English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For August 09/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.august09.22.htm
News Bulletin Achieves
Since 2006
Click Here to enter the LCCC Arabic/English news bulletins Achieves since 2006
Bible Quotations For today
Take my yoke upon you, and learn
from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart
Matthew 11/25-30: “‘I thank you, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the
intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your
gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one
knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and
anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ‘Come to me, all you that are
weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’”
Titels
For English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News
& Editorials published on August 08-09/2022
Qatar's emir receives letter from Aoun
Aoun holds back on signing banking secrecy law
Report: Israel wants border agreement after Knesset elections
Independent MPs meet over sessions agendas, voting method
Bou Saab discusses demarcation file with Qatari ambassador
Razoni grain ship no longer docking in Tripoli
Saliba, Khalaf ask govt. about plans to douse 'dangerous' silos fire
Security forces search for escaped Adlieh inmates
Geagea urges opposition MPs to unite on next President name
FPM MP says Lebanese will 'cry eyes out' over President Aoun
Search operation underway after Lebanon prison break
Severing Hezbollah’s grip is Lebanon’s only salvation/Baria Alamuddin/Arab
News/August 08/2022
Titles For LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on August 08-09/2022
Audio From FDD/The Life and Death of Emir al Zawahiri/Clifford D.
May/Bradley Bowman/Bill Roggio
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is an Iran-Supported Terror Organization
Assessing Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Military Capabilities After the August
2022 Conflict
Biden Welcomes Gaza Truce, Laments Civilian Casualties
Gaza crossing opens as truce holds between Islamic Jihad and Israel
EU submits ‘final text’ at Iran nuclear talks, Tehran examining document
Israel, Islamic Jihad Declare Truce in Gaza After Three Days of Bloody Clashes
60 Trucks Enter Gaza as Israel Crossing Reopens
Iran Says Success of Nuclear Talks Depends on Washington's Flexibility
Talks to Revive Iran Nuclear Deal Produce 'Final Text'
Iran Discusses Islamic Jihad's Comprehensive Plan for a Strong Response
Iran: Police Arrest Afghan Suspected of Stabbing 10 to Death
Iran Denies Reports Claiming Russia Will Use its New Satellite in Ukraine War
UN: Sudan's Army Shouldn't Miss Chance to Withdraw from Politics
High-Level Meeting Looks to Tackle Tripoli’s Security Situation
Yemen: PLC Stresses Importance of Judiciary's Independence
Iraq: Four Sentenced to Life in Prison Over Attack on Baghdad Airport
Sadr Mobilizes Supporters, Coordination Framework Opposes Dissolving Iraqi
Parliament
More Than 250 Migrants Rescued Off Tunisia
Titles For The
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on August 08-09/2022
The US on the Verge of a Remarkable Moment/Bill Gates/The New York
Times/August, 08/2022
US: The New Real Hoaxes?/Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute./August 08/2022
Severing Hezbollah’s grip is Lebanon’s only salvation/Baria Alamuddin/Arab
News/August 08/2022
Iranian regime cannot be trusted with a new nuclear deal/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab
News/August 08/2022
Iranian actions fuel negative perceptions in Morocco/Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab
News/August 08/2022
Gazans will continue to suffer even as rocket fire paused/Chris Doyle/Arab
News/August 08/2022
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on August 08-09/2022
Qatar's emir receives letter from
Aoun
Naharnet/August 08/2022
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani has received a letter from
President Michel Aoun related to “bilateral ties between the two brotherly
countries and means to develop them,” Qatar’s official news agency said. “The
letter was received by Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled bin
Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani during his meeting with (visiting Lebanese)
caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makari and caretaker Tourism Minister Walid
Nassar,” the agency added. “The cooperation relations between the two countries
and the prospects for developing and boosting them were discussed during the
meeting,” the agency said.
Aoun holds back on signing banking secrecy law
Naharnet/August 08/2022
President Michel Aoun is holding back on signing the amended banking secrecy law
pending answers from the Lebanese team that is negotiating with the
International Monetary Fund, al-Jadeed TV reported on Monday. It said the
answers relate to “several questions that have been raised regarding the law’s
amended articles.”The President had earlier on Monday signed nine laws that had
been recently approved by parliament.
Report: Israel wants border agreement after Knesset
elections
Naharnet/August 08/2022
Israel is leaning toward delaying the border demarcation agreement with Lebanon
until after the legislative elections in Israel, al-Akhbar said. The daily
reported Monday that a Kuwaiti official has conveyed a message from the U.S. to
Lebanon that Israel will give Lebanon what it is asking for in the demarcation
file after the Knesset elections. "The resistance told the Kuwaiti mediator that
it will not wait for long and that there is a time limit before it launches
direct strikes on Israel's platforms," the report said. Meanwhile, Israeli media
reports said that U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein is now in Israel for talks on the
border demarcation.
Independent MPs meet over sessions agendas, voting
method
Naharnet/August 08/2022
Sixteen independent and "change" MPs convened Monday at the Parliament to
discuss the Parliamentary sessions' agendas and the method of voting. The MPs
will not discuss the upcoming Presidential election, MP Ashraf Rifi said before
the meeting. In the latest legislative session, the change MPs had demanded that
lawmakers vote verbally through their microphones and not by raising their
hands. Several heated exchanges followed.
Bou Saab discusses demarcation file with Qatari
ambassador
Naharnet/August 08/2022
Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab held talks Monday at his office with Qatari
Ambassador to Lebanon Ibrahim bin Abdul Aziz al-Sahlawi. Talks tackled “the
issue of the maritime border demarcation” between Lebanon and Israel as well as
the regional developments.
Al-Akhbar newspaper had reported earlier Monday that the United States had in
the past sent Lebanon messages through Qatar regarding the demarcation file.
Razoni grain ship no longer docking in Tripoli
Associated Press/August 08/2022
The Sierra Leonian-flagged Razoni ship, carrying 26,000 metric tons of corn for
chicken feed that departed from Odesa last Monday will no longer dock in the
northern Lebanese port. According to Marine Traffic, it changed its status on
Saturday to "order," meaning the ship was waiting for someone to buy the corn.
"All that I know is that the ship is no longer coming here," Tripoli Port
director Ahmad Tamer said. Ukraine's embassy in Beirut tweeted Monday that the
corn's final buyer in Lebanon refused to accept the cargo due to delivery delay
beyond a contractual limit and that the shipper was now looking for another
buyer.The shipment had been a grain of hope for the economically-shattered tiny
Mediterranean nation, also suffering from a food security crisis. Soaring food
inflation, wheat shortages, and breadlines have crippled a population, of which
about half are food insecure, according to the United Nations World Food
Program.
Saliba, Khalaf ask govt. about plans to douse
'dangerous' silos fire
Naharnet/August 08/2022
MPs Najat Aoun Saliba and Melhem Khalaf on Monday held a press conference in
parliament to tackle the issue of the long-running blaze at the blast-hit grain
silos of Beirut’s port, which has been burning for around a month. “There are
risks from lengthy exposure to the fine particles and cancerous material
emanating from a protracted burning of grains at the port’s silos,” Saliba said.
“Fermentation is the source of the spread of some toxic gases, such as carbon
dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. With the burning of these gases, carbon monoxide
might reach dangerous levels,” she added. Saliba warned that inhaling the
blaze’s smoke, even for a short period of time, can irritate the eyes, the nose
and the throat and might cause instant acute and serious complications. She
added: “Exposure to smoke for brief periods in a repeated manner or on the long
term might lead to long-term health problems. Studies have proved that lengthy
exposure to air directly containing PM2.5 particles might lead to increasing
heart and vessel diseases and accordingly deaths.”Saliba also warned that the
the exposure risk “is not only limited to the areas that are close to the source
of gases,” adding that “some recent studies have showed that the risk also
extends to far areas, due to the chemical reactions of smoke particles.”“We
stress that leaving the burning grains at the port’s silos poses a major health
risk to Beirut’s residents, and if the fire remains without being contained, the
silos’ towers will collapse one after another, which in itself is considered a
major source of PM2.5 particles, leading to aggravating the risk that we’re
living,” Saliba added. Accordingly, she called on the competent ministers to
answer a series of questions and to “devise an immediate intervention plan to
resolve the problem,” demanding answers within two days and threatening to
debrief the ministers in parliament if they don’t respond within the deadlines.
“What is Cabinet’s plan to put out the flames and what is Cabinet’s plan to
remove the sources of the blaze and avoid any disaster in the near future?” the
MPs asked. They also vowed to “communicate with all competent parliamentary
committees, such as those related to environment, health and other issues.” “We
will not rest before putting an end to this veiled disaster that is affecting
the city and its residents,” they added.
Security forces search for escaped Adlieh inmates
Agence France Presse/August 08/2022
Security Forces agents arrested Monday four detainees who had managed to escape
with 27 others at dawn on Sunday from a detention center in Adlieh, a media
report said. 31 detainees had fled the detention center on Sunday, after sawing
their way through a window, according to a judicial official. "Immediate orders
were given to arrest them and investigations are underway," the Internal
Security Forces said in a statement. The detainees broke past a prison window
using a saw smuggled into the facility, said a judicial official close to an
investigation into the incident.
"The escapees include Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians, among other
foreigners," he told AFP on condition of anonymity. On Sunday morning, an AFP
correspondent saw security forces and army personnel deployed in the Beirut
neighborhood housing the jail. The Adlieh detention center was formerly
controlled by Lebanon's General Security agency but is now managed by the
country's prison authority. It was notorious for abuses committed against
detained Syrian refugees and foreign migrant domestic workers, according to
rights groups, including Human Rights Watch. Bassam al-Kantar of Lebanon's
National Human Rights Commission said the facility was among the country's
worst, suffering from overcrowding, foul sewage smells and lack of ventilation
and sunlight. "Detainees are malnourished... and are not allowed to receive food
from their families," he said. "Healthcare is also non-existent, with a large
number of detainees suffering from skin diseases," mainly due to lack of hygiene
measures in the facility, he added. The prison break came as Lebanon grapples
with an unprecedented economic crisis that has seen the value of the Lebanese
pound lose more than 90 percent of its value against the dollar on the black
market. Inflation has skyrocketed and public sector salaries have plummeted to
record lows, forcing a large number of soldiers and other members of the
security forces to quit in order to try to eke out an alternative living.
The crisis has also further degraded Lebanon's already dismal jails, with poor
conditions and lack of medical care regularly sparking prion riots and unrest.
Geagea urges opposition MPs to unite on next President
name
Naharnet/August 08/2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called Monday the 67 MPs who are not
supporters of the so-called Axis of defiance to cooperate in order to select a
candidate for Presidency. Geagea considered that "any reform plan must start
with the election of a new President."He urged the opposition MPs to communicate
together in order to make a successful change, as he mentioned that they had
failed in past events to make a change because of their lack of coordination.
Geagea had last week accused Hezbollah and its allies, the Free Patriotic
Movement and President Michel Aoun, of being the root cause of the crisis in
Lebanon. He said he will oppose the election of a March 8 President or the
election of a "consensual President", calling the opposition MPs for intensive
consultations in order to agree on a sovereign and reformist President.
FPM MP says Lebanese will 'cry eyes out' over President
Aoun
Naharnet/August 08/2022
Free Patriotic Movement MP Salim Aoun said that there was a plan to beat
President Michel Aoun since the start of its term as President. "Only one year
after Aoun's election as President, back then Prime Minister Saad Hariri was
kidnapped," MP Aoun said. "The aim was to create a strife in Lebanon," he
added."You will cry your eyes out when President Aoun leaves Baabda," the
lawmaker said, as he blamed the government for the energy crisis.
Search operation underway after Lebanon prison break
Najia Houssari/Arab News/August 08/2022
Sunday’s escape ‘reflects magnitude of problems,’ says parliamentary committee
chief
Police official warns that country’s jails are three times over capacity
BEIRUT: A group of prisoners escaped from a prison in Beirut on Sunday, with the
Lebanese Internal Security Forces’ Investigation Unit subsequently arresting
four out of 31 escapees a day later. “Work is underway to arrest the remaining
detainees who escaped from Beirut’s prison,” the directorate general of the
Internal Security Forces said. The group of escaped prisoners includes Lebanese,
Syrian, Palestinian and other nationals, he added. A security source told Arab
News that the detainees “managed to saw off the bars of one of the cell’s
windows overlooking the street using a screw.”
