English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 08/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.december08.21.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.
Acts of the Apostles 18/01-11: “After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,
and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together by trade they were tentmakers. Every sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus. When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshipper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue.Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized. One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.’He stayed there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 07-08/2021
Ministry of Health: 1707 new cases, 10 deaths
French Envoy Urges Lebanon to 'Do Its Part' after Paris-Riyadh Initiative
Aoun Says Lebanon Committed to Reform as IMF Says Ready to Help
Aoun Calls for Putting End to 'Pressures' on Judges
Bitar to Resume Work as Court Dismisses Fenianos' Recusal Request
Report: No Solution to Cabinet Freeze but ‘Judicial Rectification’
Shiite Duo Stands Ground on Bitar, Parliament Distances Itself as Khoury Works on Exit
Parliament OKs World Bank Loan Amendments as Berri Decries Electricity Waste
Berri concludes plenary session
Berri: Largest waste of public money in electricity sector
Mikati meets IMF delegation
IMF delegation meets Kanaan and Jaber
Foreign Ministry Strongly Condemns Israeli Strike on Latakia Port
Lebanon: IMF Expresses Readiness to Help Country Out of Its Crisis
Modest Ambitions’ for Lebanon's Government to Implement Saudi-French Statement
Jumblat Says Lebanese Decision 'Usurped' by Hizbullah, 'New System' Needed
The bohemians/Nicholas Frakes/Now Lebanon/Tuesday, 07 December/2021
Incertitudes, faux semblants et mensonges/Charles Elias Chartouni/Decembre 07/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 07-08/2021
Israeli strike on Latakia said to target Iran weapons shipment
Israeli Air Strikes Hit Latakia Port
Paris Says Iran Nuclear Proposals 'Not a Reasonable Basis' for Accord
France Arrests Suspected Member of Khashoggi Murder Squad
The move is seen as an illustration of the Muslim Brotherhood's enduring clout in Kuwait.
Saudi Arabia, Oman Sign Deals Worth $30 Billion
Motorcycle Bomb Kills Four in Iraq's Basra
Egypt, Jordan Conclude 'Aqaba 6' Joint Military Drill
Biden to Warn Putin of Economic Pain If He invades Ukraine
Dutch Court Upholds Gantz Immunity in Israeli Airstrike Case
Erdogan: We Will Do Everything Necessary to Strengthen Our Relations With Gulf Countries
Shooter Held after Killing 2, Hurting 3 in Moscow Public Services Office
Omicron variant 'almost certainly' not more severe than Delta, says Anthony Fauci
UAE to shift to Saturday-Sunday weekend in line with global markets
Canada gravely concerned over Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint convictions

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 07-08/2021
Israel must not support a temporary Iranian nuclear deal/Jacob Nagel/Israel Hayom/December 07/2021
Drones, bombs, spies — inside Israel’s cunning plan to stop Iran’s nukes/Jake Wallis Simons/New York Post/December 07/2021
Russia and China are testing Biden — and so far, he’s failing/Mark Montgomery/New York Post/December 07/2021
Israel Said to Up Pressure on US to Strike Iranian Targets as Nuclear Talks Risk Collapse/Sharon Wrobel/algemeiner/December 07/2021
Is Iran paving the way for 'Iran deal' talks failure? - analysis/Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/December 07/2021
Iran-Hezbollah help Hamas, Islamic Jihad trounce Israel with propaganda - exclusive/Yonah Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/December 07/2021
France’s Merkel or Thatcher Moment? Not Quite/Lionel Laurent /Bloomberg/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Why an airstrike on Syria's Latakia Port matters – analysis/Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/December 07/2021
Climate change will define the UAE’s next 50 years/Jonathan Gornall/The Arab Weekly/December 07/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 07-08/2021
Ministry of Health: 1707 new cases, 10 deaths
NNA/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021  
The Ministry of Public Health announced 1707 new coronavirus infection cases, which raises the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 681332. 10 deaths have been recorded.

French Envoy Urges Lebanon to 'Do Its Part' after Paris-Riyadh Initiative
Naharnet/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo on Tuesday met with President Michel Aoun and briefed him on the outcome of the tour that French President Emmanuel Macron made in the Gulf region, especially his visit to Saudi Arabia where the kingdom expressed its readiness to assist Lebanon.
During the meeting that was held at the request of the French presidency, Grillo noted that her country “made the first step in this regard,” adding that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries are also ready to take steps. The ambassador, however, stressed that Lebanon must “do its part and prove its credibility in committing to the reforms.” Grillo also told Aoun that the international community and France believe that it is important for the parliamentary, municipal and presidential elections to be held next year, especially that “the Lebanese are awaiting these polls.”

Aoun Says Lebanon Committed to Reform as IMF Says Ready to Help
Naharnet/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021 
President Michel Aoun on Tuesday told an International Monetary Fund delegation that Lebanon is “committed to devising a feasible reformist plan” and to “cooperating with IMF to approve it quickly.” Aoun also said that “the priority should be given to the social and health issues, and to confronting poverty and moving forward in repairing infrastructure in the country, such as electricity, telecommunications and the Beirut port.” The IMF Deputy Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department, Thanos Arvanitis, for his part said that the Fund is willing to help Lebanon lay out a comprehensive program that would enable it to confront the current financial and economic crisis. He, however, added that such a program requires joint efforts from all Lebanese governmental and political parties and consensus among them over supporting a comprehensive economic plan that would restore confidence in the Lebanese economic situation.

Aoun Calls for Putting End to 'Pressures' on Judges
Naharnet/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
President Michel Aoun on Tuesday lamented that “the judiciary in Lebanon is not doing well,” as he called on all parties to “protect” the judiciary and “prevent pressures on judges.”Aoun voiced his remarks in a meeting with the newly-elected Beirut Bar Association chief Nader Kasbar and the members of the Association. “Judge and lawyers must be a firm bulwark in the face of corruption and political interferences that conceal the facts and obstruct the delivery of justice,” the president urged.

Bitar to Resume Work as Court Dismisses Fenianos' Recusal Request
Associated Press/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
The Beirut Civil Court of Appeals under the chairmanship of Judge Randa Harrouq on Tuesday dismissed ex-minister Youssef Fenianos’ recusal request against Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, the state-run National News Agency said. According to NNA, Harrouq said that the court lacks the jurisdiction to accept such a request, a stance that was expected after the Court of Cassation said that it exclusively has the right to look into recusal requests against Bitar. “Judge Bitar has been informed of the content of the decision (of Harrouq), which calls for the resumption of investigations and measures related to the Beirut port case,” NNA added. The probe was suspended for more than a month following legal challenges from former officials charged in the case. Lebanon's investigation into the August 2020 explosion led by Bitar was suspended for the third time in early November because of a deluge of legal challenges filed by defendants. Several officials have refused to be questioned amid calls by some groups, including Hizbullah, to have the judge removed, accusing him of bias. Disagreements over the judge's work between rival political groups have paralyzed the government, which has not met since Oct. 12. Hizbullah and two allied groups have demanded that Bitar be replaced. At least 216 people died in the port explosion, caused by the detonation of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse for years, apparently with the knowledge of senior politicians and security officials who did nothing about it. The explosion also injured 6,000 people and destroyed parts of the city. More than a year after the government launched a judicial investigation, nearly everything else remains unknown -- from who ordered the shipment to why officials ignored repeated warnings of the danger.

Report: No Solution to Cabinet Freeze but ‘Judicial Rectification’
Naharnet/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021 
“The only solution to the Cabinet dilemma is to rectify the judicial conduct,” sources told al-Manar TV overnight. The sources affirmed that “Prime Minister Najib Miqati is not making any new attempts to hold a Cabinet session, after the judiciary failed to find a solution to the crisis.”“No deal has been made and matters have not yet crystallized,” the sources said, adding that “the week is still at its beginning.”

Shiite Duo Stands Ground on Bitar, Parliament Distances Itself as Khoury Works on Exit
Naharnet/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021 
There are “no positivities” that indicate that the Cabinet will convene soon and the political rift has become deeper regarding the file of the Beirut port blast probe, al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted “credible sources” as saying. “The Shiite duo is still maintaining its inflexible stance regarding investigative judge Tarek Bitar and its decision is final as to the Shiite ministers’ boycott of Cabinet sessions until a final decision is taken on Judge Bitar’s fate,” the sources said, in remarks published Tuesday. The sources noted that Hizbullah and the Amal Movement are not calling for Bitar’s removal but rather for restricting his jurisdiction to the questioning of employees and referring the accused ex-PM and former ministers to the Higher Council for Trial of Presidents and Ministers. Parliament has meanwhile distanced itself from any solution, because it considers that “the better solution for this crisis is in the hands of the relevant authorities, specifically the Justice Minister (Henri Khoury) and the judicial authority,” the sources added. “The bet remains on the exit that the Justice Minister is working on, which is based on forming a judicial accusatory body comprised of three judges so that it becomes the authority that receives appeals against the investigative judge’s decisions, a move that would allow defendants to submit their defenses to several judicial authorities,” the sources said.

Parliament OKs World Bank Loan Amendments as Berri Decries Electricity Waste
Naharnet/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Parliament held a legislative session Tuesday at the UNESCO Palace in which several draft laws were approved and others were sent back to the parliamentary committees. Among the bills that were passed was one that amends Lebanon’s loan treaty with the World Bank in order to support the government’s social aid plan, and another that obliges banks to transfer $10,000 to every Lebanese university student studying abroad for the 2021-2022 academic year. Parliament meanwhile postponed the approval of a draft law aimed at regulating the spending of the funds that Lebanon has received from the International Monetary Fund under the special drawing rights allocation. Speaking during the discussion of the bill, Speaker Nabih Berri decried that the biggest cause for the waste of public funds in Lebanon is the electricity sector. “This amount of money can build power plants that can spare Lebanon from paying very hefty sums of money for a year or more,” Berri saidesday.

Berri concludes plenary session
NNA/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri adjourned the parliament session after the draft law related to extending the work of Law 200/2020 until the completion of the forensic audit process was dropped, along with the draft law aimed at the suspension of work on some articles and chapters of laws related to the port explosion.

Berri: Largest waste of public money in electricity sector
NNA/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
House Speaker Nabih Berri underlined Tuesday that the largest waste of public money is taking place in the electricity sector. "The sector in which the largest waste (of public money) is happening is the electricity," Berri said in his intervention during a plenary session for the Parliament at the UNESCO Palace."With the (wasted) sum, power plants could have been built," he stressed.

Mikati meets IMF delegation
NNA/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Tuesday at the Grand Serail with a delegation of the International Monetary Fund, chaired by IMF's head of mission for Pakistan, Middle East and Central Asia Ernesto Ramirez-Rigo.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh Chami and Mikati's consultant Samir Daher. The delegation reportedly expressed the IMF's readiness to help Lebanon reach an agreement to exit the current crisis.

IMF delegation meets Kanaan and Jaber
NNA/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
An International Monetary Fund delegation met at the Parliament with Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, and MP Yassin Jaber. The meeting dealt with the financial and economic situation in light of the current crisis and ways to address it. The delegation emphasized the importance of reaching an agreement on a rescue plan with the International Monetary Fund and underlined the Fund's readiness to assist Lebanon.

