English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 30/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 10/35-45./:”James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 29-30/2022
Our crisis is getting worse and worse by the day/Jean-Marie Kassab/April 29/2022
Aoun slams Salameh, says has 'lost his lifetime savings' too
Higher Defense Council convenes at Baabda Palace, discusses arrangements for parliamentary elections
President Aoun meets delegations from Rechmaya town, families of Beirut Port blast case detainees
Mikati chairs meeting of committee tasked to discuss Syrian refugee dossier
Army Chief meets UNIFIL Commander
Iran's Foreign Minister expresses to Bou Habib Iran’s readiness to provide fuel, flour to Lebanon
Bou Habib inks agreement with International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent on Federation's regional office in Lebanon
Hezbollah Pressures Another Shiite Candidate to Withdraw from Electoral Race
UN, Lebanon Sign Cooperation Framework for Sustainable Development
Lebanon Army Says Thwarts Fresh Migrant Trafficking Attempt
By Popular Demand, Tripoli’s Iftar Cannon Returns to its Citadel
Relief in Lebanon after Launch of Saudi-French Support Fund
UAE releases Lebanese physician held for weeks over tweet
Nasrallah: Elections won't prevent us from responding to any Israeli foolishness

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 29-30/2022
US House Passes Stop Iranian Drones Act
Iran Moves Centrifuge-Parts Workshop Underground at Natanz, IAEA Says
Iran Executions See 'Alarming Rise' in 2021
Iranians hold annual pro-Palestinian rallies nationwide
Iran Wants to Expand Strategic Ties with China to Confront US
Iran's Guards commander says Israel is creating conditions for its own destruction
US State Department Reveals Assad Family’s Net Worth
Egypt Speaks on Behalf of 108 Countries at UN to Ensure Peacebuilding Financing
Ukraine slams Kyiv attack amid new Mariupol rescue effort

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 29-30/2022
Is the Ukraine-Russia war headed for a Syria-type stalemate?/Jonathan Spyer/Jerusalem Post/April 29/2022
Muslim Pharmacist Berates, Slaps Coptic Christian Woman for Not Observing Ramadan/Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity
Putin's Genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day/Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone Institute
EU-China Relations: "Downward Spiral"/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute
French Elections: The Bad And The Not So Bad/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 29-30/2022
Our crisis is getting worse and worse by the day
Jean-Marie Kassab/April 29/2022
What if the sovereigners finally manage to appoint a prime minister after long weeks if not months of to and fro with Aoun. This supposedly sovereigner PM will most probably need weeks if not months to come up with a list of ministers because of the divides .Meanwhile our crisis would have reached its apex. Notwithstanding the repercussions of the ukraine crisis on Lebanon etc etc and etc...Our crisis is getting worse and worse by the day. In terms of days and not weeks or months . What do we do ? I wonder and wonder a lot.

Aoun slams Salameh, says has 'lost his lifetime savings' too
Naharnet/Friday, 29 April, 20220
President Michel Aoun's end-of-service benefits are also stuck in the banks "like any other Lebanese," visitors of the President have quoted him as saying. "I have lost my lifetime savings too," Aoun said, according to the visitors.The sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks published Friday, that Aoun has said he finds it strange that "a senior financial official" -- referring to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh without naming him -- is still in his position despite the collapse. He went on to accuse Salameh of "manipulating the LBP exchange rates."
 "Unfortunately, some authorities are still protecting him," Aoun said.

Higher Defense Council convenes at Baabda Palace, discusses arrangements for parliamentary elections
NNA/Friday, 29 April, 20220
The Supreme Defense Council, which convened this afternoon at Baabda Palace under the chairmanship of President Michel Aoun and in the presence of Prime Minister Najeb Mikati, requested all public administrations and agencies concerned with preparing for the elections to coordinate efforts to make the constitutional elections a success. The council decided to form an operations room in the Ministry of the Interior to keep pace with the election process, stressing the role of the election supervisory body and the importance of carrying out its tasks.
President Aoun stressed the importance of security and administrative coordination to accomplish the parliamentary elections without any problems, calling for the adoption of rules for the conduct of media coverage of the elections and cooperation with foreign observers and the election supervisory body.
As for PM Mikati, he stressed the importance of preserving the prestige of the state and the dignity of its institutions to ensure the protection of citizens. He said: We support human rights and freedom of opinion, but any unchecked transgression affects negatively, "we must be immune and protect our country from going into the abyss."
The meeting was attended by Ministers of National Defense Maurice Salim, Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Abdullah Bou Habib, Finance Youssef Al-Khalil, Interior and Municipalities Bassam Mawlawi, Economy and Trade Amin Salam, Justice Henry Khoury, Energy Walid Fayaz and Education Abbas Al-Halabi.
The Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, the Director General of the Internal Security Forces, Major General Imad Othman, the Director General of State Security, Major General Tony Saliba, the Director General of the Presidency of the Republic, Dr. Antoine Choucair, the security and military advisor to the President of the Republic, Brigadier General Boulos Matar, the Secretary General of the Supreme Defense Council, Major General Staff Muhammad Al-Mustafa, Acting Director General of Public Security, Brigadier General Elias Al-Bisari, Director of Intelligence, Brigadier General Antoine Kahwaji, Head of the Information Branch in the Internal Security Forces, Brigadier Khaled Hammoud, Assistant Director General of State Security, Brigadier General Hassan Shukair, Director of Information in the General Directorate of Public Security, Brigadier Youssef Al-Madwar.
The meeting was also attended by the head of the Supervisory Board for Elections, Judge Nadim Abdel-Malik, the Director General of Personal Status, Brigadier General Elias El-Khoury, the Director-General of Political Affairs and Refugees Faten Younes, and the governors of: Beirut Judge Marwan Abboud, Mount Lebanon Judge Muhammad al-Makawi, the North Judge Ramzi Nohra, the South Mansour Daou Judge Kamal Abu Joudeh, Nabatiyeh commissioned by Hussein Fakih, Baalbek Hermel, Bashir Khader, and Akkar Imad Labaki.
Statement
At the end of the meeting, Major General Al-Mustafa read the following statement:
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, presided over a session of the Supreme Defense Council, in the presence of the Prime Minister, a number of ministers, leaders of the security services and their assistants, governors, the head of the Election Supervision Commission, the Director General of Personal Status and the General Director of Political Affairs at the Ministry of Interior.
At the beginning of the session, the President of the Republic spoke, pointing out that the meeting is devoted to discussing the arrangements for the parliamentary elections scheduled for next May 15, to begin in the countries of expansion on May 6 and 8. President Aoun added: Ensuring the success of the parliamentary elections is in an important aspect through coordination between the various military, security and administrative agencies. In this context, it is necessary to emphasize the necessity of holding successive meetings between the concerned agencies and forces to ensure the success of the procedures that will be implemented before, during and after the elections.
President Aoun pointed out that there are foreign institutions that will monitor the elections, as happened in previous sessions, and their task must be facilitated, stressing the role of the election supervising body to carry out its duties fully in accordance with the tasks set for it in the election law to secure fair, free and transparent elections. President Aoun called for setting rules for the conduct of media coverage of the elections in accordance with the specified rules
Then Prime Minister Mikati spoke, focusing on the importance of the electoral process, but he pointed out that there is a basic rule that must be preserved, which is the prestige of the state and the dignity of its institutions, especially the military and security institutions, to ensure the protection of the citizen and face the expected elections, while the country is stable and secure.
PM Mikati added: The political differences in the country cannot be ignored, and each party enjoys freedom of opinion, but it must be noted that the freedom of each individual stands at the freedom of others. From here, any action that could harm stability, such as attacking the security forces, will not be in the interest of Lebanon and its people.
Minister of Interior presented the procedures and measures taken to accompany the parliamentary elections in terms of security, logistics and administration, followed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants in presenting the arrangements for the scattered Lebanese voting. Then the head of the Election Supervision Commission presented the commission's work and the difficulties it faces in terms of logistics and finance. Then the leaders of the security services continued to speak about the readiness of the military and security forces and the coordination among them in the procedures to keep pace with the elections. After that, the governors presented the situation in their governorates and the general directors in the Ministry of Interior for the approved measures.
The meeting concluded :
Meetings between the security services are held to take appropriate decisions in the context of preparing for, accompanying and following the elections.
- Forming an operations room in the Ministry of Interior to keep pace with the electoral process in all respects.
- Emphasis on the role of the elections supervising body to carry out its tasks specified in the election law.
- Continuing citizen awareness campaigns to facilitate the voting process. -- Presidency Press Office