The prison is located under a bridge close to the Justice Palace in Beirut and
is subject to the authority of Lebanon’s prison administration, but was
previously controlled by the General Security Service. A huge organized escape
operation took place in the Baabda jail on Nov. 21, 2021, during which five
detainees died in a car accident while escaping, and others were detained. Riots
are a frequent event in Lebanese jails, with prisoners demanding better living
conditions. MP Michel Moussa, head of the Parliamentary Committee for Human
Rights, questioned how 31 detainees could escape a facility that is presumably
guarded and secured. He told Arab News: “We have not received any answer to this
question yet because the investigations are still ongoing.”
The MP added: “We have already asked for this so-called Adlieh prison built a
few years ago to be shut down, as it does not provide the bare minimum on all
levels. We were promised several times that it will be shut down, but this did
not happen. “What’s certain is that the prison does not meet any human-friendly
criteria. “Apparently, security bodies are using it again as a jail for the
detainees of Beirut’s Justice Palace in light of prison overcrowding.”Moussa
added that Sunday’s escape reflected the magnitude of economic, security and
judicial issues in Lebanon.
In response to increasing numbers of people being detained without trial, the MP
demanded an end to the practice, adding that courts should be reactivated, and
that the circumstances in Lebanon do not justify delays. More than 80 percent of
Lebanon’s population lives below the poverty line due to the acute economic
crisis in the country. As salaries dwindle, the economic crisis has led to a
significant number of soldiers and security personnel fleeing from service or
resigning to look for other jobs, or even migrate. Military and security
higher-ups are turning a blind eye to the fact that many soldiers and security
officers are working second jobs. Col. Joseph Moussallem, head of the Internal
Security Forces’ Public Relations Division, told Arab News that the economic
circumstances of police officers “do not affect their line of duty.”He said that
an increased number of arrests shows that crime continues to be under control in
Lebanon, but admitted that the reform process had declined in prisons. According
to Internal Security Forces data, many prisoners have long criminal records and
have been handed repeat prison sentences.
He added that prison overcrowding was causing problems, although “we are doing
whatever it takes to carry out reforms and civil organizations are trying to
help.”
Moussallem said that state and private property thefts were among the most
frequent offenses taking place in the country. On Sunday, residents in Hermel in
Bekaa protested outside a store in the city following an armed robbery and
shooting. Residents blocked a road and carried signs that said: “Enforce
security. Do not cover for perpetrators. Prosecute them and refer them to courts
so they can receive the appropriate punishment.”Sheikh Ali Taha, the mufti of
Hermel, said: “What’s happening in the region is a weird phenomenon.”He called
on officials to urgently intervene and reduce crime in order to avoid the threat
of vigilante justice. In the Lebanese northern region of Koura, the Association
of Olive Farmers denounced “the theft of seasonal crops in the region.”In a
statement, the association said that “every morning, a group of professional
thieves pick our unripe crops and steal iron barrels, electric wires, iron
fences and beehives. We can no longer stand this.” Col. Moussallem estimated the
total number of prisoners and detainees in the country to be about “9,000
individuals,” adding that Lebanon’s prisons were designed to only house about
3,000 people at maximum capacity.
He said that thefts and other offenses had decreased by 6.5 percent this year
compared to last year.
بارعة علم الدين/الخلاص الوحيد للبنان يتم فقط وفقط برفع قبضة حزب الله
Severing Hezbollah’s grip is Lebanon’s only salvation
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/August 08/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/111117/baria-alamuddin-severing-hezbollahs-grip-is-lebanons-only-salvation-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%85-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ae%d9%84%d8%a7/
Two years after Beirut’s port catastrophe — which was an apt metaphor for the
wider state of Lebanon —the port’s huge grain silos continue to disintegrate and
toxic fires feed upon their decomposing contents, terrorizing locals and
prompting fears about stinking clouds of carcinogenic dust visiting new
afflictions upon a capital city that has been brutally stripped of its soul.
Beyond the 218 deaths, thousands of injuries, $15 billion in property damage and
300,000 made homeless, the number of those permanently affected by this Crime of
the Century exceeds belief. Everybody lost somebody, while so many were
permanently disfigured.
Hezbollah’s demand for an “impartial and fair investigation” illustrates how
language has been stripped of all meaning. These criminals flaunt their lies as
another means of humiliating us, taunting us that we know of their guilt but can
do nothing. In recent protests, bereaved families held aloft images of
Hezbollah’s leader, declaring that they know exactly who killed their loved
ones.
Hezbollah and its cronies paralyzed the work of the first two investigating
judges and will easily neutralize the work of anyone else appointed to uncover
the truth. Any widely demanded international investigation would inevitably
suffer the same fate as the Hariri tribunal — which, after years of tireless
work, identified culprits, only for Hezbollah and its associates to brazenly
dare the world to come and arrest them. Such travesties exceed all attempts at
satire.
Hezbollah believes it enjoys impunity for its crimes. The succession of murdered
national figures such as Mohamad Chatah, Samir Qasir and Luqman Slim …
multibillion-dollar drugs syndicates … the killing of thousands of innocent
Syrian citizens … breathtaking corruption … the list goes on.
Hezbollah’s leaders meanwhile spout warmongering rhetoric over the contested
Mediterranean gas fields, believing they win either way. If Israel makes
concessions, that will be thanks to threats of the “resistance”; if not, they
were right all along and the Zionist enemy and its Western backers can’t be
trusted, justifying future confrontations. Hezbollah warns that nobody will be
allowed to extract gas and oil if its demands aren’t met. Drones have been
overflying Israeli gas infrastructure, with Hezbollah threatening that gas rigs
are within easy reach of its missiles.
“Islamic resistance” propaganda channels never tire of enumerating how many
missiles, fighters and weapons “Hizb Al-Shaitan” possesses, but they fail to
detail the extent of retaliatory damage Israel would inflict upon Lebanon, or
the thousands of citizens previously killed by Israeli aggression. Finance
Minister Avigdor Lieberman scandalously threatened to “wipe out the entire
Dahiyeh area in Beirut” if Israel’s gas infrastructure were attacked. Such
threats are all too believable.
Above and beyond this, Lebanon’s only salvation lies in its populace assertively
clawing back their autonomy and sovereignty from Tehran.
Meanwhile, the tragic violence of recent days in Gaza is, of course, being
exploited by Hezbollah and Iran to further exacerbate regional tensions.
Hezbollah’s Naim Qassim warned that his organisation “wouldn’t stand idly by,”
while other Iran-backed militias throughout the region have sought to up the
pressure at Iran’s behest.
In 2006, GCC states rushed to invest billions of dollars to instantaneously
rebuild Lebanon. Yet Lebanon’s leadership has spent the past few years severing
Lebanon from its Arab identity and culture, and gleefully burning Lebanon’s
bridges with Gulf states, despite knowing that the ayatollahs in Tehran wouldn’t
lift a finger to help, beyond replenishing the armories of its puppets.
The question of who really controls Lebanon was highlighted in recent days when
a Syrian ship subject to US sanctions and laden with stolen Ukrainian grain was
impounded in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli. Syrian diplomats rushed to
cajole, threaten and bribe the judiciary and officials to allow the ship to
continue on its way to Syria to feed Hezbollah’s allies in the Assad regime. As
a result, a Ukrainian vessel bringing life-saving supplies of wheat to Lebanon,
which was supposed to arrive on Sunday, remains at anchor off the coast of
Turkey amid threats to change its destination in protest at Lebanon allowing
itself to be used as a hub for stolen Ukrainian grain. This is a perfect analogy
for how Lebanese citizens have repeatedly been left to starve as a consequence
of the criminal activities of Hezbollah and other leaders. In Beirut, where
fights regularly break out over loaves of bread, people had been desperately
counting on the arrival of these grain supplies.
National infrastructure and the very fabric of society are disintegrating before
our eyes, as schools, hospitals and essential institutions fall apart, suffering
chronic shortages of all essential prerequisites for basic functioning. The most
competent staff have fled overseas. The World Bank accuses Lebanon’s leaders of
engineering a “deliberate depression” and engaging in corrupt and illegal
schemes to monopolize the nation’s resources.
Hezbollah and its allies lost the last parliamentary election, but they believe
they possess the ruthlessness and political muscle to act as if they won,
thinking citizens are too engrossed in daily struggles for survival to care
about such matters. Yet it is precisely because citizens have reached such dire
straits that they must seize the moment to ensure that demands for justice and
accountability are heeded, while acting against Hassan Nasrallah and Gebran
Bassil’s efforts to block government formation. With the epic tussle over who
will be the next president on the horizon, there is everything to play for.
Iraq has been brought to a halt by hundreds of thousands of mostly Shiite
protesters seeking to prevent Tehran imposing a government. Only a similar mass
popular uprising can save Lebanon, forcing a situation in which “business as
usual” becomes impossible for thieving factions, and this “deliberate
depression” is brought to an abrupt halt.
Above and beyond this, Lebanon’s only salvation lies in its populace assertively
clawing back their autonomy and sovereignty from Tehran.
Our greatest hope is in the Lebanese people’s inspirational bravery and stoicism
in the face of unimaginable adversity. A rejuvenated and transformed Lebanon is
there for the taking, if we collectively possess the courage to seize the moment
to reach out and grasp it.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 08-09/2022
Audio From FDD/The Life and Death of Emir al Zawahiri
Clifford D. May/Bradley Bowman/Bill Roggio
Listen
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0GvxS3U3eeGD0QXGvfsyDo
About
Ayman al Zawahiri, emir of Al Qaeda, is no more. He was reportedly on the
balcony of what he thought was a “safe house” in one of Kabul’s more upscale
neighborhoods when two missiles fired by the CIA from a Hellfire drone ended his
life — almost 21 years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and
almost one year after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and
capitulation to the Taliban.
To discuss Zawahiri’s career and killing and what’s next for Al Qaeda, the
Taliban, Afghanistan, and the global jihad, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is
joined by FDD senior fellow and editor of FDD’s Long War Journal Bill Roggio and
senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP) Bradley
Bowman.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is an Iran-Supported Terror
Organization
FDD/August 08/2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
On Friday, the IDF launched Operation Breaking Dawn to preempt attacks by
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist
Organization since 1997. Since the fighting began, Palestinian militants have
launched some 600 rockets at Israeli targets, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem,
while hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken refuge in bomb shelters.
PIJ Secretary General Ziad al Nakhaleh is currently in Iran, where he has met
with General Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps (IRGC), and with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
A ceasefire between PIJ and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may be imminent.
PIJ PROFILE
Founded in 1981, PIJ is the second-largest militant group in Gaza after Hamas.
Like Hamas, PIJ seeks Israel’s destruction. But unlike Hamas, PIJ does not
participate in the Palestinian political process or provide social services to
Palestinians in Gaza. In the 1990s and again during the Second Intifada from
2000 to 2005, PIJ targeted Israeli civilians with suicide bombings, including
the Netanya mall bombing in December 2005, which killed five Israelis and
wounded fifty.
Although PIJ is Sunni, it took inspiration from the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and
views it as a model for the creation of a Palestinian state. PIJ’s founder,
Fathi Shikaki, published a book expressing support for Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomenei, the founding father and first supreme leader of the Islamic Republic
of Iran. Israel killed Shikaki in 1995.
IRANIAN SUPPORT FOR PIJ
Since the early 1990s, Iran has provided PIJ with income and military support,
including small arms, rockets (such as the Fajr 5 and Fajr 3), and
explosive-laden unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In 2019, Nakhaleh said, “The
resistance is capable of crushing the Zionist cities with over 1,000 rockets a
day for months.”
According to the State Department’s 2020 Country Reports on Terrorism, “PIJ
receives financial assistance and training primarily from Iran. PIJ has
partnered with Iran- and Syria-sponsored Hizballah to carry out joint
operations.”
