English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 14/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.december14.22.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members
have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ,
Letter to the Romans 12/01-08/:”I appeal to you
therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God what is good and
acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you
not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with
sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same
function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are
members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given
to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher,
in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader,
in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.”.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on December
13-14/2022
Berri broaches situation with Mikati, meets MP Abou Faour, Sheikh Al Khatib
No dialogue: Berri calls for 10th president election session
Rahi meets Grillo in Bkerki
FPM bloc proposes parliamentary probe into Salameh's 'offenses'
LF rejects Berri's call for dialogue, says it violates constitution
Geagea: New president must regain strategic decision, win trust of Arab nations
Iranian embassy: Lebanon's enemies blocked aid to Lebanese people
Capital control to restrict transfers to hospitalization, studies abroad
Mikati briefs Berri on 'positive' KSA meetings
Iran Smuggling Venezuelan Gold To Finance Hezbollah: Document/Mojtaba Pourmohsen/Iran
International/December 13/2022
Morocco's World Cup clash with France kicks off new allegiances in Lebanon/Nada
Homsi/The National/December 13/2022
The five European countries investigating Lebanon's bank chief Riad Salameh —
and why/Nada Maucourant Atallah/The National/December 13, 2022
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on December
13-14/2022
Video Pannel From FDD/Iran's Nuclear Proliferation Strategy: U.S. Policy
Options/Suzanne Maloney, Mahsa Rouhi, Michael Eisenstadt
UK Sanctions Russian Military Commanders, Iranian Businessmen
Iran Imposes Sanctions on British, German Entities, Individuals
Footballer Union ‘Sickened’ as Iranian Player Risks Death Sentence
Taming West Bank Chaos Remains a Challenge for Israel
Biden Administration Refuses to Rule Out Sanctions Relief for Iran
Russia rejects Zelenskiy call for troop pullout, saying Ukraine must accept
'realities'
Russian gas chemical projects face delays after foreign partners exit -cbank
Russia has destroyed all efforts to forge better ties since the Cold War by
invading Ukraine, NATO chief says
Germany to pledge additional 50 million euros in winter aid for Ukraine
Ukraine Energy Minister: World Must Rethink Nuclear Safety
Bombing of Putin’s Most Feared Fighters Infuriates Russia
U.S. close to providing Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine -officials
The UK defense chief read out the numbers on Russia's war losses, and they're
bleak
Cornered in Ukraine, Putin ditches annual news conference
Netanyahu ally chosen as new Israel parliament speaker
Netanyahu promises to govern for all Israelis amid rise of religious
nationalists
Iraq Receives $8 Mn from UN Compensation Commission After Full Payment to Kuwait
1 bn euros pledged for Ukraine at Paris aid conference
EU agrees to give Bosnia candidate status
Titles For The
Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on December
13-14/2022
The Question Is No Longer Whether Iranians Will Topple the Ayatollah Martes/Karim
Sadjadpour/The New York Times/December 13/2022
Elon Musk's Twitter Files Dump/Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute/December 13,
2022
Saudi Arabia and China’s Strong Ties/Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al Awsat/December
13/2022
Talk of ‘Abrahamic’ Religions is an Ecumenical Farce/Raymond Ibrahim/December
13/2022
on December
13-14/2022
Berri broaches situation with Mikati, meets MP Abou
Faour, Sheikh Al Khatib
NNA/December 13, 2022
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Tuesday received at the Second Presidency in Ain
El-Tineh, Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, with whom he discussed the
general siryation, political developments, legislative affairs and the results
of the latter's visit and meetings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during his
participation in the Arab-Chinese Summit. Speaker Berri also received in Ain El-Tineh,
Deputy Head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council, Sheikh Ali Al-Khatib, Berri
later met with “Democratic Gathering” MP Wael Abou Faour, with whom he broached
the current political developments and legislative affairs.
On emerging, MP Abou Faour said ‘’ We believe in dialogue and we affirm Speaker
Berri's call for dialogue,’’ adding, "Dialogue does not contradict with the
constitutional mechanism for electing the President of the Republic nor does it
annul the constitutional mechanism.”
No dialogue: Berri calls for 10th president election
session
Naharnet/December 13, 2022
There will be no dialogue on Thursday, the Berri-owned NBN TV said Tuesday. The
parliamentary session will be "exclusively for electing a president", the media
outlet said, as the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement refused to
participate in a dialogue that might have replaced the presidential election
session. Earlier on Tuesday, The LF warned against replacing the election
session with a dialogue, "categorically" rejecting participating in it. Berri
had announced last week that he would turn Thursday’s presidential election
session into a dialogue if the blocs agree to such a move. On Tuesday, he
officially called for a presidential election session on Thursday, after the LF
said in a statement that turning the election session into a dialogue would be a
clear disruption to a constitutional requirement, asking Berri to withdraw his
call for dialogue and to call instead for open sessions until a president is
elected.
Rahi meets Grillo in Bkerki
NNA/December 13, 2022
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi, on Tuesday welcomed in
Bkerki, French Ambassador to Lebanon, Anne Grillo.
FPM bloc proposes parliamentary probe into Salameh's
'offenses'
Naharnet/December 13, 2022
Twelve lawmakers from the Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc on
Tuesday submitted a draft law aimed at “forming a parliamentary panel of inquiry
into the offenses committed by Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.”“The Lebanese
judiciary has refrained from prosecuting him despite the lawsuits filed against
him in several foreign nations, and in the file of financial transfers to
abroad,” the bloc said. The proposal was signed by the MPs Cesar Abi Khalil,
Samer el-Tawm, Farid al-Bustani, Salim Aoun, Charbel Maroun, Edgard Trabulsi,
Nada al-Bustani, George Atallah, Nicolas Sehnaoui, Ghassan Atallah and Jebran
Bassil. The long-serving governor, 72, is among top officials widely blamed for
Lebanon's unprecedented economic crisis, dubbed by the World Bank as one of the
worst in recent world history. In June, a Lebanese prosecutor probing Salameh on
suspicion of financial misconduct requested charges be issued against him based
on preliminary investigation findings, a court official said at the time.
Lebanon opened a probe into Salameh's wealth last year, after the office
of Switzerland's top prosecutor requested assistance in an investigation into
more than $300 million which he allegedly embezzled out of the central bank with
the help of his brother. Both Salameh brothers have repeatedly denied any
wrongdoing. The central bank chief has remained at the helm despite Lebanese
courts slapping him with a travel ban and investigating him in connection with
several other cases.
He also faces lawsuits in European countries, including France and Britain, on
charges of financial misconduct.
LF rejects Berri's call for dialogue, says it violates
constitution
Naharnet/December 13, 2022
The Lebanese Forces said Tuesday that they will not participate in a
parliamentary dialogue that Speaker Nabih Berri might call for.
Berri had announced last week that he would turn Thursday’s presidential
election session into a parliamentary dialogue if the blocs agree to such a
move. "We categorically reject the call for a dialogue on Thursday," the LF said
in a statement, as it described it as "a clear disruption to a constitutional
requirement."The statement warned against replacing the presidential election
sessions with a dialogue, adding that those obstructing the election of a
president must be held accountable, as they are exacerbating the economic crisis
by extending the presidential vacuum. The LF said it would not reject a dialogue
in principle when held in the right time, asking Berri to withdraw his call for
dialogue and to call instead for open sessions until a president is elected.
Geagea: New president must regain strategic decision, win trust of Arab nations
Naharnet/December 13, 2022
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said that the country’s new president
must “act 180 degrees contrary to what we witnessed over the past six years,
especially as to returning the strategic decision to the state.”“The new
president must also fight corruption fiercely, not through statements, and must
not let his people and those around him commit major corruption with every
sunrise,” Geagea added, in an interview with Saudi newspaper Okaz.
The country’s new head of state should also win “the confidence of Arab
states, especially Gulf nations,” the LF leader went on to say, noting that the
Gulf would “help Lebanon overcome its crises” should such a president be
elected. As for Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for dialogue over the new president,
Geagea said “any dialogue table over the presidency would be useless, because
the previous dialogues proved futile.” Asked about reports that Hezbollah might
make a new alignment regarding the Taif Agreement and the defense strategy,
Geagea said: “I wish that would happen from the bottom of my heart, because that
would solve the problem in Lebanon.”“If Hezbollah carries out a revision and a
re-interpretation of the situation in Lebanon and the current events in the
region, and accordingly changes its policy, that would help us in Lebanon
resolve all problems,” the LF leader added. Asked about the security situation
in the country, Geagea said he does not fear for security in the presence of the
army and the Internal Security Forces, describing the latest Ashrafieh incident
as regrettable yet unpremeditated. “It did not happen based on a political
decision from any political party. It should be treated as a traffic accident
and it should not be repeated,” Geagea added.
Iranian embassy: Lebanon's enemies blocked aid to Lebanese
people
Naharnet/December 13, 2022
The Iranian embassy in Lebanon on Tuesday lamented that “Lebanon’s enemies” have
prevented Tehran from assisting the Lebanese people amid the current crisis.
“Iran had several times proposed to offer aid to the brotherly Lebanese people
to help them overcome their crisis, but Lebanon’s enemies obstructed and exerted
pressure to prevent things from reaching happy endings under frail excuses and
alibis,” the embassy said in a tweet. “These parties do not want to help Lebanon
and are seeking to prevent others from offering assistance,” it decried.
The embassy also tweeted a video highlighting the offers that Iran has made to
Lebanon in the energy field.
Capital control to restrict transfers to hospitalization,
studies abroad
Naharnet/December 13, 2022
The joint parliamentary committees convened Tuesday to resume discussing the
capital control draft law. "We have specifically modified the needed exemptions
in the capital control," Bou Saab said after the meeting. He added that the
overseas transfers will be restricted to medical procedures abroad and students
who study at foreign universities. An article related to local withdrawals
hasn't been discussed yet. But the majority of the MPs are inclined to allow
transfers for hospitalization purposes in Lebanon and abroad, Bou Saab said. The
committees will resume discussing the rest of the draft law articles after the
holidays. The capital control, a law required by the IMF to unlock aid for
Lebanon, will be put aside once parliament approves it, pending the adoption of
a comprehensive recovery plan.
Mikati briefs Berri on 'positive' KSA meetings
Naharnet/December 13, 2022
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday held talks with Parliament
Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh. Speaking to LBCI television after the
meeting, the premier said he briefed the Speaker on his “positive” meetings in
Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the Arab-Chinese summit.
Iran Smuggling Venezuelan Gold To Finance Hezbollah:
Document
Mojtaba Pourmohsen/Iran International/December 13/2022
A confidential document from Lloyds Marine insurance company has revealed the
Islamic Republic’s illegal schemes through Venezuela to finance Lebanon’s
Hezbollah.
In a confidential warning to its clients seen by Iran International,
London-based Lloyds Marine Insurance Company said that the Quds Force of the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah illegally send gold from
Venezuela to Iran to finance the terrorist activities of Tehran-backed militias
in Lebanon, bypassing sanctions.The document issued on October 28 is titled:
Illicit trade and transfer of gold and Iranian oil – IRGC Quds Force and
Hezbollah.
“The purpose of this e-alert is to inform the market of the illicit shipment of
gold by the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and
Hezbollah from Venezuela to Iran to raise funds for terrorist activities,
facilitated by the sale of Iranian oil, in contravention of sanctions,” reads
the letter.
Lloyds further added that flights from Caracas to Tehran via Mahan Air are being
used as an illicit channel to ship gold to pay for Iranian oil, in breach of
applicable sanctions.
Mahan Air is a privately owned Iranian airline linked to the IRGC sanctioned by
US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for weapons transfers.
“The gold is then sold in Turkey, and other Middle Eastern countries, to
generate funds for terrorist activity,” the leaked document alleged.
Lloyds also identifies some people who have been easing the illegal shipment of
gold from Venezuela on behalf of the IRGC Qods Force.
The first actor, according to Lloyds, is Hezbollah’s representative in Iran Ali
Kassir, who is also a US OFAC designee under the SDGT program (Global Sanctions
Regulation against Terrorism).