President Aoun meets delegations from Rechmaya town, families of Beirut Port blast case detainees
NNA/Friday, 29 April, 20220
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, affirmed that he is keen on the independence of the judiciary in prosecution, investigation and judgment in the case of crimes referred to the competent judiciary, as much as he is keen on the principles that support the work of the judicial authority, including that every complainant must find his judge, and that the presumption of innocence prevails until conviction.
President Aoun’s positions came while meeting a delegation from the town of Rechmia in the Aley district, in the presence of MP, Cesar Abi Khalil.
President Aoun reviewed the issue of the continued detention of the Director General of Customs Badri Daher, despite the passage of more than one year and seven months.
President Aoun also received a delegation of families of those arrested in the Beirut port explosion.
The members of the two delegations told President Aoun that they are waiting anxiously, as are the families of the innocent victims of the dead and wounded, and the owners of private property that has sustained severe damage in Beirut, the capital, for fair and just judicial decisions.
For his side, the President stressed the necessity of issuing a decision by the judicial investigative judge, after liberating him from the restrictions imposed on him, according to which the Judicial Council seizes its jurisdiction according to the accusation.
President Aoun added: "It is time for the full truth to be known about the circumstances of the catastrophic Beirut port explosion and responsibilities, and to stop political investment and invoking immunities, privileges and legal loopholes that paralyze the ability of the competent judiciary to prosecute, accuse and convict”. "Injustice is cruel and is not legally acceptable when justice is partial, restricted, partial or selective, and all this is due to political oppression” President Aoun said.
The President also informed the delegation that he "will not tire until the right is achieved at all levels in this case, bearing in mind that the jurisprudence was found to fill the legal loopholes or to circumvent the artificial and malicious restrictions in the lawsuits”.
Caritas Lebanon Association:
President Aoun received the president of Caritas Lebanon, Father Michel Abboud, and members of the association's board of directors.
The delegation came to invite the President to participate in the festive mass on the occasion of the golden jubilee of Caritas.
At the beginning of the meeting, Father Abboud gave the following speech:
“We have come to your Excellency on behalf of the Council of the Caritas Lebanon Association, which works for all of Lebanon and in all of Lebanon, to invite you to celebrate the golden jubilee of the founding of Caritas.
Caritas was launched in the year 1972 from Sidon, and after that it was present in all the stages and crises faced by Lebanon.
After the approval of His Beatitude Patriarch Al-Rahi to open the Jubilee year with a festive mass to be held on June 26 in the Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, we are honored to invite you to participate in this mass on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Caritas Lebanon Association.
I take this opportunity, to share with you what Caritas is doing today. Caritas annually serves about 900,000 people in the social, medical, development and educational sectors. It also serves Syrian refugees in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, foreign workers in Lebanon, and detainees who do not have any assistance.
With your help, we hope that Caritas will be present on the map of the international community, because we live in Lebanon today with the so-called "new poverty" that suffers from those with low incomes and those who turn to Caritas for help.
We also asked His Holiness, Pope Francis, during our meeting with him a few months ago, to raise the voice of Caritas to the international community to provide support. This is what we started working on in coordination with Patriarch Al-Rahi and the papal ambassador”.
For his part, President Aoun congratulated the attendees on the golden jubilee that Caritas Lebanon celebrates, and the great humanitarian work it has been doing for 50 years to date.
The President also considered that the support provided by institutions such as Caritas, and other local and international organizations, has become an essential support in the current stage, for a large number of families who suffer greatly as a result of the deteriorating economic and financial conditions, “even if it does not absolve the state from its duties to work with all its institutions, to rise from the deterioration that the situation has reached, within a clear economic and financial vision that establishes a way out of the current crisis”.
Moreover, President Aoun stressed the need to neutralize humanitarian needs and the aid provided from political goals, in order to preserve people's dignity and their right to a decent life.
Congratulations on Fitr feast from the King of Jordan
In addition, President Aoun received a congratulatory message on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr from Jordanian King Abdullah II. -- Presidency Press Office

Mikati chairs meeting of committee tasked to discuss Syrian refugee dossier
NNA/Friday, 29 April, 20220
Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Friday chaired at the Grand Serail a meeting by the Ministerial Committee tasked to discuss the Syrian refugee dossier in Lebanon. In the wake of the meeting, Minister of Labor, Mustafa Bayram, and Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Hajjar, held a press conference in which they both stressed that the Lebanese state was no longer capable of carrying the burden of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, especially amid the dire economic conditions that the nation currently endures. “The Lebanese state is no longer capable of playing the role of a ‘policeman’ to keep control of the Syrian refugee dossier for the interest of other countries. Of course, we do not isolate ourselves from such humanitarian issue and human rights, but we rather adhere to them; however, matters have exceeded the Lebanese state’s capacity,” Bayram said.“We no longer have diesel for boats to monitor the sea, and the United Nations must bear its responsibility in this regard. The UNHCR must bear its responsibility in this context as well. We have rights that we have been forbidden. Today, we witness Lebanese citizens standing in queues in front of banks and ATMs, while others of other nationalities receive direct aid in fresh US dollars, let alone share our water, electricity, and resources while we get nothing,” exclaimed Bayram. “There are institutions, international organizations, and countries that have been concluding agreements with Lebanese associations and paying them in fresh US dollars without going through the Lebanese state, and frankly, this loose situation is no longer acceptable,” the Labor Minister added. Bayram finally announced that the decisions of this meeting would be submitted to the Supreme Defense Council for appropriate measures. “The Minister of Social Affairs will communicate with the UNHCR and inform it of the Lebanese position in this regard,” he added. Minister Hajjar, who reiterated Bayram’s stances vis-a-vis the Syrian refugee situation in Lebanon, regretted that the Lebanese were deprived of international support amid the country’s trying times while Syrian refugees in Lebanon received plenty of aid for education, rent, heating and hospitalization, and the Lebanese got nothing. Both men also sounded the alarm on the increasing crime rate in Lebanon due to the ill-fated and rampant crises nationwide.

Army Chief meets UNIFIL Commander
NNA/Friday, 29 April, 20220
Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, on Friday received at his Yarze office UNIFIL Commander, Major General Aroldo Lazaro Sáenz, who came with an accompanying delegation. Discussions reportedly touched on the cooperation relations between the Lebanese army and the peacekeeping force.

Iran's Foreign Minister expresses to Bou Habib Iran’s readiness to provide fuel, flour to Lebanon
NNA/Friday, 29 April, 20220
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Abdullah Bou Habib, on Friday received a phone call from his Iranian counterpart, Hussein Amir Abdollahian, who relayed Iran's readiness to provide Lebanon with fuel and flour given "the importance of standing by Lebanon amid its dire economic conditions." Moreover, the Iranian Minister welcomed the return of Gulf ambassadors to Lebanon, “especially looking at Lebanon’s important regional role.” Marking the International Day of Jerusalem, Abdollahian stressed "Iran's permanent support for Jerusalem and Palestinian rights, and its appreciation for Lebanon's support for the Palestinian resistance." Minister Abdollahian also touched on Vienna talks, stressing that Iran plans to continue negotiations and to remain optimistic about the chances of reaching an agreement.

Bou Habib inks agreement with International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent on Federation's regional office in Lebanon
NNA/Friday, 29 April, 20220
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Abdullah Bou Habib, and the Regional Director of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the Middle East and North Africa Dr. Hossam El-Sharkawi, on Friday signed an agreement between the Lebanese government and IFRC to reinforce a regional office for the Federation in Lebanon and set its legal status. The signing ceremony was attended by the Secretary-General of Lebanese Red Cross, Georges Kettaneh, Senior Liaison Officer to the Regional Director Office at IRFC Nadine Khoury, the Federation’s Digital Communications’ Delegate, Jani Savolainen, and the Director of the Federation’s Lebanon Office, Christian Cortez.

Hezbollah Pressures Another Shiite Candidate to Withdraw from Electoral Race
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 20220
Pressure continues on the Shiite candidates in the Baalbek-Hermel district, where the Lebanese Forces party is leading an electoral battle against the Shiite duo, represented by Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. Candidate Rifaat Al-Masry is the third Shiite candidate to announce his withdrawal from the electoral race, following a similar move by Ramez Nasser Qamhaz and Haiman Abbas Meshek. In a press conference on Thursday, Masry said that he would withdraw from a list formed by the Lebanese Forces party, which includes Sunni and Shiite figures, headed by Sheikh Abbas Al-Jawhari. The latter is known for his opposition to the Shiite duo. Masry explained that his move came upon the request of his family and based on his conviction that the electoral competition would “not lead to reform, in a country controlled by sectarian and confessional quotas.”“We are the children of a family of resistance… with a political legacy and an ancient history, which is proud of weapons, the weapon directed against the Zionist and Takfiri enemies,” Masry said, in reference to Hezbollah’s arms. Sources in the Lebanese Forces told Asharq Al-Awsat that the successive withdrawals came as the result of the pressure exerted on the opponents of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. “There is no doubt that the candidates were aware of the repercussions of their candidacy, and they had been subjected to pressure from the clans… But it seems that after the matter reached an advanced stage and the battle began to take a more serious turn, pressures increased and reached the point of threatening personal and family security,” the sources added. Jawhari, for his part, does not seem to be considering a similar move. His election campaign official, Abbas Raad, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the candidate was going on with his battle, and was even noticing an increase in the number of supporters despite all the pressure. A video released on social media earlier this week documented a shooting at an electoral meeting, during which Jawhari was delivering a speech on the freedom to vote. The shooting sparked fear and confusion among the attendees, forcing them to leave the site.

UN, Lebanon Sign Cooperation Framework for Sustainable Development
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 2022
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said that reforms were an urgent Lebanese demand, stressing that their implementation required full cooperation with parliament and government, official and private bodies. Mikati and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi signed on Thursday the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2022-2025. The framework seeks to strengthen the existing and ongoing cooperation between both parties on promoting the principles of sustainable development, and build the foundations for a prosperous and inclusive Lebanese society, where no one is left behind, the UN said in statement. “The new strategic framework that will extend over the next three years aims to strengthen governance while addressing multi-dimensional development issues,” the prime minister said, stressing that the UN emergency programs were important to address the primary challenges in Lebanon. Rochdi conveyed her condolences for the victims of the migrant boat that capsized in northern Lebanon, praising the efforts of the Lebanese army. She noted that Thursday’s meeting was aimed at putting “Lebanon back on the path of development.”“However, we cannot continue to find short-term solutions to end humanitarian needs, but we need sustainable solutions that address the underlying causes behind the cumulative crises... This requires an exceptional developmental approach,” she added. Rochdi emphasized the need for emergency actions as a transitional stage to achieve sustainable development, which would help put an end to humanitarian needs and constitute a possible catalyst for the country’s growth and prosperity. She renewed the call for the necessity of adopting reforms as soon as possible to serve the people and accelerate the development process in Lebanon.

