doing what the early programmers once did. Today’s
database software is so far removed from the underlying computations that we
don’t think of users as coders at all.
In other words, women aren’t passive victims who were pushed out of the
industry. They’re pioneers. Thanks to their efforts, the industry grew to
the point where professions could become highly specialized. Hopper’s work
on COBOL and software compilers so successfully democratized the field of
computer programming that most computer tasks today involve no programming.
Computer feeders won’t be the only casualty of software automation. Already,
app developers do the bulk of their work through user interfaces that allow
them to simply drag and drop the desired components. The industry constantly
redefines how humans communicate with machines and what it means to be a
programmer. A decade from now, it’s quite possible that the software
engineers we revere will be rendered as irrelevant as the feeders of the
1950s.
Trump’s clear message in firing Rex Tillerson
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/March 14/18
In an interview last year, US President Donald Trump criticized Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson and said he alone matters when it comes to specifying US
foreign policy. “The one that matters is me,” Trump said.
What’s been expected for months has happened. Trump fired Tillerson, who had
worked in the oil and energy sector. Tillerson was not in harmony with
Trump’s foreign policies and his presence was rather strange within the team
especially that Trump is leading deep transformations in foreign policy,
such as his recent intentions to meet with th president of North Korea to
end the historical problem with it.
Tillerson resisted – though softly – Trump’s intentions towards Iran and
support of the Arab anti-terror quartet’s stance towards Qatar’s “harmful”
policies. Tillerson seemed to side with Qatar’s narrative and he even used a
term from the Qatari-Brotherhood’s dictionary when commenting on the crisis.
He called for lifting the “blockade” on Qatar. However, Saudi Arabia, the
UAE, Bahrain and Egypt reject this term and have repeatedly said that
they’ve simply “boycotted” Qatar, noting that this is a “sovereign” act.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Trump said: "When you look at the Iran
deal, I thought it was terrible, he thought it was okay. I wanted to either
break it or do something, he felt a little differently. So we were not
really thinking the same."
Mike Pompeo, a former Congressman, a Harvard Law graduate and a former US
army officer who served in the war of liberation of Kuwait in 1991, was
assigned as the new secretary of state. According to a Reuters report,
Pompeo “is on the same wavelength” with Trump.
Expectations from Tillerson
Meanwhile, Gina Haspel will replace Pompeo as head of the Central
Intelligence Agency. Haspel was deputy director of the CIA. According to
preliminary reports, she is a veteran CIA officer and a hawk. She is the
first woman to head the CIA.
According to media reports, she joined the agency in 1985 and is an expert
in combating al-Qaeda organization. In 2002, she managed an overseas secret
prison in Thailand where al-Qaeda symbols, like Abdul Rahim Al Nashiri, aka
“the prince of the sea,” were held. Tillerson’s departure will upset those
who were betting that someone from within Trump’s administration will
decrease pressure on Iran and promote the Qatari-Brotherhood narrative.
Frankly, those who made such bets may have exaggerated their expectations
from Tillerson.
It’s been a year and few months since Trump became president. The
manifestations of unity within his administration and the harmony of voices
are getting clearer by the day. We will wait and see how this will impact
our problems in the Arab world, and aren’t they many!
Messages of reform and change from Cairo
Hassan Al Mustafa/Al Arabiya/March 14/18
The scene was self-explanatory and did not require asking any questions or
making any comments. The pictures of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in
Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Egyptian capital of Cairo
sends many messages that clarify the manifestations of the new Saudi Arabia
that the young prince is working hard and fast to build. This visit came as
a surprise to many!
Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s meeting with Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and
Patriarch of the See of St. Mark solidified the deep values of respecting
others, believing in pluralism and the sanctity of man and accepting
differences, which are natural, and other religions and cultures. If
preachers and orators sit down to talk about these same values, they
wouldn’t have had a practical and political impact as they do now.
Change is in fact a cultural, behavioral and long-term act that carries on
for generations. It sometimes needs a “shock” therapy, as noted by Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, to disrupt the old dilapidated structures
In Cairo, the crown prince also met with the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar,
Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb and visited the Egyptian Opera House. He also attended
a play with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
He also spoke with journalists about the importance of fighting extremism
and extremist discourse, underlining the principle of equality between
citizens without discriminating between sects and emphasizing that the
fundamental tone which some factions in society wanted to cultivate is
declining.