Foreign Ministry Strongly Condemns Israeli Strike on Latakia Port
Naharnet/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned an Israeli strike on Syria’s Latakia port that reportedly destroyed an Iranian weapons shipment.
In a statement, the Ministry said “Lebanon’s government and people will always stand by the Syrian Arab Republic in what preserves its security, stability and the safety of its citizens.”Israel rarely comments on the airstrikes it carries out in Syria but has said repeatedly it will not allow its archfoe Iran to extend its footprint in Syria. Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian territory, targeting government positions as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hizbullah fighters.

Lebanon: IMF Expresses Readiness to Help Country Out of Its Crisis
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
The International Monetary Fund expressed its willingness on Tuesday to help Lebanon reach an agreement that guides it out of its worsening crises, the German news agency, dpa, reported. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said this came during a meeting held Tuesday between Prime Minister Najib Mikati and an IMF delegation led by Ernesto Ramirez at the Grand Serail in Beirut. Discussions focused on the framework of a recovery program and the basic details that it will include, namely the public finance, the banking sector and the Central Bank of Lebanon, in addition to the structural reforms and monetary policy, said the Agency. Lebanon has been grappling with an economic and financial crisis and the prices of goods have skyrocketed. The Lebanese pound dropped against the dollar, and the cost of transportation rose significantly in the Mediterranean country.

Modest Ambitions’ for Lebanon's Government to Implement Saudi-French Statement
Beirut – Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati has intensified his contacts to push for the implementation of the recent Saudi-French statement, despite his government’s “modest ambitions”, as described by well-informed sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.Some points mentioned in the statement “need wide consensus,” the sources underlined, pointing to the files pertaining to the decision of war and peace and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The sources noted that Mikati is seeking to start dealing with files that his government is able to tackle, mainly combating the smuggling of illegal goods to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through Lebanon, and “putting an end to campaigns against Arab countries that harm Lebanon’s historical ties and best relations with Arab states.”Mikati visited on Monday President Michel Aoun, and briefed him on the details of his communication with French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the two officials’ meeting in Jeddah. Also on Monday, the prime minister chaired an expanded meeting to discuss border procedures and the crisis with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf states. “We are required to implement quick and practical measures to prove that the government is carrying out its duties in controlling the borders, the airport, the port and all crossings,” Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said following the meeting. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora praised the “joint statement issued by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France.”He emphasized that the statement “is of exceptional importance in these delicate circumstances, and resolves the controversy regarding many issues raised in the Arab region, especially with regard to Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and the Arab region as a whole.”

Jumblat Says Lebanese Decision 'Usurped' by Hizbullah, 'New System' Needed
Naharnet/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has decried that “today, more than ever, we are living in another Lebanon.” “The Lebanese decision has been completely usurped by a party that extends from here to the Islamic Republic” of Iran, Jumblat said in an interview with the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal, referring to Hizbullah. “At the same time, there is the enormous economic crisis, which is the result of bad behavior, or the exacerbation of the class of bankers and traders and those in the political class who are benefitting from the discrepancy in the exchange rate,” Jumblat added. He accordingly called for “a new political system that emerges from a new electoral system.” “The current system is a system of splitting shares between the Shiite duo and the Christian duo, and the biggest loser in this system was al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri as well as us as a minority party and the general and national parties that call for abolishing political sectarianism,” Jumblat explained. He, however, said that it is not possible to build a new electoral system under the current political equation. As for the controversy over the port blast investigations, the PSP leader said recusing Judge Tarek Bitar from interrogating former ministers is “not the appropriate solution,” seeing as it would fragment the investigation. He added that Bitar “should have questioned the judge who ordered the confiscation of the ship and the unloading of its cargo, seeing as the ship was full of ammonium nitrate.”Separately, Jumblat said “regaining Lebanon from the Iranian axis requires international circumstances that would allow the country to be present.”As for the upcoming presidential election and the possibility of extending the term of President Michel Aoun, the PSP leader said: “Constitutionally, President Michel Aoun cannot have his term extended. This matter contradicts with the constitution and he must hand over his post when the final moment comes.”

The bohemians
Nicholas Frakes/Now Lebanon/Tuesday, 07 December/2021
A handful of young people in Tripoli are trying to revive the city’s cultural scene and give it a more intimate space, despite the economic crisis and the pandemic.
Nadine Ali Dib, founder of Warche 13 in Tripoli, says she felt the need for a cafe that also plays the role of a cultural hub in her hometown.. Photo: Nicholas Frakes, NOW.
The room was heavy with the smell of smoke. The audience in the lightly packed room at Warche 13 listened intently as the band played their set, the music echoing throughout Monot Street in Mina, the municipality neighboring Tripoli.
Every week there was an event like this in one of the bars or cultural centers in the area. The music ranges from jazz to classical Lebanese songs to even rock on occasion. Warche was never meant for one specific audience, but for anyone who appreciates music, founder Nadine Ali Dib, 36, says. The walls of the establishment are filled with photographs of Tripoli and artwork. She even put together a small library. “I founded Warche because I am from Tripoli and Tripoli always lacks this vibe of cultural events,” she told NOW.
Since the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990, Tripoli has seen little attention from the country’s governments, with little to no development projects or investment reaching the northern Lebanese port city. It has often been deemed the poorest city in Lebanon, has been linked to Islamism due to the number of clerics adhering to political Salafism, it has been the scene of numerous rounds of sectarian clashes between the Sunni gunmen in Bab al Tabbaneh and the Syria-backed Alawite militiamen in Jabal Mohsen. It has seen terror cells allegiant to the Islamic State uncovered, gunmen being hunted down by the Lebanese Army. It has been shaken by bombings and hosted jihadist organizations.
But a handful of Tripolitan bohemians are trying to revive the city’s cultural soul, despite a crippling economic crisis and a pandemic that has closed down venues for almost a year.
More than meets the eye
For Elias Khlat, the 56-year-old founder of the Tripoli Film Festival, an annual event running since 2014, this image of a city in tatters is not wholly accurate. It overlooks aspects of the city such as its cultural heritage, he says. “It has this image but this image is not built by the city. It is not built by the people of the city. It’s built by people who don’t know the city, as simple as that. We are angry when we read articles in the press concerning these [negative] things,” Khlat explained. He noted how Tripoli has given Lebanon some of its greatest film directors, including George Nasser who is often credited as being the director that brought Lebanese cinema to an international audience.
“Cinema was very present in Tripoli not only in theaters but also with personalities from the cinema like George Nasser and Randa Chahal,” Khlat told NOW. “And, still, we have young filmmakers over the years graduating and they are very talented, having award-winning films all around the world.”Just like Khlat, Saadeh Katouh, a 31-year-old musician, chose to stay in his home city. He remembers growing up in a city bursting with life. “There was everything when I was young in the 90s,” he stated. “There were playgrounds and video games, many [sports] clubs, more sports. There were a lot of clubs in Lebanon to go and learn football and be in a tournament. Now, it’s not like before. It’s getting less and less. We had several theaters. Now there is nothing.”Katouh tried to revive a corner of that old Tripoli. He co-founded Rumman (Arabic for pomegranate), a music center, also on Monot Street. He opened it in the summer of 2021, despite the economic crisis and the pandemic. Rumman hosts music nights, language exchanges and a movie night. Musicians from Tripoli and the surrounding areas go there to jam. The main courtyard, which boasts a pomegranate tree in the middle, giving the place its name, is small but is able to host a little over a dozen people when they hold a film screening. It also has a small, soundproof room next to it for music.
“We wanted to function as a music scene in Tripoli,” Katouh told NOW. “Try to connect the musicians together. It was more about culture than about business. It’s a cultural, musical place. This is the point. To connect them all together and to do something to make it come alive again.”The two small establishments, Warche 13 and Rumman, remain among the few cultural spaces in Tripoli that still gather the city’s youth. The more established cultural institutions have fallen victim to the pandemic lockdowns and the fuel crisis. The Safadi Cultural Center, for example, has been closed since the beginning of the popular uprising that began on October 17, 2019 and Beit al-Fan, the House of Art in Arabic, is only open for specific events like the Tripoli Film Festival. Even the city’s cinemas have closed down due to the rising cost of fuel and the increased power cuts.
The music shops that helped Katouh pursue his love of music have also long closed down because of the economic crisis.
“Before, there were musical places and shops,” Katouh said. “There were a lot in Tripoli. Like four or five when I started learning guitar. Now, they disappeared. Some of the owners left. Most of them left. Some got busy and it’s not a priority anymore. Now, there is just Rumman.”Elias Khlat, the Tripoli Film Festival's director and organizer, introduces the final film being shown during one of the days of the 2021 festival. Photo: Nicholas Frakes, NOW. Warche 13, in Mina, serves as a culture hub in Tripoli and often hosts various events ranging from art to film to music. Photo: Nicholas Frakes, NOW.
Fighting for the soul of the city The Tripoli Film Festival is one of the few larger-scale events that have been able to continue despite the economic crisis. After a break in 2020, the festival wrapped up its seventh edition on October 12. Khlat said that being able to put the festival together, even with the pandemic restrictions, was a breath of fresh air. “It has an impact on the cultural life of the city,” Khlat explained. “This is the most important thing because this festival, through the few years it has been going on, has made it possible to bring people to the city just for the love of the seventh art. By bringing people, I mean from the surrounding areas, from Beirut and other nationalities from abroad.” Guests from abroad coming to Tripoli for a cultural event is a rare occasion, especially with the capital Beirut taking all the spotlight. But Tripoli has its own enthusiasts, who keep track of local cultural events by word of mouth or, rarely, on social media-based groups. “The cultural scene here is interesting in how it communicates,” Anna Zolotareva, a 36-year-old teacher from Germany told NOW. She moved to Lebanon in 2019 and says she noticed it was hard to find any cultural event in Tripoli.
“[The cultural scene] communicates with a very small circle of friends and if you are not a friend of someone, then you will not know about the events. Even if you are potentially interested, you will not know about it because you are not connected. And no one will tell you because you don’t follow his page and you don’t have mutual friends.”So, in the summer of 2021, she founded Socialize LB, a growing WhatsApp chain, meant to update members about Tripoli’s cultural scene. It grew fast to 80-100 members.
Culture for everyone
Katouh and Ali Dib say that the solution to reviving Tripoli’s cultural scene is to create a safe and personal space that anyone can easily access. Bringing culture to the people rather than keeping restricted to big, elitist events.
“Society without art is dead. It’s nothing,” Katouh stated. “Without music, theatre, painting, any art. Without it, there is no healthy society. Society will be sick without this.”“Museums, theater, pedestrian downtown,” Ali Dib said, listing things that she believed that Tripoli is in dire need of. “That’s very broad but imagine this city it lacks a lot. But we need more, not just consuming cafes with shisha.”Ali Dib has previously tried to expand Warche by establishing a civic center near the cafe. However, these plans fell through over disagreements with the landlord over rental fees. But this has not deterred Ali Dib who wants to use Warche as an example of what the city could be. “I see Warche as a movement. And this movement should be expanding,” she said. “Warche will expand in the future and I hope many people will accept that Tripoli is a city and not just a city that when the sun is down, you can’t walk in the city because everything is closed and only shisha cafes stay open.”Any hopes for a cultural revival in Tripoli are likely limited to small events, like those held at Rumman, Warche and other establishments on Monot Street, until Lebanon’s economic situation starts to improve.“Because of the economic crisis and because of the political instability, things just got canceled and stopped,” Zolotareva stated. “Many people got desperate and stopped their projects. Unfortunately, that’s why many initiatives just never came back. We’ve seen some revival but on a very, very small scale. People try, but they don’t dare to dream big because you never know what will happen tomorrow.”
*Nicholas Frakes is a multimedia journalist with @NOW_leb. He tweets @nicfrakesjourno.