Lebanon Army Says Thwarts Fresh Migrant Trafficking Attempt
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 2022
Lebanon's military on Friday said it has detained five people in the northern city of Tripoli as they prepared to smuggle 85 migrants by boat to Europe. The announcement came days after a boat carrying more than 60 migrants capsized on April 23 off the coast of Tripoli. Seven bodies were recovered, with 47 people rescued and the others still missing. Survivors blamed the Lebanese navy of causing the accident by ramming into the boat. For years, Lebanon had been a country that hosted refugees. But since the country's economic meltdown began in October 2019, hundreds of people have attempted a perilous sea journey to Europe to seek a better life. Several have drowned on the way, and hundreds have reached their destination. Tripoli is Lebanon's second largest and most impoverished city. Lebanon, a nation of 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees, is in the grip of a historic economic and financial crisis rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by the country's ruling class. The Associated Press quoted the army as saying the smugglers were detained late Thursday as they were preparing to send 85 people on a boat after collecting a total of $400,000 from them. The boat was confiscated in a sea resort in the country's north, it added, and the detainees are being questioned. On Tuesday, Lebanon’s government tasked the military judiciary with investigating last week's deadly sinking of the migrant boat. Search and rescue efforts were still underway to locate those still unaccounted for since last weekend's incident. Survivors have accused the Lebanese navy of deliberately ramming the vessel while trying to force it back to shore. Lebanese officials have blamed reckless smugglers for deliberately overloading the boat and eschewing safety precautions.

By Popular Demand, Tripoli’s Iftar Cannon Returns to its Citadel
Tripoli - Vivianne Haddad/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 2022
The custom of firing the Iftar Cannon once during Ramadan is a popular tradition throughout the country, but Tripoli was the first of Lebanon’s cities to adopt it. While it is not particularly practically useful today because of technological advances, historically, it had been a great way to ensure everyone knew that it was time to eat or stop eating in the past, and its legacy continues. According to Dr. Khaled Omar Tadmori, the cannon has been fired in the city since the Mamluk era, when it was the Mamluks’ second city after Cairo. This year, the Lebanese army fires the immobile cannon to announce that it is time for iftar (breaking the fast), imsak (start of the fast period), and the beginning of the Eid el-Fitr holiday that follows Ramadan from the city’s citadel, the same spot chosen by the Mamluks around 730 years ago, after it had been moved Rashid Karameh International Exhibition Center to maximize the reach of its sound. Tadmori explains that before it was moved, some residents living close to the citadel had been complaining that it was too loud but that after it was moved to the Rashid Karameh International Exhibition Center, the residents who missed this tradition outnumbered those who were happy to see the cannon moved further. Historical accounts trace the emergence of this tradition to 865 AH in Cairo. The Mamluk Sultan bought a new cannon and wanted to test it; the moment his soldiers fired coincided with the time for iftar. Its sound was heard throughout Cairo, and its people assumed that it had been set off to announce that it was time for iftar. At that time, calls to prayer (upon hearing it Muslims break their fast) could not be heard in various areas, especially the remote ones, and so the people thought this to be a solution. “The people liked this custom, and they went to the Sultan to thank him for it. The Sultan was surprised but was happy with the people’s reaction to this step,” Tadmori says.

Relief in Lebanon after Launch of Saudi-French Support Fund
Beirut - Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 2022
Lebanon’s political, economic and popular circles have voiced satisfaction with the launch of the Saudi-French Fund to support food security and the health sector in the country. The joint initiative by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the French Development Agency and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, comes to alleviate major crises facing Lebanon, in parallel with preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections on May 15.Saudi Ambassador Walid Al-Bukhari, French Ambassador Anne Griot and the Director of the French Development Agency in Lebanon have signed the  “Framework Memorandum of Understanding for the Saudi-French Fund to Support the Lebanese People”, which “aims to support the vulnerable population” in the country. The agreement grants nearly 30 million euros to humanitarian and development projects. In a speech delivered on the occasion, Al-Bukhari said that the partnership “aims to support humanitarian and relief work in Lebanon with the highest standards of transparency.”He noted that the funding would focus on six main sectors, including food security, health, education, energy, water and internal security. “We fulfill our obligations toward Lebanon without discriminating against its sects and groups, based on our duty of Arab brotherhood,” the Saudi ambassador stated. The French Embassy in Lebanon said in a statement that the French contribution aimed to support “the vulnerable people in Lebanon and respond to their most urgent needs in the sectors of health and food safety.”It added: “The agreement, which is consistent with the guidelines adopted by President Macron and the Saudi Crown Prince on December 4 in Jeddah, represents an important step toward implementing the commitment made in Paris on February 28 by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and his Saudi counterpart: they pledged that France and Saudi Arabia would provide emergency financial support to projects assisting vulnerable populations in Lebanon.”In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the head of the parliamentary Economy Committee, MP Yassin Jaber, said that the launch of the fund at this particular time “confirms that Saudi Arabia, as well as the Arab brothers and friendly countries, will not abandon Lebanon,” underlining the importance of the initiative as it comes within an Arab-European partnership. Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, for his part, pointed to the importance of the agreement in order to provide assistance to the various Lebanese institutions, which he said would reflect positively on the living and social conditions across Lebanon.

UAE releases Lebanese physician held for weeks over tweet
Associated Press
The United Arab Emirates has released a Lebanese physician after holding him for more than three weeks over a tweet he published years ago, a person familiar with the case said. The case of Dr. Richard Kharrat came to attention in early April when local media reported that he went missing from his hotel in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE has declined to comment on Kharrat's case since he was detained in early April during a visit to the oil-rich emirates. Days after Kharrat's disappearance, Lebanon's state news agency quoted Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib as saying that Lebanese authorities are following the case of Kharrat "who is in detention in the United Arab Emirates." Lebanese activists have launched a campaign on social media calling for Kharrat's release. The person familiar with the case, who requested anonymity to discuss the matter, said the arrest was linked to tweets that Kharrat wrote years ago and were seen offensive to the UAE. In one of the widely circulated tweets, Kharrat poked fun at names of people in the UAE and Lebanon. Kharrat, a gynecologist, was to return to Beirut around midnight Thursday. Social media is an often-perilous space in the UAE. Earlier this year, the country passed a new, vaguely worded cybercrime law, which rights groups say further restricts online speech and proscribes prison terms for those who use the internet to share, document or report information that could harm the state's interests, reputation or prestige. It also criminalizes spreading rumors and fake news. Kharrat's arrest came as relations between Lebanon and the UAE have been tense for months. The UAE withdrew its diplomats from Beirut in October after Saudi Arabia did so in response to comments by a Cabinet minister at the time who criticized the war by the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen. The minister, George Kordahi, later resigned and the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait returned to Lebanon earlier this month. The UAE ambassador still has not returned to Beirut.

Nasrallah: Elections won't prevent us from responding to any Israeli foolishness
Naharnet/Friday, 29 April, 20220
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday announced that Lebanon’s upcoming parliamentary elections will not prevent his group from responding to any Israeli hostile act. “I tell the Zionists that their planned exercises do not scare us but we will be prepared,” Nasrallah said in a speech marking Quds Day, referring to Israeli military exercises that will begin in early May. “Over the past few weeks, our jihadist formations were conducting silent exercises,” Nasrallah revealed. “When the Israeli exercises begin, the resistance in Lebanon will be at the highest levels of preparedness and readiness. We tell the Israeli enemy not to bet on exhaustion or hunger. Any act or foolishness will be met with an immediate response,” he warned. “Elections will not keep us busy from responding,” Nasrallah said. Separately, Hizbullah’s chief said that Iran “will strike Israel directly” should the “attacks on Iranian assets in the region continue.”As for the Palestinian cause, Nasrallah said that the aim behind the “sanctions and siege” on some countries and movements is “pushing us all to abandon Palestine and Jerusalem and our water, oil and gas.” “The military confrontations have proven to be capable of achieving victories and defeating the enemy, and this path must continue,” Nasrallah added. “The Palestinians told the Israelis over the past weeks that they cannot occupy Palestine and still enjoy security,” he said. “Liberating Palestine might not need great armies or weapons, but rather martyrdom fighters,” Nasrallah noted. Reiterating “the importance of the regional equation for protecting Jerusalem and al-Aqsa,” Nasrallah called on the region’s nations to “tell Israel that Jerusalem’s demise would mean Israel’s demise.”
“This generation, God willing, will pray in Jerusalem,” Nasrallah concluded.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 29-30/2022
US House Passes Stop Iranian Drones Act
Washington - Rana Abtar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 2022
The US House of Representatives unanimously passed the Stop Iranian Drones Act (SIDA) to end its drone program and impose sanctions on its supporters. The bill was approved by 424 votes against two and required approval from the Senate and a presidential signature to become law.
Republicans Tom Massie and Marjorie Greene were against the bill. The bill promises to punish those who deal with the Iranian regime in the drones' program under the US Sanctions on conventional weapons. Democratic Representative Ted Deutsch tweeted: "time, and again, Iran has used UAVs to threaten global stability and US interests. Congress countered this destabilizing behavior today and passed the Stop Iranian Drones Act." Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said the Act would stop Iran or Iranian allies from acquiring combat drones that could be used against US troops or US allies.
Alleging that Iran is "the world's leading exporter of terrorism," Stefanik said the world should know Washington will "use every tool at its disposal to cut off Iran's access to deadly weapons." The legislators spoke of the importance of approving such a draft as Iran uses the drones to spread panic in the Middle East and attack US forces, Israel, and allies in the region. They urged the Senate to pass the exact version of the bill quickly ahead of sending it for signing at the White House. Last December, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mike McCaul, warned of the danger of drones against the US and its allies in the Middle East. McCaul said that "these attacks are intolerable" whether Iran launches the attack, the Houthis, Iran-backed militia groups, or other Iran-sponsored entities. "The people of the Middle East, including Americans living there, cannot live in freedom, stability, or prosperity under assault by Iran's drones," said McCaul. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks pointed out that the "deadly drones in the hands of the world's greatest exporter of terrorism, Iran, jeopardizes the security of the United States and regional peace."He asserted that the recent Iranian drone attacks on US troops, commercial shipping vessels, regional partners, and the export of drone technology to conflict zones pose a dire threat. The Democratic representative stressed that the bill sends a strong signal to the international community that it supports the Iranian drone program and will not be tolerated by the US government. The senators pledged to expedite the bill's approval, which was put forward by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Bob Menendez, and its top Republican, Jim Risch, in December. The lawmakers behind the proposed legislation say it clarifies that US sanctions on Iran's conventional weapons program under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) include the supply, sale, or transfer to or from Iran of drones, which can be used in attacks against the US or its allies. "Iran's increasing reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles to attack US personnel and assets across the Middle East and shipping vessels, commercial facilities, and regional partners is a serious and growing menace to regional stability," said Menendez. He warned that Iran's reckless export of this technology to proxies across the region represents a significant threat to human lives. "We must do more to hold Iran accountable for its destabilizing behavior as we continue to confront the threat of its nuclear program." Risch said the US must do more to halt "Iran's regional terrorism," as "we saw with recent Iranian-sponsored drone attacks on American troops and the Iraqi Prime Minister, as well as the constant attacks on Saudi Arabia."