IRGC QUDS FORCE COMMANDER QASSEM SOLEIMANI’S SUPPORT FOR PIJ
In 2021, Nakhaleh said that Soleimani “traveled to various countries, made
plans, and set up guidelines to deliver these weapons [to the Gaza Strip]. And
indeed, these weapons were delivered [to the Gaza Strip]. I can say that the
missiles that [Soleimani] delivered to the Gaza Strip were the ones used to
attack Tel Aviv. I can say that Hajj Qassem played a pivotal role in the fact
that the Palestinians ventured to attack the capital of the Zionist entity. From
that point in time, weapons were developed in Palestine, and the Palestinians
began to manufacture all the missiles themselves as a result of the experience
they gained thanks to the decisions of Hajj Qassem. This is a great and
important issue, and without a doubt played a role in strengthening the
Palestinian resistance.”
EXPERT ANALYSIS FROM FDD CEO MARK DUBOWITZ
“Palestinian Islamic Jihad is an arm of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Khamenei and the IRGC are fanatically devoted
to weaponizing Palestinian terror groups to destroy Israel while brutalizing
Iranians at home.”
Assessing Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Military Capabilities
After the August 2022 Conflict
FDD/August 08/2022
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is the second-largest terrorist organization in
the Gaza Strip after Hamas. Over the years, PIJ has strengthened its military
capabilities with significant assistance from Iran, and particularly the Quds
Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Until the United States killed him in 2020, Quds Force Commander Qassem
Soleimani personally supervised this military build-up. Today, the Quds Force
continues to fund and arm PIJ under the leadership of Esmail Qaani.
PIJ ARSENAL
Before the current round of fighting, PIJ had an estimated arsenal of about
6,000-8,000 rockets, ranging from a few kilometers to 120 kilometers. The
majority of them have a range of up to 40 kilometers. PIJ’s rocket cache
includes Iranian Fajr 5 rockets, with a range of 75 km; Grad rockets, with a
range of up to 35-40 km; and Bader 3 rockets, with a range of 10-20 kilometers.
In recent days, PIJ has fired an estimated 600 rockets at Israel.
PIJ also possess anti-tank capabilities, including the lethal Kornet anti-tank
guided missile (ATGM), which has a firing range up to 5.5 km; the Iranian Ra’ad-T
ATGM, which has a firing range up to 3 km; and rocket-propelled grenades. The
organization further possesses special capabilities such as the man portable air
defense systems (MANPAD) known as the SA-18 (IGLA) and the SA-7B. PIJ has a few
drones, as it revealed on Quds Day in April 2022, but their quantity so far is
negligible.
CURRENT EROSION OF PIJ CAPABILITIES
PIJ expended at least 10 percent of its total rocket arsenal during the August
conflict. The rockets fired exposed their poor quality and lack of accuracy.
About 20 percent of the rockets launched fell in the Gaza Strip (including at
least one that caused significant loss of life). Many of the longer-range
rockets deviated from their intended trajectory and fell into the sea. In this
context, the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) ongoing military campaign against PIJ
has led to a significant erosion of PIJ’s military capabilities.
DEATHS OF PIJ COMMANDERS
IDF forces killed PIJ’s two senior military chiefs — the commanders of the
southern sector, Khaled Mansour, and of the northern sector, Taysir Jabari.
These death left the organization’s paramilitary fighters without leadership.
The IDF also killed leaders of PIJ’s rocket unit and anti-tank unit. The group
can certainly promote lower-level fighters to leadership positions, but it could
take months, if not years, to reestablish a modicum of professionalism and
seniority within their leadership ranks.
ROCKET ARSENAL
Israel attacked numerous PIJ rocket launch pits and many ammunition depots. The
organization likely still possesses thousands of short-range rockets, and at
least several long-range rockets that can reach central Israel. PIJ was
economical during the August skirmish, careful not to fire all of its long-range
rockets. In the final three days of fighting, Israel attacked PIJ’s military
production sites, where the group produced rockets, mortars, and other
munitions. The IDF also struck warehouses for storing military materials. PIJ
will not easily replenish its rocket inventory in the short term. In the medium
and long term, the group will rely on Iran for this materiel. Iran will attempt
to smuggle this material to Gaza by land (via the Sinai Peninsula) and by sea
(primarily via fishing vessels off the Mediterranean coast).
MILITARY INFRASTRUCTURE
During the August operation, Israel destroyed PIJ anti-tank posts, observation
posts, training sites, and military outposts. This damage, although severe, does
not constitute a substantial erosion of PIJ’s military infrastructure; the
outposts were makeshift and the organization can rebuild them quickly. One
exception was the Israeli attack on a PIJ commando near Rafah in the southern
Gaza Strip, though it did not cross the border with Israel. The tunnel’s
restoration will require immense time and resources.
FUTURE CAPABILITIES
PIJ maintains the ability to fire rockets at Israel. It likely possesses at
least 5,500 rockets, although most of them rockets are short-range. The group
still enjoys significant financial support from the Islamic Republic of Iran,
which also trains the group’s fighters and arms them. The group also enjoys safe
haven within the Gaza Strip, thanks to the patronage of the Iran-backed Hamas
organization. Thus, while the group’s capabilities were set back significantly,
it will immediately set about rebuilding its capabilities for the future,
setting the scene.
Biden Welcomes Gaza Truce, Laments Civilian Casualties
Washington/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
US President Joe Biden on Sunday welcomed a truce between Israel and Islamic
Jihad in Gaza, urging all parties to implement it fully. The president said in a
statement that Washington had worked with officials from the Jewish state, the
Palestinian Authority and various countries in the region to “encourage a swift
resolution to the conflict” over the previous three days. “We also call on all
parties to fully implement the ceasefire, and to ensure fuel and humanitarian
supplies are flowing into Gaza as the fighting subsides,” Biden added. The
president also lamented the injury and death of civilians in Gaza, but did not
specify who was responsible. The violence has left at least 44 Palestinians
dead, including 15 children. Biden said reports of civilian casualties in Gaza
are a tragedy, "whether by Israeli strikes against Islamic Jihad positions or
the dozens of Islamic Jihad rockets that reportedly fell inside Gaza."“As I made
clear during my recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, Israelis and
Palestinians both deserve to live safely and securely and to enjoy equal
measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy,” stressed Biden, who traveled to
the region last month.
Gaza crossing opens as truce holds between Islamic Jihad
and Israel
Agence France Presse/August 08, 2022
Fuel trucks entered Gaza as an Egypt-brokered truce between Israel and Islamic
Jihad militants held Monday, raising hopes that the intense conflict that left
dozens of Palestinians dead has ended. An AFP journalist at the goods crossing
to southern Gaza saw trucks loaded with fuel enter the enclave, ending a severe
shortage which prompted the only power station there to shut down Saturday. The
arrival of vital supplies follows the implementation of a ceasefire at 11:30 pm
(2030 GMT) Sunday, to stem the worst fighting in Gaza since an 11-day war last
year devastated the Palestinian coastal territory. Gaza's health ministry said
15 children were among 44 people killed in the intense fighting. Despite a
flurry of strikes and rocket attacks in the run-up to the truce, neither side
had reported any major violations of the agreement overnight. The Israeli
military said roads will gradually reopen in the border area on Monday. "It was
decided to gradually lift the restrictions," which have seen Israelis remain
close to their bomb shelters, the army said.
'Fragile' truce -
In a statement sent three minutes after the ceasefire began, Israel's army said
that "in response to rockets fired toward Israeli territory, the (military) is
currently striking a wide range of targets" belonging to Islamic Jihad in
Gaza.In a subsequent statement, the army clarified that its "last" strikes took
place at 11:25 pm. While both sides agreed to the truce, each warned the other
that it would respond with force to any violence. US President Joe Biden
welcomed the ceasefire and thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for
his country's role in brokering it. In a statement, UN Middle East peace envoy
Tor Wennesland said: "The situation is still very fragile, and I urge all
parties to observe the ceasefire."Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid's office
late Sunday thanked "Egypt for its efforts" as it agreed to the truce, but said
that "if the ceasefire is violated", Israel "maintains the right to respond
strongly". Islamic Jihad, an Iran-backed group designated as a terrorist
organization by several Western nations, also accepted the truce but said it too
"reserves the right to respond" to any aggression. Starting on Friday, Israel
launched a heavy aerial and artillery bombardment of Islamic Jihad positions in
Gaza, leading the militants to fire hundreds of rockets in retaliation. In
addition to those killed, Gazan health officials said 360 people had been
wounded in the Palestinian enclave, which is run by the Islamist group Hamas.
Israel insists several children in the territory were killed by stray militant
rockets. Three people in Israel were wounded by shrapnel, while 31 others were
lightly hurt while running for safety, emergency services said. Islamic Jihad
member Mohammad al-Hindi said the ceasefire deal "contains Egypt's commitment to
work towards the release of two prisoners". The pair were named as Bassem al-Saadi,
a senior figure in the group's political wing who was recently arrested in the
occupied West Bank, and Khalil Awawdeh, a militant also in Israeli detention.
'Terrifying'
Gaza resident Nour Abu Sultan, 29, said the three days of conflict were
"terrifying", and that she had been unable to sleep during the "shelling and
rockets, the sound of aircraft above us". Dalia Harel, a resident of the Israeli
town of Sderot close to the Gaza border, said she was "disappointed" at news of
a truce Sunday despite her five children being "traumatized". "We're tired of
having a military operation every year," she said. "We need our military and
political leaders to get it over with once and for all... we're not for war, but
we can't go on like this." Islamic Jihad is aligned with Hamas but often acts
independently. Hamas has fought four wars with Israel since seizing control of
Gaza in 2007, including the conflict in May last year. The Israeli army has said
the entire "senior leadership of the military wing of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza
has been neutralized". Israel has said it was necessary to launch a
"pre-emptive" operation Friday against Islamic Jihad, which it said was planning
an imminent attack. The army has killed senior leaders of Islamic Jihad in Gaza,
including Taysir al-Jabari and Khaled Mansour.
EU submits ‘final text’ at Iran nuclear talks, Tehran
examining document
AFP/August 08, 2022
VIENNA: The European Union submitted a “final text” at talks to salvage a 2015
deal aimed at reining in Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Tehran said Monday it was
reviewing the proposals. Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia, as
well as the United States indirectly, resumed talks on Thursday in Vienna,
months after they had stalled. The European Union has submitted a “final text,”
a European official said on Monday. “We worked for four days and today the text
is on the table,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “The
negotiation is finished, it’s the final text... and it will not be
renegotiated.” “Now the ball is in the court of the capitals and we will see
what happens,” the European official added. “No one is staying in Vienna.”The
official said he hoped to see the “quality” text accepted “within weeks.”Iran
said it was examining the 25-page document.
“As soon as we received these ideas, we conveyed our initial response and
considerations,” state news agency IRNA quoted an unnamed foreign ministry
official as saying. “But naturally, these items require a comprehensive review,
and we will convey our additional views and considerations.” On Sunday, Iran
demanded the UN nuclear watchdog “completely” resolve questions over nuclear
material at undeclared sites. Iranian sources have suggested a key sticking
point has been a probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on
traces of nuclear material found at undeclared Iranian sites. “That has nothing
to do with” the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement of 2015,
the European official said. “I hope Iran and the IAEA will reach an agreement
because that will facilitate a lot of things.” The UN agency’s board of
governors adopted a resolution in June, censuring Iran for failing to adequately
explain the previous discovery of traces of enriched uranium at three previously
undeclared sites. “We believe that the agency should completely resolve the
remaining safeguard issues from a technical route by distancing itself from
irrelevant and unconstructive political issues, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday. Kelsey Davenport, an expert at the Arms Control
Association, warned against abandoning the IAEA probe in a bid to revive the
JCPOA, which she called “the most effective way to verifiably block Iran’s
pathways to nuclear weapons.”If the United States and the other signatories to
the 2015 deal do not support the UN body, it will “undermine the agency’s
mandate” and broader non-proliferation goals, she wrote on Twitter. The EU-coordinated
negotiations to revive the JCPOA began in April 2021 before coming to a
standstill in March. The 2015 accord gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for
curbs on its atomic program to guarantee Tehran could not develop a nuclear
weapon — something it has always denied wanting to do. But the unilateral
withdrawal of the United States from the deal under president Donald Trump in
2018 and the reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin
rolling back on its own commitments.
Israel, Islamic Jihad Declare Truce in Gaza After Three
Days of Bloody Clashes
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
Islamic Jihad Movement and Israel agreed on the terms of the Egyptian-brokered
truce Sunday, after three days of heavy fighting that left 41 Palestinians dead.