شارل الياس شرتوني:  الغموض، المخادعات والكذب
Incertitudes, faux semblants et mensonges
Charles Elias Chartouni/Decembre 07/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/104613/104613/
Nous faisons face depuis deux ans à des incertitudes cumulées qui ne cessent de croître au fur et à mesure que le pays s’enfonce dans un état de décomposition irréversible, alors que le jeu des oligarques poursuit son cours imperturbable. Le démantèlement des institutions étatiques, les délitements socio-économiques, le dérèglement environnemental et la servilité innommable de la justice à l’égard des oligarchies mafieuses, nous renvoient désemparés aux réalités d’un pays décharné qui a perdu toute consistance. Les faux semblants d’un État de droit, les illusions d’une réforme qui viendrait à bout de ce saccage qui n’a pas discontinué depuis trente ans, et la culture du mensonge qui est l’apanage de cette classe politique d’usurpateurs et de voleurs attitrés, expliquent largement cet effondrement abyssal doublé d’une culture de l’impunité et d’une atmosphère délétère, où la dépravation morale n’a d’autre pendant que la violence et l’état d’ensauvagement auxquels nous sommes relégués. Somme toute, nous n’avons plus rien à attendre dans un contexte d’anomie généralisée, de politiques de domination et de complicités transversales qui rendent compte des verrouillages oligarchiques, des retranchements claniques et de blocage hermétique.
Les tentatives répétées du Président Macron de redonner au Liban une dignité d’État souverain butent sur les équivoques cultivés par le Hezbollah et sa mouvance fasciste à l’endroit dun pays transformé en État-lige instrumentalisé au profit d’une stratégie chiite de destabilisation régionale pilotée par le régime iranien. La politique de domination loin d’être ambiguë relève désormais d’un répertoire politique de subversion qui remet en question la paix civile, la norme démocratique et la configuration géopolitique du Liban. La dernière médiation avec l’Arabie Saoudite fera long feu parce que le partenariat inter-étatique et souverainiste est non seulement inexistant, mais il est remis en question par les conflits induits par les impérialismes islamiques en état de choc frontal, et la politique de mainmise du Hezbollah. La volonté de normalisation de la diplomatie française se heurte à la politique d’annexion iranienne, à l’affaissement de l’État libanais, et aux fractures enchevêtrées d’une société nationale éprouvée par des décennies de conflits ouverts. La rébellion civique de 2019 avec ses aspirations libertaire, démocratique et réformiste qui traduisent au mieux la particularité libanaise, n’a pas réussi à s’articuler sur des réalités anthropologique et historique de base en vue d’opérer les transitions requises.
Les verrouillages imposés par les oligarchies et pilotés par les mouvances fascistes chiites expliquent la débilité des cabinets ministériels, les vétos qui en ont empêché la formation de manière récurrente, et le cynisme manifeste de la classe politique à l’endroit des crises conjuguées et mortelles, tragiquement illustrées par l’explosion terroriste du port de Beyrouth et ses suites désastreuses. Les atermoiements inexplicables à l’égard des réformes financières et leurs articulations socio-économiques répercutent une volonté délibérée de sabotage qui vise à casser les leviers de l’économie, le terreau culturel, social et institutionnel qui a été édifié tout au long du centenaire, et induire des vagues migratoires qui projettent des restructurations démographique et urbaine, et pavent la voie aux reconfigurations géopolitiques qui s’inscrivent dans le prolongement de la guerre civile syrienne et ses relais régionaux. Les dynamiques d’appauvrissement abrupts qui ont détruit les équilibres structurels d’une société modernisée et en pleine phase avec la mondialisation, sont loin d’être l’effet du hasard, elles sont le produit de trois décennies de sape qui ont détruit les bases de l’État de droit et ceux d’une société civile complexe et dûment structurée. Les régimes sultaniens du monde arabe, les échecs de la modernité islamique et arabe, les faillites en cascade des États de la région, et les extrémismes qu’ils ont générés, n’étaient pas en mesure de comprendre et tolérer l’exception libanaise.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 07-08/2021
Israeli strike on Latakia said to target Iran weapons shipment
The Arab Weekly/December 07/2021
Tuesday's strike came as Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad wrapped up a visit to Tehran.
- An Israeli air strike hit a shipment of Iranian weapons in the Syrian port of Latakia Tuesday, in the first such attack on the key facility, a war monitor said. The Israeli raid "directly targeted an Iranian weapons shipment in the container yard," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian state media reported the strike on the container yard at Latakia port without specifying what was targeted. The Observatory, a UK-based organisation with a wide network of sources on the ground across Syria, said the raid triggered a series of explosions. It reported "huge material losses" but added there were no immediate reports of casualties. According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, the strike occurred at 1:23 am (2323 GMT Monday). "Our air defences repelled the Israeli aggression in Latakia," it said, adding that a number of containers caught fire in the strike. Latakia is the northernmost of Syria's main ports and lies around 230 kilometres north of Damascus. Photos and footage published by SANA showed a fire in the yard but state television said later that firefighters had brought the blaze under control. Israel rarely comments on the air strikes it carries out in Syria but has said repeatedly it will not allow its arch-foe Iran to extend its footprint in Syria.
Iran connection
Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian territory, targeting government positions as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters. On November 24, Israeli missile strikes in the west of Homs province killed five people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In two separate Israeli attacks in October, five pro-Iranian militiamen were killed near the Syrian capital Damascus while nine pro-government fighters were killed near the T4 airbase east of Palmyra in central Syria, the Observatory said. Iran has been a key supporter of the Syrian government in the decade-old conflict. It finances, arms and commands a number of Syrian and foreign militia groups fighting alongside the regular armed forces, chief among them Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah group. Tuesday's strike came as Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad wrapped up a visit to Tehran, where he met top officials to discuss deepening ties. In 2019, Syria announced it was planning to turn over the container terminal at Latakia port to Iran. Earlier this year, Iran said it was planning to establish a direct shipping line between Latakia and one of its southern ports. The war in Syria is estimated to have killed nearly half a million people and displaced millions more since it began with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011.

Israeli Air Strikes Hit Latakia Port
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Syria´s military said Israeli warplanes fired missiles on the port of the coastal city of Latakia early Tuesday without inflicting any human losses. Syria´s state media quoted an unnamed military official as saying that several missiles struck the containers area in the port setting some of them on fire. The official gave no further details, AFP reported. It was a rare attack on the port of Latakia, a vital facility where much of Syria´s imports are brought into the war-torn country. Syrian state TV reported that five explosions were heard in the port and a huge fire erupted in the containers area and fire engines have rushed to the port. Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. Some of the strikes in the past had targeted the main airport in the capital Damascus. Israel has acknowledged, however, that it targets the bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon´s Hezbollah group that has fighters deployed in Syria. It says it attacks arms shipments believed to be bound for the militias. Hezbollah is fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar Assad´s forces in the decade-old civil war. Israel says Iranian presence on its northern frontier is a red line, justifying its strikes on facilities and weapons inside Syria.

Paris Says Iran Nuclear Proposals 'Not a Reasonable Basis' for Accord
Naharnet/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Proposals submitted by Iran at talks in Vienna last week aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal fall well short of what is needed, France said on Tuesday, adding time was running out with Iran's atomic drive making worrying progress. "The proposals presented by Iran last week do not constitute a reasonable basis that is compatible with the objective of a rapid conclusion while respecting the interests of all," the French foreign ministry said in a statement. It expressed "disappointment" that the talks failed to move forwards, after diplomats agreed on Friday to pause the discussions for several days to allow consultations in capitals. It is not clear when they will resume. "None of the delegations present -- apart from Iran -- wanted the negotiations to restart on this basis," the ministry said. "Time is running out then because -- five and a half months after Iran halted negotiations -- they still have not really resumed," it added.
There was added urgency because "Iran is continuing its nuclear program at an extremely worrying direction," it said. The United States warned after the talks that it would not allow Iran to "slow walk" the negotiations, which seek to revive the 2015 accord that has been moribund since president Donald Trump walked out of it in 2018. His successor Joe Biden has said he is ready to re-enter the agreement so long as Iran meets key preconditions including full compliance with the deal, whose terms it has repeatedly violated by ramping up nuclear activities since Trump walked out.Iran's foreign ministry said Monday it was ready to resume nuclear talks based on the draft proposals it submitted, accusing Western powers of stalling the negotiations. Israel, which has never ruled out military action against the Iranian nuclear program, urged world powers to halt the talks. Western powers, Israel and pro-Washington Arabian peninsula states fear that Iran intends to develop an atomic bomb. Tehran denies this, insisting it only seeks to produce energy for its population. The nuclear deal promised Iran step-by-step sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its atomic work which would be under the strict supervision of the U.N. atomic agency.

France Arrests Suspected Member of Khashoggi Murder Squad
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
A suspected member of the team that murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, Khalid Alotaibi, was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris on Tuesday, judicial and airport sources said. Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi who lived in self-exile in the United States and wrote for The Washington Post, was strangled by a hit squad in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and his body dismembered.

The move is seen as an illustration of the Muslim Brotherhood's enduring clout in Kuwait.
The Arab Weekly/December 07/2021
Gulf analysts were dismayed by a Kuwaiti ministerial decision that targets commercial shipping links with Israel, in a move interpreted by analysts as directed against Arab countries that have normalised relations with the Jewish state and engage in trade with it through Dubai ports.
The decision seemed to be yet another illustration of the deep infiltration by the Muslim Brotherhood of Kuwaiti state institutions and decision-making process. A well-informed Gulf source told The Arab Weekly that Kuwaiti Minister of Public Works Rana al-Fares has revived an Amiri decree dating back to 1957, issued during the time of the late Emir Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, which imposes sanctions on parties which "financially deal with Israel". The source added, "It was significant that the international Muslim Brotherhood organisation immediately hailed the decision of Minister Fares through statements made by the Hamas movement. It is clear that the port of Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates is the target here, because the minister referred in her decision to ships coming from other ports."
The head of the Palestinian militant movement’s media department, Hisham Qassem, was quick to greet the Kuwaiti decision. He said, “The position confirms Hamas’s vision that there is still a lot of goodwill in the (Arab) nation, despite the ill-reputed wave of normalisation, which it is trying to divert it from the right course.”On Saturday, Minister Rana al-Fares issued a decision banning the passage of commercial ships transporting goods to and from Israel through Kuwaiti territorial waters, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa reported.
The ministerial decision forbids “marine agents registered with the Maritime Agencies Department at the Ministry of Transportation from submitting requests for entry permits on behalf of foreign ships,” based on the 1957 Amiri decree imposing the boycott of Israel.
The decision stipulated that the ban will include "all ships coming from other ports to unload part of their cargo in Kuwaiti ports, whenever they are carrying any of the goods stipulated in the ban, with the intention of shipping them to and from the occupied State of Palestine (Israel), or to other ports after its departure” from Kuwaiti ports. The Kuwaiti foreign ministry did not comment on the decision, despite its regional political implications, as it directly contradicts policies set by countries close to Kuwait. The Gulf source said, "We do not know what prompted the Kuwaiti minister to take such a decision, even if such decisions normally represent the policies of the Kuwaiti government as a whole. But the fingerprints of the Brotherhood movement in Kuwait are all over this decision.”
The Kuwaiti minister's decision brings to the fore the Muslim Brotherhood's encroachment and control over political decision-making in the country.
Kuwait has refused to consider the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, unlike a number of Gulf neighbours and other Arab countries. It has maintained its position even after the arrest of a terrorist cell belonging to the Brotherhood and handing its members over to Egypt in 2019.
On May 31, 1964, the Kuwaiti National Assembly approved the “unified law to boycott Israel” following a decree issued on May 26, 1957 by the then Emir Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, which imposes penalties on those who “financially deal with Israel.”
Last May, the Kuwaiti National Assembly approved amendments to the “Unified Law for Boycotting the Zionist Entity,” aimed at “expanding the scope of prohibition of dealing or normalising with Israel and its organisations.”
In 2020, Israel signed peace agreements with the UAE and Bahrain, which came to be known as the "Abraham Accords". Morocco subsequently announced the resumption of diplomatic relations with Israel and Sudan took similar steps.
The countries that have signed peace agreements with Israel seek the establishment of “economic peace” with the Jewish state, while the Kuwaiti minister’s decision seems aimed against such an objective.
The countries that signed the Abraham Accords argue that the Palestinian Authority recognises Israel according to the Oslo Accords of 1993 and that Hamas itself negotiates with Israel with whom it has agreed to many truce deals through Arab mediators, especially Egypt.
Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and Jordan signed a similar treaty in 1994.