Iran Moves Centrifuge-Parts Workshop Underground at Natanz, IAEA Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 2022
Iran's new workshop at Natanz for making parts for centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, has been set up underground, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Thursday, a move apparently aimed at protecting it from possible attacks. The workshop uses machines from a now-closed facility at Karaj that suffered what Tehran says was a sabotage attack by its arch-foe Israel. The workshop can make parts essential to advanced centrifuges that are among the most efficient in Iran's enrichment program. The International Atomic Energy Agency informed its member states two weeks ago that Iran had moved the machines to Natanz without specifying where at the sprawling site, which includes the underground Fuel Enrichment Plant where Iran has thousands of centrifuges operating. Grossi told a news conference the workshop had been set up in "one of the halls" of the FEP. Diplomats say the plant is roughly three floors below ground, possibly to protect it from potential air strikes. Until now Iran has used the FEP only for enrichment. It is the one facility where the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers allows Iran to produce enriched uranium, but only with its first-generation IR-1 centrifuges, which are far less efficient than Iran's more advanced models. "They said that it is ready to operate," the IAEA's chief inspector, Massimo Aparo, said of the workshop. The 2015 deal has been eroding since then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of it in 2018. Iran later breached various restrictions the deal imposed on its nuclear activities, like caps on the purity to which it enriches uranium or its stockpile of enriched material. It is now also enriching uranium at the FEP with advanced centrifuges and is enriching at other sites where the deal does not allow it. Talks to revive that deal have stalled.

Iran Executions See 'Alarming Rise' in 2021
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 2022
Executions in Iran rose by 25 percent in 2021, a report by two leading NGOs said Thursday, expressing alarm over a surge in the numbers executed for drug offences and also the hanging of at least 17 women. The rate of executions in Iran also accelerated after the June election of hardline former judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi to the presidency, said the report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and France's Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM). The report urged world powers negotiating with Iran on reviving the deal on its nuclear program to put use of capital punishment in the Iranian republic -- which executes more people annually then any nation other than China -- at the center of the talks. At least 333 people were executed in 2021, a 25-percent increase compared to 267 in 2020, said the report, based on official media but also sources inside Iran. Meanwhile, at least 126 executions were for drug-related charges, five times higher than 2020's figure of 25. This marked a major reversal of a trend of a decline in drug-related executions since Iran in 2017 adopted amendments to its anti-narcotics law in the face of international pressure. Over 80 percent of executions were not officially announced, including all those for drug-related offences, it said. The report "reveals an increase in the number of executions, an alarming rise in the implementation of death sentences for drug offences and an ongoing lack of transparency", the NGOs said.
'Less scrutiny'
IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam expressed concern that there was "less scrutiny" on Iran's rights record as powers focused on bringing the nuclear negotiations to a positive conclusion. "There will be no sustainable (deal)... unless the situation of human rights in general and the death penalty in particular, are central parts of the negotiations," he said. The report said at least 17 women were executed in 2021, compared to 9 in 2020. Twelve were sentenced for murder and five on drug-related charges. There has been growing concern over the numbers of women executed on charges of murdering a husband or relative who activists believe may have been abusive. It noted the case of one woman, Zahra Esmaili, who shot her husband dead in 2017. It said she was executed in February 2021 and may have had a heart attack before being hanged after watching others suffer the same fate before her.
In another case, Maryam Karimi was convicted for the murder of her husband and was hanged in March 2021, with her daughter personally carrying out the execution by kicking away the stool as is allowed under Iranian law.
'Tool of repression' -
The report also expressed concern that the execution of ethnic minorities also continued to rise in 2021, accounting for a disproportionately large number of those hanged. Prisoners from the Baluch minority accounted for 21 percent of all executions in 2021, although they only represent 2–6 percent of Iran's population, it said. Most prisoners executed for security-related charges belonged to the ethnic Arab, Baluch and Kurdish minorities, it added. "We are alarmed at the disproportionate number of ethnic minority executions as evidenced in this report," said ECPM Director Raphael Chenuil-Hazan.
In one welcome development, the report said that there were no public executions in Iran in 2021 for the first time in a decade but expressed concern they could start again. "A society routinely exposed to such organized violence has accepted the death penalty as a legal solution, and the death penalty has consequently become a tool of repression in the government's hands," the Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose films on the impact of the death penalty in Iran have won international prizes, wrote in a preface to the report.

Iranians hold annual pro-Palestinian rallies nationwide
Agence France Presse/Friday, 29 April, 20220
Thousands of Iranians took to the streets Friday to join annual pro-Palestinian rallies, as Israeli-Palestinian clashes in Jerusalem left dozens injured. The Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations, which are held on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, were launched in 1979 by Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Across Iran, flag-waving protesters chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", the state broadcaster IRIB reported. They also held up signs reading "Jerusalem is ours" and "Quds Day is the day of Islam", it said. Iran does not recognize its arch-foe Israel and supporting the Palestinian cause has been a pillar of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Friday's rallies were held in Tehran and other major cities, including Mashhad, Isfahan and Tabriz, according to IRIB, and come after a two-year pause due to Covid restrictions. The demonstrations took place against the backdrop of deadly violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, and fierce clashes in Jerusalem. On Friday, new clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound injured 42 people, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
The Al-Aqsa fighting has sparked fears of another conflict after last year's 11-day war between Israel and armed groups in the Gaza Strip. Over the past two weeks, nearly 300 Palestinians have been injured in clashes at the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam's third-holiest site. It is also Judaism's holiest place and known to Jews as the Temple Mount. The unrest came as Israeli security forces have stepped up operations in the West Bank since March 22. The violence has killed 12 Israelis, including an Arab-Israeli police officer, and two Ukrainians in four separate attacks inside Israel. A total of 26 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have also died since March 22, among them the perpetrators of the attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War -- when it also occupied the West Bank -- and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state while Israel considers it part of its "undivided" capital. Palestinians have been angered by an uptick in Jewish visits to the Al-Aqsa compound, where Jews can go but are not allowed to pray.

Iran Wants to Expand Strategic Ties with China to Confront US
London -Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 20220
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Tehran wanted to “expand its long-term strategic relations” with China at a meeting with Beijing’s Defense Minister Wei Fenghe in Tehran on Wednesday. Raisi told Fenghe that Tehran sees its ties with Beijing as strategic. Closer cooperation would serve to confront what the Iranian president described as US “unilateralism” as talks to revive Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers have stalled, Associated Press reported. Raisi stressed that “regional and global developments show more than ever the value of Iran-China strategic cooperation.” “Confronting unilateralism and creating stability and order is possible through cooperation of independent and like-minded powers,” he added. Raisi said Iran’s “priority” was the “successful implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan” it signed with China in March 2021. The deal includes “political, strategic and economic clauses,” according to Tehran. Wei in turn said improving ties between Iran and China would provide security, “particularly in the current critical and tense situation.” He said his visit was aimed at improving the bilateral strategic defense cooperation that would have a “remarkable” impact in defusing unilateralism and fighting terrorism. Wei also met with his Iranian counterpart, Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtinai, who underscored “the need to counter the US hegemony in the world by strengthening multilateralism,” an Iranian defense ministry statement read. Ashtiani also slammed the US military presence in the Middle East and elsewhere, claiming that “wherever the US has had military presence, it has created waves of insecurity, instability, rifts, pessimism, war, destruction and displacement.”Wei reportedly invited Ashtiani to visit China, as well as with other Iranian military officials. Iran and China have increased their military ties in recent years, with their navies visiting each other’s ports and holding joint naval drills in the Indian Ocean. In 2021, Iran and China signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement that covered a variety of economic activities from oil and mining to promoting industrial activity in Iran, as well as transportation and agricultural collaborations. China is a signatory to the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, along with Russia, Britain, France and Germany. Figures published by Iran’s state media show that trade with China dropped after Washington reimposed biting economic sanctions on Iran in 2018, when then-president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal. But exports to China have surged by 58 percent in the past 12 months, while imports from China grew by 29 percent, AFP reported.