Senior Islamic Jihad member Mohammad al-Hindi said in a statement that the
"wording" of the Egyptian truce agreement was reached, including Egypt's
commitment to work to release the two prisoners Bassem al-Saadi and Khalil
Awawda. Since Friday, Israel has carried out air strikes and heavy artillery,
mainly bombardment in Gaza targeting the movement's positions. Islamic Jihad
responded with hundreds of rockets.
According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian death
toll rose to 41 people, including 15 children, with 311 injured. Sources said
that the Egyptian intelligence, which mediated along with Qatar and the UN peace
envoy, suggested three dates for the truce: Sunday at 10 PM, Monday at 2 AM, and
Monday at 6 AM. Another source in Tel Aviv said that if the Jihad continues to
refuse, Israel will offer a unilateral ceasefire without an agreement, warning
that it will respond forcefully and harshly to any violation. The Israeli
cabinet, the mini-ministerial council for politics and security affairs,
concluded a meeting on the situation on the southern front, saying it accepted
the Egyptian plan for a ceasefire after saying it had achieved most of its
military objectives during the three-day campaign. However, a senior Israeli
official confirmed that the security services had prepared for a long process
that would take an entire week. He claimed that the forces were able to continue
for any time required.
An army representative explained that Islamic Jihad received a very severe blow,
militarily and morally, as its rockets did not hit any significant Israeli
targets, and most of them either fell in open areas or were shot down before
reaching their destination. Israel said a stray rocket fired by Islamic Jihad
had killed several children in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Saturday. It claimed
to have "irrefutable" evidence that a stray missile fired by the movement was
responsible for the deaths of several children in Jabalia on Saturday. An
Islamic Jihad official confirmed that the movement does not intend to stop and
still has enough weapons. He announced that the movement owns a "surprise"
weapon that could tip the scales in their favor, but the movement has not
decided to use it. Meanwhile, Hamas was widely criticized in Palestine for not
participating in the fight against Israel. Spokesman Hazem Qassem asserted that
the resistance is present and ready and has many options to deal with the
situation and the escalation of Israeli crimes. Qassem indicated the groups were
constantly talking about the truce, especially with Egypt, to stop the
aggression against the Palestinian people. He asserted that the issue was never
in mediators or communications but rather in the occupation that does not
respect the efforts and escalates its aggression against the Palestinian people.
The occupation assassinates leaders, kills civilians, including women, children,
and the elderly, and deliberately hits homes in this barbaric way, said Qassem,
adding that "these crimes amount to real, full-fledged war crimes." On Sunday,
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid toured the headquarters of his army's Southern
Military Command, accompanied by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and assessed the
situation. The meeting was attended by the Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi, Lapid's
Military Secretary, Major General Avi Gil, and the commander of the Southern
Command, Major General Eliezer Toledano.They toured the command-and-control
centers, closely following the offensive operations launched from these centers.
They spoke with soldiers serving there and with the commander and control
center.
60 Trucks Enter Gaza as Israel Crossing Reopens
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
Up to 60 trucks entered Gaza on Monday as an Egypt-brokered truce between Israel
and Islamic Jihad militants in the Palestinian enclave held. The trucks passed
from Israel through the Kerem Shalom goods crossing to southern Gaza, an AFP
journalist said, hours after a ceasefire deal came into effect ending three days
of deadly conflict. The opening of the border crossings allowed fuel trucks in
to supply Gaza's only power plant and increase the availability of electricity,
which was down to around eight hours a day. The arrival of vital supplies
follows the start of a cease-fire at 11:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) Sunday to stem the
worst fighting in Gaza since an 11-day war last year devastated the Palestinian
coastal territory. Islamic Jihad member Mohammad Al-Hindi said the cease-fire
deal “contains Egypt’s commitment to work toward the release of two
prisoners.”The prisoners are Bassem Al-Saadi, a senior figure in the group’s
political wing who was recently arrested in the occupied West Bank, and Khalil
Awawdeh, a militant also in Israeli detention.
Iran Says Success of Nuclear Talks Depends on Washington's
Flexibility
London - Adel al-Salmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Sunday that Tehran seeks
to revive the nuclear agreement, pointing out that the success of the diplomatic
track "depends on Washington's flexibility." Amirabdollahian also called on the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to resolve the remaining issues
regarding Iran's nuclear activities and "distance itself from non-constructive
political issues."EU's Coordinator for Nuclear Talks Enrique Mora continued his
meetings with Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani at the level of political
delegations and experts. Iranian media noted that the Iranian and US sides
exchanged views to overcome two or three controversial issues. State-owned ISNA
news agency announced that the two sides focused on lifting sanctions, Including
the list of companies, entities, and individuals.
They want to guarantee that Washington will not withdraw again from the nuclear
agreement and ensure Iran and IAEA will resolve contentious issues, especially
regarding the open investigation into the three undeclared uranium sites. IRNA
news agency stated that the ongoing meetings assert the theory that there is
still hope to reach a final agreement, but it is subject to the Western party's
approval of the requirements for forming a sustainable deal. Amirabdollahian
said on his Instagram account that he had made a phone call with the UN Sec-Gen,
Antonio Guterres, noting that he called on IAEA to resolve the remaining issues
related to Iran's nuclear activities and avoid politicizing its technical
aspects. "There is no place for nuclear weapons in the political doctrine of the
Islamic Republic," he indicated. On Saturday, Amirabdollahian told his Chinese
counterpart, Wang Yi, that Washington needed a "realistic response" to Iran's
proposals. Western powers fear Iran's procrastination in nuclear negotiations as
Iran's 60 percent enriched uranium has accumulated, and it accelerated its
enrichment by running hundreds of sixth-generation centrifuges. Earlier this
month, the head of Iran's atomic energy organization, Mohammad Eslami, said
Tehran has the technical capability to produce an atomic bomb but has no
intention of doing so.Eslami reiterated comments made by Kamal Kharrazi, a
senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in July. The officials'
statements are a rare indication that Iran may be interested in changing the
course of its nuclear program toward acquiring nuclear weapons, something it has
long denied. A European official reported that Tehran had dropped its demand for
the removal of its Revolutionary Guards from the US sanctions list. A senior
Iranian official suggested that the issue might not be a sticking point anymore,
telling Reuters on Thursday: "We have our suggestions that will be discussed in
the Vienna talks, such as lifting sanctions on the Guards gradually."The Iranian
state media focused on the request for guarantees from the US administration
despite statements attributed to the Bloomberg Agency on Thursday night
regarding Iran's waiver of the warranties. Tehran accepts a US pledge to obtain
compensation for any withdrawal of US companies. Media reports claimed that the
US pledged that foreign companies investing in Iran would not be affected by any
sanctions if Tehran withdrew from the nuclear agreement. However, President Joe
Biden cannot pledge that, given that the nuclear agreement is a non-binding
political understanding and not a legally binding treaty. Russian negotiator
Mikhail Ulyanov said that talks to restore the nuclear agreement between Iran
and six other states are going in the right direction. "Looks like we are making
progress. Let's keep our fingers crossed," the Russian ambassador said, adding:
"We stand five minutes or five seconds from the finish line." Ulyanov clarified
that Moscow "fully" supports the current draft agreement, noting that "three or
four issues" are left to be resolved. "They are sensitive, especially for
Iranians and Americans," Ulyanov said. "I cannot guarantee, but the impression
is that we are moving in the right direction." On Saturday night, Ulyanov denied
the existence of a Russian and Chinese reservation on a draft by the European
mediator in talks to revive the Iranian nuclear deal to overcome the current
impasse. The diplomat asserted that reports about Russia and China's rejection
of Josep Borrell's proposal were "incorrect." Meanwhile, Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian Federation supports the position
adopted by the Iranian side regarding the restart of the nuclear agreement
negotiations. Lavrov reiterated that Washington must quit its ideas of revised
plans and comply with the initial agreements, adding that this "plan should be
renewed only as approved by the United Nations Security Council, without
additions, without any exemptions." Tehran's position on abiding by the original
agreement in 2015 is "absolutely legitimate," asserted Lavrov.
Talks to Revive Iran Nuclear Deal Produce 'Final Text'
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
Talks to revive Tehran's 2015 nuclear accord with world powers in Vienna ended
Monday as the parties closed a final text and key negotiators prepared to
consult with their capitals, diplomats said. After 16 months of torturous
on-and-off indirect negotiations to restore the deal, the European Union's
foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, suggested there was no more room for
negotiation on the draft now on the table. "What can be negotiated has been
negotiated, and it’s now in a final text. However, behind every technical issue
and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the
capitals," Borrell tweeted. "If these answers are positive, then we can sign
this deal," he added as EU, Iranian and US prepared to leave Vienna. A US State
Department official said that Washington was ready to quickly reach an agreement
to revive the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
on the basis of the EU proposals. Iranian officials, however, suggested that
they did not regard the EU proposals as final, saying they would convey their
"additional views and considerations" to the European Union, which coordinates
the talks, after consultations in Tehran.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, will shortly fly back to Tehran for
political consultations, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said. Supreme Leader
Ali Khamenei would have the final say on any deal. The US, which abandoned the
original nuclear deal four years ago under former President Donald Trump,
described the tabled draft as “the best and only basis on which to reach a
deal.”“For our part, our position is clear: we stand ready to quickly conclude a
deal on the basis of the EU’s proposals,” the State Department said, indicating
the deal's restoration was up to Iran. “They (Iran) repeatedly say they are
prepared for a return to mutual implementation,” the spokesperson added. “Let’s
see if their actions match their words.”Iran, for its part, sounded guarded,
raising skepticism about the chances for a breakthrough after a monthslong
stalemate. “Naturally the cases require comprehensive study,” IRNA quoted an
anonymous senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official as saying. “We will transfer
our views and supplementary points.”
Iran Discusses Islamic Jihad's Comprehensive Plan for a
Strong Response
London, Tehran /Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
Iran said the Islamic Jihad movement has a comprehensive plan to direct a solid
and effective response against Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein
Amirabdollahian held a telephone conversation with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh
Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani on the latest developments in Gaza and the
situation in the region. "The Palestinian resistance has prepared a
comprehensive plan to deliver a strong and effective response to the latest
crimes by the Zionist regime," said Amirabdollahian. The Iranian foreign
minister also pointed to his contact with the secretary general of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziad Nakhalah. Nakhaleh visited Tehran last
Tuesday and met Amirabdollahian, among other Iranian officials. The Foreign
Minister underlined Iran's determination to stick to its principled and
unchangeable policy to support the Palestinian cause and the resistance of the
Palestinian people against Israel's aggression and expansionist policies.
Nakhaleh praised Iran's powerful, effective, and constructive role in regional
issues, expressing regret over efforts by some countries to pressure Iran. The
Islamic Jihad's secretary-general also presented a report on the latest
developments in Palestine and said Palestinian groups must preserve their unity
and solidarity to bolster the Islamic resistance of the Palestinian people. IRGC-affiliated
media quoted the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),
Hossein Salami, as saying during his meeting with Nakhaleh: "We are with you on
this path until the end – and let Palestine and the Palestinians know that they
are not alone.""The Israelis will pay yet another heavy price for their recent
crime," he added, according to Tasnim agency. The commander of the IRGC's al-Quds
Force, Esmail Qaani, said on Friday that at least 15 operations "are carried out
against the positions of the al-Quds occupying regime (Israel) every day, as
they (Zionists) have built fences even inside the settlements for fear of their
lives."Qaani asserted that Iran would by no means ignore the vicious and
criminal acts of the enemies anywhere in the region. He pointed out the constant
decline of the Israeli regime. Nakhaleh also met with Speaker Mohammad Bagher
Ghalibaf on Wednesday. The Palestinian official said Iran has a remarkable
presence in the region and that the resistance forces in Gaza maintain their
strength and capabilities. Iran's Supreme Leader's adviser Ali Akbar Velayati
described the relations between Tehran and Islamic Jihad as "close and serious."