The other is Muhammad Jaafar Kassir, who is a senior Hezbollah official also
designated by OFAC for his illegal activities linked with the militant group.
The Iranian airline Mahan Air is introduced as the third actor in the unlawful
acquisition and shipment of gold from Venezuela on behalf of the IRGC Quds
Force.
World’s largest marine insurance company has also called on its clients to
observe enhanced due diligence measures if any of the entities mentioned are
involved, as the coverage provided could indirectly expose the managing agents
to risks of terrorist financing, money laundering and tax evasion.
US former Special Representative for Venezuela, Elliot Abrams for the first time
in April 2020 announced that Iran is receiving gold for sending gasoline to
Caracas.
Iranian officials denied receiving payment for fuel shipped to Venezuela by that
time. However, Yahya Rahim-Safavi, a top Revolutionary Guards officer, who is
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's advisor in military affairs, told state media
later in 2020 that “We gave gasoline to Venezuela and received gold bullion and
we brought the gold with airplanes to Iran to prevent any incident during
transit.”
Argentina grounded an Iran-linked Venezuelan Boeing 747 cargo plane on June 12,
2022 after it landed in Buenos Aires without any prior announcements.
Washington on August 3 asked permission to confiscate the plane impounded in
Argentina on suspicions of links to international terrorist groups.
Based on revealed documents, there are other airplanes that are used for taking
gold from Caracas to Tehran, but the seizure and future confiscation of the
Boeing, which is already in Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires, is a major step to
erode Hezbollah’s economic resources.
The illegal gold sale operation revealed by the Lloyd’s company was also
facilitated by a fixer called Seyed Badroddin Naiemael Moosavi.
The 47-year-old Iranian businessman controlled the load of gold that he obtained
at a discounted price in exchange for the oil shipments to Venezuela. He was the
person, who sold the golds on the black market in Turkey, and as a result
millions of dollars were used to finance Hezbollah’s terrorist acts in the
Middle East.
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202212124467
Morocco's World Cup clash with France kicks off new
allegiances in Lebanon
Nada Homsi/The National/December 13/2022
With usual favourites Brazil and Germany out, many Lebanese are backing the
Atlas Lions — despite tensions
World Cup support in Lebanon is traditionally reserved for two of the globe's
strongest teams — five-time winners Brazil and four-time champions Germany. But
with both teams eliminated from this year’s tournament, some Lebanese fans are
pinning new hopes on “consolation” teams. With Argentina, Morocco, France and
Croatia contesting the competition's semi-finals, some fans have turned to
Argentina out of loyalty to all-time great Lionel Messi — who is almost
universally adored in the Arab world. Others respect Croatia's impressive
defensive performances, which have put them within touching distance of their
second successive World Cup final, if they can beat Argentina on Tuesday. A
subset of Lebanese fans support France — the former colonial power that has
traditional links to the Christian community. But with Morocco’s advance to the
semi-finals after a stunning victory over Portugal last week, many fans have
become fans of the Atlas Lions overnight, upholding the North African nation’s
victory as one for Arabs everywhere. “Brazil was my team,” said Samaa Saadeh, a
sporting goods store owner who resides in Ashrafieh, a predominantly upper-class
and Christian neighbourhood of Beirut. “Now I’m with Argentina, because they’re
my second-favourite team. But I don’t mind if Morocco wins the match because
their wins were so unexpected and they’ve played so well.” Widespread support
for Morocco challenges notions that Lebanon’s national identity is split along
confessional lines, amid fears that the France vs Morocco match on Wednesday
could inflame tensions from the 1975-1990 Civil War-era, which roughly divided
the nation into pro-Arab and pro-French camps.
During the war, Lebanon's militias fought for political influence by exploiting
the country's religious rifts. Ms Saadeh spoke to The National next her stall at
a festive Christmas market located in the centre of the neighbourhood. That
Christmas market was a location of tense clashes last week when dozens of fans
on motorbikes from the predominantly Muslim neighbourhood of Tariq Al Jdideh
passed through Ashrafieh in celebration of Morocco’s win against Portugal. The
revellers waved Moroccan and Palestinian flags and chanted “Allahu Akbar” — “God
is great” — a chant often used by Arab fans and sports commentators. It led to
an altercation between them and the neighbourhood’s residents and prompted an
intervention by the Lebanese Army. The clashes elicited a range of extreme
reactions online. Critics said the procession was a provocation, calling for the
neighbourhood to increase self-policing measures and threatening to retaliate.
Others defended the Lebanese football fans' rights to celebrate anywhere,
pointing out the convoy had experienced no trouble in other neighbourhoods of
Beirut. But most people who spoke to The National said the motorbike procession
and the violent clashes that followed did not represent their own convictions.
Many from both Christian and Muslim neighbourhoods said they supported Morocco —
although not all forms of celebration. Hossam, from the nearby neighbourhood of
Zoukak Al Blat, was happy to see Morocco’s progression to the semi-finals.
“I’m a diehard Argentina fan but I don’t even mind if Morocco wins. I’m happy to
see an Arab team make it so far,” he said.
But he criticised some fans who had come to celebrate in Ashrafieh, accusing
them of causing trouble. Hossam dismissed fears that Wednesday’s match could
create a rift: “What does football have to do with religion? It’s the
politicians who use religion to control us.”
It is a widely acknowledged cliche that Lebanon’s entrenched confessional
politics — under which highest offices are proportionately reserved for
representatives from certain religious communities — spill into daily life,
complicating the country's national identity.
But within the small nation’s complicated landscape of competing confessional,
political and national identities, football allegiances rarely follow a rational
orthodoxy. While Brazil’s traditional rivals are fellow South Americans
Argentina, Lebanese fans consider Germany to be the Brazilians' biggest foe —
with ultra-fans often coming to blows. And while French is taught in schools and
spoken overwhelmingly in some neighbourhoods and cities, with a sizeable
Lebanese diaspora residing in France, the country's football team is not among
the most popular teams in Lebanon. “Even most France-loving people support
either Germany or Brazil,” said Mario Tarshihi, an Ashrafieh resident and
staunch fan of the England team. With England eliminated from the tournament by
France, Mr Tarshihi now hopes Morocco will win. Although the clash in Achrafiyeh
stirred fears that the France vs Morocco match could inflame further tension,
many in the neighbourhood still hope for a Morocco win. Pia, a half-French
half-Lebanese resident of the neighbourhood, told The National that, while she
was a staunch France supporter, she was torn about who she wanted to win. “This
World Cup made me fall in love with Morocco. I’ll support France because I have
more attachment to the country,” she said. “But if Morocco wins, it's also a win
for me.”
The five European countries investigating Lebanon's bank
chief Riad Salameh — and why
Nada Maucourant Atallah/The National/December 13, 2022
Banque du Liban governor's personal wealth has come under intense scrutiny over
past two years
For almost 30 years, Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh was widely
lauded for keeping the financial sector thriving as boss of one of the country's
only sources of hard currency — and as a source of national pride.
That changed in late 2019, when the Lebanese economy began showing signs of
collapse after decades of corruption and the squandering of public funds. Many
blame the country's entrenched elite, including Mr Salameh, for the economic
disaster that followed.
He now faces demands for accountability over alleged wrongdoing, as well as
investigations by several European nations into his personal finances. The Swiss
Attorney General’s office opened the first criminal inquiry into Mr Salameh's
dealings in October 2020, with courts all over Europe launching investigations
soon after, including France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Germany. These
probes are investigating Mr Salameh for the alleged money laundering of more
than $330 million from the central Banque du Liban (BDL) and €5 million through
contracts awarded to his entourage.
Prosecutors are trying to determine if profits from the alleged embezzlement of
public funds were channelled to Europe, where the governor has large
investments, especially in property. If found guilty, Mr Salameh could serve up
to five years in prison and the confiscation of his assets in Europe.
He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He claims his wealth, which he
estimates at $23 million, has been lawfully acquired and comes from investments
he made while working at Merrill Lynch as a banker, before becoming the BDL
governor in 1993. Given the complexity of the case, which involves a
multilayered set-up of companies and transactions across various countries,
European courts have set up an international investigative team to exchange
information. Prosecutors are not allowed to comment on continuing cases but some
information about the investigations has been leaked to the media.
Here is what is known:
Switzerland
Most information on the Swiss investigation comes from a leaked request for
mutual legal assistance that Switzerland sent to Lebanon in January last year.
According to the document, Switzerland's Attorney General suspects Mr Salameh of
embezzling about $330 million in public funds through Forry Associates, a
company registered in the Virgin Islands owned by his brother Raja Salameh.
Under a brokerage contract signed in 2002, commercial banks paid commissions to
Forry when they bought certificates of deposit — an investment instrument
offered to banks — from the BDL. While it is not unusual for central banks to
use intermediaries to sell their financial products, the opacity of this
contract has raised suspicions among Lebanese financiers. Lebanese banks and
BDL’s Central Council — which includes the governor, our vice governors and the
directors general of the economy and finance ministries — all said that they had
never heard of Forry. Reuters said banks did not know they were paying
commissions to a company owned by Mr Salameh’s brother, as the ultimate
recipient of the commissions was not mentioned in the contracts between the
central and commercial banks. Mr Salameh had said at the time that Forry's only
job was to gather commissions and fees and redistribute them “according to
instructions". Swiss prosecutors found that most of the commissions was
transferred to Raja Salameh’s account in Switzerland, then some of it
transferred to his accounts in five Lebanese banks. The rest was transferred to
three other companies that Mr Salameh is suspected of owning: Westlake
Commercial, SI2SA and Red Street 10.
France
In June last year, France’s National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) opened
a preliminary investigation into Mr Salameh’s fortune, after two complaints by
anti-corruption organisations. A month later, French anti-corruption judge Aude
Buresi took over the case. On July 14, she indicted Anna Kosakova, 46, a former
partner of Mr Salameh with whom he has a daughter, according to a birth
certificate seen by The National. French investigators suspect her of criminal
conspiracy, organised money laundering and aggravated tax fraud laundering as
they found elements connecting her with Raja's company, Forry.
The French investigative journal Mediapart revealed that Ms Kosakova is one of
the beneficiaries of Raja Salameh's company, through a different, similarly
named company called Forri, which stands for First Overseas Relation for Realty
and Investment Ltd, a group she created in Cyprus in 2004, according to the
country's trade register.The investigators, as Mediapart reported, managed to
retrace an alleged money-laundering network. They unveiled an elaborate scheme
involving public funds siphoned via Forry and funnelled to France though vast
property investments.
One of the companies Mr Salameh allegedly used to channel the money is SCI ZEL.
The property investment company initially managed by Raja Salameh, then by Ms
Kosakova after 2015, has acquired at least €14.3 million ($15 million) worth of
property in France, according to deeds of sale seen by The National. This
includes two apartments in Paris’s 16th arrondissement on Avenue Georges-Mandel,
where Ms Kosakova and Mr Salameh lived, and offices on the upmarket Champs-Elysees
for €8.7 million.
These offices form a second part of the French probe. SCI ZEL rented them to
another company owned by Ms Kosakova, Eciffice Business Centre, with which the
BDL had signed a lease contract in September 2010. The Parisian offices were
used as a “recovery centre”, which provides a back-up server for BDL’s data to
preserve continuity in case of failure in the Beirut main office. The BDL has
paid almost €5 million to Eciffice since 2011 in rent as part of contracts that
Ms Kosakova and Mr Salameh co-signed and renewed several times. As the Champs-Elysees
offices are not registered with the French authorities, BDL does not have to
justify any formal purposes for the lease. The investigators looked into the
specific services provided by Eciffice, as well as the choice of the location,
on one of the most expensive avenues in the world. SCI ZEL is 99 per cent owned
by BET, an asset management company established in Luxembourg in 2007, whose
sole shareholder is Ms Kosakova. In 2020, she transferred the bare ownership to
her daughter while keeping the right of usufruct, which is the right to benefit
from the company. It means BDL rent money was transferred to a company owned
mostly by Mr Salameh's daughter. The French judiciary suspected that the
contracts may have been part of another scheme to funnel millions of euros in
public funds, leading police to raid the office premises in October last year to
gain access to the company's accounts.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein’s Prosecutor General said in November last year that the country
had launched a “money-laundering investigation” into Mr Salameh. Most of what we
know comes from a leaked request for judicial assistance that Liechtenstein sent
in June to the Lebanese judiciary.