Iran's Guards commander says Israel is creating conditions for its own destruction
Reuters/Friday, 29 April, 2022
Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami said on Friday that Israel was creating conditions for its own destruction with its "evil actions". "Stop your vicious deeds. You know well that we are people of action and reaction. Our responses are painful. You create conditions for your own destruction. We will not leave you alone. Wait [for us]," Salami said during Quds Day in Tehran. "You know better than us what will befall you if you take evil action."

US State Department Reveals Assad Family’s Net Worth
Washington - Rana Abtar/Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 2022
The US Department of State issued a highly anticipated report to Congress on the estimated net worth and known sources of income of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family, estimated at between $1-2 billion.The report examines the finances of Bashar Assad and his wife Asma, Bashar’s brother Maher and sister Bushra, Bashar’s cousins Rami and Ihab Makhlouf, and Bashar’s uncle Rifaat Assad. The State Department did not have sufficient information on the net worth of Bashar Assad’s three children, Hafez, Zayn, and Karim, which could generate criticism in Congress. The report is binding to the administration after Congress passed a law asking it to be submitted periodically. “Estimates based on open-source information generally put the Assad family net worth at between $1-2 billion, but this is an inexact estimate which the Department is unable to independently corroborate,” read the report. The Department claimed that it was difficult to accurately estimate the net worth of Assad and his extended family members because family assets are believed to “be spread out and concealed in numerous accounts, real estate portfolios, corporations, and offshore tax havens.”The report argues that “any assets located outside of Syria and not seized or blocked are likely held under false names or by other individuals, to obscure ownership and evade sanctions.”Meanwhile, the Syrian President appointed Major General Ali Abbas as the new Defense Minister, succeeding General Ali Ayoub, in the fifth change to this position since 2011. Ayoub, former army chief of staff, was appointed by Assad in 2018. It is not unusual to change senior officials in high ministerial positions in Syria.

Egypt Speaks on Behalf of 108 Countries at UN to Ensure Peacebuilding Financing
Cairo /Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 29 April, 2022
Egypt has delivered a joint cross-regional statement on behalf of 108 countries at the high-level UN General Assembly meeting to consider options for ensuring sustainable Peacebuilding Financing on Wednesday. Egypt represented all countries of the African group and the European Union member states, as well as a number of Asian, North American, South American, and Caribbean countries. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement quoting its Permanent Representative to the UN Osama Abdelkhalek as underlining the importance of providing “adequate, sustainable and predictable funding to support peacebuilding activities in conflict-affected countries.”He called for finding a comprehensive solution to the challenge of funding peacebuilding by exploring all available funding options, including the contributions of member states to the UN budget. Abdelkhalek also called on Abdulla Shahid, president of the Assembly’s 76th session, to launch negotiations to adopt a resolution that addresses all options for peacebuilding funding. He said that it was a first for a group of cross-regional countries to speak with one voice to support investment in peacebuilding financing and preventing conflicts by securing adequate funding in this regard. Egypt, as the coordinator of the African Group in the UN concerning peacebuilding issues, delivered another statement on behalf of the group to express the aspirations of the African continent in the field of peacebuilding, especially that it hosts most of the peacebuilding efforts. It also urged deepening partnership between the UN and the AU to build the required human and institutional capabilities in Africa and enable the continent to lead regional peacebuilding efforts.

Ukraine slams Kyiv attack amid new Mariupol rescue effort
Associated Press/Friday, 29 April, 20220
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of trying to humiliate the United Nations by raining missiles on Kyiv during a visit to the city by the U.N. chief, an attack that upset weeks of relative calm and a tentative return to normal in the capital.
Ukraine's forces, meanwhile, fought to hold off Russian attempts to advance in the south and east, Zelensky reported. And efforts continued to arrange safe passage for residents trapped in Mariupol, largely reduced to rubble in a 2-month-long siege. An official in the president's office said an evacuation could happen as soon as Friday. Russia pounded targets all over Ukraine on Thursday, hitting a residential high-rise and another building in Kyiv. U.S.-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said one of its journalists was killed. In an apparent reference to the attack, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had destroyed "production buildings" at the Artem defense factory in Kyiv.
The bombardment came barely an hour after Zelensky held a news conference with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who toured some of the destruction in and around Kyiv and condemned attacks on civilians. "This says a lot about Russia's true attitude toward global institutions, about attempts of the Russian leadership to humiliate the U.N. and everything the organization represents," Zelensky said late Thursday in his nightly video address to the nation. "Therefore, it requires a correspondingly powerful response." Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack was Russian President Vladimir Putin's way of giving Guterres "his middle finger."The strikes were the boldest Russian attack on the capital since Moscow's forces retreated weeks ago following their failure to take the city. Russia is now pushing into the Donbas, the country's eastern industrial region, which the Kremlin says is its main objective.
Getting a full picture of the unfolding battle in the east has been difficult because airstrikes and artillery barrages have made it extremely dangerous for reporters to move around. Both Ukraine and the Moscow-backed rebels fighting in the east also have introduced tight restrictions on reporting from the combat zone. But so far, Russia's troops and the separatist forces appear to have made only minor gains, and Britain's Defense Ministry said those have been achieved at significant cost to the Kremlin's forces.
One aim of Guterres' visit was to secure the evacuation of people from the ruined southern port of Mariupol, including a shattered steelworks where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian defenders and 1,000 civilians were holed up in the last major stronghold of resistance in the city. Previous evacuation attempts fell through.About 100,000 people are believed trapped in the city with little water, food, heat or electricity. "I cannot confirm the exact details of the operation to make sure it is done with safety for our people and for civilians stranded in Mariupol" said Saviano Abreu, a spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office.
An official in Zelenskyy's office said negotiations were underway with U.N. mediation. Two towns in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region were hit by Russian rockets on Friday, the regional governor said. There was no immediate word on casualties or damage. The governor of Russia's Kursk region said that a border post came under mortar fire from Ukraine and that Russian border forces returned fire. He said there were no casualties on the Russian side. Thursday's explosions in northwestern Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky district shook the city. Flames poured out the windows of the buildings hit. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said the body of Vira Hyrych, a journalist who had worked for the broadcaster since 2018 and who lived in one of the buildings, was found in the rubble on Friday. Radio Free Europe President Jamie Fly said the broadcaster was "shocked and angered by the senseless nature of her death at home in a country and city she loved." Ten people were wounded in the attack, including at least one who lost a leg, according to emergency officials.Kyiv had been relatively unscathed in recent weeks, and cafes and other businesses have started to reopen, while a growing numbers of people have been out and about, enjoying the spring weather. The terrible human cost of the war, which has driven more than 11 million Ukrainians from their homes, continues to climb. In Lyman, a town in Donetsk, in the Donbas, shells rained on Tatiana Matsegora's home this week. Matsegora's 14-year-old grandson, Igor, was declared dead after rescue workers drove him to the hospital. Her daughter was in serious condition, and her son-in-law was also killed. "'Grandma, will I live?'" she said Igor asked her when they were in the basement, waiting for help. "I said that he would live. But look what happened: I betrayed him."