Saudi Arabia, Oman Sign Deals Worth $30 Billion
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Saudi Arabia signed deals with Oman valued at $30 billion, state media said Tuesday, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began a tour of Gulf Arab countries, including former rival Qatar. Saudi and Omani companies "signed 13 memoranda of understanding worth $30 billion", the official Saudi Press Agency reported.  The MoUs between the two countries, which seek to diversify their economies away from oil, range from cooperation in the energy and tourism sectors to finance and technology. Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, arrived in Muscat on Monday night, the first stop in a regional tour ahead a Gulf Arab summit in mid-December.  He met with Sultan Haitham bin Tareq, who ascended the throne in January last year, after the death of his cousin Sultan Qaboos. According to SPA, Prince Mohammed will also visit the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. His trip to Doha will mark the first visit since Saudi Arabia and Qatar severed ties four years ago.  Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain cut all links with Qatar in June 2017, alleging it backed radical Islamist groups and was too close to Riyadh's rival Tehran -- allegations Doha denied. They restored full relations with Qatar in January after a landmark summit. The prince's tour comes amid a flurry of diplomacy to resolve regional disputes, especially with Iran and Turkey. There have been signs of a thaw between Saudi Arabia and Iran in recent weeks, with Tehran and Riyadh holding several rounds of talks since April aimed at improving ties. Meanwhile, Turkey has sought to rebuild relations with former rivals in the Gulf, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.  Simmering tensions between Ankara and Riyadh escalated after the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.
Prince Mohammed's tour coincides with a visit to Doha by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, although Qatar's foreign minister has said it was coincidental. Erdogan, whose country is reeling from a fresh economic crisis and is searching for foreign investment and trade, met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Tuesday. The two discussed enhancing their countries' cooperation in various fields, including the economy, defense and security, and sports, the Qatar News Agency said. The Gulf states are seeking to diversify their economies away from oil, investing heavily in recent years in the tourism, entertainment and sports sectors.

Motorcycle Bomb Kills Four in Iraq's Basra
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
A bomb killed four people in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Tuesday, the first such attack in years, Reuters reported. The blast was caused by a motorbike rigged with explosives, the military said in a statement, citing preliminary information. "The blast carries fingerprints of ISIS," Basra Governor Asaad al-Edani told reporters. Policemen were collecting body parts from a minibus that was badly damaged by the blast, a Reuters witness said. The street was covered with broken glass and blood. The governor announced three days of mourning.
"Today and after this terrorist act, the people of Basra must definitely be cautious and careful. Basra became unsafe today," said Mohammed Ibrahim, a car mechanic whose workshop was near the blast site. Police and hospital sources earlier told Reuters that 20 people had been wounded, in addition to the four fatalities.

Egypt, Jordan Conclude 'Aqaba 6' Joint Military Drill
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021 - 06:30
The Egyptian and Jordanian military forces concluded Monday the “Aqaba 6” joint military drill in Jordan. Maritime, air, and ground forces from both countries participated in the exercises that took was attended by several leaders of the Egyptian and Jordanian armed forces. “The final stage of the training included the implementation of a joint operation to eliminate an armed terrorist hotbed inside a border village," read a statement by the military spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces.
The Egyptian Thunderbolt Forces and the Jordanian Special Forces also carried out joint operations to resist armed terrorist elements stationed in the mountainous areas, the statement added. The spokesman said that the training demonstrated the forces’ high capabilities in carrying out collective work.
The Egyptian and Jordanian Armed Forces launched the joint military drill in Oct 2019.

Biden to Warn Putin of Economic Pain If He invades Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
President Joe Biden is ready to warn Vladimir Putin during a video call Tuesday that Russia will face economy-jarring sanctions if it invades neighboring Ukraine as the US president seeks a diplomatic solution to deal with the tens of thousands of Russian troops massed near the Ukraine border.
Biden aims to make clear that his administration stands ready to take actions against the Kremlin that would exact “a very real cost” on the Russian economy, according to White House officials. Putin, for his part, is expected to demand guarantees from Biden that the NATO military alliance will never expand to include Ukraine, which has long sought membership. That's a non-starter for the Americans and their NATO allies, The Associated Press said.
“We’ve consulted significantly with our allies and believe we have a path forward that would impose significant and severe harm on the Russian economy,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday in previewing the meeting. “You can call that a threat. You can call that a fact. You can call that preparation. You can call it whatever you want to call it.”
The leader-to-leader conversation — Biden speaking from the Situation Room, Putin from his residence in Sochi — is expected to be one of the toughest of Biden's presidency and comes at a perilous time. US intelligence officials have determined that Russia has massed 70,000 troops near the Ukraine border and has made preparations for a possible invasion early next year. The US has not determined whether Putin has made a final decision to invade. Still, Biden intends to make clear to the Russian leader that there will be a “very real cost” should Russia proceed with military action, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity. Biden was vice president in 2014 when Russian troops marched into the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and annexed the territory from Ukraine. Aides say the Crimea episode — one of the darker moments for former President Barack Obama on the international stage — looms large as Biden looks at the current smoldering crisis.
The eastward expansion of NATO has from the start been a bone of contention not just with Moscow but also in Washington. In 1996, when President Bill Clinton’s national security team debated the timing of membership invitations to former Soviet allies Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, Defense Secretary William Perry urged delay in order to keep Russian relations on track. Perry wrote in his memoir that when he lost the internal debate he considered resigning. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were formally invited in 1997 and joined in 1999. They were followed in 2004 by Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the former Soviet states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Since then, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia have joined, bringing NATO’s total to 30 nations. A key principle of the NATO alliance is that membership is open to any qualifying country. And no outsider has membership veto power. While there’s little prospect that Ukraine would be invited into the alliance anytime soon, the US and its allies won’t rule it out. In Washington, Republicans are framing this moment as a key test of Biden’s leadership on the global stage. Biden vowed as a candidate to reassert American leadership after President Donald Trump’s emphasis on an “America first” foreign policy. But Biden has faced fierce criticism from Republicans who say he’s been ineffective in slowing Iran’s march toward becoming a nuclear power and that the Biden administration has done too little to counter autocratic leaders like China’s Xi Jinping, Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Putin.
“Fellow authoritarians in Beijing and Tehran will be watching how the free world responds,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “And President Biden has an opportunity to set the tone when he speaks with Putin.” Trump, who showed unusual deference to Putin during his presidency, said in a Newsmax interview on Monday that the Biden-Putin conversation would not be a “fair match,” describing it as tantamount to the six-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots facing a high school football team. Ahead of the Putin call, Biden on Monday spoke with leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy to coordinate messaging and potential sanctions. The White House said in a statement that the leaders called on Russia to “de-escalate tensions” and agreed that diplomacy "is the only way forward to resolve the conflict.”
Ahead of the Biden-Putin faceoff, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy wrote on Twitter that he and Blinken “agreed to continue joint & concerted action” and expressed his gratitude for the US and allies providing “continued support of our sovereignty & territorial integrity.” Biden himself is expected to speak with Zelenskyy later this week.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Blinken “reiterated the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression.” The Kremlin has made clear that Putin planned to seek binding guarantees from Biden precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine. Biden and aides have indicated no such guarantee is likely, with the president himself saying he “won't accept anyone's red line.”Psaki stressed “NATO member countries decide who is a member of NATO, not Russia. And that is how the process has always been and how it will proceed.” Still, Putin sees this as a moment to readjust the power dynamic of the US-Russia relationship. “It is about fundamental principles established 30 years ago for the relations between Russia and the West,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, a leading Moscow-based foreign policy expert. “Russia demands to revise these principles, the West says there’s no grounds for that. So, it’s impossible to come to an agreement just like that.”Beyond Ukraine, there are plenty of other thorny issues on the table, including cyberattacks and human rights. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said US-Russian relations are overall in “a rather dire state.”Both the White House and the Kremlin sought in advance to lower expectations for the call. Both sides said they didn't expect any breakthroughs on Ukraine or the other issues up for discussion, but that just the conversation itself will be progress.

Dutch Court Upholds Gantz Immunity in Israeli Airstrike Case
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021 - 10:15
A Dutch appeals court upheld Tuesday a lower court's decision to throw out a civil case against Israel's defense minister and another former senior military officer over their roles in a deadly 2014 airstrike. The Hague District Court ruled in January 2020 that the case against Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and former air force commander Amir Eshel couldn't proceed because the men have “functional immunity from jurisdiction.” The Hague Court of Appeal said Tuesday that the lower court was right to rule that Gantz, who was a senior military officer at the time of the airstrike, and Eshel had immunity because they were carrying out Israeli government policies, The Associated Press reported. The case was brought by Ismail Ziada, who lost six members of his family in the airstrike that lawyers for the men argued was part of an Israeli military operation during the 2014 Gaza conflict. He wanted the Dutch court to order Gantz and Eshel to pay damages. The lower court also said that Ziada was free to sue the men in Israel. At hearings in 2019, Ziada rejected the idea that he has access to justice in Israel as “farcical as well as vicious.”Ziada told an earlier hearing that he lost his mother, three brothers, a sister-in-law and a 12-year-old nephew in the airstrike. Israel’s Justice Ministry told the court before the 2020 decision that an internal Israeli military investigation determined the airstrike had killed four militants hiding in the house. It said the attack was permissible under international law. Gaza’s Hamas rulers themselves have said that two militants were in the building.