According to the document sent by the Liechtenstein Court of First Instance, the
investigation is specifically looking into two Liechtenstein-based companies —
Crossland Ltd and its sole shareholder, a trust company called Salamandur Trust
— on suspicion of money laundering. The companies’ ownership is unknown, as
trusts in Liechtenstein are not required to disclose public information about
their shareholders. But a report in 2020 by the Organised Crime and Corruption
Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Daraj, an Arabic media platform, claimed the
companies were linked to Mr Salameh.
The report revealed that Crossland, registered in Panama as Crossland Assets
before moving to Liechtenstein in 2018, bought stakes in Crossbridge capital, a
London wealth management firm where the governor’s son, Nady Salameh, used to
work. Under Lebanese law, the BDL governor should not engage in any type of
activity in a company or any other professional work, whether remunerated or
not. After the purchase, Crossbridge Capital then transferred the shares to a
subsidiary of Bank Audi, a major Lebanese bank, in 2016. The alleged transaction
between a company tied to the governor and a bank he regulates raised the issue
of a conflict of interest, which the involved parties denied.
Luxembourg and Germany
What is known about investigations in Luxembourg and Germany comes from
Liechtenstein's request for judicial assistance to Lebanon. According to the
letter, the judicial authorities in the two countries started their inquiries
after Switzerland began investigating Forry over suspicions that the company
“transferred and laundered money through real estate investment” carried out by
companies based in Luxembourg and Germany. The investigators are looking into
three Luxembourg-based companies controlled by Mr Salameh — BR 209 Invest,
Fulwood Invest Sarl and Stockwell Investissement — which have invested in
properties worth at least $50 million in Germany and the UK, according to a 2020
OCCRP investigation. In March, the EU's Hague-based criminal justice agency
froze €120 million ($124.3 million) of assets belonging to Riad Salameh and
members of his family.
The precautionary measure includes five properties in Germany and France, and
bank accounts linked to continuing investigations of money laundering. This
could be an important step for Lebanon to recover assets, should the
investigation reveal them as ill-gotten.
The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on December
13-14/2022
Video Pannel From FDD/Iran's Nuclear
Proliferation Strategy: U.S. Policy Options
Suzanne Maloney, Mahsa Rouhi, Michael Eisenstadt
December 13, 2022
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/irans-nuclear-proliferation-strategy-us-policy-options
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
*Suzanne Maloney is vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Program at
the Brookings Institution, where her research focuses on Iran and Persian Gulf
energy.
*Mahsa Rouhi is a research fellow with the Center for Strategic Research at
National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, where
she focuses on nuclear policy and security strategy in the Middle East, with
particular emphasis on Iran.
*Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Fellow and director of The Washington
Institute's Military and Security Studies Program.
Brief Analysis
Join us for an expert webcast exploring options for the United States to
influence Iranian strategic calculus away from a decision to resume active
pursuit of nuclear weapons.
As Iran builds up its stockpile of high-enriched uranium—the culmination of a
decades-long effort to become an advanced nuclear threshold state—concerns are
growing that it may reconsider its hedging policy and return to active pursuit
of nuclear weapons. Domestic unrest and succession preparations by an emboldened
leadership further complicate this picture, as do the Ukraine war and great
power tensions abroad. In light of this rising challenge, what can the United
States do to constrain Tehran’s nuclear aspirations?
To address these questions, The Washington Institute is pleased to announce a
virtual Policy Forum with Suzanne Maloney, Mahsa Rouhi, and Michael Eisenstadt,
author of the new Institute study Iran’s Nuclear Hedging Strategy: Shaping the
Islamic Republic’s Proliferation Calculus.
*Suzanne Maloney is vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Program at
the Brookings Institution, where her research focuses on Iran and Persian Gulf
energy. She has advised both Democratic and Republican administrations on Iran
policy.
*Mahsa Rouhi is a research fellow with the Center for Strategic Research at
National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, where
she focuses on nuclear policy and security strategy in the Middle East, with
particular emphasis on Iran.
*Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Fellow and director of the Military and Security
Studies Program at The Washington Institute, focusing on Gulf and Arab-Israel
security affairs.
UK Sanctions Russian Military Commanders, Iranian
Businessmen
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 13 December, 2022
Britain on Tuesday said it had sanctioned 12 Russian military commanders
implicated in missile strikes on Ukrainian cities as well as Iranian businessmen
involved in the production and supply of military drones used in the attacks. On
Monday, Ukraine said Russian missiles, artillery and drones had hammered targets
in eastern and southern Ukraine. Britain said Iranian-manufactured drones had
played a central role in attacks on civilians, citing US information showing
Iran has become one of Russia’s top military backers, sending hundreds of drones
to Russia. Tehran and Moscow have denied Western accusations that Russia is
using Iranian drones to attack targets in Ukraine. "Russian forces’ calculated
attacks on cities and innocent civilians in Ukraine will not go unanswered,"
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. "The Iranian regime is
increasingly isolated in the face of deafening calls for change from its own
people and is striking sordid deals with Putin in a desperate attempt to
survive."Britain said among those sanctioned were Major General Robert Baranov,
believed to be the commander of a unit responsible for programming and targeting
Russian cruise missiles.
Iran Imposes Sanctions on British, German Entities,
Individuals
London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 13
December, 2022 -
Iran imposed on Monday sanctions on the UK’s domestic spy agency (MI5) and
military along with British and German political figures. The move comes in
response to the “illegal sanctions” imposed on Tehran by Europe, according to
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani. During a weekly press
conference, Kanaani accused the Europeans and British of “intervening in the
domestic affairs” of Iran, revealing that the sanctions “are coming into effect
today.”Britain and Germany have been particularly vocal in their criticism of
Iran's response to almost three months of protests sparked by the death of Mahsa
Amini, 22, last September, three days after her arrest by the morality police
who accused her of violating Iran's dress code for women. Iran imposed its
sanctions on 32 individuals and entities ahead of a meeting of European Union
foreign ministers in Brussels. The ministers issued a statement Monday urging
Tehran to cease its destabilizing activities in the form of political, military
or financial support, including to non-state actors, in countries such as Syria,
Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. “The EU urges Iran to stop all actions or attempts that
disrupt or threaten the safety and freedom of navigation in and around maritime
routes in the wider Gulf region,” the EU ministers said. Iran’s sanctions list
named Ken McCallum, director general of domestic spy agency MI5, and Chief of
the Defense Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin. Others sanctioned include current
and former members of the British parliament and the Tony Blair Institute for
Global Change. Several German political figures and companies are also listed.
These include Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, former head of the Christian
Democratic Union party, and Claudia Roth, Federal Government Commissioner for
Culture and the Media. Also sanctioned are the French satirical magazine Charlie
Hebdo and the Persian-language division of Radio Free Europe, a sister network
of Voice of America. Those sanctioned will not be able to enter Iran, and they
will be subject to asset freezes. Last month, Britain and the EU expanded
sanctions against Iranian officials and organizations over Iran's protest
crackdown. On Friday, Britain announced further sanctions after Iran carried out
its first announced execution connected with the protests. Last Thursday, Iran
has announced the first execution of a protester, Mohsen Shekari, convicted over
the recent anti-government unrest.
Footballer Union ‘Sickened’ as Iranian Player Risks
Death Sentence
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 13 December, 2022
The world union of professional footballers FIFPRO said it was "shocked and
sickened" by the risk of Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani being sentenced to
death in connection with protests which have shaken the country for three
months. Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after
allegedly taking part in an "armed riot" in which three security agents were
killed on September 16, Isfahan's judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari said, quoted
Sunday by Iran's ISNA news agency. Jafari said the 26-year-old had been
accused of "rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine
security and therefore assisting in moharabeh" -- or "enmity against God" -- a
capital crime in the country. "FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that
professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after
campaigning for women´s rights and basic freedom in his country," the union
wrote on its Twitter page late Monday. "We stand in solidarity with Amir
and call for the immediate removal of his punishment." The alarm comes after a
global outcry following the execution by Iran in the past days of two young men
arrested over the protests. Nasr-Azadani, who played at Under-16 level for the
national team, began his football career with Tehran team Rah-Ahan, with whom he
played for the first time in Iran's top flight league. The defender briefly
played for Tractor SC under former Wales coach John Toshack and is currently at
FC Iranjavan Bushehr. Former Iranian international star Ali Karimi, a strong
supporter of the protests, backed the footballer in a tweet, saying "Do not
execute Amir". The Iranian national team took part in the World Cup in Qatar and
staged their own protest by refusing to sing the national anthem in their
opening match against England. However, they rolled back to sing the anthem for
subsequent matches against Wales and the USA. Iran is facing protests
sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who
died after she was arrested by morality police for allegedly violating the
country’s strict dress code for women. According to Amnesty International, 11
people have been confirmed to have been sentenced to death over the protests and
at least another nine, including Nasr-Azadani, risk being sentenced to death.
Iran calls the protests "riots" and says they have been encouraged by its
foreign foes. Prominent former international star Voria Ghafouri was arrested in
Iran last month after he backed the protests and condemned the crackdown but was
later released on bail.
Taming West Bank Chaos Remains a Challenge for Israel
FDD/December 13/2022
Latest Developments
Gunfire killed a 16-year-old Palestinian girl, Jana Zakarna, late on Sunday
during a fight that erupted when Israeli special forces entered the West Bank
town of Jenin to detain terrorists. Palestinian authorities were quick to blame
Israel, which acknowledged that its forces may have shot the teenager by
accident and voiced regret. An initial investigation found that she was standing
next to a gunman on a rooftop, and an Israeli sharpshooter may have confused the
two in the dark.
Expert Analysis
“The alacrity with which Israel is ready to hold itself to account is
commendable. Both its prime minister and defense minister offered public
statements of remorse over Zakarna’s death. We would hope a U.S. president and
defense secretary would do the same concerning a single collateral casualty in a
conflict zone. Israeli leaders correctly have advocated for the morality and
professionalism of their armed forces, whose overall precision in waging eight
months of nearly nightly counterterrorism sweeps in Jenin and nearby Nablus is
commendable.
“While the death of an innocent is tragic, the real question that should be
asked here is why it hasn’t happened more often, given the tactical challenges
facing Israel in the warrens of Jenin and Nablus. The answer is, clearly, the
restraint of Israel’s special forces. But by all accounts, the challenges are
only getting more acute, with troops facing more intensive gunfire and
boobytraps with each raid. This should be no surprise: Jenin and Nablus are
relatively small areas of operation, and the terrorists ruling them adapt fast.
Israel should continue to assess the security benefits of Operation Breaking the
Wave versus the risks posed to friendly forces and civilians.” — Joe Truzman,
Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal
Israel Does Not Deliberately Target Civilians
The incident, which follows the May 11 accidental killing in Jenin of
Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, coincided with a reporting
visit to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip by Virginia Gamba, the United
Nations special representative for children and armed conflict. Israel has
reportedly briefed Gamba about Operation Breaking the Wave, the West Bank sweep
it launched after a string of Palestinian terrorist attacks killed Israeli
civilians in the spring. Israel says the Palestinian death toll since has
included armed terrorists but also minors — some killed by accident, others
actively involved in hostilities.
Palestinian Authority Is Losing Control of the West Bank
The Palestinian Authority has lost control of many parts of the West Bank.
Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
now dominate cities such as Jenin and Nablus, aiming to destabilize the Abbas
regime. Terrorist activity in the West Bank rose throughout 2022, reaching a
peak of 169 incidents just in the month of October. Since the spring, Israeli
security forces have arrested more than 2,000 Palestinians and disrupted dozens
of attacks.