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 29-30/2022
Is the Ukraine-Russia war headed for a Syria-type stalemate?
Jonathan Spyer/Jerusalem Post/April 29/2022
BEHIND THE LINES: If a “frozen conflict” Syria-style emerges in Ukraine, it will only be because independent Ukrainian efforts succeed in preventing a complete Russian victory.
Some commentary on the Ukraine war in recent days has raised the possibility that the battle between Kyiv and Moscow could be headed toward a state of “frozen conflict.” British journalist Patrick Cockburn, for example, wrote in a column published on April 23 that, “Overall, the war in Ukraine is beginning to look more and more like Syria: a military and political stalemate with limited chances of breaking the deadlock.”
What would such an outcome consist of, and how likely is it? A close perusal of the unfolding situation in Ukraine must conclude that any talk of stalemate is misleading and premature.
Firstly, it is important to define what exactly this term means. The Syrian civil war began as a two-way contest between the Assad regime and a largely Sunni Arab insurgency directed against it. By 2014, this war had birthed another conflict, between the Islamic State and a US-led international coalition. The situation in Syria began to show signs of settling into the current reality of de facto partition and frozen conflict by about 2017, and by 2020 this picture was confirmed.
Today, Syria is divided into three areas of control. These are the “regime” area, which is actually an area in which Iran, Russia and the Assad regime all exercise authority; the “Kurdish” area, in which a Kurdish-led autonomy in cooperation with the United States holds sway; and the “rebel” area in the northwest, in which a variety of Sunni Islamist militias exercise power in various forms of cooperation with Turkey.
The situation of “frozen conflict,” and de facto partition, exists in Syria because of the support afforded each of the entities in question by outside powers. This makes each of them invulnerable to destruction, without the likelihood of triggering conflict with the state sponsor behind them – Russia and Iran in the regime’s case, the US in the case of the Kurds, and Turkey in the case of the Sunni Islamists.
It is notable that all areas outside of regime control that were not guaranteed by an outside power have been reabsorbed by Assad and his allies. The last of these was rebel-controlled Deraa and Quneitra Provinces, retaken by the regime and its allies in the summer of 2018. These areas had received partial support from Israel and the West, but not to the extent of any readiness to directly guarantee their survival by use of direct force.
SO HOW does the current situation in Syria compare with that of Ukraine?
There is an obvious and immediate difference. The three Syrian areas of control all have backers who are prepared to guarantee their survival through force.
Ukraine does not. The US and Western European countries oppose the Russian invasion. Washington and London are committed to major efforts to arm the Ukrainians. But no Western power has committed to sending its own troops to guarantee the Kyiv government’s survival.
President Volodymyr Zelensky knows that ultimately if Ukraine is to survive, it must do so by its own efforts. If a “frozen conflict” Syria-style emerges in Ukraine, it will only be because independent Ukrainian efforts succeed in preventing a complete Russian victory – and if Moscow then decides to cease further offensive action.
So how likely is this? It is without a doubt that any such outcome remains at some distance in the future.
The first phase of the Ukraine war ended with the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kyiv area after their failure to take the city in the first month of the conflict. The second phase is currently underway. In it, Russian forces are seeking, according to Moscow’s stated goals, to complete the conquest of the Donbas area in eastern Ukraine, create a land corridor from Donbas to the Crimean Peninsula, take or blockade Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, and create a land link to the breakaway pro-Russian enclave in Transnistria.
It remains very much to be seen if Russia is able to achieve any or all of these ambitious aims. But the question of a stalemate followed by a frozen conflict will not even come seriously on the agenda until this matter is tested. A battle of maneuver on a scale not seen in Europe for many decades looks set to take place in eastern Ukraine in the coming months. Any talk of a stalemate or frozen conflict prior to the commencement of this battle, currently in its opening stages, is surely premature.
Russian success in achieving these aims would be unlikely also to generate a subsequent stalemate and frozen conflict. There is no reason to assume that President Vladimir Putin’s original, maximalist war aims of toppling the government in Kyiv and installing a Belarus-style client/puppet regime have been abandoned because of the failure to achieve these in February and March.
Attainment of the current campaign’s goals would be likely to herald a second attempt on Kyiv, once the gains made were consolidated. Should Putin’s forces succeed in linking up with Transnistria, then the future status of Moldova, in which this Russian-speaking enclave is located, might also become subject to the Russian leader’s ambitions.
If, however, Putin’s second campaign in Ukraine proves no more successful than his first, then the prospect of a gradually emerging frozen conflict might emerge. Even then, however, a further phase of maneuver warfare might intervene. Should the Russian offensive stall, Russian forces would then be left to defend a large, unstable front line, and a Ukrainian counteroffensive would become a possibility. Such a counteroffensive would be intended to reduce Russian territorial gains, made since the commencement of the war on February 24, to a minimum.
Such an effort, even if it succeeded in winning back parts of the territory in eastern Ukraine for Kyiv, would almost certainly not manage to expel the Russians from the entirety of Ukraine, and would be highly unlikely even to push Moscow’s forces all the way back to the February 24th lines. (The reconquest of Crimea is generally regarded as an impossibility for Ukraine.)
If such an outcome is reached, Ukrainian success in the war might then result in the renewal of the stalemate and frozen conflict that existed in eastern Ukraine from 2014 when the Russians made their first incursions, to February 24, 2022, but with some territorial losses for Kyiv.
SO COMPARISONS of Ukraine to Syria are premature. Ukraine appears in fact more similar to Syria in 2012, with the major questions still unsettled, than to the exhausted, divided Syria of 2022.
But once the maneuver campaigns that lie ahead are concluded, then unless Russia can dramatically change the course of the war, the eventual outcome of the war in Ukraine may indeed be the continued de facto partition of Ukraine and the continuation of unresolved conflict.
The aim of the Ukrainian government will be to preserve as much of the Black Sea coastline as possible, and to reduce the area of Russian control in the east to the smallest possible area.
So a Syrian-style division is indeed a likely scenario following the conclusion of the Ukraine war. But the achievement of this will depend on the continued arming and support of the Ukrainian government by its Western allies.
The Ukraine war is far from concluded. It may well indeed not yet have reached its height.

Muslim Pharmacist Berates, Slaps Coptic Christian Woman for Not Observing Ramadan
Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/April 29/2022
https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2022/04/29/muslim-pharmacist-berates-slaps-coptic-christian-woman-for-not-observing-ramadan/
A Muslim man berated and beat a Coptic Christian woman because she entered his establishment with her head uncovered during Ramadan in Egypt.
According to the Apr. 27, 2022 Arabic language report, Nevin Sobhi, a 30-year-old married mother, went to her local drugstore to pick up some medication for her young son, who accompanied her. On entering, she noticed that the head pharmacist, Dr. Ali Abu Sa‘da (pictured above), was giving her “the evil eye.” Before long, what was in his eyes reached his tongue: he launched into a loud and “hate-filled tirade” against her for daring to enter his store during Ramadan without any head covering and while wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt.
It should be noted that Ali was aware that Nevin was Christian and, therefore, not obligated to observe Ramadan’s rules. When the Copt told him as much, he responded with a violent slap to her face. When the startled woman responded with shock and anger, he slapped her again—all while her scared, young son cried. Nevin ran outside, “in a state of collapse, crying and incapable of absorbing the shock.” She contacted her family, and they went to the local police station to report the incident. There, Nevin received what she called her “third slap.” According to the Christian woman:
Inside the police station, I was surprised by attempts and pressure to conciliate. The perpetrator’s lawyer steered the writing of the report [in a manner] that contradicted reality, and they forced me to sign the report which contained statements from the pharmacist’s lawyer without taking my statements. […] We were especially shocked to see the report said that “the pharmacist is a friend of the family, who was just bantering and joking around with Mrs. Nevin, because he is close to the family.”
Continued the woman: “I was so shocked; it was as a third slap to me—that such a radical character could emerge victorious, even as I lose my rights as an Egyptian woman!”
Criticism for and even violence against those who do not outwardly conform to the strictures of Ramadan—even if they are non-Muslims and therefore exonerated—is common throughout the Islamic world.
Some days before this incident, for example, a video surfaced of a woman in hijab yelling at and hitting Coptic girls in a bus for not being properly veiled. Muslim women have even been known to cut off—sometimes clandestinely other times not so clandestinely—the uncovered hair of Christian women. To quote from a report, Two niqab-wearing women assaulted and forcefully cut the hair of a Christian woman on the metro Sunday, the third such reported incident in two months, raising fears of a growing vigilante movement to punish Egyptian women for not wearing the veil in public…. [T]he assaulters called the Christian woman, who is 28 years old, an “infidel” and pushed her off the train, breaking her arm.

Putin's Genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day
Lawrence Kadish/Gatestone Institute./April 29/2022
If there are aliens who have taken a road trip to our remote part of the Milky Way they must be deeply appalled at what they continue to find here – most recently the calculated campaign by Putin's Russian Army to murder civilians in Ukraine.
If there are aliens who have taken a road trip to our remote part of the Milky Way they must be deeply appalled at what they continue to find here – most recently the calculated campaign by Putin's Russian Army to murder civilians in Ukraine. If those aliens have conquered time and space they would have found that their periodic visits have witnessed one form of genocide or another through virtually every century of human "civilization" on this globe.
Before going any further, it would be wise to define the term. Wikipedia says "Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people — usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group — in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944,[1][2] combining the Greek word γένος (genos, "race, people") with the Latin suffix -caedo ("act of killing").[3]"
Historians suggest that they can chronicle the first act of genocide, Rome's march against Carthage, with Marcus Cato quoted as justifying the coming massacre by asking his fellow Roman Senators, "Who are the ones who have waged war most cruelly? ... Who are the ones who have ravaged Italy? The Carthaginians."
In the Roman Legion siege that followed, historians say that at least 150,000 Carthaginians perished, many of them civilians, with one Roman remarking that "the number of deaths was incredibly high..."
The tyrants that followed throughout history would probably describe that butcher's bill as just one day's worth of work: there would be much worse to follow. Historians say we still do not appreciate the ruthless brutality of Genghis Khan. The 20th Century started with the Turks attempt to destroy the Armenians in a barbaric forced march during World War I that remains a dark stain on the history of mankind.
It would be the Nazis that would surely shock the aliens for, from their orbital perch, they would have seen the industrial might of a nation turned to killing men, women, and children in places that could only be described as murder factories. The aliens would be hard pressed to understand how a group of supposed humans would seek to kill off an entire portion of their own species.
Now Putin, with the indiscriminate bombing of civilians and the torture and execution of villagers, is leaving a wake of mass graves in Ukraine. Even the normally moribund United Nations has been compelled to raise its voice about the growing evidence of war crimes.
As yet another anniversary is observed of Holocaust Remembrance Day we dare not lose our sense of outrage at this latest destruction of humanity by a ruler who believes himself above the law, above morality, and above the judgment of history. If there are aliens viewing from a great distance Putin's savagery, they need to know this civilization will never forgive or forget those who have committed the ultimate crime of genocide.
*Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.