The road to change
All of this leads us to have faith that this is not just about raising
slogans and that there’s real change in Saudi Arabia. In order for this
change, which some people are skeptical about, to mature and become clearer
and stronger, it needs time and work via state institutions and the
formulation of modern laws and regulations. Work is underway on this front.
Change is in fact a cultural, behavioral and long-term act that carries on
for generations. It sometimes needs a “shock” therapy, as noted by Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, to disrupt the old dilapidated structures and replace
them with a modern system to resolve current problems and prevent their
reoccurrence.
What is happening in Saudi Arabia is not a purely domestic matter as its
effects will positively impact the region. The success of these changes and
the reforms carried out on many levels will serve the interest of
neighboring countries and give a great push to moderation. This will help
limit the concepts of underdevelopment and terrorism!
The Kurds have been sacrificed
Christian Chesnot/Al Arabiya/March 14/18
Three years ago, the Kurds seized Kobane (Ain Al-Arab) from the jihadists.
The whole world hailed this symbolic victory, underlining the heroism of the
Peshmerga. The image of women in battledresses against the ISIS fighters
wearing black made the headlines.
The battle of Kobane will always be the first victory on the roadway leading
to the demolishing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's "self-proclaimed caliphate" in
Syria. Kurds with the help of local tribesmen were present at all the
battles. Westerners were not wrong: while the United States and France let
loose the Free Syrian Army, Washington and Paris "invested" in the Kurds by
supporting them with weapons and sending them Special Forces for back up.
But all of this was yesterday! Today, dramatic turnaround, the Syrian Kurds
are very much alone. They feel abandoned. Enlightened by the vicissitudes of
history, they had nevertheless succeeded in creating links with all the
actors of the Syrian crisis: the regime, the opposition, the Russians, the
Westerners. Keeping equals distance with everyone allowed them to remain on
the surface of the chaos of the civil war, reinforcing the territories under
their control.
All the indications point to the fact that everyone wishes to teach the
Kurds a lesson after their military triumph over ISIS.
Obviously, on the other side of the border, Erdogan closely monitored the
rise of the Kurds, whose militia has close ties with the PKK, the arch-
enemy of Ankara.
As the Turkish tightens their grip on Afrin, a jurisdiction located in the
far north-west of Syria, the Kurds will have to make some tough choices. The
Westerners - so as not to cut off the ties with Turkey - let Erdogan loose
to a certain extent. In other words, the Kurds seem to be let loose by the
United States and France in this battle of Afrin.
A fixation point
All the indications point to the fact that everyone wishes to teach the
Kurds a lesson after their military triumph over ISIS.
Even though the regime of Bashar Al-Assad has allowed reinforcements to pass
to Afrin, Damascus is not sad to see the Kurds in trouble. The objective is
to win them back to its camp and regain the territories that were lost. The
Syrian President is betting that once the Kurds lose their strength they
will be more willing to negotiate with his regime to slip away from the
claws of the Turks.
The Russians are almost hoping for the same thing. They hope that the Kurds
will drop the United States in turn and gather around the diplomatic agenda
of Moscow. Russia was not happy to see that they boycotted the Sochi
conference. As for Turkey, it does not hide the fact that the Kurds are its
sworn enemies and that its purpose is to expel them out of Manbij, further
east.
These are the agendas of some and the other. Already, we are beginning to
see the repercussions on the field. Kurdish fighters have announced an
"operational pause" in the remaining battles against the last cells of the
jihadists. The letting down of the Kurds is also likely to radicalize them a
little more against Turkey. The loss of Afrin will be a painful stroke for
the Peshmerga. Especially since this location is highly populated by the
Kurds, which is not the case for other parts in eastern Syria.
In short, one needn’t to be a great prophet to know that the Syrian-Turkish
border, very calm to this day, is becoming a fixation point in the Syrian
conflict. As they say in detective novels, "who benefits from the crime?
