LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

Detailed Lebanese & Lebanese Related LCCC English New Bulletin For October 02/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations
You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be
Luke 12/13-21:"Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?" Then he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God."

نشرات اخبار عربية وانكليزية مطولة ومفصلة يومية على موقعنا الألكتروني على الرابط التالي
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Titles For The Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 01-02/18

Netanyahu: Hezbollah ‘brazenly lying’ to world about weapons sites/TOI staff /Haaretz/and Agencies/01 October/18
The Story of Hezbollah’s Soccer Team Netanyahu Mentioned at the UN/Uri Levy/Haaretz/September 01 October/18
Aoun majority government proposal seen unraveling/Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/October 01/18
Lebanon's rentier economy and Creative Destruction/Dan Azzi/Annahar/October 01/18
Educating Lebanon’s oil and gas generation/Roudi Baroudi/Annahar/October 01/18
Embassy of Japan organizes mine awareness seminar with LMAC, Jammal Trust Bank /NNA/October 01/18
Israel's 'Nationality' Law and Palestinian Lies/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/October 01/18
The Stars of the International Clinic/Ghassan Charbel/Al Sharq Al Awsat/October 01/18
How to Fill the Gaps in the US Economy/Noah Smith/Bloomberg/October 01/18
US mid-terms: Consequences for trade and fiscal policies/Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/October 01/18
Reconciling with Qatar/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 01/18
Al-Jaafari: Iraq’s international speaker/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/October 01/18
The military parade attack: An incident and two platforms/Amal Abdulaziz Al–Hazani/Al Arabiya/October 01/18

Titles For The Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on October 01-02/18
Netanyahu Says Bassil's Tour Missed 'Underground Missile Plant'
Bassil Takes Ambassadors to 'Missile Sites', Urges World to Prevent Any Attack
Israeli Army Spokesman Lashes Out at Bassil
Bassil from Ahed Football Club: Certain side wants to incite war
Bassil, ambassadors tour Ahed Football Stadium
Bassil, Ambassadors inspect airport region to thwart Netanyahu weapon depot claims
Netanyahu: Hezbollah ‘brazenly lying’ to world about weapons sites
The Story of Hezbollah’s Soccer Team Netanyahu Mentioned at the UN
Lebanon Refers to Judiciary Yemeni Complaint Over Media Support to Houthis
Aoun bewails print media dire situation, contacts Ilham Freiha
Mashnouk welcomes Mohammad Hout, Sami Fatfat
Maya Reaidy crowned Miss Lebanon 2018
Sources: Senior Airport Official to Be Dismissed
Aoun majority government proposal seen unraveling
Bassil dismisses Israeli claims of rocket sites near airport
Israeli Army Spokesman Lashes Out at Bassil
Lebanon Invites Ambassadors to Tour of 'Hizbullah Missile Site'
Bassil to Austrian Counterpart: To Join Efforts for Return of Refugees
Berri Commends Bassil’s Reaction to Israel's Missile Claims
Report: FPM Says ‘Ball in Premier's Court’ after Majority Govt. Proposal
Riachy: I succeeded in accomplishing media project laws, but failed in listing them on cabinet's agenda
Lebanon's rentier economy and Creative Destruction
Educating Lebanon’s oil and gas generation
Embassy of Japan organizes mine awareness seminar with LMAC, Jammal Trust Bank

Titles For The Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 01-02/18

Joint Statement from United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland
French singer Charles Aznavour dies aged 94: spokeswoman
Family of Iran cleric: Revolutionary Guards hid explosives in Hajj pilgrim bags
Syria opposition: Idlib buffer zone won’t impact us, heavy weapons are in our bases
Syrian rebels reject Russia presence in planned demilitarized zone
Germany Approves Extradition of Iran Diplomat Over Paris Bomb Plot
Syria: Conflicting News on Heavy Weapons Withdrawal From ‘Buffer Zone’
Security Agencies Uncover ISIS Cell in Syria’s Raqqa
Palestinians Go on Strike in West Bank Over Israel’s Nation State Law
Pro-Independence Protesters in Catalonia Block Roads, Railway Line

The Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on October 01-02/18

Netanyahu Says Bassil's Tour Missed 'Underground Missile Plant'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 01/18
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Hizbullah of "blatantly lying to the international community with a false, propaganda tour by the means of Lebanon's foreign minister."Referring to the tour of the Hizbullah-affiliated al-Ahed sport club which Bassil organized for the foreign ambassadors in Lebanon, Netanyahu said Bassil "took ambassadors to the football pitch but not the adjacent underground precision missile plant." "The ambassadors should ask themselves why they waited three days till the tour took place," Netanyahu said on Twitter. "It's sad the Lebanese government is sacrificing the safety of its residents in covering for Hizbullah, which has taken Lebanon hostage in its aggression against Israel," he added. In addition to the football stadium, the tour included a nearby golf course and a warehouse in the Ouzai area. The warehouse was included in the tour at the request of one of the Lebanese reporters. Live TV footage showed the apparently abandoned warehouse littered with plastic bags and napkins and those who entered it did not report any suspicious activity or equipment. The tour did not go to a third site indicated by Netanyahu as a dock by the Ouzai waterfront. Calling on the international community to prevent any Israeli attack on Lebanon, Bassil said the Lebanese government would not allow rocket facilities near the airport and that Hizbullah is "wiser" than to place them there. He said Netanyahu's claims were based on "inaccurate" estimates without any "compelling evidence."

Bassil Takes Ambassadors to 'Missile Sites', Urges World to Prevent Any Attack
Naharnet/Associated Press/Agence France Presse/October 01/18
Caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil led dozens of ambassadors and journalists to locations near Beirut's international airport on Monday, including a golf course and a soccer stadium, seeking to dispel Israeli allegations of secret Hizbullah rocket facilities. In a speech before the U.N. General Assembly last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Lebanese group of setting up rocket factories near the airport and hiding them among civilians, holding up an aerial image of the area with the alleged missile sites labeled. Calling on the international community to prevent any Israeli attack on Lebanon, Bassil said the Lebanese government would not allow rocket facilities near the airport and that Hizbullah is "wiser" than to place them there. He said Netanyahu's claims were based on "inaccurate" estimates without any "compelling evidence.""Lebanon demands that Israel ceases its madness," he said.
Bassil added that Monday's tour, which included the ambassadors and several reporters, was not "a fact-finding mission," but part of a "counter-diplomatic campaign" to rebut the allegations, which he said could serve as a pretext for an Israeli attack. Israel and Hizbullah fought a devastating monthlong war in 2006 in which Israel bombed the runways of Beirut's airport. Hizbullah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah recently boasted that his group now possesses "highly accurate" missiles despite Israeli attempts to prevent it from acquiring such weapons. The comments prompted an angry response from Netanyahu, who said Hizbullah will "receive a lethal blow it can't imagine" if it confronts Israel. Bassil acknowledged Nasrallah's statement, but said "this doesn't mean that those missiles are present in the vicinity of Beirut airport."“Lebanon is committed to international law and international resolutions but it does not abide by the dissociation policy when the matter is related to defending its land and people,” the minister went on to say. He also asserted that the Lebanese have “a legitimate right to resistance, until the liberation of all occupied territory.” “Today Lebanon is calling on all countries, especially the permanent U.N. Security Council members, to reject Israeli claims in order to prevent any Israeli attack on Lebanon,” Bassil added, warning that such an assault would have “repercussions across the region, especially amid the presence of the displaced Syrians and the Palestinian refugees.”
He added: “Israel is seeking to justify another aggression against Lebanon under the excuse of the presence of Hizbullah missile sites. What Netanyahu alleged at the U.N. was another illogical lie.”Bassil however underlined that “Lebanon is strong enough to prevent any attack on it.”“It does not scare us and when it launches threats we realize how weak it is,” Bassil added, noting that “Lebanon is in a constant diplomatic confrontation to prove the legitimacy of its cause.”MTV meanwhile reported that Bassil “did not coordinate the tour with Hizbullah.”It also said the Saudi and Emirati ambassadors opted not to take part in the tour although they attended the Foreign Ministry meeting. Asked about the absence of U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard, Bassil told reporters at the Ministry that she is outside the country. Quoting a diplomatic source, AFP reported that no deputy was sent to stand in for Richard.
The first stop on the tour was a golf course near the Rafik Hariri International Airport. Then the group went to the nearby Hizbullah-affiliated al-Ahed football club, where they toured the underground locker rooms and gym beneath the stadium and spoke to club officials. Netanyahu had said there was a missile site beneath the stadium. "We come here for soccer and for fun. We also have our kids here. That is all we have here," said Mohammed Zriak, a player on the team, whose fan base largely consists of Hizbullah supporters. The last stop was in Ouzai, an area near the airport.
After Bassil and the dozens of ambassadors and journalists arrived in the area, a reporter asked that they enter an abandoned warehouse to check if there were any missiles or missile-related equipment there. Live TV footage showed the warehouse littered with plastic bags and napkins and those who entered it did not report any suspicious activity or equipment. The tour did not go to a third site indicated by Netanyahu as a dock by the Ouzai waterfront. At least one participant appeared to have been convinced by the tour. Ambassador Alexander Zasypkin of Russia, which along with Hizbullah is a close ally of the Syrian government, described the tour as "very good." "On the diplomatic and political spheres, there are many statements," he told The Associated Press. "What we saw today are facts. There is a club and stadium. I can't imagine a secret thing happening in these places. We saw that with our own eyes."

Israeli Army Spokesman Lashes Out at Bassil
Naharnet/October 01/18Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adrai on Monday lashed out at caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil after the latter’s call for a meeting with Lebanon’s foreign ambassadors against the backdrop of Netanyahu’s missile sites allegations. In a tweet, Adrai addressed Bassil saying : “What do you plan to tell the ambassadors caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil? You have first to stop Hizbullah’s terrorism and remove its arms near Beirut’s airport. Have you inspected well whether the divine party still owns the sites we have revealed?”Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry invited all foreign ambassadors in Lebanon to a meeting Monday afternoon at its premises to declare the Ministry’s response to the allegations of (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the missile sites. On Thursday, during his address before the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu claimed that Hizbullah has positioned three missile sites near Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport. Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adrai meanwhile published pictures of the alleged sites on Twitter. He said the sites include the football stadium of the Hizbullah-affiliated al-Ahed club, another site near the airport and the Ouzai fishermen's harbor.

Bassil from Ahed Football Club: Certain side wants to incite war
Mon 01 Oct 2018/NNA - After touring Ahed Football Stadium in the Ouzai region along with the accredited ambassadors to Lebanon, Caretaker Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister, Gebran Bassil, said he inspected along with the ambassadors three locations alleged by the Israeli enemy to be storing missile sites. "This stadium is open in front of all for sports purposes," Minister Bassil said, stressing that Lebanon is a country of coexistence, dialogue and peace.
However, Bassil regretted the presence of one party who wants to incite war with Lebanon.

Bassil, ambassadors tour Ahed Football Stadium
Mon 01 Oct 2018/NNA - Caretaker Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister, Gebran Bassil, on Monday continued his tour along with a number of accredited ambassadors to Lebanon the locality of Rafic Hariri International Airport near the Golf Club, in an attempt to thwart claims by Israeli enemy Prime Minister about the existence of missile depots in the area, NNA field reporter said. Minister Bassil and ambassadors arrived at Ahed Football Stadium touring its various departments, where Israel claimed the presence of a missile site in said location.

Bassil, Ambassadors inspect airport region to thwart Netanyahu weapon depot claims
Mon 01 Oct 2018/NNA - Caretaker Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister, Gebran Bassil, on Monday inspected along with a number of accredited ambassadors to Lebanon the whereabouts of Rafic Hariri International Airport near the Golf Club, in an attempt to thwart claims by Israeli enemy Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, about the existence of weapon depots in the area, NNA field reporter said.