EU-China Relations: "Downward Spiral"
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/April 29/2022
"For us Ukraine is the defining moment on whether we live in a world governed by rules or by force. We condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine and support this country's sovereignty, democracy, not because we follow the US blindly, as sometimes China's suggests, but because it is our position. This was an important message for the Chinese leadership to hear." — EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
"We underlined that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not only a defining moment for our continent, but also for our relationship with the rest of the world. There must be respect for international law, as well as for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity." — President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
"At the EU-China summit last Friday, the differences between Brussels and Beijing were palpable. The summit had no deliverables, no joint statement, and no joint press conference. Beijing would not clarify that it would not circumvent sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine. The distance between the EU and China seems to be increasing, with no turnaround in sight." — Theresa Fallon, Director, Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies.
"What we're observing now is an ongoing process by China and Russia to attempt to demolish the economic, security and normative order in Europe and beyond. This leads to the conclusion that China is neither a partner nor an economic competitor." — Justyna Szczudlik, China analyst, Polish Institute of International Affairs.
"China does not want Brussels to coordinate its China strategy with Washington. But in its constant repetition of this theme, Beijing misses the point: Europe has its own concerns about China, independently of the United States... If Beijing continues to back Russia, the EU's most direct security threat, how deep can the China-EU partnership really be?" — Shannon Tiezzi, Editor-in-Chief, The Diplomat.
"Mr. Putin is trying to redraw Europe's borders by force, and Mr. Xi will not condemn him.... Mr. Putin has shown Europe that it needs a new China policy." — The Economist.
At the European Union-China Summit this month, European officials, after years of kowtowing to China, finally stood their ground. EU-China relations are now on a new footing: Beijing no longer calls the shots.
A much-anticipated EU-China Summit, the first since 2020, has ended as both a failure and a success: a failure because the two sides were unable to agree on anything of bilateral importance; a success because after years of kowtowing to China, European officials finally stood their ground. EU-China relations are now on a new footing: Beijing no longer calls the shots.
EU-China relations have long been on a downward trajectory due to a panoply of disputes, including the worsening human rights situation in China, Beijing's spreading of disinformation to cover up the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, China's unfair trade practices, and its economic bullying of EU member states.
The war in Ukraine has dramatically accelerated that dynamic. China's refusal to condemn Russia's invasion (it has even blamed the West for the war), only incensed European officials, who finally appear to understand that the EU can no longer pursue the middle path between Washington and Beijing. Europe's inability to defend itself militarily implies that transatlantic cooperation will be essential to effectively respond to the challenges posed by China, Russia and other authoritarian states.
The EU-China Summit, held by video conference on April 1, was the first high-level bilateral meeting to take place in nearly two years. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Charles Michel, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, met with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang in the morning, and with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the afternoon.
In a statement, European officials said that they raised the following concerns: China's sanctions against members of the European Parliament; Beijing's coercive measures against EU member states; the lack of access for European companies to Chinese markets; cybersecurity threats by nation state actors including China; and human rights violations in Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang, Shanghai and elsewhere in China. Unsurprisingly, Chinese leaders refused to cooperate on any of these issues.
The most vexing issue was the Ukraine war, which represents a direct attack on the international rules-based order. European officials asked China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to use its influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an immediate end to the bloodshed. They also warned Beijing against helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions. Chinese officials rejected both requests.
The Chinese leaders, for their part, demanded that the European Parliament ratify an EU-China investment treaty that has been frozen due to the deteriorating human rights situation in China. Xi also called on the European Union chart an independent course from the United States on relations with China. The summit ended with no joint statement.
Borrell later rebuked the Chinese leadership:
"This was not exactly a dialogue, maybe a dialogue of the deaf. We could not talk about Ukraine a lot, and we did not agree on anything else.
"China wanted to set aside our difference on Ukraine, they didn't want to talk about Ukraine. They didn't want to talk about human rights and other stuff and instead focus on positive things.
"The European side made clear that this compartmentalization isn't feasible. For us Ukraine is the defining moment on whether we live in a world governed by rules or by force.
"We condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine and support this country's sovereignty, democracy, not because we follow the US blindly, as sometimes China suggests, but because it is our position. This was an important message for the Chinese leadership to hear.
"China cannot pretend to be a responsible great power but close its eyes or cover its ears when it comes to a conflict that obviously makes it uncomfortable. It knows very well who the aggressor is, although for political reasons, it refuses to name them."
Von der Leyen added:
"We underlined that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not only a defining moment for our continent, but also for our relationship with the rest of the world. There must be respect for international law, as well as for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has a special responsibility. No European citizen would understand any support to Russia's ability to wage war."
Von der Leyen subsequently tweeted: "China's reputation is at stake."
The Chinese government responded by trying to split the transatlantic alliance:
"China and the EU, as two major forces, big markets and great civilizations, should increase communication on their relations and on major issues concerning global peace and development, and play a constructive role in adding stabilizing factors to a turbulent world.
"Xi called on the EU to form its own perception of China, adopt an independent China policy, and work with China for the steady and sustained growth of China-EU relations."
Sources of Discord
At base, the current standoff in EU-China relations revolves around burgeoning evidence of massive human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, a remote autonomous region in northwestern China. Human rights experts say that at least one million Muslims are being detained in hundreds of internment camps, where they are subject to torture, mass rapes, forced labor and sterilizations.
In November 2018, Western countries, including France, Germany and the United States, called on China to close down the detention camps there.
In March 2021, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada, mirroring the United States, announced (here, here and here) that they had imposed sanctions on Chinese officials accused of Uyghur-related human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
China responded by imposing sanctions (here, here and here) on more than two dozen European, British and Canadian lawmakers, academics and think tanks.
The sanctioned individuals, who are prohibited from entering China, include: German lawmaker Reinhard Bütikofer, who chairs the European Parliament's delegation for relations with China; four other Members of the European Parliament; five Members of the British Parliament; lawmakers from Belgium, Lithuania and the Netherlands; and scholars from Britain, Germany and Sweden. The sanctioned individuals have publicly criticized the Chinese government for human rights abuses.
China also sanctioned the EU's main foreign policy decision-making body, known as the Political and Security Committee; the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights; the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies; the UK-based China Research Group; and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, a Danish think tank founded by former NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
China contends that its sanctions are tit for tat — morally equivalent retaliation — in response to those imposed by Western countries. In fact, the European sanctions are for crimes against humanity, whereas the Chinese sanctions seek to silence European critics of the Chinese Communist Party.
On May 20, 2021, the European Parliament overwhelmingly passed (599 votes in favor, 30 against and 58 abstentions) a resolution to "freeze" ratification of the so-called EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). A statement said:
"The resolution emphasizes that any consideration by the European Parliament of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) ... as well as any discussion on its mandatory ratification by MEPs, have 'justifiably been frozen' because of the Chinese sanctions.
"MEPs demand that China lift the sanctions before they consider the agreement.... They also remind the European Commission that MEPs will take the human rights situation in China, including in Hong Kong, into account when deciding whether to endorse the agreement or not....
"MEPs also call for re-balancing EU-China relations. They support a toolbox of autonomous measures such as legislation against distortive effects of foreign subsidies on the internal market, an import ban on forced labor goods as well as an enhanced and strengthened EU Foreign Investment Screening Regulation. The EU also needs to adequately address China's cybersecurity threats and hybrid attacks."
After seven years of negotiations, the CAI was concluded in great haste on December 30, 2020, by then German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Other EU countries were excluded from the negotiations. Merkel reportedly wanted an agreement at any cost before Germany's six-month EU presidency ended on December 31.
The lopsided agreement, which ostensibly aims to level the economic and financial playing field by providing European companies with improved access to the Chinese market, actually allows China to continue to restrict investment opportunities for European companies in many strategic sectors. The deal also lacks meaningful enforcement mechanisms for issues that the EU claims to care about, such as climate change and human rights, including forced labor.
At the time, Von der Leyen proudly declared that the CAI will "uphold our interests" and "promote our core values." Seven days later, Chinese authorities launched a massive crackdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong.
Former Hong Kong Governor Lord Patten said the CAI makes a "mockery" of the EU's ambitions to be taken seriously as a global player:
"It spits in the face of human rights and shows a delusional view of the Chinese Communist Party's trustworthiness on the international stage."
Since then, China has declared an economic war on Lithuania in retaliation for the country's decision to allow Taiwan to open a representative office in its capital, Vilnius.
Taiwan has other offices in Europe and the United States, but they use the name of its capital city, Taipei, to avoid any semblance of treating Taiwan as an independent country. Beijing insists that the democratically self-ruled island is a part of the territory of the communist People's Republic of China and has no right to the trappings of a state.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that his country will not capitulate to bullying from China and that he is committed to defending the principles and values of democracy from attack.
Lithuania, which has a population of fewer than 3 million, regained independence in 1990 after almost half a century of occupation by the Soviet Union. Lithuania has become one of the strongest defenders of democracy within the European Union and NATO.
Chinese customs records released on April 20 showed that first-quarter imports from Lithuania had plunged 76.6% from the same period a year ago.
In January 2022, the European Union filed a complaint against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over its trade restrictions on Lithuania. The EU said that China's actions were illegal under WTO rules and that attempts to resolve the dispute bilaterally had failed. "The EU is determined to act as one and act fast against measures which threaten the integrity of our single market," EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said. The EU's case has since been backed by Australia, Britain and the United States.
In another dispute, the European Union in February 2022 filed a legal challenge against China at the WTO over intellectual property rights. The EU argued that Chinese courts were preventing European companies from protecting their telecommunications technology patents. The EU, which said it had raised the issue with China on several occasions without resolution, accuses China of violating the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, (TRIPS), a foundation stone of the WTO.