Biden Administration Refuses to Rule Out Sanctions Relief for Iran
FDD/December 13/2022
When asked last week whether nuclear negotiations with Iran were still ongoing,
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “We continue to believe that ultimately
diplomacy is the most effective way to deal with this, but that’s not where the
focus is.” In short, the administration still wants to lift sanctions on Tehran
in exchange for limited nuclear concessions, even though the clerical regime is
cracking down violently on nationwide protests and helping Russia attack
Ukraine. Blinken’s statement explains why the administration has withheld
full-throated support for Iran’s protest movement and refrained from working
with European allies to restore the UN arms embargo on Iran.
Expert Analysis
“The Biden administration is hedging against the Iranians taking to the streets
in favor of an anti-American, terror-sponsoring regime that’s helping Russia
attack Ukraine. President Biden should work with allies to restore international
sanctions on Iran at the UN Security Council and articulate a clear U.S. policy
in support of the Iranian people’s desire to bring down the regime that has
oppressed them for 40 years.” – Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor
Nuclear Deal Would Subsidize Russian Attacks on Ukraine, Violence against Women
The Biden administration has yet to formally withdraw its offer of sanctions
relief for the Islamic Republic. The deal on the table would provide the regime
with $274 billion of relief in its first year and $1 trillion by 2030. The
agreement would also lift U.S. sanctions on the top financiers of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — the U.S.-designated terrorist organization
responsible for cracking down on Iranian protesters and supplying Russia with
drones to attack Ukraine. These financiers include the Central Bank of Iran and
the National Iranian Oil Company, both of which funnel billions of dollars to
the IRGC.
UN Snapback Would Help Iranian Protesters and Ukraine
Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Iran
nuclear deal, the international arms embargo on Iran expired in 2020, and a
missile embargo will expire next October. The resolution, however, came with a
provision to restore all UN sanctions if Iran exceeded the nuclear limits set by
the deal. Iran’s continued nuclear escalation makes this “snapback” mechanism
available at any time. If the United States worked with Britain, France, or
Germany to trigger this “snapback,” which neither Russia nor China could
prevent, the regime in Tehran would find itself further politically isolated,
while its financial sector could enter freefall as the market rules out the
possibility of U.S. sanctions relief.
Russia rejects Zelenskiy call for troop pullout, saying
Ukraine must accept 'realities'
LONDON (Reuters)/December 13, 2022
-Russia on Tuesday dismissed a peace proposal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskiy that would involve a pullout of Russian troops, saying Kyiv needed to
accept new territorial "realities". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said those
realities included Russia's addition of four Ukrainian regions as its "new
subjects" - annexations it proclaimed in September but which most countries of
the United Nations have condemned as illegal. He was responding to a request by
Zelenskiy to leaders from Group of Seven powers on Monday for more military
equipment, support for financial and energy stability, and backing for a peace
solution that would start with Russia withdrawing troops from Ukraine, beginning
this Christmas. "These are three steps towards a continuation of hostilities,"
Peskov said. "The Ukrainian side needs to take into account the realities that
have developed during this time," he added when asked about the proposed Russian
troop withdrawal. "And these realities indicate that new subjects have appeared
in the Russian Federation. They appeared as a result of referendums that took
place in these territories. Without taking these new realities into account, no
kind of progress is possible."There could be "no question" of Russia starting to
pull out its troops by the end of the year, he said. Ukraine and its Western
allies have dismissed as illegal shams the "referendums" that Peskov referred to
in four regions of south and eastern Ukraine that Russia partly occupies, saying
they were conducted at gunpoint. Since the annexations, Russia has lost
significant ground in the south and east of Ukraine and has spoken more
frequently of its willingness to hold peace talks. But it says it does not see
Ukraine and the West, which is supplying Kyiv with weapons, as ready to
negotiate. Moscow has rejected charges that its talk of diplomacy is an attempt
to buy time to allow its depleted forces to regroup after nearly 10 months of
war and a series of defeats and retreats. Ukraine says Russia must halt its
attacks and withdraw from all territory it has occupied, and Zelenskiy urged G7
leaders on Monday to back his idea of convening a special Global Peace Summit.
The summit would be focused on the implementation of Kyiv's 10-point peace plan
that insists on, among other things, Russia's withdrawal of all its troops from
Ukraine and no territorial concessions on Kyiv's part. "No matter what the
aggressor intends to do, when the world is truly united, it is then the world,
not the aggressor that determines how events develop," Zelenskiy said in his
nightly video address on Monday.
Russian gas chemical projects face delays after foreign partners exit -cbank
MOSCOW (Reuters)/December 13, 2022
Russian gas chemical gas projects, led by energy giant Gazprom and privately
held Sibur, are facing delays over decreased foreign involvement, a December
report by the central bank showed. Numerous foreign companies from major
economic sectors, from retail to oil and gas industry, left Russia after Moscow
had started special military operation in Ukraine in February. "The timing for
the implementation of some projects has shifted: the construction of a gas
chemical complex in the Amur region due to the postponement of imported
equipment supply," central bank said. It said the timing for a complex to
processing ethane-containing gas in the Leningrad region also changed "due to
exit from the project of a European contractor". The bank did not publish new
expected timings for the implementation of the projects, nor reveal the name of
foreign companies which had decided not to participate. The Amur Gas Chemical
Complex, with investments of up to $11 billion, had been initially set to start
producing 2.3 million tonnes of polyethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polypropylene
per year beginning in 2024-2025. A Sibur official told Russian media in
September the company saw the start of operations in 2025-2026 following
sanctions. The Gazprom-led project on the Baltic Sea coast is designed to
process 45 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year, produce 13 million tonnes
of liquefied natural gas (LNG), 3.6 million tonnes of ethane and up to 1.8
million tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The first stage of the Ust-Luga
complex is set to come on stream in 2024, while the second is to be launched in
2025. Sibur declined comments, Gazprom did not respond to a request for comment.
Central bank said investments into oil and gas production rose by 10.9% in
January - September. It also said the departure of foreign investors and
suspension of oil servicing companies' operations did not have a significant
impact on projects implementation in Russia.
Russia has destroyed all efforts to forge better ties since
the Cold War by invading Ukraine, NATO chief says
Sinéad Baker/ Business Insider/December 13, 2022
"After the end of the Cold War we established institutions [like the]
NATO-Russia Council, when I was prime minister of Norway I remember that
President Putin attended NATO summits ... so this was a different time when we
worked for a better relationship. Russia has walked away from all of this," he
said. The Cold War ended in 1991, and the NATO-Russia Council was founded in
2002, with the aim of working as partners in areas of common interest.
Stoltenberg also said the invasion of Ukraine had destroyed relations to the
extent that they could not be healed even with an end to the conflict. "Even if
the fighting ends, we will not return to some kind of normal, friendly,
relationship with Russia. Trust has been destroyed," he said. Russia's invasion
has been widely condemned by the West and by many other countries around the
world, leaving it the most isolated it has been in decades. The war has also
ramped up military and political tensions between Russia and NATO specifically.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin partly justified his invasion, which he
launched in February, by saying that he was worried NATO was expanding
eastwards, including into Ukraine. Ironically, the invasion has only led to
NATO's likely expansion closer to Russia: Sweden and Russia neighbor Finland
applied to join the alliance in light of the invasion, and are now in the final
stages of the process. Ukraine also applied to join the alliance in September.
While this could take years, NATO has repeatedly said that it supports Ukraine
joining one day, when it meets the criteria. Stoltenberg said last month that
NATO will continue to support Ukraine for "as long as it takes".Officials and
leaders in eastern European NATO member countries told Insider earlier this year
that they felt many Western nations had been too confident in the past in
believing they could trust Russia and change it through diplomacy and dialogue.
Germany to pledge additional 50 million euros in winter aid
for Ukraine
BERLIN (Reuters)December 13, 2022.
- Germany will approve another 50 million euros ($52.68 million) in winter aid
for Ukraine in response to Russian attacks on energy infrastructure there,
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at a donors' conference in Paris
on Tuesday. This comes on top of 160 million euros already pledged by Berlin at
a conference in Bucharest earlier in the year. Baerbock said Germany was working
to deliver generators, blankets and heating fuel to Ukraine over Christmas, as
Russia's pummelling of power facilities causes power shortages in many parts of
the country. The Russian president wants to break the people of Ukraine "and we
will not allow this," the German minister told reporters. Russia, which invaded
Ukraine in February, has increased attacks on energy facilities in recent weeks,
saying strikes on vital infrastructure are militarily legitimate. Ukraine says
attacks intended to cause civilian misery are a war crime. ($1 = 0.9491 euros)
Ukraine Energy Minister: World Must Rethink Nuclear
Safety
Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 13/2022
The world must "rethink nuclear safety" after Russia's seizure of the
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, Ukrainian energy minister
German Galushchenko told AFP ahead of a Tuesday conference in Paris. The
international gathering hosted by France aims to raise funds to repair Ukraine's
damaged infrastructure as well as highlight the country's support for Kyiv in
its fight against Russia, AFP said. With at least 40 percent of Ukraine's energy
infrastructure demolished in the past two months, Galushchenko will join the
conference to ask for materials and funds to get Ukrainians through the winter.
Speaking to AFP on Monday, he said Russia's war in Ukraine "completely changes
our understanding of nuclear security", pointing to the capture of the
Zaporizhzhia plant as a turning point. The nuclear plant, located in Ukraine's
east, was seized by Russian troops in March, and shelling has continued around
the site. Despite Western powers and the UN atomic energy agency raising the
alarm over safety at the plant -- which has six nuclear reactors -- talks aimed
at demilitarizing the area have stalled. "Nobody expected that someone could
capture a nuclear plant... This situation absolutely pushes us to rethink what
we should do from the point of view of safety," Galushchenko told AFP. He added
that Russia's seizure of a nuclear plant "destroyed" any semblance of a safety
net provided by agreements established by Western countries and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "That's a question, too, to all the
countries of the world," he said. "It's not only a Ukrainian issue of nuclear
safety. It means that any missiles which could fly, let's say, up to 2,000
kilometres, could reach any nuclear reactor."
'Crazy game'
Since Zaporizhzhia's capture, Galushchenko said Moscow's forces have continued
shelling power lines connecting the plant to Ukraine's energy grid. The power
plant has gone into blackout mode "five times", he added. His main worry is that
a nuclear power plant needs a constant power supply to cool the fuel. If it gets
disconnected, it could be a "classic Fukushima scenario", Galushchenko said,
referring to the 2011 disaster in Japan. "They shell Ukrainians lines, destroy
the lines, then the station starts on diesel generators and it means you are one
step ahead of an accident," he said. But even after the power lines have been
repaired and the electricity supply to the plant resumed, the worrying process
begins once more with the start of fresh shelling, Galuschenko said. "This is a
crazy game around nuclear security," he said. Since October, Russia has switched
tactics and begun airstrikes targeting Ukraine's energy network -- plunging
millions into cold and darkness at the onset of winter. The conference in France
will focus on ways in which Ukraine's Western allies can provide immediate
support to keep the country's civil infrastructure functioning amid incessant
bombing. Ukraine is dependent on nuclear power for more than 50 percent of its
electricity. Despite the alarm over Zaporizhzhia's situation, the country has no
intention of giving up its use of nuclear power, Galushchenko said. "But we need
to think on military threats and that is absolutely new -- not even for us, but
also as the world, this is something we should think about together," he told
AFP.