Netanyahu: Hezbollah ‘brazenly lying’ to world about weapons sites
نيتانياهو: حزب الله يكذب على العالم بما يتعلق بمواقع مخازن سلاحه/
By TOI staff /Haaretz/and Agencies 1 October 2018,)

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Screen capture from video of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showing a diagram of what he said was Hezbollah terror group sites near Beirut during his address to the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York, September 27, 2018. (United Nations)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, of “brazenly lying” to the international community over the secret weapons facilities in and around Beirut, which the Israeli premier disclosed on the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly last week.
Netanyahu said in a statement Monday that Lebanese Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil took 73 foreign envoys on a “fraudulent propaganda tour” of the alleged missile sites, where he failed to show them the underground facilities where Hezbollah is reportedly storing precision-guided missiles.
“Hezbollah is brazenly lying to the international community by means of the fraudulent propaganda tour of the Lebanese foreign minister who took ambassadors to the soccer field [one of the alleged missile sites] but refrained from taking them to the nearby underground precision missile production facility,” Netanyahu said.
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On Monday, Bassil led a group of the ambassadors around a pool complex and the sports stadium in a bid to disprove the Israeli accusations.
“Today Lebanon is raising [its] voice by addressing all countries of the world… to refute Israel’s allegations,” Bassil was quoted as saying. Israel’s Channel 10 news said Monday night that Lebanon feared Israel may attack the sites.
Netanyahu said the envoys “should ask themselves why [Lebanese authorities] waited three days to give them a tour.” The PM said in the September 27 address to the UN General Assembly that Hezbollah had secret missile conversion sites in and around Beirut.
One of the alleged sites is located under a soccer field used by a Hezbollah-sponsored team; another is just north of the Rafik Hariri International Airport; and the third is underneath the Beirut port and less than 500 meters from the airport’s tarmac.
These three are not the only facilities that the IDF believes are being used by Hezbollah for the manufacturing and storage of precision missiles. Hezbollah, Netanyahu said, took pains to clear out the exposed facilities so that foreign diplomats could tour the area. “It’s saddening that the Lebanese government is sacrificing the safety of its citizens while covering for Hezbollah, which has taken Lebanon hostage in its aggression toward Israel,” said Netanyahu.
Earlier Monday, the Israeli military released a video noting that three days had passed since Netanyahu detailed the presence of the alleged facilities.
“In three days you can clear out a precision missile factory, invite foreign ambassadors, and hope that the world will fall for it.”
It urged the international community not to be duped by what it said were “Hezbollah’s lies.”
The Russian ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, described the tour as “very good.”
“On the diplomatic and political spheres, there are many statements,” he told The Associated Press. “What we saw today are facts. There is a club and stadium. I can’t imagine a secret thing happening in these places. We saw that with our own eyes.”
In his UN address on Thursday, Netanyahu produced satellite imagery pinpointing the three sites being used by Hezbollah, accusing the Shiite terror group of using Beirut residents as human shields.
“So I also have a message for Hezbollah today: Israel knows, Israel also knows what you’re doing. Israel knows where you’re doing it. And Israel will not let you get away with it,” Netanyahu said.
Hezbollah, whose forces control south Lebanon bordering Israel and Beirut’s southern suburbs where the airport is located, has not officially reacted to the accusation.
Bassil on Monday lashed out at Israel, which he said had “violated our land, air, and marine space 1,417 times in the last eight months.”
Israel was attempting “to justify another violation of UN resolutions and to justify another aggression on a sovereign country,” he said.
The Jewish state has fought several conflicts against Hezbollah, the last in 2006.
Bassil said his government would not allow rocket facilities near the airport and that Hezbollah is “wiser” than to place them there. He said Netanyahu’s claims were based on “inaccurate” estimates without any “compelling evidence.”
“Lebanon demands that Israel ceases its madness,” he said.
Bassil said Monday’s tour, which included the ambassadors and several reporters, was not “a fact-finding mission,” but part of a “counter-diplomatic campaign” to rebut the allegations.
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah recently boasted that his group now possesses “highly accurate” missiles despite Israeli attempts to prevent it from acquiring such weapons.
Bassil acknowledged Hezbollah’s claims, but said “this doesn’t mean that those missiles are present in the vicinity of Beirut airport.”
Soon after Netanyahu’s speech Thursday, the IDF released satellite images of the sites that it says are being used by Hezbollah to hide underground precision missile production facilities.
The sites are located within close proximity to the Beirut airport.
The factories, which are meant to convert regular missiles into more accurate precision ones, are not believed to be up and running. The Israeli military said the missiles are currently being constructed with Iranian assistance.
The target of last month’s Israeli airstrike, in which a Russian spy plane was inadvertently shot down by Syrian air defenses, was machinery used in the production of precision missiles en route to Hezbollah, The Times of Israel learned.
According to Netanyahu, these precision missiles are capable of striking with 10 meters (32 feet) of their given target. Hezbollah is believed to have an arsenal of between 100,000 and 150,000 rockets and missiles, though the vast majority are thought to lack precision technology.
A satellite image released by the Israel Defense Forces showing a site near Beirut’s international airport that the army says is being used by Hezbollah to convert regular missiles into precision-guided munitions, on September 27, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)
The army said the facilities are “another example of Iranian entrenchment in the region and the negative influence of Iran.”
Holding up aerial photos of the alleged Hezbollah facilities, Netanyahu warned: “Israel knows what you are doing, Israel knows where you are doing it, and Israel will not let you get away with it.”
Netanyahu accused the Lebanese terror group of “deliberately using the innocent people of Beirut as human shields.”
According to the Israel Defense Forces, Hezbollah began working on these surface-to-surface missile facilities last year.
Reports that Iran was constructing underground missile conversion factories in Lebanon first emerged in March 2017.
Since then, Israeli officials have repeatedly said that Israel would not tolerate such facilities.
In January, Netanyahu said Lebanon “is becoming a factory for precision-guided missiles that threaten Israel. These missiles pose a grave threat to Israel, and we cannot accept this threat.

The Story of Hezbollah’s Soccer Team Netanyahu Mentioned at the UN
الهآررتس: قصة فريق كرة القدم (العهد) التابع لحزب الله الذي ذكره نيتانياهو في خطابه من الأمم المتحدة وقال إن تحت ملعبه مخزن ومصنع صواريخ
Uri Levy/Haaretz/September 01 October/18

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Netanyahu said what's been known in Lebanon for a while now: Al-Ahed is Hezbollah's team. With strong ties to the terror group and control over the league, it's missing only one thing.
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned “the Hezbollah team” during his speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday he literally meant a soccer team.
Speaking of Hezbollah’s missile installations, Netanyahu noted that there were missiles hidden in a soccer stadium. The field in question is home to the Al-Ahed sports club, Lebanon’s champion, and Hezbollah’s team. Netanyahu did not choose the team's name by chance. Western media outlets like to call Al-Ahed “the Hezbollah club,” among other reasons because of the dominant yellow color and the speeches given by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah at recent championships. In 2008, for example, the team won the championship and festively presented the title to Nasrallah. Bilal Arakji, a board member for the rival team, Nejmeh, told The Guardian at the time that Al-Ahed’s connections to Hezbollah have made the situation in the league impossible. “Ahed and Hezbollah want to take the championship, by force if they have to. Why? What about Hitler and the 1936 Olympics? Why did he want to win that? Ahed won the league last season and presented Hassan Nasrallah the cup. They said it was another victory [for Hezbollah].”
To this day no specific documentation has been found for the transfer of funds from Hezbollah to Al-Ahed, but through the years Hezbollah members in the fields of education, culture and others, have held senior management positions in the club. In addition, between the end of the last decade and the current one, Al-Manar TV, which is owned by Hezbollah, was Al-Ahed’s sponsor. Indeed, when Al-Ahed won the cup, Al-Manar broadcast the team’s highlights. And in 2016, a former team member, 19-year-old Kassem Shamkha, one of the club’s best-known young players, was killed fighting for Hezbollah in a battle in Aleppo, Syria.The team’s fan base is indeed Shi’ite, but the games fail to draw a crowd. Last year’s championship game was attended by a paltry 2,000 spectators, but Al-Ahed has creative ways of drawing them in. In the 2015/2016 season, the club managers put signs outside the stadium promising a free falafel to anyone who came to the game.
Al-Ahed’s links to Hezbollah, which began when the club was founded in 1964, tells the story of Lebanese soccer more broadly. Al-Ahed was founded in the southern suburb of Beirut, Dahiya, and that is where the team played in the past. But wars and the situation on the ground forced the team to move to the Ahed Stadium, the one Netanyahu mentioned in his speech.The field is near the Rafic Hariri Airport near Bourj el-Barajneh. The incredible fact is that like Al-Ahed, every sector in Lebanon and in Beirut has its own soccer team. Out of the 12 groups in the premier league, six come from the capital. There is therefore a large number of derbies, which bring together fans from rival clubs on a weekly basis.
And so it should come as no surprise that the Al-Ahed’s greatest rivals are Ansar, the star team from the 1990s, which is identified to this day with the Hariri family and represents the patriotic-secular-nationalist Lebanese sector; and Nejmeh, a huge club that is the favorite in Lebanon today. Nejmeh fans stress their “all-Lebanese” identity – they do not see themselves as Arabs, but rather as Lebanese, and their fans are made up of a variety of Sunnis, Druze, Shi’ites, Christians and even Armenian Catholics.
Two years ago Nejmeh refused to come to a championship game against Al-Ahed, which the soccer association had wanted to move to a neutral field with no spectators present, claiming that “Hezbollah was once again ‘seeing to’ Al-Ahed’s title.” Al-Ahed won a 3-0 technical victory, and won the championship by three points. Internal tensions in Lebanon, together with Hezbollah’s political involvement, have frequently led to match postponements. Tensions have also led to many games held without spectators and have fatally hurt professional soccer in Lebanon. Since 2015, however, the league has played uninterrupted.
Today Al-Ahed is the number one team in Lebanon. It has won six championships, three in the four most recent seasons. Some of Lebanon’s most prominent play for the team, Rabih Ataya, Mohamad Haidar and the young talent Mohamad Kdouh. A Bulgarian forward by the name of Martin Toshev joined the team this season and scored three goals in his debut, leading to a 6-0 victory against the Druze team Al-Safa.
**Uri Levy is the founder of BabaGol and an expert on Middle Eastern soccer.

Lebanon Refers to Judiciary Yemeni Complaint Over Media Support to Houthis
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 1 October, 2018/The Lebanese Information Minister in the caretaker government, Melhem Riachi, is about to refer to the Judiciary a complaint filed by Yemeni Information Minister Muammar Eryani over Hezbollah’s use of Beirut’s southern suburbs as “a media platform for managing the [Houthi-led] coup in Yemen.”In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Riachi said: “I thank the minister and colleague and assure him of the Lebanese government’s commitment to the policy of dissociation.”Riachi added that he discussed the issue with State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud, noting that he would provide him with the statement of the Yemeni minister to take the necessary measures. Eryani addressed the Lebanese government and his Lebanese counterpart, calling on Lebanon to abide by the policy of dissociation. In a series of messages on Twitter, he said: “Hezbollah who is part of the Lebanese government, has not only provided logistical support, experiences and fighters to the Houthi Iranian militia; they transformed the southern suburb into media platform for managing the coup in Yemen…. Attacking and distorting the coalition led by the KSA.” “I call upon the Lebanese government and information minister to abide by the disassociation policy, to stop subversive and provocative activities,” he added.

Aoun bewails print media dire situation, contacts Ilham Freiha
Mon 01 Oct 2018/NNA - President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, on Monday bewailed the dire situation recently endured by the print media in Lebanon. President Aoun expressed solidarity with the various media outlets which were recently forced to close their doors due to simmering circumstances, most recently the longstanding "Dar Assayad" various publications after almost seventy six years in print. "Media liberties have formed the public opinion in Lebanon rendering it a partner in building the nation," Aoun corroborated. In this framework, Aoun contacted by phone "Dar Assayad" Director General, Ilham Freiha, and expressed solidarity with the Dar which was forced to close its offices due to the simmering print media sector. The head of State hailed the role played by the Dar at the various cultural, social, political and economic levels, and the longstanding legacy by its founder the late Saiid Freiha. On the other hand, Aoun welcomed at the Baabda palace MP Jihad al-Samad, where they held a tour d'horizon on the latest political developments and the path of the new government formation. On emerging, MP Al-Samad relayed the President's keenness that the new government reflects the outcome of the recent legislative elections and fair representation. Later, Aoun met with Head of the State Council, Judge Henry Khoury, and State Council member Judge Rita Karam.

Mashnouk welcomes Mohammad Hout, Sami Fatfat
Mon 01 Oct 2018/NNA - Interior and Municipalities Minister, Mohammad Mashnouk, welcomed at his ministerial office on Monday MEA Chairman, Mohammad Al-Hout. Talks between the pair reportedly touched on the most recent developments involving the Lebanese airliner and Rafic Hariri International Airport. Mashnouk later had an audience with MP Sami Fatfat, with talks featuring high on political and developmental affairs concerning the Northern Lebanese City of Tripoli.