The state-run ISNA news agency reported that Velayati and Nakhaleh discussed the
situations in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Turkey. Nakhaleh reiterated
that the enemies and the US had adopted a "very weak" policy in the face of
Iran's influence, claiming that Tehran plays a very influential role in the
region. The Iranian media did not mention the objectives of Nakhaleh's visit to
Iran. However, some reports indicated an increase in tension between Tehran and
Tel Aviv and the possibility of Iranian nuclear facilities being subjected to an
Israeli strike.
Iran: Police Arrest Afghan Suspected of Stabbing 10 to
Death
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
Police in southeastern Iran arrested an Afghan man suspected of stabbing 10
other farm laborers to death following a quarrel over land, Iranian state media
reported Monday. The official IRNA news agency said four Iranians and six
Afghans were killed, and one farm worker was wounded in the rampage on Sunday
and was in hospital. According to the report, the suspect was mentally
unbalanced. A decades-long drought in Iran has caused increased disputes over
water resources and land with better access to water. Violent acts have
escalated in recent years in Iran as the country’s economic conditions
deteriorate amid crushing American sanctions that helped spark soaring inflation
and increasing unemployment. In May, an employee fired from one of Iran’s
largest state-owned financial conglomerates went on a shooting rampage at his
former workplace in western Iran, killing three people and wounding five before
turning the gun on himself.
In 2016, a 26-year-old man gunned down 10 relatives and wounded four others.
Iran Denies Reports Claiming Russia Will Use its New
Satellite in Ukraine War
London - Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
Iran announced on Sunday that its satellite, scheduled to be launched by Russia
next week, will be under its control "from day one." Tehran denied the US
reports that Moscow would use the satellite as part of its war against Ukraine.
Russia will launch a satellite on behalf of Iran into space on Aug. 9. The
spacecraft, a remote sensing satellite called "Khayyam," will be sent into orbit
by a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan. The Iranian
Space Organization stressed that the satellite would be under its supervision
from "day one" it is put into orbit. "All orders related to the control and
operation of this satellite will be carried out and issued from day one and
immediately after launch by Iranian experts based in Iran's...space bases," the
Agency said in a statement. It dismissed the claims as "untrue" and said, "no
third country is able to access the information" sent by satellite due to its
"encrypted algorithm." The Washington Post quoted Western intelligence officials
that Russia will use this satellite for several months for military purposes
related to its invasion of Ukraine before handing it over to Tehran. A report by
the newspaper on Aug 4 claimed that Russia "plans to use the satellite for
several months or longer" to assist its war efforts in Ukraine before allowing
Iran to take control. It added, quoting unnamed Western intelligence officials,
that Iran may not be able to supervise the satellite from the beginning but that
Russia "plans to use the satellite for several months, or longer, to enhance its
surveillance of military targets in that conflict."The announcement of the
satellite came after the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Iran on
July 19. In June 2021, Putin denied US press reports about Russia's intention to
provide an advanced satellite system for Iran to improve its surveillance.
Iranian space activities often receive condemnation from Western countries due
to fears that Tehran will resort to enhancing its expertise in the field of
ballistic missiles by launching satellites into space.
UN: Sudan's Army Shouldn't Miss Chance to Withdraw from
Politics
Khartoum - Mohammed Amin Yassin/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Sudan, Volker Perthes,
said that the Sudanese army's announcement of withdrawal from politics is "an
opportunity that needs to be grasped." Perthes began new moves to revive the
political process halted after the army withdrew from the dialogue with the
civilian forces in early July. He said in a statement, which Asharq Al-Awsat
received a copy of, that civilians must accept the challenge and form a civilian
government. Perthes said that the Trilateral Mechanism would continue to provide
unlimited support to all Sudanese efforts to overcome the deadlock and find a
way out of the crisis. "We will continue to provide technical assistance and
provide a space where divergent views by different parties can be bridged when
needed." The UN official warned that "Time is not on Sudan's side. The
continuation of the political impasse will lead to more losses of recent
national gains." "We call on all major forces, political parties, and grassroots
movements, including the Resistance Committees, to open communication channels
with one another and to think through their ideas and proposals," he said.
Perthes noted that broad participation in the political process is something
that the Sudanese political forces can achieve by ensuring the broadest possible
consultations with the actors and stakeholders close to them. In his statement,
the UN envoy referred to Lieutenant General Abdelfattah al-Burhan's announcement
on 4 July, which Lt-Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo later confirmed. He said it
positively indicated that the military was prepared to accept the leadership of
a civilian-led government to oversee a democratic transition. "This presented a
challenge for the civilian forces, which we have encouraged them to accept. The
withdrawal of the military from politics and the return to civilian government
has been a key demand of the street and most political parties and civilian
political forces."According to Perthes, there are now several political
initiatives that propose solutions. "We have mentioned more than once that full
Sudanese ownership of the political process is the cornerstone for its success."
He warned that progress under the current situation in the debt relief process,
which amounts to $56 billion, would be impossible. The political process to
resolve the Sudanese crisis, led by the Trilateral Mechanism of the United
Nations, the African Union, and the African Intergovernmental Organization (IGAD),
froze ahead of Eid al-Adha. Differences emerged after the army announced its
withdrawal from the political process, saying it aimed to allow the political
forces to form a civilian government of independent figures.
High-Level Meeting Looks to Tackle Tripoli’s Security
Situation
Cairo - Khalid Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
Libya’s outgoing prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, and chairman of the
Presidential Council, Mohamed Menfi, held a meeting on Sunday with several
security officials, including members of 5+5 Joint Military Committee, and
chiefs of intelligence, military police and counterterrorism. According to a
brief statement by Dbeibeh’s government, the talks focused on the “latest
military developments, the course of action of the 5+5 Joint Military Committee,
and the steps taken to unify the military institution, away from all political
squabbles, and follow up on the continuation of the ceasefire”.Local media
predicted the meeting resulting in a package of measures and decisions aimed at
controlling security in Tripoli. A source close to Menfi said that the meeting
also included military and security leaders from Libya’s western region.
Speaking under the conditions of anonymity, the source pointed out that the
meeting aims to prevent the outbreak of new armed clashes between the forces of
the Dbeibeh government and militias affiliated with his rival, Fathi Bashagha,
who heads a parallel government backed by the House of Representatives. However,
many observers doubt that the leaders of the armed militias loyal to the two
competing governments for power abiding by any decisions issued by this meeting.
Tensions between armed groups loyal to the rival leaders have increased in
recent months in Tripoli. For his part, Dbeibeh ignored these developments. On
Sunday evening, Dbeibeh visited the Misrata Medical Center. He thanked the
Center’s staff for their efforts to provide good health services to the
residents of the municipality and neighboring municipalities. Libya has for
years been split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each
supported by rogue militias and foreign governments. The Mediterranean nation
has been in a state of upheaval since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and
later killed longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Yemen: PLC Stresses Importance of Judiciary's Independence
Aden - Ali Rabih/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
The Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) has affirmed its keenness to
enhance the independence of the judiciary, and to maximize its role in achieving
justice and the rule of law and defending the constitutional order and national
identity. PLC Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi and Council members Aidarous Al-Zubaidi,
Abdul Rahman Al-Muharrami, Abdullah Al-Alimi, and Othman Mujalli, held the first
meeting with the leaders of the judiciary, which took its legal oath on Sunday.
“The independence of the judiciary is the fortified fence of the rule of law,
and one of the important guarantees of constitutional legitimacy, strengthening
the prestige of the state, combating corruption, and deterring any attempt to
abuse power,” said Alimi. During the meeting, Alimi congratulated the women of
Yemen on the presence of a woman at the top of the pyramid of the judiciary for
the first time in the country's history. He praised the role of loyal men of
justice in warding off sedition, lifting grievances, strengthening the people’s
confidence in their constitutional institutions, and rallying around the plan to
restore the state, and its inherent right to monopolize power. Alimi also drew
attention to the importance of taking into account the exceptional circumstances
the country is experiencing, not disrupting people's interests, and urgently
deciding on citizens' civil, criminal, and commercial interests, and everything
that would mitigate the impact of this war that was ignited by Iran-backed
Houthi militants.Alimi stressed the importance of working together to protect
the existing consensus and fill the legal and knowledge gaps faced by the
executive authorities. PLC members and Alimi heard from the President of the
Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Mohsen Yahya Talib, a full explanation about the
conditions of judges and judicial institutions, and the requirements for
strengthening their presence in governorates.
Iraq: Four Sentenced to Life in Prison Over Attack on
Baghdad Airport
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced four to life in prison over an attack on
Baghdad airport early this year that damaged two empty civilian planes on the
tarmac. Sunday’s conviction was for a January 28 rocket attack on Baghdad’s
international airport that caused no casualties. The court “sentenced to life
four criminals who took part” in the attack, according to a statement by Iraq’s
Supreme Judicial Council. The statement did not provide any details on the
convicts’ identities or political affiliations, AFP reported. Frequent attacks
on bases hosting foreign -- mainly US -- military contingents have been blamed
on pro-Iran groups, many of which demand the complete withdrawal of US forces
from Iraq.
Sadr Mobilizes Supporters, Coordination Framework Opposes
Dissolving Iraqi Parliament
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
While Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr continues to rally popular
pressure to dissolve the current Iraqi parliament, the Shiite Coordination
Framework, which is practically the largest bloc in parliament, is working to
thwart his ambitions. The Coordination Framework can stop the dissolution of
parliament without first reaching a settlement with Sadr. Sadr had announced
late on Saturday that his supporters would continue the protests until their
demands were met. “Positive responses came regarding the dissolution of
Parliament, and there is a popular and clan response, from academics, civil
society institutions, and preachers of the Husseini pulpit, and even from some
scholars and from some Kurdish, Sunni and even Shiite political leaders,”
tweeted Sadr. Sadr called on those who support the dissolution of Parliament to
take a “serious stand to save Iraq from the claws of corruption and dependency.”
He also called on everyone to find a common word, take serious and real actions,
and to stay away from meager dialogues. “Let us stay away from meager dialogue.
Iraq needs actions, not words,” said Sadr. “Yes (dissolving the parliament) has
become a popular, political, and elitist demand that has no alternative, and all
the corrupt mouths should be silenced wherever they are,” he stated. A
well-informed Iraqi politician affirmed that while Sadr might have popular
support, the Coordination Framework has a parliamentary majority that enables it
to tip the balance in its favor if dissolving the parliament was put to a vote.
“Coordination Framework forces want to reach an understanding with Sadr before
any measures can be discussed to dissolve parliament,” the politician, speaking
under the conditions of anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat. Iraq held snap
parliamentary elections in October, but disagreements prevented political
parties from electing a president and a prime minister for the country. Sadrist
supporters have held protests across Iraq in recent days, most notably staging a
sit-in at the Parliament building, rejecting the nomination of former minister
Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani by the Coordination Framework for the post of Iraq’s
prime minister.
More Than 250 Migrants Rescued Off Tunisia
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 8 August, 2022
Tunisian coastguards "rescued" more than 250 migrants who were attempting to
cross the Mediterranean to Italy, the country's National Guard said on Sunday.
Maritime authorities "were able... to rescue 255 would-be migrants, including
170 people of various African nationalities, with the remainder Tunisians," the
National Guard said in a statement on Facebook. The attempted crossings -- 17 in
total -- took place on the night of Friday to Saturday from the east of Tunisia,
according to National Guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli. AFP said that the
statement did not indicate whether any vessels had got into difficulty or sunk,
but did note that an unspecified sum of cash was seized during the operations.
In a separate statement later Sunday, the Tunisian navy announced that 22 other
would-be migrants, including nine children and three women, had been rescued on
Saturday. They were all Tunisian, the statement said, adding that they were
rescued on a boat 80 kilometers off the island of Kuriat near the eastern
coastal city of Monastir. The National Guard on Friday had carried out a
"pre-emptive operation", arresting five people who were "preparing to lead an
illegal immigration bid departing from the coast of Sousse province in the east
of the country", spokesman Jebabli said. The Tunisian coastguard announced in
mid-July that 455 migrants had been "rescued" in several operations off the
northern, eastern and southern coasts of the country. Attempts by migrants to
reach Europe from the North African coastline tend to increase in spring and
summer, due to the lower risk of stormy seas. Tunisia and Libya are principal
departure points and Italy a favored destination.