Bombing of Putin’s Most Feared Fighters Infuriates
Russia
Allison Quinn/The Daily Beast/December 13, 2022
The Russian mercenaries hailed by their leader as the most skilled and
experienced soldiers in the war against Ukraine have gotten themselves blown up
over the weekend. Pro-Kremlin Russian media channels were the first to reveal
the strike Sunday on a hotel in the occupied Luhansk region, furiously noting
that “the enemy used HIMARS to hit the hotel in Kadiivka where Wagner fighters
were located.”Photos showed the building, a hotel called “Zhdanov’s Guest
House,” blown to smithereens, though no details were immediately given on how
many Wagner fighters were killed. Russian state-run media was largely mum on the
whole affair (with the exception of a Kremlin-friendly tabloid saying the site
had been targeted because the U.S. knew Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin
frequented the private army’s headquarters there.) Ukrainian authorities say the
Russian military is “carefully concealing” its losses in the strike. Serhiy
Haidai, the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk, confirmed the strike and quipped on
Telegram that “many” Wagner mercenaries would undoubtedly be absent for their
next roll call. On Tuesday, Haidai issued a statement saying “hundreds” of
Wagnerites have been killed before reaching the frontline in the last week and a
half, either by “‘explosions’ caused by smoking in their headquarters or their
barracks.”Meanwhile, Bild reported Tuesday that a selfie taken in front of the
hotel in Kadiivka may have alerted Ukraine’s military to the Wagner fighters’
whereabouts and sealed their fate. Russian media channels circulated the photo,
speculating that the Russian soldier shown grinning in front of “Zhdanov’s Guest
House” was none other than Pavel Prigozhin, the son of the Wagner founder, who
previously said his son was serving in the ranks of the private army. It was not
immediately clear when the selfie was taken, and Prigozhin himself denied that
his son had been impacted by the HIMARS strike. The Daily Beast has not
independently verified the authenticity of the photo and its potential links to
the bombing.“Don’t worry, my son is fine,” the Putin-friendly businessman said
in a statement Sunday.
U.S. close to providing Patriot missile defense system
to Ukraine -officials
Reuters/Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart/December 13, 2022
The United States is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system
to Ukraine, a decision that could be announced as soon as this week, three U.S.
officials told Reuters on Tuesday. Ukraine has asked its Western partners for
air defenses, including U.S.-made Patriot systems, to protect it from heavy
Russian missile bombardment including against its energy infrastructure.
Ground-based air defense systems such as Raytheon Technology Corp's Patriot are
built to intercept incoming missiles. The Patriot is considered to be one of the
most advanced U.S. air defense systems and is usually in short supply, with
allies around the world vying for it. "It's very, very significant," said
Alexander Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who led Ukraine policy at
the White House during the Trump administration. "These are going to be quite
capable of dealing with a lot of different challenges the Ukrainians have,
especially if the Russians bring in short-range ballistic missiles" from Iran.
Two of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the announcement
could come as early as Thursday but was awaiting formal approval from U.S.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden. The Pentagon declined
comment on reports about the Patriot system at a news briefing. One of the
officials said Ukrainian forces would likely be trained in Germany before the
Patriot equipment was sent to Ukraine. Vindman said the training could take
several months. Details such as the version of the Patriot missile defense
system, its range or how many units would be sent were not immediately
available. It was unclear if the United States would limit how the Ukrainians
employ the Patriot system. Washington has restricted use of High Mobility
Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers to targets inside Ukraine.
RUSSIAN WARNING
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned NATO against providing
Ukraine with Patriot missile defenses, and it is likely Moscow will view the
move as an escalation. The Pentagon says Russia's recent surge in missile
strikes in Ukraine is partly designed to exhaust Kyiv's supplies of air defenses
so it can dominate the skies above the country. For that reason, the United
States and its allies have been delivering more air defenses for Kyiv, providing
everything from Soviet-era systems to more modern, Western ones. For the United
States, this has included NASAMS air defense systems that the Pentagon says have
flawlessly intercepted Russian missiles in Ukraine. U.S. Army General Mark
Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, publicly raised the possibility
of NATO allies sending Patriot systems to Ukraine in October. The Patriot system
is usually used against more advanced threats including aircraft, cruise
missiles and ballistic missiles and typically includes launchers along with
radar and other support vehicles. The United States has provided Ukraine with
$19.3 billion in military assistance since Russia's invasion of Ukraine started
on Feb. 24.
The UK defense chief read out the numbers on Russia's
war losses, and they're bleak
Jake Epstein/Business Insider/December 13, 2022
Ben Wallace, the UK's defense chief, unveiled the latest figures on Russian
military losses.
He said in an update that over 100,000 soldiers are either "dead, injured, or
have deserted."
Additionally, Moscow has lost mountains of armored vehicles, aircraft, and
artillery systems.
After nearly 10 months of war in Ukraine, the UK's defense chief revealed this
week a bleak set of figures on Russian military losses. "We can say that we
estimate over 100,000 Russians are either dead, injured, or have deserted," UK
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Monday as he delivered updates on the war
to London's House of Commons. This figure reflects a similar estimate from top
US Gen. Mark Milley, who said in early November that over 100,000 Russian
soldiers had been "killed and wounded" since Moscow launched its large-scale
invasion on February 24. At the time, he noted that Ukraine's military has
"probably" seen similar casualties. Additionally, Wallace noted Russia has lost
4,500 armored vehicles, 63 fixed-wing aircraft, 70 helicopters, 150 unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs), 12 naval vessels, and over 600 artillery systems. He did
not specify the make and model of each of these weapons systems. According to
the open-source intelligence operation Oryx, Russian forces have lost over 8,400
vehicles or pieces of equipment — meaning it was either destroyed, damaged,
abandoned, or captured. Specifically, the country has lost over 1,500 tanks,
more than 700 armored fighting vehicles, 160 multiple rocket launchers, and
nearly 300 self-propelled artillery systems. Russian troops abandoned
massive amounts of weaponry, ammunition, and equipment during Ukraine's
lightning-fast counteroffensive in the country's northeast Kharkiv region. The
blitz-style campaign saw Kyiv liberate thousands of square miles of territory
earlier in the fall that was previously under Russian occupation. As they
quickly fled their positions in the face of the advancing Ukrainians, Russian
forces abandoned an overwhelming amount of military equipment. And adding to its
many problems, Russia has been rapidly burning through its stockpiles of
munitions faster than it can replenish them, forcing it to rely on older, less
reliable weapons and ammunition pulled from storage and to turn to pariah states
like Iran and North Korea for assistance. Beyond just weapons and personnel,
Wallace said that Russia has also "failed to capture a single one of its major
objectives from day one," adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin's
"three-day war, 'or special operation,' ... turns out to be a disaster for him
and his army."His remarks appear to reference Putin's pre-war expectations that
Kyiv would fall in a matter of days and the term "special military operation"
that the Russian leader has used to avoid calling the conflict what it actually
is — a war. Months later, the bloody campaign continues to show no signs of
slowing down. The Kremlin rejected a Ukrainian call for Russia to withdraw
troops at Christmas. In November, Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for
policy at the Department of Defense, said that the Russian military has
"suffered a massive strategic failure" in Ukraine, adding that "Russia will
emerge from this war weaker than it went in."
Cornered in Ukraine, Putin ditches annual news conference
The Associated Press/December 13/ 2022
President Vladimir Putin has ditched his annual marathon news conference
following a series of battlefield setbacks in Ukraine — a tacit acknowledgment
that the Russian leader's war has gone badly wrong. Putin typically uses the
year-end ritual to polish his image, answering a wide range of questions on
domestic and foreign policy to demonstrate his grip on details and give the
semblance of openness even though the event is tightly stage-managed. But this
year, with his troops on the back foot in Ukraine, it could be impossible to
avoid uncomfortable questions about the Russian military's blunders even at a
highly choreographed event. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Monday
that Putin wouldn’t hold the news conference this month without explaining why.
“Although questions are almost certainly usually vetted in advance, the
cancellation is likely due to increasing concerns about the prevalence of
anti-war feeling in Russia,” the U.K. Defense Ministry wrote in a commentary on
Twitter. “Kremlin officials are almost certainly extremely sensitive about the
possibility that any event attended by Putin could be hijacked by unsanctioned
discussion about the ‘special military operation,'” it said, using Moscow's term
for the war. Some of his previous performances lasted for more than 4 1/2 hours,
during which he has sometimes faced some pointed questions, but used them to
mock the West or denigrate his domestic opponents. Putin also has canceled
another annual fixture this year, a televised call-in show in which he takes
questions from the public to nurture his father-of-the-nation image. And he has
so far failed to deliver the annual televised state-of-the-nation address to
parliament, a constitutional obligation. No date has been set for Putin’s
address. The Kremlin has muzzled any criticism of its invasion of Ukraine from
the liberal anti-war camp, shutting independent media outlets and criminalizing
the spread of any information that differs from the official view — including
calling the campaign a war. But it has faced an increasingly vocal criticism
from Russian hardliners, who have denounced the president as weak and indecisive
and called for ramping up strikes on Ukraine.
Political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said in a video commentary that the decision
not to hold the news conference was likely because Putin “has nothing to say
from the point of view of strategy.”Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on
Feb. 24, claiming Moscow was forced to “demilitarize” the country in the face of
NATO's refusal to offer Russia guarantees that Ukraine wouldn't be invited to
join the alliance. Ukraine and much of the world denounced the Russian attack on
its neighbor as an unprovoked act of aggression. Putin and his officials hoped
to rout the Ukrainian military in a few days, but a fierce Ukrainian resistance
— bolstered by Western weapons — quickly derailed those plans. After a botched
attempt to quickly capture the Ukrainian capital, the Russian troops pulled back
from areas around Kyiv in March. In September, Ukraine won back large swaths of
land in the northeastern Kharkiv region, and last month it reclaimed control of
the strategic southern port city of Kherson. A mobilization of 300,000
reservists that Putin ordered in September so far has failed to reverse
battlefield fortunes for Russia. The mobilization order has prompted hundreds of
thousands of Russians to flee abroad to avoid recruitment, and those who have
been called up reported glaring shortages of key equipment and supplies. In a
rare acknowledgement last week that the war in Ukraine is taking longer than he
anticipated, Putin acknowledged that wrapping up the campaign could be a
“lengthy process.” At the same time, he continued to claim that it was going
according to plan and would achieve its goals. Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin
political expert, noted that Putin's decision to ditch the news conference and
his failure so far to deliver the state-of-the-nation address reflected his
hesitancy about the future course of action. “Shall we forge ahead and defeat
the enemy?" he wrote, reflecting hardliners’ calls for ramping up missile
strikes on Ukraine. “Or on the contrary, shall we prepare for a difficult but
necessary compromise?”
Netanyahu ally chosen as new Israel parliament speaker
Associated Press/December 13, 2022
Israel's parliament elected a close ally of prime minister-designate Benjamin
Netanyahu as its new speaker Tuesday to oversee the passage of legislation that
will help his formation of a government. Yariv Levin,
a senior member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, was chosen as speaker to
replace Mickey Levy from outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party.
Levin may not be speaker for long, with some Israeli political pundits
forecasting he will be tapped for a prominent cabinet role in Netanyahu's new
coalition, which is expected to be the most right-wing in Israeli history. But
before that government can be formed, parliament must first pass a measure
allowing one of Netanyahu's most powerful allies, ultra-Orthodox Jewish leader
Aryeh Deri, to serve in cabinet despite past convictions for tax evasion. Deri,
who heads the Shas party, has been promised the interior and health ministries
in the incoming Netanyahu government. But the attorney
general has ruled that under current law, his convictions bar him from serving
in cabinet. Levin is expected to move quickly to pass legislation removing that
barrier. In a general election last month, Netanyahu and his allies won 64 of
parliament's 120 seats, giving them the opportunity to form a majority
government after an unprecedented period of political gridlock that forced five
elections in less than four years. But Netanyahu's
coalition talks have proved complicated, with controversial far-right leaders
demanding sensitive posts. Last week, President Isaac Herzog gave Netanyahu an
extension to conclude his coalition negotiations.
Netanyahu promises to govern for all Israelis amid rise of
religious nationalists
Dan Williams/Reuters/December 13, 2022
Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Tuesday to govern in the
interests of all Israelis, as religious-nationalist parties slated to join his
new coalition pressed ahead with contested legislation. One bill submitted for
preliminary parliamentary review could potentially grant Defence Ministry powers
to far-right politician Bezalel Smotrich to encourage Jewish settlement of the
occupied West Bank, where Palestinians seek statehood. Other bills would
consolidate cabinet authority over police for fellow ultranationalist Itamar
Ben-Gvir, and enable ultra-Orthodox Jewish politician Arieh Deri to serve as
finance minister despite his having been convicted of tax fraud. Netanyahu's
conservative Likud party placed first in the Nov. 1 election. He is courting the
religious-nationalists after being shunned by some mainstream parties over his
ongoing trial for corruption. "We were elected to lead in our way, the way of
the nationalist-right and the way of the liberal-right, and so shall we do," he
told the Knesset, to heckling from centre-left lawmakers. The prospective new
government has stirred concern at home and abroad for the future of Israel's
secular values, frayed ethnic relations and stalled peace talks with the
Palestinians.