Maya Reaidy crowned Miss Lebanon 2018
Mon 01 Oct 2018/NNA - Maya Reaidy was crowned Miss Lebanon 2018 during a spectacular ceremony held on Sunday night at the Forum de Beyrouth, organized by MTV Station. Mira Toufaily held the title first runner-up, followed by Yara Abou Monsef second runner-up, Vanessa Yazbeck third runner-up, and Tatiana Saroufim fourth runner-up. Miss Lebanon 2017 Perla Helo handed over the cedar-shaped crown to her successor, Miss Maya Reaidy. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the president of the Republic, the prime minister, and the Lebanese Forces leader, as well as scores of political, media and social dignitaries. The ceremony was presented by former Miss Lebanon, Anabila Hilal Saab, and the renowned media figure Marcel Ghanem. The jury was comprised of Singer Nancy Ajram, Jewelry designer Doumit Zoughaib, former Miss Universe Demi Leigh Nel Peters, Media Figure George Kordahi, former Miss Lebanon Nadine Njeim, Renowned Musician Guy Manoukian, Fashion Designer Nicolas Jebran, Makeup artist Bassam Fattouh and Actor Adel Karam.

Sources: Senior Airport Official to Be Dismissed
Kataeb.org/Monday 01st October 2018/Army Brig. Gen. George Doumit will likely be discharged of his post as the head of the airport's security apparatus, sources told the Kataeb website. Doumit will be reportedly replaced by the acting head of the Army's Intelligence unit in South Lebanon, Brig. Gen. Elias Youssef. Last week, the Army briefly assumed control of all the checkpoints handled by the Internal Security Forces (ISF) at the Beirut airport following a scuffle between members of the two security apparatuses. The scuffle caused disruption at the country's airport, as passengers endured delay after the inspection process had been interrupted. The dispute is said to be the outcome of tensions that accumulated between Doumit and ISF Col. Bilal al-Hajjar.

Aoun majority government proposal seen unraveling
Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star/October 01/18
BEIRUT: A controversial proposal by President Michel Aoun for the formation of a majority government if a national unity Cabinet cannot be formed appeared to be unraveling Sunday after it came under fire by major parliamentary blocs, political sources said. “In addition to Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s declared commitment to the formation of a national entente government, the two main Shiite parties, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, as well as the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party vehemently oppose a majoritarian or one-sided government,” a political source familiar with the Cabinet formation process told The Daily Star.
The source recalled repeated statements made separately in recent weeks by Speaker Nabih Berri, leader of the Amal Movement, and Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah in which they underlined the importance of an all-embracing national unity government that would not exclude any party.
A source at Baabda Palace also played down Aoun’s proposal, apparently in the face of mounting opposition from various groups.
“President Aoun’s proposal is not binding. The president has said if we are unable to form a national unity government, shall we keep the country without a government? The majoritarian government proposal was one of the options to break the deadlock,” the source told The Daily Star Sunday.
Speaking to journalists on the plane that flew him back to Beirut Friday after attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Aoun said if Hariri was unable to form a national unity government, the second option would be to form a majoritarian one. Aoun also said that those who don’t want to join a majority government can stay out.
Although Hariri has not so far commented on Aoun’s proposal, MP Assem Araji from the Future Movement’s parliamentary bloc rejected the proposal, telling The Daily Star Friday that a majoritarian government would deepen political divisions in the country. Berri also refrained from commenting on Aoun’s proposal, telling visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence: “There is nothing new in this respect [Cabinet formation].”
Since he was designated for the third time on May 24 to form a new Cabinet, Hariri has pledged to form a national entente government embracing all the main political parties represented in the new Parliament that was elected on May 6.
A majority government, meanwhile, would have to secure the support of 65 MPs, half of Parliament’s 128 members plus one, in a vote of confidence after a lineup is approved by the president and premier-designate.
A possible meeting this week between Aoun and Hariri to discuss the Cabinet formation crisis is contingent on whether the premier-designate has answers to the president’s reservations over the draft Cabinet formula, the Baabda source said.
“The president has requested amendments to the first draft Cabinet lineup concerning the distribution of ministerial portfolios among the major blocs,” the source said.
“The Lebanese Forces has returned to its demand for five ministries, including the post of the deputy prime minister,” the source said, adding that the problem of Druze representation has also not been solved yet.
Hariri presented Aoun with his first draft Cabinet formula on Sept. 3, but it did not succeed in breaking the deadlock after failing to gain the support of Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement. Aoun voiced a number of reservations over the formula, particularly over the allocation of ministerial posts to the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party.
In the stalled Cabinet formula, the LF was allocated four ministries: Justice, Education, Social Affairs and Culture, while the PSP was granted three ministers set aside for the Druze sect. The problems of Christian and Druze representation are the two main stumbling blocks to the Cabinet formation.
Two lawmakers from the PSP’s parliamentary Democratic Gathering bloc lashed out at Aoun’s majority government proposal, and called for the formation a national unity Cabinet.
“They are hinting at a majoritarian government. If they consider that the [parliamentary] majority has been imported from abroad, congratulations to them. Our majority stems from the people and genuine representation,” MP Bilal Abdullah told a medical lecture in Iqlim al-Kharroub district, south of Beirut. “Let them try to govern the country if they are capable of doing so without the participation of the rest of political parties and components.”
“All of Lebanon is waiting for the birth of the government. Everyone is required to facilitate this mission. No one should dream that it is possible to find a compromise at the expense of one side against the other. Everyone is required to make concessions,” Abdullah said.
MP Faisal Sayegh seemed to hit back at the majority government proposal, while again signaling the PSP’s readiness to compromise on the Cabinet formation process.
“Necessity now requires that we hasten the formation of a national unity government headed by Prime Minister[-designate] Saad Hariri, in which all political powers in the country are represented based on the results of the [May 6] parliamentary elections,” Sayegh said during a PSP-organized conference on developing the transportation sector. “We call on everyone for a mutual compromise that does not constitute a [defeat] to anyone, but a victory for the people’s will.”
LF leader Samir Geagea Sunday called on supporters and members of his party to avoid political rhetoric with rivals, saying “differences are not solved by pouring oil on the fire, but through dialogue and constructive communication and working to narrow differences.”
In a statement issued by the LF’s media office, Geagea said his party had taken “all possible measures to facilitate and accelerate the formation of a government capable of meeting the challenges.”
“Rhetoric, differences and confrontations will help push Lebanon toward the abyss,” he added.
The LF has been embroiled for more than four months in a fierce struggle with the FPM over Christian representation in the next Cabinet. The FPM has laid claim to 11 of the 15 ministerial portfolios set aside for Christians in a 30-member government, while the LF has claimed five.
MP Fadi Saad from the LF’s parliamentary Strong Republic bloc called on Aoun to take a decision on the government formation and issue his instructions to put an end to the “greed” of some politicians, in a clear allusion to FPM leader and caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.
Bassil has been accused by LF officials of seeking to monopolize Cabinet seats and preventing the party from obtaining significant Cabinet representation commensurate with the results of the elections, in which the LF nearly doubled its number of MPs, from eight to 15.
“We will not abandon our right with regard to Cabinet [share]. The attempts to downsize the Lebanese Forces and through it downsizing the sovereign team in Lebanon are doomed to failure,” Saad told an LF gathering in the northern town of Batroun.

Bassil dismisses Israeli claims of rocket sites near airport
Georgi Azar/Annahar/October 01/18/During a meeting Monday, Bassil rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusations labeling them "an attempt to justify another violation" of Lebanon's sovereignty.

BEIRUT: In the wake of Israel accusing Lebanon of harboring a number of Hezbollah rocket building sites in Beirut, caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil quashed "the allegations" before inviting leading ambassadors to tour the alleged sites. During a meeting Monday, Bassil rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusations, labeling them "an attempt to justify another violation" of Lebanon's sovereignty. "Israel has violated our land, sea, and air over 1500 times in the last eight months, it does not respect U.N resolution 1701," Bassil said. "Netanyahu uses the U.N platform to justify Israel's violation of international resolutions." Last week, Netanyahu told the U.N General Assembly that his country had proof of Iranian support for Hezbollah, mainly in enhancing its missile capabilities. The Israeli army then released a bevy of images and a video clip of the alleged sites

Israeli Army Spokesman Lashes Out at Bassil
Naharnet/October 01/18/Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adrai on Monday lashed out at caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil after the latter’s call for a meeting with Lebanon’s foreign ambassadors against the backdrop of Netanyahu’s missile sites allegations. In a tweet, Adrai addressed Bassil saying : “What do you plan to tell the ambassadors caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil? You have first to stop Hizbullah’s terrorism and remove its arms near Beirut’s airport. Have you inspected well whether the divine party still owns the sites we have revealed?”
Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry invited all foreign ambassadors in Lebanon to a meeting Monday afternoon at its premises to declare the Ministry’s response to the allegations of (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the missile sites. On Thursday, during his address before the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu claimed that Hizbullah has positioned three missile sites near Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport. Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adrai meanwhile published pictures of the alleged sites on Twitter. He said the sites include the football stadium of the Hizbullah-affiliated al-Ahed club, another site near the airport and the Ouzai fishermen's harbor.

Lebanon Invites Ambassadors to Tour of 'Hizbullah Missile Site'
Naharnet/October 01/18/The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has invited all foreign ambassadors in Lebanon to a meeting Monday afternoon at its premises. The National News Agency said the meeting at 3:00 pm will be dedicated to “listening to the Ministry's response to the allegations of (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the missile sites.” “The presentation will be followed by a visit to one of the sites near Beirut's airport,” NNA added. During his address before the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, Netanyahu claimed that Hizbullah has positioned three missile sites near Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport. Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adrai meanwhile published pictures of the alleged sites on Twitter. He said the sites include the football stadium of the Hizbullah-affiliated al-Ahed club, another site near the airport and the Ouzai fishermen's harbor.

Bassil to Austrian Counterpart: To Join Efforts for Return of Refugees
Naharnet/October 01/18/Caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil met on Monday with his Austrian counterpart Karin Kneissl where they highlighted cooperation for the return of refugees back Syria, the National News Agency reported. “We seek cooperation with Austria, the international community and the European Union to ensure the swift return of displaced Syrians, thus preserving Syria’s stability and its fabric,” said Bassil in a joint conference with Kneissl. “Syria is a place of coexistence. We share a lot of ideas about the mechanisms for the refugees’ return,”added Bassil. The Minister said the return will take place under the “proper circumstances,” noting that the “Syrian Foreign Minister has reiterated willingness to receive each and every refugee who fled the country as the result of security conditions.”The return of Syrians who fled for security conditions is “much easier than those who fled for political reasons,” he said. For her part, Kneissl said: “I respect Lebanon and the Lebanese people for their generosity in hosting the displaced Syrians over the past years.”

Berri Commends Bassil’s Reaction to Israel's Missile Claims
Naharnet/October 01/18/Speaker Nabih Berri commended the reactions of caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil following Israeli allegations that Hizbullah has missile sites near Beirut’s airport. “Well done. This move is needed and necessary,” said Berri, adding that “the claims are dangerous and must not be disregarded or addressed lightly. A national stand is necessary to address it.”“It is shameful for this to happen while we are distracted with little things and ministerial portfolios,” added the Speaker referring to the government formation delay. Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry invited all foreign ambassadors in Lebanon to a meeting Monday afternoon at its premises to declare the Ministry’s response to the allegations of (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the missile sites. On Thursday, during his address before the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu claimed that Hizbullah has positioned three missile sites near Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport. Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adrai meanwhile published pictures of the alleged sites on Twitter. He said the sites include the football stadium of the Hizbullah-affiliated al-Ahed club, another site near the airport and the Ouzai fishermen's harbor.
“Displaying photographs from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly is a prelude to canceling the Iranian nuclear deal,” said Berri.

Report: FPM Says ‘Ball in Premier's Court’ after Majority Govt. Proposal
Naharnet/October 01/18/The Free Patriotic Movement said on Monday that “the ball is in PM-designate Saad Hariri’s court now” after President Michel Aoun’s proposal to form a majoritarian government that raised criticism of several political parties, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.
“Aoun’s proposal to lineup a majority government, if it is not possible to form a national unity Cabinet, does not aim to impose this option on anyone. It aims to find a solution after five months of delay,” FPM sources told the daily. “The ball is in Hariri’s court now,” they added on condition of anonymity, explaining that he should “submit to related parties a government formula based on his convictions, and let parties who reject the formula stay out of it,” by choice. President Michel Aoun has recently suggested that a "majority government" could be formed should some parties continue to insist on their demands. Aoun’s controversial proposal came under fire by major parliamentary blocs. The sources added to the daily that Aoun’s proposal aimed to reactivate the paused efforts, which explains a series of meetings between top officials despite the fact that no breakthrough has been recorded. Hariri was tasked with forming a government on May 24, but his mission has since been delayed because of conflict between political parties mainly the Druze and Christian representation.

