English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 03/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus said to the Canaanite woman:, “For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter. She went away to her house, and found the child having been laid on the bed, with the demon gone out.
Mark07/24-30/From there he arose and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house and didn’t want anyone to know it, but he couldn’t escape notice. For a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. He said to her, “For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” She went away to her house, and found the child having been laid on the bed, with the demon gone out.

From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman
John 04/39-42/ From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I have done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 02-03/2021
Aoun follows up on health conditions with head of Syndicate of Physicians, deliberates situation of Chouf region with MP Al-Bustani, congratulates...
MoPH: 1452 new coronavirus infections, 10 deaths
President Aoun addresses security situation, preparations for elections with Minister Minister Mawlawi
Pope Urges Unity, Integration In Europe, To End Divisions
France grants Lebanon 500,000 doses of "Pfizer" vaccine
Rahi visits Archbishop of Cyprus, monastery of St. Rafqa
UNICEF, ILO in partnership with EU launch new national disability allowance to provide cash support to people with disabilities living in Lebanon
As support atrophies, Hezbollah grows wary of elections
Lebanon announces curfew for unvaccinated amid Omicron concerns
Limited gains/Ronnie Chatah/Now Lebanon/December 02/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 02-03/2021
Bennett urges Blinken to end Iran talks over 'nuclear blackmail'
Israel Calls on World Powers to Stop Iran Nuclear Talks Immediately
Israeli Army Prepares All Possible Scenarios to Strike Iran
UN says Iran advances nuclear enrichment amid Vienna talks
Iran Gives Drafts on Sanctions, Nuclear Issues to European Nuclear Deal Parties
Iraq Confirms Commitment to Withdrawing Foreign Forces by End of 2021
Libyan Gov’t Warns Postponing Elections for Security Reasons
Syria, Jordan Reopen Joint Free Zone
New US Ambassador to Israel Resides in Jerusalem
Report: Israel Failed to Probe Shootings at Gaza Protests

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 02-03/2021
Vaccines and Power/Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/December 02/2021
China Prepared to Launch Hostilities Against India Along Disputed Himalayan Border/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/December 02/2021
Najaf seminary prepares for post-Sistani Iraq/Hassan al-Mustafa/Al-Monitor/December 02/2021
Gazans prepare more protests of Hamas policies/Rasha Abou Jalal/Al-Monitor/December 02/2021
A Middle East Order and the Requisites for Regional Stability/Dr. Nassif Hitti/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 02/2021
Islam's Surprising Impact on Daily Life/Daniel Pipes/Middle East Quarterly Winter 2022
UAE’s ‘zero problems policy’ tackles problems created by others/Haitham El-Zobaidi/The Arab Weekly/December 02/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 02-03/2021
Aoun follows up on health conditions with head of Syndicate of Physicians, deliberates situation of Chouf region with MP Al-Bustani, congratulates...
NNA/December 02/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, followed-up on developments related to the renewed increase in the number of people infected with the Corona epidemic after the decline that was achieved during the last period.
The President expressed his concern about the new situation, and called for speeding up taking the necessary measures to limit the spread of the pandemic again and responding to the organized campaigns for vaccination through raising the level of necessary preventive measures, and the readiness of government and private hospitals to face any emergency.
President Aoun received head of the Lebanese Order of Physicians in Beirut, Professor Sharaf Abu Sharaf, today at Baabda Palace.
Professor Abou Sharaf briefed the President on the current situation, stressing the need to put the country on high alert to confront the renewed spread of the Corona epidemic and the new transgenic that appeared in a number of countries, especially Arab countries.
Professor Abou Sharaf also stated that the World Health Organization sounded the alarm and alerted to the new developments in this epidemic, as well as the major countries. “If the uncontrolled situation continues, we will face a great danger that affects the health system and may lead to its collapse, because there is no possibility of confrontation in the health sector, especially if citizens do not adhere to preventive instructions, especially vaccination, knowing that the vaccine is available in large quantities” Prof Abou Sharaf said.
In addition, Professor Abou Sharaf advised not to ease in approaching this dangerous reality “So that we do not fall into the same problem that we fell into last year, especially since the medical and nursing sector is exhausted these days and cannot absorb large and new numbers of infections, because the migration of doctors, nurses and medical staff is increasing and there are hospitals which have closed their doors and others which will be closing”.
“Therefore, I stressed the necessity of preparedness in all sectors to face the danger of the outbreak of the epidemic with the approaching holiday period. And I found that His Excellency is following up on this issue and gave directions to the concerned authorities to give this issue the necessary attention because nothing is more important than the safety and health of the Lebanese, despite the difficult economic and living conditions the country is going through” Prof Abou Sharaf added.
MP Boustany and Mayor of Damour:
President Aoun met the head of the Parliamentary Economy and Trade Committee, MP Dr. Farid Boustany, and the mayor of Damour, Mr. Charles Ghafri. The meeting tackled social and humanitarian issues related to the Chouf region, foremost of which was the direct construction of Damour Governmental Hospital after the necessary funds were allocated to this project, however work has not started yet. President Aoun gave directives to the concerned authorities to follow up on this matter, especially since the coastal area of the Chouf lacks a hospital center that meets the needs of citizens.
Congratulations to UAE President:
The President congratulated the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the UAE National Day.
The telegram stated:
“On the occasion of your brotherly country’s celebration of the National Day, I address to Your Highness, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Lebanese people, my heartfelt congratulations on the pride, development and modernity achieved by your will and vision for your country.
Today, we look to the UAE as a brotherly country that we are proud of, and we aspire to consolidate the best bilateral relations with it, appreciating with gratitude the white hands of you, your people and your officials towards our homeland, and towards the Lebanese who are embraced by your state as its sons, providing them with all conditions of safety and reassurance.
I ask God Almighty to provide you with health and wellness to continue to lead your people and your country on the paths of peace and prosperity”.—Presidency Press Office

MoPH: 1452 new coronavirus infections, 10 deaths
NNA/December 02/2021
Lebanon has recorded 1452 new coronavirus cases and 10 deaths in the last 24 hours, as reported by the Ministry of Public Health on Thursday.

President Aoun addresses security situation, preparations for elections with Minister Minister Mawlawi
NNA/December 02/2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, met Interior Minister, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, this afternoon at the Presidential Palace.
Security affairs were tackled, in addition to the ongoing preparations by the Ministry of Interior to hold parliamentary elections.
Ministerial affairs and the work of affiliated departments were also deliberated in the meeting.—Presidency Press Office

Pope Urges Unity, Integration In Europe, To End Divisions
NNA/December 02/2021
Pope Francis called for greater unity and integration in Europe, speaking Thursday on the divided island of Cyprus which has seen the arrival of large numbers of migrants. The pontiff said the Cyprus' experience served as a reminder for all of Europe that "we need to work together to build a future worthy of humanity, to overcome divisions, to break down walls, to dream and work for unity. "We need to welcome and integrate one another, and to walk together as brothers and sisters, all of us!"—AFP

France grants Lebanon 500,000 doses of "Pfizer" vaccine
NNA/December 02/2021
The French Embassy in Lebanon on Thursday announced in a statement that "France has provided Lebanon with a donation of five hundred thousand doses of the ‘Pfizer’ vaccine against the Covid-19 virus.”“French Ambassador to Lebanon, Mrs. Anne Grillo, had handed this grant to the Lebanese Minister of Health, Dr. Firas Al-Abyad, on Thursday, December 2, during a ceremony at the Rafic Hariri University Hospital in Beirut, in the presence of a number of United Nations organizations, representatives of the international community, and partners of the Ministry of Health,” the statement added.

Rahi visits Archbishop of Cyprus, monastery of St. Rafqa
NNA/December 02/2021
As part of his visit to the Cypriot island, Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi, on Thursday visited Archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II, in Nicosia.
Talks between the pair reportedly discussed the reality of the Orthodox and Maronite churches in villages located within the Turkish sector in northern Cyprus and the challenges they’ve been facing.
As for the situation in Lebanon, Patriarch Al-Rahi affirmed that "the main problem in Lebanon is politics, followed by social and economic crises, yet it’s possible that the solution lies not in the Lebanese people’s hands; however, we still believe that our homeland is a country of freedom, openness, coexistence and democracy, and we all hope that it will rise from the prevailing stagnation," Al-Rahi said, asking of the Cypriot Archbishop "to pray Lebanon and Cyprus."
At the end of the meeting, Al-Rahi presented to the Archbishop an icon of Our Lady of Lebanon, as a token of love and appreciation.
Al-Rahi and his accompanying delegation also visited the monastery of Saint Rafqa of the Antonine Sisters in Nicosia.

UNICEF, ILO in partnership with EU launch new national disability allowance to provide cash support to people with disabilities living in Lebanon
NNA/December 02/2021
UNICEF, ILO in partnership with EU launch new national disability allowance to provide cash support to people with disabilities living in Lebanon
NNA - The economic depression Lebanon is facing has led to rapidly rising vulnerability and exacerbating inequalities. This is specifically the case for vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities.
On this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, UNICEF and ILO partnered with the European Union to strengthen the national social protection system and launch a new national disability allowance that will provide direct income support to people with disabilities living in Lebanon.
Our initiative aims to reach around 20,000 people with disabilities, including Lebanese and non-Lebanese alike, provided that they be identified from existing databases as well as future applications across the country. Monthly cash grants will be provided directly to recipients in USD. As a new national social assistance programme, it will be established in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs as part of an expanding national package of social protection benefits.
“The European Union continues to support people in Lebanon, who are left behind in this prolonged crisis. Apart from support to maintaining jobs in Lebanon, the European Union is leading on providing assistance to the most vulnerable people. The signing of this new project with UNICEF and ILO, is a testament to our combined commitment on safeguarding the life and future of all those in need. We call for the adoption of the Social Protection Strategy to allow people with vulnerabilities, disabilities, and other forms of special needs to have a fighting chance in life, and we count on the commitment of the government of Lebanon for speedy reforms; the road to recovery begins with those who are in most and urgent need” – said Alessia SQUARCELLA; Deputy Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Lebanon.
UNICEF and ILO have been leading technical support to the Government of Lebanon and national stakeholders to develop the National Social Protection Strategy. To advance the strategy’s implementation rapidly, several key gaps need to be filled. As yet, no social assistance exists in Lebanon to address lifecycle vulnerabilities. As a result, UNICEF and ILO’s Social Grant programme lays out the foundations for an inclusive social protection floor in Lebanon in line with the national Reform, Recovery & Reconstruction Framework.
“Today, the pathway out of Lebanon’s dire situation and beyond requires an urgent scale-up of social assistance and an overhaul of its social protection system to ensure that future generations are not lost to a cycle of intergenerational vulnerability and poverty,” said Yukie Mokuo UNICEF Representative in Lebanon. The most pressing action at this stage is immediate protection for the most vulnerable and, with the support of the European Union, UNICEF and the ILO are working with the Ministry of Social Affairs to put in place a new programme for people with disabilities alongside UNICEF’s Child Grant programme already in place, known as Haddi”.
“Promoting an equitable social protection system in Lebanon that is accessible to all across their lifecycle is critical to address the implications of the current crisis. The road to recovery and growth largely depends on early investments in providing basic income security to the population. Social assistance programs such as the National Disability Allowance and Social Pensions can provide such guarantees to those that urgently needs them” said ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba Jaradat.
At a time when Lebanon is facing an ongoing and worsening economic crisis, reforming and developing the national social protection system within the framework of a National Social Protection Strategy, is a necessity. It is also very urgent to scale-up social assistance and to address the glaring gaps in the system. The two initiatives of Haddi and the national Disability Allowance, as well as building the foundations of a social pension, are necessary and urgent steps in that direction, not only targeting the poorest households but also those individuals facing various vulnerabilities in childhood, working age, and old age.—UNICEF