'STATUS QUO'
But Netanyahu - who has already held top office for a record 15 years - said
that, under his watch, "everyone will live in accordance with their own faith.
This will not become a nation of religious law. It will be a country in which we
tend to all citizens of Israel, without exception."
"We will preserve the status quo," Netanyahu said, using a term that has been
applied both to freedom of worship in Israel and to the management of access to
a contested Jerusalem holy site that has at times ignited violence with the
Palestinians. The site houses Al Aqsa, a major mosque. It is also the most
sacred site for Jews, as vestige of their two ancient temples, but Jewish prayer
is barred there under an Israeli pact with Muslim authorities. Ben-Gvir has
called for that ban to end. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich were among 40 lawmakers - a
third of parliament - who signed a petition calling on outgoing Defence Minister
Benny Gantz to end the detention without trial of two West Bank settlers
suspected of militant ties, saying they had been denied due process of law.
Gantz on Tuesday rejected the petition, calling it a "tailwind for terrorism".
Israel also holds 835 Palestinians under so-called "administrative detention",
Palestinians say. Outgoing centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu,
73, of posing a threat to Israeli democracy. "Netanyahu is weak, terrified of
his trial. People who are younger than him - more extremist and determined than
him - have taken over," Lapid told the Knesset. Netanyahu has until Dec. 21 to
finalise a government. Otherwise it could mean another election.
Iraq Receives $8 Mn from UN Compensation Commission After
Full Payment to Kuwait
Kuwait - Merza al-Khuwaldi/Asharq Al Awsat/December 13/2022
The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) received the remaining sum from the UN
Compensation Fund after paying all compensations to Kuwait relating to the
invasion of Kuwait during the rule of late President Saddam Hussein in 1990. In
a statement, CBI said it received $7.9 million, the remaining money in the
compensation fund, after delivering the last instalment of Kuwait's
compensations. It explained that the amount was returned to Iraq after auditing
the accounts, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2621 (2022) concerned
with completing the compensation file resulting from the invasion. Iraq
announced in 2021 that it had terminated all necessary banking arrangements with
the US Federal Reserve Bank to stop the automatic deduction of Kuwait's
compensation from the revenues of Iraqi crude oil exports after paying the
remaining amount of payment. The UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) was formed in
1991, the same year the US-led coalition expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The
Commission was tasked with paying $52.4 billion to Kuwaiti individuals,
companies, government agencies, and other organizations that suffered losses due
to the war. Compensation funds come from a tax imposed on sales of Iraqi oil and
its products. Iraq paid the last compensation in February. In total, Iraq paid
around $52 billion. The Security Council later announced the end of the mandate
of the Compensation Commission. Chairman of the UN Compensation Commission,
Michael Jaffe, said that 2.7 million claims had been submitted seeking
compensation of $352 billion, explaining that a total of $52.4 billion was
awarded to 1.5 million claimants, and the final payment from the Commission was
on January 13, 2022. It represents approximately 15 percent of the total amounts
claimed and reflects the comprehensive review conducted by the Commission. The
most significant single claim approved by the Commission was compensation to the
Petroleum Corporation, estimated at $14.7 billion, after Iraqi forces set fire
to oil wells as they left Kuwait.
1 bn euros pledged for Ukraine at Paris aid conference
Associated Press/December 13/2022
Countries gathered at an aid conference for Ukraine in Paris have pledged aid
worth around one billion euros to help the war-hit country this winter, France's
foreign minister said on Tuesday. Catherine Colonna
said these were "new commitments, thanks to the holding of this conference. It
is aid, or gifts in kind. It is not loans." She said
the aid would be "rolled out in the next days and during the months of winter
which will help strengthen the resilience of civilian infrastructure."Almost
half of the aid -- around 400 million -- is for the Ukraine energy sector which
is buckling under a wave of Russian air strikes. "We cannot leave them
(Ukrainians) alone faced with winter, faced with their aggressor which is
seeking to inflict difficulties on them," she told a press conference. Colonna
also confirmed the launching of a new platform to coordinate civil aid for
Ukraine, enabling donors to see Ukraine's needs and pledges from other
countries. The new so-called "Paris Mechanism" will be
a real-time platform, managed by the European Commission. "For us in Ukraine,
this is a very powerful signal," Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told
reporters. "It shows that the whole of the civilized world is supporting
Ukraine," he added. Colonna underlined that Tuesday's conference was attended by
Bahrein, Cambodia, Qatar, India, Indonesia and Turkey among others. "You rarely
see these countries in international conferences for Ukraine," she told
reporters.
EU agrees to give Bosnia candidate status
Agence France Presse/December 13/2022
EU countries agreed Tuesday to grant Bosnia "candidate status" to join the
union, diplomats told AFP, putting the volatile Balkan nation at the start of a
long road to membership. Russia's war on Ukraine has breathed fresh life into
the European Union's willingness to consider letting in more of its eastern
neighbors after years at a standstill. The EU is concerned that other powers,
such as Russia or China, might spread their influence into the Balkans if
countries hopeful of joining the bloc are thwarted. European affairs ministers
meeting in Brussels gave the green light to Bosnia becoming a candidate after
the bloc's executive arm in October recommended that they launch the membership
process. The step is expected to be signed off
formally by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday. The move comes
despite long-standing concerns over the political situation in Bosnia, a country
of three million people burdened with ethnic divisions since its devastating war
three decades ago. It remains partitioned between a
Serb entity and a Muslim-Croat federation connected by a weak central
government. It has a dysfunctional administrative system created by the 1995
Dayton Agreement that succeeded in ending the conflict in the 1990s, but largely
failed in providing a framework for the country's political development. The
EU's executive branch, the European Commission, has laid out 14 priorities for
reform that it insists Bosnia must make good on before it can move on to the
next stage of opening formal accession negotiations. EU enlargement commissioner
Oliver Varhelyi has told Bosnia it is now at "a crucial juncture" on its path to
the bloc. Bosnian politicians insist it is high time that the country be granted
candidate status. "It is time for the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina to
receive a positive message from the European Union," Denis Becirovic, the
Bosnian member of the country's tripartite presidency, said last week. "But of
course, that will only be the beginning of the real work."A stand-off has seen
Bosnia's Serb entity, the Republika Srpska, block state institutions and cause
"virtual paralysis" in the reform process, the EU has said. There are also
concerns over calls by Serb leaders for closer ties with Russia and the entity's
nationalist president Milorad Dodik has vowed to stall the push towards the EU
if it means more centralization of power in Bosnia. Bosnia will join seven other
nations with candidate status: Turkey, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia,
Albania, Moldova and Ukraine. The process to join the
European Union can take many years as candidates implement reforms that have to
be rigorously evaluated by Brussels. It can also grind to a halt, which is the
case with Turkey's bid. Ukraine and Moldova were the
most recent countries to be made candidates when they were given the status in
June, four months after Russia unleashed its war on Kyiv. Kosovo has announced
its intention to apply for membership before the end of the year.
The Latest LCCC English analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on December
13-14/2022
The Question Is No Longer Whether Iranians Will Topple the
Ayatollah Martes,
Karim Sadjadpour/The New York Times/December 13/2022
The protests in Iran now in their third month are a historic battle pitting two
powerful and irreconcilable forces: a predominantly young and modern population,
proud of their 2,500-year-old civilization and desperate for change, versus an
aging and isolated theocratic regime, committed to preserving its power and
steeped in 43 years of brutality.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the only ruler many protesters
have known, seems to be facing a version of the dictator’s dilemma: If he
doesn’t offer his people the prospect for change the protests will continue, but
if he does, he risks appearing weak and emboldening protesters.
The protests were set off by the Sept. 16 death of a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian
woman, Mahsa Amini, after she was detained by the morality police for allegedly
improper hijab. Although Iranian opposition to the regime is unarmed,
unorganized and leaderless, the protests continue despite a violent crackdown by
the regime. More than 18,000 protesters have been arrested, more than 475 have
been killed and 11 people have been sentenced to death so far. On Thursday, a
23-year-old man, Mohsen Shekari, who was arrested during the protests, was
hanged.
However the protests are resolved, they seem to have already changed the
relationship between Iranian state and society. Defying the hijab law is still a
criminal offense, but women throughout Iran, especially in Tehran, increasingly
refuse to cover their hair. Videos of young Iranians flipping turbans off the
heads of unsuspecting Shiite clerics are popular on social media.
Symbols of the government are routinely defaced and set on fire, including,
according to social media reports, the ancestral home of the revolution’s
father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Laborers, bazaar merchants and
petrochemical workers have gone on intermittent strikes, reminiscent of the
tactics that helped topple Iran’s monarchy in 1979.
The ideological principles of Ayatollah Khamenei and his followers are “Death to
America”, “Death to Israel” and insistence on hijab. Mr. Khamenei’s ruling
philosophy has been shaped and reinforced by three notable authoritarian
collapses: The 1979 fall of Iran’s monarchy, the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet
Union and the Arab uprisings of 2011. His takeaway from each of these events has
been to never compromise under pressure, and never compromise on principles.
Whenever Mr. Khamenei has faced a fork in the road between reform and
repression, he has always doubled down on repression.
The rigidity of Iran’s hard-liners is driven not only by ideological conviction,
but also by a keen understanding of the interplay between the rulers and the
ruled. As Alexis de Tocqueville put it, “The most perilous moment for a bad
government is one when it seeks to mend its ways”.
Mr. Khamenei understands that rescinding compulsory hijab will be a gateway to
freedom and will be interpreted by many Iranians as an act of vulnerability, not
magnanimity. That Iranians will not be placated merely with the freedom of
dress, but will be emboldened to demand all the freedoms denied to them in a
theocracy — including the freedom to drink, eat, read, love, watch, listen and,
above all, say what they want.
There are signs of disarray within the ruling elite. While some officials have
suggested the notorious morality police will be abolished, others have suggested
this is merely a temporary tactic to restore order. “The collapse of the hijab
is the collapse of the flag of the Islamic Republic”, said Hossein Jalali, a
clerical ally of Mr. Khamenei and a member of the Cultural Commission of the
Iranian Parliament. “Head scarves will return to women’s heads in two weeks”, he
declared, and women who refuse to comply could have their bank accounts frozen.
The Iranian regime’s repressive capacity — at least on paper — remains
formidable. Ayatollah Khamenei is commander in chief of 190,000 armed personnel
of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who oversee tens of thousands of basij
militants tasked with instilling public fear and morality. Iran’s nonideological
conscription army, whose active forces are an estimated 350,000, are unlikely to
take part in mass repression, but hopes from protesters that they will join the
opposition have so far been in vain.
Until now the political and financial interests of Ayatollah Khamenei and the
Revolutionary Guards have been intertwined. But persistent protests and chants
of “Death to Khamenei” might change that. Would the Iranian security forces want
to continue killing Iranians to preserve the rule of an unpopular, ailing
octogenarian cleric who is reportedly hoping to bequeath power to Mojtaba
Khamenei, his equally unpopular son?
The internal deliberations of Iran’s security services remain a black box. But
it is likely that like the Tunisian and Egyptian militaries in 2011 some of them
have begun to contemplate whether cutting loose the dictator might preserve
their own interests.
The sociologist Charles Kurzman wrote in his seminal book, “The Unthinkable
Revolution in Iran”, that the paradox of revolutionary movements is they are not
viable until they attract a critical mass of supporters, yet to attract a
critical mass of supporters they must be perceived as viable.