Riachy: I succeeded in accomplishing media project laws, but failed in listing them on cabinet's agenda
Mon 01 Oct 2018/NNA - Caretaker Minister of Information, Melhem Riachy, on Monday held an urgent meeting at his ministerial office to thrash out the simmering media crises, especially those involving dailies and other print media institutions. Attending the meeting had been Press Syndicate Head, Aouni Al-Kaaki, Editors' Syndicate Head, Elias Aoun, Information Ministry General Director, Dr. Hassan Falah, and other media figures and magnates. The meeting capitalized on the need to transfer media project laws, previously submitted by Riachy to the Council of Ministers, to the House of Parliament for urgent legislation. Members of the meeting also decided to form a follow-up committee to communicate with the three presidents and find a solution to the print media crisis. "Newspapers are the strategic reservoir for all audio-visual and digital media," Riachy said in the wake of the meeting. "We read the introductions and editorials of newspapers on all the websites and follow-up on the articles of most of our media colleagues through all the audio-visual media," he added as highlighting the paramount importance of print media. Riachy went on to sound the alarm on the fact that Lebanon's eight newspapers were in danger of terminating their services. "Since assuming my post at the Ministry of Information, I submitted several bills; a part in support of the audio-visual media, a part in support of the print media, and a part in support journalists," Riachy said, deeming the Editors' Syndicate draft law the most remarkable of all.
"I succeeded in submitting all these projects, but I failed in getting them to be listed on the Council of Ministers' agenda," Riachy added. The Minister went on to disclose his agreement with the owners of newspapers to turn the aforementioned submitted projects into law proposals. He said that the House of Parliament could endorse the proposed laws and refer them back to the Council of Ministers as part of the Parliament's urgent legislations at the absence of a cabinet. "We have set-up a follow-up committee to transform project laws into law proposals within 72 hours. The committee will then follow-up on contacts with the President of the Republic, House Speaker, and Prime Minister-designate to convert all the theoretical work to practical one -- to be signed later by 10 deputies. Afterwards, Speaker Nabih Berri will be asked to summon MPs for an urgent legislative session to help salvage the print media as soon as possible by means of endorsing these bills," Riachy explained. It is to note that the follow-up committee consists of Information Minister, Melhem Riachy, Ministry of Information General Director, Hassan Falha, Press Syndicate Head, Aouni Kaaki, Editors' Syndicate Head, Elias Aoun, and other media figures.
For his part, Kaaki thanked Minister Riachy for his efforts. "It is the first time that the state has endeavored to find a solution to our problem. The Lebanese people should support us by realizing the importance of the Lebanese press, which is the mirror of Lebanon and its history," Kaaki said.

Lebanon's rentier economy and Creative Destruction
Dan Azzi/Annahar/September 30/ 2018
When Judgment Day for our country arrives, and it’s very close, the results will be cataclysmic and painful, but we should stand ready to exploit this and unleash Schumpeter’s Creative Destruction process.
BEIRUT: Last week, a state of apprehension proliferated in the economic and banking circles in Lebanon, as they watched with horror Lebanese government Eurobond yields rise from 10 to up to 14% within a couple of days. Eurobonds, notwithstanding their name, are actually Lebanese government debt denominated in US Dollars. A senior banker even described the situation using the term “hushed panic.”
Simultaneously, Credit Default Swap (CDS) rates rose from 600 basis points in November (when Prime Minister Saad Hariri 'resigned') to 1,300 basis points last week. For those of you who don’t know what a CDS is, it is basically the cost of ensuring our debt against a government default. Let me explain it in laymen’s terms. Think of life insurance. If you were to buy $100,000 of term life insurance on a healthy ten-year-old kid, it might cost you $2 a month. On the other hand, if you try to buy the same for a healthy forty-year-old male, it might cost you $20 per month.
Sometimes, insurance companies might give you a medical exam, which invariably will raise that rate, if your cholesterol and triglyceride levels, for example, are high. Now back to the CDS; let’s just say that investment banks today are pricing these as if Lebanon were an eighty-year-old who’s had two heart attacks, a malignant cancerous tumor, and is HIV positive. In fact, our CDS levels are now higher than Argentina or Turkey ... and you know what just happened there in the recent past. In Lira, the rates are even worse, at 16-17% and higher for five-year deposits, which detracts anyone with capital from investing in expanding a company or setting up a startup and employing our youth, whose unemployment rate is 37%, according to the World Bank.
At those rates, an investor would double his money every 5 years, without the aggravation of designing a business plan or managing people or dealing with the National Social Security Fund known as Daman and the tax authorities. And this is one of the symptoms of our economy turning into a rentier, lazy economy, spreading like cancer and infecting the other, productive sectors, like manufacturing, agriculture, and innovation.
Of course, I won’t even get into the self-evident question which every depositor should ask himself (or his banker)? Where are our banking geniuses investing these deposits to earn a rate greater than 20%, which would put Warren Buffet to shame, in order to pay you, the depositor,17%?
So how did we get to this sorry state? It all started a decade or two ago, when the banking business model morphed from lending deposits to people and businesses, to lending the government to finance its budget and trade deficits. Due to their fast growth, in contrast with the anemic growth in the economy, deposits have now reached a staggering nearly four times the size of the Lebanese economy.
This is a source of pride among the Lebanese Intelligentsia and the Not-So-Intelligentsia, who believe this provides stability to the economy and is a positive deviant relative to most other “inferior” countries. In fact, this has created the opposite effect, and addicted us to some very bad habits. Think of a waiter, Samir, who works in a fancy downtown restaurant, and who gets paid a low wage, but he can get as much free leftover food as he wants.
Samir can’t resist all this fancy food, with an entrée costing more than a week’s salary. A bite here, a meal there, and pretty soon, Samir is obese, with some serious health problems. So what did our government do when it saw all this free fancy food, i.e. piles of dollar deposits from the expats? It did exactly the same as our friend Samir. It started to spend way more than it collects in taxes, and very inefficiently, with little to show for it.
At the same time, the real estate bubble also redistributed our financial and human capital from other parts of the economy, erecting these huge and vacant towers all over the place.
But that wasn’t the only damage caused by this idiotic and short-sighted indulgence. This also came at the expense of the environment, with our beautiful mountains systematically consumed, destroyed, and converted into concrete blocks, with business models still assuming the return of the ludicrous 2010 prices, which will never come back in our lifetime, thereby guaranteeing they’ll collect cobwebs for decades. Naturally, the real estate sector sucked in the other part of our deposits, with loans directly or indirectly linked to properties consuming 90% of bank lending to the private sector, according to a 2017 IMF report.
In short, our bank deposits have gone primarily towards financing the government twin deficits or the property sector. So what is the optimal alternative destination for us to deploy our financial and human capital? Most people normally regurgitate the obvious tourism, manufacturing, and agriculture, but that answer is appropriate for someone who graduated from high school in 1970. The right answer, without a doubt, is to invest in the knowledge economy, especially software development. We would then convert the products of our imagination into a series of zeroes and ones, to sell overseas in return for dollars and other hard currencies, instead of using financial acrobatics.
To achieve this, we would need to set up startups modeled on the likes of Google, Uber, and Facebook. Is there any intrinsic geographic advantage that the US has for all these companies to start there? Is it related to the presence of oil or minerals or other natural resources? Of course not. It’s strictly related to their culture of innovation, educational system, and nurturing culture and business environment, all within our capabilities to emulate.
The first thing we would need to do is to increase the speed and efficiency of our internet and communications infrastructure and reduce their cost, instead of using them as a latent government tax. We would also need to reform our educational system and aspirations, from this silly cultural bias to push our sons and daughters to become physicians, engineers, or lawyers. We would also need to re-educate our youth to use the Internet to unleash their innovative capabilities, instead of porn, Facebook, and Whatsapp jokes being the biggest consumer of internet bandwidth in our country.
When Judgment Day for our country arrives, and it’s very close, the results will be cataclysmic and painful, but we should stand ready to exploit this and unleash Schumpeter’s Creative Destruction to wipe out any remnants of our old economic model represented by the following transaction: “Buy a piece of land, sell it for double the price in two years, and buy a Porsche 911. We should replace this Madoffian economic model with a modern, knowledge-based economy that creates high-quality jobs, especially for our underutilized youth.
*Dan Azzi is a retired banker. He previously served as CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Lebanon.

Educating Lebanon’s oil and gas generation
Roudi Baroudi/Annahar/October 01/2018
In order to derive maximum benefit, Lebanon needs to ensure that the nascent industry has everything it needs to prosper.
BEIRUT: It is now a very safe bet that the seabed off Lebanon’s coast and onshore Lebanon contains enormous amounts of oil and gas, and sound management of this resource could power a new era of unprecedented socioeconomic development.
It’s not just scientific studies of our own Exclusive Economic Zone that tell us this: it’s also the facts that neighbors like Egypt, Israel and Syria are already producing; that areas off Cyprus and Gaza show similar proven promise; and that much of the region shares the same geology.
Once Lebanon starts producing and exporting gas, the potential benefits will be game-changing: lower electricity costs, higher employment, more foreign investment, less public debt, far greater resources available for historic improvements in schools, hospitals, water and sewage networks, transport infrastructure, etc. Such achievements would make the country’s entire economy more competitive, providing more opportunities for all of its citizens for generations to come.
In order to derive maximum benefit, Lebanon needs to ensure that the nascent industry has everything it needs to prosper. Some of this work is quite advanced, with the Ministry of Energy and Water and the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA), for example, having already prepared legal and regulatory frameworks that encourage rapid and sensible development.
To get the most out of this process, though, we as a country need to ensure that we as a people are both the driving force behind its progress and the primary beneficiaries of its consequences. The only way to do this is to ensure that all Lebanese have access to the skills and training required to take on jobs at every level of the process. Lebanon can count on its highly acclaimed higher education sector to churn out the necessary architecture, chemistry, finance, management, and various engineering professionals. There also will be extensive requirements for qualified tradesmen and other technicians to build, operate and maintain both on- and offshore facilities. This means qualified pipefitters, electricians, welders, and other skilled workers – and only suitably equipped and oriented vocational institutions can provide the necessary training.
These kinds of jobs entail not just the provisions of excellent pay and benefits, but also the acquisition of valuable skills and experience that are easily transferable to other regions and other industries. In short, they are the building blocks for long and productive careers for today’s youth, whose spending will, in turn, contribute to sustainable long-term economic growth.
Already the LPA is working with oil and gas companies to chart clearly defined pathways from education to employment, and policymakers are similarly engaged in addressing capacity issues and how to help universities and vocational schools to gain global accreditation. These should remain top priorities, and we should also examine the experiences of others. Cyprus, for instance, has made significant strides in making sure that it will have enough qualified nationals to fill key jobs across its own budding gas sector; partnering with Cypriot institutions – and/or others in Europe or elsewhere – could radically increase the effectiveness of Lebanon’s strategy.
We are very close to realizing historic gains for all Lebanese society, and we owe it to future generations to get this done right. Education will be the key to strong livelihoods for thousands of our people, and we already have a very robust foundation of educational excellence. Whatever other challenges Lebanon faces, this one allows us to be masters of our own destiny, and we would be foolish indeed to let this opportunity be diluted in any way.
*Roudi Baroudi has worked in the oil and gas industry for more than four decades and currently serves as CEO of Energy and Environment Holding, an independent consultancy based in Doha.