As support atrophies, Hezbollah grows wary of elections
The Arab Weekly/December 02/2021
Lebanese political analysts say that warnings by the leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, against attempts by Hezbollah and its ally, the Free Patriotic Movement, to postpone the elections can be explained by the increasingly unfavourable situation that the pro-Iran party faces on the ground. They point out that Hezbollah does not want to enter elections if “results are not guaranteed” in its favour. The last thing the militant party wants is to lose its current majority and let its hold on power slip, they add. According to the analysts, Hezbollah is wary, in the first place, of the falling fortunes of its partner in the coalition, the Free Patriotic Movement, considering the dwindling confidence in the party within its traditional Christian support base. This is all the more true that the movement’s future is dependent on Gibran Bassil continuing to serve as its leader because of his being the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun. Other blocs and political figures seem to have managed already to fill the void left by the Free Patriotic Movement.
There are speculations the declining fortunes of the movement could present the Lebanese Forces with a unique opportunity to expand its share of power at its expense of Bassil’s party. Geagea’s statements in support of holding the elections on time seem to reflect his conviction that the Lebanese Forces Party can gnaw a great deal at the movement’s electoral share. Sources in Beirut say that Hezbollah is concerned about the party’s level of support especially among youth, even in areas under its control. This concern follows internal assessments it conducted about the current political situation and the chances that the party and its allies have of obtaining results similar to those they garnered in past elections. Based on these assessments, Hezbollah is worried that young people in areas traditionally supportive of the party may choose to boycott the elections, especially considering the decline of the party’s financial means, which used to buttress its political influence before sanctions imposed on the party and its main patron, Iran, reduced its budget. Hezbollah also faces difficulties obtaining funds from its supporters in the Gulf because of ongoing tensions.
The pro-Iranian party does not want the elections to take place in conditions dominated by public turmoil and growing anger at the political class, which is blamed for the difficult economic conditions in the country. It hence believes that postponing the elections, despite the risks involved in that kind of decision, would be better than holding them without confidence in a positive outcome from the perspective of the party. Uncertainty may also give way to the rise of a strong parliamentary coalition of party opponents, whose numbers are increasing.
Hezbollah does not have a problem today controlling the political and security landscape in the country. It continues to enjoy dominance as most of the political class usually rushes to rally behind the party in its external battles.
Western donors, on whom Lebanon depends to prevent its financial collapse, insist on holding the elections as scheduled. Politicians of all stripes, including Hezbollah militants, insist that elections must take place on time, if not the country could face another major blow. Samir Geagea pointed the finger, Tuesday, at Hezbollah and its ally, the Free Patriotic Movement, accusing them of contemplating a delay in the elections.
“They are near certain that they will lose their parliamentary majority,” Geagea told Reuters in an interview at his residence near the coastal town of Jounieh.
Asked whether a postponement would lead to more fighting after clashes last month between the Lebanese Forces and Hezbollah, Geagea said: “Not fighting, but to more slow death.”“With the current way things are going, state institutions – and so the state – is dissolving day by day,” he added.
Hezbollah Member of Parliament Ibrahim Moussawi responded to Geagea’s comments by saying they were “lies” and “slander,” in a statement published on the state-run National News Agency.
Hezbollah was firmly in favour of holding elections “on their scheduled constitutional dates,” the statement claimed. Aoun said this month he would not sign authorisation for the vote, approved by parliament, to be held on March 27, considering the date too early. Lebanon formed a government that includes most of the main political parties in September, after 13 months of political paralysis, but it has not met for nearly 50 days because of a veto of Hezbollah and its allies, who wanted the dismissal of Tarek Bitar, the judicial investigator who is conducting the probe into the port of Beirut blast and dared to summon former ministers and deputies affiliated with the Hezbollah alliance for questioning. Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced, on Wednesday, that he is delaying the call to convene a cabinet session as he is seeking to find a solution first. However, sources say, no solution is currently on the agenda of Hezbollah. Mikati’s hopes of mobilising regional and international economic support to Lebanon were dashed amid the worst diplomatic crisis in years between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh recalled its ambassador in Beirut and banned imports from Lebanon, against the backdrop of statements made by Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi describing Saudi military intervention in Yemen to shore up the “legitimacy” government there as an “aggression.”

Lebanon announces curfew for unvaccinated amid Omicron concerns
Al-Monitor/December 02/2021
For three weeks beginning Dec. 17, those without at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose or a recent negative PCR test will be subject to a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Lebanon will impose a three-week curfew for unvaccinated residents beginning Dec. 17 and mandate vaccines for certain workers in an effort to stave off the new Omicron coronavirus variant.  Those without at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose or a negative PCR test in the past 48 hours will be subject to a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Under new rules unveiled by Lebanon’s COVID-19 committee on Wednesday, public servants and workers in the security, military, health, education and tourism sectors must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 10 or pay for their own PCR test twice a week. The coronavirus committee also decided to extend by several days the winter holiday for schools and universities in order for students to have more time to get vaccinated. Bars and restaurants will be required to turn away customers who are not at least partially vaccinated or have tested negative. The small Mediterranean country has yet to confirm any cases of the Omicron variant, but its strained health care system is still struggling to tamp down COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, the Health Ministry announced 1,892 new infections and 10 deaths from the virus, raising the country’s total to more than 670,000 cases and over 8,700 deaths since the start of the pandemic. A number of other Middle East countries have rolled out travel restrictions and other containment measures to slow the spread of the new variant, which was discovered in South Africa and has since been identified in more than 20 countries. Saudi Arabia, which has suspended flights from 14 African countries, confirmed its first case of Omicron in a “citizen arriving back from a North African country,” the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Israel has identified several cases of the new variant and suspended the entry of foreign nationals for two weeks.

Limited gains
Ronnie Chatah/Now Lebanon/December 02/2021
Refusing to cooperate with reformed establishment parties may seem more in line with revolutionary ideas, but will likely hinder the possibility of change and leave Lebanon to the whims of proxy, writes Ronnie Chatah.
‘Kellun yaane kellun.’
Ringing from the street following October 17, 2019.
Rhythmic. Embracing. Poetic.
Recapturing You Stink’s 2015 momentum and digging up March 14, 2005’s remains.
Bringing many onboard to a legitimate cause. Sparing no one in criticism or responsibility. Anti-corruption chants without confessional boundaries. And challenging sub-state weapons, long ago turned inwards, of one particular party.
Not by pandering politicians ducking at every chance.
By the street.
Citizens. A nation that no longer cares for empty promises. A failing establishment deemed rotten to its core, through an uprising that said “no more” …
Turning the page. Lebanon, reborn.
Countries can take generations to shape. Ideas may even require centuries. But the inhabitants of our limited geography – and global diaspora – rose up and defied time, reflecting on their identity, and place, in modern history.
‘All means all’ was meant to unite rather than divide. If Saad Hariri was brought up, so was Nabih Berri. If Michel Aoun was cursed at (along with his son-in-law) so was Samir Geagea. Down the list, the entire establishment was spat at. Including, for a moment, Hassan Nasrallah.
The Ring bridge was dancing. Clashing, sometimes, but in that first stretch, sincere attempts were made to expand and grow the movement, rather than focus on the proxy. Thousands of inhabitants south of the bridge and into Beirut’s southern suburbs – and all the way to the southern borders – joined in a common struggle.
Dignity. And they were the first to get clamped down on. Proxy-friendly thugs intimidated and chased October 17 inside.
An endless cycle. March 14 was murdered. You Stink was sent home. And October 17 went online.
Television is great at blaring passion and pride. Flags waving, worldwide, with regular news coverage of our more than determined numbers.
Social media, however, is better at dividing, with online battles that make Marcel Ghanem’s show seem measured.
And it was clear. Within weeks, if not months, that October 17’s widest reach was over.
‘Kullun yaane kellun.’
The rightful, and dreadful, first step to Lebanese politics
Brilliantly designed to demonstrate. And for good reason. The masses are meant to tear down walls. Revolution requires reimagination and, to a degree, self-righteousness.
Yet piety is not politics.
When the halls of power are not taken over, and when the only high-level politician to resign is the same one that keeps resigning, something is wrong.
Politics is all about inclusion. And with growing numbers comes compromise, without letting go of principles, but not to the point of political suicide. Puritanism, and absolutism, do not win audiences over. Extremism is the wrong end of the spectrum. And the stubbornness and dictatorial language of many with influence is the least attractive start to a new chapter of any story. Blaming every pre-October 17 politician and party for taking part in the system – and writing the entire political class off as enemies – is a form of fanaticism that belongs to saboteurs rather than state builders. With all due respect to those demanding the same rhythmic persuasion of protest euphoria in politics, it is factually incorrect to equate everyone with every flaw. Levels of corruption are intolerable, but many that served in state institutions pre-October 17 are not thieves.
Blaming every pre-October 17 politician and party for taking part in the system – and writing the entire political class off as enemies – is a form of fanaticism that belongs to saboteurs rather than state builders. Names chosen to head ministerial portfolios differ dramatically in competence and skill, but among them were patriots that were killed doing their jobs. Collective failure does not imply shared responsibility. More broadly, blaming the system for why Lebanon crashed is ideology robbed of common sense, examining every issue through a narrowed economic lense while leaving out the geopolitical travesty that consumed Hezbollah’s demands.
Outdated confessional power-sharing quotas did not bring this country to its knees. Neither did a sectarian society. We are a terrain held hostage, pure and simple, for battles not of our making and weapons beyond state control. And the insurmountable price a hijacked country pays for rogue regime survivability, now under Iranian hegemony, is the core issue that destroyed earlier attempts at reform. And why repeated revolts turn into devastating blows.
In hindsight, October 17 may not have been a revolution. The system survived, institutions were penetrated at times but never taken over, and the status quo defended itself against an angry population. It was an inspiring uprising, in all its diversity, that included hundreds of thousands of former supporters of established parties alongside Marxists and extreme nationalists that rarely agree on any policy.
In between were plenty of smaller parties, including a rebranded National Bloc that started in the mid-1940s and a programs-driven former minister with his more recent Citizens in a State disciples…all with the larger goal of reforming our state.
Fast forward to today.
There are two paths forward
The first benefits from inclusivity, challenging the system from within and betting on regional winds to shift in favor of Lebanon. Putting our civil war history behind us and aligning with older parties that seek accountability and sovereignty in equal measure. Delivering coherent economic policies that mitigate immense societal pain and closing our borders to regional battles so that non-state weapons no longer dictate. Those are the compromises needed to help Lebanon look beyond its civil war. No matter how sectarian their base and how violent these older parties were from 1975-1989, they are no longer militias. It is absurd to refer to last month’s attacks in Tayyouneh as a battle among heavily armed militias. Hezbollah – in all its former glory turned regionally sponsored proxy army – remains the exception.
The second path limits itself through exclusivity, by opposing fellow October 17 parties reaching out to regime reformers while turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s position as protectors of the status quo. Learning nothing from one of the worst decisions made to our post-2005 political order. Not Michel Aoun’s motivations to take the FPM to opposition politics following the summer of 2005’s elections – he could have retained his earlier principles of fighting the post-civil war order as an independent party holding the regime to account. Instead, political survivability by rapprochement with political violence as he entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah less than a year after his return from exile, ensuring that the rest of the proxy’s opponents would turn into pandering allies or assassinated politicians.
Aoun’s compromise returned him to Baabda, presiding over a collapsed country. He has already hinted at a possible extension of his presidential term should parliament approve such a move, with echoes of Emile Lahoud’s own Assad-backed extension in 2004. No one benefits from that continued disorder now under Hezbollah oversight. And no party, opposition or otherwise, should look to the FPM for inspiration. Their legacy is ruined. Aoun’s sanctioned son-in-law is a severely tarnished potential presidential candidate with dwindling support, and the party will almost certainly lose seats in next year’s elections.
October 17’s exclusionary, willingly or not, are heading in that direction.
Let us stick to the first path.
Unity, and inclusivity, served this movement well. Whether on the street in 2019 or earlier elections this year. Their shared wins in the Order of Engineering and Architects syndicate this past summer were a proud and defying moment against the status quo. Their divided losses in the recent Beirut Bar Association elections were, however, a prelude to what may well turn into wide-scale opposition defeat in parliament next year. Seeking change from within the system may, in the end, fail as did movements before. But better to compromise with pre-October 17 politicians championing reform than surrender to a proxy preserving state capture. If October 17 partitions, the Kataeb party and, perhaps, independent figures like Michel Mouawad and Naamet Frem will be the only ones claiming minor victory.
From mass appeal to a handful of familiar names, those are particularly limited gains.
*Ronnie Chatah hosts The Beirut Banyan podcast, a series of storytelling episodes and long-form conversations that reflect on all that is modern Lebanese history. He also leads the WalkBeirut tour, a four-hour narration of Beirut’s rich and troubled past. He is on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @thebeirutbanyan.
*The opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOW.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 02-03/2021
Bennett urges Blinken to end Iran talks over 'nuclear blackmail'
Al-Monitor/December 02/2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called for an "immediate cessation of negotiations" in Vienna.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urged the United States on Thursday to immediately call off the seventh round of indirect negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.In a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Bennett said there must be an “immediate cessation of negotiations” in response to Iran’s use of “nuclear blackmail” as a negotiation tactic, the prime minister’s office said in a statement. Bennet also referenced the recent International Atomic Energy Agency report that said Iran has streamlined the process of enriching uranium up to 20% purity using advanced machinery at its Fordow underground facility near the city of Qom, in a major violation of the multilateral accord. His call with Blinken comes ahead of Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’ planned visit next week to Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with his US counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In an interview with Ynet Thursday, Gantz said he believes the Biden administration will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but that an attack on Iran "is an option.” Iran and world powers resumed talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Monday aimed at reviving the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which set restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The talks had been on hold for five months following the election of Iran’s new hard-liner President Ebrahim Raisi in June. The Biden administration has sought to re-enter the JCPOA, which President Donald Trump unilaterally exited in 2018, if Tehran resumes compliance under the deal. But Iran has said it will only do so if the United States makes the first move and lifts all sanctions. Tehran has also demanded that any future deal contain guarantees that Washington won't renege on the deal as Trump did three years after President Barack Obama sealed the agreement in 2015. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Thursday the talks were “proceeding with seriousness” and that the lifting of sanctions was a “fundamental priority.” Iran has handed European diplomats two draft documents outlining sanctions withdrawal and nuclear obligations, in what Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani described as “a demonstration of our seriousness.” “If they are ready to continue the talks, we are in Vienna to continue the talks," he told reporters, according to Reuters.