The Latest
LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on August 08-09/2022
The US on the Verge of a Remarkable
Moment
Bill Gates/The New York Times/August, 08/2022
Turn on the evening news and it immediately becomes clear that Americans are
experiencing the effects of climate change. Extreme heat and drought are
affecting tens of millions of people, as floods and wildfires ravage communities
from Appalachia to California. In the coming days, Congress has the opportunity
to face down the climate crisis while strengthening our country’s energy
security, creating opportunities for businesses and improving the lives of
Americans. We can’t afford to miss it.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 may be the single most important piece of
climate legislation in American history. It represents our best chance to build
an energy future that is cleaner, cheaper and more secure. Senators Chuck
Schumer of New York and Joe Manchin of West Virginia deserve a lot of credit for
reaching this agreement, as do countless others. Many business leaders and
activists I’ve gotten to know through Breakthrough Energy, the climate
organization I founded in 2015 to accelerate the clean energy transition, have
worked relentlessly for decades for this moment. But although it appears the
legislation will pass, success is not guaranteed, so it’s critical to keep
pushing for it. Let me explain why. Many of the technologies we’ll need to reach
net-zero emissions don’t exist, are in early stages of development or are still
too expensive to scale up. At the same time, more mature technologies like
solar, wind and electric vehicles must be deployed more quickly in more places.
Through new and expanded tax credits and a long-term approach, this bill would
ensure that critical climate solutions have sustained support to develop into
new industries.
These incentives would also provide the private sector with the confidence to
invest for the long term. This legislation would begin to transform the parts of
our economy that are hardest to decarbonize, like manufacturing, which we must
do to reach net-zero emissions. As many Americans face summer blackouts, power
shortages and high electricity bills, these measures would help build a modern,
reliable power grid so all can have access to affordable, abundant and clean
energy.
With those incentives and investments, this bill would catalyze a new era of
American innovation. The ability of America’s universities and industries to
innovate remains second to none, yet the country risks falling behind as other
countries race to build their own clean energy economies. This legislation would
help turn American energy innovations into American energy industries and unlock
huge economic opportunities in the energy market. If it becomes law, few nations
would have the capacity for producing homegrown clean energy like the United
States. America could quickly become a leader in the deployment of clean energy
at the scale required.
American businesses are ready for this change. I’ve spoken with corporate
leaders who are eager for our government to act. Many have made big climate
pledges and invested significant amounts in clean energy, both because they care
about making good on their promises and because it’s good business. Even more
businesses are waiting on the sidelines for a strong signal from government that
clean industries are a solid long-term investment. Passing the Inflation
Reduction Act would send that message and enable private capital to supercharge
our clean energy future with even greater confidence.
With President Biden’s signature, this legislation would jump-start and support
clean energy industries that could create millions of jobs, many in communities
that have been built by fossil fuels. In fact, many of the most promising
technologies in the clean energy economy will require similar skills and
expertise possessed by today’s coal, oil and gas workers. This will help ensure
a fair transition. Solving climate change is perhaps the hardest challenge
humanity has ever faced. It will require fundamentally transforming how we power
our communities, move goods, build things, heat and cool buildings and grow food
— basically how we do everything. We need to do it rapidly with a cohesive and
coherent plan if we want to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
The country has an opportunity to set an example by offering a vision of what’s
possible — and then by making it happen. By passing this legislation, Congress
would mark a moment when, despite the many challenges facing the nation,
lawmakers in Washington acted with ambition and foresight to build a cleaner,
healthier, and more prosperous future. Let’s get it done.
US: The New Real Hoaxes?
Pete Hoekstra/Gatestone Institute./August 08/2022
The investigative reporting by these two organizations [the New York Times and
the Washington Post] was so thorough and groundbreaking it turned up things that
were not even there.
For having refused to rescind these awards, the Pulitzer Committee should
receive its own Pulitzer -- for fraud.
The real hoax appears to have been the CCP's ostensible good behavior and the
now-hugely-discredited initial reporting on the virus.
Or how about the Hunter Biden laptop cover-up? Once again, On October 14, 2020,
just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, a critical story of possible
extensive influence-peddling with senior intelligence officers in the CCP,
Russia and Ukraine by the son of a presidential candidate. The contents of the
laptop raised questions that the candidate at the time, Vice President Joe Biden,
could be compromised. The entire subject was decisively pushed aside, along with
the potential threat to national security that such an eventuality might entail.
Also not allowed during the January 6th hearings have been any witnesses for the
defense, any cross-examination, or any exculpatory evidence.
One wonders, for instance if the January 6th Committee will consider the July
29, 2022 tweet by General Keith Kellogg, that on January 3, 2021, Trump, in
front of witnesses, did indeed ask for "troops needed" for January 6. Kellogg
wrote: "I was in the room."
The January 6th Committee has also not released any information about government
informants or FBI undercover law enforcement officers who might have been in the
crowd, and Pelosi is also said to be blocking access to a massive quantity of
documents. Finally, according to attorney Mark Levin, under the Constitution's
separation of powers, Congress, has no legitimacy even to hold a criminal
investigation: that power belongs to the Judiciary. The entire proceeding is
illegitimate and a usurpation of power.
Recently former US President Donald Trump challenged the award of Pulitzer
Prizes to the New York Times and the Washington Post for their investigative
reporting on alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
The investigative reporting by these two organizations was so thorough and
groundbreaking it turned up things that were not even there.
You have to hand it to them for this so-called "great reporting": the Pulitzer
Committee sure did.
We now know, of course, the grand conspiracy pushed by these papers is nothing
more than thoroughly debunked disinformation. For having refused to rescind
these awards, the Pulitzer Committee should receive its own Pulitzer -- for
fraud.
The intractability of the Pulitzer Committee is only the latest example of why
so many Americans have been losing trust in their institutions, both public and
private. Rather than admitting that these awards were a mistake, and that much
of the reporting was not investigative reporting, but merely a recitation of
fabrications put forward by political hacks for campaign purposes, the Pulitzer
Committee announced that it will stand by its initial decision, facts be dammed.
The Russia hoax is emblematic of the model built by the anti-Trump, anti-America
First, anti-populist movement that the American people have experienced for the
last six years. It embodies many of the characteristics that have frustrated
Americans. It is a combination of influential forces -- media, social media,
political players, and government -- that put forward information detrimental to
one -- oddly always the same -- political viewpoint. In this instance, populists
-- believers in the rights, wisdom or virtues of the common people, according to
Merriam Webster -- who might embrace the concept of personal freedom espoused by
the Constitution, a free market economy, economic growth, energy independence,
school choice, equal application of the law and decentralized governance.
Much of the material used to foster the Russia hoax originated from the
discredited "Steele Dossier," pedaled by former British spy Christopher Steele,
funded by Clinton-linked opposition research firm FusionGPS, and pushed by
Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussman. This discredited information was shared
widely -- and often, it seems, with prior knowledge of its falseness -- through
the mainstream media and social media when it was leaked to the press early in
2017 just before Donald Trump was sworn in as president. The material
contributed to the launching of the Mueller "Russiagate" investigation, which
cast a shadow over the first two years of the Trump administration. Government
officials were involved as CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey
and DNI James Clapper all lent their credibility to the supposed authenticity or
seriousness of the Russian materials. All of this did tremendous damage to the
effectiveness of the Trump administration, as it sought to govern, by putting it
under a cloud of suspicion and illegitimacy from the outset.
This, however, was not the only example. Consider the disrupted kidnapping plot
against Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in her key swing state for
presidential elections. "The FBI got walloped [in April]", according to the New
York Post, " when a Michigan jury concluded that the bureau had entrapped two
men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Those men and others
were arrested a few weeks before the 2020 election in a high-profile,
FBI-fabricated case...."
The media, however, for the most part portrayed the kidnapping plot as the work
of domestic terrorists, with the implied inference being they were right-wing
Trump supporters. Whitmer went so far as to accuse Trump of being complicit in
the plan, even though it emerged that these alleged plotters had also supposedly
wanted to hang Trump. The FBI, it was later shown, had been heavily involved in
the plot through informants and individuals it had placed in the group. By the
time the case came to trial after the election, Biden had won Michigan's
electoral votes and the damage had been done.
Consider, also, the COVID pandemic. The "facts" at the time were supposedly that
it came from "nature" and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government had
supposedly known nothing about its human-to-human transmissibility, even though
it had "made whistleblowers disappear and refused to hand over virus samples so
the West could make a vaccine."
The CCP, early on, was portrayed as a constructive player in controlling the
spread of the virus, even as it was recalling and hoarding all of its Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE). This fiction was reinforced by Dr. Anthony Fauci,
the World Health Organization, and other prominent participants – apart from
Taiwan, which futilely tried to warn the WHO of the coronavirus's fierce
human-to-human transmissibility, only to be dismissed.
The mainstream media and social media also quickly began parroting the
"official" story line. Social media companies suspended the accounts of whoever
might have had a different opinion and some were even canceled.
For the 10 months leading up to the November 2020 election, the narrative was
set: COVID-19 was a naturally occurring virus and the CCP was in the clear.
Imagine how different the 2020 presidential election might have been if the
debate was how the world would have held the CCP accountable for the leak and
coverup of COVID from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Now in 2022, a lab-leak
is considered the most "likely cause" of the coronavirus, but again the
political damage, and a gigantic amount of non-political damage, has already
been done. The real hoax appears to have been the CCP's ostensible good behavior
and the now-hugely-discredited initial reporting on the virus.
Or how about the Hunter Biden laptop cover-up? Once again, On October 14, 2020,
just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, a critical story of possible
extensive influence-peddling with senior intelligence officers in the CCP,
Russia and Ukraine by the son of a presidential candidate. The contents of the
laptop raised questions that the candidate at the time, Vice President Joe Biden,
could be compromised. The entire subject was decisively pushed aside, along with
the potential threat to national security that such an eventuality might entail.
Discussion of Hunter Biden's laptop with its reportedly incriminating
information about the Biden family business dealings with the CCP, Russia, and
other actors in what appeared to be a model of pay-for-play, was instantly shut
down. Fifty-one former government intelligence officials , who we now know were
perfectly well aware that the laptop was real – the FBI had been holding it for
months -- wrote a letter describing the contents of the laptop as having "all
the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation" designed to damage Joe
Biden.
NPR famously downplayed the story, and once again, if you used social media to
post information originally reported by the New York Post, you were canceled.
A year and a half after the election, the facts were finally "officially"
accepted: Well, what do you know, it really was Hunter Biden's laptop and the
material on it "is real!"
Once again, the leadership at the FBI, the media, social media, and former
government officials had developed a hoax to damage their political opposition
and the people who supported it.
Finally, there is the January 6th Committee, a one-sided investigative body,
sometimes called "the third (attempted) impeachment." The Committee appears to
have been put in place to stop Trump from running for office again. Before the
proceeding even began, its outcome was predetermined: Trump was to be found
guilty of -- something. As Stalin secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria used to
say during Soviet Russia's reign of terror, "Find me the man and I'll find you
the crime." So the US show trial commenced.
Even its start was ominous. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in an unprecedented
move, vetoed the committee appointments of Representatives Jim Banks and Jim
Jordan. This rebuff led House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to pull his five
Republican candidates from participating. Pelosi, it appeared, wanted only
anti-Trump folks to serve on the Committee. Also not allowed during the January
6 hearings have been any witnesses for the defense, any cross-examination, or
any exculpatory evidence.
One wonders, for instance if the January 6th Committee will consider the July
29, 2022 tweet by General Keith Kellogg, that on January 3, 2021, Trump, in
front of witnesses, did indeed ask for "troops needed" for January 6. Kellogg
wrote:, "I was in the room:"
"Great OpEd. Reinforces my earlier comment on 6 Jan Cmte. Has quote from DOD IG
Report regarding 3 Jan 2021 meeting with Actg Def Secy Miller/CJCS Milley in the
Oval on the 6 Jan NG request by POTUS on troops needed. I was in the room."
While purportedly examining in detail every decision and action by Trump and his
team, the Committee refuses to question Pelosi, among the leading figures
responsible for the security of the Capitol. She reportedly "turned down"
requests for greater security. According to the Federalist:
"Four days after the riot, former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who resigned
his post in the aftermath, told The Washington Post his request for pre-emptive
reinforcement from the National Guard ahead of Jan. 6 was turned down. Sund said
House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, overseen by Pelosi, thought the guard's
deployment was bad "optics" two days before the raid.... Despite the Associated
Press and Washington Post's best efforts to run interference for the speaker,
suddenly exonerating her of duties overseeing Capitol security, the riot on Jan.
6 was a security failure Pelosi owns. If the "speaker trusts security
professionals to make security decisions," then why, as the police breach
unfolded, did Irving feel compelled to seek the speaker's approval to dispatch
the National Guard, as The New York Times reported? How could Pelosi also order
the extended shut down of the Capitol to visitors, citing coronavirus, and
install metal detectors in the House chamber?"
The Committee has not evaluated the performance of the Capitol Police or other
law enforcement agencies, but it has targeted the "private records of
individuals with no connection to the violence."
The January 6th Committee has also not released any information about government
informants or FBI undercover law enforcement officers who might have been in the
crowd, and Pelosi is also said to be blocking access to a massive quantity of
documents. Finally, according to attorney Mark Levin, under the Constitution's
separation of powers, Congress, has no legitimacy even to hold a criminal
investigation: that power belongs to the Judiciary. The entire proceeding is
illegitimate and a usurpation of power. The Committee's narrative is clear:
Donald Trump is responsible for the events of January 6, now let us manufacture
the evidence to prove it.
This article has not even delved into the 28 states that "changed voting rules
to boost mail-in ballots." Some States apparently omitted both state law and the
need for states' legislatures to be the sole arbiters of election law, as
required by the Constitution; the $400 million spent by Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg; the 2000-plus "mules" and the algorithms that sent conservative
emails to spam while emails with liberal content went through to the addressees.
Is it any wonder that many Americans have lost faith in their institutions and
leaders? Is it surprising that after the Pulitzer decision, the Russia collusion
hoax, the Whitmer kidnapping hoax, the Covid origin hoax, the Hunter Biden
laptop hoax, and now the January 6th Committee hoax, that many Americans believe
there is something wrong with the system? The media, social media, government
officials and others have been complicit in undermining our rule of law and
possibly even subverting an election.
*Peter Hoekstra was US Ambassador to the Netherlands during the Trump
administration. He served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives
representing the second district of Michigan and served as Chairman and Ranking
member of the House Intelligence Committee. He is currently Chairman of the
Center for Security Policy Board of Advisors and a Distinguished Senior Fellow
at Gatestone Institute.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Severing Hezbollah’s grip is Lebanon’s only salvation
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/August 08/2022
Two years after Beirut’s port catastrophe — which was an apt metaphor for the
wider state of Lebanon —the port’s huge grain silos continue to disintegrate and
toxic fires feed upon their decomposing contents, terrorizing locals and
prompting fears about stinking clouds of carcinogenic dust visiting new
afflictions upon a capital city that has been brutally stripped of its soul.
Beyond the 218 deaths, thousands of injuries, $15 billion in property damage and
300,000 made homeless, the number of those permanently affected by this Crime of
the Century exceeds belief. Everybody lost somebody, while so many were
permanently disfigured.
Hezbollah’s demand for an “impartial and fair investigation” illustrates how
language has been stripped of all meaning. These criminals flaunt their lies as
another means of humiliating us, taunting us that we know of their guilt but can
do nothing. In recent protests, bereaved families held aloft images of
Hezbollah’s leader, declaring that they know exactly who killed their loved
ones.
Hezbollah and its cronies paralyzed the work of the first two investigating
judges and will easily neutralize the work of anyone else appointed to uncover
the truth. Any widely demanded international investigation would inevitably
suffer the same fate as the Hariri tribunal — which, after years of tireless
work, identified culprits, only for Hezbollah and its associates to brazenly
dare the world to come and arrest them. Such travesties exceed all attempts at
satire.
Hezbollah believes it enjoys impunity for its crimes. The succession of murdered
national figures such as Mohamad Chatah, Samir Qasir and Luqman Slim …
multibillion-dollar drugs syndicates … the killing of thousands of innocent
Syrian citizens … breathtaking corruption … the list goes on.
Hezbollah’s leaders meanwhile spout warmongering rhetoric over the contested
Mediterranean gas fields, believing they win either way. If Israel makes
concessions, that will be thanks to threats of the “resistance”; if not, they
were right all along and the Zionist enemy and its Western backers can’t be
trusted, justifying future confrontations. Hezbollah warns that nobody will be
allowed to extract gas and oil if its demands aren’t met. Drones have been
overflying Israeli gas infrastructure, with Hezbollah threatening that gas rigs
are within easy reach of its missiles.
“Islamic resistance” propaganda channels never tire of enumerating how many
missiles, fighters and weapons “Hizb Al-Shaitan” possesses, but they fail to
detail the extent of retaliatory damage Israel would inflict upon Lebanon, or
the thousands of citizens previously killed by Israeli aggression. Finance
Minister Avigdor Lieberman scandalously threatened to “wipe out the entire
Dahiyeh area in Beirut” if Israel’s gas infrastructure were attacked. Such
threats are all too believable.
Above and beyond this, Lebanon’s only salvation lies in its populace assertively
clawing back their autonomy and sovereignty from Tehran.
Meanwhile, the tragic violence of recent days in Gaza is, of course, being
exploited by Hezbollah and Iran to further exacerbate regional tensions.
Hezbollah’s Naim Qassim warned that his organisation “wouldn’t stand idly by,”
while other Iran-backed militias throughout the region have sought to up the
pressure at Iran’s behest.
In 2006, GCC states rushed to invest billions of dollars to instantaneously
rebuild Lebanon. Yet Lebanon’s leadership has spent the past few years severing
Lebanon from its Arab identity and culture, and gleefully burning Lebanon’s
bridges with Gulf states, despite knowing that the ayatollahs in Tehran wouldn’t
lift a finger to help, beyond replenishing the armories of its puppets.
The question of who really controls Lebanon was highlighted in recent days when
a Syrian ship subject to US sanctions and laden with stolen Ukrainian grain was
impounded in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli. Syrian diplomats rushed to
cajole, threaten and bribe the judiciary and officials to allow the ship to
continue on its way to Syria to feed Hezbollah’s allies in the Assad regime. As
a result, a Ukrainian vessel bringing life-saving supplies of wheat to Lebanon,
which was supposed to arrive on Sunday, remains at anchor off the coast of
Turkey amid threats to change its destination in protest at Lebanon allowing
itself to be used as a hub for stolen Ukrainian grain. This is a perfect analogy
for how Lebanese citizens have repeatedly been left to starve as a consequence
of the criminal activities of Hezbollah and other leaders. In Beirut, where
fights regularly break out over loaves of bread, people had been desperately
counting on the arrival of these grain supplies.
National infrastructure and the very fabric of society are disintegrating before
our eyes, as schools, hospitals and essential institutions fall apart, suffering
chronic shortages of all essential prerequisites for basic functioning. The most
competent staff have fled overseas. The World Bank accuses Lebanon’s leaders of
engineering a “deliberate depression” and engaging in corrupt and illegal
schemes to monopolize the nation’s resources.
Hezbollah and its allies lost the last parliamentary election, but they believe
they possess the ruthlessness and political muscle to act as if they won,
thinking citizens are too engrossed in daily struggles for survival to care
about such matters. Yet it is precisely because citizens have reached such dire
straits that they must seize the moment to ensure that demands for justice and
accountability are heeded, while acting against Hassan Nasrallah and Gebran
Bassil’s efforts to block government formation. With the epic tussle over who
will be the next president on the horizon, there is everything to play for.
Iraq has been brought to a halt by hundreds of thousands of mostly Shiite
protesters seeking to prevent Tehran imposing a government. Only a similar mass
popular uprising can save Lebanon, forcing a situation in which “business as
usual” becomes impossible for thieving factions, and this “deliberate
depression” is brought to an abrupt halt.
Above and beyond this, Lebanon’s only salvation lies in its populace assertively
clawing back their autonomy and sovereignty from Tehran.
Our greatest hope is in the Lebanese people’s inspirational bravery and stoicism
in the face of unimaginable adversity. A rejuvenated and transformed Lebanon is
there for the taking, if we collectively possess the courage to seize the moment
to reach out and grasp it.
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle
East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has
interviewed numerous heads of state.
د. ماجد رفي زاده: لا يمكن الوثوق بالنظام الإيراني في صفقة
نووية جديدة
Iranian regime cannot be trusted with a new nuclear deal
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/August 08/2022
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/111120/dr-majid-rafizadeh-iranian-regime-cannot-be-trusted-with-a-new-nuclear-deal-%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%af-%d8%b1%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%87-%d9%84%d8%a7-%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%83%d9%86-%d8%a7/
Since the Iranian leaders’ nuclear strategy is anchored in
deceiving, blackmailing and extorting the world’s powers, it should be extremely
difficult to trust the regime with any nuclear deal.
The regime has even boasted about its shrewd policy in deceiving and misleading
the international community. For example, one of the critical aspects of the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal, which was signed in 2015, was
that the core part of the Arak nuclear reactor was to be filled with concrete
and destroyed. Iran claimed that it did so, according to the country’s Fars news
agency. The US State Department and other parties to the nuclear deal also
confirmed the move.
But later, the former head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar
Salehi admitted in an interview on state TV that the government did not comply
with this condition and instead misled the international community. He said: “We
did not pour cement into the Arak heavy water reactor. If we had, the Arak
reactor would be destroyed.”
When the regime’s TV host asked him about a video showing cement being poured
into the reactor’s pipes, Salehi responded: “Not the pipes you see here. We had
purchased similar pipes, but I couldn’t announce it at that time. Only one
person knows so in Iran, the highest senior official. No one else knew. When our
friends were negotiating, we knew that they would go back on their words one
day. (Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei) has said ‘be careful, they do not keep their
promises.’ We needed to be smart. In addition, to not destroy the bridges behind
us, we needed to also be building bridges, so that if we needed to return, we
could return faster.”
This is just one example of the regime’s deceptive practices when it comes to
its nuclear program and compliance with international deals. Other instances
include the detection of radioactive particles in Turquz Abad, Iran’s reluctance
to answer simple questions about that secret facility and nonpartisan evidence
and detailed reports about Tehran’s clandestine nuclear facilities.
The Iranian regime has dragged out the negotiations on a return to the nuclear
deal long enough to reach the nuclear threshold. Several high-ranking Iranian
officials, including the country’s atomic energy chief, have bragged that the
regime has the ability to build a nuclear bomb.
As long ago as last November, the Institute for Science and International
Security released a study confirming that “Iran has enough enriched uranium
hexafluoride in the form of near 20 and 60 percent-enriched uranium to produce
enough weapon-grade uranium… for a single nuclear weapon in as little as three
weeks. It could do so without using any of its stock of uranium enriched up to 5
percent as feedstock. The growth of Iran’s stocks of near 20 and 60
percent-enriched uranium has dangerously reduced breakout timelines.”
The Iranian regime has also increased its extortion tactics, including turning
off International Atomic Energy Agency cameras that monitor its nuclear
activities. “In other words, the (IAEA) will not have any access to the
information before sanctions are lifted,” the state news agency IRNA said,
quoting Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of
Iran.
The Iranian regime is also constructing an underground nuclear facility that
would reportedly be extremely difficult to bomb. Even Israel would not have the
military capability to attack this underground nuclear site. In a report
published early this year, David Albright, president of the Institute for
Science and International Security, pointed out: “Fordow is already viewed as so
deeply buried that it would be difficult to destroy via aerial attack. The new
Natanz site may be even harder to destroy.”
It has dragged out the negotiations on a return to the JCPOA long enough to
reach the nuclear threshold.
These developments mark a new chapter in an extremely protracted and dangerous
game of brinksmanship between Iran and the other signatories to the JCPOA. The
main problem is that cowing to Iran’s demands in order to satisfy the theocratic
establishment, while the Iranian regime is clearly doing less, is making Tehran
more emboldened and empowered to defy the international community. This demands
a strong response.
The JCPOA is a compromise and bowing to nuclear extortion is a compromise too
far. The international community must focus its diplomatic efforts on countering
the clear and present danger that the aggressive Iranian behavior across the
region poses.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Iranian actions fuel negative perceptions in Morocco
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami/Arab News/August 08/2022
Iran’s suspicious behavior and interference in Morocco’s internal affairs have
intensified the Arab decision-makers’ negative perceptions of Tehran and its
regional interventions. Without major changes, it will be extremely difficult to
change this impression.
Furthermore, over the four decades of gradually escalating tensions between Iran
and Morocco, such perceptions have become normalized at the popular level, to
the point where Iran is now widely viewed as a threat to state and society. As a
result, despite Iran’s desire to repair relations, Morocco has remained
committed to continuing with its severance of diplomatic relations, pursued
since it withdrew its ambassador from Tehran in 2018.
The realities on the ground certainly do not appear to have changed in any way
that might persuade Morocco to reconsider its tough position. Tehran is yet to
abandon its interventionist foreign policy principles and ideologically driven
objectives, which require it to play a central and leading role in the Islamic
world. It also has not abandoned its efforts to gain regional dominance by
interfering openly in the internal affairs of regional countries and endangering
their sovereignty and the security of their societies.
Morocco has attempted to regulate Tehran’s behavior toward it through agreeing
memorandums of understanding to enhance bilateral cooperation and coordination,
mutual respect of sovereignty, maintenance of territorial integrity and
noninterference in one another’s internal affairs. Despite these agreements,
however, Iran has continued its hostile actions.
Consequently, the Moroccan position, sticking firmly to its decision on
diplomatic severance, seems justified. Any other country confronted with the
same situation as Morocco in regard to Iran would not have allowed Tehran to use
its diplomatic apparatuses and the headquarters of its diplomatic missions as
tools for interference, sabotage and tampering with the integrity of societal
unity and religious belief. Iran has played a disruptive and destructive role in
Morocco through its embassy, diplomatic headquarters and cultural centers.
Furthermore, Iran attempted to entrap Iraq in this destructive gambit by
exploiting and enlisting the Iraqi school in Rabat to spread sectarianism and
implement and expand the Iranian ideological project.
Iran has devised a strategy to spread Shiism in the Maghreb, influence Moroccan
society’s religious identity and gain religious and political influence,
allowing it to expand its presence and increase its power, as well as to create
a base of support, by converting the people’s loyalty to Tehran to serve its
objectives and ambitions. Moroccans scattered across Europe have also not
managed to remain unscathed by Tehran’s sectarianism, with Iran carefully
targeting them, taking advantage of their vulnerable situation in unfamiliar
surroundings far from home. Some were inculcated and indoctrinated in such a way
that their whole identities changed, turning them into loyal agents for Tehran
in Europe and equipping them to serve as handy tools to pursue Iran’s malign
agenda against their home nation. Morocco’s foreign minister has previously
spoken out to condemn the role of the cultural attache at Tehran’s embassy in
Rabat in targeting Moroccans in Europe and working to proselytize Shiism among
them.No country in the world is likely to allow any other nation to jeopardize
its own sovereignty and territorial integrity. This was evident from Morocco’s
tough stance toward Tehran, as well as from both the official and popular
reactions following the revelation of Iran’s involvement in providing support
and arms to the separatist Polisario Front via the Lebanese Hezbollah.
In addition, it has been revealed that the former Iranian cultural attache in
Algeria, Amir Mousavi, and other Iranian diplomats working in the embassy in
Algiers supervised the training of Polisario Front fighters. This military
training included instructions on operating ground-to-air missiles at a military
base in Tindouf, Algeria.
As a result of all this, Morocco decided to cut diplomatic ties with Iran in the
summer of 2018. We are all aware of how sensitive the Western Sahara issue is
for the Moroccan people and the country’s leadership, and that this subject is a
non-negotiable red line.
In addition, Morocco refuses to allow its territory to become a launching pad
for Iran’s subversive and destructive policies and illegal activities. Iran’s
role in the Moroccan arena was laid bare by the exposure of a cell led by the
Moroccan-Belgian citizen Ali Abdelkader Belliraj, who was accused of carrying
out terror operations in Belgium in collaboration with Iran.
Moroccan officials are keenly aware of the Iranian desire to enhance its malign
influence in the Moroccan arena and of the damaging role played by the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah in the cross-border smuggling of weapons
to conflict zones in Africa. These groups are also offering support for rebel
outfits and carrying out illegal activities such as circumventing sanctions,
smuggling funds and other activities related to Iran’s policy of resisting
international pressure, sanctions and isolation. All these actions pose a threat
to Morocco’s influence and status in Africa and contribute to fueling disputes
and tensions in the neighborhood. All this indicates that the disagreements
between Morocco and Iran appear to be chronic and deep-seated. In addition to
the hostile Iranian behavior toward Morocco, which threatens Moroccan unity,
stability and territorial integrity, Iran’s activities also demonstrate the
significant differences between the two countries on a number of international
issues.
Also, Morocco’s commitment to the Arab sphere means Rabat is not alone in
confronting Iran’s heinous behavior. In the face of Iran’s hostile behavior, the
country can count on significant Arab support. For example, in March, the Arab
League strongly rejected Iran’s arming of separatist elements that threaten
Morocco’s security and stability. At the time, Rabat received special assistance
from Saudi Arabia, which always stands by brotherly countries in the face of
challenges and crises.
The impact of this supportive role can be seen in the Kingdom’s support for an
Arab League resolution declaring solidarity with Morocco in the face of the
Iranian regime and its ally Hezbollah’s interference in Morocco’s internal
affairs, particularly in terms of arming and training separatists who threaten
the country’s territorial integrity, security and stability. Iran has played a
disruptive and destructive role in Morocco through its embassy, diplomatic
headquarters and cultural centers.
Without a doubt, Iran has failed to gain the trust of its brotherly country
Morocco, which is regarded as a vitally important player in the Arab and Islamic
spheres, as well as being a crucial transatlantic link and a corridor toward
Europe. Iran has squandered a long string of opportunities to establish
constructive relations with the Moroccan people and leadership due to its
hostile and disruptive policies, which fail to adhere to the well-established
international norms and criteria for regulating international relations.
As a result of all these factors, Morocco’s 2018 decision to cut ties with Iran
is still in effect to this day. Through its own destructive acts and behaviors,
Tehran continues to enhance the negative perceptions and impressions that now
haunt it in every country it goes to. Long-suffering Morocco is only one of the
many African, Arab and Islamic countries that now insist they will not open the
door for any normalization of relations with Iran unless Tehran makes
substantial changes to its policies and the patterns of its foreign relations.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sulami is president of the International Institute for Iranian
Studies (Rasanah). Twitter: @mohalsulami
Gazans will continue to suffer even as rocket fire paused
Chris Doyle/Arab News/August 08/2022
Hopefully, the latest Israeli bombing of Gaza has drawn to a close. However, the
aggression through the blockade continues and Israelis will benefit from any
sense of calm.Many will ponder the precise reasons why violence flared up over
the weekend, but underlying it all is one harsh reality: Pummeling Palestinians
wins votes and bears few political costs. It certainly does so in Israel, and
arguably in other largely Western countries that suffer from widespread
anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian racism.
Once again, the 2 million-plus Palestinians of Gaza were the cannon fodder,
hemmed in their 365 sq km cage for 15 years. As the UN special rapporteur on the
Occupied Territories tweeted: “Operation Breaking Dawn is a flagrant act of
aggression.”
On this occasion, the Israeli leadership did not even wait for an excuse. In the
past, Palestinian groups started firing rockets into Israel either for their own
reasons or after deliberate Israeli provocations designed to produce a violent
reaction.
This was, according to Israeli figures, a pre-emptive strike. But the absence of
hard, independently verifiable evidence leaves open alternative possibilities.
The Israel Defense Forces claimed: “Due to the imminent threat of attack against
Israeli civilians posed by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in Gaza, we
began Operation ‘Breaking Dawn’ earlier today.” Israeli leaders were quick to
proclaim the assassination of Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Tayseer Al-Jabari
in Gaza as a huge victory. But strangely, given his supposed status, an Israeli
army spokesperson could not even remember the man’s name.
The head of the military’s Operations Directorate claimed Israel had killed the
entire top brass of the group’s military wing. A somewhat grand claim perhaps,
but it certainly included southern brigade commander Khaled Mansour, a hugely
influential Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader. By Sunday, the head of Shin Bet
was briefing the Security Cabinet that the operation had been even more
successful than anticipated.
The reality is that Israel is in election season. Untested Prime Minister Yair
Lapid felt it was in his interest to demonstrate his hard-line security
credentials as he goes up against the self-styled “Mr. Security,” Benjamin
Netanyahu, who leads in the polls. Lapid showed that he too can bomb Gaza
without hesitation.
As ever, we have been here before. Shimon Peres bombed Lebanon in 1996 as he
tried, unsuccessfully, to ward off an insurgent Netanyahu. Ehud Olmert bombed
Gaza at the tail end of 2008 in Operation Cast Lead, in advance of the elections
where he too lost to Netanyahu. Lapid also recklessly permitted further mass
Jewish prayer on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday during the religious
holiday of Tisha B’Av, risking broadening the confrontation.
The lesson is that you cannot be more right than the right, more hawkish than
the hawks. However hard Lapid tries, he cannot outdo Netanyahu. The other lesson
— not being learned in many quarters it seems — is that Lapid is no peacenik. He
is pursuing near-identical policies to his predecessors, whether on Gaza,
Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa, settlements or ethnic cleansing. He just tends to package it
in sweet talk and smiles.
But all of this is a mirage. Constantly bombing and caging Palestinians in Gaza
does not augment Israeli security. This attack on Gaza may have ended, with the
rocket and mortar fire paused, and this ceasefire may hold, but at some point it
will all kick off again. In the meantime, Palestinians will have to bury 44 of
their number and dig through the rubble of 700 destroyed homes.
Practically nobody in Israeli politics is honest enough to admit that the
country’s Gaza policy is a total and utter failure. It remains a policy of
insecurity. Tel Aviv prefers to keep Israeli society in a semi-permanent state
of fear rather than develop a viable relationship with the Gaza Strip and its
residents.
Just as there is no doubt about the use of military force on Gaza, even less
discussion takes place about the Israeli blockade. Even before the bombing,
Israel totally shut the borders on Aug. 2. The Gaza power station had to close
down and much of the Strip had no electricity, with power cuts of up to 20 hours
a day. Yet Palestinian Islamic Jihad is no innocent party here. Its actions do
not warrant the war crime that is the collective punishment of Gaza, but the
Iran-backed group has, in 2022, carried out attacks inside Israel and sought to
provoke it as well. How much of this is an Iranian agenda is hard to tell.
What was notable was the inaction of Hamas. Israeli commanders believe that one
success of the operation has been to drive a massive wedge between the two Gazan
groups. Yet they may come to regret this if Hamas loses any ability to exercise
any restraint on Palestinian Islamic Jihad and it becomes a more fractured,
unpredictable actor. Hamas and the Israeli leadership have established a modus
vivendi.
With each round of Israeli aggression on Gaza, the international silence grows
louder. The US was just monitoring the situation, while the EU said it was
following events in Gaza with “great concern.” Great concern means it will do
nothing. No European or American leaders will be interrupting their summer
holidays.The most jaw-droppingly chilling, even Siberian, statement came from
British foreign secretary and likely next prime minister Liz Truss. She produced
an extraordinary defense of the indefensible, stating: “The UK stands by Israel
and its right to defend itself. We condemn terrorist groups firing at civilians
and violence which has resulted in casualties on both sides. We call for a swift
end to the violence.”
Practically nobody in Israeli politics is honest enough to admit that the
country’s Gaza policy is a total and utter failure.
Anyone would think it was Gaza that was occupying Israel, that it was
Palestinian groups that attacked first. This is victim blaming on an epic scale.
During her entire period as foreign secretary, Truss has, to my knowledge, never
once criticized Israel’s behavior or illegal actions. But when Russia carries
out similar actions, she calls them war crimes and backs sanctions. The Arab
world should be truly worried if such extremist attitudes, coated in hypocrisy
and double standards, are exhibited from Downing Street.
This is not a two-sided conflict between equal parties. It is not a war. Israel
occupies Gaza. It is a question of subjugation and colonization. Israel
pulverizing Palestinians in Gaza is a regular, even routine, event. This should
never have become normalized, but sadly this is exactly what has happened.
*Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, in
London. Twitter: @Doylech