Embassy of Japan organizes mine awareness seminar with LMAC, Jammal Trust Bank
Mon 01 Oct 2018/NNA

The Lebanese Mine Action Centre (LMAC), in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan to Lebanon, and Jammal Trust Bank, on Monday organized a Mine Awareness Seminar at the Phoencia Hotel Beirut.
The Japanese Government has been supporting mine action operations in Lebanon since 2001. Since 2015, and through the Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Program (GGP), Japan has provided approximately USD 4 million to help local and international NGOS carry mine clearance activities in the southern and northern parts of the country, including the Blue Line region. "Despite the urgency and significant importance of the clearance operations, I strongly believe that mine action remains incomplete without awareness activities. Unfortunately, many civilians still don't fully understand the risks from mines and unexploded ordnances, and are unaware of the existence of contaminated fields at a proximity of their lands or near touristic sites, such as the Tannourine Cedars Forest Nature Reserve in northern Lebanon, where Japan has recently funded mine clearance operations," Japanese Ambassador to Lebanon, H.E. Mr. Matahiro Yamaguchi, said in an address he gave during the seminar.
The diplomat went on to explain that the Japanese Embassy had decided to take part in the organization of the Mine Awareness Seminar in the hope that it would shed some light on the dangers of mines, contaminated areas, and various mine action activities that the LMAC and the local and international NGOs have been working on.Mine risk education activities and awareness campaigns are essential pillars to mine action operations. Throughout the years, many civilians from the host and refugee communities in Lebanon have gotten injured or even lost their lives whilst being oblivious to the dangers associated with landmines and explosive remnants of wars, left behind from several armed conflicts. The livelihoods of thousands of Lebanese have also been affected by their inability to exploit their cleared lands that were once contaminated territories. Hence, the seminar aimed not only to underline the various activities of the key players involved in the mine action scene in Lebanon, but also helped shed some light on mine contaminated areas that most residents and refugees are unaware of their existence. "Several armed conflicts and wars in Lebanon have left behind dangerous landmines and explosive ordnances across the country. Until today, and years after the conflicts have ended, the landmines still jeopardize the lives of the host and refugee communities, obstruct economic, tourism and agricultural development in the contaminated areas, and prevent residents from returning to their lands and homes," Yamaguchi explained.
Moreover, the Japanese Ambassador highlighted the paramount importance of supporting the owners of the cleared fields to develop income-generating activities through workshops or microfinance programs, deeming this a necessity for local socio-economic development. He also praised LMAC for their efforts in coordinating the various mine action activities, and thanked Jammal Trust Bank for sponsoring the event.
"In support of LMAC's vision towards a 'Lebanon Free from the Impact of Landmines and Cluster Munitions', the Government of Japan has been granting assistance for mine action in Lebanon since 2001, mostly by covering the operational cost of the clearance activities and by providing essential demining equipment. Over the past 3 years and through the Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Program (GGP), Japan Japan has provided around USD 4 million to local and international organizations operating in mine contaminated areas, both in the North and the South of Lebanon," he added.
"Ever since its establishment 20 years ago, LMAC has put remarkable efforts in coordinating all the mine actions activities on Lebanese territories, in offering assistance to mine victims, and in providing crucial administrative and logistical support to NGOs and donors involved in mine action," the Japanese Ambassador said, hoping that the seminar will help promote the effective conservation and sustainable use of released lands. "We should all be aware that mine action activity does not stop after handing over the mine-free lands to their respective owners. Supporting the landowners to develop agricultural, touristic or other income-generating activities, through workshops or microfinance programs is a necessity for the socio-economic development of the previously contaminated areas, and is fundamental for the development of the national economy," he maintained.
"Finally, I would like to assure you that Japan has been, and will remain a major supporter for the ongoing mine action activities in Lebanon. Whether through providing grant assistance to fund clearance operations, or offering support for the organization of mine risk education events, the Japanese Government is always ready to support Lebanon in reaching its goal of becoming free of mines and cluster munitions," Yamaguchi concluded.

The Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 01-02/18

Joint Statement from United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland

Monday, 01 October, 2018/“Today, Canada and the United States reached an agreement, alongside Mexico, on a new, modernized trade agreement for the 21st Century: the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). USMCA will give our workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region. It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people who call North America home.
“We look forward to further deepening our close economic ties when this new agreement enters into force. “We would like to thank Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo for his close collaboration over the past 13 months.”

French singer Charles Aznavour dies aged 94: spokeswoman
Mon 01 Oct 2018/NNA - The legendary French singer Charles Aznavour has died aged 94, his spokeswoman told AFP Monday. The songwriter, who had just returned from a concert tour of Japan last month, died in his home in Alpilles in southeastern France. He had to cancel several shows last year after breaking his arm in a fall. Aznavour, once named "Entertainer of the Century" by CNN because of his immense global popularity, was dubbed France's Frank Sinatra. But unlike the American crooner, he wrote his own songs, often breaking taboos about marriage, homosexuality and men talking about their emotions. Born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian in Paris on May 22, 1924, to parents who had fled the genocide of ethnic Armenians as the Ottoman empire fell, Aznavour sold more than 180 million records in a career spanning eight decades and as many languages.
Aznavour got his big break after World War II when he opened for the then rising French star Edith Piaf. She took him to America as her manager and songwriter while he worked on his voice, and urged him to get a nose job -- advice he resisted.--AFP

Family of Iran cleric: Revolutionary Guards hid explosives in Hajj pilgrim bags
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 1 October 2018/The family of a prominent late Shiite cleric Hossein Ali Montazeri said that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were behind explosives found in the bags of Iranian Hajj pilgrims in 1986. Montazeri was one of the leaders of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. His son, Mullah Ahmed Montazeri, spoke out this week in an Iranian TV program called “Khasht Kham” which was discussing the role of Iranian radical Mehdi Hashemi, who smuggled explosives on an airplane headed for Saudi Arabia in 1986. Mullah Ahmed sought to point out that Hashemi was at that time a senior official in the Revolutionary Guards, and he carried out the terrorist act within this capacity. Hashemi had become the head of the liberation movements unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in 1983 and “by order of Ali Khamenei, the shipment of explosives was packed into the bags of pilgrims in 1986," Mullah Ahmed said. His statement is based on a letter written by the late Hossein Ali Montazeri to Supreme Leader Khomeini. Hossein Ali Montazeri wrote: “The Revolutionary Guards made an unacceptable mistake during Hajj and used the bags of 100 Iranian pilgrims, including elderly men and women, without their knowledge. They lost the dignity of Iran and the Iranian revolution in the eyes of Saudi Arabia and during the Hajj season and forced [Iranian official] Mehdi Karroubi to ask King Fahd for a pardon.”Saudi security forces managed to seize the shipment of explosives in the Iranian pilgrims' luggage before it could do any harm.

Syria opposition: Idlib buffer zone won’t impact us, heavy weapons are in our bases
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 1 October 2018/A rebel alliance in Syria’s Idlib has said it was opposed to the deployment of Russian forces in a demilitarized zone to be set up under a Turkey-Russia deal for the opposition bastion. The National Liberation Front’s spokesman Naji Mustafa told Al Arabiya English that the situation in Idlib “is good with an acceptable public opinion about the Sochi agreement, but every now and then, some areas are shelled by artillery from the Syrian regime.”The deal agreed last month between Ankara and Moscow provides for the establishment of a U-shaped buffer zone around Idlib that would be free of both extremists and heavy weapons. The buffer would be patrolled by Turkish troops and Russian military police. The National Liberation Front, a powerful Turkish-backed rebel alliance in Idlib, cautiously welcomed the deal but has since raised objections. “A long meeting was held with our Turkish ally regarding the elements of the agreement, and chiefly the issue of Russia’s presence in the buffer area,” Mustafa said late Sunday. “We discussed the issue, and the NLF took a clear position rejecting this matter,” he said, adding that Turkey “pledged that it would not happen”.
Mustafa added that the buffer zone won’t make a large impact. “our heavy weapons are in our bases which are not part of this zone as it is mostly near battlefronts,” he said. Mustafa also told Al Arabiya English that they would not change the locations of their bases and fronts, and that their fighters will “remain prepared”, therefore the buffer zone will not impact their military activity. The accord over Idlib was reached on September 17 by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Russian resort town of Sochi. Under the agreement, all factions in the planned buffer area must hand over their heavy weapons by October 10 and radical groups must withdraw by October 15. Mustafa’s statement on Sunday was the latest indication of continued divisions and confusion over the accord. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Sunday that an NLF faction known as Faylaq al-Sham had begun pulling out its heavy weapons from three towns in the planned zone. Both Faylaq al-Sham and the NLF denied the withdrawal to AFP. “There have been no changes in the location of weapons or redistribution of fighters, even as we remain committed to the agreement reached in (the Russian resort of) Sochi,” said Sayf al-Raad. Idlib lies on the border with Turkey and is held by a complex array of rival rebel and jihadist factions, which observers expect will complicate the buffer zone’s creation. Most of the territory where the buffer would be set up is held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist-led alliance, and other hardliners. HTS has yet to officially comment on the deal, but its chief Abu Mohammad al-Jolani has previously warned that rebel weapons were a “red line”. Hurras al-Deen, a smaller Al-Qaeda-linked group, has rejected the agreement.
On Saturday, formerly US-backed rebel group Jaish al-Izza followed suit, saying the deal “bails out (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad”.- With AFP

Syrian rebels reject Russia presence in planned demilitarized zone
AFP, Beirut/Monday, 1 October 2018/A key rebel alliance in Syria's Idlib has said it was opposed to the deployment of Russian forces in a demilitarized zone to be set up under a Turkey-Russia deal for the opposition bastion. The deal agreed last month between Ankara and Moscow provides for the establishment of a U-shaped buffer zone around Idlib that would be free of both jihadists and heavy weapons. The buffer would be patrolled by Turkish troops and Russian military police. The National Liberation Front, a powerful Turkish-backed rebel alliance in Idlib, cautiously welcomed the deal but has since raised objections. "A long meeting was held with our Turkish ally regarding the elements of the agreement, and chiefly the issue of Russia's presence in the buffer area," NLF spokesman Naji Mustafa said late Sunday. "We discussed the issue, and the NLF took a clear position rejecting this matter," he said, adding that Turkey "pledged that it would not happen". The accord over Idlib was reached on September 17 by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Russian resort town of Sochi. Under the agreement, all factions in the planned buffer area must hand over their heavy weapons by October 10 and radical groups must withdraw by October 15.Mustafa's statement on Sunday was the latest indication of continued divisions and confusion over the accord.
Withdrawal denial
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Sunday that an NLF faction known as Faylaq al-Sham had begun pulling out its heavy weapons from three towns in the planned zone.
Both Faylaq al-Sham and the NLF denied the withdrawal to AFP. "There have been no changes in the location of weapons or redistribution of fighters, even as we remain committed to the agreement reached in (the Russian resort of) Sochi," said Sayf al-Raad. Idlib lies on the border with Turkey and is held by a complex array of rival rebel and jihadist factions, which observers expect will complicate the buffer zone's creation. Most of the territory where the buffer would be set up is held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist-led alliance, and other hardliners. HTS has yet to officially comment on the deal, but its chief Abu Mohammad al-Jolani has previously warned that rebel weapons were a "red line". Hurras al-Deen, a smaller Al-Qaeda-linked group, has rejected the agreement. On Saturday, formerly US-backed rebel group Jaish al-Izza followed suit, saying the deal "bails out (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad."

Germany Approves Extradition of Iran Diplomat Over Paris Bomb Plot
Berlin- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 1 October, 2018 /A German court said Monday it gave the green light for the extradition of an Iranian diplomat wanted in Belgium on suspicion he was part of a failed plot to bomb an Iranian opposition rally near Paris. Vienna-based Assadollah Assadi was apprehended in July near the German city of Aschaffenburg on a European warrant alleging his involvement in the plot to bomb the June 30 rally. His arrest came after a couple with Iranian roots was stopped in Belgium and authorities reported finding powerful explosives in their car. "The wanted man cannot cite diplomatic immunity because he was on a several day holiday trip outside his host state Austria and not travelling between his host country and the state that dispatched him," the Bamberg state court said in its ruling. The suspected plan to target a gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in a Paris suburb came to light a few days after the June 30 event. Bamberg prosecutors are now reviewing the decision and it is not yet clear when the extradition might move ahead, spokesman Matthias Huber said. The arrest sparked a number of diplomatic protests, with the Austrian Foreign Ministry summoning the Iranian Ambassador in Vienna, and the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoning envoys from France, Germany and Belgium. Following his arrest, Germany charged Assadi with activity as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit murder, alleging that he contacted the couple in Belgium to attack an annual meeting of an exiled Iranian opposition group in Villepinte, near Paris. They allege he gave the Antwerp-based couple a device containing 500 grams of the explosive TATP during a meeting in Luxembourg in late June. Assadi, who has been registered as a diplomat at the Iranian Embassy in Vienna since 2014, was a member of the Iranian intelligence service "Ministry of Intelligence and Security," whose tasks "primarily include the intensive observation and combating of opposition groups inside and outside of Iran," according to German prosecutors. Belgian authorities also accuse Assadi of being part of the alleged plot reportedly aimed at setting off explosives at a huge annual rally of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq group, or MEK, in neighboring France, and want him extradited. German prosecutors have said their investigation wouldn't hinder Belgium's extradition request for the suspect. The MEK is an exiled Iranian opposition group based near Paris with some members elsewhere, in particular Albania. The formerly armed group was removed from EU and US terrorism lists several years ago after denouncing violence and getting Western politicians to lobby on its behalf.