Unsurprisingly, polls show that views of China have become more negative in many European countries. A Pew Research Center poll released in June 2021 found that 71% of those surveyed in Germany had negative views of China. In Britain, 63% said they viewed China unfavorably; majorities in Belgium (67%), France (66%), Italy (60%), Spain (57%), Sweden (80%) and the Netherlands (72%) said they had a negative view of China.
The Pew poll also found a strong transatlantic convergence of unfavorable views of China: in the United States, 76% said they had a negative view of China; in Canada, the number was 73%.
At the same time, EU-China trade relations are stronger than ever, with bilateral trade now close to 2 billion euros per day. EU exports to China reached 223 billion euros in 2021 (a nearly 80% increase since 2011), and EU imports from China jumped to 472 billion euros (an 84% increase over the past decade), according to the latest EU statistics.
In 2021, China was the largest source of EU imports and the third-largest destination of EU exports, according to EU data. Among EU member states, the Netherlands was the largest importer of goods from China, and Germany was the largest exporter of goods to China in 2021.
Expert Commentary
In an informative overview of EU-China relations, Theresa Fallon, Director of the Brussels-based Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies (CREAS), commented on how from human rights to Covid-19 to Ukraine, Europe's ties with China relations are becoming increasingly frostier:
"At the EU-China summit last Friday, the differences between Brussels and Beijing were palpable. The summit had no deliverables, no joint statement, and no joint press conference. Beijing would not clarify that it would not circumvent sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine. The distance between the EU and China seems to be increasing, with no turnaround in sight."
Justyna Szczudlik, a China analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, argued that the European Union must begin treating China as a rival:
"What we're observing now is an ongoing process by China and Russia to attempt to demolish the economic, security and normative order in Europe and beyond. This leads to the conclusion that China is neither a partner nor an economic competitor. War in Ukraine is a global issue challenging international norms, while the punitive actions against Lithuania are illicit and have nothing to do with competition. China's authoritarianism and its alignment with totalitarian Russia, a country which has launched a full-scale war and is committing atrocities, clearly epitomizes the PRC as a systemic rival....
"It is high time we gave up the illusion that China is in any major respect different from Russia. China's playbook is different, but its goals are convergent with Russia's. The EU should treat China as a rival and, if Beijing supports Moscow materially, as a threat. The bloc should continue its work on effective defensive measures and prepare a detailed list of sanctions to be promptly imposed on China if it provides Russia with support. And it should cooperate with the United States in tracking Beijing's potential behind-the-scenes assistance to Moscow while commencing the real work needed to reduce the EU's dependence on China."
The director of the Asia program at the European Council on Foreign Relations, Janka Oertel, added:
"Relations between the EU and China have been deeply strained for years. Before the summit, there was some hope in Brussels and in member states' capitals that China would be willing to help end Russia's war on Ukraine or, failing that, at least commit to not undermining the sanctions that the United States, the EU, and their allies imposed on Russia. This could have, at a minimum, temporarily halted the downward spiral of EU-China relations in the past few years. That hope has been shattered.
"For the Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping, everything — including the war — is currently refracted through the lens of domestic politics and the global rivalry with the US. And, for now, Moscow remains Beijing's most important partner in that dynamic. It has become clear over the past few weeks that Russian President Vladimir Putin's failure to mastermind a quick military success does not deter Chinese leaders from their generally supportive stance. It seems highly unlikely that China will abandon Russia diplomatically or economically — despite the costs this will have for its relationship with Europe."
In an interview with ChinaFile, Jacques deLisle, Director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania, said:
"The April Fool's Day virtual EU-China summit should make clearer to China the problems with its venerable playbook for Europe and U.S.-European relations. First, Beijing appears to have assumed that it would benefit from divisions between the U.S. and Europe and within Europe; thus, Europe would not strongly support Washington's toughening line toward China, including on human rights and international security.... Second, and evident at the summit, Beijing seems to have believed that, for Europe, economic issues would overshadow political ones, and that economic engagement with China would be seen as a clear net plus.... Third, China has sought the recognition, and claimed the deference, due a great power without establishing that it has the will and capacity to bear correlative responsibilities. While this has been a long-standing issue in U.S.-China relations, it had been less salient for Beijing's interactions with Europe.
"Occurring against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European and U.S. response to it, and longer-emerging issues in China-Europe relations, the EU-China summit underscored how questionable these assumptions have become. The summit showcased the cooperation — unimaginable a few years ago — that the EU and the U.S. have achieved in addressing Putin's war. Ukraine's preeminence on the EU's summit agenda demonstrated that Europe — like the U.S. — can prioritize non-economic issues in relations with China, even where matters are not immediately China-related. EU references to Beijing's responsibility (in part as a Security Council permanent member) not to undermine sanctions against Russia underscored the point....
"Chinese summit and post-summit statements, like Beijing's response to the Ukraine crisis generally, have made China seem much less than a capable and responsible power. Continuing commitments to limitless cooperation with Russia, suggesting blame for the war lay with NATO expansion, insisting Europe adopt an 'independent' China policy, and inflated — and hedged — self-presentation as a neutral peace-broker will not help China's relations with the EU or the U.S."
Shannon Tiezzi, Editor-in-Chief of The Diplomat, wrote:
"Even before the Ukraine war broke out, European leaders were raising more questions about China's human rights violations (particularly the ramped-up campaign against the Uyghurs and the crackdown in Hong Kong), the militarization of the South China Sea, and repeated threats toward Taiwan.
"Beijing has constantly urged Europe to adopt an 'independent policy toward China,' something Xi repeated in the meeting on Friday. In blunter terms, China does not want Brussels to coordinate its China strategy with Washington. But in its constant repetition of this theme, Beijing misses the point: Europe has its own concerns about China, independently of the United States.
"China's response to Ukraine has raised those concerns to an existential level: If Beijing continues to back Russia, the EU's most direct security threat, how deep can the China-EU partnership really be?"
In an opinion article — "The War Makes China Uncomfortable: European Leaders Don't Care" — The Economist concluded:
"Mr. Putin is trying to redraw Europe's borders by force, and Mr. Xi will not condemn him. That is a direct challenge to the EU's founding principles. It cannot be business as usual. Mr. Putin has shown Europe that it needs a new China policy."
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
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French Elections: The Bad And The Not So Bad
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 29/2022
“Like the remake of a bad movie,” says a voter in Sarcelles, one of Paris’s many “Underprivileged” suburbs that, having formed the “red belt” of the French capital for decades, have now shifted to far right populism.
The second and final round of the French presidential election last Sunday was, indeed, a remake of the contest five years ago when a then little known Emmanuel Macron handily defeated the far-right champion Marine Le Pen on her second bid for supreme power. But whether or not it was a bad remake remains to be seen. In France’s two-rounds system of election, established by General Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s, you vote for the candidate they prefer in the first round but vote against the candidate you can’t tolerate in the second.
Five years ago, however, things were not as clear-cut.
Many voted for Macron in both rounds because they saw him as a breath of fresh air. This time round, however, more than 70 percent voted against him in the first round while Ms. Le Pen dramatically increased her share of the votes in both rounds. The entire campaign was dominated by an anti-Macron theme in tones of hatred seldom heard in French politics before. Both Ms. Le Pen and the far-left champion Jean-Luc Melenchon who came third in the first round, based their campaign on a concerted effort to vilify Macron rather than offer a credible alternative. In the final stage of the campaign Macron decided, or was persuaded by advisers, to also hit below the belt by portraying his adversaries as wreckers of democracy and, in Ms. Le Pen’s case, being beholden to Vladimir Putin. Because of historically high abstentions and spoiled ballots, plus the fact that the campaign did not allow for a serious and sober debate about key issues of policy, such as the defects of globalism, the widening gap between expectations and achievements, the need to reform the European Union’s increasingly authoritarian bureaucracy and a widespread feeling in France that a ruling elite of technocrats is no longer capable of even hearing the “ordinary” citizen, the label “a bad remake” may well fit.
On the other hand, one could argue that the “remake” was not all bad. To start with it may have set the seal on the Le Pen dynasty saga that consists of eight election defeats since Jean-Marie, Marine’s father, entered the ring as a serious contender three decades ago. Initially, the dynasty was built around small groups of Algeria-is-French nostalgics, admirers of the Vichy regime, integralist Catholics, and anti-Islam and anti-Jewish cabals plus strands of opinion favorable to Bonapartist style of rule by a “strongman”.
The latest election showed that although Marine Le Pen had distanced herself and her party from most of those positions, at least in theory, she could not persuade enough voters to go even for her “light” version. Many le Pen voters, including some French Muslims in the “under-privileged” suburbs and “ethnic minorities” in Corsica and other overseas territories, went for her as a vehicle for protest without embracing her core beliefs.
Also on the “not so bad” side is the fact that France is now one of only two European Union member countries, the other being Hungary, to have a leader backed by more than half of the voters, thus capable of avoiding shady coalitions that magnify the power of small but determined minorities.
Macron’s 58.5 share of the votes cast may not be translated into a similar score in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. And that raises the specter of “cohabitation.” But even then, according to two polls last week, a majority of the French liked the experience of the previous cohabitations.
There is no doubt that anti-European Union sentiments also played a part in Le Pen and Melenchon’s high scores. However, as far as the European Union is concerned, Macron’s re-election must be placed in the “not so bad” column. For, he designated the election as a referendum on Europe, while his rivals adopted an anti-EU posture. The last thing that Europe needed at this time of war and economic crisis was a Frexit challenge.
Also in the “not so bad” column is the fact that many French commentators and opinion-makers and a growing sliver of would-be voters have begun to pay attention to the need for restoring dignity to rules of political life. The decision by Le Pen, Macron and some of the other candidates, to portray macron as something of a Third World potentate, was wrong to say the least if only because it took legitimate criticism of a president beyond the limits of civility. Focusing on personal attacks, they failed to help foster a serious political debate.
The result was gutter politics of the kind unworthy of a mature democracy.
At the other end of the spectrum, Macron’s camp branded Le Pen as “extreme-right” or even “fascist”, labels that may suit juvenile student politics but need to be used with care by adults. The millions who voted for Le Pen could not be branded as “fascist”. Many with whom we talked turned out to be responsible citizens in a justified or unjustified angry mood for various reasons. Instead of dismissing them with a label, Macron and the governing elite must identify and try to address the sources of that anger.
Branding Melenchon as a crypto-Stalinist and a secret admirer of Putin was also way out of line. It reminded some of us of the days when every critic of the status quo was branded as a “red under the bed” potential felon deserving a strong dose of McCarthyism.
Both Le Pen and Melenchon, not to mention openly anti-democratic wannabes like Eric Zemmour and Nathalie Arthaud, are critical if what they label “liberal democracy” and tend to preach a form of populism known as “authoritarian” democracy in the name of abstractions such as “the nation” or “the working class”. However, as long as they do not violate the basic rules of the game they must be respected as challengers and contenders for power, and drawn into and defeated in loyal debates.
Democracy is a substitute for civil war. In it, ballots replace bullets. But they must also replace hurtful words and arrogant gestures. The latest presidential election shows that, although facing serious challenges, French democracy is still in robust health and capable of negotiating the dangerous bends ahead.