The protest movement has not yet reached that tipping point, but there are ample
signs that a critical mass of Iranian society has doubts about the regime’s
continued viability. “What the people want is regime change, and no return to
the past”, said Nasrin Sotoudeh, a renowned human rights attorney and political
prisoner who had long called for reform instead of revolution. “And what we can
see from the current protests and strikes that are now being initiated is a very
real possibility of regime change”.
Like many autocratic regimes, the Islamic Republic has long ruled through fear,
but there are growing signs that fear is dissipating. Female athletes and actors
have begun to compete and perform without the hijab — a criminal offense that
has earned other women double-digit prison sentences — inspiring others to do
the same. Political prisoners like Hossein Ronaghi have remained defiant despite
imprisonment and torture. Rather than deter protesters their killings often lead
to mourning ceremonies that perpetuate the protests.
If the organizing principles that united Iran’s disparate opposition forces in
1979 was anti-imperialism, the organizing principles of today’s
socioeconomically and ethnically diverse movement are pluralism and patriotism.
The faces of this movement are not ideologues or intellectuals, but athletes,
musicians and ordinary people, especially women and ethnic minorities, who have
shown uncommon courage. Their slogans are patriotic and progressive — “We will
not leave Iran, we will reclaim Iran”, and “Women, Life, Freedom”.
The demands of the current movement are brilliantly distilled in Shervin
Hajipour’s song, “Baraye”, or “For”, which has become the anthem of the protests
and articulates a “yearning for a normal life” rather than the “forced paradise”
of a religious police state.
Senior American and Israeli intelligence officials have recently stated they
don’t believe Iran’s protests constitute a serious threat to the regime. But
history has repeatedly illustrated that no intelligence service, political
science theory, or algorithm can accurately predict the timing and outcome of
popular uprisings: The C.I.A. assessed in August 1978, less than six months
before the toppling of Iran’s monarchy, that Iran wasn’t even in a
“pre-revolutionary situation”.
This is because not even the protagonists themselves — in this case the Iranian
people and regime — can anticipate how they will behave as this drama unfolds.
Abbas Amanat, a historian of Iran, observed that one of the keys to Iran’s
civilizational longevity, which dates to the Persian Empire of 2,500 years ago,
is the power of its culture to co-opt its military invaders. “For nearly two
millenniums Persian political culture, and in a broader sense, a repository of
Persian civilizational tools, successfully managed to convert Turkic, Arab and
Mongolian conquerors”, he told me. “Persian language, myth, historical memories,
and time-keeping endured. Iranians persuaded invaders to appreciate a Persian
high culture of poetry, food, painting, wine, music, festivals and etiquette”.
When Ayatollah Khomeini acquired power in 1979, he led a cultural revolution
that sought to replace Iranian patriotism with a purely Islamic identity.
Ayatollah Khamenei continues that tradition today, but he is one of the few
remaining true believers. While the Islamic Republic sought to subdue Iranian
culture, it is Iranian culture and patriotism that is threatening to undo the
Islamic Republic.
Four decades of the Islamic Republic’s hard power will ultimately be defeated by
two millennium of Iranian cultural soft power. The question is no longer about
whether this will happen, but when. History has taught us that there is an
inverse relationship between the courage of an opposition and the resolve of a
regime, and authoritarian collapse often goes from inconceivable to inevitable
in days.
*Karim Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. policy toward the Middle East.
https://www.almendron.com/tribuna/the-question-is-no-longer-whether-iranians-will-topple-the-ayatollah/
Elon Musk's Twitter Files Dump
Peter Schweizer/Gatestone Institute/December 13, 2022
It was not "Russian disinformation." Nor was it "unsafe." The executives running
Twitter in the 20 days before the 2020 presidential election clearly knew that,
and tried to find other justifications for what amounted to raw censorship.
Twitter's bias in censoring or banning conservative accounts for "hate speech"
while happily servicing accounts for Iran's "Supreme Leader" and the Taliban is
a running joke. In a series of secretly recorded interviews with Twitter
employees, Project Veritas had already confirmed that "shadow-banning,"
manipulating the number of followers shown by certain accounts, and selectively
"de-boosting" certain tweets in its algorithms was a well-established, standard
manipulation of the platform's stated purpose: "We serve the public
conversation. That's why it matters to us that people have a free and safe space
to talk."
Kudos to Khanna for his lonely but principled stand for free speech. Taibbi also
noted in his thread that Khanna was the only Democratic official to do so.
China's enticements to the Biden family are but one example of this campaign. We
learned through this research how insidious and effective the Chinese government
has been at co-opting not just the families of senior elected officials, but
captains of industry, financial behemoths, and the wealthiest American
philanthropists and educational institutions.
The Biden story also showed the ingenuity of corrupt politicians who essentially
"outsource" their corruption to family members rather than risk a possible paper
trail leading back to themselves. The Bidens, even more than Bill and Hillary
Clinton before them, were a family influence business.
We have all learned about other stories of political interference and
foot-dragging within the FBI. The public is right to wonder whether federal
prosecutors are as serious about pursuing this case as Twitter's Democratic
partisans were in squelching it.
Further, President Biden's Attorney General, Merrick Garland, continues to task
the FBI with investigating the January 6, 2021 riots as a deep conspiracy, while
simultaneously ignoring what certainly appear to have been well-organized
efforts by Antifa to foment violence during the 2020 George Floyd riots, and
violence done by pro-abortion organizations after someone on Twitter publicized
the home addresses of Supreme Court justices.
For more than two critical weeks, under secret pressure from the Biden campaign
and Democrats who were desperate to bury a devastating story that implicated
their presidential candidate in his son's corruption by Chinese
intelligence-connected businessmen. The Post's story was factually accurate,
legitimately reported, and was (belatedly) authenticated by other news outlets.
In short, there was no reason to do what Twitter, Roth, and Gadde did, other
than pleasing a political party with whom they agreed.
The New York Post story on Hunter Biden's laptop was no "hack." It was not
"Russian disinformation." Nor was it "unsafe." The executives running Twitter in
the 20 days before the 2020 presidential election clearly knew that, and tried
to find other justifications for what amounted to raw censorship.
Elon Musk's release of internal Twitter correspondence around the censoring of
the New York Post's blockbuster "Hunter Biden laptop" story merely confirms what
most knew already -- that Twitter under Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal was
staffed with Democratic Party partisans who censored information they thought
would damage their cause.
In a Tweet thread on Dec. 2, journalist Matt Taibbi exposes the smoking gun --
the frantic attempts to claim without evidence that any reference to the NY
Post's story had to be banned from the platform because it might have come from
"hacked materials." This, we can see now, was never seriously believed, even
inside Twitter, as the email exchanges make clear.
The Post story was no "hack." It was not "Russian disinformation." Nor was it
"unsafe." The executives running Twitter in the 20 days before the 2020
presidential election clearly knew that, and tried to find other justifications
for what amounted to raw censorship.
With perhaps one hopeful exception, though, there is nothing new about any of
this. Twitter's bias in censoring or banning conservative accounts for "hate
speech" while happily servicing accounts for Iran's "Supreme Leader" and the
Taliban is a running joke. In a series of secretly recorded interviews with
Twitter employees, Project Veritas had already confirmed that "shadow-banning,"
manipulating the number of followers shown by certain accounts, and selectively
"de-boosting" certain tweets in its algorithms was a well-established, standard
manipulation of the platform's stated purpose: "We serve the public
conversation. That's why it matters to us that people have a free and safe space
to talk."
Still, Taibbi's disclosures are the paper trail proving these policies were
discussed and enforced at the highest levels of the company prior to Musk's
purchase. Indeed, the unfairness of these policies was apparently the very
reason Musk moved to buy Twitter for $44 billion. Musk has been promising to
make these disclosures public since taking over the company, and smartly gave
them to Taibbi to vet before doing so.
The "one small exception" was the quiet effort documented in the release by Rep.
Ro Khanna (D-CA), a very progressive Democrat whose district includes most of
Silicon Valley, to appeal to Twitter's then head of legal, policy, and trust,
Vijaya Gadde, to respect the principle of the First Amendment. In an email
exchange, Khanna gave Gadde a robust defense of free speech (and some sound
political advice), all of which fell on her deaf ears. Kudos to Khanna for his
lonely but principled stand for free speech. Taibbi also noted in his thread
that Khanna was the only Democratic official to do so.
The Post's story, while clearly intended as an "October surprise," still
mattered because it substantiated and corroborated earlier reporting done on
Hunter Biden's business deals during the time his father served as vice
president under President Barack Obama. I provided some of that earlier
reporting in two books, Secret Empires in 2018 and more details in Profiles in
Corruption in 2020. Both books documented through public records Hunter Biden's
dealings with foreign interests connected to Chinese intelligence through his
company, Rosemont Seneca BHT, and his time serving without any qualifications on
the board of a shady Ukrainian oil-and-gas firm called Burisma.
The researchers at the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) found the
paperwork on these deals. We did not, until later, have emails from or sent to
Hunter Biden that discussed these facts. We commend the reporting and research
team at the New York Post for obtaining this information, performing the
forensic examinations necessary to determine its authenticity, and publish the
truth.
Of all the corruption stories I have investigated through the years, the web of
the Biden family's corruption has been the widest and most complex. Following
the money on this story has led me to Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Costa Rica,
Russia, and most significantly, to Communist China. The Biden family has traded
on Joe's influence, with "the Big Guy's" knowledge, in these places and others.
China's enticements to the Biden family, however, are but one example of this
campaign. We learned through this research how insidious and effective the
Chinese government has been at co-opting not just the families of senior elected
officials, but captains of industry, financial behemoths, and the wealthiest
American philanthropists and educational institutions. It raised my awareness of
how strategic China has been with these kinds of temptations. GAI is continuing
to look at how China has corrupted and undermined America in ways both obvious
and subtle. Readers can expect to hear more from GAI on this subject in the
future.
The Biden story also showed the ingenuity of corrupt politicians who essentially
"outsource" their corruption to family members rather than risk a possible paper
trail leading back to themselves. The Bidens, even more than Bill and Hillary
Clinton before them, were a family influence business. The Post's reporting on
those schemes -- in the participants' own words -- was gratifying to those of us
who have covered this story since 2017.
But there are still more threads here. When the Post's story first broke, I
recall being relieved that the FBI had secured the original computer and its
external hard drive belonging to Hunter Biden. The bureau obtained them through
a subpoena in January 2020, months before Rudy Giuliani gave a copy of a copy
made by the computer shop owner just before he handed both to the FBI.
However, the FBI's Hunter Biden investigation, which is based on information
obtained from the laptop and from other sources, still drags on nearly three
years later. In the intervening time, we have all learned about other stories of
political interference and foot-dragging within the FBI. The public is right to
wonder whether federal prosecutors are as serious about pursuing this case as
Twitter's Democratic partisans were in squelching it.
Further, President Biden's Attorney General, Merrick Garland, continues to task
the FBI with investigating the January 6, 2021 riots as a deep conspiracy, while
simultaneously ignoring what certainly appear to have been well-organized
efforts by Antifa to foment violence during the 2020 George Floyd riots, and
violence done by pro-abortion organizations after someone on Twitter publicized
the home addresses of Supreme Court justices, leading to one attempt on Justice
Kavanaugh's life and the fire-bombing or vandalization of several pro-life
pregnancy centers.
As an investigative journalist focused on government corruption, I try to stay
in my lane. Yet, the impulses we see documented in Taibbi's thread by Twitter's
most senior executives have a familiar ring. These are people, slightly removed
from the dirty details, who are worried not about "serving the public
conversation," as their corporate motto would have it, but ingratiating
themselves with a political party and shielding its candidates from criticism.
Principle or devotion to free speech abandoned them long ago, to be replaced by
the arrogance of dictating what is good for the rest of us to read or not to
read.