Syria: Conflicting News on Heavy Weapons Withdrawal From ‘Buffer Zone’
Beirut, London- Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 1 October, 2018/Conflicting reports have emerged on Syrian opposition factions starting to withdraw their heavy weapons from the "buffer zone" in northern Syria. On September 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to set up a demilitarized zone about 15 to 20 kilometers wide skirting Idlib. "There have been no withdrawals of heavy weapons from any area or any front. This report is denied, completely denied," National Liberation Front (NLF) spokesman Naji Mustafa said. His comments came after Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced Sunday morning that Faylaq al-Sham began withdrawing its heavy weapons under the Turkish-Russian agreement. The group is the first to comply with a requirement to leave a demilitarized buffer zone set up by Turkey and Russia to avert a Russian-backed Syrian army offensive, Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “The group is withdrawing its forces and heavy arms in small batches from southern Aleppo countryside, adjacent to Idlib province, which is part of the demilitarized zone towards the west,” Abdulrahman added. Faylaq al-Rahman includes between 8,500 and 10,000 fighters and is one of the factions of NLF, which was established in August with the support of Ankara in Idlib province and neighboring areas that fall under the control of fighting factions in Aleppo, Hama and Lattakia, he explained. Failaq al-Sham is the third largest group among the rebel groups in Northwest Syria, according to the monitor. "There have been no changes in the location of weapons or redistribution of fighters, even as we remain committed to the agreement reached in (the Russian resort of) Sochi,” Failaq al-Sham’s Media Officer Sayf al-Raad told AFP. Notably, under the agreement, all factions in the planned buffer area must hand over their heavy weapons by October 10 and radical groups must withdraw by October 15. The deal was welcomed by world powers, aid organizations and the United Nations, which all hoped it would help avoid a bloody military assault on the area. Formerly US-backed rebel group Jaish al-Izza rejected the deal on Saturday. "We are against this deal, which eats into liberated (rebel-held) areas and bails out Bashar al-Assad," its head Jamil al-Saleh told AFP.

Security Agencies Uncover ISIS Cell in Syria’s Raqqa
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 1 October, 2018/Security forces in the northern city of Raqqa uncovered on Sunday a sleeper ISIS terrorist cell that was plotting a series of attacks in the area.
Raqqa served as the de facto capital of ISIS so-called “caliphate” until it was retaken by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces militia alliance last October. A spokesman for the Raqqa Internal Security Forces set up by the SDF said it had killed two members of an ISIS cell and detained five others during an operation on Saturday. "Special forces and explosives experts carried out a counter operation .. to confront plans which were about to be executed by a terrorist cell affiliated with mercenaries of ISIS in a neighborhood in Raqqa city,"the unit's spokesman Mohannad Ibrahim said at a news conference. The forces raided two residential apartments where the cell members were hiding and confiscated grenades, pistols and explosives, the spokesman said. They also found a car bomb at the site of the operation and unearthed a large cache of arms and land mines buried nearby. The city has witnessed lately a wave of road side bombings targeting mainly SDF officials and fighters. In June, SDF imposed a three-day curfew in Raqqa and declared a state of emergency saying Islamic State militants had infiltrated the city and planned a bombing campaign.

Palestinians Go on Strike in West Bank Over Israel’s Nation State Law
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 1 October, 2018/Palestinians went on general strike across the West Bank on Monday in protest against Israel’s controversial nation-state law. The strike is a show of solidarity with Arab citizens in Israel against a law that defines Israel as a Jewish state.
The streets of Ramallah and other West Bank cities were largely empty on Monday as schools, universities, government offices, and private business were closed. Public transportation also was not available. The nation state law has come under fierce criticism at home and abroad and has provoked anger among the 1.8 million Palestinian Arabs who make up a fifth of Israel’s 9 million citizens. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hastily set up a committee to propose new legislation to mollify the law’s critics but no amendments have been enacted since the its passage in July shortly before parliament went on its summer recess. It will reconvene in the middle of October. “The strike is a message to the world that the cause of apartheid and racism is something that should not only be dealt with internally but it should be talked about globally,” said Mohammed Barakeh, a former Israeli lawmaker who heads a committee that monitors Israeli policy concerning Israel’s Arabs.

Pro-Independence Protesters in Catalonia Block Roads, Railway Line
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 01/18/Pro-independence protesters obstructed major roads and a high-speed railway line in Spain's Catalonia region on Monday, one year after a banned referendum on secession marred by police violence. "Everything began on October 1 and everything goes back to October 1," the region's separatist president Quim Torra said in a ceremony in Sant Julia de Ramis in northern Catalonia on a stage flanked with a large black and white banner that read "No forgetting, no forgiving." Some 10 kilometres (six miles) away in Girona, hundreds of activists, many covering their faces with scarves, occupied high-speed railway tracks. Central streets in Barcelona and Lleida were blocked, as was the AP-7 motorway, south of Barcelona, and A2 linking Barcelona to Madrid, images on Catalan TV showed. The high-speed rail service linking Figueres, Girona and Barcelona "was interrupted" since the "tracks in Girona are occupied," Spanish state-owned rail operator Renfe said on Twitter. Some three hours later, they left the tracks and the service was restored, it tweeted. Activists also took away the Spanish flag from Catalonia's regional government building in Girona and replaced it with red, yellow and blue separatist flags.
Damaged Spain's reputation
The protests were called online by a grassroots group calling itself the Committees for the Defence of the Republic (CDRs), founded to help stage last year's banned referendum and now demanding a clean break with the Spanish state. "A year ago we voted for independence... Let's act," the CDRs tweeted. In his speech, Torra praised their actions, saying they were "doing well in putting on the pressure."Already on Saturday, Barcelona was the scene of unrest, with 24 people injured and six detained when separatists clashed with police. They were taking part in a demonstration called to counter a rally by police paying tribute to colleagues deployed to prevent the 2017 Catalan independence referendum. The Catalan government, then led by Carles Puigdemont, on October 1, 2017, pushed ahead with a referendum on independence for the region despite it having been deemed illegal by the Spanish courts. The vote was marred by a violent police crackdown on polling stations. Even if it was illegal and therefore non-binding, 2.3 million people cast their ballots out of 5.5 million eligible voters, 90 percent of whom voted to break from Spain. Opponents of independence largely boycotted the vote. In a radio interview, the spokeswoman for the Socialist government in Madrid, Isabel Celaa, said the referendum had been "illegal" and had no "legal consequence." But she said the sometimes violent police intervention to impede the vote -- as ordered by Spain's then conservative government -- was a mistake. She said the footage of police charging at voters -- even if some of it was later found to be false -- "seriously damaged Spain's reputation" abroad. After the Catalan government declared unilateral independence on October 27, Madrid swiftly sacked the Catalan government, prompting several key figures to flee abroad, including Puigdemont. Others were jailed. In total, 13 separatist leaders have been charged with rebellion, nine of whom are in preventative custody in Spain awaiting trial, while four others are in self-exile in Belgium, Scotland and Switzerland.

The Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 01-02/18
Israel's 'Nationality' Law and Palestinian Lies
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/October 01/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13052/israel-nationality-law-palestinians
It is far from clear why the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip should be concerned about Israel's new Nation-State Law. The Palestinians living in these areas are not Israeli citizens and are not part of the Israeli political system. The Palestinians living in these areas have their own (Palestinian) citizenship, their own flag, their own parliament and their own government. They are not affected by the law in any way. This fact renders their opposition to the law little less than ridiculous.
This is the logic of Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinians: Israel defining itself as a Jewish state is an act of "racism" and "apartheid," while, as a matter of course, the future Palestinian state will be an Islamic state governed by Sharia law, and that, presumably, is not an act of "racism" or "apartheid."
Before condemning Israel for seeking to preserve its character as a Jewish state, the world needs to explain why it is all right for the Palestinians to plan that their future state will be ruled by Islamic law.
We are witnessing yet another remarkable mirror image brought to us by the Palestinians: once again, they seek to deny Israel precisely what they believe should come to them on a silver platter.
In 2002, the Palestinian Legislative Council passed the Palestinian Basic Law, which states: "Islam is the official religion in Palestine. The principles of Islamic Sharia shall be the main source of legislation. Arabic shall be the official language." This is the logic of Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinians: Israel defining itself as a Jewish state is an act of "racism" and "apartheid," while, as a matter of course, the future Palestinian state will be an Islamic state governed by Sharia law, and that is not presumably an act of "racism" or "apartheid." (Photo by Zharan Hammad/Getty Images)
For the past few weeks, the Palestinians and their leaders have been raising strident voices against Israel's new Nation-State Law, which specifies the nature of the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. The Palestinians have condemned the law as "racist" and claimed that it paves the way for Israel becoming an "apartheid state."
This week, Palestinians declared a general strike in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to protest the law, which, they say, "eliminates the two-state solution."
It is far from clear, however, why the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip should be concerned about the new law. The Palestinians living in these areas are not Israeli citizens and are not part of the Israeli political system. The Palestinians living in these areas have their own (Palestinian) citizenship, their own flag, their own parliament and their own government. They are not affected by the law in any way. This fact renders their opposition to the law little less than ridiculous.
Because they have their own parliament and state institutions, the Palestinians are free to pass any laws they wish without seeking permission from Israel or any other party.
Most people are unaware that the Palestinians do have their own laws, including the "Palestinian Basic Law," which was passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2002.
Why is it important to remind the world of this Palestinian law now?
Since the Palestinians are voicing their strong opposition to the Israeli Nation-State Law (which has nothing to do with them), there is a need to bring to international attention one of the major articles of the Palestinian Basic law. Only then will the world understand how the Palestinians and their leaders are duping everyone and engaging in hypocrisy and double standards.
The Palestinians say they cannot accept Israel as a Jewish state and will never recognize it as the homeland of the Jewish people. This, the Palestinians argue, is one of the main reasons why they are opposed to the new Israeli law.
In recent years, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly expressed his vehement refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. In fact, he has never missed an opportunity to make his position clear on this subject. "We will not recognize or accept the Jewishness of Israel," Abbas has repeatedly stated over the past few years.
Abbas and the Palestinians will, of course, never accept Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. Doing so, they reckon, would mean that Palestinian refugees and their descendants will never return to their former homes inside of Israel. The Palestinians continue to argue that the "right of return" is sacred and, under any deal with Israel, millions of Palestinians should be permitted to converge on Israel -- a move that would mean turning the Jews into a minority in their own country.
The Palestinians, however, who are hell-bent against Israel declaring itself a Jewish state, are the very ones who are affirming that Islam will the official religion in a future Palestinian state. Here is what Article 4 of the Palestinian Basic Law states: "Islam is the official religion in Palestine. The principles of Islamic Sharia shall be the main source of legislation. Arabic shall be the official language."
So, this is the logic of Abbas and the Palestinians: Israel defining itself as a Jewish state is an act of "racism" and "apartheid," while, as a matter of course, the future Palestinian state will be an Islamic state governed by Sharia law, and that is not presumably an act of "racism" or "apartheid."
In a further ironic twist, the Palestinians say that they oppose the new Israeli law because it "abolishes" Arabic as an official language in Israel (a false claim), while they themselves are poised to make Arabic the sole official language of their future state.
In fact, the Israeli Nation-State Law does recognize Arabic as a primary language. Here is what the law says in this regard:
"The Arabic language has a special status in the state; the regulation of the Arabic language in state institutions or when facing them will be regulated by law. This clause does not change the status given to the Arabic language."
While Israel continues to respect the Arabic language and has even granted it special status, the Palestinians -- in their Palestinian Basic Law -- make no reference to any language other than Arabic. The Palestinian law does not even mention English, Hebrew or French as secondary languages. It states that the only official language in the Palestinian state will be Arabic, and Arabic alone.
This is where the double standards can be found with regards to the Palestinians' and the others' position on the Israeli Nation-State Law. Before condemning Israel for seeking to preserve its character as a Jewish state, the world needs to explain why it is all right for the Palestinians to plan that their future state will be ruled by Islamic law.
Why are the Palestinians permitted to plan for Islam to be their official religion, while Israel is denounced for seeking to maintain its Jewish character and identity? Moreover, why is Israel castigated because of a law that guarantees special status to Arabic in the Jewish state, while not a voice is raised in wonderment as to why the Palestinians refuse any language other than Arabic in their future state?
We are witnessing yet another remarkable mirror image brought to us by the Palestinians: once again, they seek to deny Israel precisely what they believe should come to them on a silver platter. But this is the old Palestinian story in a new bottle.
This time, the Palestinians wish to keep the tenets of the Palestinian Basic Law under wraps. Perhaps they are somewhat concerned about world opinion on the matter. Given the history of world opinion on related Palestinian duplicity, however, perhaps the Palestinians have less to worry about that they believe.
**Bassam Tawil is an Arab Muslim based in the Middle East.
© 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.