Most certainly it is Bashar al-Assad and Russia who expect that Turkey will
use its forces in its asymmetrical battle with the Kurds. Nobody doubts it:
it is a new Turkish-Kurdish war which started at Afrin.
Saudi women make the most of International Women’s Day
Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi/Al Arabiya/March 14/18
The idea of celebrating the International Women’s Day dates back to the
beginning of the second half of the 19th century when demonstrations were
staged by thousands of women in New York City in protest against the
ill-treatment they had been subjected to.
They demanded a change in the difficult circumstances under which they were
forced to work. Police used force to disburse these demonstrations. But the
struggle by women seeking their rights continued for a long time and New
York City’s streets again witnessed women’s march in the beginning of the
20th century. The activists demanded women’s rights such as shorter working
hours, better pay, an end to child labor and the right to vote. A group of
women workers also carried banners proclaiming “Bread and Roses.”
The campaign for “Bread and Roses” began on March 8, which was later marked
as “American Women’s Day”. Later, the struggle of women for their rights
began to spread to Europe where the day was observed as the “Women’s Day,”
an occasion to highlight women’s economic, political and social
achievements. Subsequently many other countries started observing this as
‘Women’s Day.’
Apart from obtaining right to drive, there are several other remarkable
achievements that the Saudi women have gained over the recent years
Following the holding of the first conference of the Women’s International
Democratic Federation in Paris in 1945, women were granted holiday on a
designated day in some countries. In the year 1977, the United Nations
adopted a resolution to celebrate March 8 as the International Women’s Day
every year.
The Saudi woman also celebrates the International Women’s Day, but she felt
that her celebration was incomplete because she was banned from doing things
which are enjoyed by the rest of the women in the world, such as driving a
car. At last she was granted this right too after passing several phases of
hurdles.
At first she was denied of the right on the pretext that it is a taboo in
the religion, which was the view advocated by some scholars. However, other
scholars rejected this view and emphasized that there was no evidence for
forbidding this in the religious principles.
Not a taboo
The scholars who had earlier considered it as a taboo were eventually
convinced that it was not a taboo but it should be prevented because of the
risks that women may experience while driving such as accidents and the
women’s inability to do maintenance of any malfunction or damage caused to
the vehicle.
But this was not at all a convincing justification to prevent Saudi women
from driving. The Saudi authorities found that women need to be allowed to
drive just like women in other parts of the world and the risks involving in
driving are the usual ones for women as in the case of men too.
Another excuse given for not allowing women to drive was that it may not be
acceptable to the society. The answer for this excuse was that if we accept
only what the society accepts, then there would have been no schools for
girls and no television transmission was allowed to air in the Kingdom.
Similar would be the case with women’s participation in the Shoura Council
or contesting or exercising franchise in municipal elections. In all these
cases, when the political decision was taken, there was no objection from
any part of the society. On the other hand, even those who opposed it in the
beginning welcomed it after realizing its benefits.
The decision to allow Saudi women to drive was delayed a lot, and this delay
gave the opponents a weapon to discredit or abuse the Kingdom every now and
then. Anyone who looks to hire a driver does not care whether a male or a
female drives his or her car.
I recall that the late Minister of Labor Dr. Ghazi al-Gosaibi was asked when
would the Saudi woman be allowed to drive a car? His answer was that the
question of driving by a woman was a matter of time. When asked if he would
allow his daughter to drive, his answer was that he would not allow her in
the beginning but she will drive the car when it becomes common.
Apart from obtaining the right to drive, there are several other remarkable
achievements that the Saudi women have gained over the recent years. They
have been selected as members of the Shoura Council and municipal councils
across the Kingdom.
The women law graduates have been granted permission to practice as lawyers
after undergoing the necessary training. Introduction of sports in girls’
schools, baby-sitting facilities to support working women, and creation of a
fund for meeting the expenses of the divorcees are other landmark
achievements
Saudi women still aspire to enjoy more rights that are guaranteed by the
Islamic Shariah and thus they are entitled to celebrate the International
Women’s Day with women from the rest of the world without having any
inferiority complex.