Yoel Roth resigned as Twitter's head of trust and safety a few weeks after Musk
took control of the company. Back in 2020, Roth was instrumental in enforcing
Twitter's ban on the Post's original story. In a recent podcast, Roth described
the mood at that time this way: "We didn't know what to believe, we didn't know
what was true, there was smoke." He explained that the story "set off every
single one of my finely tuned APT28 'hack and leak campaign' alarm bells." APT28
is another name for the Russian cybercrime group also called "Fancy Bear," which
has engaged in disinformation efforts in the past.
Even now, Roth still tries to have it both ways. In the same answer I just
quoted from, he also claimed, "ultimately for me, [the story] didn't reach a
place where I was comfortable removing this content from Twitter."
But remove it he did, and for more than two critical weeks, under secret
pressure from the Biden campaign and Democrats who were desperate to bury a
devastating story that implicated their presidential candidate in his son's
corruption by Chinese intelligence-connected businessmen. The Post's story was
factually accurate, legitimately reported, and was (belatedly) authenticated by
other news outlets. In short, there was no reason to do what Twitter, Roth, and
Gadde did, other than pleasing a political party with whom they agreed.
*Peter Schweizer, President of the Governmental Accountability Institute, is a
Gatestone Institute Distinguished Senior Fellow and author of the new book, Red
Handed: How American Elites are Helping China Win.
© 2022 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Saudi Arabia and China’s Strong Ties
Nadim Koteich/Asharq Al Awsat/December 13/2022
The American mind thinks in binaries. After the Cold War had split the globe
between the communist and free worlds, George W. Bush split the world into two
“camps:” an axis of good and an axis of evil.
Today, President Joe Biden, per the 2022 US Department of Homeland Security
Strategy, has split the world into two conflicting blocs: the democratic bloc
and the totalitarian bloc. Domestically, opinion on foreign policy views splits
in the Democrat Republic dichotomy.
This binary thinking shapes the debate regarding the Saudi summits with China -
the bilateral, Gulf, and Arab summits. The debate revolves around whether
President Xi Jinping’s visit means that Saudi Arabia and its allies have opted
for allying with Beijing as an alternative to Washington. Because this binary
gives rise to comparisons, analysts turned their attention to the enthusiastic
handshake of the Chinese president and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister
Mohammed bin Salman. Others referred to the famous warm greetings exchanged
between Crown Prince Mohammed and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the
margins of the 2018 G20 Summit in Argentina. As for the conclusions, many have
suggested that the Saudi summits indicate that it has entered the “new Cold War”
between China and the US!
The positions Biden made in the lead-up to his visit to Saudi Arabia may have
contributed to reinforcing these binary analyses. In a column he wrote for an
American newspaper, he explained that his visit was partially intended to be a
counterweight to Chinese influence. He then emphasized this point in subsequent
statements. “I want to make clear that we can continue to lead in the region and
not create a vacuum, a vacuum that is filled by China and/or Russia, against the
interests of both Israel and the United States and many other countries.”
The fact of the matter is that scene in Riyadh and the current political moment,
in which confidence in Washington has been undermined, especially in the Biden
administration, encourages such hasty conclusions. It makes observers forget
that this scene is the outcome of a broad and discontinuous course of events.
Aron David Millar did well to remind us of a 2004 interview between the late
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal and journalist David Ottaway in a
recent article for Foreign Policy. Prince Saud al Faisal told him: “The US-Saudi
relationship isn’t a Catholic marriage.” Miller then added the conclusion
Ottaway drew at the time. “Saudi Arabia was not seeking a divorce from the
United States.”
What was true at the time, a year after Saudi Arabia became the largest exporter
of oil to China, is true today at a time when China is Saudi Arabia’s leading
trade partner. Indeed, the recent summit was between the world’s largest
exporter of oil and its largest importer, coming at a sensitive time for this
strategic resource. It seems that the two sides are just as aware of the limits
of their relationship as they are of the opportunities it presents. Beijing is
conscious of the fact that it is neither willing nor able to carry the burden of
offering security guarantees in the Middle East, neither to the states of the
region nor to its critical corridors or international trade routes. Meanwhile,
the Saudis know that there is no comprehensive alternative to the military,
security, and strategic relationship with Washington.
Both sides keep these limitations in mind despite their reassurance regarding
the model on which their relationship is founded, shared interests and
non-interference in one another’s domestic affairs.
Saudi Arabia is well aware of where its interests lie. It knows that there is no
alternative to Washington on three matters that go beyond political interest.
1- Whatever form the emerging Saudi-Chinese military relations take, Saudi
armament, training, command and control centers, and the administration of the
army have been entirely American for nearly 80 years. Moreover, intelligence and
security coordination and cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States
are crucial for the Kingdom’s security.
2- Saudi Arabia has made massive investments in US Treasury bonds and gold
reserves, as well as making sovereign investments in US stock markets.
3- Saudi Arabia, as a regional and global financial, commercial and investment
hub, particularly since Vision 2030, depends on integration within the
international financial and monetary system, in which Washington has more power
and influence than any of its partners and competitors. China is important, as
is Washington. Contrary to the expectations of American binary thinking, the
Kingdom is not in a position to choose between either of the two countries.
A long Foreign Affairs article explains that Crown Prince Mohammed believes that
a fluid geopolitical order made up of a group of interlinked components is
emerging. He believes that Saudi Arabia has a right to work with a wide array of
partners to invigorate markets and develop political solutions.
This vision resembles the dream of the 1970s Non-Aligned Movement, except here,
the common goal is taking every opportunity to further national interests, not
giving rise to post-colonial nations. This comes at a time when allies’
confidence in Washington has been undermined around the world, not just in Saudi
Arabia. Emanuel Macron’s recent “60 Minutes” interview speaks to this fact. “I
do. So my point is just I want us to be allies, I want us to be friends, I want
us to be partners. I want to engage with the US but I don’t want to be
dependent. And I think this is very important, because just imagine, on your
side, would you accept as US citizen to say, ‘My security, my— my future will
depend on an election in France?’ No, I cannot imagine.” This is precisely what
the leaders of the Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt have been saying… The US is
a friend, but it is not the only friend invited to the party.
Talk of ‘Abrahamic’ Religions is an Ecumenical Farce
Raymond Ibrahim/December 13/2022
What if you had a deceased grandfather whom you were particularly fond of, and
out of the blue, a stranger says: “Hey, that’s my grandpa!” Then—lest you think
this stranger is somehow trying to ingratiate himself with you—he adds: “And
everything you thought you knew about grandpa is wrong! Here, let me tell you
what he really said and did throughout his life.” The stranger then proceeds to
inform you that much of the good things you had long attributed to your
grandfather were, not just false, but the exact opposite of what he is now
attributing to your grandfather—much of which you find immensely disturbing.
Would that endear this stranger to you? Every proponent of the so-called
“Abrahamic Faiths” apparently thinks so.
I will explain, but first let’s define “Abrahamism”: because the patriarch
Abraham is an important figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all three
religions, according to this position, share a commonality that should bridge
gaps and foster growth between them.
Pope Francis is one of the chief proponents of this view. Speaking of his recent
participation at an interfaith conference in Bahrain, he said his purpose was to
create “fraternal alliances” with Muslims “in the name of our Father Abraham.”
Even so, Abrahamism is hardly limited to octogenarian theologians; it’s
entrenched in mainstream American discourse. Thus, even the Huffington Post
(rather ludicrously) claims that “Muhammad clearly rejected elitism and racism
and demanded that Muslims see their Abrahamic brothers and sisters as equals
before God.” In fact, Muhammad and his Allah called for perpetual war on
Christians and Jews, until they either embraced Islam or lived in humbled
submission to their Muslim conquerors (Koran 9:29).
That, of course, did not stop former Secretary of State John Kerry from beating
on a mosque drum and calling Muslims to prayer during his visit to
Indonesia—before gushing: “It has been a special honor to visit this remarkable
place of worship. We are all bound to one God and the Abrahamic faiths tie us
together in love for our fellow man and honor for the same God.”
After a Muslim from an Oklahoma City mosque decapitated a woman, “an official
from Washington D.C. flew in to Oklahoma to present a special thank you to the
Muslim congregation,” lest they feel too guilty over their coreligionist’s
actions. He read them a message from former President Barack Obama: “Your
service is a powerful example of the powerful roots of the Abrahamic faiths and
how our communities can come together with shared peace with dignity and a sense
of justice.”
Needless to say, Obama himself has often spoken of “the shared Abrahamic roots
of three of the world’s major religions.”
Meanwhile, few people seem to have given this Abrahamic business much thought:
How is one people’s appropriation of another people’s heritage—which is
precisely what Abrahamism is all about—supposed to help the two peoples get
along?
For starters, Islam does not represent biblical characters the way they are
presented in the Bible, the oldest book in existence that mentions them.
Christians accept the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, as it is. They do not add,
take away, or distort the accounts of the patriarchs that Jews also rely on.
Conversely, while also relying on the figures of the Old and New
Testaments—primarily for the weight of antiquity and authority attached to their
names—Islam completely recasts them to fit its own agendas.
One need only look to the topic at hand for proof: Abraham.
Jews and Christians focus on different aspects of Abraham—the former see him as
their patriarch in the flesh, the latter as their patriarch in faith or in
spirit (e.g., Gal 3:6)—but they both rely on the same verbatim account of
Abraham as found in Genesis.
In the Muslim account, however, not only does Abraham (Ibrahim) quit his country
on God’s promise that he will make him “a great nation” (Gen. 12), but he
exemplifies the hate Muslims are obligated to have for all non-Muslims: “You
have a good example in Abraham and those who followed him,” Allah informs
Muslims in Koran 60:4; “for they said to their people, ‘We disown you and the
idols that you worship besides Allah. We renounce you: enmity and hate shall
reign between us until you believe in Allah alone.’”
In fact, Koran 60:4 is the cornerstone verse that all “radical” Muslims—from
al-Qaeda to the Islamic State—cite as proof that Muslims “must be hostile to the
infidel—even if he is liberal and kind to you” (to quote the revered Sheikh Ibn
Taymiyya, The Al-Qaeda Reader, p. 84).
Thus, immediately after quoting 60:4, Osama bin Laden once wrote:
So there is an enmity, evidenced by fierce hostility, and an internal hate from
the heart. And this fierce hostility—that is, battle—ceases only if the infidel
submits to the authority of Islam, or if his blood is forbidden from being shed
[a dhimmi], or if the Muslims are [at that point in time] weak and incapable [of
spreading sharia law to the world]. But if the hate at any time extinguishes
from the hearts, this is great apostasy [The Al-Qaeda Reader, p. 43].
Such is the mutilation Patriarch Abraham has undergone in Islam. Not only is he
not a source of commonality between Muslims on the one hand and Jews and
Christians on the other; he is the chief figure to justify “enmity and hate …
between us until you believe in Allah alone.”
Islam’s appropriation of Abraham has led to other, more concrete problems, of
the sort one can expect when a stranger appears and says that the home you live
in was actually bequeathed to him by your supposedly “shared” grandfather.
Although the Jews claimed the Holy Land as their birthright for well over a
millennium before Muhammad and Islam came along, Jerusalem is now special to
Muslims partially because they also claim Abraham and other biblical figures.
As a result, statements like the following from mainline Christian groups such
as the Presbyterian Church USA are common: “[PCUSA] strongly condemns the U.S.
President’s [Trump’s] decision to single out Jerusalem as a Jewish capital.
Jerusalem is the spiritual heart of three Abrahamic faiths …”
The Muslim appropriation and mutilation of revered biblical figures is a source
of problems, not solutions. When, as another example, Islam’s Jesus—Isa—returns,
he will smash all crosses (because they signify His death and resurrection,
which Islam vehemently denies), abrogate the jizya (or dhimmi status, meaning
Christians must either become Muslim or die) and slaughter all the pigs to boot.
Again, not exactly a great shared source of “commonality” for Christians and
Muslims.
It is only the secular mindset, which cannot comprehend beyond the surface fact
that three religions claim the same figures—and so they must all eventually “be
friends”—that does not and never will get it. All the more shame, then, that
supposed Christian leaders, such as Pope Francis, rely on such “logic.”
https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2022/12/13/talk-of-abrahamic-religions-is-an-ecumenical-farce/