The Stars of the International Clinic
Ghassan Charbel/Al Sharq Al Awsat/October 01/18
Small nations are mistaken if they come to the United Nations with an illusion that the international clinic has supernatural medicine to heal their diseases. This is what experiences have proven. But the Organization’s inability to end all the conflicts in the cosmic village does not mean that it has lost its purpose. It is no secret that the health of the clinic itself depends on the consensus of its senior surgeons - the major states - to diagnose diseases and find means of treatment.
As in any hospital, the conflict between doctors complicates the patient’s recovery and extends the sufferings. Despite the mix of successes with failures, the United Nations remains a reference, a haven and a platform. The presence of states in the United Nations is often a reflection of their presence on the international scene. The international organization has only the weapon of legitimacy to read through open crises. In the end, it is gathering the strong and the weak.
This is why it can make wrong and correct decisions, it can hurt sometimes and be thoughtful other times. The United Nations cannot simply be an echo of the voices of the powerful. But it cannot ignore them either because it needs them whenever it wants to impose its prestige and obtain respect for its decisions. It borrows their strength and later suffers from their power.
With the holding of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, talks renewed about the organization and its effectiveness, crises which it has successfully resolved, and those that it failed to contain. The UN was born out of the rubble of World War II and out of a dream that the world would not fall again in a similar experience that could take the form of a destructive nuclear calamity. Fortunately, the world did not fall into the big trap and acted with panic when the Cuban missile crisis almost exposed a frightening American-Soviet confrontation. Those familiar with that era insist that UN Secretary-General U Thant has helped resolve that crisis, although the spotlight has been directed towards other cooks.
Diplomats, who have been addicted to following up the General Assembly sessions, remember that the United Nations went through difficult exams and succeeded, not only in staying alive, but also in emphasizing that it was needed. Even those who are angered by the international organization because they have different views ultimately concede that there is no alternative in sight to the safety valve the organization represents or is trying to represent. It has witnessed the Cold War, intermediate wars through explosions of maps and civil strife. When it failed to solve the problems, it tried to limit the losses and ease the suffering. If the role of the international organization is to seek solutions, international tensions have sometimes turned it into an arena for attacks and counter-attacks. The long speeches of Fidel Castro were never lost in the memory of that generation. These speeches were the reason for the decision to reduce the period dedicated to each speaker to only a quarter of an hour, after which a light signal is initiated to remind him/her of the time limit. But there was always a rebel, including Margaret Thatcher. The marathon speeches began with Krishna Menon, Nehru's foreign minister. The minister spoke so long that he fainted and collapsed; and when he woke up, he insisted on continuing his speech.
There were other exciting shows. The General Assembly has seen Muammar al-Gaddafi exceed the time limit, then become angry and tear apart of the Charter of the United Nations. Idi Amin also claimed in one of his speeches that he was good at talking to crocodiles and making jokes with them. One should not also forget when Nikita Khrushchev began to riot and hit the table in front of him with his shoes. Until now, visitors ask about the place where the Soviet Prime Minister committed this precedent in the history of the UN.
Many stars have passed on the General Assembly platform, including Nelson Mandela, whose centennial was commemorated by the International Organization this year and welcome his effigy as a symbol of liberation and the end of racial discrimination... Also, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat addressed the UN General Assembly and called on the world not to let the olive branch fall from the hands of Palestinian resistance.
In this year’s session, the stardom has been decided since the opening. Wherever Donald Trump is, the spotlight follows. The Twitter general masters the rules of the game. An experienced boxer, he does not leave the ring. He strikes and receives blows. His Tweets are awaited daily in the world. The world has never seen a head of state running the most complex battles and crises through short sentences that quickly invade screens and social platforms.
From the General Assembly and the Security Council, Trump addressed the Americans and the world. It is a whole new way of dealing openly with international relations… A new way and a new dictionary. Using expressions suitable for Twitter, Trump spoke about the trade war with China, his achievements with North Korea, and the sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear and missile ambitions and its policy of destabilizing the Middle East. He used a whole new rhetoric even when addressing his European and Atlantic allies.
Experts in monitoring the performance of the visitors of the international organization considered Trump’s appearance as successful in terms of stealing the spotlight and confirming the continued presence of the United States in the first place. They said his performance has reminded them of Ronald Reagan’s appearance on the same platform. They also saw Trump succeed in imposing the actual agenda and make the Iranian issue at the forefront both in the assembly and its corridors. Washington’s warnings to the Europeans against easing Iran’s encroachment on sanctions suggested that the coming months would be rich with stances and tweets.
Trump’s stardom does not eliminate the glamor of Vladimir Putin and his policy that made Sergei Lavrov’s interventions remind the world of the days of Andrei Gromyko, with some differences of course. Stardom itself does not negate the fact that any escalation in the trade war with Mao Zedong’s heirs will be greater than the ability of the international clinic to provide treatments.

How to Fill the Gaps in the US Economy
Noah Smith/Bloomberg/October 01/18
What do the internet, nuclear power, GPS, cloud computing, voice recognition and artificial intelligence all have in common? They were all developed with the help of the US government. As economist Mariana Mazzucato and others have documented, government-led research efforts have been crucial to breakthroughs in a number of key technologies that later yielded big dividends for American industry.
Many of these advances have come through a single agency — the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA (also known as ARPA at some points in its history). In a recent essay, economists Pierre Azoulay, Erica Fuchs, Anna Goldstein and Michael Kearney explain the organizational model that makes DARPA — and its cousins such as ARPA-E, which focuses on energy technology — unique. DARPA first selects an area of technology that the private sector hasn’t made a lot of progress in yet — for example, brain-computer interface, or drone submarines — then finds researchers who are working on ideas that might fill that void. By giving wide latitude to powerful project managers, DARPA avoids much of the bureaucratic overhead and red tape that might otherwise gum up a government-led project.
But despite this record of success in technology, the US government has no equivalent agency that deals with economic challenges. Just as DARPA has exploited many areas of technological whitespace where the private sector needed some assistance, a US office of industrial policy — a DARPA for economic development — might be able to fill many of the economic gaps that are holding the economy back from its full potential.
Economists such as Dani Rodrik, Nathan Lane and Ernest Liu, and writers such as Joe Studwell, have articulated various theories of how industrial policy can help poor countries develop. But industrial policy in the rich world, where many highly efficient companies and advanced industries already exist, and where many regions are already thriving, should probably look very different. Instead of focusing on reshaping the economy as a whole, a US office of industrial policy would focus on relatively cheap, high-impact projects aimed at filling in the holes.
One big gap involves declining regions. Across the US, but especially in the Upper Midwest, there are cities and towns that have been hit hard by the Rust Belt deindustrialization of the 1980s, the China shock of the 2000s and the Great Recession of 2008, or some combination of the three. As writers James and Deborah Fallows have documented, some of these places are doing a good job pulling themselves out of their slump, and the strategies they use often look similar — cultivating public-private partnerships, leveraging nearby universities, developing new local tentpole industries and revitalizing their downtowns.
But because these efforts rely on local initiative, they are scattershot and patchy. Towns that are still languishing could use help identifying and implementing the models of their more successful counterparts. A U.S. office of industrial policy could systematically compile and analyze information on local strategies that worked, and synthesize these into a standard plan that could be distributed to business, political and academic leaders in less successful towns. It could help identify and connect local leaders from these sectors, put them in a room together, and encourage them to come up with revitalization plans that fit their towns’ particular needs, strengths and resources. And it could furnish seed money for the creation of academic research centers like Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute, which has helped Pittsburgh gain a lead in robotics.
A US office of industrial policy could also encourage venture capital to spread out from coastal high-tech enclaves to the heartland. Helping VCs tour declining regions and meet with local boosters, as Congressmen Ro Khanna and Tim Ryan have been doing, could be one of several low-cost initiatives to nudge high-value industries to diversify geographically.
A second big gap involves exporting. The US now exports relatively little relative to the size of its economy:
The likely reason is that the US is such a large home market that many American companies simply don’t bother to sell overseas. But there is evidence that once companies do make the leap and decide to compete in world markets, their productivity goes up. A US office of industrial policy could help domestically focused companies start exporting by providing them with information and non-cash assistance such as marketing, financing and logistical support. This approach would be relatively cheap, especially because it would be temporary — after an initial boost to help it enter the world market, each company would be left to succeed or fail on its own. This approach is broadly similar to the so-called economic gardening strategy used by some cities and states to encourage local business formation.
Through inexpensive, targeted interventions like these, a DARPA-style US office of industrial policy would target areas of development where local network externalities, incomplete information and other market failures have hindered the private sector. But unlike DARPA, it would also have a permanent staff — a group of economists, urbanists and technologists dedicated to gathering data and doing interdisciplinary research on which types of industrial policy give the most bang for the buck.
No such agency exists now. But some enterprising, growth-oriented politicians should try to create one — it would be quite a legacy to leave to future generations.

US mid-terms: Consequences for trade and fiscal policies
Dr. Mohamed A. Ramady/Al Arabiya/October 01/18
Most commentators have been fixated on the political outcome of the forthcoming US mid-term elections and whether President Trump could be impeached or not.
The cascade of political reporting is pointing to the Democrats winning control of the House, with some pollsters even whispering about a possible (blue) wave-like 40 or more seat majority.
Whatever the margin, many have no reason to doubt the high odds being given to the Democrats in flipping the minimum 23 seats needed to take control of the House, perhaps even with a “flood” tide majority, or that the Republicans will as widely expected retain their narrow majority in the Senate. But contrary to a common assumption of consequences no more severe than a return to partisan gridlock, the outcome to the November elections could be hugely consequential in several key areas – trade and fiscal policies that might be adopted.
An even more deeply polarized Congress, if that indeed is the result, may defy that conventional wisdom in two critically important ways. The first is on trade, and specifically the fight with China. Trade policy is far more existentially tied-in to the Trump White House than a mere mid-term card to be played out in a few months. It is fundamental to the Trump presidency – and to his 2020 re-election prospects – and not only will the White House still hold the initiative next year, even with a Democratic House, but the president may find more support among Democrats than assumed even as they would like to open impeachment proceedings against him. This is where the Chinese could be miscalculating the effects of a Democratic party led Congress. The second, and far less appreciated consequence of a divided Congress next year is there could be a high likelihood for another major round of fiscal stimulus.
Pent-up spending demands among Democrats is very likely to meet little serious resistance among Republicans with their own wish list of higher military spending. For a president with remarkably attuned populist instincts, more spending will serve his own ambitions in 2020.
Trade policy is far more existentially tied-in to the Trump White House than a mere mid-term card to be played out in a few months
Infrastructure ambitions
Indeed, a revival of infrastructure ambitions will be at the top of both the House Democrat and White House fiscal agendas. It goes without saying, but such a “fiscal accelerator” effect would carry enormous implications for the economy and the markets in running so contrary to the Federal Reserve assumptions for a fading fiscal stimulus by the end of next year. A looming fight between the White House and the US Central bank on further American interest rate hikes is another matter for discussion. It may be stating the obvious but while the president is not on the ballot paper, the elections are all about Donald J. Trump. Local or state specific issues will arise here and there, and some campaigns and voting will be driven by issues like the economy, the tax cuts, trade tariffs, immigration — insert your favourite hot button issue here. The single most important political factor going into these elections is that no US president in the post-war period has so dominated the news cycle every single day or managed through sheer weight of personality to make all politics about him. Democrats are essentially betting that the accumulative “Trump outrage” will be enough to override internal divisions within its wings and carry them to victory in the 2018-midterm elections. At minimum, the Trump factor should help pump up their get-out-the-vote efforts. Some 72 percent of Democrats, for instance, have indicated in multiple polls that they are “very motivated” to vote, and the Democratic turn-out has been high in the more than 30 states that have held congressional primaries so far this year.The Trump passions is also working in the Republican GOP party favour in that the same polling shows some three-quarters of GOP voters highly motivated as well. Despite the rush of those headline shocks that would crush an ordinary politician, President Trump's approval ratings among Republican voters remains rock solid and has in fact barely moved all summer.While the Trump support among his energized base may be holding, it is the independents, not each party's base voters whose swing votes often determine the winner in closely contested races; the Trump GOP appeal to those independents look to be hitting new lows, with every indication so far that they are breaking to the Democrats. By most accounts, an assumed outcome of a (large) Democratic majority control of the House and a (narrow) Republican control of the Senate would normally mean a return to legislative gridlock and the familiar political dysfunction.However, some believe that next year will mark a departure from the norms of a divided Congress in the past on two fronts, even amid twitter firestorms and the subpoenas flying across town.
Trade policy
The first is on trade policy, where the initiative remains in the hands of the president. And while the merits of the trade tariff threats and negotiations over NAFTA, with the EU, and with China are all being hotly debated, trade is among the few policy issues strongly felt by the president.
The declared aims of the Trump trade policies, to right the unfair slope of the prior trade deals and to bring “jobs back to America,” especially the higher paying manufacturing jobs, will in fact play pretty well among many factions inside a newly emboldened Democratic Party.
The reason is obvious - the blue-collar workers were historically the Democratic base, and there will be no small effort by the Democratic leadership to recognize the neglect of those voters in the Clinton 2016 campaign and to woo them back. So even as they object to every aspect of the Trump presidency, it may prove hard for Democrats to vote against policies pitched as helping the blue collar and the “hollowed out” Middle America. The second factor is very likely to be a second major round of fiscal stimulus under Democratic control of the House in the next Congress. Ever since 2009, the Democrats have essentially been unable to pursue their domestic social agenda through most of the Obama years. That changed with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 passed earlier this year, which added a mix of nearly $300 billion in Democratic-demanded non-defence discretionary spending nearly matching the Republican-driven increases in military spending. The success with the two-year budget deal will prove to be the template of what is to come. There is certainly plenty of pent-up spending demand among the Democrats, especially among its newly energized progressive wing fired up with a winning rhetoric for a “stronger” Affordable Care Act, greater retirement security by “protecting” social security and an expanded Medicare, low cost or free college tuition support, and -- in an echo of Trump’s initial “trillion-dollar” infrastructure plans that fell by the wayside this year in the drive for the tax cuts -- the Democrats are highlighting a “robust” $1 trillion infrastructure spending program.
Budget priorities
A key factor is that the budget is no longer driven out of the White House in a detailed budget plan with legislative language sent up to Congress after the State of the Union Address. Instead, crucially, all the initiative on budget priorities lies with the House, not the White House.
This will ensure that political resistance to higher spending and ever-larger deficits will be largely absent next year due to the political near neutering of the fiscal hawks in both parties. The recent surge in more populist Democrats gaining against the establishment Democrat nominees has caused no amount of heart searching in this party. The Democratic leadership is more likely to find itself using the promise of favoured spending programs as their primary means of “controlling” its progressive wings and diverting their passions away from demands to change the party establishment: the more the progressive demands are met through higher federal spending on favoured programs, the less likely there will be demands to change the system. On the Republican side there has also been a seismic change. The shift within the GOP away from its traditional free market, small government, restrained budget mainstream to Trump populism is already evident in the way the president has successfully brought the weakened GOP leadership in line despite what were initially significant personal and policy differences. And if the president’s populist economic policy agenda is set next to the spending priorities being shaped by the Democratic Party, there is far more overlap between them than one would assume, with the remnants of the GOP mainstream being the outlier in the next Congressional session. It is more or less an echo of President Clinton's famous “triangulation” to align a good part of his economic agenda to the GOP after their wave election victories in 1994 that left mainstream Democrats demoralised at the time. As such, an embattled president is likely to offer only the mildest of resistance to the Democratic budget demands and in fact embrace much of it, especially the infrastructure programs as his own, in what will fit neatly with his own re-election ambitions in 2020. US political watchers, while fixated with scandals, corruption, back stabbing machinations and revelations need to also look at the bigger picture.