Israel Calls on World Powers to Stop Iran Nuclear Talks Immediately
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 2 December, 2021
Israel on Thursday called on world powers to halt their nuclear negotiations with Iran immediately, citing a UN watchdog's announcement that Tehran has started producing enriched uranium with more advanced centrifuges. "Iran is carrying out nuclear blackmail as a negotiating tactic, and this should be answered by the immediate halt to negotiations and the implementation of tough steps by the world powers," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office quoted him as saying in a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday that Iran had started the process of enriching uranium to up to 20% purity with one cascade, or cluster, of 166 advanced IR-6 machines at its Fordow plant, dug into a mountain. Iran and major powers are trying to revive a 2015 deal under which Tehran limited its nuclear program in exchange for relief from US, EU and UN economic sanctions.

Israeli Army Prepares All Possible Scenarios to Strike Iran
Tel Aviv - Asharq A-Awsat/Thursday, 2 December, 2021
The Israeli army is preparing for all possible scenarios to strike Iran, announced spokesman Brigadier General Ran Kochav. Kochav told Kan Bet radio channel that the army enhanced its level of readiness, and that the military and operational spheres are at the forefront of both preventing Iran from entrenching itself in the northern arena and preventing it from becoming a nuclear threshold state. Sources close to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid confirmed that Israel had sent clear messages about its position regarding the nuclear talks between the major powers and Iran in Vienna. The sources said that Lapid believes the Iranians attended Vienna talks after a five-month hiatus only to remove US sanctions, with no intention of stopping or slowing their progress toward a military nuclear program. According to sources in Tel Aviv, Defense Minister Benny Gantz will travel to Washington next week to join efforts with the United States to confront the Iranian nuclear threat and the rest of Tehran’s plans that threaten Israel and regional countries. Lapid concluded Wednesday a visit to Britain and France where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“Sanctions on Iran must not be removed. Sanctions must be tightened, a credible military threat must be applied because only that will stop its nuclear race,” Lapid stated. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned that Tehran seeks “to end sanctions in exchange for almost nothing” and keep its nuclear program intact while receiving billions of dollars once sanctions are lifted. “Iran won’t just keep its nuclear program; from today, they’ll be getting paid for it,” Bennett cautioned. Intelligence expert, Yossi Melman, quoted several Israeli officials who believe Israel lacks any real and credible capability to take military action. Melman reported that the declarations by Bennett, Gantz, and Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi about Israel’s readiness for a military strike are “empty and pointless rhetoric, as they well know. They are playing pretend.”In his article in Haaretz newspaper, the expert noted the parties participating in the Vienna talks, including Iran, Russia, China, European countries, and the US, “are quite aware” of Israel’s inability to strike militarily. “A leader who toys with the enemy and employs deception and psychological warfare is considered clever. A leader who toys with the public is a schemer. A leader who deludes himself is dangerous.”He explained that even the brand-new F-35 stealth aircraft, which were designed precisely for the mission of carrying out an airstrike in Iran, would need to refuel midair – slowing down the operation and increasing the danger of exposure. “It’s a shame that tens of billions of shekels are being wasted readying the air force for an attack that will not happen.”

UN says Iran advances nuclear enrichment amid Vienna talks
Al-Monitor/December 02/2021
Iran's latest violation of the 2015 nuclear agreement comes three days into a resumption of long-stalled negotiations in Vienna aimed at reviving the deal. Iran has begun enriching uranium with advanced centrifuges at its Ferdow plant, the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog agency said Wednesday.
The Iranian government started enriching uranium up to 20% purity using advanced IR-6 centrifuges, in violation of the 2015 international nuclear agreement to which Tehran remains a party. The enrichment cluster includes 166 of the advanced machines at the subterranean Ferdow site, Reuters reported.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced the finding as indirect negotiations are underway in Vienna between Iran and the United States aimed at reviving the 2015 agreement, which placed strict limits on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief.
The negotiations resumed on Monday after a five-month hiatus, but hopes for a restoration of the deal are dimming. The new Iranian government under President Ibrahim Raisi has taken a hard line in its demands towards the United States. The US threatened last week to call an extraordinary session of the IAEA’s board of governors if Tehran does not comply with the agency’s requests of inspection access. Iran’s government reduced the IAEA’s access earlier this year after blaming Israel for what it said was a sabotage attack that destroyed an IAEA camera at the Karaj nuclear facility near Tehran in June. The other cameras were then removed by the Iranian government. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said last week ahead of the resumption of international negotiations in Vienna that there had been no progress on restoring the agency’s access. “We are close to the point where I would not be able to guarantee continuity of knowledge,” Grossi said in a news conference last week. Israel’s government is urging western allies to take a firm approach in the latest round of negotiations and not to relieve sanctions. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called on them not to give into what he called Iran’s “nuclear blackmail” in a video address on Monday.m Israeli officials have been publicly warning of its intent to militarily strike Iran if deemed necessary. Israeli officials have also passed intelligence to the US and other world powers that suggests Iran is making technical preparations to be able to produce military-grade uranium at the 90% purity threshold.
A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday accused Israel of spreading “lies” in order to “poison” the negotiations, but Israel’s warnings could be having an effect. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency cited a source on Wednesday as saying that European governments are seeking to end this round of negotiations by the end of the week. The Donald Trump administration in the US pulled out of the agreement in 2018 with the support of regional allies Saudi Arabia and Israel, who saw the deal as insufficient to curtail Iran’s ambitions in the region. The Trump administration initiated a so-called “maximum pressure” campaign of economic sanctions on Iran in a bid to roll back its support for influential proxy militias in the region. The Biden administration has sought to rejoin the agreement. US intelligence assessments have concluded that the leaving the deal and imposing sanctions on Iran did not change its government’s ambitions to gain influence in the region, including by passing ballistic missiles and drones to proxy militias to strike at US allies.

Iran Gives Drafts on Sanctions, Nuclear Issues to European Nuclear Deal Parties
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 02 December/2021
Iran has provided European powers involved in its tattered nuclear deal with drafts on sanctions removal and nuclear commitments, Iran's top nuclear negotiator said on Thursday, as world powers and Tehran try to reinstate the pact. The announcement came on the fourth day of indirect talks between Iran and the United States on bringing both fully back into the deal. The talks resumed after a five-month hiatus prompted by the election in June of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, an anti-Western hardliner. "We have delivered two proposed drafts to them...Of course they need to check the texts that we have provided to them. If they are ready to continue the talks, we are in Vienna to continue the talks," Ali Bagheri Kani told reporters. A European diplomat in Vienna confirmed draft documents had been handed over, Reuters said. Under the pact, Tehran limited its uranium enrichment program, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons though Iran says it seeks only civilian atomic energy, in exchange for relief from US, European Union and UN economic sanctions. But in 2018, then-US President Donald Trump abandoned the deal, calling it too soft on Iran, and reimposed harsh US sanctions, spurring Tehran to breach nuclear limits in the pact. Estimating that 70-80% of a draft agreement was completed when Iran and world powers last met in June, a senior European diplomat said on Tuesday that it remained unclear if Tehran would resume talks where they left off. While Bagheri Kani had said everything negotiated during six rounds of talks between April and June was open for discussion, a member of Iran's delegation said "elements in the previous unapproved draft that were in conflict with the nuclear deal were revised and gaps were filled" in Iran's submitted drafts. Israel, which opposed the original 2015 pact as too limited in scope and duration, urged world powers on Thursday to halt the talks immediately. It cited a UN nuclear watchdog report that Tehran has begun enriching uranium with more advanced centrifuges in its Fordow plant dug into a mountain, where any enrichment had been banned under the deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday Iran had started the process of refining uranium to up to 20% purity with one cascade, or cluster, of 166 advanced IR-6 machines at Fordow.

Iraq Confirms Commitment to Withdrawing Foreign Forces by End of 2021
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 2 December, 2021
Baghdad is committed to implementing the decision of the Iraqi parliament to withdraw foreign combat forces from Iraq, national security advisor Qasim al-Araji has announced. In January, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution requiring the government to end the presence of foreign forces in the country.
Araji met with the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization mission in Iraq, Michael Anker, to discuss means to boost cooperation between Iraq and NATO to enhance the capabilities of Iraqi forces. "Cooperation with the NATO mission in Iraq is in the areas of training, enhancing capabilities, and providing advice for Iraqi security forces and military academies," the Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted Araji as saying. Araji stressed the government's keenness to implement the parliament's decision to withdraw foreign forces from the country and according to an agreement reached in July during the strategic dialogue session between Iraq and the United States. The Iraqi forces have gained significant experience and have the capabilities to defeat ISIS terrorists in the country, he added.

Libyan Gov’t Warns Postponing Elections for Security Reasons
Cairo – Khalid Mahmoud/Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 02 December/2021
Libya’s interim Government of National Unity, headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, has paved the way for the possibility of postponing presidential elections, scheduled for the end of this month, despite the UN pledging to provide the necessary assistance to complete them on time.
Libya may have to delay presidential elections slated for December 24 if worsening “violations” threatening the electoral process continue, Interior Minister Khaled Mazen said Tuesday. “The continued obstruction of security plans and worsening violations and abuses … will directly impact the conduct of the elections and our commitment to holding them on time,” Mazen told reporters in the capital Tripoli. “We must not continue on a path that would lead to the deterioration of the security situation until it is out of control,” Mazen said, speaking alongside the justice minister. He warned that the current circumstances would not permit elections to take place “normally.”He pointed out that the Interior Ministry and Justice Ministry have “followed with great concern the expansion of security breaches after the start of the electoral process in the country, which threatens its integrity and its continuation.”
He also spoke of the two ministries receiving several complaints from different parties, “which affects the integrity of the electoral process and hampers the process of securing it.”In other news, Mazen met on Tuesday with Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Jan Kubis and his accompanying delegation. Kubis pledged to assist the Interior Ministry to perform its full tasks and to ensure fair elections. In a statement, Mazen said he reviewed with Kubis several security challenges that might hinder the conduct of the electoral process, explaining that the responsibility rests with the Libyan people for the success of the elections.

Syria, Jordan Reopen Joint Free Zone
Damascus - Asharq Al-Awsat//December 02/2021
Syria and Jordan announced the reopening of the Syrian-Jordanian Joint Free Zone (JFZ) following a six-year suspension. In a joint statement, both sides indicated that reopening the free zone aims to revitalize the trade movement, attract investments, and activate the service sector, thus creating job opportunities and supporting both countries' economic and social development processes. The JFZ had been stormed by Syrian opposition factions in 2015, forcing Jordanian investors to leave. The statement added that the reopening of the free zone took place after finishing the requirements of rehabilitating it, returning it to work and ensuring its readiness to receive investments from both sides and from friendly countries.Also, the statement noted that the free zone was established under the economic cooperation agreement and regulation of trade exchange between the two countries, to be one of the bases of the joint Arab economic work. Amman has recently decided to reopen the Jaber border post with Syria. It also restarted passenger flights to and from Damascus. Jordan has been discussing the necessary procedures to restore the work of the JFZ. For its part, Damascus has been witnessing remarkable activity in receiving delegations and launching official economic activities. This week, Damascus held the Fourth Conference of Arab Industrial Cities and Zones, the first Arab economic conference to be held in the Syrian capital after years of stalemate. It witnessed the participation of Arab and Syrian economists and representatives of diplomatic missions located in Damascus. Moreover, an inauguration ceremony of an Iranian commercial center was held in Damascus, in the presence of the Iranian Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade, and a number of senior economic and commercial affairs officials in Iran and Syria.

New US Ambassador to Israel Resides in Jerusalem
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 02 December, 2021
The new US ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides, announced that he will not use the traditional home of his country's ambassadors in Herzliya and will move to a house in West Jerusalem. Diplomatic sources in Tel Aviv said that the US State Department envoys have tried for six months to find a suitable house that suits the security needs, delaying Nides' move to Israel. Nides may rent or buy the house of the Belgian consul in West Jerusalem, between the residences of the Prime Minister and the President. Nides announced on Twitter that landing in Israel to be "US Ambassador is another moment I'll never forget.""I'll spend my first couple days in quarantine, following the latest COVID guidelines. My thanks to the dedicated medical staff at Ben Gurion working to keep us all safe. I'm eagerly awaiting a negative test result so I can begin to meet many of you soon!" The US embassy in Tel Aviv described Nides as having a distinguished record as a leader, extensive experience in government as both a policymaker and administrator and a wide-ranging engagement in the public and private sectors domestically and internationally, noting that he is a well-qualified candidate to be the ambassador. Born in 1961 to a Jewish family in Duluth, Minnesota, Nides is a banking executive and was the managing director and vice-chairman of Morgan Stanley and has served in multiple financial institutions, including Credit Suisse and Burson-Marsteller. From 2011 to 2013, he served as deputy secretary for management and resources under former US president Barack Obama. He has also served in several other government positions. Nides replaces former Ambassador David Friedman, who led the transition from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which he chose as the headquarters for the consulate.

Report: Israel Failed to Probe Shootings at Gaza Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 2 December, 2021 - 06:30
Rights groups said Thursday that Israel failed to investigate shootings that killed more than 200 Palestinians and wounded thousands at violent protests along the Gaza frontier in recent years, strengthening the case for the International Criminal Court to intervene. The Israeli military rejected the findings, saying the "mass riots" organized by Gaza's militant Hamas rulers were aimed at providing cover for cross-border attacks. The military said alleged abuses were thoroughly investigated, with soldiers held accountable. Beginning in March 2018, Gaza activists organized weekly protests that were initially aimed at highlighting the plight of Palestinian refugees from what is now Israel, who make up three-fourths of Gaza's population of more than 2 million people. But Hamas soon co-opted the protests and used them to push for the easing of the Israeli blockade imposed on the territory when it seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Every week for around 18 months, thousands of Palestinians gathered at different points along the frontier, often after being bused there by Hamas. Groups of protesters burned tires, hurled stones and firebombs, and tried to breach the security fence. Israeli snipers fired live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets and tear gas from sand berms on the other side in what Israel said was self-defense, to prevent thousands of Palestinians — including potentially armed Hamas operatives — from rushing into Israel. Israeli fire killed at least 215 Palestinians, most of them unarmed, including 47 people under the age of 18 and two women, The Associated Press quoted Gaza's Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights as saying.
Hundreds of others were seriously wounded in the demonstrations, which wound down in late 2019. Many were far from the border fence when they were shot. An Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper in 2018 and several others were wounded. A report released Thursday by the Israeli rights group B'Tselem and the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said the military failed to investigate orders issued by senior commanders and took virtually no action against any soldiers. The International Criminal Court launched an investigation earlier this year into potential war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since 2014, when the two sides fought their third of four wars since Hamas seized power. Israel has rejected the investigation, saying the court is biased against it and that Israel's justice system is capable of conducting its own investigations that meet international standards. It says its security forces make every effort to avoid civilian casualties and investigate alleged abuses.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 02-03/2021
Vaccines and Power
Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/December 02/2021
Given Germany's notorious history of brutally stigmatizing various minority populations, it is shocking and outrageous that a German "research institute" and the Hamburg-based weekly news magazine would sink to such sleazy malice.
The U.S. Constitution is not "waived" due to disease or natural disaster. We must beware of politicians and other officials who seek to exercise power through "mandates" without a single vote or the active exercise of informed consent.
COVID-19 is a serious disease, but it bears constant repeating that the recovery rate now is between 97% and 99.75%.
We must resist authoritarian impulses and exercises by various officials seeking to consolidate power and impose their will over the constitutional processes and guarantees we enjoy. Our Constitution was designed and ratified for exactly such challenges and it has endured 231 years through a myriad of challenges far more grave than a virus.
The U.S. Constitution is not "waived" due to disease or natural disaster. We must beware of politicians and other officials who seek to exercise power through "mandates" without a single vote or the active exercise of informed consent. Our Constitution was designed and ratified for exactly such challenges and it has endured 231 years through a myriad of challenges far more grave than a virus. (Image source: iStock)
COVID-19 is a serious disease that can have deadly consequences. The good news is that now the recovery rate is between 97% and 99.75%. As the world approaches its second full year grappling with the ever-mutating virus and the public health response, some serious public policy and political questions require attention:
Are some people looking to leverage vaccination status to stigmatize and marginalize political opponents?
Is vaccine status being equated with ideology or political affiliation?
Is vaccine status going to be the new societal discriminator for those who might be "more equal" than others?
Are we seeing efforts to control and pressure citizens for daring to question government officials?
What about officials who seek to change the meaning of terms such as "fully vaccinated," or altogether abandon terms and conditions that were used to persuade the public to shut down businesses and society at-large.
The German news magazine, Der Spiegel, recently featured a story titled: "Study Finds Link Between Far Right and High Corona Rates in Germany." The subtitle of the story is:
"The number of coronavirus infections is rising sharply in parts of Germany where the far-right AfD party enjoys greater support. Is it a coincidence? Researchers took a close look at the corollaries and drew some conclusions that surprised even them."
Der Spiegel reporters Holger Dambeck and Peter Maxwill reported:
"An interdisciplinary team at the Research Institute for Social Cohesion and a researcher from Munich systematically investigated the connection between the election results and the spread of the pathogen. The experts' findings are clear: The higher the number of votes the AfD got in a region in the 2017 election, the faster the coronavirus spread there in 2020."
The broader political messaging is clear: Conservatives are disease-spreading troglodytes that endanger civilization.
The sensationalized findings focus on correlation and not a causal relationship, so the study and the speculative reporting are transparently sloppy smear-jobs. The real objective of both the study and the magazine reporting is clearly to damage political opponents by associating them with a deadly disease.
Given Germany's notorious history of brutally stigmatizing various minority populations, it is shocking and outrageous that a German "research institute" and the Hamburg-based weekly news magazine would sink to such sleazy malice.
Sadly, the United States has its own set of operatives seeking to marginalize those who question vaccine mandates, as well as persons with valid reservations concerning the long-term safety and efficacy of the various vaccines. In the British medical journal, The Lancet, Dr. Günter Kampf, a professor at the Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Science at the University of Greifswald in Germany, wrote an important, brief piece, published on November 20, 2021: "COVID-19: Stigmatizing the Unvaccinated is Not Justified." Kampf wrote:
"In the USA and Germany, high-level officials have used the term pandemic of the unvaccinated, suggesting that people who have been vaccinated are not relevant in the epidemiology of COVID-19. Officials' use of this phrase might have encouraged one scientist to claim that 'the unvaccinated threaten the vaccinated for COVID-19'. But this view is far too simple."
Kampf goes on to detail substantial, documented evidence that vaccinated individuals continue to have a relevant role in COVID-19 transmission. He describes a July 2021 COVID outbreak in Massachusetts, wherein 74% of the cases were in people who were fully or partly vaccinated. He closes his argument with a plea:
"I call on high-level officials and scientists to stop the inappropriate stigmatization of unvaccinated people, who include our patients, colleagues, and other fellow citizens, and to put extra effort into bringing society together."
Kampf is not alone. Dr. Paul Elias Alexander is a clinical epidemiologist who teaches evidence-based medicine and research methodology. He was also a senior advisor on COVID pandemic policy for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Alexander has been published by the Brownstone Institute, writing:
"... existing immunity should be assessed before any vaccination... Such would be evidence of immunity that is equal to that of vaccination and the immunity should be provided the same societal status as any vaccine-induced immunity. This will function to mitigate the societal anxiety with these forced vaccine mandates and societal upheaval due to job loss, denial of societal privileges etc. Tearing apart the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in a society, separating them, is not medically or scientifically supportable."
Alexander's report on naturally acquired immunity to Covid-19 seems to be ignored in the media and by government officials. Why is that? 130 research studies discussing the relative merits and protections of natural immunity appear to be scrupulously ignored. One would think that a full, open and honest public dialogue and corresponding public treatment plan would discuss the full spectrum of medical facts, conditions, and treatments.
Conspicuous for defying convention and taking the broader, holistic approach to COVID-19 is Florida's Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who holds both MD and PhD degrees from Harvard. He is the refreshing exception to authoritarianism and a seemingly endless cycle of public scare tactics.
We are seeing a growing authoritarianism by governments across the globe concerning the drive to vaccinate everyone: mandates, lockdowns, vaccine passports and restrictions on civil liberties. We are also seeing a corresponding resistance to heavy-handed, government imposed measures. Protests have erupted across Europe over renewed lockdown drives by European governments. Australians are also now pushing back in protest.
The Biden administration attempted to issue an unprecedented federal mandate for vaccination, that has been thwarted (for the time-being) by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court made it explicitly clear that the mandate raises grave constitutional concerns. Nonetheless, the Biden White House arrogantly "encouraged" — some might say ordered – businesses to continue forward with forcing employees to be vaccinated.
Despite the Biden White House's seemingly power-mad drive to defy courts, browbeat businesses, and intimidate citizens, this is still the United States and the Constitution is still the law of the land. Even though the normally vocal "my body, my choice" crowd seems to have vanished hypocritically from the public square over vaccine choice — American workers are pushing back against the fascist-like government/corporate partnership demanding vaccinations.
COVID-19 is a serious disease, but it bears constant repeating that the recovery rate now is between 97% and 99.75%. The American public has never had a federal vaccine mandate imposed upon it. Fear, shock, intimidation and ultimatums are not the decision-making components of a representative democracy. The Constitution is not "waived" due to disease or natural disaster. We must beware of politicians and other officials who seek to exercise power through "mandates" without a single vote or the active exercise of informed consent.
We must resist authoritarian impulses and exercises by various officials seeking to consolidate power and impose their will over the constitutional processes and guarantees we enjoy. Our Constitution was designed and ratified for exactly such challenges and it has endured 231 years through a myriad of challenges far more grave than a virus. The Constitution guarantees that we remain a country of freedom and opportunity in spite of a pandemic and those officials seeking to address public health.
*Chris Farrell is Director of Investigations at Judicial Watch and Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2021 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.

China Prepared to Launch Hostilities Against India Along Disputed Himalayan Border
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/December 02/2021
While working talks have resumed, both China and India have reinforced their air and ground assets. China has advanced fighter jets at three air bases within striking distance of Indian military positions.
Indian diplomats have loudly denounced a recent law passed by the Chinese national legislature, the National People's Congress, which makes it mandatory for China's leaders never to negotiate away one inch of professed Chinese territory. The legislation referred to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity as "sacred and inviolable."
China also has underscored its inflexibility by constructing extended civilian housing along the Line of Actual Control, thereby defying Indian counterclaims that these future habitats are being built on territory seized by China.
It is likely that China will again initiate armed skirmishes along disputed border regions to test the Biden Administration's will to defend U.S. allies.
China will doubtless factor U.S. responses to its attacks on allied countries in the Indo-Pacific region into its decision-making calculus on how best to seize Taiwan.
Despite bilateral military talks between Chinese and Indian officers, tensions remain high along the "Line of Actual Control" border between China and India, where military clashes occurred in May and June 2020. Both countries have reinforced their air and ground assets. China has advanced fighter jets at three air bases within striking distance of Indian military positions. Pictured: An Indian army convoy travels towards Leh through Zoji La, a high mountain pass bordering China on June 13, 2021 in Ladakh, India. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)
Chinese missile-laden bombers flew over a contested border area with India recently, following the breakdown of bilateral talks between Indian and Chinese regional military commanders.
The near-simultaneity of the collapse of military negotiations and the threatening fly-over by People's Liberation Army Air Force bombers underscores China's willingness to punish India for having resisted Beijing's territorial claims and aggression in the region.
China's aggressive stance may also be, in part, motivated by Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping's testing of the U.S. effort to develop strategic cooperation among America's Pacific allies in order to curb Chinese expansionist policies. China is most likely also attempting to weaken the resolve of the non-U.S. countries of the so-called Quad -- India, Australia and Japan -- to rely on American promises to defend them.
Military clashes between China and India occurred in early May 2020, continuing until mid-June, along the "Line of Actual Control" (LAC) border near India's Eastern Ladakh region, which abuts the Chinese territory of the Tibetan (Xizang) Autonomous Region. After these clashes, China and India implemented a three-tiered negotiating system between field-grade officers, colonel-level officers, and general officers of the two sides. This bilateral de-confliction apparatus, called the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) between Chinese and Indian Corps Commanders, collapsed in acrimony during the WMCC's 13th meeting in New Delhi.
During the hiatus period between WMCC meetings, China's Air Force, in a clear warning to India, dispatched H-6K bombers to the disputed border. Subsequently, on November 18, China and India's foreign ministries agreed to hold a 14th WMCC session in the near future, in an apparent effort to restore border stability. During the months that followed the deadly clashes in 2020, during WMCC sessions, both sides withdrew forward-deployed heavy weapons in the Gorga and Pangong Tso (Pandong) glacial lake disengagement areas. But in the bitterly contested Eastern Ladakh area of Hot Springs, concentrations of bilateral troops remain dangerously confrontational and proximate.
Despite these bilateral military talks between Chinese and Indian officers, tensions along the LAC remain high. While working talks have resumed, both China and India have reinforced their air and ground assets. China has advanced fighter jets at three air bases within striking distance of Indian military positions. In Ladakh, India has deployed Apache attack helicopters, and MiG-29 and SU-30 fighter aircraft. India also has deployed air defense weapons near the LAC and reportedly plans to purchase Russia's most advanced deployed S-400 surface-to-air missile system.
The latest political moves by both China and India also indicate that border tensions between the two nuclear-armed rivals will continue. Indian diplomats have loudly denounced a recent land border law passed by the Chinese national legislature, the National People's Congress, which makes it mandatory for China's leaders never to negotiate away one inch of professed Chinese territory. The legislation referred to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity as "sacred and inviolable." China also has underscored its inflexibility by constructing extended civilian housing along the Line of Actual Control, thereby defying Indian counterclaims that these future habitats are being built on territory seized by China.
It is likely that China will again initiate armed skirmishes along disputed border regions to test the Biden Administration's will to defend U.S. allies.
China will doubtless factor U.S. responses to its attacks on allied countries in the Indo-Pacific region into its decision-making calculus on how best to seize Taiwan.
*Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
© 2021 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.

Najaf seminary prepares for post-Sistani Iraq
Hassan al-Mustafa/Al-Monitor/December 02/2021
The opening of Sheikh Baqir al-Irawani’s office in Najaf indicates that he may be preparing to be one of the successors to 92-year-old Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, head of the Shiite religious authority.
It appears that the sudden death of Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim, who was the most likely candidate to succeed Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani as the highest Shiite reference, prompted scholars at the hawza (seminary) in the city of Najaf to think seriously about a “post-Sistani” phase.
This also prompted 72-year-old Sheikh Mohammed Baqir al-Irawani to open an official office in Najaf, as he seems to be preparing himself to be ones of the religious references for Shiites after Sistani, who is 92 years old, dies.
Opening an office to receive scholars in Najaf is a significant step in declaring the religious authority position. Irawani teaches one of the largest classes at the Najaf hawza, with about 600 scholars studying at the highest level of religious studies (Kharij). The pertinent question, however, is what does the timing of the opening of this office mean, especially since it comes two months after Hakim’s death?
Al-Monitor learned from a reliable sources in the Najaf hawza that “a group of hawza professors spoke with Irawani and convinced him to prepare himself to replace Sistani as the highest religious reference in the event of the latter’s death.”
"At the beginning, Irawani rejected the idea but had a change of heart eventually because he wishes to preserve the hawza and prevent any vacuum in leadership, which would undercut all the social and spiritual gains achieved by Sistani’s authority,” one of the sources said.
“Irawani is a scholar with a long history of teaching, preaching and authoring. He has many students scattered in the Shiite communities in many countries,” Saudi researcher and cleric Hussein Ali al-Mustafa told Al-Monitor.
“This background and his personality make him one of the best candidates to succeed Sistani,” he added.
But is Irawani the only potential candidate to succeed Sistani?
“There is a group of other scholars who are as knowledgeable as Irawani, notably Sheikh Hadi al-Raid, who is a well-known senior scholar of the hawza. He also represents the more traditional movement of the Najaf school,” Mustafa said.
“Irawani has many Iranian students and also Arabs from the Arab Gulf states and Lebanon, which would help him have more influence,” he added.
Mudar al-Helou, an Iraqi researcher and religious scholar, believes that “Irawani is the best candidate, but he does [does not descend from] the Prophet Muhammad, which could lessen his chances."
There are other candidates that are of the prophet's lineage, most notably the scholar Mohammed Rida al-Sistani (Sistani’s son); Riyad al-Hakim, son of the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim; and Sayyid Ali al-Sabzwari, son of Sayyid Abd al-Ali al-Sabzwari, another Shiite "marja," or source of emulation.
According to a reliable source, Mohammed Rida al-Sistani announced on many occasions that he was unwilling to take his father’s place because the Najaf hawza prohibits religious post inheritance from father to son, even if the latter was qualified to take over.
Similarly, Riyad cannot take the senior Shiite clergy position either because his father, once a grand ayatollah, died. Also, he is based in the Iranian city of Qom and not in Najaf. If he wishes to access the position in the post-Sistani years, he must move back to Iraq.
All of these factors play to Irawani’s advantage. There are, however, two other major persons who might challenge his candidacy, notably that of Ayatollah Hadi al-Radi and Hassan al-Jawahiri. Both men are of the same generation as Irawani.
But according to a source who spoke to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity, “Radi might not present himself for the position [in order] to give leeway to Irawani, who had Sistani’s tacit approval to open his own office to receive scholars.”
Irawani has yet to publish his own "risalah," which are religious instructions for his followers, and he has not appointed any representative at home or otherwise.
He is influenced by his teacher, Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, especially by the latter’s position rejecting clerics’ involvement in direct political action. This means that if he were to ascend to the Shiite religious leadership, he would have an independent and traditional leadership that is not subject to political influence. This, however, does not mean that he lacks a sense of administrative or political awareness.
“Political interference is determined by how much interest there is. Here in Iraq, we should stay away as much as possible from politics except to guide and lead the people,” Irawani said in an interview published on al-Shafaqna.
He added, “Ayatollah Khoei may have believed that religious scholars ought not to interfere in politics in the beginning, and I still believe we shouldn’t unless it was necessary.”Irawani’s political approach appears to be converging the views of his teacher, Khoei, with those of Sistani, which suggests that he would not issue any statements or take any political positions unless it serves the people’s interests and protects them from terrorism and violence and would support the state’s cohesion.
A Shiite religious authority such as Irawani who believes in “civil peace” and who rejects terrorism, violence and political Islam would be viewed with satisfaction by Arab governments in the Gulf — something that would ease sectarian political clashes and render “national integration” a more achievable goal.

Gazans prepare more protests of Hamas policies
Rasha Abou Jalal/Al-Monitor/December 02/2021
Activists are preparing to stage new popular demonstrations across the Gaza Strip, blaming Hamas’ governance for high prices and increasing unemployment.
GAZA CITY — Demonstrations are expected across the Gaza Strip, blaming Hamas for high prices and increasing unemployment rates.
“We Want to Live” is a popular movement that began in March 2019 with social media calls for peaceful demonstrations over the difficult economic conditions and the high unemployment rates in Gaza. The demonstrations, which evolved into strikes, mass civil disobedience and camping on the streets of Gaza, were heavily repressed by Hamas security forces, who arrested dozens of demonstrators.
After the drowning deaths of Gazan migrants off the Greek coast on Nov. 6, the “We Want to Live” movement resurfaced to demand a decent life for Gazans.
In a Nov. 21 statement, the movement announced it would continue to protest the high cost of living and demand economic and social rights in Gaza. “The increase in prices is emptying our pockets amid illegal and inhumane taxes and tolls that the de facto government is taking by force from merchants, suppliers, companies and businessmen in the Gaza Strip,” it read.
The hashtag “We want to live” went viral on social media as dozens of users expressed their anger over the living conditions in Gaza.
Twitter user "Uncle Hassan" tweeted Nov. 25, “We Gazans want an open country like in the old days to be able to work in the West Bank and Israel. Our youth have become fish food during their emigration from Gaza in search of a decent life.”On Nov. 24, the “We Want to Live” Twitter account posted a video of a young man from Gaza appealing to the Hamas leadership to provide a decent life and a home for his homeless family.
“Enough is enough! Why should my children suffer from homelessness? They would be better off dead,” he said.
Protest coordinator Azmi al-Shuyukhi told Al-Monitor, “We tell the lords of palaces and hotels and the ruling sultans in Gaza that the revolution of the hungry in Gaza may explode at any moment, like a volcano.”
He said no date has been set yet for the protests, “but it will be very soon.” He went on, “This revolution will be against the de facto government in Gaza and in rejection of its extensive taxes and lack of job opportunities. This government has starved, humiliated and robbed people of their ability to provide for their children.”
He explained that the taxes have raised the prices of basic commodities. The price of a kilo of lentils in the Gaza Strip rose from four shekels ($1.20) to seven shekels ($2.20) and a 50-kilo bag of sugar rose from 100 shekels ($31.50) to 130 shekels ($41). The prices of legumes, rice, cooking oil, flour, eggs, cheese and coffee have all increased.
Shuyukhi stressed the need to “get rid of all the impediments that Hamas places on the work of the Palestinian government in Ramallah, led by Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, to freely carry out its governmental role in the Gaza Strip, as it has the mandate to rule.”
During a visit by a delegation of 20 ambassadors and representatives of EU countries to the Gaza Strip on Nov. 25, the movement appealed to the delegation to intervene to reduce taxes in Gaza.
Shuyukhi said in a Nov. 25 statement addressed to representatives of the European Union, “Citizens in the Gaza Strip hope that the delegation’s visit will [produce measures to] save our collapsed national economy and alleviate the suffering of citizens,” adding that the poverty rate in Gaza has passed 80% and unemployment has reached 60%.
The statement attributed the dire situation to the Palestinian division since 2007 “and the de facto government’s interference and obstruction of the work of the Palestinian government in Ramallah in implementing its full official and governmental role in Gaza.”
Human rights activist Moumen ALnatour told Al-Monitor that the “We want to live” movement voices the concerns of an entire Gazan population that was forced to live under a political regime that is indifferent to the concerns and suffering of the people.
Natour, who was repeatedly arrested by Hamas security forces while monitoring human rights violations in Gaza, stressed that the repeated calls for new protests against Hamas policies in Gaza were a natural result of the pressures there. “What is also expected is for the Hamas security services to respond with repression, violence, arrest and accusations of collaborating with Israel and committing acts of national treason.”
He explained that the movement’s demands of reducing taxes and providing job opportunities for young people are reasonable and just.
A Hamas security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the movement’s security forces are preparing to deal with the outbreak of popular protests. “These protests are driven by foreign parties and these parties are seeking to destabilize the Gaza Strip. We have thwarted several calls for such protests over the past days,” the source said.
“These parties take advantage of any local or international event to turn citizens against Hamas, such as the drowning incidents of Palestinian immigrants and the global rise in food prices, as they mislead citizens that Hamas is the reason behind them,” he added. The source stressed that the movement’s security apparatus “is able to control with minimal damage any events or demonstrations that may emerge on the ground.”On Nov. 10, the Hamas website Palestine Online published a report claiming the “We Want to Live” movement was established by the Shin Bet to incite the citizens of the Gaza Strip against the Palestinian resistance.

A Middle East Order and the Requisites for Regional Stability
Dr. Nassif Hitti/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 02/2021
How does the scene in the Middle East look at the end of 2021, keeping in mind that most observers and those who follow the situation in the region agree that we have been living in a chaotic regional system for years…A system that has seen a weakening or regression of the international rules or customs that anchor relations between states and, on the one hand, allow for organizing, containing and managing disputes, and, on the other, strengthening the links that tie them together and building on them?
That happened when regional forces adopted doctrines based on subnational identities- religious, confessional, ethnic, and transnational, in their objectives and discourse- that serve those forces’ strategies. Encouraging this (the success of this discourse and the appeal it somewhat enjoys) in particular cases is the weakness and fragility of several countries’ national pacts on the one hand and the wars, conflicts, and various aspects of vulnerability that attract the interventions seen in some countries on the other.
The region has been witnessing three wars for years: a regional cold war, proxy wars in hotspots, and civil wars. Each of these wars fuels and feeds on the other two. Facing them are promising signs of change, but they have not yet crystallized or had a strong impact on the ground; they have yet to become new policies that mark the beginning of a rupture with the region’s trajectory.
Among the most important of these new elements is the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership held on August 28. To ensure the success of this forum for dialogue and cooperation, the conference, which launched a path for dialogue between powers hostile to one another or have almost no communication with one another- in the first place, of course- adopted the logic of states and the rules that organize their relations, both in cooperation and dispute, that we referred to above.
That is certainly not achieved through the adoption of the logic of revolution or the right to intervene, directly or through non-state actors, in other countries’ affairs, whatever the slogans or justifications. This course has many challenges it must first overcome, but Iraqi, Arab and international factors are pushing in that direction.
Another factor promoting change is the resumption of the (P5+ 1) negotiations with Iran on a nuclear deal. These talks are pushing in the right direction despite the fact they are staggering in light of the conditions and counter conditions being put forward by both sides, and the threat of Iran reaching the “nuclear threshold,” which gives the capacity to build a nuclear weapon.
Such a development would lead to a major, dangerous crisis that could lead to military confrontation and have dangerous repercussions for the region. Successfully bringing back the nuclear deal, with the improvements and reassurances sought out by the parties to it, whose visions contradict one another, is no easy task given the changes in circumstances to those that had been prevalent in 2015. However, it is not impossible. One certainty is that the outcome of this course will have major ramifications, whether negative or positive, for regional stability and security, as well as other issues in the region.
Arab normalization with Syria is another course, one that is taking different forms and moving at various speeds, with no Arab consensus on the matter, of course. That is happening, as those pushing in this direction say, with the aim of bringing Syria back to the Arab League, to create a balance with the role played by other actors, particularly Iran, and the danger it presents, considering, as they say, Syria’s geostrategic significance.
The resumption of exploratory communications, or their gradual resumption, between Iran and some of the primary Arab power is another path. Though it is also moving at various speeds, and whatever the remaining impediments may still stand in its way, it reflects the change brewing in the region.
The course of normalizing and “going back to normal” in terms of Arab-Turkish relations, even though the pace differs from one country to another, is also another major development in the region that has an impact on and is impacted by the other paths, each of which has its own dynamics and is pivotal to the Middle East’s transition from the current state of chaos into a region governed by “international norms.”
The new order could be described as a “new Westphalia:” a regional order built on the logic of states rather than that of interventions in the name of transnational ideologies that talk over states and don’t recognize their sovereignty. This could be manifested in a multilateral Arab initiative that brings the parties seeking this order together.
The foundations that should form the basis and patterns of the kinds of relations that must emerge could thus be established and crystalized in the Middle East. Launching such an Arab initiative in this vein and working on ensuring that it receives the support needed - keeping in mind that regional stability is in the entire world’s interest as well, even if the major powers’ interests diverge - is more than necessary so long as the Arab world remains an arena for these wars and pays their costs with its stability and prosperity.

Islam's Surprising Impact on Daily Life
Daniel Pipes/Middle East Quarterly Winter 2022
https://www.danielpipes.org/20741/islam-surprising-impact-on-daily-life
Islam's "flavor is unmistakable on whatever it touched."
— Gustave von Grunebaum
The Qur'an forbids Muslims to eat, drink, smoke, or engage in sexual relations during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan. But the Qur'an says nothing about aspects of twenty-first century Ramadan: shortened office hours, parties through the night, holiday pastries, special television programs, vacations in countries with less-strict regimens, or escapes to cooler climes with shorter daylight hours. The Qur'an knows even less about "the Ramadan effect on retail" on health. Fasting, notes the head of the Emirates Diabetes Society, causes observant Muslims to exercise less, and festive nights mean they "tend to overeat upon breaking their fast," usually consuming "heavy, fatty foods that are high in calories." Sixty-percent of respondents in a Saudi survey reported excessive weight gain after Ramadan.
Ramadan is, ironically, a month of both fasting and overeating. Here, over 1,000 residents of Cairo's Matariya neighborhood broke the fast together on May 31, 2018.
None of these modern customs are religious obligations, but all follow logically from Islam's rules. Together, they constitute the lived experience of Ramadan. As this example suggests, while Islam tends to be seen in terms of its texts and precepts, it is also something much larger, a mix of traditions and innovations. In the aggregate, they form the civilization of Islam.
Islamicate
In the 1960s, the historian Marshall G.S. Hodgson coined the term Islamicate to describe this larger phenomenon. As he defined it, Islamicate refers
not directly to the religion, Islam, itself, but to the social and cultural complex historically associated with Islam and the Muslims, both among Muslims themselves and even when found among non-Muslims.
He modeled the "Islam-Islamicate" pairing on "Italian-Italianate." This concept greatly helps to understand Islam's subtle impact on daily life.
Islamicate customs have three principal sources: the Qur'an and Hadith (sayings and actions of Islam's prophet Muhammad), which give general injunctions, such as to offer charity or treat dogs as unclean; "fences" (ihtiyat), which reduce the chance of inadvertent transgression by adding secondary prescriptions; for example, the burqa (an all-encompassing garment) takes an ambiguous Qur'anic verse (24.31) about female modesty and, to be on the safe side, turns women into mobile tents. Finally, a general mentality can become standard practice; Qur'anic exhortations about the superiority of Muslims over non-Muslims became encoded in the dhimmi status, a second-class citizenship available to those Jews and Christians who acknowledge Muslim rule.
Islamicate customs combine abstract Islamic laws (the Shari'a) with actual Muslim practice. In other words, the religion's formal requirements provide only the narrow base for a much wider structure of customs that extend the dictates of Islam, stretching them in unexpected, unplanned, and sometime surprising ways. Thus, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the Islamic hajj, turned into a unique meeting place that served as a transfer point for Muslims. It could be ideas, as in the eighteenth century, when Islamist views spread via Mecca to Morocco, West Africa, Libya, northwest India, Bengal, Indonesia, and China. It could be trade, such as luxury goods like ivory, or plants such as rubber and rice. Finally, it can be diseases, such as meningococci, pyoderma, infectious diarrhea, respiratory tract infections, and polio.
Many exchanges take place at the annual hajj.
The Qur'anic ban on artistic representations of the human form led to the development of artistic motifs based on vegetal and geometric designs and the Arabic script. The result is a discrete and recognizable style. Flip casually through a book showing artistic treasures from around the world, the historian George Marçais notes, and one intuitively sees that Muslim-made artifacts, such as a wall panel from Spain, an illustrated Qur'an from Egypt, or an engraved copper bowl from Iran, share common features: "Without being capable of identifying in which country any of these was made, you are not inclined even for an instant to attribute them to any place other than the Muslim world."
Alcohol worldwide is consumed to celebrate, to console, or to distract; but Muslims, due to the Islamic prohibition against it, turned instead to its non-intoxicating equivalent, sugar. Sugar consumption among Muslims, historically has, therefore, tended to be high. As Josie Delap points out,
If you can't do shots in Dubai, you can belly up to the milkshake bar and get a high from guzzling a chocolatey ice cream concoction. After dinner, sweetened tea takes the place of an aperitif. Juice and sugar-cane stalls replace pubs and bars on street corners.
Sugar has even become integral to religious festivals: "Ramadan brings a nightly feast in which sweets play an important role. In Turkey, Eid al-Fitr, the feast to celebrate the end of Ramadan, is known as Şeker Bayrami, the feast of sweets."
The ban on pork is ritual and Islamic, but its consequences are geographic and Islamicate. Not consuming pork led to the disappearance of pigs and that, the geographer Xavier de Planhol explains, opened "the wooded ranges to sheep and goats, and thus indirectly brought about a catastrophic deforestation. This is one of the basic reasons for the sparse landscape particularly evident in the Mediterranean districts of Islamic countries." Or, as Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, observed, "The Arab is often called the son of the desert. It would be truer to call him its father." Looking at the Mediterranean, the region around Marsala in western Sicily receives on average 17.7 inches of rainfall annually but is distinctly more verdant than the nearby region around Tunis, with an average 20 inches a year. Note the evolution from Qur'anic dietary injunction to desertification; the scriptural command was not intended to cause ecological damage, but it did.
The tree-climbing goats of Morocco devour everything that grows on trees.
Beyond these somewhat random influences, Islamicate practices have done much to obstruct Muslims from modernizing. They affected three types of relationships: personal ones, intra-Muslim, and with non-Muslims.
Personal Relations
Islamic rules have much to say about male-female relations; Islamicate patterns then vastly extend these to most aspects of family life.
Islamic texts assume that women enjoy sexual intercourse as much or more than men. Accordingly, Islam portrays female desire transforming women into predators and men into prey. This alleged female lust is a powerful force for disorder by giving women power over men that rivals God's. Accordingly, women's sexuality threatens the social order, prompting enormous effort to contain it. An imperative to repress female sexuality explains a range of Islamicate customs designed to separate and minimize contact between the sexes: the covering of women's faces and bodies; confining women to their residential quarters (the harem); social separation, as in elevators or restaurants; and a weak husband-wife relationship relative to the strong mother-son bond.
Two aspects of combatting female desire deserve special note. First, female genital mutilation (FGM) most directly suppresses women's sexuality by making intercourse painful. Other than trivial exceptions in Latin America, it occurs only among Muslims and their non-Muslim neighbors such as the Copts. Once restricted to places like Somalia, Iraq, and India, it now extends to the West, for example, to Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Michigan.
Archery is about the only sport available to niqabis.
Second, some Muslim women wear full head and body coverings (niqabs and burqas) to separate more fully from men, causing health problems to them and their newborns. Their outfits render exercise difficult, increasing obesity. Insufficient sunlight results in vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to bowlegs and thickened wrists and ankles, muscle and bone pain, pelvic fractures during childbirth, dementia, rickets, osteomalacia, and perhaps multiple sclerosis. Also, rashes, headaches, and respiratory disease sometime result or even strangulation. Babies suffer from seizures, growth retardation, and muscle weakness and fractures.
Polygyny is Islamic but its implications are Islamicate. Wives who worry that their husbands will marry another woman suffer from permanent anxiety; conversely, husbands enjoy immense leverage in the marriage. Polygyny also leads to what is termed excess men, males who remain unmarried due to females engaged in polygamous marriages. (Female infanticide then further distorts the gender balance, whether by crudely killing off newborns in olden times or by ultrasound tests and abortion today.) The presence of excess men leads to heightened criminality and violence while rulers eager to dispose of this restless population are more prone to make war.
A system of male guardianship (wilayat ar-rijal) gives a close male relative (grandfather, father, brother, husband, cousin, son, even grandson) the authority to make a woman's key decisions in life, such as leaving the house, acquiring an education, receiving medical attention, traveling, working, and getting married. In this spirit, some traditional Muslim weddings take place between two men—the groom and the bride's guardian. Although only the Saudi government has imposed guardianship as a legal structure, this Islamicate institution can be found privately in many Muslim societies where it not only infantilizes women but also invites abuses of power.
The Qur'an sanctions (4:22-24, 33:50) but does not encourage first-cousin marriage. Tribal customs and historical practice then make this practice widespread in Muslim societies for it retains daughters' honor, fertility, and financial resources within the family. The genetic consequences of such marriages over as many as fifty generations have been incalculably harmful, leading to lesser cognitive performance and such disorders as thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, spinal muscular atrophy, diabetes, deafness, muteness, and autism. To cite one statistic, ethnic Pakistanis in the United Kingdomaccount for 3 percent of births but 30 percent of children with genetic illnesses.
Nothing in Islamic doctrine sanctions honor killings, defined as family killings (usually young females but at times older women or males) to purge a perceived public stain on the family's reputation. The practice emerged out of an intense focus on virginity and stringent restrictions on sexual conduct, mixed with a heightened emphasis on family honor. The result is an epidemic of murders, now occurring also in the West. In addition to the actual crimes, fear of this punishment takes a huge psychological toll on female Muslims.
Finally, and unconnected to male-female relations: orphans have a status in Islamic law (called kafala) that derives from an incident in Muhammad's life (he married the former wife of his adoptive son). Kafala prohibits orphans from becoming part of their adoptive family. Although not intended to lead to an inferior status, this was the result: Muslim orphans today remain discriminated against, even by Muslims living in the West.
Intra-Muslim Relations
Islam creates unrealistically high expectations of rulers (for example, by permitting them to tax only at impractically low rates), which almost invariably causes those rulers to breach the Shari'a. In response, Muslim subjects reject their rulersand try to avoid working for them. In premodern times, this reluctance created a personnel crisis that impelled Muslim rulers to seek administrative and military staff from beyond their borders. Their preferred method was systematically to acquire, train, and deploy slaves coming from such places as Africa, the Caucasus, and the Balkans. Indeed, servile administrators and soldiers became a mainstay of Islamicate statecraft from Spain to Bengal in the millennium 800-1800 C.E. This historic reluctance continues, as manifested by recent anti-government demonstrations in Muslim-majority countries.
The Ottoman Janissaries constituted the most enduring and important corps of slave soldiers.
Islam offers no rules for peaceful transition of power or guidelines for succession—to this day, Sunnis and Shiites still dispute the rightful successor to Muhammad—and recurrent problems with dynastic succession increased Islamicate political instability. In premodern times, the lack of a system like primogeniture led to such exotica as Mamluk slaves succeeding their masters as rulers in Egypt and institutionalized royal Ottoman fratricide. In modern times, the lack of democracy contributed to Syria boasting four presidents in one year (1949), the chaotic Saudi family tree of rulers, and Arab dictators trying to install their sons as successors.
Syria had four presidents in 1949.
Islam's rules reflect its origins in a tribal environment, and however remote seventh-century Arabia from a megalopolis like today's Cairo or Istanbul, tribal imperatives remain a powerful force. The Islamicate tribal code based on family and clan solidarity can be summed up by the retrograde adage, "I against my brother, I and my brothers against my cousins, I, my brothers, and my cousins against the world." Or, in Osama bin Laden's formulation, "When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse." This mentality conflicts with modern ideas of individualism, universal values, and the rule of law. It leads to anemic institutions, poor economic performance, military weakness, and tyranny.
Other Islamicate patterns include the establishment of dynasties through conquest, not internal change; power leading to wealth, not the reverse; the weakness of municipal governments and the attendant inadequate regulation of cities; and laws arising from ad hoc decisions, not formal legislation.
Relations with Non-Muslims
Islamic scriptures encourage a sense of Muslim superiority, a disdain for the faith and civilization of others, and a revulsion against non-Muslim rule. In modern times, Islamicate attitudes obstruct Muslims from ending the practice of beheading and slavery, learning from the West, joining the global economic system, or dealing realistically with problems.
The Qur'an (8:12 and 47:4) sanctions beheading; Islamic tradition records Muhammad as having decapitated seven hundred Jewish men of the Banu Qurayza tribe, thereby establishing the precedent and model for future Muslims. This Islamicate custom has the dual goals of striking fear and gaining political advantage. Major states, including those of the Almoravids, Ottomans, and Saudis followed suit, using this form of punishment against non-Muslims and Muslims alike. In recent times, most notoriously, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) revived this practice.
Islam, as did most premodern civilizations, permitted slavery; today, however, this remains a significant phenomenon only among Muslims. The regulations that originate in the long-ago Qur'an and Sunna persist because they fit an Islamicate sense of Muslim superiority. Slavery is so central an Islamicate institution that a mainstream Saudi religious figure claims that rejecting it amounts to apostasy from Islam. A survey finds it exists in eight Muslim-majority countries, the Islamic State (ISIS), and in lesser forms elsewhere. Slavery has recently appeared among Muslims living in the Westwith frequent scandals concerning a royal, a diplomat, and even a student charged with slave-holding.
ISIS revived slavery, such as these Yazidi women and girls.
A bitter and roughly equal Muslim-Christian rivalry started at the very origins of Islam and continued for a millennium. By the time European Christians surged ahead and conquered most Muslim-majority territories between 1764 and 1919, Muslims found it particular difficult to learn from them. The distant, closed-off Japanese could not get enough of "Dutch learning," but the nearby Ottomans waited nearly three centuries before permitting movable type printing. This slowness and reluctance led to the Islamicate pattern of Muslims lagging behind, a pattern particularly evident wherever neighboring Muslims and non-Muslims come simultaneously into contact with Europeans, such as in former Yugoslavia, Nigeria, Lebanon, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Living a fully Islamic life requires full implement of the Shari'a, which in turn requires an observant Muslim as ruler; conversely, living under non-Muslim rule requires emigration or resistance. Accordingly, Muslims are the most rebellious subjects when non-Muslim are in charge. In modern times, this has meant trouble for the French in Algeria, the Italians in Libya, the Greeks in Turkey, the Israelis in Gaza, the British in Sudan, the Ethiopians in Eritrea, the Americans in Iraq, the Soviets in Afghanistan, the Indians in Kashmir, the Burmese in Rakhine, the Thais in Pattani, the Chinese in Xinjiang, and the Filipinos in Mindanao. Fury against foreign conquerors has often impeded learning from or cooperating with them, as symbolized by Gazans looting the greenhouses that Israelis had expressly left behind for them to make use of.
Islamic doctrine allows non-Muslims who accept Muslim rule (dhimmis) a degree of autonomy. This led to a pattern of religious communities preferring to live apart in their family and social spheres, in places of residence and work, and to follow their own law codes. Such separation encourages hostile intercommunal relations and impedes the development of a sense of solidarity or national identity. Although deriving from Islamic precepts, these habits of separation have taken on an Islamicate life of their own, remaining in place even in places no longer ruled by Muslims (e.g., Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, and the West Bank).
A combination of the Qur'anic condemnation on payments of interest and a wish to remain aloof from non-Muslims inspired a South Asian Islamist leader, Abul A'la Mawdudi, to invent Islamic economics in the 1930s. Denigrated as a "mighty deceit" by Timur Kuran of Duke University, this innovation encourages corruption, strengthens Islamism, and inhibits Muslim integration into the international economy.
Scriptural hostility toward non-Muslims generates an assumption that non-Muslims harbor a parallel hostility toward Muslims. In modern times, this mirror-imaging has created a susceptibility to conspiracy theories, which have had many practical consequences, such as the Iraq-Iran war, suspicions that anti-polio vaccinations render children infertile—making polio an almost Muslim-only scourge—and wariness about Western-made anti-COVID-19 treatments.
Observations
Thanks to a much-increased familiarity with Islam, including its terminology and its concepts, the moment is right to introduce Hodgson's neologism and the Islamicate idea to the public.[1] It helps to understand the civilization of Islam, the history of Muslims, and today's challenges.
Islamicate customs are sometimes adopted by non-Muslim neighbors—such as Christian women in Pakistan covering their heads, Jewish men in Yemen marrying multiple wives, and the examples noted above of Copts engaging in FGM and separate living patterns in several countries. The Melkite patriarch Gregory III Laham articulated the essence of Islamicate sentiments in 2005:
We are the Church of Islam. ... Islam is our milieu, the context in which we live and with which we are historically associated. ... We understand Islam from the inside. When I hear a verse of the Koran, it's not something foreign to me. It's an expression of the civilization to which I belong.
Some Islamicate customs are unique to Muslims and their non-Muslim neighbors. The architectural decoration known as muqarnas (a concave honeycomb of horseshoe arches) is found only in buildings constructed for Muslims. Likewise, the systematic use of slaves as soldiers and reliance on hawala brokers for money transfers are Muslim-specific. Nothing in Islamic scripture calls for this specific ornamentation, form of military recruitment, or financial instrument; they all arose from a mix of Islamic sensibilities and Muslim needs.
Islamicate practices are not static but can change over time. Military slavery died out two centuries ago about when conspiracy theories began. FGM is for the first time being fought while polio only became a distinctly Muslim disease in this century.
Islamicate mores are particularly harmful to health: diseases circulating during the hajj, a passive Ramadan lifestyle, FGM, cousin marriage, and full-body coverings. Fortunately, none of these is required of observant Muslims.
In conclusion, for Muslims fully to modernize requires not just discarding outdated Islamic precepts (polygyny, unrealistic taxation, violent jihad) but also their Islamicate attributes (cousin marriage, tribal codes, bigotry against non-Muslims). Islamicate practices render the road forward longer and harder than generally perceived. But, should Muslims discard historic rules and practices, that road can be successfully traveled. The choice exists.
*Daniel Pipes (DanielPipes.org, @DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. ©2021. All rights reserved.
[1] I devoted much attention to the Islamicate idea in books published in 1981 and 1983. But then, to address a wider audience, I abandoned the term.

UAE’s ‘zero problems policy’ tackles problems created by others
Haitham El-Zobaidi/The Arab Weekly/December 02/2021
Whenever the necessity or crisis arise, the Emiratis are ready to make difficult decisions.
With the visit of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, to Ankara and his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the policy of “zero problems” adopted by the UAE since the beginning of this year has reached its apex. The Gulf summit at Al-Ula, in Saudi Arabia, was an important milestone on that path. It granted Qatar the opportunity to return to the Gulf fold under Saudi supervision, after years of boycott. The policy of de-escalation led to a relative calm on the media fronts, with the exception of Bahrain. Bitter media skirmishes continue between Manama and Doha.
Emirati National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed paved the way for the “zero problems” approach with rounds of talks undoubtedly preceded by a great deal of diplomacy and communication via intelligence services.
There is calm on the front line with Iran. The two sides do not want any escalation. The visit of UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed to Damascus created momentum towards the rehabilitation of Syria in the Arab world. But Iran will pick and choose what it wants from the message of the visit. There are no Emirati conflicting interests in Iraq. Abu Dhabi has mostly distanced itself from Lebanon’s chronic strife. It has started, years ago, from where Saudi Arabia has finished now. Lebanon is a hopeless case as long as Hezbollah is in control. Perhaps the policy of “zero problems” began earlier than generally assumed. The UAE played a critical role in the Yemen war. It removed the Houthis from the southern regions in record time, before they were able to entrench themselves. It established a Yemeni strike force including southern, western and northern tribal forces. It understood early on the futility of the “legitimacy” government’s policies and the extent of its infiltration by the Muslim Brotherhood. And when the “legitimacy” government’s ingratitude was demonstrated, it withdrew without however, leaving a security vacuum.
In February 2012, Sheikh Mohammed visited Ankara and met Erdogan. During the visit, a giant investment agreement worth $12 billion was signed for a power generation project in the Afshin Al-Bustan area. No fair observer can claim that such a visit and such a huge investment are signs of hostility nor the beginning of a political problem. This is the stuff of which dreams are made in the case of normal nations. But Turkey is no normal nation. It entered a stage of utter hysteria with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Turkey, which is much disliked in the Arab world for its well-known historical legacy in the region, was rehabilitated by no other than Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Erdogan entered the Arab world and was given an exceptional welcome. The Brotherhood-fashioned mindset of Erdogan, has evolved from that of a reformist Istanbul mayor to that of a reviver of past Ottoman glories. His appetite was whetted when he recognised the elements of Turkish power, which the country’s secularist rulers had established before him. Qatar entered the fray and benefited from this rise of the Brotherhood and from the rapprochement with Syria. After the 2011 major explosions in the region, which were themselves aftershocks from the big jolt represented by the 2003 fall of Baghdad, the moment was ripe for Turkey and Qatar to step into the picture. Assad paid the price for his policies towards his own people and for his regional mistakes.
The Brotherhood’s project, which was dubbed “The Arab Spring”, needed funding. Qatar was ready, but could not provide everything. Who are the rich Arab countries then? Saudi Arabia in 2011 was not the Saudi Arabia of today. The Brotherhood’s greatest ambition at the time was that the cover would not be lifted on its Sururist pursuits and that the disguise of Sururism as a Wahhabi creed would remain in place. Libya was under control. Kuwait was at a critical stage of transformation when the tribal system, with the help of members of the ruling family, turned into a Brotherhood political project. Funding from Kuwaiti institutions for the Brotherhood was already ongoing. This left the Emirates as the ultimate target.
At a time when the UAE was extending its hand to Turkey with investments, the Turkish and Qatari-backed Muslim Brotherhood’s tide was rising. The Brotherhood took power in Egypt and the issue of funding became critical. At that stage, attacks against the Emirates began. The UAE responded by alerting Saudi Arabia to the danger of what was happening in Egypt with Qatari and Turkish support and Western indulgence under the complacent gaze of the Obama administration. The Brotherhood accused Riyadh and Abu Dhabi of trying to undermine their rule there and of causing mass demonstrations by the Egyptians, and thereafter organising the downfall of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi at the hands of the army. What else did they expect?
Turkey considered itself in open war with the Emirates. Qatari money, Turkish intelligence and Brotherhood field work all coalesced to undermine the Emirates. Targeting zoomed in on the UAE. Wherever the Emirates was, so was the focus of the targeting. Not only did the UAE deprive them of the funding of which they dreamed, but in tandem with its ally Saudi Arabia it helped establish the new Egyptian regime that uprooted the Brotherhood’s rule.
So what did create the problems that are being reduced to zero with Turkey and Qatar, today? Who had a project to invade the region ideologically, through the media and then militarily, as we witnessed in Libya. Moreover, who was seeking to protect his presence and his gains? Perhaps the Turks today are the people who could best answer that, having been exhausted by Erdogan’s adventures. Turkey and Qatar’s problems with the region were increasing and some pointed to Emirati-Saudi bias against Erdogan. Are the European leaders who have been complaining about Turkish policies over the past few years Emiratis or Saudis? Erdogan has brought relations with Europe to a breaking point over the notion of ​​Turkey joining the European Union. His enmity and then his love for Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump separately, are other examples.
In May 2010, I asked one of Yemen’s senior sheikhs at his home in Sana’a about the situation of the Houthis and why they renewed their hostilities without a solution or way out on the horizon. He suggested that I and other journalist colleagues meet mid-level Houthi leaders. There was a truce between the Houthis and the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Houthis were moving in Sana’a unhindered. I wanted to listen to them to understand more what was happening in Yemen. I asked one of them a direct question: Your problem is with Ali Abdullah Saleh and Saudi Arabia; your war is with them; What is the meaning of the Houthi slogan (the “Sarkha”) of “Allahu Akbar, death to America, death to Israel, the Jews be damned, victory for Islam”?
One can understand the reference to America, but what does Israel have to do with it? The Houthi youth was clever in his response.
He drew with his hand what looked like the shape of a suitcase. He said: “With what it carries, slogans also come.” referring to Iranian cash. It had been years since the “Sarkha”, but the slogan stuck and proved to be the Iranian slogan that rises from the mountains of Saada.
I do not know the extent of Iranian encroachment among the Yemenis at that point. Iran benefited from the contraction of the Iraqi role in Yemen after 1991 and it expanded into that space. The Yemeni version of the “Arab Spring” is well known. Qatari anger at President Ali Abdullah Saleh turned into open incitement at the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated “Reform” (Al Islah) party.Then, naïvely, the other Gulf countries were drawn to the Qatari project, under what was called the “Gulf Initiative”. After an assassination attempt on President Saleh, the matter was resolved. Al-Islah defeated Saleh and the Houthi race towards Sana’a began.
The Houthis re-arranged their affairs quite well as Iranian help became clearer by the day. An administrative decision by the Saudi residency permits department provided them with unexpected help. More than one million Yemenis who violated the conditions of residency in Saudi Arabia were deported. The outburst of anger over that decision affected one million Yemeni families. That favoured the growing power, influence and human resources of the Houthis. The Houthis then conquered Yemen and the transitional president, Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi, fled along those who plotted to plot to depose Ali Abdullah Saleh. The fighting has not ceased since then.
When the UAE, alongside Saudi Arabia, intervened in military effort to stop the Houthis’ control of the country and against the removal of “the legitimacy” government, was this a problem in itself or was it a reaction to an Iranian threat in the southern Gulf? The move by the “legitimacy”government against the UAE’s role in Yemen would not have had any effect had it not been for the freeing of the south of the country from the Houthis. If Al-Islah party has another agenda, that is a wholly different issue and as we have seen, another regional political game. Qatar was not far away from that game. With a sense of responsibility, the UAE withdrew from Yemen and it was its initial step towards a “zero problems” concept. The move over time became policy.
Perhaps we may ask, with regard to the Iranian issue specifically, is the policy of exporting the revolution since Ayatollah Khomeini’s accession to power in 1979, a problem-generating policy, or not? Iran sparks various types of strife in the region and does not hide its projects, which the West, unfortunately, was reduced to focussing on Iran’s nuclear programme until it saw what militias, missiles, or drones could do.
Some see the Emirates at the image of the sparkling skyscape of its modern cities. They want to reduce it to a beautiful piece in a Middle East showcase. But this simplistic view does not fully reflect the truth.
Some are trying to depict the Emirati stances during the past decade regarding political developments in our region as a new policy that does not reflect the orientations of the late founding leader Sheikh Zayed. The UAE is a peaceful country; what has it got to do with what is happening in the region in terms of conflicts? This, of course, is not true.
When the September 2001 attacks occurred, it was Sheikh Zayed who made the decision to join the coalition against al-Qaeda. He did not take that decision because the United States led the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but rather because he considered that Islam had been hijacked by groups that simply had to be confronted. When a tough and firm stance was needed, Sheikh Zayed could be counted on.
In the Yemen war, the Emiratis have proven that they are an army to be reckoned with and that they are ready for sacrifice and to offer martyrs when duty calls. In various stages of the region’s crises, they have also proven that they are seasoned politicians who can speak to the rest of the world in a modern language, form lobbies and pressure groups and work methodically to reach their goals.
Whenever the necessity or crises arise, they are ready to make difficult decisions, even those that cost them dearly in terms of vilification and hostile targeting.
Whenever the necessity or crisis arise, the Emiratis are ready to make difficult decisions. They have great flexibility in dealing with changes, whether it is the departure of a supportive American president or the wavering of an enemy or an ally. This kind of flexibility can produce the “zero problems” policy; a policy that eliminates problems that others create.