Erdogan: We Will Do Everything Necessary to Strengthen Our Relations With Gulf Countries
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday his desire to consolidate Ankara’s relations with the Gulf States “without discrimination”, stressing that his country will do everything necessary for this purpose. Erdogan arrived Monday in Doha on an official visit, leading his country’s delegation to the meeting of the 7th Session of the Supreme Strategic Committee between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkey. Addressing a news conference in Istanbul prior to his departure, the Turkish president said that he would “continue to develop relations with brothers in the Gulf without any discrimination, within the framework of common interests and mutual respect.” “We welcome the reopening of dialogue and diplomatic efforts to avoid misunderstanding in the Gulf region,” he added. “Diplomatic talks with the Gulf countries will have an impact on Turkey’s economic well-being,” Erdogan said, adding that he would visit Abu Dhabi in February. In November, Erdogan welcomed Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Ankara. The visit opened a new page between the two countries and ended with an Emirati announcement of the establishment of a $10 billion investment fund to support the Turkish economy. Also, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is scheduled to arrive in Doha on Wednesday, but Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, Qatar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that the timing of the two visits was just a coincidence.
In a press conference in Doha on Monday with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Qatari minister expressed his hope for permanent fraternal relations between all brotherly and friendly countries of the State of Qatar, pointing at the same time to Turkish-Saudi efforts to restore bilateral relations, “even though the two countries’ visits to Qatar were not related.” Prior to the arrival of the Turkish president to Doha, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met his Qatari counterpart, who confirmed that his country and Ankara would sign dozens of agreements during Erdogan’s visit.

Shooter Held after Killing 2, Hurting 3 in Moscow Public Services Office
Agence France Presse/December 07/2021
Two people were killed when a gunman opened fire inside a public services office in Moscow on Tuesday, the mayor of the Russian capital Sergei Sobyanin said. "As a result of the shooting by an unknown person, two people were killed, three were injured," Sobyanin said on Twitter, adding that the shooter was detained. The incident occurred at a multi-functional government office in the south-east of the city, he said. Sobyanin said that "doctors are doing everything possible to help the wounded." Russian news agencies, citing sources in the interior ministry, reported a child had been injured in the shooting. The capital's investigators launched a criminal case into the shooting, they also reported. Mass shootings in Russia are rare but the country was rocked by two separate tragic killing sprees -- one at a school, another at a university -- this year, spurring lawmakers to tighten laws regulating access to guns. In one high-profile public shooting in 2019, a gunman opened fire near the FSB domestic intelligence agency headquarters in central Moscow, killing an officer and wounding five people. Other high-profile shooting cases have taken place in Russia's army. In November 2020, a 20-year-old soldier killed three fellow servicemen at a military base near the city of Voronezh. In a similar attack in 2019, a young recruit shot dead eight servicemen.

Omicron variant 'almost certainly' not more severe than Delta, says Anthony Fauci
NNA/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
US' top scientist Anthony Fauci, on Tuesday said that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is 'almost certainly' not more severe than the Delta variant of COVID-19. The B.1.1.529 variant has shown a very large number of mutations, especially more than 30 on the viral spike protein, which is the key target of the immune response. In view of the threat posed by the Omicron Covid-19 variant, the Union ministry of health and family welfare has advised people to wear a proper mask, maintain social distancing at public places and take both doses of COVID vaccines.In the latest development, the Maharashtra government has said that 12 foreigners, who arrived in Mumbai, have been untraceable.

UAE to shift to Saturday-Sunday weekend in line with global markets
Reuters/December 07/2021
The United Arab Emirates will shift to a working week of four and half days with a Saturday-Sunday weekend from the start of next year to better align its economy with global markets, but private companies will be free to choose their own working week. The oil-producing Gulf state, the region's commercial, trade and tourism hub, currently has a Friday-Saturday weekend. From Jan. 1, however, the weekend will start on Friday afternoon, including for schools, a government circular said. "Each company, depending on the sector they operate in and what suits and serves their business best, can choose the weekend they decide for their employees", Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation Abdulrahman al-Awar told Reuters. Over the past year, the UAE has taken measures to make its economy more attractive to foreign investment and talent at a time of growing economic rivalry with Saudi Arabia.
Addressing any religious sensitivities in the Sunni Muslim-ruled country, where expatriates make up most of the population, the government said work on Friday would end at 12 noon before Muslim prayers, which would be unified on Friday across the UAE. It said the longer weekend would improve employees' work-life balance and noted that several majority-Muslim nations, such as Indonesia and Morocco, have Saturday-Sunday weekends.The UAE said the move would "ensure smooth financial, trade and economic transactions with countries that follow a Saturday-Sunday weekend, facilitating stronger international business links and opportunities" for UAE-based and multinational firms.The change will impact state entities like the central bank, which would communicate details about the new working hours to commercial banks, said al-Awar, adding that UAE stock exchanges would also be more integrated with global markets. "This change will enhance the integration of the banking sector in the UAE with the banking community internationally... it will eliminate the gap that existed in the past," he said. Mohammed Ali Yasin, chief strategy officer at Al Dhabi Capital, said the financial sector would benefit from being able to make simultaneous payment settlements with developed markets and the tourism industry would also be a beneficiary. "It could be a good experiment for other countries in the region," he said. Friday is a weekly holiday in the other five Gulf Arab states and many predominantly Muslim countries.
Monica Malik, an economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, said she expects many private sector companies in the UAE to follow the Saturday-Sunday weekend, describing the move as a "very meaningful development" alongside other recent reforms. The UAE has liberalised laws regarding cohabitation before marriage, alcohol and personal status laws in addition to the introduction of longer-term visas to lure businesses and talent. -- REUTERS

Canada gravely concerned over Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint convictions
December 6, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement on the convictions in the trial of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in Myanmar:
“Canada condemns the convictions of Myanmar’s detained, democratically elected civilian leadership, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Today’s convictions follow trials that met no standard of impartiality and are emblematic of the regime’s blatant disregard for human rights and judicial independence.
“Judicial independence is fundamental to the rule of law and essential for any democratic and accountable government.
“Canada is deeply concerned over recent events in Myanmar, including the regime’s use of lethal force against unarmed and peaceful protestors and civilians, as well as its ongoing arrests and detentions of protestors, politicians, civilians, civil society activists, journalists and pro-democracy leaders. Over the past few days, these events have led to several deaths, injuries and detentions by military forces.
“Canada calls for the release of all those arbitrarily detained, including political prisoners, as well as the immediate cessation of violence. Canada also calls for the utmost restraint to be exercised by all parties.
“Canada reiterates its full support for the ongoing efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEAN Chair’s Special Envoy, in close cooperation with the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General.”

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 06-07/2021
Israel must not support a temporary Iranian nuclear deal
Jacob Nagel/Israel Hayom/December 07/2021
The US wants to maintain the fictitious image of progress toward a diplomatic solution, albeit a temporary one, at any cost. Such a deal will likely be very bad.
Responding to the latest failed round of nuclear talks in Vienna, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog demanded that the US and the world not allow Iran to continue setting the tone and dragging its feet in negotiations while the Iranians continue developing their abilities and approach nuclear threshold status.
As Herzog noted, Israel would be happy to see a good, comprehensive deal that would permanently prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but that is far from what is happening in Vienna and what will happen down the line.
The approach of US President Joe Biden and US Special Envoy to Iran Robert Malley, which the Europeans have also reluctantly adopted, is not to punish the Iranians for their repeated violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; their lack of cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors; and their failure to comply with any agreement they sign, including the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The US wants to maintain the fictitious image of progress toward a diplomatic solution, albeit a temporary one, at any cost, and it will likely be a very bad one.
The American aspiration is to reach a "less for less" deal or a "different for different" deal. This effectively means a "more for less" or even a "much more for much less" deal. Even partial removal of sanctions will inject billions of dollars into Iran, allowing it to rehabilitate its economy and support terrorism, and will signal to markets that business can and should be conducted with Iran.
Just as I predicted in an opinion piece last week, Iran has shown up at the negotiating table with maximal, absurd demands. The Iranians spoke only of the full removal of sanctions; American guarantees that a future US administration will not withdraw from the deal; and the full closure of all IAEA investigations. As for changes to their nuclear activities and regional actions, not a word was said.
This is unsurprising to those familiar with the Iranian doctrine, which is based on the following assumptions: That the US is weak and will not attack; that Israel does not have the ability to attack (and inaccurate, irresponsible reports in Israel assist them in believing they are right); that the Iranian economy can withstand pressure; and that there is no credible military and economic threat to the regime, its leaders' lives, or their personal property.
In Israel, articles by and interviews with certain irresponsible officials, some who used to hold high-ranking positions, have been published in which they recommend accepting the fact that Iran will become a nuclear threshold state and preparing for this outcome because it is inevitable. This would be a grave mistake and harm national security.
On the other hand, at this stage, it seems that decision-makers in Israel are not falling into this trap. All those proposing that we encourage or accept a partial deal have failed to realize that this is the worst of all possible options. This is not a temporary agreement, but an agreement that will become permanent. Anyone who thinks this is how we will buy time and better prepare ourselves to tackle the Iranian nuclear program in a few years is wrong and is misleading others.
A "more for less" type of deal, which the Americans hope to secure, will certainly allow Iran to quickly reach the "immunity zone" and become a nuclear threshold state, meaning a state that has the ability to build a bomb solely based on its own, independent decision to do so, without any outside player being able to stop it and regardless of the time it would take. Israel should pressure the US and other world powers to revert to maximum economic pressure against Iran, as well as ensure that there is a credible military threat on the table.
We are approaching the moment of truth when it comes to Iran's nuclear program, and Israel might need to act on its leaders' promises to protect the security of the state and its citizens on its own. It would be a mistake to play for time and build a stable for horses that will be long gone once those stables are ready.
*Jacob Nagel
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Professor Jacob Nagel is a former national security adviser to the prime minister and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Drones, bombs, spies — inside Israel’s cunning plan to stop Iran’s nukes
Jake Wallis Simons/New York Post/December 07/2021
Israel has carried out three major operations over the last 18 months against Iran’s nuclear sites. These attacks involved as many as a thousand Mossad personnel and were executed with ruthless precision using high-tech weaponry, including drones and a quadcopter — and spies within Tehran’s holy of holies, its nuclear program.
While President Biden’s nuclear negotiators try to snatch catastrophe from the jaws of defeat in Vienna, Israel is taking things more seriously. Last week, Naftali Bennett, the Israeli prime minister, pivoted to a new policy on Tehran: retaliating against aggression from militias backed by Tehran with covert strikes on Iranian soil.
This builds on the extensive capabilities that the Mossad has built up in the Islamic Republic in recent years. In February — seven months before the New York Times “broke” the same story — I exposed in the Jewish Chronicle of London how Israeli spies killed nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh using a remote-controlled machine gun. I can now reveal the secrets behind Israel’s latest triple attack on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The tripartite sabotage effort began on July 2, 2020, with a mysterious explosion in the Iran Center for Advanced Centrifuges facility at Natanz, one of the ultra-secure nuclear sites that are dotted around Iran.
At first, the Iranians were mystified. The building had apparently blown itself up. But how? The answer, as they say, shocked them. When the ayatollah’s apparatchiks were renovating the facility in 2019, Israeli agents had posed as construction merchants and sold them building supplies. Those building supplies were packed with explosives. A year later, they were detonated by Tel Aviv.
Although this created substantial damage, the Natanz plant was far from out of the game. Beneath a protective layer of 40 feet of concrete and iron lay the inner sanctum of the A1000 subterranean hall. Inside were up to 5,000 centrifuges that whirred away day and night, minute by minute taking the Iranian regime closer toward a nuclear weapon.
The second phase of the plan swung into action. Mossad spies approached up to 10 Iranian scientists who had access to this hall and managed to persuade them to switch sides — although they led the scientists to believe that they were working for international dissidents, not Israel.
Incredibly, the scientists agreed to blow up the high-security facility.
“Their motivations were all different,” a well-placed Israeli source tells me. “Mossad found out what they deeply wanted in their lives and offered it to them. There was an inner circle of scientists who knew more about the operation, and an outer circle who helped out but had less ­information.”
There remained the puzzle of ­getting the explosives into the ­fortified complex.
This was achieved in two ways. First, a drone flew into its airspace and delivered the bombs to an agreed-upon location to be collected by the scientists. Then came the smuggling.
“Let’s say you wanted to get explosives into Natanz,” a source told me coyly. “How could you do it? You could, for example, think about how people working there need to eat. They need food.
“So you could put the explosives in the lorry that delivers the food to the canteen, and the scientists could pick it up once it’s inside. Yes, you could do that
The plan worked. The scientists collected the bombs and installed them. In April, after Iran announced that it had started to use advanced IR-5 and IR-6 centrifuges in the underground hall — in brazen defiance of its nuclear commitments — the explosives were triggered.
The blast destroyed the secure power system, causing a blackout. Ninety percent of the centrifuges were destroyed, putting the facility out of action for up to nine months. The scientists instantly vanished. All are alive and well ­today.
Mossad’s attention then turned to the production of the centrifuges themselves, to disrupt the regime’s attempt to restore the Natanz facility. The crosshairs moved to Karaj, 30 miles northwest of Tehran, where the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA) is located.
Over the preceding months, a team of Israeli spies and their Iranian agents had jointly smuggled an armed quadcopter — weighing the same as a motorcycle, a source confirmed — into the country, piece by piece. Now it was time to deploy it.
On June 23, the team assembled the kit and took it to a location 10 miles from the TESA factory. The operatives launched it, piloted it to the factory and released the payload, causing a large explosion. Then the drone returned to the launch site, where it was spirited away to be used again.
It is significant that these operations took place while the negotiations were continuing in Vienna. The Mossad operations were carried out without international collaboration. To use Israeli intelligence slang, the attacks were “blue-and-white” rather than “blue-white-and-red,” which refers to American involvement. This is significant, too.
In recent weeks, Axios reported, Israel has shared intelligence proving that Iran has been laying the technical groundwork for enriching uranium to 90 percent purity, the level required for a bomb.
While Biden’s team, saturated with naivete and a “Back to the Future” focus on the Obama years, fruitlessly pursues jaw-jaw in Vienna, the cynical Iranians are preparing for war — and the Mossad, whose instincts are sharpened by the desire to protect their families from annihilation, is trying to stop them.
The contrast between cloud-cuckoo Washington and post-Holocaust Jerusalem is stark. And in seven months’ time, you might read even this in the New York Times.
*Jake Wallis Simons is deputy editor of the Jewish Chronicle. From The Spectator.

Russia and China are testing Biden — and so far, he’s failing
Mark Montgomery/New York Post/December 07/2021
Russia has massed nearly 90,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, while China is reportedly establishing a military base in Equatorial Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. America’s adversaries are wasting no time in taking advantage of the Biden administration’s disorganized and unfocused national security strategy.
Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukrainian sovereignty since Moscow’s initial invasion in 2014. After illegally annexing Crimea, Russian gray-zone operatives have consistently supported breakaway regimes in eastern Ukraine and conducted disinformation campaigns against the elected government in Kiev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated the current crisis with his decision not to withdraw Russian forces and equipment back to their home bases following “Zapad 21,” a large annual military exercise. These forces now threaten Ukrainian sovereignty and challenge Western assurances to support and defend democracies being targeted by authoritarian states.
Putin has been equally dismissive of President Biden’s warnings to cease and desist cyberattacks on our national critical infrastructure. A senior FBI official testifying to Congress reports that in the four months since Biden gave an ultimatum to Putin to stop harboring and supporting Russian hackers, “we have not seen a decrease in ransomware attacks in the past couple of months originating from Russia.” Russian cyber espionage efforts continue unabated despite Biden’s rhetoric.
China’s challenge is even more concerning. China’s massive and highly successful 20-year military buildup have made US naval and air operations in the Western Pacific extremely risky. China now threatens US citizens in Guam with ballistic and cruise missile systems. The Chinese Navy actually has surpassed the US Navy in number of ships, and given the Chinese Navy’s proximity to potential flashpoints in Taiwan, and the East and South China Seas, this reduces or eliminates remaining US military advantages in technology and experience.
China is now looking to spread its military influence outside East Asia. Beijing has a well-developed military base on the East Coast of Africa in Djibouti (in close proximity to a smaller and less well-equipped US facility). The Chinese have garnered naval and air “access” to many commercial facilities through their Belt and Road Initiative investments, even gaining ownership of facilities following defaults of host nation borrowers. The latest report of Chinese investments in Barbados show Beijing wants to gain access in the United States’ backyard.
The Chinese investment in Equatorial Guinea, on Africa’s Atlantic coast, is a long-term investment and more than the typical BRI “access grab.” This base could provide China with logistics and repair facilities on the Atlantic seaboard. This is not for today’s Chinese Navy (which is still focused on the Western Pacific) but for their navy of the 2030s and 2040s. This strategic investment once again demonstrates China’s extended vision of competition with the Unites States and other democracies throughout the 21st century.
The Biden response to this authoritarian challenge has been both muted as well as anchored in rhetoric about working with allies and partners. This is belied by a “go it alone” decision on Afghanistan that left our allies and partners flatfooted and embarrassed, led to a humanitarian debacle and ignored 20 years of strong partnership. This was followed by the embarrassing treatment of our oldest ally, France, in setting up a pact with Australia and the United Kingdom to deal with issues in the Pacific. This was especially ham-fisted as France is the European country with the largest military footprint in both the Pacific and Africa.
The Biden administration needs to face up to these authoritarian challenges with a more direct and forceful strategy.
First of all, it should continue recent administrations’ efforts to ensure Taiwan is able to defend itself and initiate a formal military financial assistance program to this beleaguered democracy to accelerate the effort. Next, invest in key US military capabilities that put China’s military forces on their back feet, such as expanded submarine production. Hold Russia accountable with tough, high-impact sanctions for its abetting of ransomware attacks and cyber espionage. Specifically, target the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and advocate for Moscow’s removal from the SWIFT financial transaction system, a crucial link to the global economy.
Finally, we need a national-security strategy that identifies our adversaries clearly, explains the nature of the threats we face and details a long-term investment plan to ensure we can deter the threats and, if deterrence fails, defeat the enemy.
*Mark Montgomery is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Israel Said to Up Pressure on US to Strike Iranian Targets as Nuclear Talks Risk Collapse
Sharon Wrobel/algemeiner/December 07/2021
Israel is preparing to step up pressure on US officials to carry out a military strike on Iran-linked targets, should diplomatic efforts for a nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic fail, according to Hebrew media reports.
Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Mossad chief David Barnea will meet in Washington, DC this week to discuss Iran’s nuclear advances with their US counterparts. The visit comes as the first round of indirect talks in months between Tehran and world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal broke off amid slow progress. For Gantz and Barnea, the stalled nuclear talks in Vienna represent a window of opportunity to discuss a “Plan B” with Biden administration officials and to advocate harsher economic sanctions against Iran, as well as military strikes, if negotiations fall through, Israel’s N12 reported.
An aim of any US strike — on possible sites such as an Iranian base in Yemen — would be to weaken Tehran’s position at the negotiating table. Israeli President Isaac Herzog struck a similar chord on Sunday, at the official ceremony to accept the credentials of incoming US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides.
“Israel is closely following the international community’s negotiations with Iran. We will welcome a comprehensive diplomatic solution, but Israel is keeping all options on the table,” Herzog said. “If the world does not take a vigorous stance — Israel will do so. Israel will protect itself.”
Iran on Monday expressed a willingness to resume negotiations based on draft proposals it submitted last week, blaming Western powers for the lack of progress so far. But US and European officials have complained that Iran had come to Vienna having abandoned agreements reached during earlier rounds of discussions. A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday reiterated that criticism, according to Reuters, saying that it had reviewed Tehran’s draft proposals and concluded that Iran had “violated almost all compromises found previously in months of hard negotiations.”
She said that Germany — party to the original 2015 Iran nuclear deal, along with the US, the UK, France, China and Russia — remained “committed to the diplomatic path, but the window of opportunity is closing more and more.”

Is Iran paving the way for 'Iran deal' talks failure? - analysis
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/December 07/2021
By Iran saying that it won’t accept any kind of interim deal or a “step-by-step” process, it is setting the negotiations up to fail.
productive, Iran's pro-government Tasnim News reported. It went on to say that Iran cannot accept any kind of “step by step” return to a deal or an interim deal, a view which has been echoed by the Iranian foreign ministry.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said that the new government’s goal is to get sanctions lifted. “Immediately after the end of the first round of talks on lifting the sanctions in Vienna, the European parties began to play the blame game and tried to make the demands made by Iran during the talks seem extravagant and outside the framework of the UN Security Council,” Tasnim reported.
This report is extremely significant is because it serves as a window into the regime’s thinking: It reflects the regime's analysis of the Western media, the Western mindset. They think that Western parties have “tried to pretend that Iran has made new demands beyond the [2015 Iran Deal], regardless of the issues raised in the previous six rounds of talks, through psychological operations and media atmosphere.” What this means is that Iran is accusing Western media of being affiliated with the governments of the West that held talks in Vienna with Iran.
In this report, Iran has claimed that its proposals “are naturally not maximalist and extravagant because they are presented in full compliance with the UN Security Council.” It has the “Europeans” even more than the US. “They have sought to impose maximum obligations on Iran with minimal adherence to the UN Security Council. It is clear that the Western parties, who came to Vienna with the idea of ​​granting small concessions and receiving maximum concessions, were not completely satisfied with the texts and clear demands of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
By Iran saying that it won’t accept any kind of interim deal or a “step-by-step” process, it is setting the negotiations up to fail. Iran has walked away. Rumors are that it may continue enrichment and seek to use that as blackmail, as it has done for years.
“The United States has effectively violated the UN Security Council, while Iran, after a year of full implementation of the UN Security Council and an opportunity for the West to fulfill its promises, has only reduced its obligations under the provisions of the UN Security Council. Given that Iran's action was taken in response to the violation of the American Covenant, the verdict of any common sense will be that the violating party first compensates its damage and then the other side wants to go back,” says the report. Here again, the failure is predicated on a self-fulfilling prophecy. They want the US to pay some kind of reparations for the last several years. That won’t happen. So they will make sure the talks fail.
But, Iran has given the US an out: Perhaps the US could still come back to the deal without begging and payment. However, the report has a message: “As it is clear from the implementation of [deal] in the last 5 years, Iran's obligations in this agreement are quite tangible and measurable, while the other side's obligations are interpretable and it is itself a fallacy and sophistry.” Fallacy. Sophistry. These are not terms one uses when close to a deal.
Lastly, the Iranians say that there is no trust between Tehran and the US. “Based on Iran's past behavior, the American side can expect that Tehran, if it declares compliance with its obligations, will implement all the provisions of the UN Security Council as in the past. But if we ignore the US record in breaking international agreements and only talk about [the deal], naturally Iran cannot be a government that tried to get sanctions lifted only on paper from the first day of [deal] implementation and then follow the same policy.”
Iran’s point is that the West is lying. The West won’t lift sanctions anyway and the US can’t be trusted. Iran’s media says that a “temporary” agreement is also a boondoggle. “According to the Islamic Republic of Iran, given the history of the Western side in non-fulfillment of [the deal] obligations, only an agreement can be considered a ‘good agreement’ that not only compensates for the effects of violations of the Western Parties in the past but also prevents future violations.” So how will the West promise that? It can’t. That leaves the ball in Tehran’s court. Iran then details other problems it has with western banks that fear doing business with Iran due to US sanctions. This could imply Turkish and other banks as well. The conclusion of the report is that any return to a deal requires Iran to benefit economically and not have to wait through an interim deal. Iran won’t allow the West to think it has backed down from its demands. It wants all sanctions lifted. This comes “at a time when sanctions are waning and the Iranian economy is finding ways to breathe and return to normal life.” If Iran accepts an interim agreement then it will send a message to the West that pressure has worked.

Iran-Hezbollah help Hamas, Islamic Jihad trounce Israel with propaganda - exclusive
Yonah Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/December 07/2021
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have become serious propaganda professionals who think carefully about which influence campaigns to invest in.
Iran and Hezbollah are helping Hamas and Islamic Jihad trounce Israel in the broader propaganda war, especially surrounding the Gaza war this past May, according to a report exclusively obtained by The Jerusalem Post.
The report, by Dr. Michael Barak of the The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) of Reichman University, notes that, “One of the major areas terrorist organizations operate to influence their enemy’s public opinion is propaganda, including an increasing focus on social media.”
In recent years, the Gazan terror groups have “managed to build a body of knowledge and acquire a propaganda tool kit, in large part thanks to mentorship by pro-Iranian media outlets, some of which are controlled by Hezbollah (either in Lebanon or Gaza), or via online guidance by the latter.”
This tool kit, besides social media and propaganda techniques, has also turned Hamas and Islamic Jihad into serious propaganda professionals who think carefully about which influence campaigns to invest in, which to ignore, while constantly analyzing and learning lessons about how to maximize their impact and resources.
“The Iranian regime tries to shape public perception and opinion in the Arab world through the use of ‘soft power’ thinking that this would be best to promote its agenda. The Islamic Radios and Televisions Union (IRTVU) serves as a major channel to deploy the above “soft power,” says the report.
IRTVU was formed in Tehran in June 2007 and it “reports to the Iranian Islamic Culture and Guidance Bureau” as well as serving “as the propaganda arm of Quds Force which is an integral part of IRGC,” the report states.
In fact, in October 2020 the US imposed sanctions on IRTVU “for trying to meddle with the US elections, inter alia via dissemination of disinformation to the American public over the internet and social media to influence their voting.”
The IRTVU’s membership includes over 210 media outlets in 35 countries on five continents.IRTVU’s secretary-general is Sheikh Ali Karimian, a Shi’ite cleric of likely Iranian descent and his deputy is Nasser Akhdar who serves as senior member of Hezbollah’s propaganda apparatus, writes Barak.
The report states that Ibrahim Farahat, another Hezbollah member who serves as al-Manar, Hezbollah’s media outlet’s, CEO, sits on IRTVU’s board.
IRTVU not only helps the Gazan terror groups, but also assists media outlets of Sunni and Shi’ite terrorist organizations who are members of the “Resistance Axis”, through financial support, tech support, administrative support and training of employees.
Further, notes the report, it played a major role in forming the Iraqi militias TV channels, such as: “al-Ataja” (Hezbollah Brigades), al-Ahad (Asaab Ahal al-Hak), al-Nujbaa (Hezbollah al-Nujbaa) and al-Bina (Saraya al-Jihad).
In Lebanon, it still assists, but Hezbollah has its own already mature operation which even assists with the development of media outlets for non-Lebanese militias such as the al-Masira channel located in southern Beirut, but which operates on behalf of the Houthis in Yemen.
The Palestinian Culture Bureau in Gaza inaugurated the Palestinian branch of IRTVU on April 25, 2014 under the name The Islamic Radios and Televisions Union – Palestine Chamber, says the report.
According to ICT, the inauguration ceremony was attended by senior members of Palestinian terrorist organizations such as Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, and by senior PIJ members.
IRTVU strives to “present a uniform propaganda front among Resistance Axis media outlets members in connection with promoting the Palestinian issue, Jerusalem and the holiness of the al-Aqsa mosque.”
In July 2021, they held a big conference on the subject in Sana, Yemen, attended by Nasser al-Akhdar, deputy head of IRTVU, Houseein Rahal the social media manager of Hezbollah, Houthi propaganda activists, Saleh al-Masri, head of IRTVU Palestine and representatives of the Palestinian Journalistic Union (Kutlat al-Suhufi al-Filastini), a media outlet identified with PIJ, says the report.
The attendees stressed the “importance of sticking with joint courses of action such as using the same terminology.”
UCMT is another institute formed by IRTVU, ICT states.
It provides professional training on propaganda for both Shi’ite and Sunni terrorist organizations, was formed in Beirut and is run by Hezbollah.
As its home page states, its goal is to build technical and media capabilities on social media “to be an effective and influencing tool able to change public opinion, disseminate knowledge [and shape] perception among the target audience”.
So far, UCMT has trained young Syrian Ba’ath Party supporters, Yemenite Houthi militia members and supporters of Palestinian terrorist organizations from Gaza, writes Barak.
İn the first half of 2021, the report says UCMT trained a stunning 1,975 graduates via online courses, two of which were tailored for Palestinian media members in Gaza.
UCMT continues to train propaganda activists in Gaza, holding Zoom courses in June and September 2021 for more than 40 Palestinians from various Gaza media outlets and government offices.
The Lebanese journalist Safaa Salmani was one of the instructors in this course, the report states.
According to the report, the course was held in cooperation with the Governmental Communication Bureau led by Salame Marouf, a Hamas member and head of the news portal Ray, which is part of Hamas’ operations.
Next, the graduation ceremony was attended by Salame Marouf and Saleh al-Masri, a PIJ member.
Khalil al-Lahiyyah, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, argued that by 2015 Hamas had established a Palestinian cyber army of 250 members, active over traditional and social media.
Ali al-Amoudi, head of the Hamas Propaganda Department, stressed in September 2021 the important contribution of the Palestinian journalists on traditional and social media to the Palestinian issue and the battle against the Zionist narrative.
Mouhsein al-Ifranji, a journalist and lecturer in the Islamic university in Gaza who is close to Hamas, recently said, “The criminal conqueror understood that it is hard to hide its ugly image from the world and therefore it wages a harsh war and lashes at media people and activists... be ready because every photo, every word, every tweet or hashtag are the resistance.”
“The Iranian willingness to provide tools, knowledge, courses and teachers on propaganda, either in traditional media or social media for Hamas and PIJ attests to the Iranian wishes to form a uniform and efficient propaganda front that will challenge Israel’s, writes Barak.
Moreover, “it would seem that Operation Guardian of the Walls just fed IRTVU and its proxies’ determination to concentrate a special propaganda effort vis a vis the Arab Israelis,” says the report.
Evaluating the challenge to Israel, ICT says, “Contending with an extensive Iranian and proxies network requires a similarly extensive network. Israel and its allies, especially UAE and KSA [the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia], must cooperate and build a tailored toolbox capable of thwarting the former’s propaganda campaigns.”
“Additional cooperation is required from the leadership of the social media giants, particularly Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to block and remove inciting websites and content in general and IRTVU and proxies in particular,” the report adds.

France’s Merkel or Thatcher Moment? Not Quite
Lionel Laurent /Bloomberg/Tuesday, 7 December, 2021
Valerie Pecresse, the French center-right’s pick to challenge Emmanuel Macron for the presidency next year, describes herself as a mix of Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher. This is bold talk for a candidate currently polling at 10%, who looks set to fail even to make the run-off vote.
The 54-year-old former minister aspiring to be France’s first female head of state looks more like someone planning to beat Macron at his own game.
She has long viewed the incumbent as France’s answer to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and even met with his Conservative successor David Cameron for guidance on how to unseat a rival steeped in ‘Third Way’ politics. Her winning pitch to the Les Republicains party this weekend wasn’t quite a copy of Cameron’s “compassionate conservatism,” but it did balance anti-immigration rhetoric with economic reforms.
Like Cameron and Blair, it is Pecresse’s similarity to Macron that makes her a threat, if ever she faces off against the incumbent. She’s a polished politician with an ear for soundbites: Macron’s pandemic spending spree has trashed France’s cash register, she likes to say. Given her enarque background and establishment pedigree, it will be hard for Macron to play the technocrat card against her or to paint her as a risky radical like far-right foe Marine Le Pen.
Macron, currently the bookmakers’ and pollsters’ favorite to win next year, knows that the biggest risk to his re-election comes from the French electorate’s post-Covid conservative tilt. Around 56% of people might vote for a right-wing candidate next year, according to one survey, and Macron has seized on several talking points in response, from restoring France’s industrial grandeur to prodding the unemployed back to work.
Pecresse’s challenge ahead looks huge: Uniting the right in an increasingly fragmented and radical field where divisions over Europe, economics and identity are everywhere. That will require a coherent program and party line beyond her current proposals — such as diluting the 35-hour work week or reducing France’s debt load — which are an easy target for harder-right rivals accusing her of being too Macronian for comfort.
The French right’s tendency to split itself into three — conservative, liberal and authoritarian, as one historian puts it — is out in the open, not relegated to the fringe, and is a threat to Pecresse. One November poll estimated around half the center-right’s votes would go to Pecresse in the first round, with the rest split between Macron and Eric Zemmour, a far-right commentator who is calling for a “reconquest” of the country from immigrants and criminals.
Le Pen, meanwhile, has built a solid support base of her own from rural and working-class voters, and pulled French politics to the right.
Pecresse’s narrow demographic appeal among the elderly and in her region — Paris — shows the center-right’s challenge in making its voice heard nationally. Symbolic figureheads Nicolas Sarkozy and François Fillon have been humbled by scandals. The November poll found around 60% of French people thought none of the Republicains contenders had credible proposals in a host of topics, from purchasing power to immigration.
And the party’s recent focus on identity politics and conservative values haven’t made headway in a changing France, caught between de-industrialization and an end to Catholic and Communist voting blocs. Research by Jean-Laurent Cassely and Jerome Fourquet examining the Alsace region’s voting patterns in 2019 showed urban areas, tourist zones and wine country had gone to Macron, while areas that had once hummed with textile factories and potash mining were in Le Pen’s hands.
Pecresse’s answer to these challenges will likely be to keep triangulating between a pro-Europe white-collar bloc led by Macron and a far-right blue-collar bloc led by Le Pen, who will keep stepping up their efforts to peel away Republicains voters.
This is very different to what a genuine Merkel or Thatcher moment might look like in France, in terms of rolling back the state or endorsing tough reform medicine. It looks more like trying to win back what’s been lost — while cutting spending and taxes.
This was enough for Cameron in the UK, and it may work for Pecresse. But given where Cameron’s political legacy ended up, it may only embolden more radical opposition.

Why an airstrike on Syria's Latakia Port matters – analysis
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/December 07/2021
The Syrian port of Latakia was reportedly hit by an airstrike. The airstrike comes as Syria’s foreign minister was concluding a visit to Iran.
Reports of an airstrike in Syria’s Latakia could be a major shift and gamechanger as the port is a sensitive area and key to the Syrian regime as well as its backers in Moscow.
First of all the reports of an airstrike and the fact that Syrian air defenses were activated in the area are rare events. Syrian regime media SANA reported on the strikes and claimed shipping containers were targeted. Based on foreign accounts the importance of this incident can be examined and contextualized.
Tony Badran, an expert on the region and a Research Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, tweeted “if confirmed that this was an Israeli strike on Latakia port, it would be somewhat significant news. In July 2013, the Israelis reportedly struck a shipment of Yakhont missiles there, and again in October they struck other missiles meant for Hezbollah.”
Video from the area appeared to show a fire caused by the incident. An account online by Yoruk Isik, who is known as an expert and observer of maritime issues in Turkey, wrote that a ship of interest “sanctioned by the US Treasury for providing logistical services to Iran Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines’ Iran flag container ship Artabaz transited Bosphorus towards BlackSea en route from Bandar Abbas and Latakia to Constanta.”
He writes that the strike area matches an area where this ship unloaded containers in late November. It was not possible to confirm this but is part of the wider speculation about what happened at Latakia port.
The airstrike comes as Syria’s foreign minister was concluding a visit to Iran and the UAE’s National Security Advisor had just been in Iran. Press reports in the region had scant details.
No Iranian media covered the attack in the morning, hours after it happened. Russia’s TASS state media did not have a report. Al-Ain media in the Gulf reported only that Syria had claimed it repelled “an Israeli attack.”
Al-Mayadeen media, which is generally sympathetic to Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, had a more extensive report. It said sounds of explosions could be heard across the city. “Violent” explosions were heard around 1:32 am.
“A military source said in a statement to SANA that at around 1.32 a.m. today, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean, southwest of Latakia, targeting the container yard in the commercial port of Latakia.”
The source said commercial containers were harmed. Latakia Governor Amer Ismail Hilal told SANA that "the firefighting teams were able to put out the fires that broke out in the port's container yard as a result of the Israeli aggression and are currently working to cool the site."
Al-Mayadeen said that “Preliminary information about the Israeli attack indicates that the aggression was carried out through Israeli missiles launched from off the Syrian coast, within the territorial waters, targeting a dock containing a number of containers inside the port of Latakia city.”
According to this report, the Russians at Khmeimim airbase nearby had “announced that [they] had monitored ten bombing attacks by Jabhat al-Nusra elements in the Idlib region of the de-escalation zones in the northwest of the country.”
It wasn’t clear why this report was. intermingled with the report about Latakia, except to paint a picture of alleged coordination and connection between the two.
The report also claimed that the last airstrike was on November 24th when several soldiers were killed in Syria. “A few days earlier, the Syrian air defenses responded to missile aggression launched by Israeli planes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting an empty building south of Damascus. One of the hostile missiles was shot down.”
The airstrike reports come amid other tensions in the region. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted Saudi Arabia’s capital on December 6 and Saudi air defenses were actively repelling the attack. Russia monitors closely what happens in Latakia. In October Russia said that “militants from Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone have opened fire several times on populated localities in Latakia and Aleppo over the past 24 hours,” Lieutenant General Vladimir Savchenko, the chief of the Russian center for reconciliation of conflicting sides in Syria, told reporters.
In February 2020 TASS media in Russia said that “Syria’s missile defense forces are intercepting aerial targets near Jebla, a town close to the seaport of Latakia, the country’s state-run Suraya TV reported on Wednesday. Russia’s Hmeymim airbase is located not far from Jebla.”
This is important because it notes the proximity and importance the area has to Russia. Russia has accused extremist groups in Idlib of using drones to target the Russian base. “On February 1, 2020 airspace control equipment of the Russian base detected a cluster air target of UAVs, launched from the militants-controlled territory of the Idlib de-escalation zone.
The Russian reconciliation center later reported that ‘the base’s electronic warfare systems took over control of the UAVs and knocked them down by jamming their command-and-control systems.’”
This shows that Russia has sophisticated air defenses in this area. Syria also has air defenses. In September 2018 a Russian Il-20 plane "disappeared during an attack by four Israeli F-16 jets on Syrian facilities in Latakia province,” TASS reported at the time.
Syrian air defense shot down the plane, claiming to be responding to an Israeli attack, but Russia pointed fingers at Israel for causing the dangerous situation.
Israel expressed sorrow at the time for the incident. An ammunition warehouse was allegedly struck, according to an ImageSat International analysis published in 2018. Later Russia said it would improve Syria’s air defenses. In 2018 CNN reported this as a potential “blow to Israel.”
However not much appeared to happen and Syrian air defense continued to fire wildly, sending an S-200 toward Cyprus and also toward southern Israel over the last two years. In July 2021 Russian Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit claimed Israeli F-16s struck an area in Homs province, and he made more claims in October.
According to Paul Iddon at Forbes, these reports raised eyebrows because they appeared to highlight new capabilities of Syrian air defenses.
It’s important to understand the layout of this area. Russia’s Khmeimim airbase, a center of operations for Russia, is only 25km from Latakia port. It is also around 50km from the Tartus naval facility that Russia maintains on the coast. From Tartus to Latakia port is around 85km or an hour drive.
What that means is that this is a small area. Air defenses in this area may range from some 250km with the S-300 to 150km for the S-200 or shorter ranges with the BUK out to some 20km and the Pantsir, which has a range of 12km. According to reports Russia’s S-300 was deployed to Tartus years ago and the S-400 to Syria in 2015. These are sophisticated systems with long-range radar.
Previous reports indicated that Iran has sought to move advanced air defenses to Syria as well. In April 2018 Iran sought to move its 3rd Khordad system to T-4 airbase near Palmyra. The system was reportedly destroyed in an airstrike that month.
A report at Alma Research and Education Center by Yaakov Lappin noted on November 16 “Iran is attempting to smuggle its surface-to-air missile (SAM) system into Syria, as part of its ongoing efforts to entrench itself militarily in the country and turn it into a war front against Israel.”
Overall the context is then clear. A very rare incident occurred in Latakia. This is a very sensitive area near Russian forces in Khemeimim and Tartus. So far there has been no major media response in Iran or Russia, the two backers of the Syrian regime.
In the past, there has been controversy over airstrikes and incidents in this region. The explosions heard in the area can be attributed to air defense interceptions, secondary explosions of munitions in containers, or the airstrikes themselves.
Time will tell if satellite photos and open source information gatherers provide more clues as to what happened, or if regional media provide more reports.
The Syrian regime may appear to be humiliated after its foreign minister told Iranian counterparts on Monday it would respond to this kind of aggression. This may also ruffle feathers from Moscow to other states in the region that want the Syrian regime to be more stable and able to control its airspace.

Climate change will define the UAE’s next 50 years
Jonathan Gornall/The Arab Weekly/December 07/2021
In a country not known for doing things by half, the UAE’s 50th birthday celebrations were impressive. Flags flew, fireworks exploded, the UAE Air Force aerobatic display team painted the skies red, green, white and black and the omnipresent face of the founder gazed down upon his creation.
In the half-century since Sheikh Zayed of Abu Dhabi seized the opportunity presented by Britain’s sudden decision to end an imperial presence in the Gulf that dated back over a century and a half, the transformation of the former Trucial States has been astonishing.
Today, evidence of the success of that enterprise is everywhere, from the impossibly rapid transformation of the modest trading and fishing settlements of Dubai and Abu Dhabi into the glittering metropolises of today, to the establishment of a once inhospitable stretch of barren desert, once a “hardship posting” for western soldiers and oilmen alike, as one of the world’s premier tourist destinations.
Pause and remember that all of this has been accomplished in less than a lifetime.
But what of the next 50 years?
On the eve of the celebrations, posing such a question might have seemed churlish. But now the party’s over and it is time for the UAE to look at the considerable challenges it faces over the next half-century.
Churlish or not, one of the world’s big three credit rating agencies chose the week before the UAE’s birthday to release a report that might have taken the shine off the celebrations. As things stand, Fitch Ratings is a fan of the UAE. In November it affirmed its all-important long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) for the country at “AA-” – a resounding vote of confidence in the UAE as “a very low default risk” for international lenders.
Less reassuring, however, and reflecting the stark realities looming for the UAE, was the report “Climate Change Physical Risks Are a Growing Threat to Sovereigns,” published by Fitch just four days before its glowing ratings reappraisal. The report features a table of the 15 countries assessed to be most at risk from the effects of extreme temperature and drought threatened by climate change and the UAE is in the number-one slot.
What this could mean has been spelled out in a series of climate-change studies over the past five years, all of which have reached the same disturbing conclusion.
In the words of one of the most recent, published in March in the journal “Climate and Atmospheric Science,” for the UAE, climate-change business as usual would mean that “in the second half of this century unprecedented super- and ultra-extreme heatwave conditions will emerge,” with temperatures hitting up to 56 °C and higher for weeks on end.
In Abu Dhabi and Dubai, “the combined effect of high temperature and humidity is projected to reach or even exceed the thresholds for human adaptability.”
In other words, having risen from the desert in just 50 years, in another half century the wonder of the modern world that is the UAE might, in the face of a worst-case climate scenario, have to be abandoned to the sands from whence it emerged. Of course, the UAE is not sleepwalking into disaster.
It is very well aware that it needs to replace its dependency upon fossil fuels with an expertise in renewables and other technologies that will allow it to remain an essential go-to energy partner.
But the UAE is caught in a bind. All the alternative development and evolution away from fossil-fuel dependence costs money and, for now, the bulk of that money comes from the same oil and gas reserves that have brought the UAE so far in such a short time ­ and which have brought the world to the edge of disaster. Therein lies the dilemma the nation must confront over the coming decades. The UAE has to find a way to balance its need for the short-term gains from fossil fuels with the existential imperative of reducing its own production of climate-change gases in line with the global ambition to slow and halt global warming.
It is a tightrope that the country appears confident of walking.
In October the UAE became the first of the Gulf oil states to set a target for net-zero greenhouse emissions, pledging to decarbonise its own economy by 2050.
The very next month the decision to name the UAE as host of the COP28 climate talks, due to take place in November 2023, came as an early golden anniversary gift, albeit one that could prove burdensome.
It says something for the confidence of the UAE that it appears to be undaunted by the inevitable scrutiny to which its green credentials will be subjected over the coming two years. There is no doubt that when the UAE reaches its 100th birthday in 2071, the face of Sheikh Zayed will be gazing down on a nation very different to the one that has just turned 50.
The foundations for that future are being laid right now. But exactly what form it will take and what shape the country will be in, will be largely in the hands of a generation of Emiratis who, as children, took proudly to the streets on National Day in 2021.The task the post-oil generation faces over the coming decades is going to be every bit as challenging as that confronted by Sheikh Zayed and his peers 50 years ago.