Reconciling with Qatar
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 01/18
The affair that wasn’t present during the UN’s annual political season and its activities this year but was present last year is the quartet boycott of Qatar. It seems that we are in a state of harmony and reconciliation with the new reality and an acceptance of the fait accompli.
In New York, we forgot the “issue” if it had not been for a question asked to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and to which he replied: “It’s been 15 months since our boycott of Qatar, and we can go on (like that) for 15 years.”No one remembered Qatar’s crisis here except Qatar’s representatives. Even the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash noted in a tweet: “Qatar’s crisis was completely absent from the interests of the international community at the General Assembly in New York.” He added: “Qatar wasted hefty amounts on public relations companies and lawyers without (achieving) any results worth mentioning.”The boycott is actually more than comfortable as it is very beneficial for Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. These countries have suffered from Qatar’s attempts to create opposition within them and fund foreign activity aimed against them
A comfortable solution
What about the four countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain? The current situation is perfect as peace came following this complete boycott of the small neighbor that has been bothering them with problems and conspiracies for more than 20 years. The situation is very comfortable because their loss due to the boycott is almost zero while Qatar’s loss is huge on the political and economic levels. The boycott is actually more than comfortable as it is very beneficial for Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. These countries have suffered from Qatar’s attempts to create opposition within them and fund foreign activity aimed against them. This is in addition to the strenuous efforts to break up the three countries’ societies and institutions. Most of the symbols of extremist groups in Saudi Arabia, religious or civil figures and individuals, go to Qatar and receive financial, media and organizational support from it, and some of them did this publicly without any fear or shame whatsoever. Despite its pledges to stop, Doha’s authorities continued to generously support ideas and activities that sow divisions on the political, sectarian and tribal levels. All this stopped as a result of the boycot, and all that is left is its hostile activity outside these countries. The comprehensive boycott of Qatar actually shows us that it is much more than a diplomatic expression of anger as this boycott played an effective role in paralyzing Qatar’s activities inside the three countries. As ties have been cut, the citizens of these countries are prohibited from going to Qatar or using its airways or airports or banks or dealing with its institutions or with those who deal with them. Hence, the sources of domestic problems and strife were dried out. With Qatar’s absence, or with enforcing this absence to be accurate, Saudi Arabia succeeded in implementing many social reforms and fighting religious extremism. This proved that cutting the Qatari link cancelled the hired opposition voices and movements. It also proved that the Saudi society is mature and prepared for positive change when there are no more foreign interferences, primarily by Qatar whose policy incited and polarized masterminds and politically hired them to serve its interests. This explains the anger of Qatari leaders due to this boycott and the stopping of its movement. Qatar is angry because it saw that its massive efforts for years in supporting these groups, individuals and arrangements inside Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE is being destroyed. Therefore, it tried by all means possible to impose restoring relations on the three neighbors so it can resume its project, however, the boycott remained in place. There is now unprecedented calm in Bahrain, and the activities of these extremist groups we’ve complained about in Saudi Arabia and the UAE have disappeared. After Qatar accepted the truth and reality of the boycott, then perhaps it would spend what’s left of its money on buying more hotels and football clubs, and we can all live in peace.

Al-Jaafari: Iraq’s international speaker
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/October 01/18
As usual, Iraq’s great philosopher Ibrahim al-Eshaiker, popularly known as al-Jaafari, manifested himself this time at the world’s main podium, the UN’s podium during the General Assembly’s annual session. Abu Ahmad, the thinker, preacher and visionary, bedazzled the world with his knowledge and eloquence, entertained his international audience and made an error when he spoke of a figure who lived more than 3,000 years ago in Iraq and attributed to him, among his great achievements, a very small project, which is building Baghdad!
In the details, Jaafari was taken by grandeur and wanted to teach the world a lesson in Iraqi history. We don’t know what is with this frequent fondness in history lessons as displayed by the rulers of new Iraq particularly following the wonderful incident of the Islamic Virtue Party MP who wanted to pursue Haroun Al-Rashid and Al-Ma’mun! Anyway, let’s go back to Jaafari, what was his historical preaching about? Just a reminder – and we did say it could have been an error – that at the time when Jaafari was internationally manifesting himself, the bullets of ignorance, forgery and Islamized incubators were assassinating the beauties of Iraq, the granddaughters of Sargon of Akkad
A significant error
Jaafari said that he came from Baghdad which embraces all ethnic, sectarian and national diversity…etc. adding that ancient Iraqi King Sargon of Akkad once said about it: “It’s the dome of the world, and he who rules it rules the four winds.” Truth be told, I did not understand the occasion of this proud, glorious and military quote in Jaafari’s introduction about “embracement and diversity.” This is not the point as what matters is this time leap which the Iraqi foreign minister made from Sargon of Akkad to Al-Mansur (maybe Dr. Ibrahim could not pronounce and mention the name of Al-Mansur, maybe!).
Dr. Oday al-Hashemhi, a lecturer of Iraqi history, told Al Arabiya: “There is 3,000 years between Sargon of Akkad and the building of Baghdad.” Hashemhi also voiced surprise that the FM did not correct this piece of information which he made before diplomatic delegations at the UN.
Political analyst Hameed al-Hassan said: “Jaafari has done similar things before. While he was talking with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif in 2015, Jaafari said: ‘We must be open to ISIS.’” Hassan reminded that what he said surprised the audience so Jaafari retracted what he said.
Just a reminder – and we did say it could have been an error – that at the time when Jaafari was internationally manifesting himself, the bullets of ignorance, forgery and Islamized incubators were assassinating the beauties of Iraq, the granddaughters of Sargon of Akkad.

The military parade attack: An incident and two platforms
Amal Abdulaziz Al–Hazani/Al Arabiya/October 01/18
In October 1981, Nasr City in Cairo witnessed a military parade marking the eight-year anniversary of the 1973 Arab–Israeli War. Then-Egyptian President Mohamed Anwar Sadat was in the first line of the audience in the ceremony to which guests from inside and outside Egypt were invited to. It was a great national event for Egyptians and the Arab world, but the celebration was marred when Sadat was shot. Three armed officers got out of their car in the parade when it passed near the main platform and ran towards Sadat to make sure he was killed after one of them shot him from the car. Although this happened within seconds, the scene was full of critical details. All of the shooting and firing of bullets took place within minutes. The goal of the Islamist assassins was to eliminate President Sadat after they deemed him an infidel for signing the Camp David Treaty, which restored Egyptian land from Israel. The incident resulted in the death of Sadat, who had several bullet wounds on his body. Two of his foreign guests and some employees were also shot. Vice President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, who was sitting to the right of Sadat, and Defense Minister Abd al-Halim Abu Ghazala, who was to his left survived the attack. A security breach of a military parade of this magnitude is undoubtedly a sign of weakness within Iran’s military establishment, a kind of weakness that the United States is relying on as a result of economic pressure
The president's secretary tried to block bullets being fired on Sadat and held up a chair, while a Republican Guard officer shouted at the president to stay on the ground after he noticed that Sadat stood up after receiving the first bullet. The perpetrators were injured; three were arrested and the fourth got arrested later. They were tried and executed by a firing squad. The platform incident in Cairo had a clear aim and motivation. Everyone seen trying to protect the president and avoid being shot. A similar armed attack took place in the southern Iranian city of Ahwaz during a military parade marking the anniversary of Iran-Iraq war. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was not personally present at the parade, but was linked up via television. What happened there raises many questions when we compare it to the Egyptian incident.
The Ahwaz attack
In Iran, the state did not know the identity of the attackers for more than a day, because its enemies inside Iran are more than its enemies outside. The state thus didn’t know who was behind the attack. Then the government decided to exploit the incident politically. It accused the United States of America, the superpower, of standing behind the attack so that the military and the Revolutionary Guards that claim victories in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Sanaa and threaten Tel Aviv do not appear soft and easy-to-penetrate on an occasion that should have been under their tight control and properly monitored.
The leaked video of the incident shows how everyone on the platform immediately ran on hearing the shooting, and if Rouhani was around they might have left him to suffer his fate. The army, which was showing off its power was exposed as weak during the parade and took a purely defensive stand.
The incident is interesting not because both ISIS and the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz took responsibility for the attack but because the perpetrators may be from Ahwaz itself or Kurd or Baloch or Syrians or Iraqis or Lebanese. Iran has made enough enemies from peoples and races to sleep with one eye closed and the other open.
A security breach of a military parade of this magnitude is undoubtedly a sign of weakness within Iran’s military establishment, a kind of weakness that the United States is relying on as a result of economic pressure. The least we can say is that Iran, which sends its Revolutionary Guards to other countries to ignite wars, is supposed to ensure its strength at home, especially as it operates directly under the Supreme Leader himself. It is easy for the Iranian government to accuse Washington of being behind the training and arming of the attackers because that would be part of an announced war between the two countries. But the United States has been clearer and said from the start that Iran can expect internal disruption as a result of the economic crisis. Consequently, the party responsible for this attack is the government of the Vilayat al-Faqih, which has exerted enough pressure and caused marginalization of minorities, including the people of Ahwaz, and provoked them to act in such ways that they believe as legitimate, since they’re against military elements.

Detailed Lebanese & Lebanese Related LCCC English New Bulletin For October 02/2018 Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

Detailed Lebanese & Lebanese Related LCCC English New Bulletin For October 02/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani